Six things Osinbajo can’t do in Buhari’s absence (Punch)
President Muhammadu Buhari traveled last Thursday on a 10-day ‘private visit’ to London. For the first time since becoming President, Buhari failed to inform Nigerians the purpose of his visit and had also refused to transmit a letter to the National Assembly to inform the legislature of his absence; nor did he name Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo as the Acting President. The President’s action has generated a debate regarding Section 145 of the Constitution, which states, “Whenever the President is proceeding on vacation or is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, he shall transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to that effect, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, the Vice-President shall perform the functions of the President as Acting President.” Read more
Minimum Wage: Labour urges FG to finalise salary adjustment (Guardian)
The Organised Labour has called on the Federal Government to quickly finalise the salary adjustment and implementation of the new National Minimum Wage for workers in the country. Mr Ayuba Wabba, President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said this at 2019 May Celebration on Wednesday in Abuja. The theme for the May celebration is “Another 100 Years of Struggle for Jobs, Dignity and Social Justice in Nigeria”. Read more
Cross Rivers civil servants protest early payment of May salary (Guardian)
Civil servants in Cross River State have protested the payment of May salary on the first day of the month by Governor Ben Ayade. Ayade had consistently paid the May salary on the first day of the month in the last three years of his tenure. But speaking to journalists, the state chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) Clarkson Otu, said workers and the leadership of labour were unhappy over the early payment of salary. According to the labour leader, even though the government means well, labour was nonetheless not happy with the situation. Read more
Mace theft probe: Omo-Agege abusing legislative, judicial processes, Misau alleges (Punch)
The lawmakers representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District, Senator Isa Misau, has accused his Delta Central counterpart, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, of frustrating the move by the National Assembly to consider the report by the ad hoc committee set up to investigate the invasion and snatching of mace in the Senate chamber. Misau in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday accused Omo-Agege of abusing legislative and judicial processes by obtaining court orders stopping the lawmakers from probing into the attack. Read more
UTME results: JAMB server did not crash – spokesman (Nation)
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says its server did not crash and results of candidates who participated in its 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) are intact. The board’s Head, Media and Information, Dr Fabian Benjamin, gave the assurance in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos. Benjamin reacted to speculations in some quarters that the board issued a press statement, explaining that the release of the UTME results was being delayed because its server crashed and that candidates should prepare for another examination. Read more
Ekiti APC suspends Oni for alleged anti-party activities (Punch)
The immediate past Deputy National Chairman (South) of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Segun Oni, has been suspended indefinitely from the party. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Oni, who was also a former governor of Ekiti State, was suspended over alleged “anti-party activities.” In a letter dated May 1, 2019 and addressed to Oni by the party’s executives in Oni’s Ifami Ward II, Ekiti, the party said it took the action over the failure of the party chieftain to appear before them to clear the allegations against him. Read more
Obaseki promises to pay more than N30, 000 minimum wage if… (Nation)
Obaseki said he would increase the minimum wage above N30, 000 as he was ready to pay for hard work and productivity. Obaseki, who spoke at the 2019 May Day rally at the University of Bénin Sports Complex, assured he would commence immediate payment of the N30, 000 minimum wage. He stated that a joint team of labour and government would be constituted to formulate modalities for payment even though the guidelines for payment was yet to be released by the National Salary and Wages Commission. He said he put in place motivational incentives for the workers because they remained valuable assets. Read more
Umahi dissolves boards of state-owned agencies (Punch)
Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has dissolved the boards of all commissions owned by the state government. This was disclosed by his Principal Secretary, Clement Nweke, in Abakaliki on Wednesday. The governor also terminated the appointments of coordinators of Local Government Areas Development Centres, senior technical assistants, and technical assistants, among others, Nweke added in a statement. Read more
May Day: Kano State government abolishes HND, Bsc dichotomy (Guardian)
