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Former political adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Ahmed Gulak, has declared himself the substantive Chairman of PDP. Gulak in company of former presidential spokesperson, Doyin Okupe and other PDP members, stormed the party’s national secretariat in Abuja where he declared himself the Chairman of the party. Former political adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Ahmed Gulak According to Gulak, he decided to assume the position of the party’s Chairman following the December 16th ruling by Justice Husseini Baba-Yusuf of the High Court Abuja which ordered the acting chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, to vacate office and allow Gulak or anyone from the north east region of the country take over as the party’s chairman following the resignation of Adamu Mu’azu in May last year. Meanwhile, the judge of the federal high court in Abuja, Justice Okon Abang has ruled that Chief Olisa Metuh, spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), must perfect the co...

TheNews.NG has learned that the Supreme Court of Nigeria sitting in Abuja has ruled in favor of Nyesom Wike’s appeal of the Rivers State gubernatorial race. According to statements made at the courthouse Mr. Wike’s “appeals are meritorious” and thereby set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal. Nyesom Wike The Supreme Court of Nigeria sitting in Abuja on Wednesday ruled in favor of Nyesom Wike’s appeal in the Rivers State gubernatorial race. According to statements made at the courthouse, Wike’s “appeals are meritorious”. The court thereby set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal. The seven man panel, lead by Chief Justice Mahamood Muhammad, will give reason for the judgement on Friday, according to a TheNews.NG correspondent at the courthouse.

Metuh The judge of the federal high court in Abuja, Justice Okon Abang has ruled that Chief Olisa Metuh, spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), must perfect the conditions of bail for him to be released from prison. According to Justice Abang,  ”The court cannot be expected to sit on appeal over its decision.”  He however relaxed the conditions for sureties. He therefore directed Metuh to go on appeal against the ruling of the court if he was not satisfied with its decision. On the amendment of his bail conditions, the judge held that the scope of ownership of property for the sureties was now expanded to include all parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and not just at Maitama as earlier pronounced. Recall that the defence counsel, Emeka Etiaba, had prayed the court to vary the conditions of Metuh’s bail on six grounds. One of the grounds was that the order requiring the provision of two sureties who must have landed property at Maitam...

ABUJA—Star witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Nneka Ararume, yesterday, narrated before the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja how she helped the embattled National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, to transfer $2 million into his company’s account. The witness, who testified as PW-1, told the court that she is a Wealth Manager at Assets & Resources Management, ARM, a company that hitherto managed the asset portfolio of Metuh’s firm, Destra Investments Limited. EFCC had cited both Metuh and his firm as the 1st and 2nd defendants in the seven-count charge bordering on alleged N400million fraud. The anti-graft agency alleged that the PDP spokesman had in November 2014, received N400million from erstwhile National Security Adviser, NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd). The fund, which was withdrawn from an account the office of the NSA operated with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, was allegedly transferred to ...

Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives are in a quandary over the crude oil benchmark to recommend for the 2016 budget. PMB The N6.07tn budget has had two days of debate on the general principles so far and will likely be referred to the committee stage on conclusion of the second reading this week. Findings showed that while a majority of the lawmakers believed that the $38 per barrel proposed by President Muhammadu Buhari was no longer realistic in view of the dipping price of crude oil, they were also not sure of how much was realistic. Investigations showed that even while debating the budget on the floor of the house,the lawmakers shied away from suggesting a figure they considered to be realistic, but they generally felt that $38 was not achievable. “The reason is not far-fetched. The price of crude oil has been very unstable in the past weeks. “As a matter of fact, let me say, every day, it falls. Members find it difficult to peg it at this or ...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has filed fresh 22 charges against an ex-Niger Delta militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, and 12 others. Tompolo The charges, which were filed on Friday at a Federal High Court in Lagos, bordered on stealing, advanced fee fraud and money laundering to the tune of N22,765,900,000. The fresh charges were filed eight days after Justice Ibrahim Buba ordered the arrest of Tompolo for his failure to appear on January 14, 2016 to take his plea on a separate 40 counts of alleged N34bn fraud earlier filed against him and nine others by the EFCC. In the fresh charges, which had yet to be assigned to any judge, the EFCC listed 25 witnesses that will testify against Tompolo and his 12 co-suspects when the trial begins. Among the witnesses are seven EFCC investigators, officials of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, officials of the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urba...

