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Police engage robbers, kill one
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the police in taraba have engaged a gang of robbers and kidnappers killing one and arresting three at the borno bukuruku in bali local government1 the state commissioner of police mr david akinremi said in jalingo on saturday that the suspect was killed when the gang engaged the police in a shootout1 a gang of suspected armed robbers kidnappers engaged a team of police operatives in a gun duel in their borno bukuruku forest hideout in bali lga based on actionable intelligence received at about 10.00hrs1 in the process one of them was gunned down by the superior firepower of our operatives while three others halilu umaru 35 lawale shehu 22 isah abdullahi 25 were arrested akinremi said1 the commissioner said an ak47 rifle with eight rounds of ammunition criminal charms an army camouflage and cutlasses were recovered from the suspects1 he urged members of the public to watch out for other members of the gang who escaped with gunshot injuries and report them to the police1 akinremi warned armed robbers kidnappers and other criminals to steer clear from the state saying the police would arrest and bring them to justice sooner or later. nan1 -
Irelands pro-abortion campaigners win by a landslide
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afp25 ireland voted by a landslide to ditch its strict abortion laws in a landmark referendum that prime minister leo varadkar said had finally lifted decades of stigma and shame1 hugging celebrating singing and cheering wildly thousands crammed into the courtyard of dublin castle where the official result was declared chanting yes yes yes1 wonderful wonderful today is wonderful said 65-year-old eileen shields who had been ostracised for falling pregnant outside of marriage when she was 181 the crowds cheered and popped champagne corks as the result was announced. women and men wearing repeal tops and yes badges waved irish flags and placards reading thank you with love hearts on1 speaking through tears stasia clancy 64 said this is like an explosion of the repression and the suppression of the last 100 years1 at dublins rds count centre 40-year-old nurse ruth bowie wept at the results1 she told afp i had to leave my country to get the healthcare that i needed when i was told that my baby wouldnt survive outside the womb and ive told my story over and over again just in the hope that this day would come and its finally come1 veil of stigma lifted1 the final results of fridays referendum showed 66.4 percent voted for removing the constitutional ban while 33.6 voted against1 some 1429981 votes were cast for yes. the turnout was 64 percent1 among the 40 constituencies the pro-choice vote peaked at 78 percent in dublin bay south while rural donegal was the only one to vote against liberalising abortion by 52 percent1 more than 66 percent of voters in what has been a traditionally staunchly catholic country backed repealing the constitutional ban on terminations triggering scenes of tearful jubilation in dublin on saturday after a divisive and often emotional campaign1 no more stigma. the veil of secrecy is lifted. no more isolation. the burden of shame is gone1 he said saturday would be remembered as the day ireland stepped out from under the last of our shadows and into the light. the day we came of age as a country1 his government proposes allowing abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and between 12 and 24 weeks in exceptional circumstances1 varadkar said he wanted the law in force by the end of the year and health minister simon harris told afp that the cabinet would meet on tuesday to approve the drafting of legislation1 crumbling church influence1 the result is another hammer blow to the roman catholic churchs authority in ireland coming three years after referendum voters backed legalising same-sex marriage by 62 percent1 the churchs influence has crumbled in recent years due to a series of child sex abuse scandals1 the referendum comes three months before pope francis visits ireland for the world meeting of families1 an exit poll for the irish times newspaper suggested 70 percent of women and 65 percent of men voted to overturn the ban1 people over 65 voted 60 percent against. however all other age groups backed the proposal with support at 87 percent among voters aged 18 to 241 ailbhe smyth 71 co-director of the official together for yes campaign said real-life testimonies from women affected by the ban had helped swing the vote1 a quiet revolution has taken place varadkar said in a speech at dublin castle1 -
Qatar bans goods from Saudi, UAE
