UKEMVERANEWS

The three senators from Kaduna state, led by Shehu Sani on Thursday blocked the approval for a $350million loan request by Governor Nasir El-Rufai. It was like a vengeance of the sort as all the senators spoke against the loan. El-Rufai has had a very poor relationship with the trio, even demolishing the home of one of them Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi, used as an office for a faction of the All Progressives Congress in the state. The position of the senators was clearly demonstrated during the debate at the Senate on Thursday before the rejection of the loan request. Too bad for the governor. His most trenchant political opponent, Senator Shehu Sani heads the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Loans and Debts. In the report presented as the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Shehu Sani, said the committee rejected the request. Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi and Danjuma La’ah, also spoke against the approval of the loan. The committee said if approved, the loan will make the...

“There is no hell where the souls of sinners suffer in eternity”, Pope Francis was quoted as saying in a Thursday interview with Italian daily La Repubblica. Francis said: “after death, the souls of people who repent are pardoned by God and join in his contemplation, “but those who do not repent, and therefore cannot be pardoned, disappear.” “Hell does not exist – what exists is the disappearance of sinful souls,” he added. The pope was interviewed by Eugenio Scalfari, a veteran Italian journalist, an atheist who regularly muses about faith and religion, and enjoys access to the leader of the Catholic Church. In the past, the veracity of quotes he attributed to the pope has been called into question, especially after the 93-year-old Scalfari admitted to never using a tape recorder during interviews. However, the Vatican has never complained about Scalfari’s work, and Francis has continued giving interviews to him.

President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday, stated that the 2018 budget must run for 12 months, in-line with the 2017 Appropriation Act passed by the National Assembly. He also stated that rounding up the budget before its legally stipulated date was not acceptable, as it had to be included in an appropriation act which needed to be compiled and sent to the National Assembly. Speaking after a Point of Order raised by Senator Atai Aidoko, who made mention of a circular that was released to MDA’s on the rounding up of the 2017 budget by 31st March 2018. In his comments, the Senate President said: “The budget runs for 12 months and it goes through May. Chairman of Appropriations is not here. Chairmen of Finance, both of you are here, hence, you will need to communicate to the Minister of Finance and all agencies that the budget was passed to run 12 months, and it must run for 12 months.” Saraki, also read an Executive Communication from President Muhammadu Buhari on ...

Former Super Eagles coach Samson Siasia believes Tuesday’s 2018 FIFA World Cup build-up game Nigeria lost to Serbia in London will help both the Super Eagles coaches and players to work harder before the Mundial in Russia. The Super Eagles who defeated Poland 1-0 in Wroclaw last Friday were beaten 2-0 in another international friendly match played in London on Tuesday. Siasia, who was part of the Super Eagles squad to the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States of America, said the team should not be written off with the result, saying they can get better before the World Cup in Russia. “I don’t want to believe that we have seen the best of the team yet, what this match has done for us is that it will enable the coaches to know that they still have a lot to do,” Siasia told CSN. “Definitely, they will play better when the captain Mikel Obi returns. “It is also good for them to lose at this stage where they can still make a lot of corrections than to lose the main games i...

The Senate has directed its Committee on Education (Basic and Secondary) to interact with the Minister of Education to identify the causes of the recurring failure in the WAEC results with a view to finding remedies. The resolution followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Umaru Kurfi (Katsina Central), who described the recurring mass failure of West African Examination Council (WAEC) results in the country since 2009 as embarrassing. *770# Mobile The senator expressed worry that the rate of failure remains high, saying it was prejudicial to the interest of Nigerian secondary school students and their parents. According to him, in both 2009 and 2010 WAEC, only 25.99 and 24.94 percent respectively passed with five credits including Mathematics and English, while the remaining others constituting 70 percent failed. “In 2011 May/June WAEC, only 86,612 out of the 1,540,250 candidates that participated in the examinations got credit in mathematics and English language. ...

On behalf of the people of Lagos State, I welcome His Excellency, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, to the commissioning of this modern edifice which signposts our commitment to reforming our public transport infrastructure and management in our State. Mr. President, distinguished ladies, and gentlemen, in the last three years we have committed to revamping and providing a new integrated transport system to support our growing population. We have initiated and completed the provision of infrastructure that is scalable and would support the daily needs of our people to meet their connectivity and mobility needs. *770# Mobile The Ikeja Bus Terminal is one of our flagship transport infrastructure under the State Bus Reform Initiative. The first phase of this programme will see 13 new Bus terminals introduced including major terminals at Oshodi, Yaba, Ojota, Agege and the already completed Tafawa Balewa Bus Terminal. We have commenced the ...

