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Bayelsa monarch warns politicians against fueling Amassoma crisis
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bayelsa monarch warns politicians against fueling amassoma crisis1 a first class traditional ruler in bayelsa state and amananaowei of amassoma1 his royal highness maj. graham naingba retired1 has raised the alarm that politicians are exploiting the crisis in the community to cause fresh tension over the 2019 general elections1 -
Champions League final: Kiev hotels scare away Madrid fans
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liverpool chief executive peter moore said he was still hopeful a favourable solution can be reached to help those left behind1 real madrid fans have returned 1000 tickets for saturdays champions league final against liverpool as spiralling accommodation and travel costs deter supporters from travelling to kiev1 as anger mounts over the rocketing prices and cancelled bookings with some hotels charging up to 100 times their standard rates liverpool said they had complained to the highest levels of european footballs governing body1 ukrainian uefa vice-president grigoriy surkis criticised the behaviour of hotel owners looking to make a quick buck for the clash between the two european giants who have won the competition 17 times between them1 i am not disappointed i am furious he told afp. i think it is a disgrace for the capital where individual hotel owners did not give everyone a chance to come here by raising the prices not ten-fold the way it happens in other cities but nearly a hundredfold1 around 1000 liverpool fans also face the prospect of being stranded in england after a number of charter flights were cancelled due to a disagreement between a travel company and aviation authorities in kiev over the size of the aircraft1 uefa president aleksander ceferin said the tickets could not be resold to liverpool fans for security reasons but they would instead be put on sale for local fans in the ukrainian capital1 however moore criticised the infrastructure in kiev which hosted the euro 2012 final as not fit for purpose1 they just dont have the airport infrastructure and the hotel capacity to cope with an event of this size and there isnt another major city within real hitting distance of it he told the liverpool echo newspaper1 its not only affected liverpool fans but real madrid fans too. there will be lessons learned from this. rest assured ive raised this at the highest levels of uefa1 the decision to award the final to kiev was made before ceferins election as president in 2016 and the slovenian has already reintroduced a tender process with evaluation reports on cities bidding for finals1 istanbuls 76000-capacity ataturk olympic stadium was named as the host for the 2020 final on thursday while next seasons final will take place at atletico madrids wanda metropolitano1 -
Court scolds House of Reps over Jibrins suspension
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the house should not desecrate itself by openly exhibiting lack of faith in the constitution and the rule of law to which it owes its very existence1 the federal high court abuja on thursday scolded the house of representatives for unlawfully suspending former chairman house committee on appropriation abdulmumin jibrin for 180 legislative days1 he then dragged the house the speaker and the clerk of the house to court to challenge the suspension1 justice john tsoho in his judgement declared that the action of the house was unconstitutional. it was the second time a judicial review of a national assembly action was being thrown overboard as unconstitutional. another federal high court in abuja had overruled the suspension of senator ovie omo-agege by the senate1 justice tsoho said it was necessary to admonish the house to perform its duties with the constitution in mind and avoid arbitrariness bias and impartiality1 at this juncture a general admonition is deemed necessary1 the house of representatives should be the bastion of representative democracy in nigeria and should thus hold as very dear the tenets of democracy and stick tenaciously to same1 democracy thrives on and is fuelled by the rule of law and not by the rule of force arbitrariness or impunity1 jibrin was suspended in 2016 for alleging that the speaker yakubu dogara and other principal officers of the house padded the 2016 budget with about n40 billion1 drawing from a traditional adage it is apt to state that any entity that challenges its soul to a fight is doomed and will fail the judge said1 the judge nullified the suspension of the lawmaker and ordered the house of representatives to pay all outstanding salaries and allowances that accrued to him while he was on suspension1 the suspension is null and void and of no effect whatsoever1 according to tsoho the defendants by suspending jibrin violated his rights as enshrined in section 39 of the 1999 constitution as amended1 he added that the defendants were biased when the principal officers who raised the allegation against jibrin were part of the committee that investigated the matter1 the court maintained that it was wrong for the defendants to be judge in their own case1 the court further held that the house erred when it went ahead to suspend jibrin not minding the pendency of an action against it1 the court also held that according to the house standing rules the house could not suspend jibrin for more than 14 legislative days or 30 legislative days in more serious matters1 -
