FG constitutes 2019 Presidential Inauguration Committee (Nation)
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the Constitution of the 2019 Presidential Inauguration Committee. This was contained in a statement by Permanent Secretary (General Services Office) in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Olusegun Adekunle. He said that the date of Inauguration of the committee is Thursday 14th March, 2019 at the SGF Conference Room. While the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha is the Chairman of the committee, members include Minister of Information & Culture, Minister of Interior, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of FCT. Read more
WASSCE: 124 Enugu Maximum Prison inmates get credit in English, Maths (Punch)
No fewer than 124 inmates of the Enugu Maximum Prison obtained credit in more than five subjects, including English and Mathematics, in the recently released 2018 November/December West African Examination Council results. The Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Prisons Service, Enugu State Command, Mr. Monday Chukwuemeka, disclosed this in a statement issued in Enugu on Tuesday. Chukwuemeka said that the figure released by the Command Desk Officer surpassed the feat attained by inmates in 2017 when 110 obtained credit in the two key subjects. Read more
Sexagenarian docked over alleged robbery of N15m goods (Nation)
An Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, remanded a 61-year-old scrap collector, Rotimi Ariremako, charged with robbery, in Kirikiri Prisons. The Chief Magistrate, Mr A. A. Fashola, ordered the remand pending advice from Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the state, on the case. Fashola ruled that a duplicate copy of the case file should be sent to DPP, and adjourned the case until April 22. Ariremako, whose residential address was not provided, was alleged to have attacked a bus driver and disposed him of the bus laden with goods valued at N15 million. Read more
Supplementary elections to hold in six states on March 23 —INEC (Punch)
The Independent National Electoral Commission has fixed supplementary elections in six states for Saturday, March 23, 2019. The Commission has also set up a panel led by a National Commissioner to resolve the controversies over the results of Bauchi State governorship election which was declared inconclusive. INEC noted that governorship elections in the six states were declared inconclusive for a combination of reasons, including the discontinuation of use of the Smart Card Readers midway into the elections, failure to deploy SCRs, over-voting and widespread disruption in many polling units. Read more
Air crash: Ethiopian Airlines opens condolence registers in Nigeria (Guardian)
The Management of Ethiopian Airlines in Nigeria has opened Condolence Registers at their country offices in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Enugu for the victims of the flight that crashed on March 10, six minutes after take off. A statement by the airline on Tuesday said that the General Manager of Ethiopian Airlines in Nigeria, Firihiewot Mekonnen, received the first set of visitors at the office in Lagos. It added that the Managing Director, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (NAN) Mr Saleh Dunomah was received at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport by the Airlines’ Sales and Traffic Manager, Abuja, Tilahun Tadesse. Read more
Ondo NSCDC officials allegedly torture man to death (Punch)
The family of one Razak Ahmed on Tuesday called on President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State to investigate the alleged killing of their son in the custody of the Ondo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps. It was gathered that Razak was allegedly arrested by the men of the corps on Sunday over an allegation of incestuous behaviour. The deceased was allegedly having carnal knowledge of his own 12-year-old daughter at Aule area of Akure, the Ondo State capital. Read more
Kim Jong-nam murder: Suspect Siti Aisyah ‘shocked’ at being released (BBC)
The Indonesian woman freed after being accused of killing the half-brother of North Korea’s leader says she was “shocked” when she learned of her release. Siti Aisyah had been accused of smearing VX nerve agent on Kim Jong-nam’s face in Kuala Lumpur airport. In an interview with the BBC, she said at one point she had thought: “Is this the end of my life?” She repeated that she was not involved in Mr Kim’s murder in 2017. Read more
Bollywood and Hollywood set to unite for emotional Mother Teresa biopic (Metro)
Bollywood producers are working on a Mother Teresa biopic, in a bid to ‘pay tribute to the noble soul’. The film, focusing on the incredible life of the nun, will feature ‘top talent’ from around the world, with Pradeep Sharma, Nitin Manmohan, Girish Johar and Prachi Manmohan set to produce. Speaking about the upcoming project, Seema Upadhyay said: ‘We visited the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata and the experience was surreal.’ Read more
France 2019: Super Falcons get Fitness Trainer, Match Reader (Nation)
Determined to make a major impact at this year’s Women’s World Cup in France, Super Falcons Coach Thomas Dernneby has requested and gotten the approval Nigeria football Federation to engage two more technical staff, fitness trainer and match reader. The duo The Nation understands were part of the team’s technical crew to the just ended Cyprus cup where Falcons finished in the 7th place. The request to engage the two technical hands was actually made shortly after the African women Nations Cup in Ghana which team won for the 9th time. The decision to beef up is not unconnected with reactions that followed the team’s overall performance at the 2018 AFCON. Read more
PSG win in first game since Europe exit (BBC)
Paris St-Germain thrashed Dijon to move 17 points clear at the top of Ligue 1 in their first game since being knocked out of the Champions League. Manchester United’s 3-1 win in Paris on Wednesday saw PSG go out at the last-16 phase, losing on the away goals rule. But they swept aside struggling Dijon with Marquinhos heading them ahead and Kylian Mbappe sliding in a second. Angel di Maria scored with a free-kick and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting added a fourth from close range in injury time. Read more
Keita to miss Liverpool tie at Bayern (BBC)
Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita will miss the second leg of the Champions League last-16 tie at Bayern Munich on Wednesday with a minor injury. Defender Trent Alexander-Arnold could feature after being substituted in Sunday’s 4-2 Premier League win over Burnley as a precaution. James Milner could also recover from a muscle problem to play in midfield. Long-term absentee Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain missed training despite featuring for the reserves on Friday. The midfielder has been sidelined by a knee injury since last April and came off just before half-time with a minor hamstring issue, which manager Jurgen Klopp later said was nothing to be concerned about. Read more
FIFA extends ban on Afghan official accused of sexual assault (Punch)
FIFA have extended the suspension of the Afghan Football Federation president who was charged with sexual assault against members of the national women’s team, the governing body of world football said on Tuesday. FIFA said they had added 90 days to Keramuddin Karim’s ban, imposed on December 12, at the recommendation of the investigating arm of its ethics commission. “Mr Karim will continue to be banned from all football-related activities at both national and international level,” FIFA said in a statement. Read more