There was pandemonium on Thursday as gunmen believed to be cattle thieves Invaded Zamfara communities killing 15 herders in a renewed violence. “Armed bandits attacked Bawon-Daji village yesterday and killed 15 people,” the police spokesman for Zamfara state, Muhammad Shehu, said confirming the development. His account was corroborated by a senior local government official, Gado Anka. Anka said motorcycle-riding gunmen stormed the remote village in Anka district around 1:00 pm (1200GMT), shooting dead 12 residents before fleeing to a hideout in the bush. “They returned two hours later and attacked mourners during the funeral of the victims in the cemetery, killing three more and injuring several others,” he said. Rural communities in the agrarian state are under siege from gangs who kill, loot and torching homes. This has prompted villages to form vigilante groups — which in turn are often accused of extra-judicial killings of suspected cattle thieves, prompting deadly ...

Although the land use charge is currently creating ripples across Lagos state, the controversy is not new. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed this at 10th Bola Tinubu Colloquium in Lagos on Thursday. Osinbajo, who served as commissioner of justice throughout the eight years when Tinubu governed Lagos, recalled how the then-governor got angry during a discussion on land use charge. “I recall that there was a time when the issue of the land use charge led to an argument at the guest house of Lagos government,” Osinbajo said. “I was there alongside Lai Mohammed, Dele Alake, Yemi Cardoso and some other people. The argument was so tough. Some were against the introduction of the land use charge, some were for it. “We were all arguing. At a point, the governor got angry and asked: ‘Are you the ones they voted into power?’ Later he stormed out of the room but we didn’t leave.” Osinbajo said after a moment, Tinubu walked back into the room and asked: “Are you people still h...

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday in Lekki, Lagos Island, flagged off the Deep Sea Port project while explaining how the port will be of benefits to Nigeria and Nigerians. VP Osinbajo arrives Lekki to flag-off the Deep Sea Port project. This port will service heavier vessels & ease congestion @ Apapa Port & compliment the port. It's a public private sector partnership that will take the Nigerian maritime industry to the next level. — Laolu Akande (@akandeoj) March 29, 2018 The special guest of honour, Vice President @ProfOsinbajo has arrived the Lekki Free Trade Zone, venue of the ground breaking pic.twitter.com/lk28eAdDbp — Nigerian Ports (@nigerianports) March 29, 2018 The port, which is expected to ease congestion at the Apapa port, Osinbajo said the Federal Government was informed will target about 1.5 million 20-foot equivalent unit container capacity annually, and an expected increase to as high as about...

Senate President Bukola Saraki and John Oyegun, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), are not at the 10th Bola Tinubu colloquium holding at the Eko Convention Centre in Lagos. Neither Saraki nor Oyegun issued statements to commemorate with Tinubu on the occasion of his 66th birthday. There are reports that Tinubu was among those who convinced President Muhammadu Buhari to withdraw his support for the elongation of the tenure of the ruling party’s national working committee. After the president’s action, Tinubu issued a statement where he lauded Buhari for “saving the party from serious legal turmoil”. Oyegun and Tinubu fell out after the primary election in Ondo state. Saraki’s decision to defy the leadership of the party in emerging as the nation’s number three citizen is believed to have irked Tinubu. However, many senators, governors, ministers, presidential aides and captains of industry are at the programme.

Many residents of Lagos are groaning as a result of the vehicular restriction on major roads in the state, compounding the traffic gridlock in the metropolitan city. The roads were blocked because of President Muhammadu Buhari’s two-day visit to the state. As part of measures to control the traffic situation, the Lagos state government declared Thursday a work-free day. It also announced that roads leading to some of the projects the president would inaugurate would be shut. The projects are the Lekki Deep Sea, Eko Atlantic City, Ikeja Bus Terminus, among others. But residents who woke up as early as 4am where still trapped as commercial buses and other unauthorised vehicles were restricted from plying the Agege Motor Road, Airport Road, Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way, Eko Hotel Round about and different spots in the city. Security operatives also mounted strategic places around the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, and various locations across the state. Banners and...

