TheNewsGuru

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  • Inflation rises to 12.13% in January

    Inflation rises to 12.13% in January

    The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures inflation increased by 12.13 per cent year-on-year in January 2020.

    The NBS made this known in its report on Inflation released on Tuesday.

    It stated that this increase was 0.15 per cent points higher than the rate recorded in December 2019, which was 11.98 per cent.

    The bureau explained that the increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption by Purposes (COICOP) divisions that yielded the headline index.

    According to NBS, month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 0.87 per cent in January 2020 and this is 0.02 per cent rate higher than the rate recorded in December 2019, which was 0.85 per cent.

    “The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12 months period ending January 2020, over the average of the CPI for the previous 12 months period was 11.46 per cent, showing 0.06 per cent point from 11.40 per cent recorded in December 2019.

    “The urban inflation rate increased from 12.62 per cent in December to 12.78 per cent year on year in January 2020, while the rural inflation rate increased from 11.41 per cent in December 2019 to 11.54 per cent in January 2020.

    “On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose from 0.90 per cent recorded in December 2019 to 0.92 per cent in January 2020, up by 0.02 , while the rural index also rose by 0.83 per cent in January 2020, up by 0.01 from the rate recorded in December 2019, which was 0.82 per cent.

    “The corresponding 12-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index is 11.92 per cent in January 2020. This is higher than 11.83 per cent reported in December 2019.

    “While the corresponding rural inflation rate in January 2020 is 11.04 per cent compared to 11.00 per cent recorded in December 2019,” it explained.

    The bureau stated that the highest increase recorded was on oil and fats, fish, meat, potatoes, yam and other tubers as well as bread and cereals.

  • Killings in Delta State: Corpses exhumed, as FG maintains silence

    Killings in Delta State: Corpses exhumed, as FG maintains silence

    Silence of the federal government over renewed killings in Uwheru has sparked outrage, even as the communities affected on Monday exhumed bodies of the victims and dumped them at a mortuary in Ughelli.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Deltans are calling for justice after some arms-wielding herdsmen launched attacks on several communities in Uhweru kingdom in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State.

    The attacks on Avwon, Agadama and Ohoror communities reportedly left 8 people dead, and farms and other means of economic livelihood destroyed by the rampaging herdsmen allegedly aided by men in military uniform.

    However, President-General of Uwheru Kingdom, Chief Cassidy Akpodafe insisted that eleven persons from the communities were killed by the arms-wielding herdsmen who launched attacks on the area between Thursday and Friday nights.

    Meanwhile, the State Police Commissioner, Mr Hafiz Inuwa, had in a statement claimed that only one person was recovered with bullet injuries by search team of security personnel and that the victim was now receiving treatment at the Central Hospital, Ughelli.

    Inundated by the controversy surrounding the killing, and forced by the army and police, three corpses believed to have been victims of the onslaught were exhumed on Sunday evening after they had earlier been buried by members of the communities.

    Updates reaching TNG has it that further six corpses were exhumed today under supervision of soldiers and policemen. The six bodies were deposited at a mortuary in Ughelli, bringing the number of corpses exhumed so far to nine, while another victim is battling for life in an Ughelli hospital.

    Two more bodies are yet to be found as the search for more victims continues tomorrow.

    Angered by the unprovoked attack, the umbrella body for the Urhobo nation, the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) has vowed to resort to self-help.

    Recall that this is not the first time the Uhweru kingdom and other communities in Delta would be attacked by suspected herdsmen. On several occasions, communities in the kingdom, and communities in Abraka, Ethiope East Local Government Area have fallen under attacks by the dreaded killer herdsmen.

    No fewer than 86 lives have been lost to herdsmen attacks in Uwheru – PG

    Speaking on the recent attacks, Chief Cassidy Akpodafe, President-General of Uwheru kingdom said that no fewer than 86 lives have been lost to herdsmen attacks in the kingdom in the last 12 years.

    The President-General explained, “What the police are saying is not true. Yesterday (Sunday) three corpses were taken to the mortuary. As we speak, seven persons are dead inside the bush and we have not recovered their dead bodies.