The Federal Government has officially ended the payment of subsidy on kerosene. Instead of the regulated pump price of N50 per litre, the product will now sell for N83, according to the latest pricing template for House Hold Kerosene released by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu The PPPRA is the agency of the Federal Government that fixes and regulates the prices of white products, kerosene and petrol, across the country. In its latest template released on Saturday, the agency stated that the retail price of kerosene or HHK by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was N83 per litre. The commodity is believed to be mostly consumed by low income earners in the country. The new template showed that the retail or pump price of HHK was now N10.72 higher than the Expected Open Market Price of the commodity. The EOMP, according to the new template, is N72.28. The EOMP is a summation of the lan...

Technologies firm Wi-PAY  is an innovative provider of electronic payment solutions offering world-class, cost effective and superior quality payment solutions. Our premier product is the Mobile Point of Sale (M.POS), which is a wireless terminal designed to allow merchants accept payments by means of debit/credit cards in any location. Wi-PAY Is set to introduce a new billers app and platform that will make payments of bills as easy and secure as possible.  The Billers platform and app which is due for official lunch by the first week of February 2016, seeks to target billers and payment companies. 

The Lagos State Government says it has concluded plans to ensure steady power supply in public schools and health centres across the state through its solar system project. The project, which involved maintenance of existing solar systems and installation of new ones, would commence after a 10-day training organised for technicians that would carry out the task, a statement said on Thursday. The Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Olawale Oluwo, who declared the training open, encouraged institutions that had the facilities to participate. Oluwo said the training, which was organised in collaboration with the United Kingdom Department for International Development, was to ensure a regular maintenance of solar components to guarantee steady power supply to public schools and primary health care facilities powered by the solar systems. He said 172 schools and 11 health centres would benefit from the project, adding that it would create about 30,000 jobs. He said, “T...

Lagos-based lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, says he is withdrawing the suit he filed on Monday to challenge the continued detention of the  National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Olisa Metuh, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Metuh has been in the EFCC custody since January 5, 2016, where he is being questioned over his alleged involvement in the diversion and sharing of the $2.1bn arms  funds by a former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki. Metuh was said to have pocketed N400m out of the said funds earmarked for the purchase of arms to fight the Boko Haram insurgency. But on Monday, Adegboruwa, who claimed that Metuh’s arrest and detention was part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s grand plan to silence the opposition, approached the Federal High Court in Lagos and asked that Metuh be immediately released from custody. The lawyer had argued that Metuh’s fundamental rights enshrined in sections 33, 34, 35, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43...

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said the Federal Government, which relies on crude oil for about two-thirds of its revenue, is seeing a silver lining to the plunge in crude prices because it will no longer have to subsidise fuel. “Lower oil prices also mean there is some advantage,” Osinbajo said in a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday. The decline “means that we are not paying any subsidies, which frees up something in the order of about $5bn (about N985bn),” Bloomberg quoted the vice president as saying. Brent oil in London has dropped more than 60 per cent to below $28 a barrel since November 2014, as shale production from the United States increased and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries refrained from cutting output in the face of a global oversupply in an effort to defend market share. Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, will still face challenges in financing its budget deficit and aims to increase Value...

The immediate past National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), has filed a fresh application to stop his trial for charges of alleged diversion of about $2.1bn, part of funds meant for procurement of arms, before Justice Baba Yusuf of a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja. The judge, however, on Thursday, fixed Friday (today) for the commencement of trial of Dasuki and his other co-accused. Others who were on December 14, 2015 arraigned along with Dasuki on the same set of 19 counts are a former Director of Finance and Administration in the Office of the NSA, Shuaibu Salisu, and a former Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Aminu Baba-Kusa. Aminu-Kausa’s two firms – Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited – are also part of the accused. It could not be ascertained whether the judge would be willing to take the fresh application filed by Dasuki on Friday (today). The provisions of the Administration of ...

