All Progressives Congress, APC, primary election to elect the party’s flag bearer for the September 22 gubernatorial election in Osun state on Friday, has been marred by late arrival of electoral materials and outright absence of electoral officials.

Nigerian Pilot, reports that the exercise was also threatened by voter apathy as turnover of the electorate remained unimpressive as at 11:a.m.

The APC Electoral Committees had scheduled voting to commence at 8:00 am in the 30 local governments including the Area Office, Modakeke to elect party’s candidate for the gubernatorial election.

Our correspondent, who monitored the elections in Ayedaade and Irewole local government areas reported that at 10:20 am, electorate were seeing waiting for materials.
At ward 4, Otun Olufi Secondary school, Gbongan, voters were seeing waiting for electoral materials just as in ward 9, AUD primary school, Atile Ikire.

Also in Ward 7, Eripa, ward 4, 5 and 6 Igbajo in Boluwaduro Local Government among others, voters were seeing waiting for arrival of electoral materials and officials.

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The Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, has made a u-turn on his earlier declaration suggesting that he has left the All Progressives Congress, as he clearly stated on Thursday, that he was still a member of the APC and was impressed with the intervention of the national leadership of the party.

The governor said that he was prepared to give the party the benefit of the doubt.

Ortom made his new position known while speaking to journalists after a closed-door meeting with the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, and other members of the APC National Working Committee, at the party National Secretariat, in Abuja.

He had earlier announced his decision to leave the party which he compared to a football pitch at a public function held in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, on Monday.

Ortom however announced a reversal of his decision after Thursday’s meeting. According to him, it was the Benue State chapter of the APC that gave him “a red card” but that the national leadership had nullified it.

The governor said, “It was the Benue APC that gave me a red card not the national APC and I took (it) that it was enough to make myself available out of the pitch, but the leadership of the party told me that the decision of the party leadership at the national level is superior to that of any individual or group of people and I think that is good enough.

“They have spoken to him (Senator George Akume); they have spoken to me and the state stakeholders are going to be spoken to and that’s where I belong. We have not concluded the matter, it’s an ongoing process. I always stand for peace, and I always want peace to prevail, that’s what I call for.

“I appreciate the intervention of the party’s leadership and I hope that we will be able to resolve the matter of differences. I am here in the APC. I am a member of the APC, I am still flying the flag of the APC, I only said I was given a red card but I have been corrected by the national secretariat.”

He is going nowhere – Oshiomhole

Also speaking at the event, Oshiomhole said the APC did not keep “red cards” in its cupboard and as such, it could not give what it did not have.

The APC national chairman admitted that there could be legitimate basis for disagreements in some state chapters of the party, which his administration was determined to look into in order to resolve them.

He explained that the issues in the Benue chapter of the party were not intractable to an extent that a solution could not be found.

Oshiomhole said, “Senator (George) Akume is a very respected leader of the party, a former governor and a current senator, he will recognise the need for peace and we have what it takes to make peace.

“In Benue, we are going for a win-win solution. Governor Ortom is not going anywhere, he is a very prominent member of our party, and we appreciate his leadership in Benue. We will do everything possible to help those who have issues to have those issues resolved.

“The Peoples Democratic Party that is hovering round must know that it is only people without honour that will vomit in the morning and convert it to lunch in the afternoon.

“People like Ortom can’t leave the PDP three and half years ago with his eyes open and two, three years later because of some tension, is thinking of returning.

“He is a man of honour and he knows that once you move one step forward, you will want to take the second step to consolidate the first step, that’s the way to go.

“Rest assured that the PDP can go and do whatever they want to do, but it won’t change the situation and the minds of those who are convinced in building the future.”

Also, the North- Central National Vice-chairman of APC, Mr. Suleiman Wambai, said  Ortom would not leave the party.

Wambai, who stated this in an interview with journalists in Lafia on Thursday, said, “We saw reports in various media that the governor said he was given a red card, so we have already taken a proactive step. Our able national chairman had already invited the governor and other interested parties from Benue State with the aim of resolving the matter.”

We didn’t issue red card to Ortom – Benue APC

Also, the Benue State chapter of the APC, on Thursday, said that, at no point did the party issued

a red card to Ortom.

The party said that it rather, at its last state congress in Makurdi, endorsed  Ortom, and the leader of the party in the state, Akume, for another term in office.

The Benue APC, in a statement by its Director of Publicity, Peterhot Apeh, stated that the endorsement of the governor and leader of the party was meant to further unite the party in the state and provide a stable political atmosphere for the governor and Akume.

Apeh explained that, in return for the endorsement, the APC in the state demanded from the governor on behalf of the people, improved welfare and good governance.

But in a related development, Ortom on Thursday raised the alarm of plans by some persons to launch smear campaigns against him.

In the statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, Ortom noted that the plans were part of a grand conspiracy between some politicians in Benue State and their collaborators in Abuja.

He stated, “The organised attacks which will be based on blatant falsehood are aimed at damaging the good and towering reputation of the governor to the political advantage of the selfish individuals.