PDP chairman, others remanded
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adjokwu who rejected the plea by defendants counsel mr charles edosomwan ordered them to be remanded in prison until they met the bail conditions1 the federal high court in benin has ordered that the chairman of peoples democratic party pdp in edo chief dan orbih be remanded in prison custody if he failed to perfect his bail1 also granted bail in the same condition were the former deputy governor mr lucky imasuen a former member of the house of representatives tony azegnemi and efe anthony1 justice p. adjokwu ordered the defendants to produce a surety each in like sum1 the judge ordered that the sureties who must not be below salary grade level 16 must also be house owners with certificates of occupancy c of o that should be deposited with the courts deputy registrar1 the court had on thursday granted the orbih and mr osagie ize-iyamu the 2016 governorship candidate bail in the sum of n10 million for alleged n700 million fraud1 the judge adjourned the case till july 41 efcc had arraigned the defendants on an eight-count charge of laundering the sum of n700 million1 the efcc alleged that the defendants were arraigned for receiving n700 million prior to the 2015 general elections from former oil minister diezani alison-madueke1 the money was part of the 115 million that diezani pilfered from the treasury1 he said the offence contravened section 152dof the money laundering prohibited act 2011as amended by the money laundering prohibition punishable under section 153 of same act. nan1 -
APC restructuring panel doing a good job Dickson
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so i thank the president for availing me the opportunity to share perspectives on very serious issues on security stability and development of bayelsa and the niger delta region of nigeria1 gov. seriake dickson of bayelsa has praised governor nasir el-rufai apcs panel on restructuring for doing a good job1 he stressed the need to expand the scope of consultation on the restructuring saying that all parts of nigeria needed to be carried along especially the leadership of northern nigeria1 dickson told journalists on thursday after he updated president muhammadu buhari on security and socio-economic developments in bayelsa and the niger delta region1 dickson who held a closed door meeting with the president said he stressed the need for change in approach to security management in the niger delta during the meeting1 the governor who described his interaction with the president as fruitful said the meeting also deliberated on the issue of devolution of power1 dickson stressed that nigeria was in dire need of devolution or restructuring in order to guarantee stability1 we talked about the need to revisit the brass energy we talked about the need for change in approach to security management in the niger delta we talked about the challenges of stabilizing the niger delta and the need for federal support1 we talked about a whole range of other issues including what we think should be the final response to the ongoing debate about devolution and i believe that we had a very fruitful interaction he said1 the governor reiterated the determination of his administration to continue to partner with the federal government and security agencies to advance and consolidate security of life and property in the region1 he said governors of the niger delta region are doing a lot and as governors we will continue to do our best working with the security agencies we should be apolitical in supporting constituted authorities in the states1 we expect that this interaction will yield positive results. nan1 -
APC shifts Convention date
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the ruling all progressives congress apc has rescheduled its national convention for saturday june 23 20181 the party gave the new date via its official twitter handle @officialapcng on thursday night1 the national publicity secretary mallam bolaji abdullahi added that inauguration of new party executives will subsequently hold on monday june 25 20181 the decision followed the partys approval of a request by the national convention committee chaired by the governor of jigawa state alhaji mohammed badaru abubakar1 before now the apc had settled for june 2 for its national convention as contained in a notice to the independent national electoral commission inec but many stakeholders pushed for the new date in view of the ongoing ramadan which will be concluded before june 231 -
Your position is threatened by women, Buhari tells Osinbajo
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where a man is a president we expect that the vice president should be a woman where a man is speaker we expect that the deputy speaker should be a woman and vice versa she said1 president muhammadu buhari on friday alerted vice president vp yemi osinbajo that his position as vp was being threatened by nigerian women in politics1 the women under the auspices of the nigerian female parliamentarians made the request when they paid a courtesy call on buhari at the presidential villa abuja1 the chairperson of organisation mrs elizabeth ativie who spoke on behalf the delegation lamented that nigerian women were being marginalised by their male counterparts in the nations body politics1 since 1999 we only have one principal officer each in the senate and the house of representatives1 and in the state houses