Sahara Reporters Latest News Sunday 2nd June 2019
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 02/06/19
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target=_blank>Champions League Final: Disappointment For Tottenham, Joy For Liverpool
Fans of the Reds, better known as Liverpool, are currently in a happy mood following the thrashing of English opponent Tottenham.
The All-English final of the 2019 Champions League took place in Spain tonight and saw Liverpool capitalise on an early mistake by Tottenham to win the cup by 2 goals to nil.
Barely few seconds after the referee Damir Skomina blew the whistle to commence the game did the ball get to Senegalese, Sadio Mane, who tried to pass the ball in the box 18 which unfortunately hit the hand of a Tottenham player and the referee blew the whistle for a penalty.
Egyptian Mo Sallah slammed in the penalty in the minute. The match went on back and forth for the next couple of minutes.
In the second half, a late goal by substitute Origi finalized Tottenham’s misery-making Harry Kane look like a caned dog.
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target=_blank>Opposition Members Forced BYSIEC Chair To Resign, Plan To Scuttle LG Elections, Claims Gov Dickson
Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has accepted the resignation of the Chairman of the State Independent Electoral Commission (BYSIEC) Dr. Perekeme Bertola.
The former chairman resigned amidst threats to his life and family members.
In a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, the governor thanked Bertola for his services to the commission, particularly for setting in motion the conduct of the August 10, 2019 local council elections.
He said regardless of the development, the council election will still go on, as the other members of the commission are in quorum to carry on with the business of conducting a hitch free council polls.
The statement noted that the most senior member of the commission would take charge in an acting capacity, pending the appointment of a substantive chairman.
The statement expressed shock that those in the opposition would go as far as trying to harass, intimidate and threaten Bertola and his family in their desire to make him do their bidding during the council elections.
While wishing Bertola success in his future endeavours, the state government called on Bayelsans to be aware of the “subterranean moves” by members of the opposition to scuttle the planned council elections, using different crude means.
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target=_blank>Protect State Coffers from Government Pilfering, Group Urges Adamawa Youths
Youths in Adamawa State have been urged to prevent any acts of financial appropriation by the government.
At a capacity building on participatory governance in Yola, the state capital, the youths to hold the state government accountable by using a tool identified as “Follow The Money”.
Organisers of the training, ‘iFollow The Money’, showed participants the techniques of tracking the government’s spending from the budget stage to execution.
The social media, conventional media, Freedom of Information Act, monitoring and evaluation and community resources were identified as indispensable tools in tracking the government’s spending.
Muktar Halilu Modibbo, lead trainer, stressed the importance for citizens in the state to acquire basic skills in tracking their government’s expenditure in order to ensure probity, accountability and efficiency in governance in the country.
“It has become necessary that all citizens acquire the skills and capacity to track finances and government budgets,” Modibbo said.
Bosayo Morakinyo, Program Manager and Aliyu Tukur, State Coordinator, charged urged Nigerians to deploy monitoring and evaluation capacity to enhance transparency.
“Citizens’ engagement is essential to financial tracking,” Morakinyo added.
He further stated that obtaining such skills to track the government’s spending would help to eliminate corruption, check transparency deficit in the system.
Meanwhile, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri has pledged to run a transparent administration, and encouraged the state’s citizens to monitor his government’s activities at all levels.
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target=_blank>BREAKING: Boko Haram Currently Attacking Military Base In Maiduguri
Suspected Boko Haram terrorists are currently attacking a military base near Maiduguri, a military source has confirmed to SaharaReporters.
According to our source, the terrorists stormed Delwa military base in an attempt to overrun the military formation there.
“The terrorists started attacking and engaging troops in a fierce gun duel at 6 pm local time,” the source added.
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target=_blank>60,000 Candidates Jostle To Replace NNPC’s Ageing Staff As State Oil Company Conducts Job Tests
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has conducted a computer-based test (CBT) for about 60,000 candidates in 94 centres who applied for various vacant positions in the corporation as it prepares to replace its ageing staff.