    “The three bodies taken to the mortuary were the ones we exhumed. The bodies were exhumed on Sunday evening after the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege visited the community.

    “Almost 17 persons have been rushed to hospital for medical treatment. If you go to the Central Hospital Ughelli you will see them. The police should not cook a report that is not correct.”

    He appealed to the Delta State and Federal Government to secure them by ordering the herdsmen to leave the community to enable the people of the area return to their farms again.

    “All we need is that the Delta State and Federal Government should order Fulani herdsmen to leave our land completely. If you add the present number, over 86 persons have been killed for almost 12 years that the herdsmen took over our farmlands till today.

    “We have been crying of their occupation in our lands. Even those that died before, they left them for use to bury without anything being done about it. That was the reason our people insisted that we should bury them because if we complained to the government nothing will still be done about it,” the Uwheru PG stated.

    We will no longer condone this, UPU declares

    Meanwhile, UPU on Monday warned that no further attacks by the itinerant herdsmen in any part of Urhoboland would be tolerated.

    The umbrella body for the Urhobo nation called on President Muhammadu Buhari to stop “this genocidal killings of Urhobo people in Uwheru Kingdom”.

    The UPU expressed worry at the allegation by the indigenes that men in military uniform aided the killer herdsmen by shooting sporadically at defenceless people, leaving many of them severely wounded.

    The UPU called on the Federal Government and military authorities to do a thorough investigation into the allegation with a view to bringing the perpetrators to book.

    The UPU said “We find it ridiculous, insulting, offensive, unacceptable, unimaginable and disgusting that strangers we took in and accommodated as part of us, and as fellow Nigerians, should turn around to become our tormentors and killers? God forbid. We will no longer condone this.

    “For too long, we have chosen the path of peace which, unfortunately, has become our greatest undoing. The enemies we took in as friends have taken us for cowards.

    “Let it be made categorically clear that the Urhobo Nation cannot be conquered. We are a people with a history of independence. In the prevailing circumstances, we might be forced to defend ourselves and our lands if this unprovoked harassment and killings of our people is not halted forthwith.

    “We are saying unequivocally that the Urhobo Nation will never, ever surrender or cede an inch of her territory to any stranger, no matter the situation. The strangers in our land remain strangers and they must respect and obey the laws of the land. We shall no more condone these acts of unprovoked attacks on our people,” the UPU in a statement signed by National Publicity secretary, Hon Abel Oshevire, said.

    Read full statement below:

    “Reports of the renewed attacks and killings by herdsmen on Agadama Town and other villages in Uwheru Kingdom of Ughelli North Local Government Area, Delta State, where over eight persons were brutally murdered (two of the victims were burnt alive) and many displaced from their ancestral lands have reached the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) Worldwide and we, again, call on the President and Commander- in- Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR to stop this genocidal killings of our people in Uwheru Kingdom.

    “We are particularly worried at the allegations that on Saturday, the 15th of February, 2019, men in Military uniforms, allegedly on the side of the herdsmen, were deeply involved in this recent saga and shot sporadically at harmless citizens of Agadama-Uwheru, leaving some of them dead or gravely injured. The UPU urges the Federal and Military Authorities to investigate this allegation, with a view to bringing the security agents and herdsmen involved in this dastardly activity to book.

    “As we also speak, a whole community in Uwheru, Avwon, has been taken over by these herdsmen, while all indigenes have fled the place for their lives. A lot of the people have become refugees in other places, families have been displaced and many who escaped the killings through the bush remain missing and unaccounted for. Other Uwheru communities like Oreba, Owarovwo, Ophororo, Ohoro, Urede among others that constantly face attacks, or are threatened, by these herdsmen, who openly boast that they will take over these communities unchallenged, have since been witnessing mass exodus of people due to the ferocity and daring rate at which these vampire herdsmen perpetrate their gruesome activities. These herdsmen are known to even demand for levies and protection money from our people in Uwheru, who are pursuing their legitimate livelihood of fishing and farming on their ancestral lands. Those who resist these demands have been known to be attacked, raped, maimed or killed by the wicked herdsmen.

