“What will happen to anyone who does this to Buhari? Alibaba on public display of life-size na ked statue of Donald Trump

A life-size, flesh-coloured statue of a completely na ked Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump created by a group of artists known as Indecline, popped up at Union Square in downtown Manhattan, New York but has since been removed by authorities.
Comedian Alibaba shared his opinion via Instagram, asking what would happen if anyone dared to do such to President Buhari. He wrote, “Beauty of democracy… I must say this is too extreme though. But can you imagine what will happen to anyone who does this to Buhari? Especially after what happened to the person who named a dog after him… shoot at sight straight!”

FG Shuts Down IDPs Camps In Yobe, Adamawa

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The federal government on Friday said it has closed down most of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Yobe and Adamawa States.
The Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mohammad Sani Sidi made the disclosure while addressing a Press Conference to mark this year’s World Humanitarian Day in Abuja on Friday.

“We have camps in Yobe, Adamawa and Borno states but as we mark this day, I want to tell you that most of the camps have been closed down”, Mr. Sidi said.
According to the NEMA boss, 12 camps in Adamawa have been closed while six of the seven in Yobe have been shut down as displaced persons have started returning home voluntarily following the liberation of their communities by the military and the establishment of state structures.
“Most of the remaining camps are in Maiduguri and over 1million of the IDPs in Nigeria are from Borno state alone.
“We have 26 formal camps in Maiduguri but displaced persons in the camps in other states are voluntarily going back home. I can tell you that almost 40% of the camps have been closed”,
He, however, added that there were still some 80,000, 26,000 and 55,000 Nigerians in refugee camps in Cameroon, Chad and Niger Republic respectively.
While pointing out that Nigeria has been offering assistance to the refugees in the neighbouring countries, Sidi said the federal government was in discussion with the United Nations and the Governments of Chad, Cameroon and Niger to ensure a voluntary return of the refugees.
“We don’t want to remove them from one camp to the other, hence we need to complete the rehabilitation of their communities before we encourage them to return”.
The NEMA boss, who said the humanitarian challenges in the Northeast were overwhelming, assured that the government in partnership with development bodies, will continue to do its best to cater for all humanitarian challenges of IDPs.
He also paid tributes to those who died on humanitarian duties in the Northeast, pointing out that five NEMA staff were killed after a bomb attack on a camp in Yola, the Adamawa State capital on September 11, 2015 while a UN convoy was attacked on their way from Bama, Borno State last month.
While responding to questions on the compensation packages for families of staff, who died in the line of duty, Mr. Sidi said “no compensation to pay for one’s life, the tribute we are paying today is a recognition of their efforts”.
“This [tribute] is bigger than any millions and all over the world; no compensation is paid to families of humanitarian workers”.

Buhari Holds Closed-Door Meeting With Dogara, Tunde Bakare In Aso Rock

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday had a closed-door meeting with Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, at the State House in Abuja.
The president also met behind closed-doors with his running mate in the 2011 presidential elections and General Overseer of Later Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, in Abuja.

The meeting with Dogara, which took place inside Mr. Buhari’s office at the State House and lasted about one hour, is the second in less than two weeks between the president and Speaker.
Mr. Dogara, who stands accused by a former Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, of padding the 2016 budget, was accompanied to the Villa by some lawmakers from the National Assembly including Senator Suleiman Nazif (APC/Bauchi North).
The Speaker snubbed all questions from State House correspondents at the end of the meeting.
Meanwhile, the meeting with Pastor Bakare was still ongoing at the time of publishing this report.

I was placed under house arrest in Port Harcourt-Fayose on why he didn’t attend PDP convention

Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has claimed that he was under house arrest in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The governor who was in Port Harcourt for the party’s botched convention, said he was not at the convention ground, because he was placed under house arrest at the old Presidential Lodge of the Government House, Port Harcourt ,as an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) was used to block the gate of the Presidential Lodge.
Fayose’s Media Assistant, Lere Olayinka,in a statement titled “I was under ‘house arrest’ in PH – Fayose” said:
“Fayose Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State has lamented that he was not at the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because he was placed under ‘house arrest’ at the Old Presidential Lodge, Rivers State Government House where he lodged.

“All entreaties to allow Fayose to step out to attend the convention were rebuffed by the security personnel on ground.”
The State Commissioner of Police, Mr Francis Odesanya, however, dismissed Fayose’s claims, saying it cannot be true.
He also noted other Governors got out of their lodge to attend the PDP meeting, wondering how Fayose’s case was different.

