INEC has powers to de-register political parties – Ekweremadu (Punch)
A former Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, has said the constitution amendments carried out by the 8th National Assembly had substantially addressed the problem of proliferation of political parties in Nigeria. Ekweremadu, who was also the chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review for 12 years, stated this in a statement on Tuesday and signed by his media aide, Uche Anichukwu. He expressed surprise at a recent statement credited to the Independent National Electoral Commission, Commissioner in charge of Nasarawa, Kogi, and Kwara States, Muhammed Haruna, that the electoral body lacked the powers to de-register political parties without further constitution amendments. Read more
Don’t defend Kidnappers, terrorists at all cost – SAN advises lawyers (Nation)
To mark the final day of the Nigerian Bar Associations Law Week, Kaduna chapter, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Wole Ogunbiade, has advised lawyers not to defend kidnappers and terrorists at all cost, so as not to endorse crime. Ogunbiade said this in Kaduna on Tuesday where he spoke on the topic; ‘Law and morality: The question of offering defence to kidnappers and terrorists, where do we draw the line?’ He said that although offering legal services to kidnappers and terrorists was allowed in the the rules of professional conduct, lawyers should however adhere strictly to the ethical standards and code of conduct of the law profession. Read more
Tribunal did not reject our request to inspect INEC server – Atiku (Punch)
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the February 2019 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, has said his request and that of his party to inspect the server of the Independent National Electoral Commission was not rejected by the Presidential Election Tribunal. The former Vice President in a statement by his media aide, Paul Ibe, entitled, “He who laughs last, laughs best,” on Tuesday, said the tribunal rather ruled that proceeding was still at preliminary stages and the main case has begun, adding that that the matter of granting access to inspect the INEC server is not relevant to the preliminary stage. Read more
FG sets up farm settlements for herdsmen (Guardian)
The Federal Government said on Tuesday that it had begun to establish “Ruga Settlements” for herdsmen in 12 pilot states nationwide. Alh. Mohammadu Umar, the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday on the sidelines of a workshop on Regional Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and associated legislation in West Africa. He said that the farm settlements when fully established would address the incessant clashes between Fulani cattle rearers and farmers. Read more
Afenifere slams Osinbajo over comments on kidnapping, insecurity (Punch)
The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, on Tuesday condemned the statement credited to the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, over the issue of insecurity, especially kidnapping in the South West and some other parts of the country. The group alleged that the VP said on Sunday in the United States of America that the kidnapping incidents in the South West were politically motivated. The Afenifere described the statement as unfortunate and provocative. Read more
‘Those calling for sack of Abba Kyari are enemies of the President’ (Nation)
The Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) has said that those calling for the sack of the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari are those who do not mean well for the President, saying they were political jobbers within the All Progressives Congress (APC). National Chairman of the party, Ganiyu Galadima said in a statement made available to The Nation in Abuja that only the President has the right to decide who to appoint into his government adding that all those who claim to support him must learn to respect his appointees. Read more
Court dismisses suit challenging Gbajabiamila’s eligibility to be Speaker (Punch)
The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit challenging Femi Gbajabiamila’s eligibility to contest the recently-concluded speakership election of the newly-inaugurated 9th House of Representatives. The Court’s records sighted by our correspondent on Tuesday showed that Justice Inyang Ekwo dismissed the suit following the decision of the plaintiff, Philip Undie, to discontinue the case. Read more
Judge adjourns Saraki, Okorocha’s corruption cases, awaits CJ’s decision (Punch)
Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned till July 2 the cases filed by the immediate-past Senate President, Bukola Saraki and a former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, to challenge their probe for alleged corruption by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The judge adjourned the cases which were originally scheduled for hearing on Monday and Tuesday, to await the decision of the outgoing Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Adamu Abdu-Kafarati on the letter written by the EFCC requesting the re-assignment of the cases to another judge of the court. The judge had on Monday adjourned Saraki’s case till July 2. Read more
Umahi dissociates self from 2023 Presidential ambition (Nation)
Governor David Umahi has dissociated himself from the purported inauguration of a campaign platform known as ‘Southeast for President 2023’. He described the inauguration of the group on Tuesday in Abakaliki, the state capital as a distraction. Umahi in a statement by his chief press secretary, Emmanuel Uzor dissociated himself and his Government from any form of political gathering with intent to promote him for President in 2023. Read more
NDLEA arrests 186 suspects, seizes 61.24kg of illicit drugs in Jigawa (Guardian)
Jigawa Command of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it had arrested no fewer than 186 suspected dealers in illicit drugs in the state. It said that the suspects were nabbed from January to date, adding that it also seized 61.24 kilogrammes of assorted narcotics and psychotic substances during the period. Commandant of the agency in the state, Mrs Josephine Ruth, made this known at a news briefing as part of activities to commemorate 2019 United Nations’ International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Read more
Shelve herdsmen vigilante idea in S/East, Sen. Jibrin tells Fulani (Nation)
Fulani Associations in Nigeria have been called upon to shelve the idea of forming herdsmen vigilante in South East and in the whole of Southern Nigeria in the interest of peace and harmonious coexistence in the country. Second Republic Senator Walid Jibrin made the call while addressing a press conference in Kaduna on Tuesday said, the existing Fulani Associations should first and foremost unite themselves, come to a round table and deliberate on challenges between the herdsmen and farmers and various communities in Nigeria with the view to finding a lasting solution. Read more
Court sentences yahoo boy to 35 years in prison (Guardian)
