Author: NPO Admin I
By Kamil Opeyemi The Peoples Democratic Party has said it is a tall order for the All Progressive Congress to hope to win in the forthcoming governorship election in Edo State. The party, which is however in opposition in Ondo, also said the ruling party, APC cannot retain Ondo again in the coming election. The party’s Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, said this while inaugurating the PDP National Campaign Councils for Edo and Ondo governorship elections, on Thursday in Abuja. Damagum said that the way PDP has chosen its candidates in both states shows the party would be victorious in…
By Kamil Opeyemi Tipper drivers in Anambra have called on the government to stop its officials from extortion of a sum of N200,000 from each of them in the state. The drivers expressed dismay over the alleged extortion saying those responsible are officials of the Anambra State Road Traffic Management Agency (ARTMA). The Chairman of the association, Mr Ebuka Unekwe, made the allegation during a press briefing in Onitsha, on Thursday. Unekwe alleged that ARTMA officials extorted its members of money ranging from N200,000 and above under the guise of traffic control. He lamented that tipper drivers were being extorted…
Agency Report The trial of Mr Karl Toriola, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd; and others was, on Thursday, stalled due to the absence of the trial judge. Although the matter was fixed for the arraignment of Toriola and other, Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court, Abuja was not in court. The matter was, however, adjourned until Sept. 26 for the defendants’ to take their plea. Other defendants in the charge are MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd; MTN Senior Executive Officer, Nkeakam Abhulimen; Fun Mobile Ltd, a telecommunications service provider; and…
By Halimah Olamide Former Governor of Kogi State Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has signified his desire to be prosecuted in the state. The former Gov told a Federal High Court (FHC) sitting in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to transfer his case with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to Kogi State. Bello is facing a 19-count charge bordering on fraud while he held sway as the Governor of the North-Central state. He wrote to the Chief Judge (CJ) of the FHC, John Tsoho, pleading to be allowed to face his trial in Kogi. At the resumed proceeding on Thursday, June…
Kwara United Football Club of Ilorin has announced end of the season break, as the club plans early preparations for the 2024/2025 Season. The General Manager of the Club, Bashir Badawiy, who announced the break after a management meeting on Wednesday, added that the players and officials would soon be communicated on the resumption date after due consultation. Kwara United on Sunday defeated Heartland FC 4-0 in their last match of the 2023-2024 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) Season, to end their campaign in the 13th position. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the team won 12 matches…
Agency Report Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State, on Wednesday, said that the government has no plan to abandon the construction of a new stadium in Akure. The governor, however, did not elaborate on the construction of the new stadium, which was first mooted and approved by the government of the late Gov. Olusegun Agagu, two decades ago. Aiyedatiwa said this at the official handing over of the Ondo State Sports Complex in Akure to the contractor awarded the renovation of the facility – Reform Sports West Africa . The governor, represented at the ceremony by the Commissioner for Youth…
Julian Assange has landed back home in his native Australia, after a plea deal allowed him to walk free from a London prison. There were emotional scenes at Canberra Airport, as the Wikileaks founder kissed his wife and hugged his father, his lawyers watching on, visibly moved. “Julian needs time to recover, to get used to freedom,” Stella Assange said at a news conference shortly after her husband arrived. For the past 14 years, Assange has been in a legal battle with US officials who accused him of leaking classified documents, which they say put lives in danger. The 52-year-old…
An original watercolour illustration has become the most valuable Harry Potter item ever sold – fetching $1.9m (£1.5m) at auction in the US. The artwork for the first edition of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone sold for more than three times the expected price. It was first auctioned in 2001, before the book series was complete, for £85,750 (about $108,000 at current exchange rates). “This is really the first visualization of Harry and the wizarding world,” said Kalika Sands from Sotheby’s auction house. The artwork had been expected to sell for between $400,000 and $600,000, which Sotheby’s…
Agency Report Malam Ali M. Ali, the Managing Director(MD) of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), has said that quick countering of fake news by communication specialists would curtail its damage. He made this known in Abuja on Wednesday in a paper he presented at a roundtable organised by the Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC), and Development Specs Academy (DSA). The theme of the event was “Asymmetrical National Security Challenges, the Army and National Development”. Ali spoke on the topic “Professional News Management as Panacea for Infodemics, Misinformation and Fake news”. He declared that there was need for timely countering…
Agency Report Rivers governor Siminalayi Fubara has said that he was not fighting anybody. “I am, rather, defending the state against predators; I am protecting Rivers against those who feel that they own the life of others,” he said in Port Harcourt on Wednesday when the Senate Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, paid him a courtesy visit. Fubara stated that the failed attempt to detonate an explosive device at the Hotel Presidential, a five star hotel in Port Harcourt, was a deliberate ploy to strengthen the call for a state of emergency. “It is the handiwork of detractors who want to…