Lagos state government debunks holiday rumour (Guardian)
The Lagos Government has debunked rumour stating that the State’s governor Akinwunmi Ambode announced Friday March 8, 2019 as public holiday, for civil servants. According to the rumour which was trending on social media, the holiday was announced in order for citizens to prepare for the coming elections on March 9, 2019. Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kehinde Bamigbetan, asserted that the report is false, noting that all workers are expected to be in their various offices on Friday. Read more
I will work harder this time – Buhari (Punch)
President Muhammadu Buhari said on Wednesday that he would work harder this second term in order not to disappoint Nigerians. He spoke in Abuja when he met with the leadership of the Arewa Consultative Forum at the Presidential Villa. The ACF paid him a visit to congratulate him on his re-election. “This is my last lap, I will try to work harder. I assure you, I will not let you down”, he told the group led by its Board of Trustees Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Fika. Read more
INEC still in search of 63 card readers in Bayelsa (Guardian)
Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it is in search of about 63 card readers machines used during the presidential and National Assembly elections in Bayelsa State. INEC’s head of voters education and publicity department, Wilfred Ifogah, made the disclosure in an interview with journalists in Yenogoa. “We have lost about 63 card reader machines during the last exercise. The REC has issued a statement that those involved should return it to a point where it will get to INEC on or before Wednesday without being victimized,” Ifogah said. Read more
Presidential Candidate drags Buhari, Atiku to court (Guardian)
The Presidential Candidate of the National Rescue Movement, (NRM) Mr Usman Ibrahim-Alhaji has dragged President Muhammadu Buhari and the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar to court over alleged excess spending on campaigns. Ibrahim-Alhaji is praying the court to invoke Section 91(2) of the Electoral Act, 2010 to nullify the participation of Buhari and Atiku in the Feb. 23 presidential election or allegedly violating the Electoral Act 2010. The plaintiff through his counsel, Mr Ezekiel Ofou is praying the court to set aside the participation of Buhari and Atiku on the grounds that they spent over N1 billion each as campaign expenses. Read more
Evans’ inability to pay legal fees stalls trials (Punch)
The inability of alleged kidnap kingpin Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, alias Evans, to pay his legal bills has stalled two trials which are before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of an Ikeja Special Offences Court. Mr Chinoye Obiagwu (SAN), the counsel to Evans and Chiemeka Arinze his co-defendant in one of the kidnap cases, had written to the court to request for an adjournment in both cases. Portions of the letter dated March 4 and signed by Mr Noel Brown on behalf of Obiagwu was read in court by Mr Abiodun Alagbe, the state prosecutor. Read more
Atiku unaware of GoFundME accounts (Guardian)
Hours after several crowdfunding accounts were set up for the People’s Democratic Party’s presidential candidate for the 2019 election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, his spokesman, Paul Ibe has said he is unaware of the accounts. Popular activist, Segun Awosanya, tweeted what he referred to as the “official GoFundMe link” for people interested in supporting the defense of Atiku’s mandate in a credible Court of Law. “Our Call to Action is therefore simple: to put our money where our votes went and deal a decisive blow against tyranny and rigging by donating freely to support the case against INEC and the ruling APC,” the fundraiser said. Read more
APC condemns Taraba gubernatorial candidate disqualification (Guardian)
The All Progressives Congress in Taraba state has described the court’s disqualification of Sani Danladi, APC’s governorship candidate in the state, as “mischievous and comical.” A Federal High court in Jalingo, Wednesday disqualified Danladi, from Saturday’s gubernatorial election due to falsification of age in the documents submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The party’s state publicity secretary, Aaron Artimas, said in a statement on Wednesday that the case was brought by “some unknown persons parading as concerned citizens, who raised the issue of a purported improper declaration of age by Sani Danladi.” Read more
Courts remand three for assaulting Ikeja Electric workers (Punch)
A middle-aged man, Abiodun Makinde, has been arrested by operatives of the Lagos State Police Command, for allegedly beating up a worker of a power distribution company, Ikeja Electric, Oluwaseun Onate, while performing his duties on Aberuagaba Street in the Oshodi area of the state. PUNCH Metro gathered that Onate was effecting a disconnection order on customers who defaulted in the payment of their bills when Makinde reportedly attacked him. Makinde, who was said to have fled the scene of the attack, was later arrested at his hideout following an organised search by operatives of the command. Read more
Pupil reunites with family five years after going missing (Punch)
The joy of the family of Ikimot Awojoju knows no bounds as she has been reunited with her family in the Oyingbo area of Lagos, five years after she went missing. It was gathered that Ikimot lived with her guardian after her mother, Faidat Awojoju, passed away. She reportedly went missing on her way back from school on July 23, 2014. Ikimot’s guardian, Ajoke Abass, said she sold her valuables to raise the money needed to search for her but all efforts to find her proved abortive. Read more
Kenya airport strike strands thousands of passengers (BBC)
Thousands of passengers have been stranded at Kenya’s main international airport after a strike caused major disruption to flights. The military has been deployed to try to break the industrial action at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta airport. The situation has now eased slightly and a few flights have taken off, but there is a long backlog of passengers. Workers are unhappy about plans to merge the airport authority and the national airline. Airports in Mombasa, Eldoret and Kisumu have also been disrupted. Read more
Trump dealt blow as US trade deficit jumps (BBC)
