N5.8bn NEMA scam: Frank asks Osinbajo to resign (Vanguard)

Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, has given the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo SAN, seven (7) days to resign over his flagrant violation of the Constitution and the Public Procurement Act in the approval of N5.8billion as intervention funds for the North East in 2017. It could be recalled that the House of Representatives in its investigative report had indicted the Vice President following its investigation into the disbursement N5.8billion for intervention food programme in the northeast in 2017. Read more

 

N20bn Paris Club Fund: Ondo workers threaten to strike (PremiumTimes)

Workers in Ondo State have threatened to embark on strike if the governor fails to deploy the N20 billion Paris Club funds it received recently to settle all outstanding salaries and emoluments of members. The labour unions gave the governor on or before Tuesday, November 13 accede to its demands. In a letter addressed to the governor by the leadership of the workers in the state, the workers alleged that the state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, had not been sincere in the administration of the refunds. Read more

 

Minimum wage: Duke advocates review of salaries every 10 years (Cable)

Donald Duke, the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), has called on the federal government to find a long-term solution to the lingering minimum wage crisis in Nigeria. In a statement on Saturday, Duke also called for a periodic review of salaries every ten years, considering variables such as inflation. Duke said the government’s “fire brigade” response to the minimum wage issue was tantamount to giving a short-term solution to “a long-term problem.” Read more

 

40m Nigerians suffering from mental disorders – FG (Vanguard)

The Federal Government on Monday said an estimated 40 million Nigerians are believed to be suffering from mental disorders. Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Abdulaziz Mashi Abdullahi, stated this at the on-going mental health action committee and stakeholders workshop in Abuja. Abdullahi, who attributed the country’s high burden of mental disorders to inadequate attention paid to mental illnesses, misconceptions and lack of awareness on the part of the Nigerian public, said more people will be disabled by psychological challenges than complications arising from HIV/AIDS, heart disease, accidents, and wars combined by the year 2020. Read more

 

Man climbs mast to protest ‘land encroachment’ by Atiku’s university (Cable)

Musa Wakatu, a resident of Abuja, has climbed a telecommunication mast over an alleged land encroachment by the American University of Nigeria (AUN). The elderly man climbed the mast at Nicon Junction in Maitama area of the federal capital territory (FCT) on Monday morning. The university is owned by Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Wakatu, who threw leaflets from the mast to the crowd who had thronged the area, alleged that Abubakar, through his university, had encroached and fenced his landed property at Bajabure in Girei local government area in Yola, Adamawa state, and built structures inside. Read more

 

2019: Transport union warns members in Lagos (Punch)

The Lagos State chapter of the Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria on Sunday warned its members to steer clear of electoral violence and thuggery before, during and after the 2019 general elections. The Chairman of the chapter, Alhaji Mohammed Musa, gave the warning in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos. NAN reports that political campaigns for both Presidential and National Assembly elections will kick off on November 18, while that of governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections will begin on December 1. Read more

 

We find it difficult to get NAFDAC certification –Ghana companies (Punch)

The Ghana Export Promotion Authority on Monday cried out that Ghanaian companies were finding it difficult to access the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control for certification of Ghanaian products. The Principal Export Development Officer of GEPA, Mrs Nelly Spio-Abaido, who made the revelation in Lagos said that GEPA was finding it increasingly difficult to approach NAFDAC’s authorities for documentation and certification of Ghanaian products. Read more

 

Georgia Democrats, Abrams’ campaign files lawsuit to challenge rejection of votes (CNN)

The Georgia Democratic Party and gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’ campaign filed a lawsuit in federal court Sunday asking for rejected absentee ballots and provisional ballots to be counted in the Georgia governor’s race. The lawsuit challenges the rejection of more than 1,000 absentee ballots for missing information or mismatching information, like birth dates or addresses.  The lawsuit also seeks relief for voters whose provisional ballots were rejected in Gwinnett and Dekalb counties, which are in the Atlanta metro area, because they are registered in a different county. Read more

 

Trump’s new acting Attorney General is already in trouble, and he just started (BuzzFeed)

The day after the midterm elections, President Donald Trump’s chief of staff told Jeff Sessions, who the Senate confirmed to serve as attorney general in February 2017, to resign — that day. Sessions’ own chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, would be named acting attorney general. That basically was the high point for Whitaker, as almost every news cycle since has included new questions about whether he should be in the job — questions about the legality of his appointment but also about his qualifications. Read more

 

California wildfires – live updates: Celebrity homes destroyed as death toll rises to 31 in state’s deadliest fire on record (Independence)

The death toll from wildfires in California has risen to 31, after six more people were found dead in what is expected to be the deadliest fire in state history. The so-called Camp Fire in northern California burned down more than 6,700 homes and businesses in the town of Paradise – more structures than any other wildfire recorded in California. Its death toll of 29 now equals that of the Griffith Park Fire in 1933, the deadliest wildfire on record in California. At least 228 people were still missing, according to Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea. Read more