Volkswagen AG has paid more than $7.4 billion to buy back about 350,000 U.S. diesel vehicles stored in 37 centers in the United States through mid-February. The German automaker has been storing hundreds of thousands of vehicles around the United States for months. The lots include a shuttered suburban Detroit football stadium, a former Minnesota paper mill and a sun-bleached desert graveyard near Victorville, California. VW spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan said in a statement that the storage facility in Victorville, California, is one of many “to ensure the responsible storage of vehicles that are brought back under the terms of the Volkswagen” diesel settlements. “These vehicles are being stored on an interim basis and routinely maintained in a manner to ensure their long-term operability and quality, so that they may be returned to commerce or exported once U.S. regulators approve appropriate emissions modifications,” she said. In total, VW has agreed to spend more than $...

An Indian billionaire who promised to help fund a rival to Facebook said Wednesday he had been “overwhelmed” with the response as the world grapples with concerns about data privacy. Anand Mahindra, whose Mahindra Group business empire spans everything from cars to real estate, sparked a flurry of brainstorming as Facebook reels from a scandal over the misuse of its user data. The social media giant has been under pressure to explain how data on up to 50 million users was allegedly taken from Facebook and used in political campaigns. Mahindra earlier this week urged India’s tech entrepreneurs to devise “our own social networking company” and offered seed funding to startups to get the better ideas rolling. The invitation provoked a flood of proposals, even from his own chief digital officer Jaspreet Bindra who was tempted by his boss’s offer. “To say I’m overwhelmed by the responses to my call for social network startup proposals would be an understatement!” Mahindra post...

Google Maps is now available in 39 new languages, the company announced today in a blog post. These languages — including Afrikaans, Danish, Filipino, Hebrew, Icelandic, Mongolian, Serbian, Slovak, Swahili, Turkish, and Vietnamese, to name a few — are spoken by around 1.25 billion people. Keep in mind there are a total of 6,909 living languages recorded in the Ethnologue catalogue. Many of the languages Google chose to add today are spoken by large populations. Swahili, in particular, has 8 percent of the African continent speaking it, while Turkish is spoken by 9 percent of people in Europe. The new language additions are coming to the mobile and desktop versions of Google Maps on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows OS. Google Maps initially started off in English in 2004, and has gradually rolled out different language availability over time.

As UN peacekeepers leave Liberia after 14 years, headway in reforming the security forces is being undermined by lack of progress in tackling the country’s traumatic legacy of war crimes, officials say. Liberia’s 1989-2003 conflict killed around a quarter of a million people, while government forces and rebel groups murdered, maimed and raped with impunity. The UN mission, known as UNMIL, was deployed in September 2003 as the highly politicised army and police were disbanded after committing some of the worst abuses. The effort to protect Liberians after the gruelling conflict will be remembered long after the mission’s exit, said Eugene Farkollie, a civil society leader. “UNMIL has had a serious positive impact in Liberia. No need to remind anyone about how the UN peacekeepers saved thousands of lives by sending a vanguard force when killing was fair game for the various warring factions,” Farkollie told AFP. “The mission gave hope to refugees to return home, and built s...

Former Military Governor of Kaduna State, Abubakar Umar, has threatened to take legal action against Globacom, one of Nigeria’s major telecoms service providers. Mr. Umar disclosed this Wednesday afternoon after receiving several unsolicited subscription alerts and deductions of money from his Glo line. He forwarded some of the unsolicited subscription alerts he received. One of the alerts reads: “Dear customer, your Jokes tips subscription alerts will be renewed on 2018-03-22 00:00: 00. You will be charged N100 for 1 month. To deactivate SMS Unsub joke 577. Thank you.” Another alert sent to Mr. Umar’s phone reads: “Dear customer, your SMS WIKI tips subscription alerts has been renewed for 100.00 NGN till 2018-04-11 00:00:00. To deactivate SMS STOP WIKI to 577. Thank you.” Mr. Umar said he will ask his lawyers to press charges against Glo if they failed to discontinue these unsolicited subscription alerts. Many Nigerians have been complaining about the unsolicited al...

A Brazilian court on Wednesday ordered Facebook to remove “false information’’ related to slain politician Marielle Franco within 24 hours. Facebook must “use all the available instruments to prevent the publication of new offensive posts’’ on Franco, the court statement quoted judge, Jorge Novelle, as saying. Franco’s sister and her partner had lodged a complaint against Facebook for spreading false and slanderous information about the popular counselor and human rights activist, who was shot dead in Rio de Janeiro on March 14. Posts on Facebook had claimed that Franco, who comes from one of Rio’s poorest neighborhoods, had links with “bandits’’ and drug traffickers. Before her death, Franco criticised a recent government decision to make the army responsible for security in crime-ridden Rio de Janeiro state. Her killing brought hundreds of thousands of protesters to the streets. “It is not to be tolerated that the death of Marielle, martyr of contemporary history in B...

