Street sweepers protest against hardship under LAWMA in Lagos (Vanguard)
Scores of Lagos State Com-munity Sanitation Workers also known as street sweepers under the Cleaner Lagos Initiative, CLI, recently staged another protest to the seat of power in Alausa, the second in three weeks, against non-payment of November/December salaries among other grievances. The street sweepers who stormed the area last week said they had to repeat the action on Monday because the promises made to them two weeks ago especially over payment of salaries, had not been fulfilled by the government and that they were suffering as a result. Read more
Take blame for slow performance, not Nigeria system, Atiku tells Buhari (Guardian)
Former Nigerian vice president and presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday said current president Muhammadu Buhari should take responsibility for ‘slow performance’ in office and not blame the country’s democratic system. Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari had earlier said the country’s democratic system of government is responsible for his ‘slow performance’ since elected in 2015. Abubakar said Buhari’s decision to admit that his administration is slow shows failure of his administration in tackling corruption. Read more
Atiku a product of faulty system, says Buhari campaign office (Nation)
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) standard bearer Atiku Abubakar yesterday drew the ire of the President’s campaign spokesman Festus Keyamo (SAN) over his remarks on the Presidency’s handling of the nation’s affairs, especially the anti-corruption war. According to Keyamo, the former Vice President would not be walking a free man, lest vying for the presidency if not for the faulty system bequeathed to the Buhari administration in 2015. Keyamo said Atiku’s diatribe against President Buhari amounted to nothing “but a disgusting grandstanding and an attempt to mock the system.” Read more
My support won presidential election for Buhari in 2015, says Obasanjo (Guardian)
Former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, on Wednesday said current president Muhammdau Buhari wouldn’t have won the 2015 presidential election if not for his support. Obasanjo before the 2015 election had left the former ruling party People’s Democratic party (PDP) to support the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Buhari to end PDP’s 16years reign in power. “I know Buhari and he too knows me. Till the day I die, Buhari will continue to address me as ‘sir.’ In 2015, if I didn’t support Buhari, he wouldn’t have won the election,” Obasanjo said. Read more
2019: INEC warns against electoral violence, vote buying (Vanguard)
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the Ebonyi State National Orientation Agency, NOA, yesterday called on Ebonyi people to shun electoral violence, vote buying and other forms of malpractices in the 2019 general elections. They also appealed to voters to participate actively in the 2019 general election warning that they would be doing themselves and the nation a disservice if they do not turn out en masse on the election day to cast their votes for their preferred candidates. Read more
Army confirms 14 killed in Boko Haram ambush (Nation)
The military yesterday confirmed that about 13 personnel and a police officer were killed in an ambush laid by Boko Haram insurgents on Damaturu-Maiduguri road on Monday. But the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has urged troops in the Northeast to remain focused in wiping out the terrorists. It noted that the military personnel and the police officer were killed while extricating themselves from the ambush. A statement by the Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, said that a soldier was killed in another encounter with terrorists at Kureta in Damaturu Local Government Area of Yobe State. Read more
Boxing Day tragedy: One killed, several injured in auto crashes (Vanguard)
An unidentified male pedestrian was yesterday crushed to death, along the Lagos / Ibadan expressway, while waiting to board a vehicle to his destination. This is just as a lorry laden with iron wire crashed on a 24 -seater commercial bus, at Kara-Isheri, long bridge, Ogun State. Passengers in the commercial bus with plate number LSR 653 XT sustained varying degrees of injury. Two of the passengers: a 62-year-old woman and another man, who sustained severe injuries, were rushed to the Accidents and Emergency Medical Centre at Lagos Toll Gate, by 7Up, as at time of writing this report. Read more
Badeh: Two suspects held (Nation)
Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder of a former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, The Nation learnt yesterday. The suspects are the man who reportedly hired the assailants and the one who is said to have pulled the trigger. It was also gathered that Badeh was killed on Keffi-Abuja road following the information that he had some cash on him to pay for additional farmland. He was on his way from his farm. The farmland was said to be next to the one he had already cultivated. Read more
