INEC tells court to dismiss Dino Melaye’s case for lacking in merit

Dino Melaye

The independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has asked the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja to dismiss the case filed by Sen.

Dino Melaye of the People’s Democratic Party for lacking in merit.

Melaye is challenging the victory of Senator Smart Adeyemi of the All Progressive Congress in the last year November 16/30 Kogi West Senatorial District rerun election.

INEC’s lawyer INEC Barr. Alashey said:

“When I was trying to get in touch with my witnesses, I also used the same time to review the testimony of the Petitioner’s witnesses, where most of them admitted before the court that they lied.

“On this note, I am no longer calling any evidence. This is on the fact that the first respondent (INEC) case was clearly established during the cross-examination of the Petitioner’s witnesses.

“Your lordships can bear me witness that I commanded the witnesses for saying the truth that the election was free and fair. On this, I hereby close my case and plead your lordships to grant me my prayers that the petitions should be struck out for lacking in merits and full of lies, errors, and deceits.”

How Domingo, Adjoto betrays Akoko-Edo in replacement of Taiwo Akerele as Chief of Staff

In Nigeria’s representative democracy, to which Edo state is a part, elected or appointed public officials are expected to agitate for the prioritization of the interests and the development of their constituency alongside their constitutional roles to the degree in which it doesn’t come at odds with the overall progress of the state.

While some leaders have excelled in this area and designed their politics to be focused on the upliftment of their people, others have abused their position and devoted themselves to self-serving ambitions that offer no benefits to the people they were brought in to represent and serve. From past and more recent actions, Kabiru Adjoto, the former Speaker of Edo Assembly, and Domingo Obende, a former Senator from Edo North, belong to this latter category of selfish, narrow-minded leaders.

Many were recently shocked when the governor of Edo state, Godwin Obaseki, replaced his Chief of Staff, Taiwo Akerele who resigned in protest with Uzamere’s son. Although the position is appointive and at the discretion of the governor, political realities and the need to balance regional interests within a state have always influenced the appointments of individuals into such positions and similar others at the high echelons of government.

Taiwo Akerele’s superb qualifications nonetheless, his appointment was made in recognition of the historic marginalization of the Akoko-Edo people and the need to accommodate their interests in official decision-making. This, therefore, makes it so that with the exit of Akerele, the governor naturally ought to source for his replacement in the same area where there is no shortage of equally qualified persons.

Obaseki was inclined to tow that path but according to confidential information from government house sources, he was discouraged by Kabiru Adjoto and Domingo Obende who expressly told the governor not to bother with a Chief of Staff replacement but should instead reward them both personally with a slot to nominate two Senior Special Assistants as compensation for the exit of Taiwo Akerele.

By hatching the plan and presenting it to the governor, Kabiru Adjoto and Domingo Obende showed once again their willingness to betray their people and community in government deliberations for their own personal gain.

When Obaseki gave approval to the plan, they both immediately gave the slots to their lackeys with names PETER OLOGUN and TOPA OKOMAYIN whose appointments will be confirmed soon, according to government house sources.

It should be recalled that Senator Domingo Obende was never happy with the appointment of Taiwo Akerele considering that he eyed the position himself in 2016. As a matter of fact, days before Obaseki announced Taiwo Akerele four years ago, Domingo Obende had thrown a lavish party in Abuja celebrating the fact that he was going to be tapped by the governor as Chief of Staff because, according to him, he was the only person capable of helping him to perfect some deals.

This, added to the fact that Akerele once served as his aide in the National Assembly, therefore, made him feel embittered when he was overlooked by Obaseki for a younger Akerele. Since then, despite sharing communal and regional ties with Akerele, he had dealt with him in bad faith and plotted his exit. When news of Akerele’s resignation made it to the press, those close to Obende said he was visibly happy and immediately set in motion plans to manipulate the situation to his personal benefits.

Evidently, both Kabiru Adjoto and Domingo Obende have shown themselves as treacherous traitors who are unconcerned with the growth of their LGA and people. They are like the brothers of Joseph who sold their own kinsman into slavery out of envy, wickedness, and outsized selfish ambitions.

North Korean president sends appreciation message after death rumor

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

The North Korean president Kim Jong Un hassent a heart felt thanks to appreciate health workers building who are a tourism zone in the region of the country where his signature train was reportedly seen on satellite picture.

However, the country media conveyed the appreciation message from the president in their subsequent news bulletin, with no other report on the state of his health.