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the order comes just days before the anniversary of a bitter gulf crisis1 qatar has ordered shops to remove goods originating from a group of saudi arabian-led countries which a year ago imposed a wide-ranging boycott on the emirate doha officials said saturday1 inspectors will visit stores to ensure they comply with the order the ministry said1 the government will also try and stop products such as saudi dairy goods from entering qatar via a third country1 qatars government communications office gco said it was trying to protect the safety of consumers1 products originating from blockading states which as a result of the blockade cannot pass the gcc customs territory has to undergo proper import inspections and customs procedures the gco said in a statement1 qatar conducts its trade policy in accordance with all of its multilateral and bilateral agreements1 a directive from the economy ministry ordered shops to immediately strip shelves of products from saudi arabia the uae bahrain and egypt1 since june 5 last year saudi arabia the uae bahrain and egypt have cut all relations with qatar accusing it of financing terrorist groups and having close ties with iran1 the countries subsequently imposed a trade and diplomatic boycott on qatar which rejects the charges and says the countries are seeking regime change in doha1 the row has forced isolated qatar which previously relied on its gulf neighbours to look elsewhere for food imports including turkey morocco and iran1 many such imports enter the country via ports such as kuwait and oman1 it is through these ports and also via individuals that goods from the boycotting countries manage to get in to qatar said a source with knowledge of the situation1 businessmen from the blockading countries are trying to go around the blockade by using third parties said the source1 -
Protesters demand Nicaraguas Ortega, wife quit
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ortega a former sandinista guerrilla who first ruled between 1979 and 1990 before returning as president 11 years ago had kept power by maintaining leftist rhetoric while ensuring an accommodation with powerful private industry and keeping up trade with the united states1 hundreds of protesters in nicaragua have resumed their protest blocking roads in many parts of the country with at least eight more people killed in the last 24-hours1 hundreds of demonstrators in the north center and south of the central american nation were blocking highways on saturday demanding ortega and his wife vice president rosario murillo stand down1 since protests began on april 18 at least 83 people have been killed and more than 860 wounded police and rights activists say1 four people were killed on friday and another four by mid-day saturday police and family members said1 unrest resumed since week-long church-mediated talks between the government and opposition to quell a month of violence broke down late on wednesday1 but demonstrators have voiced frustration over corruption the autocratic style of ortega and murillo limited options to change the countrys politics in elections and the presidents control over congress the courts the military and the electoral board1 the organization of american states has called for ortega to call early elections an issue which became the biggest stumbling block in dialogue1 foreign minister denis moncada said an early ballot would mean dismantling constitutional order and the democratically elected government1 before protests broke out an oas team had been trying to mediate in a process aimed at bringing about new elections as well as electoral reforms1 ortega and murillo were elected in november 2016 for a term that ends in january 20221 -
Kim Wholeheartedly ready for June 12 talks with Trump: Moon
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xinhua4 kim jong un leader of the democratic peoples republic of korea dprk and u.s. president donald trump are willing to hold the first-ever historic summit as scheduled in singapore1 the confirmation came after moon held a surprise summit saturday with kim on the dprk side of the border village of panmunjom. moon met with trump in washington on may 22 to discuss the dprk-u.s. summit1 the south korean leader said he met with kim for the second time in a month following the third inter-korean summit on the south korean side of panmunjom on april 27. the second meeting between moon and kim was held at the request of the dprk leader1 at the april 27 summit moon and kim promised to meet at any time in any place and in no format if necessary to discuss significant issues between the two koreas1 kim had delivered his intent friday afternoon to meet with moon in no format which the south korean president willingly accepted1 moon spoke highly his second meeting with kim which the south korean leader likened to a daily round between old friends. he said the two koreas should meet as it was1 during the saturday meeting moon explained to kim about the outcome of his summit with trump in washington earlier this week conveying trumps firm will to end hostile relations with the dprk and build economic cooperation if kim fulfills complete denuclearization of the korean peninsula1 moon told kim that pyongyang and washington should dispel possible misunderstandings via direct dialogues and have sufficient working-level talks over agenda that needs to be agreed upon at the kim-trump summit as both kim and trump wholeheartedly wished the success of the dprk-u.s. summit1 kim agreed to the need for what moon told him the south korean president noted1 south korean president moon jae-in on sunday confirmed this in a nationally televised address at the presidential complex saying