Fire guts UAC building in Lagos (Punch)
There was a fire outbreak at the UAC building at Marina, Lagos Island on Thursday. According to the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency, the fire started at around 12:55pm. LASTMA added that emergency responders were on the scene of the fire. It, however, failed to state, whether they were casualties or not. Read more
Court declares Donald Duke SDP presidential candidate (Guardian)
Court of appeal on Thursday declared former Cross River State governor Donald Duke as the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). An FCT High Court in Maitama has declared a former Nigeria information minister Jerry Gana as the winner of the presidential primary election of the party in December 2018. The party had declared Duke as the winner of the election and its flag bearer for the 2019 presidential election. SDP said Duke polled 812 votes, while Gana had 611 during the presidential primary election. Read more
A-Court orders CCT to suspend CJN’s trial (Vanguard)
The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, on Thursday, ordered the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, to stay further proceedings on the six count charge the Federal Government preferred against the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen. The appellate court ordered the Mr. Danladi Umar’s led tribunal to temporarily hands-off the matter till January 30, a date it fixed to deliver ruling on an appeal the embattled CJN lodged before it. A three-man panel of Justices of the appellate court led by Justice Abdul Aboki, gave the order after it listened to counsel to the CJN and that of FG, regarding what transpired at the tribunal last Tuesday. Read more
2019 elections: Blind, lepers to use guides at polling booths — INEC (Vanguard)
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says the blind, lepers and other people living with disability will be allowed to go to the polling booths with their guides during the elections. Mr Kasim Gaidam, Adamawa’s Resident Electoral Commissioner, made this known in Yola on Thursday at a one day sensitisation forum for persons living with disability. Gaidam said that other visually-impaired voters would also be provided with magnifying glasses as was done during the 2018 Ekiti and Osun governorship elections. Read more
Buhari in Onitsha, pledges to commence East/North railway line if re-elected (Vanguard)
President Muhammadu Buhari says that East to North corridor of the railway project will commence as soon as he returns to office for second term. Buhari made the pledge during the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign rally in Onitsha on Thursday. Buhari said the railway would start from Port Harcourt through Owerri, Nnewi, Enugu and Ebonyi before moving to Maiduguri. The president said the people of South-East should trust and vote him and all APC candidates in the upcoming elections adding that it was the same manner they came in 2015 and assured the people of several projects which were being done in the area. Read more
Imo APC expels Hope Uzondinma (Guardian)
The Daniel Nwafor-led faction of the ruling All Progressives Congress in Imo state has expelled the party’s gubernatorial candidate Hope Uzondinma ahead of the forthcoming general election. Nwafor said the party took the decision over an allegation of anti-party activities of the candidate. “This is to inform you that the All Progressives Congress, Omuma Ward of Oru East Local Government Area in Imo State has expelled Senator Hope Uzodinma from the party due to certain inordinate and anti-party activities perpetrated by him and his cohorts,” Nwafor and the secretary of the party in the state Obioma Ireagwu said in a joint statement. Read more
N2.5bn Fraud: Investigate Lai Mohammed, Others now, PDP asks ICPC (Vanguard)
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Thursday asked the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, to go beyond the Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, Is’haq Kawu Modibbo and investigate the minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed and other top officials that played certain role around N2.5bn NBC scandal. The party specifically demanded an open investigation into the alleged roles possibly played by certain top officials of the Buhari Presidency, including the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, around the matter. Read more
Akeredolu’s wife decries low women participation in politics (Vanguard)
Wife of Ondo State Governor, Arabinrin Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, has urged women to increase their representation at decision making table by seeking elective positions, saying this is the only way they can avoid being short changed or turned down in the society. Addressing participants at a one – day Summit organized by the National Council of Women’s Societies (NCWS), Ondo State Chapter with the theme, “alert tips for women in security prone areas during election”, held at the Babafunke Ajasin auditorium in Akure, Arabinrin said there is need for fair representation of women in Nigeria government and end to unrest attributed to Nigeria election, while imploring the women to comport themselves during the coming election. Read more
Pope Francis warns against Internet ‘disinformation’ (Guardian)
Pope Francis on Thursday warned against the “disinformation” and “targeted distortion of facts” to be found on the Internet and social networks’ “manipulation of personal data”. The Internet “is a source of knowledge and relationships that were once unthinkable,” the Argentine pope said in a message for the World Day of Social Communications. “However… many experts also highlight the risks that threaten the search for, and sharing of, authentic information on a global scale,” he said. Read more
Kim Jong Nam trial delayed further over witness statement row (Guardian)
Defence lawyers in the murder trial of the North Korean leader’s half-brother won a challenge Thursday to get access to witness statements but the prosecution appealed, signalling more delays in the long-running case. Siti Aisyah from Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam have been on trial since October 2017, accused of murdering Kim Jong Nam by smearing nerve agent VX on his face at Kuala Lumpur airport. The brazen assassination in February 2017 shocked the world but the women have denied murder, saying they believed they were taking part in a prank and were tricked by North Korean agents. Read more
Gonzalo Higuain delighted to be reunited with Jorginho at Chelsea (Metro)
Chelsea new boy Gonzalo Higuain is thrilled to have joined such a talented team, though there is one player he is especially looking forward to seeing: old Napoli teammate Jorginho. The Argentine finally completed his loan move to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, though he was not registered in time to take on Tottenham in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg. He had his first training session on Thursday morning, with Maurizio Sarri often having sessions on match days, and was driven to Cobham by Jorginho, who he enjoyed an excellent relationship with in Naples. Read more
Pochettino calls for VAR delay (Guardian)
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has urged Premier League chiefs to delay the introduction of the controversial VAR system. Pochettino is not a fan of the video assistant referee system, even though it helped Tottenham win their League Cup semi-final first leg against Chelsea earlier this month. VAR awarded Tottenham a penalty after ruling Harry Kane was onside in the build-up to his foul. There was confusion as the linesman did not keep up with play and there was a lengthy wait for VAR to confirm the decision before the Tottenham striker slotted home the match-winning spot-kick. Read more
Man with Tree Growths Dreams Of A Cure After The Disease Returns (Guardian)
A few days after a Bangladeshi dubbed “Tree Man” because of bark-like growths on his skin returns to the hospital, doctors have said that he will need aggressive surgery to remove them. This news is coming after dozens of attempts failed to cure the extremely rare genetic condition. It is believed fewer than half a dozen people worldwide have “tree-man syndrome” — epidermodysplasia verruciformis — but the condition is particularly aggressive in Abul Bajandar, who has already undergone 25 bouts of surgery since 2016 to remove the greenish-grey gnarled protuberances from his skin. Read more
Jay-Z and Meek Mill pledge $50m to free prisoners (BBC)
Jay-Z, Meek Mill and sport and business leaders have pledged $50m (£38m) to reform the US criminal justice system. The Reform Alliance, which was inspired by Meek Mill’s recent stint in prison for a minor probation violation, hopes to free one million prisoners in five years. The owners of the New England Patriots and Philadelphia 76ers, Robert Kraft and Michael Rubin, are co-founders. Reform says it wants to help people who are “trapped in the system”. The group’s “mission” is to “dramatically reduce the number of people who are unjustly under the control of the criminal justice system, starting with probation and parole”. Read more