The music mogul, Michael Collins Ajereh, aka Don Jazzy, has reacted to the news of the engagement of popular blogger, Linda Ikeji. Sandra, Linda’s sister confirmed the news on her Instagram handle on Wednesday. Linda’s ex-boyfriend recently relocated to Nigeria and the lovebirds decided to rekindle their affair. Sandra wrote via @sandra_Ikeji: “congratulations @officiallindaikeji So habby sweet sis! This tells me that sometimes the wait is worth it.” In his reaction, Don Jazzy posted a picture on his Instagram @donjazzy. He was seen being consoled by some friends over his dashed dreams of making Linda his ‘wife’. He captioned the post with a crying emoji: “Kai Linda is engaged. It is finished.’’ Don Jazzy had earlier ‘proposed’ to the blogger her on social media. One of such was a recent photo of Linda with the caption “When you refine you refine abeg.” Peter Okoye of the defunct PSquare, offered to sponsor Don Jazzy’s wedding with Linda if he made good his promi...

Big Brother Naija 2018 housemate, Tobi Bakre, has told Alex that he is desperate to win the N45million prize money. In a heart-to-heart session with Alex, he said: “I am here for the money.” Tobi also admitted his love for her but made it clear his love for the money was stronger. “I like you a lot, Alex. But I am here for the money and I will compete against you for the money. “However, I will not kill you or do anything that will hurt you for the money.” Tobi encouraged Alex to be more competitive, not just for herself but for her family as well. “I look forward to winning the Head of House challenge every time. I am here for the money and every other is extra and important as well. “Always put your best foot forward. Now that you realize you are doing this not just for you but for yourself and your family, avoid letting negative people affect your vibe,” Tobi added.

Former Super Eagles players, Joseph Yobo and Victor Ikpeba on Wednesday visited Big Brother Naija 2018 housemates. The football stars are the second guests to visit in the ‘Double Wahala edition. Their visit was followed by a football match with the housemates. The match had Yobo’s team, which included Nina, Tobi and Miracle as the winner. Yobo on his visit dished out advice to the housemates. He said “I had privilege to start my career very early and I retired at 37. “Work now, sweat out because you have all the time to enjoy. “Always respect one another because you are a team. Always manage egos. You all should learn from one another. “You all are a team, but you have to understand everybody has ego and have different perspective to what’s on the table, this is why you have to express mutual respect. “Nobody is perfect you are a team, keep improving yourself. “Feel free say whatever you want,take constructive criticism “Look for other opportunities don’t be ...

The official memorial body of Martin Luther King Jr., The King Center, established in 1968 by Mrs. Coretta Scott King, wife of the renowned American activist, has distanced itself from the award presented to Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari. Personal assistant to President Buhari’s on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie, had announced on social media that Buhari received the First Black History Month National Black Excellence and Exceptional African Leadership Award 2018 from the family of Late Martin Luther King Jr. “Dr. Mrs. Naomi Barbara King led other members of the African-American body to the conferment,” she said. PRESIDENT BUHARI RECEIVES The First Black History Month National Black Excellence and Exceptional African Leadership Award 2018 from MARTIN LUTHER KING'S JNR FAMILY. Dr Mrs Naomi Barbara King led other members of the… https://t.co/pg88Yds9o2 Reacting to the development, The King Center posted on its official Twitter handle that neith...

The Police Command in Zamfara on Wednesday confirmed the killing of three persons at Bawan Daji village in Anka Local Government Area of the state. The Command’s Spokesman, DSP Mohammed Shehu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gusau that the killing was perpetrated by gunmen. Shehu said the gunmen who came in large numbers attacked the village in the early hours of Wednesday shooting sporadically which led to the death of the three persons. He said the villagers who were taken unawares were quick to alert a nearby mobile police patrol team which came and engaged the bandits in a gun battle. The PPRO said the policemen overpowered the bandits and many of them escaped with gunshot wounds. He urged members of the public to be on alert to report to the nearest authority anyone seen with bullet wounds and seeking medical attention. Shehu said normalcy had returned to the affected village with people going about their normal businesses.