Officials of the Lagos State and the Federal Government on Thursday caused panic in the Oworonshoki area of Lagos during a simulation of a plane crash in the area. The exercise was meant to assess the level of preparedness on the part of emergency agencies in handling disasters. But as residents saw a plane plunged into the Lagoon, there was pandemonium as they thought the crash was real. Many of them ran towards the plane in a bid to save “trapped victims.” The government, it was learnt, did not inform the community before the exercise. It will be recalled that a Bristow helicopter with 12 persons on board had crashed in the area on August 12, 2015, killing six people, including the pilot. The residents said the simulation looked real and was a sad reminder of the August 2015 crash. A resident, Bola Oluwadare, said it took him some minutes to know that the crash was an exercise, adding that residents were caught unawares. He said, “I was dressing up around 11.30am w...

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, says corrupt politicians who are currently being probed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have no moral authority to claim their rights were denied when their alleged actions eroded other people’s rights and led to countless deaths and suffering. Mohammed said it was absurd that after stealing the country blind, some corrupt politicians were busy claiming their rights were infringed on. The minister said this during a visit to the  Women FM 91.7  radio station in Arepo, Ogun State, on Thursday. He said human rights claims would not stop President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war, adding that the Federal Government was not selective in its anti-corruption war as being claimed because it was only logical that the Peoples Democratic Party which was in power for 16 years should be the focus of the corruption probes. Using a Yoruba proverb to justify his position, Mohammed said, “ Eni ti o ...

president Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday explained why corrections had been made to the details of the 2016 budget as presented on December 22, 2015 before the National Assembly. Buhari during his budget presentation at the National Assembly His reasons were contained in a letter to the House of Representatives as read by the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara in Abuja. The President’s letter reads in part: “It will be recalled that on Tuesday, 22 December, 2015, I presented my 2016 budget proposals to the joint sitting of the National Assembly. “I submitted a draft bill accompanied by a schedule of details. “At the time of submission, we indicated that because the details had just been produced, we would have to check to ensure that there were no errors in the detailed breakdown contained in the schedule. “That has since been completed and I understand that the corrections have been submitted.” “The National Assembly would therefore have the details as submitted on the 22nd and ...

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has revealed his prophesies for 2016, predicting that a new sexually transmitted disease will emerge during the year. The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye Below are the prophesies which were published on his websites: Prophesies for Nigeria Things are likely to get tougher, before they get better, but things will definitely get better before the year ends. What He (God) started last year, he will finish this year, provided we don’t rejoice too soon. International prophesies Natural disasters, floods, fires, earthquakes, are likely to get progressively worse, until governments realise that these are part of divine judgment against those who have unholy laws. If governments will repent of disdaining Christ and his church, he will help them win the fight against terrorism. A major war will be averted this year. 3. A new sexually transmit...

Popular and respected Nigerian Prophet, T.B. Joshua has released a list of predictions for the New Year 2016, particularly directed towards the continent of Africa and our Nigeria. Known for unconventional ways, TB Joshua shunned protocol by cancelling his yearly ‘crossover service’ and opted to address members live on his Emmanuel TV from an undisclosed location. TB Joshua The founder of the Synagogue church began: “There will be large scale scarcity, shortage of food. As a state, country, continent, we have to go back to the farm to arrest, to alleviate the forthcoming situation. “I encourage the governments of all nations to invest in agriculture and to grant loans to deserving citizens to augment this effort,” he went on. Joshua, who was recently named one of the world’s most famous prophets by an American ranking website, spoke about Africa, citing the continent’s inability to manage its teeming resources as its major bane. “The continent of Africa – how much have we disappo...