    “We find it ridiculous, insulting, offensive, unacceptable, unimaginable and disgusting that strangers we took in and accommodated as part of us, and as fellow Nigerians, should turn around to become our tormentors and killers? God forbid. We will no longer condone this.

    “For too long, we have chosen the path of peace which, unfortunately, has become our greatest undoing. The enemies we took in as friends, have taken us for cowards.

    “Let it be made categorically clear that the Urhobo Nation cannot be conquered. We are a people with a history of independence. In the prevailing circumstances, we might be forced to defend ourselves and our lands if this unprovoked harassment and killings of our people is not halted forthwith.

    “The Urhobo people are peace-loving, whether at home or wherever they dwell. Therefore, we will no longer tolerate the nuisance of any unfriendly and troublesome stranger in our midst.

    “We want to plead with those who own or are supporting these rampaging herdsmen to call them to order. We are saying unequivocally that the Urhobo Nation will never, ever surrender or cede an inch of her territory to any stranger, no matter the situation. The strangers in our land remain strangers and they must respect and obey the laws of the land. We shall no more condone these acts of unprovoked attacks on our people.

    “We want to warn trouble makers in our land to toe the line of peace and be reminded that our people have the capacity to defend themselves against any invaders. We shall not be cowed or intimidated by any group of strangers in our own land.

    “We have remained patient over the years and our patience is fast running out. Enough is Enough!”

    Meanwhile, the federal government has maintained utmost silence over the killings.

  • Huawei to make more contribution in 2020 to ICT capacity building in Ethiopia

    China’s tech giant Huawei plans to enhance its contribution to capacity building for Ethiopians in the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector this year, targeting increased number of beneficiaries.

    Huawei’s Ethiopia Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Zhou Tianbing, told Xinhua on Monday that Huawei would continue its activities helping the East African country improve education development with most advanced technologies, with committed efforts to bridge the digital divide for Ethiopians.

    Huawei has launched and been implementing different initiatives to improve the ICT capacity of young people in Ethiopia, in particular, and Africa in general.

    “With a view of building ICT capacity and further improve ICT development, Huawei has launched three major initiatives dubbed Seeds for the Future, ICT competition, and ICT Talent Ecosystem, and these projects have benefited tens of thousands of students at the levels of elementary, secondary and higher education,” Zhou said.

    Recalling that Huawei commenced its Seeds for Future project in Ethiopia in 2016, whereby 10 most talented students are sent to China every year for short-term training, the CEO said that Huawei, in cooperation with the Ethiopian Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MoSHE), would continue to select 10 students from top universities across the country.

    Since 2018, Huawei has been undertaking its project of ICT Competition, in which 2,357 students from 22 universities of Ethiopia participated in the year 2019, with increased number of participants, which was a little more than 500 in 2018.

    And one teacher and three students have been qualified for the final competition to be held in China.

    In 2020, Huawei plans to engage more than 3,000 students from 28 universities to show their talents in the ICT competition.

    On the ICT Talent Ecosystem of Ethiopia, Huawei signed an agreement with MoSHE in January 2017 for joint construction of ICT Academies in 37 public higher education institutions.

    The two sides also signed agreement in January 2019 to jointly construct ICT Academies in technical and vocational education and training (TVET), the first time in Ethiopia to extend Huawei Academy to TVET.

    Huawei has launched courses in more than 20 universities and TVETs, and has trained more than 1,500 ICT students.

    With the initiative of ICT Academy, Huawei has a plan to open courses this year in nine more universities and three more TVETs in Ethiopia.

    Reiterating that Huawei Ethiopia attaches great importance to helping the country improve education development with more advanced ICT, Zhou said his company would further strengthen its support in the year 2020.

    In 2015, Huawei worked with 65 schools in Ethiopia for the implementation of SchoolNet by deploying 5,200 cloud desktops in the schools.

    In 2017, Huawei SchoolNet Education Cloud deployed 25,000 cloud desktops for a total of 310 schools in 9 regions and 2 cities of the country.