“We are not ready for any negotiation or dialogue with the Federal govt” – Niger Delta Avengers reacts

In a statement released today by the supposed spokesman for the dialogue group, Ballantyne Agiri, Militant group, Niger Delta Avengers, reportedly agreed to dialogue with the Federal government to find a solution to the lingering crisis in the Niger Delta region. (Read here)
Niger Delta Avengers spokesperson, Brig.Gen Mudoch Agbinibo, has now debunked the report via his Twitter account, insisting that the militant group is not ready for any negotiation or dialogue with the Federal Government. He also encouraged the Nigerian Army and DSS to declared the supposed spokesperson for the ‘dialogue group’, Ballantyne Agiri, wanted.

S/Arabian Authorities Arrest 3 Nigerian Pilgrims For Drug Trafficking

Saudi Arabian authorities have arrested three pilgrims from Kwara for alleged possession of substance suspected to be cocaine.
Hajia Fatima Abolore-Jimoh, the Executive Secretary, Kwara Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, confirmed the arrest on Wednesday from Saudi Arabia in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

She said the three pilgrims, who were among the first batch of 505 Pilgrims from Kwara, were arrested in Medinah by Saudi Arabia security operatives.
The executive secretary, who did not disclose the identities of the three suspects, said they were still in the custody of Saudi Arabian authorities.
Abolore-Jimoh said the Saudi Arabian law would certainly take its course on the three suspected drug traffickers.
She described the arrest as unfortunate and painful in spite of several appeals to them to be good ambassadors of Kwara and Nigeria.
The executive secretary said that other pilgrims from the state were still inMedinahh, hale, healthy and in good spirit in spite of the unfortunate incident.
NAN reports that 1,978 pilgrims from the state are performing the 2016 pilgrimage exercise. (NAN)

FG Reportedly Probes Jonathan Over Bombings In Niger Delta

The federal government has launched an investigation on the possible involvement of former President Goodluck Jonathan with the spate of bombings that have crippled the country’s oil industry and affected itspower generation capabilities.
Credible intelligence sources have told Daily Trust that a hushed up investigation is already underway to establish the level of involvement of Mr Jonathan in the series of explosions affecting the country’s oil producing infrastructure that has left the country unable to produce nearly a third of its 2.2 million barrels of crude oil per day.

This situation has left the government unable to implement its budget of 6 trillion Naira that was predicated on its agreed quota level and is further confounded by low crude oil price.
Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun has since declared that Nigeria is technically in recession.
There has been an earlier allegation by the militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) that the former President is complicit in the bombing of oil installations but which he denied.
Daily Trust gathered that suspicion of the former President’s involvement with activities of militants in the oil producing Niger Delta region was further strengthened after it emerged that one of the groups that threatened to declare a Niger Delta republic was dissuaded from doing so by Mr Jonathan.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the sabotage of oil and power installations was part of what he called the former President’s plan B after he lost the last general elections to President Muhammadu Buhari and is meant to discredit the present administration.
The source added that the ultimate aim of Mr Jonathan is to use his possible intercession with those responsible for the disruptions in the oil and power installations to stop investigations and possible trial of himself and his wife over corruption matters.
Speaking to Daily Trust on phone last night, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said he was not aware that the former president was being investigated by security agencies over allegations linking him to the spate of bombings by militants in the Niger Delta region.
He however said that “these allegations have refused to go away, and those making the allegations are not backing out. So I will not be surprised if the security agencies show interest in it, but I am not aware.”
The former president could not be reached for comment on the matter yesterday, neither was his media aide, Mr. Ikechukwu Eze.
However, one of Mr. Jonatan’s former aides who preferred not to be named said the former president had earlier this month denied such allegation when it was made by MEND.
Jonathan’s statement issued by Mr Eze in Abuja on August 7, denied he was a sponsor of NDA [Niger Delta Avengers].
He rather countered that the group’s hidden agenda was to kill him.
It will be recalled that Niger Delta militants had at various times before the elections vowed that they would make Nigeria ungovernable if Mr. Jonathan lost his party’s nomination or if he was defeated by Buhari.
The most publicised threat was made by top militant leaders at a meeting in Bayelsa Government House. At that meeting militants leaders such as Asari Dokubo and Tompolo threatened to declare war on Nigeria if Jonathan should lose the election.
They took the decision at a meeting attended by the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, and chairman of Amnesty Implementation Committee, Kingsley Kuku; Bayelsa state Governor, Seriake Dickson; President General of Ijaw Youth Council, Udengs Eradiri and Victor Ben Ebikabowei, aka, Boy Loaf.