of assembly we have only just five per cent women are five per cent of the total population of elected members of the state houses of assembly and we feel that this is not good enough for all the efforts we women had put in the development of this country particularly in politics1 we feel the trend now needs to be reversed and we feel you are the only one who can do it now1 the implementation strategy is simple. any statement you make today is a policy statement and is a law1 now your excellency is twinning. many african countries have imbibed that culture of twinning and is working in rwanda in south africa is working and we believe it will work in nigeria1 the president stated this while reacting to a request by nigerian women who asked for the slot of vice president of nigeria in subsequent elections in the country1 besides ativie called on the buhari administration to invest more in womens participation in politics by creating an enabling environment for women to thrive and tackle perceived systematic and cultural hindrances to womens inclusion1 she commended the president for the recent approval given to the inspector-general of police to employ youths into the nigeria police force and expressed the optimism that at least 35 per cent of the those to be recruited would be female police1 she also called on the president to urgently intervene in the protracted industrial action embarked upon by the joint health sector union johesu1 she said indeed this strike action bites harder on women and children who are the most vulnerable in our society1 we humbly appeal to your excellency to graciously look into the issues as the father of the nation in order for the health sector to bounce back and ameliorate the plight of the citizens1 responding buhari noted the efforts of women in ensuring political stability in the country and for the support given to him during the 2015 presidential elections1 on their demands including the vp slot in future elections in the country buhari regretted that he was not as powerful as you think im1 it is a pity the vice president is not here. but i believe the secretary to the government of the federation will tell him that his position is threatened he jokingly told the visiting female parliamentarians1 -
Drug abuse: NDLEA to raid black spots
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the spokesman said that the menace of drug abuse had become a global concern as citizens particularly young people in several countries were engaged in the act1 the national drug law enforcement agency ndlea fct command says it is poised to curb drug abuse and trafficking among youths in the territory through surprise raiding strategy srs1 he explained that the srs as the name implies involves surprise raids on the traffickers black spots and hideouts in the territory such as zone 4 bannex jabi and other areas in the outskirts of the fct1 according to adegbe the strategy is part of the agencys efforts in tackling drug vendors and traffickers in the territory and environs1 he said the command would achieve the goal by ensuring that the demand and supply of both cocaine and cannabis sativa are reduced to the barest minimum1 once people especially the youths are well informed about the dangers of drug abuse the demand will drastically reduce and this will affect the supply1 the command has chosen to tackle the menace of drug abuse and ridding the territory with this new strategy he said1 mr peter adegbe the public relations officer pro of the command disclosed this in an interview with the news agency of nigeria nan on friday in abuja1 it is disheartening that children at tender age already have problem using drugs1 there should be deliberate and sustained efforts at educating the younger generation on drug prevention adegbe said1 the spokesman said the command would not relent in its efforts to rid the fct of hard drugs adding that several campaigns had been held in this regard1 he urged nigerians especially parents and guardians to give listening ears to their children and youths who were the vulnerable groups against drug abuse1 adegbe also appealed to residents of the fct to join hands with the ndlea in ensuring a responsible society void of social vices1 the public needs to understand that they should also support the ndlea in tackling this drug menace he said1 -
Iran gives EU deadline to save nuclear deal
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washington has not only re-imposed sanctions but started to make them even tighter. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo on monday threatened iran with the strongest sanctions in history if it did not change its behavior in the middle east1 reutersnan iran wants european powers to present it with measures by the end of may to compensate it for the u.s. decision to abandon the 2015 nuclear deal a senior official said on friday1 the 2015 agreement between iran and world powers lifted international sanctions on tehran1 in return the middle east country agreed to curb its nuclear programme1 since president donald trump pulled the u.s. out on may 8 european states have been trying to find a way to ensure iran still gets the economic benefits to persuade it to stay in the deal1 but that has proven difficult with european companies frightened away by u.s. sanctions1 nations that remain in the agreement britain china france germany and russia began meetings on friday for the first time since trump left the pact but diplomats see limited scope for salvaging