There was tension on Monday as a vehicle conveying ten members of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) in the convoy of the Bauchi state governor, Bala Mohammed was involved in a road accident.
Vanguard reports that in the Hilux Toyota van somersaulted twice after losing control for lack of good visibility which was caused as a result of dust on the road which is currently under construction.
Although the somersaulted vehicle was rescued by the combined effort of people in the convoy, one of the ten policemen involved in the accident was said to be unconscious and have been rushed to a nearby hospital in Bununu, the headquarters of Tafawa Balewa local government area, for medical treatment.
Governor Mohammed was on an inspection tour of projects awarded by his administration across the state and was at the Tafawa Balewa local government axis when the incident occurred.
No loss of life has been confirmed as of the time of filing this report.
Senator Umaru Tafida Argungu was arraigned before Justice Mohammed Mohammed of the Sokoto State High Court today.
Senator Argungu was arraigned by The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on one count charge of criminal misappropriation of public funds to the tune of N419, 744, 612. 30 (Four Hundred and Nineteen Million, Seven Hundred and Forty-Four Thousand, Six Hundred and Twelve Naira, Thirty Kobo).
The former Senator who represented Kebbi North in the 6th Senate, was alleged to have diverted the said sum which was paid by the Sokoto State government as 40percent equity stake in Hijrah Investment Nigeria Limited, owners of Hijrah Textile Ltd.
The Sokoto state government had entered into an agreement with the former Senator to buy a 40% stake in his company Hijrah Investment Nigeria Limited in order to create jobs and boost the economy of the state.
However, investigations revealed several withdrawals and transfers from the said account to individuals not remotely connected to the objectives of turning around the company.
A visit to the company promises by investigators showed a company in a severe state of abandonment and dilapidation.
The charge reads: “That you Senator Umar Tafida while being the Chairman of Hijrah Textiles Company Limited and Hijrah Investment Nigeria Limited sometime between 2016 and 2017 at Sokoto within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Justice Sokoto State, being entrusted with the total sum of N419, 744, 612. 30 (Four Hundred and Nineteen Million, Seven Hundred and Forty Four Thousand, Six Hundred and Twelve Naira, Thirty Kobo) paid by the Sokoto State government, representing 40% investment of shareholding in your company to boost the economy of the state, dishonestly misappropriated the money in violation of the mode in which such trust was to be discharged and thereby committed Criminal Breach of Trust contrary to Section 311 of the Penal Code Law CAP 89, Laws of Northern Nigeria and punishable under Section 312 of the same Law”.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Based on his plea, the prosecution counsel, S.H. Sa’ad asked the Court for a date to commence trial while defence counsel, Ibrahim Abdullahi move a verbal motion for the bail of his client.
Justice Mohammed granted the defendant bail in the sum of N50 million (Fifty Million Naira) and two sureties in like sum. The sureties must reside and have property within the jurisdiction of the Court. The judge further ruled that the defendant’s international passport be deposited with the Court.
The case has been adjourned till March 18, 2021 for the commencement of trial.
The first woman and first African to lead the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Monday welcomed an apology from a Swiss newspaper that had dismissed the seasoned international professional as a grandmother.
“It is important & timely that they’ve apologised,” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in a tweet. The development economist took over as the new WTO chief on Monday after a long, high-powered career serving as minister of finance and foreign affairs in her native Nigeria and 25 years at the World Bank.
But when several Swiss newspapers announced her appointment last month, they decided the most noteworthy thing to mention about the new WTO chief was as a matriarch.
“This grandmother will become the boss of the WTO,” read the headline of the article published by the Aargauer Zeitung and several other papers on February 9.
After a number of women heads of UN agencies and more than 120 ambassadors in Geneva last week signed a petition calling out the headline as racist and sexist, the paper apologised. “This headline was inappropriate and unsuitable…
We apologise for this editorial mistake,” the paper’s foreign editor-in-chief Samuel Schumacher said in a statement on Friday. In her tweet, Ngozi welcomed the apology and said she was “thankful to all my sisters, UN Women Leaders and the 124 Ambassadors in Geneva who signed the petition on calling out the racist & sexist remarks in this newspaper.”
“We need to call out this behaviour when it happens,” she insisted, decrying “the stereotypes women face when they take on leadership positions. She said the headline debacle reflected the problems raised in a book she co-authored with former Australian prime minister Julie Gillard called “Women and Leadership.”
The Spanish police on Monday raided Barcelona football club and arrested the club’s CEO, Oscar Grau and Roman Gómez Ponti, the Barca’s head of legal, according to Cadena SER radio.
Barcelona’s former president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, and his right-hand man, Jaume Masferrer, were also arrested.