    By now, Huawei’s Education Cloud Solution has covered 365 secondary schools, and 10 universities, with more than 30,000 cloud desktops, which have benefited more than 27,000 teachers and students, according to the CEO.

    Huawei has also worked together with more than 10 top universities in Ethiopia, where it has constructed the most advanced data centres, fixed and wireless school networks and Education Cloud for them.

    He said that so far, more than 300,000 college students had become beneficiaries of digital research and development, digital education and distant education empowered by Huawei.

  • 99 more coronavirus cases confirmed on cruise ship in Japan

    99 more coronavirus cases confirmed on cruise ship in Japan

    Japan’s Health Ministry said on Monday that 99 more people on a quarantined cruise ship in the port of Yokohama have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases on the vessel to 454.

    Japanese health officials have so far screened a total of 1, 723 people on the Diamond Princess, which was carrying about 37, 000 passengers and crew members, broadcaster NHK reported.

    Of the 99 new cases, 43 are Japanese, the ministry said.

    The Diamond Princess, operated by Carnival cruises, was quarantined on Feb. 4, amid a growing coronavirus pandemic originating in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

    China says more than 70, 000 people have been infected so far with the virus, while the death toll has risen to 1, 770 in that country.

    The coronavirus has spread to countless countries worldwide and sparked a number of travel restrictions.

  • Facebook looking to open content moderation for external audit

    Facebook is working to enable external reviews on its content moderation systems, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a comment piece on the Financial Times on Monday.

    The tech giant has been criticised for being too slow to remove hate speech and terrorist propaganda from its platform, but has also been accused of suppressing right-wing voices.

    In the article, Zuckerberg repeated his appeal for government regulation on issues such as electoral advertising, harmful content and data portability.

    “Companies like mine need better oversight when we make decisions, which is why we’re creating an independent Oversight Board so people can appeal Facebook’s content decisions.

    “We’re also looking at opening up our content moderation systems for external audit,’’ he added.

    Facebook came in for intense criticism after the deadly attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019 during which the attacker live-streamed the events on Facebook.

    The company has also been criticised for allowing Russian-backed trolls to post ads aimed at influencing the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as over the Cambridge Analytica data harvesting scandal.

    Zuckerberg said that his company was working with governments, inclusing New Zealand’s, “on what regulation could look like.”

    “I believe good regulation may hurt Facebook’s business in the near term but it will be better for everyone, including us, over the long term.

    “If we don’t create standards that people feel are legitimate, they won’t trust institutions or technology,’’ Zuckerberg added.

  • Customs: Edo/Delta command raises N1.8b in January, targets N32b in 2020

    Customs: Edo/Delta command raises N1.8b in January, targets N32b in 2020

    The Edo/Delta Command of the Nigerian Customs Service says it has generated N1.8 billion revenue in January 2020.

    Mr Alajogun Olaniyi, the Custom Area Controller, Edo/Delta Command disclosed this to newsmen on Monday in Warri.

    Olaniyi also said the command had been saddled with the responsibility of collecting N2.7 billion monthly amounting to N32 billion target in 2020.

    “In January, we made N1.8 billion, it is always like that at the beginning of every year all over the places because businessmen are expecting what budget and government policies will look like.

    “Before now, our monthly collection used to be N1.5 billion and for the entire year, we are supposed to collect N18 billion.

    “On Tuesday, the headquarters rolled out the target for 2020 and Edo/Delta command has been saddled with the responsibility of collecting N2.7 billion every month and a yearly collection of N32 billion.

    “The target given to the Nigerian customs service for this year is almost N2 trillion hence the upward review of what every command must collect.

    “The revenue that we will be collecting will largely be based on the volume of cargoes that we are able to get considering the peculiar nature of the Warri port.

    “It is not very active, but we are hopeful that things will get better.

    “However, on our part, the best we can do is to ensure that the little cargoes that comes, we collect all the collectable revenues by putting in our best expertise and making sure no revenue that is supposed to go into government coffers goes untapped,” he said.

    The customs area controller said the command generated N22 billion in 2019 as against the target of N18 billion.