it1 their officials will try to flesh out with irans deputy foreign minister a strategy to save the deal by keeping oil and investment flowing1 to be honest with you we are not confident a senior iranian official told reporters on friday before the talks1 eu leaders have united behind the accord with brussels working on measures including banning eu-based companies from complying with re-imposed u.s. sanctions and urging governments to make money transfers to irans central bank to avoid fines1 we expect the economic package to be given to us by the end of may the iranian official said. im sorry to say that we havent seen the plan b yet1 the plan b has just started to be figured out1 he said european measures would need to ensure that oil exports did not halt and that iran would still have access to the swift international bank payments messaging system1 the official said tehran would decide within weeks whether to quit the accord1 pompeo was like taking a cold shower said a european diplomat. well try to cling to the deal but were under no illusions1 irans supreme leader set out conditions on wednesday for iran to stay in the deal unless europe guarantees irans oil sales will not be hurt tehran would resume enrichment of nuclear material1 he also rejected any new negotiations over irans missile program which was not covered in the nuclear deal1 the official said time was running out and that if iran was not satisfied by european efforts iran would seek a ministerial meeting before making its decision1 iran has struggled to benefit from the accord so far partly because of remaining unilateral u.s. sanctions that have deterred major western investors from doing business with tehran1 some western companies have already quit the country or said they may have to leave because of the new u.s. sanctions1 trump denounced the accord completed under his predecessor barack obama because it did not cover irans ballistic missile program its role in middle east conflicts or what happens after the deal begins to expire in 20251 french president emmanuel macron wants to complement the nuclear deal with negotiations between all sides over other issues an idea cautiously received by russian president vladimir putin during talks in st. petersburg on thursday1 our position is very clear make the jcpoa iran deal a successful story then come to us and ask for dialogue or discussion or negotiation on other subjects the iranian official said1 european nations share u.s. concerns but they say that torpedoing the nuclear deal makes them far harder not easier to address1 they have said that as long as tehran meets its commitments they would remain in the deal1 the international atomic energy agency which polices the pact said on thursday that iran continued to comply with its terms but could be faster in allowing snap inspections. its chief yukiya amano briefed participants before fridays meeting1 -
Australia, Netherlands hold Russia legally responsible for MH17 crash
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the case could next be presented to an international court or organization for judgement the dutch and australian governments said1 australia and the netherlands have decided to officially hold russia accountable for its role in downing of malaysia airlines flight mh17 in 2014 paving the way for the two countries to possibly take legal action against moscow1 the netherlands and australia are now convinced that russia is responsible for the deployment of the buk installation that was used to down mh17 dutch foreign affairs minister stef blok said in a statement on friday1 the government is now taking the next step by formally holding russia accountable blok said1 australia and the netherlands have informed the russian federation that we hold it responsible under international law for its role in the downing of mh17 australian foreign minister julie bishop said1 bishop and blok said their governments asked russia on friday to enter talks about its role in the disaster in order to find a solution that would do justice to the tremendous suffering and damage caused by the downing1 mh17 en route from amsterdam to kuala lumpur was shot down over eastern ukraine on july 17 2014 killing all 298 people on board. in a report from the dutch-led joint investigation team jit issued thursday international investigators said the buk anti-aircraft system used to bring down the jet belonged to the russian military1 the son of an australian couple killed in the disaster said earlier friday the international community should pressure russia to take responsibility after investigators found its military missile brought down the flight1 its good to see some strong evidence that russia was involved paul guard who lost his parents jill and roger in the disaster told australian broadcaster abc1 clearly russia has a lot of questions to answer as to what its missile launcher was doing there and why it was involved in this war in the first place1 he said governments have a problem in acknowledging their involvement in these sorts of things1 the us i think took over 10 years to acknowledge the shooting down of an iranian jet. im not expecting anything anytime soon.dpanan1 -
CAMA Act by Senate a lifeline to small businesses LCCI
