Global Naija Info

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano state has petitioned the National headquarters of the party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the cancellation of the bye-election of Minjibir, State Assembly constituency on Saturday. The state acting Chairman of the party, Alhaji Abdullahi Abbas disclosed this while speaking with newsmen in Kano on Monday. Abbas, who, described the action of INEC as unjust and complicit, said the reason given for cancelling the election was flimsy. “That is why we are suspecting foul play in the cancellation of the election that our great party APC was winning. “So we found it necessary to send our petition to the INEC headquarters, Presidency and the headquarter of our party”, he said. He called on the INEC and APC headquarters to investigate the issue with a view to finding the reasons behind the cancellation of the election. He said the number of areas affected by the violence was not enough a reason to call for the can...

Major General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin, Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff General Abayomi Olonisakin, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) said on Monday that the military will wipe out the remnants of Boko Haram terrorists from Nigeria in a short while. Olonisakin stated this while speaking with newsmen during a visit to Maiduguri, Borno. Olonisakin said that his visit was aimed at getting first class information on the anti-terrorism war. “I want Nigerians to know that we are determined to wipe out the terrorists from our land. “And from the Sambisa axis, we are really committed to ensure that we clear them as soon as possible,” he said. “I am here for a routine visit with the Service Chiefs. I have come to appraise the level of performance in the operation and see how we can actually address some issues on the operation. “The operation is actually to wipe out, to clear Sambisa, that is ‘Operation clamp down’ is to clear Sambisa of the terrorists,” he said. Olonisakin said tha...

L-R: President Paul Biya and President Muhammadu Buhari in Yaounde President Paul Biya of Cameroun, will at the invitation of President Muhammadu Buhari, begin a two-day state visit to Nigeria on Tuesday. In a statement issued in Abuja on Monday by Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, President Biya, who will be accompanied by his wife, Chantal and senior Cameroonian government officials, will be received at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, by President Buhari. It stated that both leaders and their officials would confer on issues of common interest to Nigeria and Cameroon, including ongoing bilateral and regional cooperation against terrorism, violent extremism and cross-border crimes. “It is expected that new agreements to strengthen existing ties, as well as trade and economic relations between Nigeria and Cameroon, will be concluded and signed before the end of President Biya’s visit. “A joint communiqué on the visit and the...

FILE PHOTO: Leicester players celebrate winning the First Division title Leicester City have won the Premier League title in one of the greatest sporting stories of all time. Tottenham’s 2-2 draw at Chelsea on Monday confirmed a stunning achievement for Claudio Ranieri’s side. Leicester started the campaign as 5,000-1 outsiders for the title after almost being relegated last season. But they have lost just three league games in what has been described as a “fairytale” and the “most unlikely triumph in the history of team sport”. Closest challengers Spurs, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and last year’s champions Chelsea, have all failed to match the Foxes’ consistency across the season. “In terms of domestic football, Leicester City winning the Premier League is the greatest achievement ever and I think it will never be surpassed,” former Leicester midfielder Robbie Savage told BBC Sport. “It is incredible. This is a turning point in Premier League history.” After...

Comptroller-General of Customs, Hameed Ali Tension has gripped residents of Oke Odan community in Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun state, southwest Nigeria following the alleged killing of six persons by trigger-happy customs officers on Sunday. The incident occurred around 6:30pm at the Alakara Bus-Stop in Oke Odan while the world marked Workers’ Day. It was gathered that the customs officials were chasing some suspected rice smugglers in a long convoy on their way from Igolo, a border town between Nigeria and Benin Republic, and heading towards Sango in Ado Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun state. Residents of the community revealed that all those killed were residents of the community who were carrying out their various activities when they met their deaths as a result of stray bullets allegedly from the customs officers. Three of those killed, according to witnesses, are children. A motor mechanic, panel-beater and a secondary school leaver, simply identified as ...

Jethro Ibileke/Benin Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State Edo state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has castigated the state governor, Adams Oshiomhole, over the May Day increase in the minimum wage for civil servants in the state from N18,000 to N25,000. The state chairman of the party, Chief Dan Orbih, who stated this in a press statement in Benin, said described the wage increase as a mere Greek gift and politics taken too far. Orbih who described the increment as hasty and betrayal of trust on the part of the Edo State government, accused Governor Oshiomhole of announcing the increment at a time the national leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) was negotiating a N56,000 minimum wage for civil servants. He said everybody in Edo State knows that the real challenge in the state civil service was about recruiting employable youths into the service and not about deceiving the people with unrealistic wage increase. Orbih said while the number of politic...