both kim and trump wished the success of their summit originally scheduled for june 12 wholeheartedly1 moon and kim wished the june 12 dprk-u.s. summit could be held as scheduled and the journey of denuclearizing the korean peninsula and building permanent peace should never be stopped. the leaders agreed to closely cooperate to achieve it1 to rapidly enforce the panmunjom declaration which moon and kim announced after the april 27 summit the two sides agreed to resume high-level inter-korean dialogue on june 1 which had been cancelled at the last minute1 it will be followed by inter-korean military talks to ease military tensions and a red cross talks to hold the reunion of separated families across the inter-korean border since the 1950-53 korean war ended with an armistice according to the south korean president who took office in may last year1 moon and kim also agreed to meet and communicate if necessary at any time and in no format moon said1 the inter-korean talks between high-level officials were originally held last week but pyongyang made a pre-dawn cancellation citing the joint annual south korea-u.s. air combat exercises codenamed max thunder that ended on friday1 in a publicized letter to the dprk leader trump cancelled the dprk-u.s. summit on thursday citing tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in recent dprk statements1 following the cancellation the dprk said it was ready to sit down with the united states and then trump said the u.s.-dprk summit likely remained as scheduled1 moon said in the speech that the dprk showed its determination by dismantling its nuclear test site and stopping nuclear and missile tests calling it a completely new start toward complete denuclearization and permanent peace on the peninsula1 pyongyang invited journalists earlier this week to let them cover the dismantlement of the punggye-ri nuclear test site where all of its six nuclear tests were conducted1 the dprk leader made clear his commitment to complete denuclearization of the korean peninsula at the saturday meeting expressing his willingness to end the history of war and conflicts and cooperate for peace and prosperity via a successful dprk-u.s. summit1 -
Frustrated Senators Hunkuyi, Sani to dump APC
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these are fears which the akida group had raised since the early days of the administration of governor nasir el-rufai1 frustrated by the lingering impasse in the ruling all progressives congress apc senators suleiman hunkuyi and shehu sani are considering dumping the party1 the faction known as apc akida said in a statement in kaduna on friday that they have concluded a review of the state of the party and governance issues in the state and the nation and was considering leaving the party they worked hard to put in place1 the group said it would take the decision if there is no visible evidence of success in addressing the damaging levels of alienation and frustration among the millions of party faithful in kaduna state1 other prominent members of the faction that are set to discard apc are isah ashiru former apc governorship aspirant and mr. mataimaki tom maiyashi1 maiyashi chairman of the group who signed the statement said two recent events in the state chapter of the party have confirmed the fears of the absence of credible and legitimate party leadership1 these he said were capable of destroying the credibility and popularity of the party1 the party congresses and the local government councils elections in kaduna state have confirmed the fears of the absence of credible and legitimate party leadership and this would destroy the credibility and popularity of the party1 their faction of apc in kaduna state says it was considering defecting to another political party barely few months to the 2019 general elections1 the congresses have exposed the contempt for popular participation by the governor and his hand-picked choir1 our party has lost massive popularity and goodwill as a result of attempts to force the choices of an unpopular government on party faithful he said1 maiyashi said those who emerged as leaders of the party from the congresses enjoyed no support or legitimacy among party members1 it has become painfully aware that all efforts to halt the damage being done to our party including many attempts by the leadership of the apc at zonal and national levels are unlikely to reverse the decline in our partys capacity to live up to its promises made to the people in 20151 the akida group has informed all relevant party organs and leaders that it will regretfully consider leaving a party it worked hard to put in place if there is no visible evidence of success in addressing the damaging levels of alienation and frustration among the millions of party faithful in kaduna state1 as things stand the founding values of our party particularly integrity accountability inclusiveness and compassion have been systematically repudiated by the government of nasir el-rufai starting with the subversion of the autonomy and integrity of the party at all levels in the state1 we appeal to anyone with authority or influence over the governor to use it responsibly to head off a looming disaster in the shape of a party that has lost its foundations and integrity he said. nan1 -