    “The command had a revenue target of N18,02 billion in 2019. The total revenue collected within the period under review is N22,181 billion.

    “Comparatively, the revenue collected for the year under review is N6.35 billion higher than that of 2018 which was N16 billion with same revenue target of N18.023 billion.

    “Reasons being that we have determined that whatever little things we have, due diligence must be done with them to make sure we collect maximum duties,” he said.

    Speaking on the border closure, Olaniyi said that though the development had led to increase in revenue generation of the customs service, but it had no direct impact on the operations of the Edo/Delta command.

    According to him, before the border closure, the command had not been getting much cargoes from larger vessels because of the shallowness of the Escravos channel.

    “So there is no way the border closure could have changed that narrative, because the obstacles which is the shallowness of the channels that are preventing the vessels from coming into Warri port is still there.

    “Edo/Delta command is essentially a revenue command and not an enforcement command, we do not have patrol team on the road.

    “The seizure we can only make can be from goods that come through the sea and because of the low level of activities in this place, we do not actually make seizures,” he said.

    Olaniyi commended the Federal Government for taking the bold step to dredge the Warri river.

    He said that the development would galvanised activities in the Warri port and by extension the command, as soon as the project was completed.

    The customs Controller also commended the leadership of the custom service for providing the necessary welfare and logistics for officers and men of the command.

    Olaniyi urged his officers and men to reciprocate the generosity by doing their job diligently to achieve the general goals and objectives of the Nigeria customs service.

  • Lost purse from 1957 found inside school wall with contents intact 63 years after [Photos]

    Lost purse from 1957 found inside school wall with contents intact 63 years after [Photos]

    Chas Pyle, a custodian at North Canton Middle School (NCMS) has found a lost purse from 1957 inside a wall in the school, with every contents inside the purse intact after over 60 years.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports last spring, Chas found the lost purse when trying to reattach a loose trim at a locker section of NCMS, and since then the school launched an investigation to find the owner of the purse.

    “Beside the last locker in each section, you will see some trim that covers the open spot. The trim had become loose yesterday, and Chas was going to reattach the trim when he spotted the purse at the bottom of the opening.

    “He pulled the purse out and took it to the office where they went through the contents to find the owner,” North Canton City Schools in Ohio, USA narrated on its official Facebook page in May 2019 when the lost purse was found.

    Photo of Chas Pyle, who found the lost purse from 1957
    Photo of Chas Pyle, who found the lost purse from 1957
    Photo of a last locker at NCMS
    Photo of a last locker at NCMS
    Where the lost purse from 1957 was found by Chas Pyle
    Where the lost purse from 1957 was found by Chas Pyle

    When the purse was found, and opened to check on its contents with the view to find the owner, it was discovered that the lost purse belonged to Patti Rumfola, a 1960 Hoover graduate.

    Following investigative work, the school was able to track down Patti’s family, after it was learnt that unfortunately, Patti had passed away.

    After Patti’s five children opened the purse to have a glimpse into their mother’s life as a teenager, they granted permission for sharing photos of the contents. Hence, the story is making headlines now after the purse was found in May 2019.

    “Patti’s five children were together for a family gathering in the fall where they opened the purse to have a glimpse into their mother’s life as a teenager at Hoover High School. Since that time, we have received permission from the family to share photos of the contents,” the school posted on its Facebook page recently.

    Like many women her time, and even this day, Patti carried a comb and some makeup, including powder and lipstick around in her purse. The purse also contained her membership cards to the local public library, YMCA and American Junior Red Cross.

    There were also several black-and-white photos of what appears to be family and friends as well as a dog, one dating back to 1950.

    She even had a high school football schedule from 1956, showing where she had marked off some the games.

    Patti’s purse also contained a wallet, which had nine coins in it.

    “Those of you who may have gone to school in the 1950s or 1960s may have memories of some of these items. In one of the photos, you will see nine coins from Patti’s wallet.

    “Each of her five children kept one of the wheat pennies as a token of remembrance of their mom,” the school narrated.