General Mohammed Shuwa Officials of Nigerian military intelligence have arrested the suspected killer of Major General Mohammed Shuwa (rtd). Mohammed Shuwa was murdered in his residence in Maiduguri, Borno State by suspected Boko Haram sect on November 2, 2012. The retired military officer was the first General Officer Commanding of the Nigerian Army’s 1st Division. He also commanded the Nigerian Army’s 1st Division during the Nigerian Civil War. The Army spokesperson, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman confirmed that the suspect will be paraded in Kano where he was arrested.

Farouk Ahmed, PPPRA boss The Federal Government on Monday said it was currently subsidising Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol at N12.62 per litre. It said that the subsidy figure was for petrol imported directly by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and dispensed at its retail outlets, while the rate was N12.88 per litre for other oil marketers. This was contained in the latest Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) Template released in Abuja. It said that although provision was not made for subsidy in the 2016 budget, it would be defrayed from “recoveries” made by the country from oil transactions in the first quarter of 2016. According to the agency, between January and March, 2016, the Federal Government was able to save about N10 billion as a result of selling the product above the Expected Open Market Price. It explained that without the subsidy and given the landing cost of the product, it ought to be sold at N98.62 per litr...

Prof Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria’s Vice President Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo said on Monday that the Federal Government was planning to generate 7, 000 megawatts of electricity for the nation within the next 18months. The vice president stated this at the presentation of a book “Nigeria: The Challenges of Growth and Development, an In-Depth Analysis by Experts,” held at the Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan, Ibadan. Osinbajo stated that power remains a major challenge the Federal Government had been facing, and which the government was determined to solve. He said that the most important part of the budget would focus on ensuring that the weak aspect of the power value chain was restored. Osinbajo said that the nation was faced with the problem of conveying gas to the power plant, adding that the pipeline, which remained the easiest method, was frequently facing vandalism. “Early in the life of this administration late last year and early this year, power generation was possibl...

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State on Monday vowed to ensure the arrest and prosecution of those behind the death of the District Head of Fadan Karshi, Mr Bala Madaki. The district head and his 18-year-old nephew, Emmanuel Tanko, were killed by unknown assailants at his residence in Fadan Karshi on Sunday night. El-Ruf’i in a statement by his media aide, Samuel Aruwan urged residents of Sanga Local Government to remain calm and cooperate with the security agents to arrest the perpetrators. “It is a sad development. But we will not relent in our duty of protecting our people. “We shall continue to strengthen the security agencies to do a better job, as well as encourage harmonious coexistence across our communities. “The gains made in recent months to eliminate violent communal clashes in the area must be upheld. “We must all be vigilant and do our best to maintain the peace in our communities,” he said.

Kazeem Ugbodaga Engr. Abisola Kamson, LASWA MD At least, two million passengers commute on Lagos’ waterways on monthly basis, says the Lagos State Waterways Authority, LASWA. Managing Director, LASWA, Engr. Abisola Kamson in a chat with newsmen on Monday in Ikoyi, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, said the number of passengers commuting on the state’s waterways had grown over the years, saying that currently, about two million passengers now use the waterways monthly. She said the water guards of the authority provided statistics on daily basis on the number of passengers plying the jetties in the state, saying that many people were now used to commuting on the waterways and that the number still kept on growing. Kamson also said the challenge being encountered by LASWA on waterways was that of clash of interest between it and the National Inland Waterways Agency, NIWA, noting that, the problem had been addressed and that the two agencies have come together as partners to regulate activ...

Switzerland’s Roger Federer celebrates after beating France’s Richard Gasquet at the Davis Cup final Roger Federer has withdrawn from this week’s Madrid Open tournament because of a back injury. Federer, 34, said he had sustained the problem during practice on Saturday and had pulled out as a precaution. The world number three hopes to play in the Masters event in Rome from 9-15 May, the last major tournament before the French Open. Federer, Madrid champion in 2012, returned to action in Monte Carlo in April following knee surgery. “I arrived and I was OK,” said Federer. “Then I practiced on Saturday and hurt my back a little bit and stopped early. I was supposed to practice for two hours – I had to stop after an hour and 15 minutes. “At this point I don’t want to take more chances as I know I’m not going to be fully ready for Wednesday. I would rather play it safe and rest up now and get ready for Rome.