Lagos sets up team for free flow of traffic (Nation)
Lagos State Government has established a Special Team to ensure efficient traffic compliance in the State and particularly to address the observable flagrant disobedience to traffic rules by motorists. Chief Executive Officer of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), AIG Chris Olakpe (Rtd) disclosed this Thursday after a tour of notable traffic prone areas of the state in company of other top hierarchy of the Agency including the General Manager, Mr. Olawale Musa. Read more
President Buhari explains removal of VAT from domestic air fares (Sun)
President Muhammadu Buhari says the recent decision by the Federal Government to remove Value Added Tax (VAT) from domestic air transportation is to make air travel more affordable to citizens. The president said this when he inaugurated the new International Terminal of Port Harcourt Airport, Omagwa, Rivers, on Thursday. Read more
NYSC keeps alive dreams of founding fathers, says Ambode (Punch)
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, on Thursday, said that the National Youth Service Corps had kept alive its founding fathers’ dream of sustained unity and social integration. Ambode, represented by Mr Oluseye Oladejo, Lagos State Commissioner for Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Relations, made the remark at the swearing-in of the 2018 Batch C, Stream I corps members, at the NYSC Orientation Camp, Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos. Read more
PDP wasted commonwealth of Nigerians, says Buhari (Nation)
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday night again blamed the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for wasting the commonwealth of Nigerians during its sixteen years administrations. According to him, there was nothing to show for the huge resources that were earned in the country during the period. He spoke at a dinner for youth political appointees at the new Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He specifically queried the $16 billion expended on the power sector during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Read more
Buhari inaugurates new PH Int’l Airport terminal (Nation)
After four years of spadework, President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday inaugurated the new international terminal of Port Harcourt Airport, in Omagwa, Rivers State. The terminal was built by the Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company Nigeria Limited as part of the $500 million concessional loan from the Export – Import Bank of China. Buhari landed about 12.30 pm and was driven in a convoy to the location of the new terminal. Read more
Nobody‘ll remove Oshiomhole, we will stop it – Senator Omo-Agege (Vanguard)
Senator Ovie Omo-Agege representing Central senatorial district, Delta State, in the Senate, Thursday, declared that nobody would remove Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as National Chairman of the party, saying: “We will resist it and it will fail.” Besides, he stated that Oshiomhole enjoys the support of President Muhammadu Buhari and power brokers in the Presidency, while a Reconciliation Committee comprising leaders of the party would soon move out to dialogue with those still upset over the outcome of the primaries. Read more
66-year-old couple have baby after 40 years of marriage (Punch)
A couple who reside in Abeokuta, Ogun State, have been delivered of their first baby after 40 years of marriage. A press release signed by Media Officer in Ogun State, Mr. Orunbon Ademola, notes that the 66-year-old first-time parents were also visited by the Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, who felicitated them, describing the joyous incident as the “first of its kind in Africa and second in the world.” Read more
CIA head ‘heard Khashoggi killing tape’ (BBC)
CIA director Gina Haspel has heard audio recordings that Turkey claims capture the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, media reports say. They say Ms Haspel was allowed to listen to the audio during a visit to Turkey earlier this week. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor was quoted as saying Khashoggi’s murder was “premeditated”. Read more
China blasts Trump phone hack report as ‘fake news’ (Guardian)
Beijing on Thursday dismissed a New York Times report that alleged Chinese intelligence eavesdropped on Donald Trump’s cellphone calls as “fake news” and joked the US president should switch to a Chinese phone. The newspaper cited anonymous officials who said China and Russia had listened in to Trump’s frequent phone calls with friends and allies made over his iPhone, using the information gleaned to shape interactions with the US. Read more
Saudi-Led airstrike kills 21 civilians near Yemeni city (Independent)
At least 21 civilians were killed in an airstrike by a Saudi-led coalition near the coastal city of Hodeida in war-torn Yemen, rebels claimed on Thursday. Youssef al-Hadiri, a spokesman for the rebel-controlled Health Ministry, said the Wednesday strike hit a crowd of people in the town of Bayat al-Faqih south of Hodeida, also injuring 11 others. Read more
Israel prime minister warns of plot to topple him (Guardian)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the Jewish state’s president and a former minister of conspiring to have him toppled, triggering charges of “paranoia” ahead of elections. “I know that a former Likud minister has been holding discussions with the coalition and concocted a subversive plot, with me winning a large victory at the next elections and him making sure I am not the prime minister,” he told a gathering of his right-wing Likud party on Wednesday night celebrating his 69th birthday. Read more
Liberia’s Weah announces free tuition for undergraduates (Guardian)
Liberian President George Weah, who overcame childhood poverty to become one of the world’s top footballers, has abolished tuition fees for undergraduate students in the poor West African country’s state universities. Speaking Wednesday on the campus of the University of Liberia in the name of “the Liberian people and my government”, Weah declared “free tuition for all undergraduate students” at all the public universities. Read more
Ozil still a Germany fan despite bitter departure (Punch)
Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has pledged his support for the German national team despite bitterness from both sides over his retirement from international football. “I’ve always been supporting the DFB Team since my childhood and I’ve still many friends playing for the German national team,” Ozil said in a Twitter Q&A session on the eve of Arsenal’s Europa League clash with Sporting Lisbon. Read more
No Messi or Ronaldo but Clasico could still define season (Punch)
The biggest game will not feature either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo yet Sunday’s Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid will be as feisty as ever with plenty riding on it for the first time since 2007 club football’s arguably. Real Coach Julen Lopetegui has come in for fierce criticism this season, having presided over a run of five games without a win. Read more
Three convicted in basketball recruiting corruption trial (Punch)
Adidas executive James Gatto was among three men found guilty in a US court Wednesday of conspiring to make illegal payments aimed at recruiting promising players to universities affiliated with the sportswear giant. Gatto, the company’s director of global sports marketing for basketball, and former Adidas consultant Merl Code were convicted along with sports agent Christian Dawkins on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a scheme to funnel $100,000 to the family of former University of Louisville player Brian Bowen. Read more
Court remands Benue lecturer in prison for raping 13-year-old girl (Punch)
The Chief Magistrate Court ‘1’, Makurdi, on Thursday remanded a 51-year-old senior lecturer in the Department of Catering and Hotel Management, Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo, Mr. Andrew Ogbuja, in the prison custody. The lecturer who was earlier charged for the rape of a 13-year-old home help, Elizabeth Ochanya, was yesterday arraigned for a fresh charge of criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide. Read more
Thunderbolt kills timber contractor in Ondo (Punch)
Tragedy struck on Wednesday in the agrarian community of Ifira Akoko, in the Akoko South-East Local Government Area of Ondo State, as thunderbolt killed a man identified as Ramoni Aluko. The 43-year-old man, who was said to be a timber contractor, was hit by the thunderbolt while cutting an Iroko tree. Read more