NASS transmits budget to president
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in his remarks president of the senate dr bukola saraki said that there was need to grow the economy away from oil1 the recently passed 2018 appropriation bill has been transmitted to the presidency for the assent of president muhammadu buhari1 the nass had on may 16 passed the 2018 appropriation bill of n9.12 trillion1 the budget was increased by the legislature by n508 billion from the n8.61 trillion proposed and presented by president buhari to the nass in november 20171 enang in a statement in abuja said he had received the 2018 budget passed by both chambers of the nass and was set to be transmitted to the president for further action1 i have received the 2018 appropriation bill for onward transmission to the president as soon as possible1 since the appropriation bill has been received what is left is for it to be transmitted immediately to the president he said1 the national assembly on may 16 passed the 2018 appropriation bill of n9.12 trillion after it was increased by the lawmakers by n508 billion1 chairman of the committee sen. danjuma goje presented the budget and explained that it was premised on oil price benchmark of 51 dollars per barrel as against 45 dollars proposed by the president1 he added that it also benchmarked at crude oil production of 2.3 million barrels per day and exchange rate of n305 to one dollar1 goje said that of the aggregate expenditure of n9.12 trillion n530 billion was earmarked for statutory transfers while n2 trillion was earmarked for debt service1 he added that n3.5 trillion was earmarked for recurrent expenditure n2.8 trillion for capital expenditure n1.95 trillion for fiscal deposit while deficit to gross domestic product was put at -1.73 per cent1 he recalled that the 2018 budget as presented by buhari had the objective of delivering on a three year 2018-2020 economic recovery and growth plan ergp1 the bill contained the estimates of revenue and expenditure totalling n8 612 236 953 2141 it was made up of statutory transfers of n 456 458 654 074 and debt service of n2 233 835 365 6991 recurrent non-debt expenditure is n3 494 277 820 219 and contribution to development fund for capital expenditure is n2 427665113222 he said1 goje disclosed that there was additional allocation to security to the tune of n47 billion reduction of deficit n51 billion and health n57 billion1 other additional allocations according to him are power works and housing n107 billion n16 billion to education particularly for infrastructure for the 12 newly-established universities and meal subsidy in unity schools1 he also said that n10 billion was allocated to judiciary while additional provision of n44 billion was allocated to niger delta development commission nddc1 the committee chairman therefore explained that the various additional allocations accounted for the budget increment from n8.61 trillion to n9.12 trillion1 he regretted the delay in the passage of the budget but said that it was not entirely the fault of the national assembly1 lawmakers commented on the budget with james manager delta-pdp saying that to avoid speculations it was important to let nigerians know that the increment in the budget was in consultation with the executive1 sen. lanre tejuoso apc-ogun described the bill as a budget of transformation with the introduction of one per cent consolidated revenue fund crf in the health allocation1 he explained that the implication of the one per cent was that a minimum of 3000 nigerians in each local government area would have their health bills paid for by government1 sen. ita enang the senior special assistant to the president on national assembly matters senate confirmed on friday the receipt of the 2018 appropriation bill1 he also said that government spending must continue to grow on issues relevant to the welfare and security of the people1 saraki stressed that government spending should reduce in areas where the private sector was better placed to catalyse progress adding that it would free up funds for education health water and sanitation services among others1 on this note it is with great delight that i announce that the 2018 budget has met the threshold of reserving at least one per cent of total budget to health1 this is historic. we were focused on this commitment of the one per cent set aside for the basic health care provision fund bhcpf. we promised and we have delivered1 for us this is not a commitment to numbers it is a commitment to the health and well-being of our people it is a commitment to making nigeria stronger1 we expect that this will continue and even inch upwards as we work to eradicate malaria and significantly reduce infant and maternal mortality1 the statistics that show nigeria as having one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world is not the nigeria we want to leave behind for our children1 the journey starts now let us not look back he said1 saraki emphasised the need for the executive and the legislature to come together especially in the formation and passage of appropriation bill1 he said that while progress had been