“Respected Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has sent his thanks to the workers and officials at the construction site of the Wonsan-Kalma tourist resort,” according to the newsreader on the Korean Central Broadcasting Station.

NNPC Station razed by fire in Lagos

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) filling station located at Maternity Bus Stop, Yaya Abatan Street, College Road, is currently on fire.

The raging fire is said to have affected buildings close to the station.

Officials from the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and firefighters have arrived at the scene of the fire.

The cause of the fire is yet unknown as of the time of this report.

Residents said the fire has spread to an auto dealer’s mart and some saying two houses in the area are already engulfed.

There is thick black plums of smoke billowing from the burning station

As of the time of this report at 1.45 p.m., firefighters are just arriving the scene to put out the fire, a source disclosed.

Another source said about 6 houses already affected by the fire outbreak.

The NNPC filling station fire is the latest in a series of outbreaks in less than one month, since the lockdown declared on Lagos, Ogun and the federal capital territory, as part of efforts to limit the spread of coronavirus.

Since April 8, 2020, there have been fire outbreaks at the Treasury House, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) office, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) media office all in Abuja, as well as in Dugbe market in Ibadan, Oyo state.

Tension as Lagos community protests over lockdown

Protesters

Some youths of Eleko community in the Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos State have embarked on a protest.

The protest, which started on Monday morning, turned violent as the youths were said to have had a faceoff with some security officials over the enforcement of the COVID-19 lockdown in the community.

Locals told Channels Television that the youths mounted roadblocks with bonfires at different locations on the road leading to some companies, including the Dangote refinery in the area.

They accused the security officials enforcing the lockdown of being bias, saying expatriates were allowed to go to their places of work while residents were forced to stay in their houses.

On their part, the police say they have dispersed a group of violent protesters at the Eleko Junction area of the community.

At the moment, there is a heavy security presence, and no one is allowed to walk on the road without raising their hands.

The community, however, looks deserted as residents scampered to their various houses following the deployment of more police and military personnel in the area.

Bola Tinubu and wife undergo COVID19 test after his Chief Security officer died from COVID19 complications

Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress(APC) and his wife, Remi Tinubu, have tested negative for COVID-19. This was contained in a statement released by his spokesperson, Tunde Rahman, today April 27th.

Recall that last Friday 24th, Lateef Raheem, the 51-year-old former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to Tinubu died following complications of COVID19. He was said to have suffered from high blood pressure and diabetes which might have been complicated by his infection with COVID-19.

Following Lateef’s death, Tinubu requested for a test to be carried out on him, his family members and aides. The results came in today and they were negative. However, one of his aide’s reuslt came back positive.

Read the full statement fom Tinubu’s media aide below

Covid-19 is a real and present threat. Those of us who discount it or claim it is a fabrication do a grave and dangerous disservice to the public well-being. Likewise, those who stigmatise people who may have been stricken by the virus also do a disservice by casting blame on the innocent and discouraging people from taking the COVID test. We cannot defeat this health menace through ignorance or by shaming one another. We can only beat it through transparency, knowledge and compassion. This, we have learned first-hand.

Following the death of our well-respected and beloved Chief Security Officer, Alhaji Lateef Raheem, NCDC medics took the wise precaution of taking samples from his body for testingto actually determine the cause of death.Today, the test results are back. The samples tested positive for Covid-19.

As a precautionary measure taken soon after the death of Alhaji Raheem, His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, and all their aides took COVID-19 tests Saturday, April 25. The results of the tests were returned this morning.

Test results for both Asiwaju and Senator Tinubu were negative.

The results of one aide were positive. The rest of the staff was negative. The one staff member has been isolated in accordance with NCDC guidelines. Further contact tracing and COVID-19 tests are being conducted by the NCDC with regard to the relatives and possible contacts of that staff member.

Asiwaju has stressed that openness and transparency must be observed if we are to defeat this disease. There is no house immune to its entry. Contracting the virus should not bring social or moral stigma any more than contracting malaria or a common cold.

We cannot overcome this challenge by acting like it does not exist or by trying to conceal that someone may have it due to social shame. The culture of denial is counterproductive and will do great harm in our current situation.

Asiwaju asks that you not be afraid to be tested if you have any symptoms or if you believe you may have come in contact with someone who has been infected. We must do all we can to contain the spread of the virus and to well treat those of us who have been hit by it.

As you go about your day, we know you must find daily sustenance. Yet, please continue to do all you can to maintain social distance and to take all other public health measures to protect yourself and others. In this way, we all may contribute to halt the spread of this dangerous virus.

Tinubu Media Office,

Tunde Rahman.

April 27, 2020.

Breaking! Atiku’s Son Tests Negative For Coronavirus After 40 Days

Mohammed Atiku-Abubakar, a son of Nigeria’s former vice-president, has now tested negative for coronavirus.

“I have just received my second consecutive negative result,” Mo Atiku told newsmen Monday afternoon. “My discharge is currently being processed, and I hope to be home this evening.”

The Nigerian disease control office does not comment on individual cases.

Mo Atiku was first confirmed to have contracted the virus on March 19 and was subsequently transferred to an isolation centre on the outskirts of the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

The 31-year-old, however, failed to test negative for the virus until today, a 40-day ordeal that experts said could be amongst the longest ever recorded in the country since the first infection was confirmed in Lagos February 27.

c, whose latest variant COVID-19 has killed hundreds of thousands and sickened millions across the world, has an average of 14 days to run its course after infection. Most Nigerians known publicly to have contracted COVID-19 were treated and discharged by the Nigerian disease control office within 14 days.

Why Mo Atiku took 40 days to recover from a disease known to me mostly virulent amongst people above 65 remained unclear, although some scientists estimated the virus could last as long as 37 days in a human’s body.

INEC denies adjustment of Edo, Ondo gubernatorial elections time table

National Chairman Of INEC, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu

The Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) has denied media report of an impending plan to review dates for the conduct of governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States.

Barrister Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, INEC in a statement on Monday said no decision has been taken by the electoral umpire “to postpone the Edo and Ondo governorship elections or adjust the timetable and schedule of activities for the said elections scheduled for l9th September and 10th October 2020 respectively. ”

National chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu had last February fixed Saturday, September 19, 2020, as the date for the governorship election in Edo State and Saturday, October 10, 2020, for Ondo State governorship elections.

Okoye in the statement said the INEC was mindful of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and was equally “monitoring the various efforts by the federal and state governments health authorities and other stakeholders to contain the spread of and eliminate COVlD-l9.

“If and when the need arises to adjust the time table for the elections, the same will be conveyed to the public in the usual manner. In the meantime. we will continue to study the situation carefully and cooperate with other stakeholders in the battle against COVID-19. ”

Police apprehend 2 Chinese for ‘Illegal Mining’ in Zamfara

Chinese Nationals, Mr WANG and Mr CHUN

The Zamfara State Police Command has arrested 2 Chinese Nationals for,allegedly engaging in illegal mining activities in the state.

SP Mohammed Shehu,the PPRO of Zamfara State Police Command Gusau,said in a statement on Monday that the foreigners were arrested based on information received on their activities.

“The Command had On 19th April, 2020 received information that some foreigners in concert with other unpatriotic Nigerians engaged in illegal mining activities in Kwali, Bukkuyum LGA of the state. ”

“On the strength of the information, On 20th April, 2020, the Commissioner of Police ,CP Usman Nagogo psc+ led a special taskforce team to Kwali mining sites to assess and see things for himself. ”

“The information proved to be credible one as hundred of miners scattered as soon as they saw the team. Two labourers were however arrested who confirmed the presence of Chinese and Bulkinabe Nationals among others.”

“On 25th April, 2020 information had it that a Chinese and Bulkinabe Nationals are taking shelter somewhere in Nasarawa Burkullu. On 26th April, 2020 the Commissioner of Police led another team to the same Village where two Chinese Nationals were seen with all the chemicals necessary for making gold. The two Chinese Nationals, Mr WANG and Mr CHUN are being interrogated to get more information that could help the course of investigation, ” they said.

The Federal Government of Nigeria had banned all mining activities in Zamfara state in 2019,as part of measures to reduce crime and banditry in the state.

Godswill Akpabio reportedly caught in multibillion Naira coronavirus scandal

The Niger Delta Development Commission is currently reeking of a multi-billion naira fraud involving the board and top management members of the agency over the purchase of Personal Protective Equipment and sanitizers to tackle Coronavirus in the nine states making up the region.

According to Sahara Reporters, It was revealed how the commission approved N5,474,647,125.00 for procurement of Personal Protective Equipment for health workers and provision of community-based sensitisation campaign against the spread of COVID-19 to a company named Signora Concept Services Limited.