    Nine coins found from Patti's wallet
    Nine coins found from Patti’s wallet
    Patti's wallet found inside the purse
    Patti’s wallet found inside the purse
    A comb and other items found in Patti's purse
    A comb and other items found in Patti’s purse
    A sketch of Patti
    A sketch of Patti

    Born February 25 in 1942 to late Charles and Rose (Abbate) Rumfola in DuBois, Patti died on October 21, 2013 at the DuBois Regional Medical Center, aged 71.

    In 1980, Patti married John G. Michele, who preceded her in death on July 10, 2007.

    “Patricia retired as a school teacher in Annapolis, Md., after many years of service. She was one of the founding members of the Theatre Arts Guild and the Young Women’s Club, both in Punxsutawney.

    “She enjoyed the Ladies of the Lake and her book and quilting clubs. She was active as a costume designer and seamstress with the Reitz Theatre. She especially enjoyed spending time with her children and grandchildren,” a brief bio of her read.

    To see every item found inside Patti’s lost but found purse tap here. There is more here and here.

  • Nigerians lament call rates as 7.5% VAT increase bites hard

    Nigerians lament call rates as 7.5% VAT increase bites hard

    As the new Value Added Tax (VAT) regime takes full effect, 7.5 VAT is now being applied to phone calls and Short Message Services (SMS), leading to increase in calls and SMS charges, and Nigerians have blamed President Muhammadu Buhari for the increase.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Buhari proposed the Finance Bill 2019 and, forwarded same to the National Assembly, which the Senate had since passed into law, raising the country’s VAT from 5 to 7.5 per cent.

    The law came into full effect from January 2019, with the federal government saying the increase will not affect the poor. However, telecoms operators in the country have since started applying the 7.5% VAT increase on SMS and phone calls, sparking outrage from all and sundry.

    https://twitter.com/__hajjah/status/1225476224664903683?s=19

    Recall that the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, at the opening of the 25th Nigerian Economic Summit (NES25) had assured Nigerians the VAT increase will not affect the poor.

    At the yearly gathering, the Minister said that raising of VAT to 7.5 percent from 5 percent would affect the wealthy in the society more than the poor in the country.

    “The proposed VAT increase is likely to impact more on consumption by the urban communities and the wealthier sections of the population, than on the poor,” Mrs Ahmed said at the event, which was declared open by President Buhari.

    The Minister said the 7.5 percent VAT increase proposal was in line with the recommendations of the Presidential Committee on the Funding Options for the Minimum Wage Increase.

    Read some reactions from Nigerians after the law came into full effect below:

    https://twitter.com/_starbiola/status/1225540398740901888?s=19

    https://twitter.com/woshtv/status/1224990394909429760?s=19

    https://twitter.com/precyfine/status/1225132999018209280?s=19

    https://twitter.com/woman__being/status/1225117511609409537?s=19

    Meanwhile, the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy had addressed the development, moving far away from the increase, while also assuring that the Ministry under the leadership of Isa Pantami will protect the interest of all Nigerians.

    Uwa Suleiman, Spokesperson to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy in a statement said the matter was not under the purview of the Ministry.

    Uwa said the Ministry had been inundated with complaints and enquiries concerning the 7.5% VAT deductions on voice calls and text messages by telecoms operators.

    “While we appreciate the support and efforts of well meaning Nigerians who have sought clarifications in a civil manner, we wish to inform the general public that the issues of VAT do not fall under the Ministry’s purview.

    “The office of the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy is not mandated to handle VAT.

    “In the same vein, we also wish to notify the general public that contrary to popular opinion in some quarters, the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy had no prior consultation or awareness about the development.

    “All further enquiries and clarifications may henceforth be directed to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), being the proper institution for tax matters,” the statement read.

    However, Uwa in the statement assured all Nigerians that the Ministry under the leadership of Isa Pantami, will protect the interest of all Nigerians.

  • Action Alliance gets new National Chairman

    Action Alliance gets new National Chairman

    The Action Alliance (AA) on Sunday held its national convention in Osogbo, where Mr Adekunle Omoaje emerged National Chairman, and other executives were elected to pilot affairs of the party.