Kano State government has abolished the dichotomy between the Higher National Diploma (HND) and Bsc holders in the state. Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano made this known during the workers day celebrations at Sani Abacha Stadium on Wednesday in Kano. According to Ganduje, the decision to abolish the dichotomy is part of his administration’s effort to boost the morale of civil servants in the state. He said his administration was working assiduously in enhancing the welfare of civil servants. Read more
We’ll always identify with Senator Adeleke – Classmates (Nation)
Classmates of Senator Ademola Adeleke at the Muslim Grammar School, Ede in Osun State have paid him a solidarity visit. They insisted he attended the school between 1976 and 1981. At a press conference in Ede, Dr. Mukaila Olopade, who was a former Sports Prefect in the school, said as their mate they will always identify with Ademola Adeleke, whom he described as a good jolly fellow. Accompanied by other mates, Mukaila Ayoola, Ajibola Nureni, Ademola Oyelakin and Dauda Okanlawon, he said: “Those of us, who attended Muslim Grammar School, Ede between 1976 and 1981, would readily attest to the good companionship and brotherly fraternity that we shared with the amiable Senator Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke, who from childhood has shown leadership traits. Read more
Aviation unions to shut down NCAA over obsolete organogram (Nation)
Aviation unions on Wednesday vowed to shut down the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority of Nigeria (NCAA) over what it called ‘obsolete’ organogram in the agency, which has prevented some promoted staff to be rightly placed. The unions also said that there was no going back in its plan to ensure unionisation of workers in the country’s airlines before the end of the year. Mr. Illitrus Ahmadu, the President, Air Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) stated this Wednesday at the Workers’ Day celebration organised by the unions at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos. Read more
Legislative crises in Guinea Bissau will soon be over- ECOWAS (Nation)
An agreeable solution seems to be on the way in Guinea Bissau, as parties involved in the legislative crisis have pledged to embrace peace. Guinea Bissau has been embroiled in political crisis after the legislative election on March 10, 2019 over power sharing between the ruling party and the opposition political parties. But with the intervention of the leadership of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) normalcy seems not to be far. Read more
AU gives Sudan military further 60 days to cede power (Guardian)
The African Union has given Sudan’s military rulers another 60 days to hand over power to a civilian authority or face suspension after an earlier deadline was missed. The AU had threatened to suspend Sudan following a coup that saw Omar al-Bashir ousted by the military after nearly three decades in power, giving the army 15 days from April 15 to relinquish power. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the AU Peace and Security Council said it “notes with deep regret, however, that the Sudanese Military has not stepped aside and has not handed over power to a civilian-led transitional Authority” within the initial deadline. Read more
Venezuela crisis: Protesters gather after Guaidó call (BBC)
Venezuelans have gathered for mass protests after opposition leader Juan Guaidó called for fresh demonstrations. It comes the day after President Nicolás Maduro said he had stopped an “attempted coup” by the opposition. “Today we continue,” Mr Guaidó tweeted. “We will keep going with more strength than ever, Venezuela”. Pro-government protests will also take place. Mr Guaidó says he has the support of the armed forces, but Mr Maduro says they have not turned against him. Read more
Australian guilty of plane bomb plot involving meat grinder (BBC)
A man has been convicted in Australia of plotting to blow up a flight on behalf of the Islamic State (IS) group using a bomb hidden inside a meat grinder. Khaled Khayat, 51, conspired to bring down the Etihad flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi in July 2017, a jury has ruled. He had pleaded not guilty. The plot was aborted when a bag holding the bomb was too heavy to be checked in at Sydney Airport, local media said. He can be sentenced to life in prison. The plan was to blow up the flight carrying 400 passengers with military grade explosives concealed in the grinder. Read more
Paris May Day protests: Police and demonstrators clash (BBC)
French police have fired tear gas on masked protesters who joined large May Day demonstrations in Paris. Traditionally a union-led day of action in the country, this year’s event saw both the yellow vest movement and so-called “black blocks” of dark-clad and masked protesters. Some smashed shop windows and threw projectiles at the police. Dozens of people have been arrested. The clashes forced the head of the CGT union to temporarily flee the march. Philippe Martinez told news outlet Franceinfo that “police charged the CGT”, though other witnesses had said the “black blocks” had attacked the union march. Read more
Mother ‘let boyfriend batter son, 2, because he didn’t chew his food properly’ (Metro)