They were arrested on suspicion of “unfair administration, corruption between individuals and money laundering” after paying money in instalments to avoid internal financial controls.
This is coming amid the continued investigation into ‘BarcaGate’, in which Barcelona’s officials were accused of launching a smear campaign against the current (Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique) and former players (Pep Guardiola and others) who were critical of the Catalan club and Bartomeu.
Recall that Bartomeu and his board of directors resigned last year in controversy.
Local authorities from Mossos d’Esquadra entered Barcelona’s stadium as the Blaugrana’s finance, legal and compliance departments are investigated.
The ‘BarcaGate; scandal, which has been investigated for almost 12 months, has long been denied by Bartomeu.
Famous Ghanaian gospel singer Selina Boateng, has indicated that she will only take the vaccine against the coronavirus only if God reveals to her that she should take it.
The Oxford / Astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine previously arrived in the country on Wednesday, February 24, 2021, at Kotoka International Airport.
Expressing her opinion on the subject on Onua TV when they asked if she would receive the vaccine or not, to the astonishment of the host, she said no unless God reveals it to her.
Ghana became the first least developed country to receive 600,000 doses of the vaccine from one of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturers, the Serum Institute of India.
Ghana's president Nana Akufo-Addo on Monday became the world's first recipient of a coronavirus vaccine from Covax, a global scheme to procure and distribute inoculations for free for poorer countries.
Richer countries have surged ahead with inoculating their population, but many poorer countries are still awaiting their first vaccine doses.
"It is important that I set the example that this vaccine is safe by being the first to have it, so that everybody in Ghana can feel comfortable about taking this vaccine," the 76-year old president said before receiving a shot of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in a live broadcast.
The first lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo also received a shot, one day before the rest of the 600,000 doses are deployed across the country.
Ghana's food and drug authority last month authorised the Indian-made vaccine and Russia's Sputnik V, as the government aims to target 20 of its 30 million population by year's end.
Last Wednesday, Ghana was the first country to receive vaccines from Covax, led by Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
The fiancée of the murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has called for Saudi Arabia's crown prince to be "punished without delay" over his killing.
"This will not only bring the justice we have been seeking.... but it could also prevent similar acts recurring," Hatice Cengiz said in a statement.
It comes after a US intelligence report found that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had approved Khashoggi's murder.
Saudi Arabia has rejected the report.
Crown Prince Mohammed, who is effectively the kingdom's ruler, has denied any role in the murder.
Khashoggi was killed while visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in October 2018 and his body was dismembered.
The 59-year-old journalist had once been an adviser to the Saudi government and close to the royal family, but he fell out of favour and went into self-imposed exile in the US in 2017.
From there, he wrote a monthly column in the Washington Post in which he criticised the policies of Prince Mohammed.
In his first column for the newspaper, Khashoggi said he feared being arrested in an apparent crackdown on dissent overseen by the prince.
"It is essential that the crown prince, who ordered the brutal murder of a blameless and innocent person, should be punished without delay," Ms Cengiz said on Monday.
"If the crown prince is not punished, it will forever... endanger us all and be a stain on our humanity," she added.
Ms Cengiz, a Turkish academic researcher, made a plea that world leaders distance themselves from the crown prince and impose punishments such as sanctions on Saudi Arabia.
"Starting with the Biden Administration, it is vital for all world leaders to ask themselves if they are prepared to shake hands with [Prince Mohammed]," she said.
"I urge everyone to put their hands on their hearts and campaign to punish the crown prince," Ms Cengiz added.
Former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, may be planning a fresh move as he has visited Rivers State two times in one month.
In the first visit, the former governor who is now a Senator was in Rivers State to commission a project.
But this time, his visit to the South-South State is to commiserate with Governor Wike over the demise of his uncle.
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, was joined by several political leaders over the weekend for the funeral of his late uncle, Chief Charles Aleruchi Ihunwo Wike.
The late Chief Ihunwo Wike who passed on at the age of 87, was until his demise, the Eze Epara Kwurume Chukwuokahia Obasinwo IV of Rumuepirikom Clan in Apara kingdom of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Present at the funeral ceremony were former Governors of Rivers State, Dr Peter Odili and Sir Celestine Omehia; former Imo State Governor, Senator Rochas Okorocha; National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus.
Other dignitaries in attendance included former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sir Austin Opara; Senator Sam Anyanwu; South-South zonal chairman of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih; Chairman of the PDP in Rivers State, Ambassador Desmond Akawor; Chairman of Rivers Elders Council, High Chief Ferdinand Alabraba; Senator Barry Mpigi and several others.
Nigerian musician, Korede Bello is emotional at the moment, but me thinks na Korede no wan celebrate o. Excuse me, February 28th would have been it for me, lol.
The singer was born on February 29th and the date occurs once in every four years,
And this year, it was missing. Getting emotional, the singer took to Instagram to ask people to watch his new video, hence he would cry in his next post.
“Today was supposed to be 29th but …Please goan watch our new video o so I don’t cry in my next post 🥺 #RealMan”, he wrote.
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, (SAN) has kicked against the detention of former Special Adviser on Media to Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State, Salihu Tanko Yakasai.
Salihu was arrested and subsequently sacked after he called for President Muhammadu Buhari’s resignation over insecurity.
In a statement on Sunday, Falana said Salihu is being held incommunicado in an undisclosed detention facility for merely exercising his freedom of expression enshrined in Section 39 of the Constitution,1999.
Falana recalled that between 2013 and 2014, leaders of the APC, including Buhari, Asiwaju Bola Tinibu, Malam Nasir El-Rufai and Alhaji Lai Mohammed repeatedly asked former President Goodluck Jonathan to resign.
He said they were never subjected to any form of intimidation for exercising their freedom of expression at the material time.
The senior lawyer, who is the Interim Chairman of the Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), wondered why Salihu would be arrested after many civil society, chieftains of the APC and both chambers of the National Assembly have called for Buhari’s resignation or impeachment over insecurity.
“The decision of the founding fathers of the present Constitution which guarantees freedom of speech, which must include freedom to criticise, should be praised and any attempt to derogate from it except as provided by the constitution must be resisted,” he said.
“Those in public office should not be intolerant of criticism in respect of their office so as to ensure that they are accountable to the people. They should not be made to feel that they live in an ivory tower and therefore belong to a different class. They must develop thick skins and where possible, plug their ears with wool if they feel too sensitive or irascible.
“In view of the foregoing, we demand for the immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Tanko-Yankasai from illegal custody. However, if the State Security Service has evidence that the political detainee has committed any criminal offence known to law he should be transferred to the Police for proper investigation and possible prosecution without any delay.”
The Department of State Services (DSS) has confirmed that the former aide of Kano governor is in its custody.
The Governor of Zamfara, Bello Matawalle, has claimed Nigerians will be shocked to know those behind the abduction of over 300 students from Government Girls’ Secondary School, Jangebe on Friday.
Matawalle stated this on Sunday, when 17 Emirs in the State paid him a sympathy visit.
The Jangebe attack took place almost two weeks after bandits kidnapped 27 students and 15 workers of Government Science College, Kagara, Niger State.
Before the attack in Kagara, bandits also took away passengers of the state transport service bus in Kundu village, also in Niger State.
Matawalle said “I want to inform you that there are many revelations in relation to the abduction of these students.
“Many people will be surprised to hear those people behind the abduction of these innocent children.
“They are not comfortable with the progress I am getting as a result of my peace initiative and they want to do all they can to sabotage my efforts”.
Piers Morgan lashed out at Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's upcoming interview with Oprah Winfrey, branding it "embarrassing".
The GMB presenter, 55, also went on to hit out at the pair "only wanting positive media coverage" and went on to compare them to dictators Kim Jong-Un and Vladimir Putin.
Today on Good Morning Britain, a clip of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex speaking to Oprah was aired, with Harry saying that he feared "history was repeating itself" prior to them leaving the UK.
Responding to the clip, Susanna Reid remarked: "It's quite remarkable, isn't it!"
Piers quickly went onto blast Harry for hitting out at the media coverage turning "toxic".
"They only want positive media coverage," Piers fumed, before comparing them to Kim Jong-Un and Vladimir Putin, leaving Susanna stunned.
Referencing Prince Harry's interview with James Corden last month, he continued: "Does it get any more embarrassing than this - being on an open top bus while banging on about press coverage?"
"They're dishing out left, right and centre," Piers said of the couple speaking about their experience in the royal family. "The whole thing is utterly ridiculous."
During the interview with Oprah, Prince Harry appeared to reference his mum, Princess Diana, saying: "I'm just really relieved and happy to be sitting here talking to you with my wife by my side.
"Because I can't imagine what it must have been like for her (Diana), going through this process by herself all those years ago.
"It's been unbelievably tough for the two of us, but at least we had each other."
Reacting to his comments, Piers fumed: "There is no comparison between the media attention Meghan got to Diana."
He added: "The hypocrisy is off the charts - 'Please leave us alone, but let us do open top bus interviews'."
Tiger Woods has spoken out following the Feb. 23 car crash that left him with serious injuries.