 

Steam bug allowed unlimited free downloads (BBC)

A man has been given $20,000 (£15,500) for discovering a bug in the Steam video games store that let people download any game for free. Security researcher Artem Moskowsky found a flaw in Steam’s portal for games developers that let anybody generate licence keys without paying. Millions of people use Steam to buy and download games on PC and Mac computers. Mr Moskowsky told Steam owner Valve about the bug and it awarded him the money as part of its bug bounty scheme. Many companies reward people who privately disclose security problems so they can be fixed, rather than sharing the information online. Read more

 

Alibaba Singles Day sales top $30 billion (CNN)

Alibaba smashed its record for the online retail blitz known as Singles Day. China’s biggest e-commerce company said sales topped $30 billion over a 24-hour period Sunday, soaring past last year’s record of about $24 billion. The shopping extravanganza regularly racks up bigger sales than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. But this year’s Singles Day comes as Alibaba’s (BABA) growth is coming under pressure from China’s slowing economy, new rivals in the e-commerce industry and the trade war with the United States. Read more

 

Higuaín suffers Milan meltdown as Juventus push him over the edge (Guardian)

Had Gennaro Gattuso noticed something in training, the first tremors that foretell the eruption of an emotional volcano? Milan’s match against Juventus was always going to bear extra significance for Gonzalo Higuaín, cast aside by the Bianconeri following the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo this summer. Still, the words spoken by the manager at his pre-game press conference sound prescient with hindsight. “The way he experiences matches, and the way that his character is, he needs to try to stay calm,” said Gattuso. “Lucidity is required.” Read more

 

Santiago Solari: Real Madrid set to appoint Argentine as permanent manager (BBC)

Real Madrid are set to appoint Santiago Solari as the club’s permanent manager. The Spanish Football Association says it has received Solari’s contract from the La Liga club, although no there has not yet been an announcement from Real. Solari took over on 29 October on an interim basis after the sacking of former Spain manager Julen Lopetgui. The 42-year-old has since led Real to four wins in four games – the best start of any manager in the club’s history. Read more

 

Manchester City: Pep Guardiola asked to explain pre-derby referee comments (BBC)

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has been asked by the Football Association to explain comments he made about the referee before Sunday’s derby with Manchester United. Premier League bosses are not to speak about match officials before fixtures. But before his side’s 3-1 home win, Spaniard Guardiola responded to a question that suggested Anthony Taylor might be biased in United’s favour. He has until 18:00 GMT on Thursday to respond. Read more

 

Man gets two-year jail for stealing 600 tubers of yam (Punch)

A Chief Magistrates’ Court sitting in Ilupeju-Ekiti, Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State, on Monday sentenced one Adeleye Ajayi to two-year imprisonment for stealing 600 tubers of yam. Chief Magistrate Joseph Ayodele found Ajayi guilty on two counts of conspiracy and stealing. Delivering judgment, Ayodele stated: “The prosecution has proved its case of conspiracy and stealing against the defendant beyond reasonable doubt. Read more

 

VIDEO: Angelique Kidjo performs at WWI armistice centennial (Punch)

Grammy award-winning singer, Angelique Kidjo, on Sunday, performed at the centenary anniversary of the end of the First World War in France. Kidjo performed a single, Blewu before world leaders at the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris. The track was originally by the late Togolese music diva, Bella Bellow. Kidjo wore a long blue Ankara dress with a matching headgear for her performance. Read more

Falz Drags NBC To Court Over “This Is Nigeria” Ban (Guardian)

Foremost Nigerian entertainer, Folarin Falana better known by his stage name Falz has filed a lawsuit against the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC). The papers filed in court challenges the ban placed by the NBC on his song, This is Nigeria. The award-winning music act filed the court documents through his lawyers, Adepetun Caxton-Martins Agbor & Segun (ACAS-Law), on November 6, 2018, three months after the NBC sent a letter to JODAJ Global Communications Limited in Jos sanctioning them for playing Falz’s song, This Is Nigeria and banning the song from being played on radio, along with other songs. In the letter sent to JODAJ Global Communications Limited, NBC stated that the reason for banning This Is Nigeria is that the lyrics are vulgar and in contravention of the NBC Code. A lot of Nigerians, including celebrities, criticized NBC for the ban, stating it was ridiculous, but the ban was upheld. Read more

 

Rape victim accused of attempting to murder baby could face 20 years in prison (CNN)

A young woman who became pregnant after being raped by her stepfather is to go on trial in El Salvador accused of attempting to murder her baby, under the country’s strict abortion laws. Imelda Cortez, 20, gave birth to her stepfather’s baby in a latrine in April last year, according to the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), which has been supporting her case. The baby girl survived and Cortez was placed into custody, said CEJIL. Read more