A mother let her boyfriend batter her two-year-old son to punish him for failing to chew his food properly, police say. Brianna Michelle Troub, 22, was arrested Tuesday after the youngster was taken to hospital in Hot Springs, Arkansas, covered with severe bruises and swelling across his forehead, chin neck and cheeks. The youngster had also been left with bruises and welts on his arms, chest and stomach, as well as a circular burn on his chest and a cut on the inside of his lip. Read more
Museum can keep artwork looted by Nazis (BBC)
A Spanish museum is allowed to keep an artwork that the Nazis took from a Jewish woman in 1939, a judge ruled. Madrid’s Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum has fought a 14-year legal battle in the US with the family of Lilly Cassirer. Ms Cassirer was forced to trade the valuable Camille Pissarro painting for her freedom as she tried to flee Germany, just before the war. A federal judge in California ruled that legally it belongs to the museum, which acquired it in 1993. Read more
Caster Semenya vows court decision won’t hold her back (Guardian)
South Africa’s Olympic athlete Caster Semenya on Wednesday said the decision by the Court of Arbitration to maintain IAAF rules forcing female athletes to regulate their testosterone levels will not hold her back. “For a decade the IAAF has tried to slow me down, but this has actually made me stronger. The decision of the CAS will not hold me back,” she said in a statement released by her legal team. The double Olympic champion, went to court to fight rules imposed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) that compel “hyperandrogenic” athletes — or those with “differences of sexual development” (DSD) — to lower their testosterone levels if they wish to compete as women. Read more
Jamie Carragher calls on Liverpool to prove to Philippe Coutinho he was wrong to leave (Metro)
Jamie Carragher thinks Liverpool can prove to Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho they were wrong to quit the club for Barcelona by dumping them out of the Champions League. Liverpool travel to the Nou Camp on Wednesday night for the first leg of the semi-final, with former Reds Suarez and Coutinho lining up against them in the opposite eleven. Both players came close to winning major silverware at Liverpool, but forced their way out of Anfield when Barcelona came knocking for their services. Read more
Luis Suarez warns Barcelona team-mates against switching off against Liverpool (Metro)
Luis Suarez has warned his Barcelona team-mates they cannot afford to switch off against Liverpool as they did against Manchester United. Barcelona welcome Liverpool to the Nou Camp on Wednesday for their first leg of their Champions League semi-final, with the home side the favourite to progress into the final. Suarez, a former Liverpool player, helped Barcelona dump Manchester United out of the competition, but explained there was no margin for error against the Reds. Read more
Iker Casillas stable after heart attack – FC Porto (Guardian)
Veteran goalkeeper Iker Casillas was stable in hospital after suffering a heart attack in training, his club Porto said on Wednesday. The 37-year-old, who has 167 Spain caps and played more than 500 games for Real Madrid, suffered what the Portuguese club called an “acute myocardial infarction” in training on Wednesday. The club’s statement on Wednesday afternoon said that “the session was interrupted to provide assistance. It went on that Casillas was in a Porto hospital “well, stable and his heart problem solved.” Read more
Cristiano Ronaldo ‘buys most expensive car ever’ but he can’t drive it for two years (Metro)
Football star Cristiano Ronaldo is said to have purchased the world’s most expensive car, which has 16-cylinder engine and six exhaust pipes. Six. The Juventus player is rumoured to be the new owner of the one-off Bugatti La Voiture Noire which would have set him back an easy €11 million (£9.49million). The car is thought to be the only one of the prototype built by the French company; it was made in tribute to the 110th anniversary of the founding of the company and was presented at the Geneva Motor Show 2019. Read more
Unai Emery says Aaron Ramsey’s ‘heart is red’ as his Arsenal career is ended by injury (Metro)
Unai Emery has confirmed that Aaron Ramsey has played his final match for Arsenal after it emerged the midfielder will miss the rest of the season with a hamstring injury. The Welshman hobbled off against Napoli but had hoped to get over the problem quickly, though the injury was more serious than first thought and he faces up to two months on the sidelines. Even if the Gunners overcome Valencia to reach the Europa League final, Ramsey will not be fit in time to play a part before leaving to join Juventus as a free agent in the summer. Read more
Money man Ratcliffe re-affirms interest in Chelsea takeover (Nation)
Britain’s richest man Jim Ratcliffe has not ruled out buying Chelsea Football Club after admitting he did have a tour of their training ground last year. Jim Ratcliffe was in the Yorkshire Dales on Wednesday to launch Team INEOS after taking over the professional cycling team from Sky. And while it is understood he has not so far been prepared to meet Roman Abramovich’s valuation for the club, believed to be in the region of £4bn despite Chelsea insisting the Russian billionaire has no intention of selling, Ratcliffe hinted he is still interested. Read more