The meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the national opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will hold on Monday.

The national leadership of the party sent out an invitation to members of the committee to converge at its national secretariat Monday.

The notice sent out was however silent on the agenda of the meeting which had been slated for 4pm.

The notice of the meeting was signed by the National Secretary of the party, Sen. Umaru Tsauri.

Meanwhile, the partys threat to boycott next years elections, has been criticised and that it was being hunted by its past.

The National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, said PDP was being haunted by its past treatment of electoral contests as a do-or-die affair.

He warned that APC would not be intimidated by any threat of the PDP or any other party as it was committed to the sustenance of democracy and the sanctity of one man, one vote.

The former Labour leader described the move by the PDP as akin to that of a rabbit jumping out of a hole in the afternoon because a hunter has come to put fire to smoke it out.

The PDP fired back, saying APC was jittery over coalition between PDP and 38 others.

Source: NAN

Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed has hailed the elevation of the Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki from the title of Turaki of Ilorin to Waziri of Ilorin by the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu Gambari.

The Governor said this in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Abdulwahab Oba on Sunday in Ilorin.

Ahmed described the elevation as well-deserved considering the contributions of the Senate President to the development of the Emirate in particular and the entire state at large.

The announcement of the elevation to the prestigious title of Waziri by the Emir was a pleasant but fitting surprise to cap our joy over the exoneration by the Supreme Court from the Code of Conduct Tribunal trial.

It is fitting that you have stepped into the traditional shoes of your father and our great mentor,Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki.

The time is apt, the occasion is unique and your profile is most fitting for this honour, Ahmed said.

The governor observed that the elevation would no doubt serve as morale booster for the Senate President to continue to do more for the emirate and the entire state.

Gov Ahmed therefore, enjoined the new Waziri Ngeri of Ilorin not to relent on his oars to attract development and growth to the state and empowerment for its people.

The governor prayed God to guide the new Waziri and grant him wisdom to pilot the affairs of the new traditional office.

Source: NAN

Nigerias Minister of Sports and Youths Development, Barr. Solomon Dalung, has disclosed the cause of the road mishap which befell his convoy in Gombe on Saturday.

This was, even as, the Minister read the riot act to youths including those whom he described as elements who hijacked the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) for personal enrichment, while truncating the vision and mission of youth agenda in Nigeria.

Dalung who was in Gombe for the National Unity Convention of NYCN, the first to be successfully held in the last 10 years, explained how his convoy got involved in a ghastly accident after being received atat the airport by Amb (Dr.) Dickson Akoh, Chairman of Board of the Council.

The convoy was returning from Gombe airport when, in Akku village, some kilo metres away from the city centre, a 406 Peugeot heading to Bauchi rammed into the convoy.

Briefing newsmen in Gombe, Dalung said the driver of the 406 Peugeot, immediately he sighted the convoy, panicked and swerved off the road into the bush.

He manipulated his way trying to come back to the highway but when he came this time, he crossed over, smashed about 2 or 3 vehicles in the convoy, somersaulted and went into flames.

One of our vehicles also somersaulted and we have some degrees of injuries. From what I was told, we lost one life instantly.

When asked if he made any effort to rescue the victims, the Minister said It was only my car and one other car that left the scene immediately, the rest of the cars in the convoy remained to move all those involved to the hospital for medical attention.

I have visited them in the two hospitals where they are receiving treatment. As I am talking right now, seven people have been discharged so far.

Dalung said as a sign of respect for the departed souls, the election would be shifted to Sunday, saying despite the distractions and antics of those who dont want the progress of the NYCN, the convention would still hold in Gombe as planned.

The Minister commended the delegates for traveling far distance,

We will not be deterred because we are committed to deliver credible leadership in NYCN. We will proceed, he said.

After many years of crisis which had bedeviled the NYCN leadership, from one colour of court order to another one, from one junior faction to another senior one, from one caretaker committee to another sole administration, and different forms of aberration that have truncated the vision and mission of youth agenda in Nigeria.

For those who believe that the NYCN is a platform for making wealth, let me advise them, they can join Dangote group of companies, that is where wealth is created; those of us who think we can use the platform of NYCN to blossom our political ambitions, let me advise you that the APC, the PDP and the other 77 political parties are there for you, go and join one of them.

For those of us who think we are strong and popular and the only place we can take refuge is to surrender ourselves to some powerful politicians who will sponsor us to continue to truncate the vision of the youth of Nigeria, I advise you, there are so many criminal groups, go and join one.

And for those who believe the youth deserve a voice and the youth of this country are the only national assets we have, and have joined the National Youth Movement selflessly, I say to you my fellow country men, God bless you.

While assuring the delegates that the federal government has no preferred candidate in the Gombe convention, Dalung warned those who are above the red line (35 years) to stay clear from the contest, urging them to also consider young women in some positions.

Meanwhile, Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo, has sent his condolences on behalf of the state government, to the families of the 2 young men who lost their lives in the Saturday crash.

Speaking at the executive session of the convention, the governor also promised to shoulder the hospital bills of those injured, including officers of Peace Corps of Nigeria, directors from Federal Ministry of Sports and Youths Development and the outgoing President of NYCN, Comrade Mayor Enujeko, who is lying in critical condition at the hospital.

Source: NAN

Lagos state has deployed a task force of 2,271 personnel of security agencies and other stakeholders to remove all container trucks and tankers parked along Oshodi-Apapa road.

Tagged Operation Restore Sanity On Lagos Roads, the Task Force involved the police, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), and Nigerian Military including Army, Air Force and the Navy.

The Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Ladi Lawanson, said on Sunday that the Task Force was able to free the road from Toyota to Mile 2 in an operation which lasted for 72 hours between Friday and Sunday.

He added that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has extended the operation of the Task Force for another 48 hours, while he would also host a meeting involving all the stakeholders in Alausa on Monday to come up with a lasting solution to the menace.

The Governor will be meeting with the Nigeria Ports Authority, Shippers Council, Tank Farm Owners, Department of Petroleum Resources, among others because that is where the problem is really emanating from.

What we are doing now are just palliative measures and we have to solve the problem from the source.

Even though this is not within the Governors jurisdiction but he is adopting a collaborative approach with these agencies of the Federal Government which are the root cause of the problem to look for a medium to long-term solutions in support of the palliative measure that the Governor has started, Lawanson said.

The clearing operation by the task force also involved relevant unions within the maritime sector such as Amalgamation of Container Truck Owners Association, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Nigeria Association of Road Transport Owners (NATO), Road Trasnport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), among others.

Giving further details on the operation, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan, said over 2,000 articulated vehicles were removed from the road including Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Funsho Williams Avenue and Mile 2-Orile Road and taken to seven designated holding bays.

He said the State Government has also resolved to set up a Mobile Court within the axis to summarily deal with recalcitrant drivers of articulated vehicles who may want to draw back the recent gains recorded.

The State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Edgal Imohimi; Lagos Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC), Hyginus Omeje; LASEMA General Manager, Adeshina Tiamiyu; Heads of Military Formations in Lagos, among others were part of the inspection tour to assess the operation.

Source: NAN

The Director General, Voice of Nigeria (VON) , Mr Osita Okechukwu, has urged former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Nigerians to join President Muhammadu Buhari to fight insecurity.

Okechukwu, also a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said that assisting the federal government to fight insecurity would be more beneficial instead of comparing the dead in the country with those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the VON DG was reacting to questions from newsmen in Enugu over statements on killings in Nigeria, credited to Atiku during his formal declaration to contest for president on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Yola.

The VON DG, who is an ardent supporter of President Buhari, however, dismissed the statistics of the former vice president, saying that they were unnecessary and inaccurate.

What is important is how to stop the killings; we need cooperation, prayers, information and assistance to the government.

Otherwise, Wikipedia reported from credible sources that Iraqi death toll of over 500,000 persons since US led invasion of 2003, about 5,000 of who are US Service men, he said.

According to him, I am outraged like most Nigerians over the spate of killings by herdsmen/farmers clash, bandits, militias Boko Haram and sundry.

President Muhammadu Buhari I must confess is very sad over the killings.

His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, Turaki of Adamawa statistics are unnecessary and inaccurate, for one death is painful.

At any rate his statistics and can be best dubbed campaign hype if not fake news, when the real statistics are assembled. Iraqi casualty is over 500,000.

The cardinal question in all honesty is can Turaki stop the insecurity without the cooperation of international security agencies, especially that of the United States? he said.

On the public perception that Buhari is not doing enough to stop the killings, Okechukwu said: Am on good note that President Buhari is quietly deploying all means necessary to stop the insecurity in the land.