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the fact that your excellency has a private sector background has brought a lot of value to the content and processes of legislation he added1 president of the lagos chamber of commerce and industry lcci mr. babatunde paul ruwase has lauded the passage of the companies and allied matters act cama act amendment bill by the senate1 ruwasegave the commendation when he led other executive members of the chamber on a courtesy visit to the president of the senate according to a statement by the chief press secretary to the president of the senate sanni onogu in in abuja1 the lcci boss noted that the passage of the cama amendment bill is a major step towards enhancing the business environment in the country1 he said that the bill when signed into law would reduce the burden of reporting obligations for small businesses reduce time and cost of of setting up a company and also facilitate the transition of many informal sector players to the formal sector of the economy1 he said that the amendment is timely in view of present economic realities as the country cannot afford a static legislation in a dynamic business and economic environment1 ruwase further stated that the beauty of legislation lies in how well it is aligned with contemporary realities and thanked the president of the senate for the efforts of the red chamber in promoting private sector development and for collaboration1 this is even as he said that cama will greatly boost and increase the viability of small businesses in the country1 in his remarks the president of the senate dr. abubakar bukola saraki thanked the lcci and its members for their contributions to the nations economic growth1 he noted that the 8th senate has been keen on working with the private sector to improve the nations economy and business environment right from its inception in 20151 he said that the senate with the collaboration of major players in the private sector had identified a number of critical laws that required urgent review to improve the ease of doing business in the country most of which have now been passed and signed into law1 this is a senate that is very pro-business. we believe that our role as a government is to create enabling environment that will allow businesses to thrive1 even in the area of infrastructure our focus has been on how we can pass laws to enable private sector participation. with our reforms in railways ports and road construction and maintenance we hope that the private sector will play a bigger role with the bills we have passed1 there are some bills that are still pending like the the investment and securities bill where there is a major amendment that we hope to pass very soon. we are also looking into the reform of the stock exchange to make it more attractive and also in line with global best practice he said1 saraki said the aim of the senate is to strengthen the economy and be able to provide jobs for the youth through legislation1 -
Trump says Democrats frustrating talks with N/Koreas Kim
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read more18 u.s. president donald trump has blamed democrats of frustrating talks between him and north korea leader kim jong un earlier scheduled to hold in singapore on june 121 democrats are so obviously rooting against us in our negotiations with north korea1 just like they are coming to the defense of ms 13 thugs saying that they are individuals1 dems have lost touch trump tweeted friday1 trump nixed the summit following threats from north korea but hours after the u.s. pulled out of the meeting north korea issued a statement suggesting the regime was open to talks1 very good news to receive the warm and productive statement from north korea1 we will soon see where it will lead hopefully to long and enduring prosperity and peace. only time and talent will tell trump tweeted on friday morning1 though trump said on friday that he was happy with north korea for leaving the door open for potential u.s.-north korea talks he maintained that democrats were against negotiations with the rogue regime1 they very much want to do it we want to do it well see what happens trump said. everybody plays games1 a top north korean official had issued a statement thursday evening expressing the regimes willingness to sit down for a summit with the u.s1 we express our willingness to sit down face-to-face with the u.s. and resolve issues anytime and in any format north korean vice foreign minister kim kye-gwan said according to yonhap newsoutlet which cited the korean central news agency kcna1 the official also said that trumps move to call off the summit highlighted the tensions between the two countries further emphasizing the need for a meeting. the official added that kim had been preparing for the summit1 despite all of this the u.s. unilateral decision to scrap the talks causes us to reconsider whether all of the efforts and the path we have taken is really the right one or not the official said according to yonhap1 our commitment to doing our best for the sake of peace and stability for the world and the korean peninsula remains unchanged and we are open-minded in giving time and opportunity to the u.s1 he also told reporters that were talking to them now adding it could even be the 121 -
JOHESU Strike: Saraki intervenes, meets Adewole, Ngige