The US trade gap with the rest of the world jumped to a 10-year high of $621bn (£472.5bn) last year, dealing a blow to President Donald Trump’s deficit reduction plan. The trade deficit is the difference between how much goods and services the US imports from other countries and how much it exports. Reducing the gap is a key plank of Mr Trump’s policies. But in 2018, the US exported fewer goods compared with how much it bought. Read more
India rape victim kills attacker (Punch)
An Indian woman who was raped and set on fire killed her attacker by dragging him into the flames, police said on Wednesday. The woman survived with burns to her face and hands while the man died in hospital from his injuries. The widow, 35, told police that the man, 42, attacked and raped her in her home north of Kolkata in eastern India, on Monday, when her daughters were out. “Then he poured kerosene on her body and set her on fire,” police officer Sajal Kanti Biswas told AFP, quoting the woman’s statement. Read more
Goldman Sachs relaxes dress code for all employees (BBC)
Goldman Sachs is relaxing its dress code, as the Wall Street giant moves toward a more casual workplace. The investment bank announced the “firm-wide flexible dress code” in an internal memo, urging employees to use “good judgement” in their fashion choices. Goldman Sachs loosened the dress code for its tech division in 2017, in a bid to appeal to top talent. Other banks like JP Morgan have taken similar steps. In a widely cited memo, the US bank said the “changing nature of workplaces generally in favour of a more casual environment” had prompted the move to a “firm wide flexible dress code”. Read more
Dying man gets his bucket-list wish of a phone call from Donald Trump (Metro)
A terminally-ill cystic fibrosis sufferer fulfilled a dying wish to chat with President Donald Trump on the phone. Jay Barrett, 44, was called by the president Tuesday night at his sister Bridgette Hoskie’s home in New Haven, Connecticut, where he is receiving end-of-life care. Trump told Barrett, who is an avid supporter of the Republican president’s administration: ‘All right, Jay, you look handsome to me. I just saw a picture of you.’ Read more
Will Smith ‘casting as Richard Williams’ sparks colourism debate (BBC)
An upcoming biopic about the father of Serena and Venus Williams has faced criticism amid reports that Will Smith will play the lead role. Richard Williams, 77, coached his daughters to become two of the world’s greatest tennis players, despite having no previous experience of the game. But Smith’s reported casting in the film has angered critics, who say he is too light-skinned for the part. The actor has not yet commented on the reported casting or the criticism. Colourism is a form of discrimination against dark-skinned people in favour of those with lighter skin from the same race. Read more
R Kelly breaks silence over sex abuse accusations: ‘This is not me’ (BBC)
R Kelly has tearfully and angrily denied allegations of sexual abuse in the first interview since his arrest last month. “I didn’t do this stuff. This is not me,” he told CBS This Morning, adding that he is “fighting for my life”. Chicago prosecutors have charged Kelly with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, involving four alleged victims, three of whom were minors. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges and is currently out on bail. If convicted, he faces three to seven years in prison for each crime. Read more
Russia to deport World Cup migrants from Nigeria and other countries (Guardian)
In a cramped apartment on the outskirts of Moscow, Lamin has little more than the clothes and the Bible he brought with him when he came to Russia on a temporary World Cup visa last summer. The 23-year-old Gambian shares the two-bedroom flat with nine other people — the youngest a newborn baby girl, the daughter of a Congolese flatmate. Like thousands of other Africans, Lamin came to Russia during the 2018 tournament on a “Fan ID” that allowed spectators to bypass the country’s usual visa requirements. Read more
Mourinho ready to work as Real Madrid set for major changes after Ajax’s defeat (Punch)
Revolution is in the air at Real Madrid after their Champions League empire was razed to the ground with an astounding 4-1 loss at home to Ajax Amsterdam on Tuesday. The changes will involve an overhaul of players as well as a change of manager. Coach Santiago Solari may have a contract until 2021 but no one expects him to remain beyond the close of the season after overseeing Tuesday’s catastrophic last-16 second leg defeat. The defeat ended the capital club’s 1,012-day reign as kings of Europe. Read more
Ben Arfa threatens Rennes revenge against Arsenal’s Emery (Guardian)
Arsenal manager Unai Emery will face a familiar foe when the Gunners look to move a step closer to Europa League glory and a return to the Champions League at Rennes on Thursday. The mercurial talent of Hatem Ben Arfa has helped the mid-table Ligue 1 side reach the last 16 of a European competition for the first time. Ben Arfa endured an unhappy two years under Emery at Paris Saint-Germain where he was frozen out for an entire season and made to train with the club’s reserves. Read more
Maurizio Sarri sends Callum Hudson-Odoi warning ahead of Dynamo Kyiv clash (Metro)
Maurizio Sarri has refused to commit to starting Callum Hudson-Odoi against Dynamo Kyiv in the Europa League on Thursday night despite preparing to rotate his squad. The west Londoners have had a number of gruelling matches over the past few weeks, losing the Carabao Cup final to Manchester City but beating Tottenham and Fulham in the following games. Although Sarri’s squad is injury-free, he feels several plays need a rest – though that does not necessarily mean Hudson-Odoi will start, and he feels too much pressure is being put on the youngster. Read more
Andy Murray ‘pain-free’ but unsure over future after hip surgery (Guardian)
Andy Murray ‘pain-free’ but unsure over future after hip surgery (Guardian) Andy Murray says he is no longer in pain but the former world number one is unsure whether he will be able to play top-level tennis again following a second hip operation. The 31-year-old underwent hip resurfacing surgery at the end of January in a final throw of the dice to try to overcome the problem that first became a serious issue in 2017. “I want to continue playing, I said that in Australia,” Murray said at a sponsorship event at London’s Queen’s Club. “The issue is I don’t know whether it’s possible.” Read more