made in the formation stages a lot more needed to happen to minimise delays and other stumbling blocks in the process1 one of the symptoms of the unhelpful aspects of the prevailing culture hampering the process remains the neglect or refusal of certain agencies of government to honour invitations to budget defence1 it is our hope that we will see a major change in this regard going forward1 the petroleum industry governance bill pigb has been passed it should of course be duly signed and implemented so that our people can reap the full dividends of this landmark legislation1 we would like to see that the process of implementation of the budget starts immediately so that our people will begin to benefit from the objective of the budget and opportunities it opens1 in order for us to have an efficient budget implementation we will advise that agencies of government eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and speed up the procurement process he said1 passing the bill at the house of representatives the lawmakers warned the federal government not to engage in extra-budgetary spending unless through supplementary appropriation1 they also barred the government from borrowing without first furnishing the legislature with details of the borrowing plan and obtaining approval1 chairman house committee on media and public affairs rep. abdulrazak namdas who briefed the media on the conditions given to the government said that the house had constituted a conference committee to liaise with the senate on the conditions1 he said that the budget must henceforth run a full circle of 12 months1 we have set up a conference committee to harmonise with the senate based on the new clauses passed by the house1 we believe that a clean copy of the budget will be ready by next week and sent to the president for assent1 namdas explained that the budget was jacked up based on a new oil benchmark of 51 dollars crude oil production of 2.3 million barrels per day and an exchange rate of n305 to one dollar1 after close consultation with the executives the increase in oil benchmark was applied in the following critical sectors of the economy reduction of deficit amounted to n50.88 billion security n46.72 billion health n57.15 billion power works and housing n106.50 billion. nan1 -
Nwuruku, Ogbaga to manage Ebonyi rice mills
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gov. david umahi of ebonyi has appointed a former nigerian ambassador to mexico chief lawrence nwuruku and a former minister of state for power and steel chief goddy ogbaga to manage two rice mills in ikwo and izzi local government areas lga1 nwuruku also a former independent national electoral commission inec national commissioner would manage the ikwo rice mill while ogbaga was appointed the chairman of the rice mill located in iboko izzi lga1 umahi made the announcements on friday during the novelty football matches involving the various arms of governments and parastatals in the state as part of events to mark the 2018 democracy day celebrations1 the governor commended the organisers of the novelty matches noting that the excitement had reduced the blood pressure of spectators at the refurbished pa ngele oruta stadium1 he also announced a donation of n5 million to participants of the matches with the six winning teams getting n500 000 each1 the four-runners up will get n400 000 each while the officials would also get n400 000 he said1 nan reports that ogbaga and nwuruku recently declared their intentions to run for the ebonyi north and central senatorial seats of the state respectively1 -
North, South Korea leaders meet over Trump
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read more18 leaders of north and south korea have met to ensure the historic meeting between north korea leader kim jong un and the u.s. president donald trump still holds1 south korean president moon jae-in met with his north korean counterpart kim jong un in the demilitarized zone for the second time in a month on saturday to discuss the peace commitments they reached in their first summit1 there has been uncertainty over the north korea-u.s. meeting following various demands by trump and his north korean counterpart1 the meeting between the korean leaders came hours after president donald trump suggested his june 12 meeting with kim may still go ahead1 moons office which released photos of the meeting said the leaders met on the north korean side of the demilitarized zone in the village of panmunjom between 3 and 5 p.m. local time1 the blue house said moon would personally announce the outcome of saturdays summit on sunday1 the two leaders reportedly spoke for two hours to frankly discuss how they could make the potential summit between kim and trump a success1 the meeting came hours after south korea expressed relief over revived talks for a summit between trump and kim following a whirlwind 24 hours that saw the u.s. president cancel the meeting1 in their first summit in april kim and moon announced vague aspirations for a nuclear-free korean peninsula and permanent peace which seoul has tried to sell as a meaningful breakthrough to set up the summit with trump1 -
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