The Police Command in Enugu State has declared a couple wanted for alleged N63 million forgery and fraud in a mortgage institution. The command’s spokesman, SP Ebere Amaraizu, said in a statement in Enugu on Thursday that the Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Department had commenced a full-scale investigation into the matter. Amaraizu said that the wife, Mrs. Chinyere Amalunweze, 36, a native of Umuegbu Ego village in Nnobi community in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra, is fair in complexion and a former staff of a mortgage institution. He noted that her husband, Mr. Tony Amalunweze, 38, from Umulumgbe community in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu, who resides at No. 2a Akpugo St. Independence Layout, Enugu, is dark in complexion. “They were alleged to have been involved in an alleged case of conspiracy, forgery, and fraud in which they defrauded a mortgage institution up to the tune of N63 million and escaped. “The command is requesting members of...

The Ondo State Police Command in Ondo State on Wednesday said it had received more than 15 guns of different categories from the public in the state. Mr Olugbenga Adeyanju, the Commissioner of Police, made this disclosure in Akure at a news conference. Adeyanju said that the submission of guns by the public was in line with the directive of the Inspector General of Police [IGP] to mop up illegal firearms in the country. The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, who gave the order to all the state commissioners of police and FCT in February, said the submission should be made within 21 days. The commissioner, however, explained that the submission was not, in anyway, connected with the successful amnesty programme organised by the State Government in December 2017. “In compliance with the IGP’s directive, I am delighted to inform you that the turnout of the people, who were submitting their weapons has been fairly impressive. “For this latest directive, while...

Dino Melaye, the senator representing Kogi west, has threatened to sue Ibrahim Idris, inspector-general of police (IGP), if he does not produce two suspects who leveled allegations against him. The police had accused Melaye of arming the suspects for robbery and kidnapping. On Wednesday, the police said the suspects escaped from custody hours to their arraignment in court. Speaking on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday, Melaye said instead of producing the suspects in court, the prosecutor asked the judge to issue an arrest warrant. The senator said there are rumors that the suspects might have been killed. He, therefore, urged the police to produce them “dead or alive”. “Mr. President, we were all supposed to appear before the Lokoja high court this morning. My lawyers were in court at 9am and the case was called up and the prosecutor of the Nigerian police could not produce the two persons,” he said. “Instead of producing the two persons, they asked the judge to a b...

The house of representatives has passed two bills seeking to stop the concession of Ajaokuta Steel Company. They include a bill for an act to provide for the Ajaokuta Steel Company completion fund and a bill for an act to amend the public enterprise privatisation and commercialisation act. The bills, each sponsored by 301 lawmakers, were first introduced for first reading on Wednesday last week. It was passed for second reading on Thursday and subsequently referred to the committee of whole. Considering the committee’s report during plenary on Wednesday, the lawmakers resolved to use $1 billion from the federal government’s share in the excess crude revenue for the company’s completion. They also said the money shall be applied by the minister only for purposes of the steel’s completion, and as approved by the national assembly. There has been a lingering controversy surrounding the Ajaokuta Steel Company. The lawmakers had earlier asked President Muhammadu Buhari to ...

Abraham Badru, son of Enitan Badru, a member of the house of representatives, has been shot dead in the UK.  Some of his neighbors who spoke with Evening Standard said Badru who had been to church earlier that Sunday was shot around 11pm when he was getting out of his car, near his family’s residence in Hackney. “As soon as I heard the bang, I knew it was a gunshot. I went to my balcony and saw a man slumped over on the ground at the back of a car,” one of the neighbors recounted. He added that there were just one shot and a cry of pain, and he did not see a speeding scooter or speeding car. Badru’s mother, according to another neighbor, came out and saw her son on the floor. “It was terrible listening to her collapse crying on the floor. She was just screaming. Everyone was very upset and I had to go away, I couldn’t take it. It happened on our doorstep and I had to say a little prayer for the family,” the neighbor explained. Badru, who had a master’s degree in spo...

