APC suspends Rochas Okorocha (Guardian)
The Imo chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress has suspended Governor Rochas Okorocha for anti party activities barely a month to election.“A letter by the Imo State chapter of the APC signed by the chairman conveying the suspension to the National Chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole regretted that Okorocha who is supposedly the party’s candidate for Imo West senatorial district has vowed to undermine the APC and its electoral interest,” caretaker committee chairman of the Imo APC faction,Marcellinus Nlemigbo said while speaking to journalists in Owerri on Thursday. Read more
27 ships expected at Lagos ports with petroleum products, others (Guardian)
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on Friday said it was expecting 27 ships to sail into Apapa and Tin Can Ports with petroleum products, food and other goods, from Jan. 18 to Feb. 2. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that two of the ships will sail in with petrol, and another two with diesel and aviation fuel. The other 23 ships are carrying general cargo, bulk sugar, steel products, bulk gypsum, aviation turbine kerosene, frozen fish, buckwheat and containers conveying different goods. Read more
FG to question Atiku when he returns from U.S. – Lai Mohammed (Guardian)
The Nigerian government has said the presidential candidate of the opposition People’s Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has questions to answer when he returns from his current trip to the United States. Abubakar left Nigeria on Thursday to Washington D.C., the American capital for a US Chamber of Commerce event after staying off the United States for 12 years. Read more
APC’s lawyer stalls hearing in suit seeking Akeredolu’s sack (Nation)
The planned commencement of trial in the suit seeking the sack of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State was stalled on Friday owing to the absence of Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), lawyer to the APC and its Chairman. A Federal High Court in Abuja had on December 11 last year adjourned the case, filed by APC chieftain, Olusegun Abraham, to January 15 this year for hearing. But, upon request by lawyers in the case, the court rescheduled the case to January 18 for trial. Read more
Opposition parties allege move to arrest Onnoghen on Tuesday (Punch)
Opposition parties on Friday said they have uncovered a plan by the Federal Government to arrest the embattled Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, on Tuesday. The spokesperson of the Coalition of United Political Parties, Imo Ugochinyere, disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja. Ugochinyere said the arrest would be carried out shortly after a bench warrant would have been issued by the Code of Conduct Tribunal against Onnoghen. Read more
Family of slain LASTMA officer gets compensation (Punch)
The family of late Adeyemo Rotimi Oke, a traffic officer with the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority traffic officer, who was killed by a policeman, while on duty, has received the ten million Naira compensation, promised by the Lagos State Government. In a statement signed by LASTMA’s Head, Public Affairs, Mamud Hassan, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Taiwo Salam, presented the cheque on Friday to the family of the deceased at their Ipaja residence. Read more
Ivory Coast’s Gbagbo to stay detained until February (Guardian)
Ivory Coast ex-strongman Laurent Gbagbo will stay behind bars until at least February despite his acquittal on charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal court, the tribunal said Friday. Judges in the Hague cleared Gbagbo and his right-hand man Charles Ble Goude on Tuesday over a wave of violence after disputed elections in 2010. The crisis claimed around 3,000 lives. Read more
Algeria sets presidential vote for April 18 (Nation)
Algeria on Friday said its presidential elections will hold on April 18, ending speculation that the vote could be postponed. “Bouteflika has issued a decree tasking an electoral commission with preparing for the April 18 polls,’’ the presidency said in a statement. It is not clear yet, if incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who suffered a stroke in 2013, will run for a fifth term. Read more
Democrat vows to probe Trump lawyer’s alleged lies to Congress (Guardian)
A top Democrat in the US Congress has vowed to look into a report that President Donald Trump ordered his personal attorney to lie to Congress to hide dealings with Russia. Adam Schiff, who heads the Intelligence Committee in the House of Representatives, was reacting to a report late Thursday by the online site BuzzFeed that Trump ordered lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress in 2017 about talks to build a Trump Tower in Moscow during the 2016 presidential campaign. Read more
Buzzfeed report that Trump ‘instructed Cohen to lie’ sparks outcry (BBC)