The letter reads, “This is to notify you that based on your tender for emergency procurement of specialized medical Personal Protective Equipment for health workers and provision of community based sensitization campaign against the spread of COVID-19 and other communicable diseases in the nine state of the Niger Delta region, the contract has been awarded to you at the total cost of N5,474,647,125.00 only inclusive of 7.5 VAT as corrected and modified in accordance with the instruction to tenderers by the Niger Delta Development Commission.”

The letter was signed by Alex Ndudi Enebeli, Head of Procurement Unit for the Acting Managing Director of the NDDC.

Even though the company was given 15 days to deliver all items stated in the letter, findings by SaharaReporters showed that Signora Concept Services Limited was yet to deliver any equipment to a single state in the Niger Delta region 18 days after the contracted was awarded and payment made.

“Apart from N70m donation made by the NDDC about a month ago, we are yet to receive any single health equipment from the commission.

“Though we were promised ventilators, we got a letter later from them that it won’t be possible again.

“I’m surprised hearing now from you that over N5bn was budgeted for PPEs to be distributed to Niger Delta states,” a task force member of one of the Niger Delta states told SaharaReporters on Friday.

Checks by SaharaReporters also revealed that the NDDC had in January 2020 released the sum of N4,096,798,332.50 for the supply of Lassa Fever equipment that were never delivered.

Infuriated by the level of fraud going on in the agency, a Niger Delta socio-political organisation, the Ijaw Intellectual Advocates, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio.

National Coordinator of the group, Salaco Yerinmene, said the fresh contract approved by the NDDC interim management committee was done to defraud the people of the region under the guise of purchasing COVID-19 PPEs and sanitizers that will never be delivered to any community under the nine states making up the oil-rich region.He said, “We have clearly realised that the IMC Akpabio constituted and placed under his supervision was to jeopardise the commission and continually pillage the treasury of the Niger Delta people which must be resisted by any means necessary.

“While we leave the reading public to guess as to the motive behind this contract, we will like to ask some questions begging for answers.

“Why should Akpabio and IMC give priority to projects that are not bothering the Niger Delta people?

“How many communities in the Niger Delta region were sensitised through this medium over the spread of Coronavirus since the outbreak of the disease?

“If the affirmative to question 2, then where did the money go into?

“Why not use the money to construct major roads across the coastal communities or use the fund to provide potable water to the various communities?

“Mr Akpabio should know that as young intellectuals, we are aware of the game he is playing in looting the commonwealth of the people and he should also be aware that his days are numbered.

“It is in Akpabio’s best interest to resign and summit himself to the EFCC, else we shall have no other option than to fight to the latter.

“We are again reiterating our stand that Akpabio must and should be suspended and be investigated by the EFCC and the forensic audit should commence immediately, otherwise the crude oil from all Ijaw territories shall never be used to fund the present corruption going on at the NDDC.”It is not the first time fraud of this magnitude would be uncovered in the NDDC, it is in fact among a long list of similar cases.

In January this year, the interim management committee of the commission announced the discovery of fraudulent contracts worth N1rn.

According to the committee, at least 1,921 ‘emergency contracts’ were sanction by the former management of the agency despite its annual budget being only around N400bn.

A prominent activist in the region, who asked not to be named, told SaharaReporters on Friday that the NDDC had always been used as conduit by powerful persons in government to siphon huge public funds and deprive the people of developmental projects that could have changed their lives for the better.

He said, “The NDDC has been more of a curse for the people of Niger Delta than a blessing. All the big politicians do is to use the agency to milk people of the region by stealing funds meant for development of the region and thereby deny them of the basic infrastructure and amenities that could have raised the quality of their lives. It is a cesspool of corruption.”

So far, the Niger Delta region has 42 reported cases of Coronavirus spread across Delta (six), Akwa Ibom (11), Edo (17), Ondo (three), Rivers (three), and Abia (two).

C.Tunde

Sahara Report

Test results of Chinese doctors who arrived the country to help in fight against Coronavirus is not yet ready – FG

The Federal Government has said that the results for the Coronavirus tests carried out on the 15-member Chinese medical team that arrived the country to help in the fight against the deadly disease, is not yet ready.

Minister of State for Health, Dr. Adeleke Mamora disclosed this at the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.

Commenting on the health status of the Chinese doctors who completed their mandatory 14-day quarantine on Wednesday April 22, Mamora said;

“For one reason or the other, we do not have the test results of the Chinese yet. I want to assure you that once we have the result of the tests, we will inform the country about the development.

“I will advise all Nigerians to be patient because the government is also anticipating the result of the tests in order to ensure that we protect the health and wellbeing of every citizen of the country.”