A Kwara State High Court in Ilorin on Tuesday sentenced an internet fraudster, Temitope Charles, to 35 years in prison without an option of fine. The Presiding Judge, Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar, while delivering Judgement on a criminal charge brought against the convict by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), pronounced the convict guilty and sentenced him to seven years in prison on each of the five-count charges. Read more
US-Iran crisis: Trump lashes out at ‘ignorant and insulting’ statement (BBC)
Donald Trump has lashed out at the “ignorant and insulting statement” released by Iran after the US president announced fresh sanctions against the Middle Eastern nation. The tweets came after Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said the move proved the White House was “mentally retarded”. Mr Trump said it showed Iran’s leaders “do not understand reality”. Read more
Sri Lanka police overturn local council ban on Muslims (Guardian)
Sri Lanka’s police Tuesday stepped in to prevent a local council from banning Muslim traders from a weekly fair in another backlash from the devastating Easter attacks blamed on Islamic extremists. The local government body had ordered minority Muslims not to participate in the farmer’s market in the town of Dankotuwa, 47 kilometres (30 miles) north of the capital. “We got a court order against the Wennappuwa Pradeshiya Saba (council) because we can’t allow this Islamophobia,” local police Superintendent K. A. B. Kumarapeli told AFP by telephone. Read more
Mexico will not detain migrants at US border: president Lopez Obrador (Punch)
Mexico’s president said Tuesday the 15,000 troops his government has deployed to the US border do not have orders to stop migrants from crossing, and vowed to investigate a controversial detention last week. “No such order has been issued, and we are going to review that case, so that it doesn’t happen again, because that’s not our job,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told a press conference. Read more
Russia condemns Israeli strikes in Syria (Nation)
Russia’s national security adviser said Israeli air strikes on Syria were “undesirable” and condemned attempts to isolate Iran during a trilateral summit meeting with his Israeli and American counterparts in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the beginning of the three-way meeting – focused primarily on Iran and Syria – called for the three countries to agree on expelling foreign forces from the war-torn neighboring country. He said Israel will not allow Iran to establish a permanent military presence there. Read more
Paris air pollution: French state blamed in landmark case (BBC)
A court has ruled that the French state had failed to take sufficient action to curb air pollution in Paris, in what is being hailed as a landmark decision. The case was brought by a mother and daughter who said their health had deteriorated when living near a busy ring road in the city. But all their problems disappeared when they moved out, they say. Air pollution is responsible for 48,000 premature deaths every year, according to the Public Health France agency. Read more
Facebook to identify French hate speech suspects (BBC)
Facebook has agreed to give the names of French users who are suspected of using hate speech on its platform to the courts when requested. The deal is believed to be the first of its kind in the world. In the past, the tech giant has revealed IP addresses and other forms of identification to French judges – but only in cases relating to terrorism and violent acts. Read more
ASOS teams up with Disney to create an amazing Lion King range (Metro)
Disney was a huge part of most childhoods and it’s nice to have something a little nostalgic, even if it’s decades later. The Lion King is a particular classic – and now Disney has teamed up with ASOS to help you show off your love of the film. To conicide with the new remake, which is due to be released on 19 July, the online brand has created a range of summer clothes in amazing prints. Read more
Gov Dickson Classics: Nigeria Police athlete kidnapped (Nation)
A Nigeria Police athlete, Constable Esther Okpokwe has been kidnapped by unknown men on her way to the 3rd Governor Dickson Wrestling Classics holding in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, NationSport reports. The 3rd edition of the classic begins on Tuesday at the Indoor Sports Hall of the Samson Siasia Sports Stadium with over 500 athletes and officials from different states and wrestling clubs around the country. Read more
AFCON 2019: Fit-again Keita injects Guinea with timely boost (Punch)
For a Guinea team with growing Africa Cup of Nations ambitions, the return of Naby Keita was a victory in itself after Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp had indicated the midfielder would miss the tournament with injury. Hurt during the first leg of Liverpool’s Champions League semi-final showdown with Barcelona, Keita spent nearly two months out before making his comeback in the final 30 minutes of Saturday’s 2-2 draw with a plucky Madagascar. His impact was immediate in Alexandria as Guinea equalised within four minutes of his introduction. Read more
Frank Lampard: Chelsea given permission to hold talks with Derby manager (BBC)
Chelsea have been given permission to speak to Derby boss Frank Lampard about their vacant manager’s job. Lampard, 41, spent 13 years as a Chelsea player and would replace Maurizio Sarri, who has joined Juventus after one season at Stamford Bridge. The Blues would have to pay the Rams about £4m if they appoint Lampard. “With pre-season fast approaching for both clubs it is hoped this will allow Chelsea to swiftly conclude their discussions,” a Derby statement read. “The club will make no further comment until it is appropriate to do so.” Read more
Gary Neville sends message to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer over Manchester United star Paul Pogba (Metro)
Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville believes Paul Pogba should be sold if he’s not fully committed to staying at the club. The Frenchman confirmed earlier this month that he would like to try a ‘new challenge’ but stopped short of requesting a departure from the club and has not handed in a transfer request. Pogba has three years to run on his deal at the Theatre of Dreams and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is desperate to keep the midfielder, promising to build his team around the 26-year-old. Read more
Johanna Konta beats Maria Sakkari to reach Eastbourne International third round (BBC)
Britain’s Johanna Konta beat Greece’s Maria Sakkari 6-4 7-6 (7-3) to reach the third round of the Nature Valley International at Eastbourne. The world number 19 was 5-3 down in the second set but fought back to secure victory in one hour and 37 minutes. Konta, 28, will play Ons Jabeur in the third round after the Tunisian defeated Mandy Minella 2-6 6-2 6-1. Read more
Commonwealth Games 2022: Birmingham event to cost £778m (BBC)
The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games will cost £778m, the government has announced. Three-quarters of the public funding for the 11-day event will come from central government, with £184m having to be found by Birmingham City Council. The budget is above initial estimates of £750m, but lower than the £967m spent on the 2018 Gold Coast Games. Read more