A Buzzfeed News report claims Mr Trump instructed Michael Cohen to lie about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen has already admitted to lying about when the business project ended. Mr Trump has not yet responded to the report’s allegations – but he has previously denied ever directing his former lawyer to break the law. Read more
UK’s Prince Philip ‘shocked and shaken’ after car crash (Guardian)
Queen Elizabeth II’s 97-year-old husband Prince Philip emerged “shocked and shaken” but unhurt from a car crash that flipped his Land Rover on its side and stirred up a UK debate on Friday about old age and driving. A nine-month-old baby who was in the back seat of the Kia hatchback involved was uninjured, while one of the two women inside hurt her wrist, local police said. Read more
Total lunar eclipse to take place on Monday, says NASRDA (Guardian)
The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) on Friday says Nigeria will join other countries of the world to experience total lunar eclipse on Monday. The information is in a statement by Dr Felix Alle, the Head, Media and Public Communications of the agency in Abuja. According to Alle, lunar eclipse is one in which the moon appears darkened as it passes into the earth’s shadow. Read more
Fabregas braced for home bow as PSG return from the sun (Guardian)
Cesc Fabregas is set for his home debut as a Monaco player, while Paris Saint-Germain look for revenge against their recent Cup conquerors Guingamp in Ligue 1 on Saturday. AFP Sport picks out four things to watch in France on a weekend that will be capped by Sunday’s derby clash between Saint-Etienne and Lyon. Read more
Flexible Fabinho eases burden on Liverpool’s injury-hit defence (Guardian)
An untimely series of injuries to defenders has left Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp short-handed at the back as he tries to keep the Premier League leaders on track for a first title in 29 years at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday. Right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold joined a growing injury list with a knee problem picked up in the warm-up ahead of last weekend’s 1-0 win at Brighton that could keep the English international out for up to a month. Read more
Jurgen Klopp is building Liverpool squad ‘for the future’ after tying Andy Robertson down to new deal (Sky Sports)
Robertson became the latest player to commit his future to Liverpool after agreeing to a new deal on Thursday which ties him to the club until the summer of 2024, according to Sky sources. The 24-year-old has developed into one of the most highly-rated defenders in the Premier League since signing from Hull for £8m in 2017, and Klopp says the Scotland international is a valued member of his young dressing room. Read more
Tottenham will not sign ex-Manchester United striker Giuseppe Rossi, say Mauricio Pochettino (Sky Sports)
Spurs have been linked with a move for Rossi due to Harry Kane’s injury which leaves Pochettino’s side desperately short of attacking options. Heung-Min Son is away on international duty with South Korea at the AFC Asian Cup, leaving Fernando Llorente as the club’s only recognised senior striker. Read more
Netflix shows Bird Box and Elite drive subscriber growth (BBC)
The streaming giant said the growth reflected the success of its original programmes. Netflix-original material now represents the “vast majority” of its most popular shows, executives said. Television viewers in the US also spend an estimated 10% of their time on Netflix, they claimed. Read more
Morgan freeman blamed for granddaughter’s death at killer’s sentencing (Guardian)
Lamar Davenport has been sentenced for stabbing E’Dena Hines, Morgan Freeman’s granddaughter in 2015. After he was slammed with 20-year sentencing by Justice Ellen Biben of the Manhattan Supreme Court, his mother as well as his family screamed to reporters thatFreeman and not her son is responsible for her death. Read more
Woman convicted for forcing maid to hurt self with hot water (Punch)
A Singaporean woman was found guilty Friday of abusing her Myanmar maid, including forcing her to pour hot water onto herself and to drink water laced with floor cleaner. The abuse of the maid, Phyu Phyu Mar, happened from August to October 2016 at the house of the Singaporean married couple who employed her, according to court documents. The abuses detailed in six charges against the wife — Linda Seah — include two instances when the maid was forced to pour hot water onto her left shoulder “to voluntarily cause hurt to herself”. Read more
Hotel worker gets $21m compensation for being forced to work on Sundays (Punch)
A woman, Marie Jean Pierre, 60, has been awarded $21 million in damages after she was forced to work on Sundays as a dishwasher at a Miami hotel. Pierre, who started work at the hotel in April 2006, claimed she told her employer that she would be unable to work on Sundays because she was a missionary for the Soldiers of Christ Church, reports The Washington Post. “I love God. No work on Sunday, because Sunday I honour God,” said the Haitian immigrant. Read more