Chief Operating Officer (COO), Corporate Services of the NNPC, Mr. Isa Inuwa, made this disclosure after visiting some CBT centres along with the NNPC Recruitment Steering Committee in Abuja.
A statement issued today in Abuja by the corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, quoted Mr. Inuwa, as saying that the 2019 NNPC recruitment exercise was for the corporation to replace some of its retiring staff and to refresh the system with fresh hands.
“The recruitment exercise by the NNPC is driven by the corporation’s manpower needs. There are about 60,000 candidates who have been shortlisted and you cannot allow the CBT to run for many days because we have enough facilities to accommodate those shortlisted and they are batched into three groups to avoid every form of impairment,” he stated.
Mr. Ughamadu explained that the recruitment exercise was conducted in the public glare as part of the corporation’s business culture of running its processes with integrity and accountable to the people, stressing that NNPC as a public corporation would always set the pace for other public institutions to follow.
The statement quoted some of the candidates as commending the NNPC for conducting a seamless and transparent computer-based recruitment test that offered them employment opportunity.
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target=_blank>Chairman of Bayelsa State Independent Electoral Commission Resigns, Amidst Fear for His Life, Family Members
Bertola Perekem
Bertola Perekeme
Fearing for his life and that of his family members, Perekeme Bertola has resigned as the Chairman of the Bayelsa State Independent Electoral Commission, BYSIEC.
His resignation is coming ten weeks to the state’s local government election due to threats to his life.
During a stakeholder’s meeting in April, Perekeme Bertola had announced that elections into Bayelsa State’s local government councils would be free, fair, credible and conclusive.
However, According to a reliable source in BYSIEC, Bertola in a letter addressed to the Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, cited “threats to his life and his immediate family” as reasons for throwing in the towel.
In the letter dated May 31, 2019, according to the source, Bertola thanked Dickson for the opportunity given him to serve and expressed hope that his resignation would not affect the conduct of the forthcoming council elections in the state slated for August 10, 2019.
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target=_blank>Jay-Jay Okocha Lands In Scotland Court Over Money Laundering Charges
Augustine (Jay Jay) Okocha, former Super Eagles captain, and English Premier League footballer has appeared in court facing money laundering charges.
Augustine Okocha, who is better known as Jay-Jay, appeared in private at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Friday.
The 45-year-old global football star appeared at the Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Friday.
He is facing two charges in thegujma behind-closed-doors hearing.
He faces one charge in relation to alleged acquisition, use and possession of criminal property and another relating to allegedly concealing, disguising, converting and transferring criminal property.
The appearance relates to alleged incidents said to have happened in the north-east of Scotland in 2015.
The Scottish Sun reports that Police began an investigation in 2015 which spanned two years before charges were brought against Okocha and six others – five of whom are alleged to have carried out fraud related to north-east businesses.
Okocha, who also netted 14 times for Nigeria in 73 appearances and starred in the country’s 1994 World Cup campaign, made no plea during the hearing.
The retired footballer, whose general address was given as Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, was granted bail.
The case against him was continued for further examination. No date has yet been fixed for his next court appearance.
Okocha moved from Fenerbahce in Turkey to Paris Saint-Germain in 1998 for a transfer fee of 12.4 million euros.
The attacking midfielder also played for Hull City in the English Championship before retiring from the sport after the 2008/09 season.
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target=_blank>President Buhari Thanks Islamic States For Helping In Nigeria’s Terrorism Fight
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed his appreciation for the role the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has played in the war against insurgency in Nigeria.
President Buhari made the commendation when he read the collective statement of African countries at the 14th Summit of the OIC in Makkah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
He said: “The robust interventions of the various OIC Institutions and principally the Islamic Development Bank Group, have been effective in such key sectors as trade and investment, agriculture, rural development and food security, science, technology and innovation, poverty alleviation as well as women and youth empowerment.
“In particular, Nigeria acknowledges the support of OIC Member States in countering the menace of terrorism and armed criminality in West Africa, the Lake Chad area and the Sahel Countries. We appreciate their contributions in the alleviation of the humanitarian crisis arising from the insurgency but urge them to do more.
“We appreciate their contributions in the alleviation of the humanitarian crisis arising from the insurgency but urge them to do more.