Among which is deployment of Mission Critical Communications System by Motorola Solutions of Illinois, United State of America, equipment which will put critical information at the fingertips of all the security agencies in Nigeria.

In fact the National Security Adviser, Mr Babagana Monguno and Minister of Communications, Mr Adebayo Shittu, one understands, are leading the pack. I dont want to say more than this, for this is security issue, Okechukwu said.

He appealed to all Nigerians irrespective of political affiliations to join hands with Mr President to fight insecurity in the country, instead of making insecurity a campaign issue.

Okechukwu thanked him for acknowledging the massive infrastructural development ongoing in the land under Buhari, but expressed doubts over Turakis promise to tackle insecurity.

My relief is that His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar graciously recognised the unprecedented massive infrastructural development ongoing in the past three years under President Buhari.

The targeted 5,000 kilometres of Federal roads, 5,000 kilometres of rail lines, 5,000 additional megawatts of electricity and bid for self-sufficiency in food are anchored on prudent management of public fund.

Can Turaki guarantee Nigerians to curb corruption to this level? he queried.

He also recalled that President Buhari few weeks after inauguration was honoured with a red carpet reception at the White House.

Since the presidential contest is like a beauty contest, Buhari remains the best among those parading themselves to be President in 2019, he added.

Source: NAN

The meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the national opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will hold on Monday.

The national leadership of the party sent out an invitation to members of the committee to converge at its national secretariat Monday.

The notice sent out was however silent on the agenda of the meeting which had been slated for 4pm.

The notice of the meeting was signed by the National Secretary of the party, Sen. Umaru Tsauri.

Meanwhile, the partys threat to boycott next years elections, has been criticised and that it was being hunted by its past.

The National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, said PDP was being haunted by its past treatment of electoral contests as a do-or-die affair.

He warned that APC would not be intimidated by any threat of the PDP or any other party as it was committed to the sustenance of democracy and the sanctity of one man, one vote.

The former Labour leader described the move by the PDP as akin to that of a rabbit jumping out of a hole in the afternoon because a hunter has come to put fire to smoke it out.

The PDP fired back, saying APC was jittery over coalition between PDP and 38 others.

Source: NAN

U.S. President, Donald Trump, has again blamed former President Barack Obama, for not doing something about alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, during his tenure.

Trump, in a tweet, also described the alleged election meddling as a hoax, saying it was the reason Obama did not act.

He said Obama thought the Democratic presidential candidate and arch-rival, Hillary Clinton, was going to win.

Trump tweeted: So President Obama knew about Russia before the Election. Why didnt he do something about it?

Why didnt he tell our campaign? Because it is all a big hoax, thats why, and he thought Crooked Hillary was going to win!!!

The president took a swipe at the whole Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) warrant application, released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) against Carter Page, a Trump campaign foreign policy adviser.

Trump described Pages FISA documents as a scam, which led to the rigged Mueller Witch Hunt!.

Alleged Russias interference in the 2016 presidential election, in which Trump won by electoral college but lost to Clinton by almost four million popular votes, led to the set-up of the special panel headed by Robert Mueller.

The FBI on Saturday released a redacted version of the warrant application on Page, marking the first public disclosure of a highly sensitive FISA request.

Trump said that the FISA documents confirm with little doubt that the Justice Department and the FBI misled the courts.

Trump went on to allege that his campaign was potentially being illegally surveilled for `the political gain of Crooked Hillary Clinton and the DNC (Democratic National Congress).

Looking more and more like the Trump Campaign for President was illegally being spied upon (surveillance) for the political gain of Crooked Hillary Clinton and the DNC.

Ask her how that worked out she did better with Crazy Bernie. Republicans must get tough now. An illegal Scam! Trump tweeted.

The U.S. leader bragged about having a great meeting with Russian President, Vladimir Putin, but blamed the media, which he described as fake news for trying to disparage the meeting.

I had a great meeting with Putin and the fake news used every bit of their energy to try and disparage it. So bad for our country! Trump tweeted.

Source: NAN

World’s most expensive footballer, Neymar Jr. has for the first time narrated his agony over the disappointment suffered by Brazil in the Russia FIFA World Cup, which ended on 15 July.

The PSG player told AFP in an interview that after Brazil’s quarter-final beating by Belgium, he “didn’t want to see a ball or to see any more football. I wanted to disconnect a bit from everything”.