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by ifeanyi nwoko15 the only thing i can assure you is that we will make sure that the right thing is done and that this matter is resolved he said1 the president of the senate dr. abubakar bukola saraki after a meeting with the leadership of johesu yesterday where he listened to their grievances and demands today met with the minister of health prof. isaac adewole and the minister of labour dr. chris ngige to hear their own side of the issue1 while meeting with the johesu leadership led by its chairman comrade biobelemonye joseph the president of the senate had pledged that the senate would ensure that the right thing is done to end the strike1 chief press secretary to the president of the senate sanni onogu in a statement in abuja said sarakis meeting with adewole and ngige was meant to hear their side of the issue and to forge a way forward not only to end the strike but to ensure that there is lasting peace and industrial harmony in the nations health institutions1 the senate has intervened in the ongoing industrial action embarked upon by the joint health sector unions johesu in a bid to end the strike and make the nations hospitals functional once again1 he noted that it is not in the interest of the country to have its hospitals closed while he pledged that the senate would work with all stakeholders to ensure that the strike is called off1 saraki said our interest here in the senate and the national assembly in general is to find a solution to this problem. it is not in the interest of the country for us to have our hospitals closed and we must work to ensure they are reopened promptly1 i have heard your remarks i will spend sometimes to discuss with you and get more details to see how we can put an end to this strike1 on our own part we will bring all parties involved together to ensure that where commitments have been made those who made the commitments honour them1 during his meeting with the leadership of johesu saraki said the senate and indeed the national assembly would ensure that the right thing is done to end the strike1 -
Northern group denies asking Buhari not to seek re-election
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the coalition was however quite surprised by some reports by a section of the media tending to suggest that we have asked certain aspirants to the 2019 presidency to shelve their ambition1 contrary to reports northern groups have denied asking president muhammadu buhari against seeking a re-election in 20191 the group described the report as misrepresentation1 mr abdul-azeez suleiman spokesman of cng said in a statement issued in lagos on wednesday that the cng did not discuss individual aspiration at its two-day summit in kaduna as reported in the media1 according to him the communiqu only highlighted its support for structural reforms with condition that only youths between ages 18 and 60 should represent the north1 the attention of the coalition of northern groups cng has been drawn to certain misrepresentations of parts of its communiqu of may 21 2018 by a section of the media1 while we do not want to believe that the misrepresentations though very fundamental were maliciously made we nevertheless owe the public a duty to straighten the records1 at the end of our two-day summit at arewa house kaduna a five-page communiqu was read by our spokesperson abdul-azeez suleiman in which we categorically stated that the north fully supports the restructuring of the country and shall be prepared to represent itself in any debate thereon1 our coalition said the north supported structural reforms with certain conditions he said1 according to him one of the terms is that those who will carry the banner to any future discussion with regards to nigerian federal arrangement should be within the 18 to 60 years bracket1 we said this out of a patriotic conviction that the older men who have been speaking and running the country since independence should cease to take the front seats at such national discourses1 the coalition of northern groups cng on wednesday also denied asking former vice president atiku abubakar not to contest presidential election1 we wish to respond here that at no time did the individual aspiration of any politician ever came up at our two-day summit nor was it mentioned anywhere in the communiqu we read1 our summit and subsequent communiqu essentially concentrated on the issue of restructuring. nowhere and at no time did we discuss such matters as the 2019 presidency suleiman said1 he said that the summit was sequel to calls from several quarters in the last six months asking for our position on the issue of restructuring1 suleiman said the group answered those calls by mandating a committee to sample the pulse of northern nigeria in that respect1 he said that the committee after contacting stakeholders across all shades of interest in the region reported that the north favoured restructuring of the country1 consequently we called for the summit at which participants unanimously confirmed norths support for total and holistic structural reform1 a communiqu was issued to that effect devoid of the slightest hint at partisanship or 2019 elections nor did we discuss the individual aspiration of any politician he added1 he advised media practitioners in the country to stick to their professional ethics of accurate reporting of events and avoid unnecessary sensational overkill1 nan reports that a section of the media on monday reported that cng asked buhari and abubakar not to contest for president in 20191 cngs position was reported to be contained in a communiqu issued after at the end of its two-day summit in kaduna. nan1 -
131,687 PVCs yet to be collected in Sokoto INEC