‘‘In addition to the core issue of the restoration of the national rights of the Palestinians and other long-standing unresolved conflicts, we now grapple with serious security problems, represented by the destructive activities of terrorists, violent extremists and armed criminals in many of OIC Member States.
‘‘This situation has also been compounded by a series of political crises, which continue to affect a number of our countries.
‘‘In this regard, we support the actions of the OIC in seeking an early resolution to the lingering Palestinian question and the rights of the Palestinian people to an independent homeland. ‘‘We equally subscribe to the various actions of the OIC in resolving the crises in Syria, Yemen and Libya.
‘‘We commend OIC engagement with other international actors in addressing the various political conflicts in the OIC region and the plight of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar.
He thanked King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud for hosting and chairing the 14th OIC Summit and the Turkish President, Recep Erdogan, whose tenure just ended for “his commitment to the ideals of our Organization and his efforts in ensuring that the OIC achieves its set goals and objectives, throughout his tenure as Chairman.”
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target=_blank>Will You Attend World Council Of Churches Meeting? CAN Blasts President Buhari Over OIC
The Christian Association of Nigeria has critisized President Muhammadu Buhari’s trip to the meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation calling the move unconstitutional.
The church made its position know in a statement signed by special assistant on media and communications to CAN President, Samson Ayokunle on Saturday.
The group said, “With all the cries we have made about the unconstitutionality of Nigeria’s membership of OIC, going for such conference was still the first assignment of President Buhari after being sworn in. Are the government officials listening to those who voted them into power at all? Is the government not heating up the polity? We wonder if the President is ready to attend the meeting of the World Council of Churches or be asking the Vice President to represent him whenever the members meet.
“As President Buhari begins another term, we appeal to him to have a blueprint for the security challenges facing the country. He should avoid lopsided appointments in every facet of the government, especially, the appointment chief security officers. The security councils and other agencies of the government must not be dominated by people who share the same faith and ethnicity with him. The preponderance of the Fulani people at the corridors of power is what Chief Olusegun Obasanjo refers to as fulanisation agenda.
“We have many states in the North where churches are being denied of Certificates of Occupancy. This is a ploy to allow excuses to be given later for these churches to be pulled down whenever religious fanatics are in government in those states. As we rejoice with all the Northern State governors as they assume office, let them revisit this ungodly policy of discrimination against fellow Nigerians.”
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Dear Governor Ben Ayade, The Sun Has Risen Again By Elias Ozikpu
Let me begin by congratulating you on the successful inauguration of your second coming, like I did in August of 2015 when, at the end of my congratulatory treatise, I suggested some of the cardinal problems you needed to confront within the first four years of your administration. Needless to say, not one of those suggestions was executed and the result as evident in your first term is lamentable.
As the sun rises in the morning of your second coming, we Cross Riverians are going to be more demanding than we were in your first coming. We are going to metamorphose from a docile people into a questioning people. We will scrutinise your policies. We will demand for thorough explanations for any decision you decide to make on our behalf. We are going to ask questions without an apology, and you must answer each of our questions if history must be kind to you when the sun finally set on your final tenure.
Your Excellency, as you step your feet into the next phase as governor of our state, it comes with a healthy opportunity to make important amends. I have outlined below just few of your missteps which I hope you strengthen as you make an entry to the Office of the Governor for the second time.
1. LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS
Your refusal to allow local government elections in Cross River for the past four years is illegal and a flagrant display of totalitarianism. It was ultra vires your powers to so act. The implication of your illegal action is that you have deprived citizens of their legitimate right of representation in government. It means you consciously decided to keep the government several miles away from the people. Doing so is the same thing as staging a coup d’état against democracy. It is the same thing as strangling democracy right before our own eyes. This must stop forthwith.