    Speaking with newsmen shortly after the election, the newly-elected National Chairman of the party said the new executives would reposition the party for greater achievements in the nation’s political arena.

    Omoaje said that the new party executives would work assiduously to bring in more youths into their fold.

    “After our swearing-in today, we will start massive registration of members into our party. AA is a household name among political parties in Nigeria. We will use the influence of all our elders and leaders to attract more people, especially the youth, to the party, by God’s grace,” he said.

    At the national convention of the party, Mr Suleiman Abdulrasheed emerged the National Secretary and Mrs Deborah Banjo, the Deputy National Secretary, while Alhaji Ibrahim Isha and Mr Obaro Samuel became the National Treasurer and National Financial Secretary respectively.

    Other new executives of the party are Abdulwasiu Adeyemi, National Deputy Financial Secretary; Mr Olaniyi Fadahunsi, National Auditor; Mr Olu Omotoso, National Publicity Secretary and Mr Rufai Abiodun, Legal Adviser.

    The remaining new executives are Hajia Aisha Abdullahi, Deputy National Women Leader; Dr Mike Madu, National Youth Leader; National Vice Chairman, South-West, Mr Joshua Adewale, Mr Solomon Oken, National Vice Chairman, South-East and Mr Bright Owobrie, National Vice Chairman, South-South.

    A large number of delegates across the country were present at the convention. The new national executives were elected through voice votes.

    New National Chairman speaks on party deregistration by INEC

    Meanwhile, the new party chairman has charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to as well wield its big stick against big political parties flouting its rules rather than being a bully to smaller political parties.

    The new National Chairman of the AA made this comment shortly after his emergence, stressing that having over 70 political parties is not healthy for the nation’s political landscape.

    He charged the electoral commission not to be partial in wielding its big hammer against any political party that flout it’s rules and regulations.

    According to him, parties are not deregistered based only on poor performance during elections, but also for issues such as lack of financial transparency, spread of office and officials among others.

    He said parties including the big two flouted the commission’s financial rules with impunity, saying until INEC sanctioned the big parties before it could be taken seriously on sanitising the polity.

    “INEC should demonstrate its seriousness by going after the big parties, sanction them for flouting its rules on party finances and many other rules. With this, the smaller parties would sit tight. INEC behaves like a bully against the smaller parties and is scared to touch the big ones.

    “I am for five political parties so that if you are blocked from contesting on the big platforms by the super-rich, there would always be an alternative platform to test ones acceptability,” Omoaje said.

    Speaking on his ambition for the party, Omoaje said with the support of other executive members, the party embark on membership registration with a view to preparing the party for future elections.

  • Nigeria’s future under question, as Sanwo-Olu, Shehu, Amaechi, George, others set to x-ray nation’s woes

    Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu will on Tuesday, February 25th join other speakers to discuss the future of Nigeria at the third annual lecture of Freedom Online in Lagos.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the theme of the lecture, which is billed to hold at Sheraton Lagos Hotel, Ikeja, is ‘Nigeria: Foundation, Fundamentals, Future’, with Sanwo-Olu as the Guest Speaker.

    In a statement, Gabriel Akinadewo, Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of the online newspaper said the theme of the lecture is premised on the need to do a proper x-ray of the foundation of the security, the economy, and the politics of the nation.

    He said the political, economic and social fabric of the nation was disintegrating due to the foundation of the country and something urgent must be done if the future must be secured.

    “Nigeria’s political, economic and social fabric is disintegrating due to the foundation of the country and something urgent must be done. Insecurity does not recognise a Christian or Muslim, it has no respect for APC or PDP.

    “The security situation now is precarious. We must do a proper x-ray of the foundation of our security, our economy, our politics for Nigeria’s future to be secured,” he said.

    Dignitaries expected at the annual lecture include Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi (Chairman); former Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel (Special Guest of Honour); former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Olabode George (Keynote Speaker), and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu (Guest of Honour).

    Others are former Police Affairs Minister, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade; Iba Gani Adams, Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland; Prof. Akinyemi Onigbinde, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Accra and Mr. Isah Mustapha, President, Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE).