Lagos 2019: Sanwo-Olu tasks campaign groups on reconciliation of aggrieved members (Vanguard)
The All Progressives Congress, APC, Lagos State chapter, Governorship Candidate, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has stressed the need for various campaign groups of the three senatorial districts to embark on reconciliatory moves of all aggrieved members to engender total victory for the party’s candidates in the 2019 general polls. Read more
N30,000 minimum wage: Governors’ sack threat sparks outrage (Nation)
ANGRY reactions have trailed the declaration by governors that they cannot pay the N30,000 minimum wage contained in the report of the Tripartite Committee submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari last week. In different reactions yesterday, groups and individuals, including Ijaw leaders, a former scribe of the Arewa Consultative Forum’s Political Committee, Alhaji Mohammed Abdulrahman, former Kaduna State governor, Alhaji Balarabe Musa and former Cross Rivers State governor, Mr. Donald Duke, spoke against the threat by governors to retrench workers if they must pay the new minimum wage. Read more
2019: Igbo leaders’ endorsement of Atiku has no substance, says President (Nation)
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the split within the Ohanaeze, Igbo socio-cultural group, over its reported endorsement of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, did not surprise him. He made the remark while speaking at a meeting with a select group of South East leaders yesterday, at the State House, Abuja. Read more
Aggrieved party members working with opposition to defame me – Oshiomhole (Punch)
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, has alleged that some politicians within the party may be working with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party to publish lies against him in a bid to tarnish his image. He said he had become a target of attack because he resisted criminal overtures from politicians who wanted to bend the rules during the recent primaries of the APC. Read more
INEC worried about uncollected PVCs in Enugu (Guardian)
The Enugu State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Emeka Ononamadu, has expressed concern over 175,678 uncollected Permanent Voters Cards in the state less than two months to the 2019 general elections. Ononamadu disclosed this in his office yesterday, during a meeting of the Civil Society Organisations (CSO) and Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) on the state of preparedness, party primaries and display of PVR. Read more
I’ll sell 90% of NNPC if elected – Atiku (Punch)
The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has said he will sell the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and retain just 10 per cent of the company for the Federal Government. Atiku said this in an interview with ‘The African Report’, a monthly publication. The former Vice-President, who presided over the National Council on Privatisation during his time, said the NNPC was supposed to have become more profitable by now. Read more
2019: Onuesoke calls for removal of INEC chairman (Vanguard)
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Chief Sunny Onuesoke has demanded for the immediate removal of Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, adding that the 2019 general elections’ results would be compromised with Yakubu in the saddle as chairman of the commission. Read more
Four students die in Kebbi from food poisoning (Guardian)
The Kebbi State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Alhaji Mohammed Makawata Aliero, has confirmed the death of the four female students of Government Comprehensive Girls Secondary School, Maga, in Dankowasagu Council. Aliero told The Guardian in Birnin Kebbi, yesterday, that the students died through food poison given to them by their parents during the visiting day. Read more
At least 42 killed in Zimbabwe bus fire (BBC)
At least 42 people are confirmed to have died in a fire aboard a bus in Zimbabwe late on Thursday. The bus was near travelling near Beitbridge, close to the border with South Africa, when the blaze began. The company that owned the vehicle, Brooklyn Buses, said it believed that a gas canister brought on board by a passenger may have caused the incident. Read more
Judge orders White House to return Jim Acosta’s press pass (CNN)
CNN’s Jim Acosta has returned to his post at the White House following a court ruling that forced the Trump administration to reinstate his press pass. Now President Trump is vowing to create “rules and regulations” for how White House reporters act. He says “you have to practice decorum” at the White House. Read more
Trump ‘answers Mueller Russia questions’ (BBC)
Donald Trump says he has finished answering questions into alleged Russian meddling during the 2016 presidential campaign. The US leader told reporters he had personally answered the questions “very easily”, but that they had yet to be submitted to Robert Mueller’s team. Mr Mueller has been looking into allegations of collusion between Mr Trump’s campaign and Russia since 2017. Read more
Protesters plan to bring France to a halt (BBC)
Drivers plan to disrupt traffic across France on Saturday by blocking roads, bridges and toll booths in a mass protest at rising fuel prices. Dubbed the “yellow vests” after the high-visibility jackets they use as their symbol, they are expected to muster in at least 700 locations. They accuse President Emmanuel Macron of abandoning “the little people”. Read more
Musa: We won’t underrate South Africa (Vanguard)
Al-Nassr of Saudi Arabia striker, Ahmed Musa has promised that he and his colleagues in the Super Eagles will not underrate Bafana Bafana of South Africa in today’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier. Speaking on arrival at Johannesburg Airport, ahead of the match billed for FNB Stadium at 2pm Nigeria time, Musa said the Eagles are determined to win the reverse fixture of the tie, having lost the first leg 2-0 in Uyo. Read more
NDLEA arrests fake policemen smuggling cannabis in Edo (Punch)
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested two persons suspected to be drug smugglers in the Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State. It was learnt that the suspects, who were disguised as policemen, were intercepted while conveying 50 bags of dried weeds, suspected to be cannabis sativa which weighed 685 kilogrammes, on Okpella-Okene Road. Read more
Police arrest four suspects for illegal adoption (Punch)
The Abia State Police Command has paraded four suspects for an alleged illegal adoption and sale of a baby in the state. It was gathered that one of the suspects, Anurika Collins, identified one Emmanuel Okwechukwu, who had been arrested by the police for alleged child trafficking, as being the receiver of the stolen baby. Read more