2. THE “SUPERHIGHWAY” PROJECT
This is one of the most fraudulent projects I have heard about all my life and the funding is what raises more questions than any thing else. The sum of N648,870,730,739.23 (Six Hundred and Forty-eight Billion, Eight Hundred and Seventy Million, Seven Hundred and Thirty Thousand, Seven Hundred and Thirty-nine Naira, Twenty-three Kobo) is permanently unacceptable for the proposed “superhighway” at a time when roads within Cross River are in total shambles. More disturbing is the fact that Cross Riverians will have to spend 180 years paying back the loan for the superhighway! 180 years! That is approximately two centuries of debt! Like it has been reiterated more than a thousand times, Cross River does not need the construction of a “superhighway” that will put about six generations of Cross Riverians in perpetual slavery. Except, of course, you are unequivocally telling the electorates that it was a crime voting for you, not once but twice! What bothers me the most is your apparent resolution to proceed with the project in spite of the public outcry that has greeted it.
Respectfully, Your Excellency, is it true that in a correspondence dated 17th day of February, 2019, with reference number: SSG/S/300/VOL.XVII/1199, the Secretary to Cross River State Government conveyed on your behalf a request to the State House of Assembly to consider and pass a resolution granting approval for the State Government to issue an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) of N300,000,000.00 (Three Hundred Million Naira) monthly through the United Bank for Africa (UBA) in favour of MERRS SYDNEY CONSTRUCTION NIGERIA LIMITED for the construction of the said superhighway? Is this true, Sir?
3. ANOTHER AIRPORT IN CROSS RIVER?
I do not know exactly what crept into your thoughts that resulted in you imagining the idea of a THIRD airport in Cross River State. All I do know is that the people might be left with no alternative but to wrestle their State from your grip in the likely event that you insist on proceeding with the construction of this airport. Since we were born, never have we enjoyed the dividends of good governance. We have been left to either survive or die on our own. You are therefore without the competence to wake up one morning and send bulldozers to Obudu to reduce people’s homes into rubbles and equally destroy their farms, their only means of livelihood, just because you are governor. And as if that was not enough, you have drawn a red line between you and the people by your recent decision to send armed soldiers to beat up and even apprehend some of the youth who have been leading peaceful protests against the construction of the unwanted airport.
Your Excellency, you are forcefully taking people’s lands, destroying their homes and farms over the construction of a THIRD airport in the State and you expect them to not raise a voice? I shudder. Never before have we experienced this sort of subjugation and total repression in Cross River. Your Excellency, despotism is one thing we shall never accept, and now I feel as though we are being governed by an internal colonialist.
Respectfully, Your Excellency, is it true that you are distributing as compensation between N5,000 to N15,000 to victims whose homes and farms have been obliterated in a bid to pave way for the construction of a THIRD airport in Cross River State? Is this true, Sir?
Your Excellency, assuming without conceding that the idea of a THIRD airport is well in order and not a misplaced priority as it clearly is, how exactly do you intend funding such a project when, using the 2017 statistics, we are told that the State generates less than twenty billion Naira as internally generated revenue for a whole year? It is my contention, therefore, that both the superhighway and the Obudu Airport are misplaced priorities that should be jettisoned through the window.
Like I pointed out the last time before you let your media apparatus loose on me, all that Cross Riverians desire at this time are:
I. Good schools to send their children to.
II. A sound and reliable healthcare system.
III. Security to guarantee their safety.
IV. Good roads to go about their businesses on a daily basis.
V. Pipe borne water so that our people stop travelling to distant streams with basins on their heads.
VI. And other basic necessities that make life worth living.
You have done none of these in the last four years of your reign, yet you expect us to give you a standing ovation for proposing the construction of a superhighway and a THIRD airport in the State, both of which are primarily aimed at sentencing Cross Riverians to eternal poverty and slavery.
Your Excellency, beyond the familiar media razzmatazz, how do you intend to GENUINELY boost revenue generation in the State? This question bears more weight than the superhighway and Obudu Airport that you are determined to impose on us.
I shall round off with the concluding remark in my last essay in which I wrote extensively on the danger of proceeding with the superhighway:
Dear Governor Ben Ayade, attend to the relevant needs of our people and let the common man/woman for once enjoy the dividends of good governance. It is a right, not a privilege.
Elias Ozikpu is an activist and a professional playwright, novelist, essayist and polemicist.
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