Germany can’t stop Nigeria – Mikel

Team Nigeria captain Mikel Obi has said the national U-23 team will go into Wednesday’s semi-final game against Germany with a winning mentality, like they have done in their previous games at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
African champions Nigeria defeated Denmark 2-0 to advance to the last four stage, while the Germans hammered Portugal 4-0 to seal a clash with the Atlanta 1996 Olympic champions.
Mikel, who is also the U-23 team captain, maintained his stance of picking a medal before returning to join his English Premier League side Chelsea.
“For every game we want to play, we prepare to win. Not one match is different and our focus remains the same,” Mikel, who grabbed the opener against the Danes, said in Rio.

However, it is doubtful if forward Oghenekaro Etebo, who scored four goals in the team’s opening game versus Japan in Manaus, will be fit for the crucial game against the Germans.
The Portugal-based player copped an injury during the final Group B 2-0 defeat to Colombia and missed the quarter-final clash against Denmark.
The Nigerians are pitted against a free-scoring German side who have scored 19 goals in four games.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation President Amaju Pinnick believes coach Samson Siasia can come up with the right strategy to steer the Nigeria U-23 team past their European opponents.
Pinnick, who arrived in Sao Paulo on Tuesday, said, “As a federation, we have always had confidence in Samson Siasia. We believed in him enough to appoint him to head the U-23 team and gave him all the support, including organising several friendlies and invitational tournaments for the team over the past 18 months.
“I have confidence in Siasia to take the team to the final match on Saturday.”
Nigeria edged Japan 5-4; beat Sweden 1-0 before then dispatching Denmark 2-0 in the quarter-finals to set up a clash with Germany.
On a personal note, Siasia will aim to equal his record of playing in the Olympics final after losing the final match to Argentina in Beijing 2008.
Brazil will take on Honduras in the first semi-final at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro also on Wednesday. The Nigeria/Germany match starts at 4pm (8pm Nigeria time).

I will report corrupt judges to NJC, CJN – Sheriff

Factional National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator ‎Ali Modu Sheriff, has said that he will send a petition to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mahmoud Mohammed and the National Judicial Council against some judges of the Federal High Court in the country.
He alleged that some of the judges had demonstrated what he described as unethical behaviour.
He further alleged that the unnamed judges ought to be removed from the system in order to restore sanity to Nigeria’s judiciary.
‎Sheriff, who is currently contesting the national leadership of the party, spoke at an emergency press conference in Abuja‎ on Tuesday.

He said that he was shocked by the order issued by the Federal High Court in Port-Harcourt in which Justice Watila Mohammed validated tomorrow’s national convention in the state on the ground that the July 4 2016 which upheld the decision taken at the May 21, 2016 convention was still subsisting.
Sheriff was full of praises for President Muhammadu Buhari, who he said was able to identify the key problems with Nigeria’s Judiciary.
‎He expressed his frustration and disappointment on the ruling of the Port Harcourt division of the Federal high court.
Sheriff said, “‎We are shocked even with that ruling. All the judges in Nigeria are on annual vacation.
“We have been in court with all of them for the past one month on an issue that a judge went into in Port Harcourt which started on Friday; people went and filed court cases on Thursday and got an exparte motion, which has been frowned at by the judiciary for now.
“Most stakeholders in the judiciary don’t want exparte motion because it denies justice to others.
“But let’s accept that the judge decided to do that. The life span of the exparte motion is 14 days, which means you have time to serve the other people to respond.
“On that Thursday, the judge gave exparte motion. The next day he converted that exparte motion to interlocutory order. On Monday, he sat and heard the main case to give a ruling or judgement today at 2pm without allowing us as defendants to defend ourselves.”‎
Sheriff further alleged that “This morning, when our lawyers went to court, the judge authorised all the registry staff to run away.
“It took our lawyer, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria to call everybody in Nigeria that this judiciary should not be destroyed. From 9am till now (4pm), they are receiving our own response to the application.

Pogba’s Agent, Mino Raiola Buys Legendary Gangster Al Capone’s £7m Miami Home

Mino Raiola has dipped into his massive earnings from brokering major transfer deals which include – Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba’s world-record £89m transfer to Manchester United, by splashing £7m on a breathtaking Miami villa, once owned by notorious gangster Al Capone. ​

The south Florida property has seven bedrooms, a mini private beach and a seven-foot wall to protect the entire property. There is also a large swimming pool with stunning views of Biscayne Bay. Al Capone bought the property back in 1928 and remained within the family after his death in 1947.

The super agent has enjoyed a fruitful summer so far representing some of the most high-profile footballers on the planet.

Defiant Makarfi Declares PDP Convention Open At Rivers Govt House

In spite of a court order and sealing off of the Sharks Stadium, Port Harcourt, the Ahmed Makarfi-led Caretaker Committee has gone ahead with the National Convention of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at Rivers State Government House.
Senator Makarfi declared the convention opened on Wednesday at the Government House amid cheers from party chieftains in attendance.