“I had moments of mourning, of sadness, of being just by myself. But sadness passes.

“I have my son, my family, my friends and they don’t want to see me moping around. I have got more reasons to be happy”, he said.

Neymar came out of the weeks of agony on Saturday, taking part in the RedBull Neymar Junior 5-a-side tournament in Praia Grande near Santos in Brazil. He featured in the game, called World Cup Finals.

The women’s competition saw an extremely popular outcome, with the Brazilian team needing a golden goal to defeat Italy 1-0 in a tight final match to the delight of the home crowd in Praia Grande.

However, the final of the mixed tournament couldn’t have been in sharper contrast. Mexico didn’t need the full 10 minutes to beat Argentina, running out 5-2 winners with 1m 10s still on the clock.

The winning teams each then went on to play against Neymar Jr and friends. Mexico suffered a taste of their own medicine, losing 5-2 inside the regulation 10 minutes.

However, Brazil pulled off something of a shock, keeping it tight to triumph 2-1 over a team that not only included Neymar himself, but also stars such as Érika from PSG and Andressa Alves of FC Barcelona.

However, Neymar could not forget the real World Cup in a hurry. He was disappointed that the referees could not protect him against fouls by opponents.

“I didn’t go to the World Cup to suffer fouls. That is not why I went . I went to beat opponents and obviously they weren’t going to just leave me in peace. They weren’t going to let me pass without touching me, without committing fouls, because they knew if they didn’t commit those fouls, I would go straight to the goal”, he said.

Suffering from corruption stigma placed on it, the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has resolved to change its name, a rebranding measure ahead of 2019 general election.

ThisDay reported that the party had suffered a string of losses in the last four governorship elections – Edo, Ondo, Anambra and Ekiti.

The newspaper reported that the decision of the party for a change of name was taken on Saturday night.

The party noted that the move was pre-emptive to prevent the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from tagging it as corrupt.

PDP, which planned to announce the decision to change its name, had also pencilled down Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu as the one to head a committee that would walk the party through the procedure.

Many of the party’s stalwarts have been worried by how the ruling APC had successfully branded the party as corrupt in the eyes of Nigerians and admitted that, a rebranding was imperative to mount a successful challenge in 2019.

PDP had become damaged goods that must be changed to give the party a fresh start.

The decision by the PDP to change its name might have stemmed from last Thursday’s meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and Senate President Bukola Saraki.

Though, details of their discussion were not made public, many in PDP believed that with such sessions, the chances of bringing Saraki back to the PDP could be hampered.

The opposition party had long mooted the idea of name change, but had slowed down on the decision because a majority of its members were not disposed to it, and those who wanted it could not convince the others.

Besides, it was thought that even though the party had switched positions and had become an opposition party, PDP was still the only party with membership in the remotest parts of the country, and the name resonated with a majority of its members and admirers, particularly among the teeming illiterate populations.

Source: NAN

Former Vice President and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant, Atiku Abubakar said he would ensure Adamawa returns to PDP.

Abubakar gave the assurance Saturday in Yola while speaking at a mega rally organised by the state branch of the party.

Atiku said that Adamawa was a PDP state and he would do all things possible to bring back the party to power in 2019. The state is now being controlled by the All Progressives Congress.

Atiku who formally declared his intention to vie for the presidential seat under PDP said he was overwhelmed by the mammoth crowd that graced the occasion, which he interpreted to mean a confirmation of the popularity of PDP in the state.

He criticized the All Progressives Congress (APC) for failing Nigeria in areas of economy, security and job security, adding that he would address the the problem when elected president.

The National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus described Atiku as a leading presidential aspirant in the party that has the capacity to dislodge APC in 2019.

“PDP is a tsunami that will soon wipe out APC. We are not afraid, we are strong and coming like train to crush APC,” Secondus said.

Secondus assured all presidential aspirants level playing field and tasked APC on ensuring level playing field for all parties in 2019 general elections.

Without mentioning names, Secondus announced the defection of some commissioners, House of Assembly members and council chairmen from APC to PDP.

Speaking on behalf PDP senators, Sen. Ben Murray-Bruce said Atiku has what it takes to make a difference 2019.

Representaives of Atiku supporters in North East, North Central, South South and South East who spoke at the occasion also endorsed Atiku for 2019 election.