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the independent national electoral commission inec said no fewer than 131 687 permanent voter cards pvcs were still uncollected in sokoto state1 the commissions spokesman in the state malam muhammad musa told the news agency of nigeria nan on wednesday in sokoto that the unclaimed pvcs comprised 69 685 not claimed between 2011 and 20141 musa said that another set of 62 002 pvcs were recently received from inec national headquarters for distribution to owners adding that the distribution of the cards commenced on monday1 he said the continues voters registration cvr that started on april 27 2017 was in progress across the 39 collection and registration centres in the state1 he advised eligible persons to forward their temporary voter cards tvcs for the collection of pvcs at designated centres1 musa said that ongoing issuance of pvcs was to persons who applied for transfers lost defaced or destroyed cards1 the commission is assuring those who registered in 2018 that their pvcs will be ready for collection in good time before the 2019 general elections he said1 he however appealed to public to use the opportunity to collect their pvcs for use in the 2019 elections. nan1 -
Elections: Group to protect voters voices
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she said that the widespread development of non-partisan election monitoring around the world was a tangible evidence of citizens desire for responsive transparent and democratic governance achievable through voter education1 the voters union a programme of be-the-change organisation bco a civic advocacy organisation says it is committed to increasing the chances of peaceful credible elections and protection of voters voices1 she said the decision to create voters union came after a rigorous research for solution to boosting voters mood and increasing political participation1 according to her voters union is a voter advocacy platform where voters connect to achieve common goals1 olabisi listed the goals of the group to include increasing voters access to information1 to educate voters on voters rights duties and responsibilities to minimize oppression and suppression of voters voices to reduce the toxicity in political atmosphere to maintain and improve relationship between the voters and the voted1 with voters union protecting constituency integrity protecting our votes and election follow ups becomes easy1 this will check the right of citizens to participate in public affairs without intimidation or favour she said1 voters union chairman ms diana olabisi who briefed newsmen on wednesday in abuja said that the group envisioned a well-informed passionate voters that were hard to be compromised1 the chairman said that by providing voter education election monitoring vote protection and constituency integrity the group was working to advance democratic goals and strengthening democratic institutions1 she said that voters union had made conscious decision for monitoring efforts that would safeguard electoral integrity and create governmental and political accountability1 on his part mr emeka ejezie national president actors guild of nigeria said he came to lend support to voters union1 he said that the most important persons in politics are the voters not the voted1 we need to protect our votes so that our voice will count before during and after election1 that is only the way we can effect a change and get the people we want into offices1 we have 150 members in 32 states as role models we want to join our voices with voters union he said1 he said the guild always made meaningful impact in any sector it identified with1 -
APC says no petition against Saraki Congress in Kwara
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as i am speaking to you we have not received any petition from anybody1 the all progressives congress apc appeal committee in kwara state has said there was no petition or appeal against the state congress conducted on saturday by senator bukola saraki-led faction which was supervised by the national secretariat of the party in ilorin1 egwuatu said the three -member committee were in the state for hearing of election petition that might have arisen from the state congress election1 he added that as at the 9 a. m on wednesday when their assignment ended the committee has not received any complaint against the conduct of the congress1 egwuatu said members of the committee arrived ilorin on sunday to hear any complaint petition and appeal against the state congress of the party1 he said he pasted notice on the board at the apc secretariat for any person with petition or complaint to submit same1 chairman of the committee mr osita egwuatu made this known in ilorin on wednesday at a news conference at the party secretariat1 today is the last day of the hearing of the petition up till now no petition from anybody egwuatu added1 he said that since there was no petition appeal or complaint from anybody it means that the congress went well in the state1 reports had indicated that two congresses of the party were held simultaneously on saturday with the saraki led group holding its own atthe banquet hall opposite the government house. it elected alhaji ishola balogun-fulani as chairman1 another faction loyal to the minister of information and culture alhaji lai mohammed held another congress at the arca santa event hall in ilorin and electedmoshood bolarinwa as chairman1 malam abdullahi samari was elected as the deputy chairman1 others were alhaji abdulganiyu saka secretary abegunde goge assistant secretary rahmat abolaji women leader and samuel isaac youth leader1