Secret cults exist all over the world and exist for numerous reasons drawing membership from different strata These organizations, which have developed their own rituals and require membership oaths, exist for numerous reasons and have popped up over the centuries. Not just anyone can be a member of these groups. Many restrict admittance based on gender, religion, or occupation. Some seek power for their members, while others are dedicated to charity. Whatever their purpose, these organizations are thought to have a significant influence on the outside world, largely because of the powerful people are known to be members. Hereunder are some of the World’s most powerful cults 1. Ancient Order of Hibernians > Founded: 1836 > Mission: Protecting Catholic churches from anti-Catholic forces > Well-known members: John F. Kennedy, Fulton Sheen, Pat O’Brien The AOH is the oldest Irish Catholic fraternal organization in the United States and was established to s...

(Reuters/NAN) Pope Francis on Wednesday told members of the Mafia in Italy, where many go to Church and worship openly, that they cannot call themselves Christians because they “carry death in their souls”. Francis’ improvised words before tens of thousands of people at his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square was his strongest attack on organized crime in nearly four years. “So we don’t have to go far, let’s think about what happens right here at home (Italy),” he said while speaking generally about “fake Christians” who are corrupt while pretending to be righteous. “(What about) the so-called Christian Mafiosi,” he said. “They have nothing at all in them that is Christian. “They call themselves Christians but they carry death in their souls and inflict it on others.” Many members of organized crime groups in Italy, such as Sicily’s Cosa Nostra and Calabria’s ‘Ndrangheta, see themselves as part of a religious, cult-like group. Particularly in smaller towns and...

Ugandan authorities have closed 23 radio stations for “promoting witchcraft’’ and trying to con people out of money. The stations’ licenses were suspended after they had guests on air who claimed they could heal diseases like HIV, Pamela Ankunda, the Uganda Communications Commission spokesperson, told DPA on Wednesday. “The radios have been promoting witchcraft. People claimed on these radios to cure diseases like AIDS and cancer,’’ she said. “These people have been fraudulently getting money from the public,’’ she added. “Their operations and licenses have been suspended until they are able to assure the commission through writing that they will abide by the minimum broadcasting standards,’’ Ankunda said. She said that Uganda has 292 radio stations, mostly privately-owned. It is not uncommon for various religious leaders, self-proclaimed prophets and traditional healers in Africa to claim to be able to cure HIV and other incurable diseases. (dpa/NAN)

A 58-year-old driver, Kasali Raji, on Tuesday urged an Agege Customary Court to dissolve his 24-year-marriage with Toyin, over alleged lack of love and unfaithfulness. ‎Raji told the court that he was tired of his wife’s attitude to family matters. The petitioner said that he had to move out of his matrimonial home in 2017 because he no longer loves his wife. “I stopped having sexual intercourse with my wife over seven years ago. “I have not been living with my wife for the past 15 months now,” he told the court. Raji said that his wife refused to have another child after the birth of their only son, who is now 22 years old. “There was a time my wife got pregnant but aborted it without my consent; when I challenged her, she told me not to disturb her. “I prayed the court to dissolve this marriage in the interest of peace,’’ he said. The respondent, Toyin, 47, denied the allegations, saying that she was not ready for the divorce. Toyin told the court that she was...

A 300-level student of Jigawa State College of Legal Studies, Ringim Ismail, has allegedly confessed to slitting the throat of a woman for refusing to terminate a pregnancy she had for him out of wedlock. Police accused Mr. Ismail of the murder of Salamatu Garba, 22, of Kofar Gaba's quarters in Jahun LGA of Jigawa State on Saturday. Speaking to journalists on Tuesday from his police cell, the 22-year-old suspect said he was in a relationship with the 22-year-old for over eight years with a view to consummating the relationship into the marriage. According to him, they made an unsuccessful attempt to abort the pregnancy when it was three-month-old, adding that the deceased however refused his pressure to attempt the abortion again two months later. He said he, therefore, decided to eliminate Ms. Garba and anything that had to do with her and the pregnancy. The suspect said on the fateful day of the murder, he took the woman on a motorcycle to the outskirts of the town...

The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee has finally resolved to allocate funds to the three tiers of government. The FAC committee had a slight disagreement yesterday, a development that made it impossible to share the statutory allocation. The meeting had ended in a deadlock following disagreement about the revenue figures remitted into the federation account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation for sharing by the three tiers of government. But late last night, the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun intervened by calling for an emergency meeting on Wednesday. At the meeting on Wednesday, held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance which was presided over by Adeosun, the committee distributed the sum of N647.39bn to the three tiers of government. Out of this amount, the Federal Government received N270.8bn, states got N173.75bn and the 774 local government councils were allocated a total amount of N130.9bn. The committee also allocated the sum ...