In his first public statement since the accident, the professional golfer thanked his fans for their support as he begins on the road to recovery.
"It is hard to explain how touching today was when I turned on the tv and saw all the red shirts," Tiger tweeted. "To every golfer and every fan, you are truly helping me get through this tough time."
At the WGC-Workday Championship on Sunday, Feb. 28, several golfers, including Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed, played in red shirts and black pants, an homage to Tiger's signature uniform on the green.
According to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, the crash occurred just after 7 a.m. on Tuesday Feb, 23 in Rancho Palos Verdes, a city located in southwest Los Angeles. Tiger, who was the sole occupant of the vehicle, is said to have been driving at a "relatively greater speed than normal" down a hill when he hit the center median, crossed into the opposing lane of traffic and landed in nearby brush. The 2021 Genesis Tiger he was driving sustained "several rollovers," police said.
Former US President Donald Trump has said he has no plans to form a new political party, promising instead to unite a Republican Party that has splintered after his supporters overran the United States Capitol in a deadly riot.
In his first major speech since he left the White House last month, Trump said the GOP is “going to unite and be stronger than ever before”.
“I am not starting a new party. That was fake news,” he told the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Sunday afternoon.
“We will be united and strong like never before. We will save and strengthen America and we will fight the onslaught of radicalism, socialism and indeed, it all leads to communism,” said Trump, who spent much of his speech hitting out at US President Joe Biden.
Trump repeated his false claims the November presidential election was stolen from him and also hinted at another possible presidential run.
“They just lost the White House,” Trump said. “But who knows, who knows, I may even decide to beat them for a third time.”
Reality TV star, Laycon, has finally reacted to mockers over his oversized shoe he wore to the recently held Headies Awards.
Laycon born Olamilekan Agbeleshe performed at the 14th Headies Awards and he was dragged for wearing shoes bigger than the size of his feet which made him look weird on stage.
However, in an interesting revelation made by Laycon while addressing a gathering said that the it was a decision he took deliberately to wear a big shoe so he could take giant steps for others behind him to follow.
In his words,
“every step I take is a big step, and I needed a big shoe for that so that it would create a footstep for others to follow and be successful.”
Davido appears to have turned fiancee Chioma into another Baby Mama, after being spotted since December with American model, Mya Yafai.
Davido and Chioma, after a family introduction in September 2019, were expected to get married last year, but the plan was upended by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The singer in an interview said the wedding would happen this year.
But various reports said the ceremony may not happen again, as Davido’s heart appeared glued with Yafai.
The model was in Nigeria late last year to spend Christmas and New Year with Davido.
Both lovebirds even journeyed to Accra Ghana, as part of their unforgettable rendezvous.
Yafai testified that she enjoyed herself as she wrote on Instagram: “I Love you Africa”.
A video on her Instagram page froze some of her experiences, including a boat cruise on the Lagoon.
Reports said Chioma had stopped wearing her engagement ring since December, having gotten wind of Davido’s new romance.
On Saturday night, Davido and Chioma were trending on Twitter Nigeria.
And what spurred the buzz was news that Davido and Yafai have escaped to Sint Maarten, a small island in the Caribbean, that is part of the Kingdom of Netherlands for vacation.
Davido posted a photo on 26 February in a private jet indicating he was on his way to the idyllic island, known for lagoons, beaches and salt pans.
A video also trended showing Davido holding Yafai.
Twitter commenters were stunned that Davido could abandon Chioma, after all those talks and songs of ‘assurance’, ‘Chioma my lover’.
The students abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, in Talata Mafara Local Government Area of Zamfara State, are still with their captors, the state government has said.
Yusuf Idris, media aide to Governor Bello Matawalle, told Premium Times that efforts were still ongoing to secure their release.
He made the clarification following media reports that the girls had regained freedom.
Mr Idris said the governor had just concluded a meeting with traditional rulers in the state at Government House, Gusau, towards ensuring safe return of the students.
The commissioner of police in the state, Abutu Yaro, also said the girls were yet to be released.
“I want to call the attention of the good people of Zamfara State, they should disregard any fake news regarding the release of the abducted students of GGSS Jangebe by one national daily. It’s not true. But, Alhamdulillah, the state government and securities are their trying their best,” he said in a short to PT.
Dele Momodu says the former President -- Olusegun Obasanjo encouraged Yahaya Bello, the Kogi State Governor to intensify his fight against insecurity.
''Former PRESIDENT OLUSEGUN OKIKIOLAKAN AREMU OBASANJO has encouraged GOVERNOR YAHYA BELLO of Kogi State to intensify his fight against insecurity during a meeting in Abuja today...'', Dele Momodu wrote on twitter.