18 months after, sacked whistle-blower reinstated (Nation)
Eighteen months after he was sacked, a whistleblower, Dr. Murtala Ibrahim of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has been reinstated. His reinstatement followed an intervention by the office of the Power, Works & Housing Minister Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN). Ibrahim’s appointment as the Head of ICT Process Audit & Special Investigation Unit at the bank was terminated on May 8, 2017, for blowing the whistle on a contract scam and the bank’s doctored 2016 Half-Year Validation Report. The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), a civil society organisation working on building support for the whistle-blower policy of the Federal Government, took up the matter and criticised what it called Ibrahim’s unjustifiable sack. Read more
Trumps greet US troops in Iraq (BBC)
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have made an unannounced Christmas visit to US troops in Iraq. They travelled there “late on Christmas night” to thank troops for “their service, their success and their sacrifice”, the White House said. Mr Trump said the US had no plans to pull out of Iraq. The trip came days after Defence Secretary Jim Mattis quit over divisions about strategy in the region. The US still has some 5,000 troops in Iraq to support the government in its fight against what remains of the Islamic State (IS) group. Read more
Delta State’ll ‘spoil Eagles’ players with comfort – NFF (Vanguard)
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has explained the decision to host the Super Eagles international friendly against Egypt at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba. The football house said it is all about comfort for the players, as promised by Delta State government. In contrast with an argument by Eagles’ coach, Gernot Rohr that the Asaba pitch is not good enough for such a top-grade game, the NFF moguls pointed out that the host state will lavish juicy welfare packages on the team. The Glasshouse top shots stressed that funding is a major part of staging high-profile matches and, since the Delta State government has already promised to fete the players and accord similar treatment to the visitors from Egypt, there is no better alternate readily available. Read more
CAF Champions League: Lobi set to strengthen squad (Vanguard)
After surviving an early exit in the CAF Champion League, Lobi Stars vice chairman, Mike Idoko said the club will fortify the team to meet with the challenges ahead. Lobi beat Gor Mahia of Kenya on away goal rule after aggregate scores leveled at 3-3. As the Markudi side prepare to know their next round opponent on Friday, Idoko said all the weak points identified with the team will be corrected. “We are thankful to God for allowing us to scale through to the group stage of the Caf Champions League. We have got one of the hurdles out of the way and we are glad that has been settled,” he told Goal. Read more
Solskjaer hails impact of ‘happy boy’ Pogba (Guardian)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes Manchester United are now seeing the Paul Pogba he knows from his time in charge of the club’s reserve team after the French World Cup winner scored twice in a 3-1 win over Huddersfield on Boxing Day. Solskjaer’s reign as caretaker manager began with a 5-1 win at Cardiff on Saturday, and his dream start continued with a resounding welcome by the Old Trafford faithful. Nemanja Matic scored the opener, but it was Pogba’s second half display and the Frenchman’s two goals that spoke volumes about the change in mood at the club in the week since Jose Mourinho was sacked as manager and replaced, until the end of the season, by the popular Norwegian. Read more
Five things that have gone wrong for Manchester City (Guardian)
English champions Manchester City slumped to a third shock defeat in four Premier League games at Leicester on Boxing Day to slip to third in the table and seven points adrift of unbeaten leaders Liverpool. Just a few weeks ago City seemed unstoppable as they started their title defence with a 15-game unbeaten run. However, a 2-0 reverse at Chelsea has sparked a run of three defeats in 18 days as Crystal Palace and Leicester both came from behind to hand Liverpool a huge advantage in the title race ahead of their trip to face City on January 3. Read more
‘Police beat up my son to death’ (Nation)
A cattle dealer at Kara market, Isheri-Berger, Ogun State, Mr. Mohammed Ibrahim, yesterday accused men of the Obada Police Station in Abeokuta, Ogun State, of allegedly beating up his 20-year-old son, Jubrin Mohammed, to death. He said the police deceived him last Friday that Jubrin, who was arrested on December 14, took ill and was taken to a hospital in Abeokuta where he died. Ibrahim said when the police on Monday finally admitted that his son was dead; they refused to release the body for burial. Ogun State Command spokesman Abimbola Oyeyemi referred The Nation to the Zone 2 Police Command, under whose jurisdiction the Obada Police Station fell. Read more