“Those behind the plot whose objectives include perpetual subjugation in all spheres are not comfortable with the courageous stand of Governor Ortom on major issues in favour of the majority of Benue people. They have therefore chosen to demonise him.”

The governor reassured the people of the state that the fresh plans would fail, just like all the others, because he had no skeleton in his cupboard.

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1. Rita Ora gave her almost 14 million Instagram followers something to marvel at on Thursday afternoon, when shew uploaded two snaps of herself looking sensational in a blue patterned bikini as she posed aboard a yacht off the shores of Barcelona.

The singer, 27, flaunted her enviably gorgeous curves in the two-piece, which she teamed with a long matching rob as she relax in the sunshine.

Rita Ora looking sensational in a blue patterned bikini

Prior to the racy snaps, Ora kept her 13.6 million followers updated with a similarly sexy display as she continued to enjoy her packed out tour.

The Girls hitmaker looked sensational in an all black gym outfit.

Rita Ora looking sensational in all black gym outfit

She was also breathtaking in this Bodysuit she shared on Instagram.

Rita Ora looking sensational in a Bodysuit

This isn’t the first time Ora is giving us the yacht vibe, here she looked exquisite in her yellow bikini.

And in this lovely black bikini too.

Ora is a British singer and actress. She rose to prominence in February 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh’s single “Hot Right Now”, which reached number one in the UK.

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A fatal Train- Bus collision, which occurred on Friday, along old Abeokuta road, Agege, Lagos, has reportedly left two dead, while others are severely injured.

According to eye-witnesses, the victims were sitting on the train when it veered upon sighting the bus from afar, they fell on the rail-line and was shredded by the moving train.

As of the time of filing this report, the real number of casualties wasn’t stated, but the traffic management agency has revealed that the scene of the “fatal train-bus accident has been fully recovered.

”Our officers are currently flushing the heavy traffic trail it has left behind.”it said

See photos as shared by LASEMA Response Unit on Twitter:

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The Federal Government has vowed foreign investors to the country’s water sector as Nigeria attends the 2018 International Water and CleanEnviro Summit in Singapore.
Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Dr Musa Ibrahim who led the Nigerian delegation to the Summit made this call to  the global community  during a meeting with the Singapore Minister of Environment and Water Resources, Mr Masagos Zulkfilion on 10th of July, 2018 at this year’s World Cities Summit.

This was contained in a press statement issued by Director of Press and Public Relations  of the Ministry, Mrs Kenechukwu Offie and made available to Nigerian Pilot yesterday.

The statement said that the 2018 edition of World Cities Summit, Singapore International Water Week and CleanEnviro Summit is a premier global platform for cutting-edge technologies and sustainability solutions. The Summit had more than 200,000 delegates from different countries and backgrounds who came together for the same purpose: to make the world a better place to live in.

The ministry said that Nigeria’s participation at the Summit is focused on the best solutions in scaling up water supply and sanitation to be able to meet the Sustainable Development Goals 6 (SDGs 6) on water supply and sanitation.
The statement noted that Dr. Musa invited Singapore and delegates from other countries to invest in the WASH Sub-sector of the country as Nigeria is open for more foreign investments.

The Permanent Secretary further informed the global community that Nigeria has developed a model for scaling up water supply and sanitation coverage through the instrument of Partnership for Expanded Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, PEWASH.
The PEWASH is a good foundation towards achieving goal 6 of the SDGs and ensuring availability as well as sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, he noted, as he secured assurances for capacity building for staff of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources on water related issues through the Singapore Cooperation Programme.

The  Singaporean Minister of water Resources and Environment, Mr Masagos charged Nigerian to ensure that it has the necessary laws to guide investments in the water sector, as investors are vowed.

He emphasized the importance of international relations and trade in spurring industrial growth, adding that the circular economy does not end at national borders due to the global nature of manufacturing supply chains.

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Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole has disclosed Federal Government is to intensify efforts towards addressing the health challenges in the health sector and reverse the trend  of the poor health of citizens.

Adewole said that government would achieve this through effective quality healthcare policies for all Nigeria.

Adewole made this known at the ministerial flag off of the Technical Support Program ,TSP, heals yesterday in Abuja, adding that the Leadership Development Academy programme will facilitate the emergence of skilled workforce.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency ,NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuiabu disclosed that remarkable achievements have been made through spirited efforts in actualizing the agency’s mandate, adding that it still  far from achieving our target.

Shuiab said, “States continue to struggle with cold maintenance, delivery of vaccines in the right quantity, to the right place and at the right time, shortage of human resources for health. The persistence of these challenges clearly highlights the need for the NPHCDA to improve on the delivery of its mandate to provide policy direction, technical and logistics support to States and Local Government Areas to implement PHC services across the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory ,FCT, of Nigeria.”

He added that the  limited resources are underutilized  and/or mismanage as efforts are duplicated in some states while others are completely neglected, adding that this has lead  to inherent ineffectiveness, and states have had to engage external sources to help address their needs thereby incurring a huge cost in the process.

To address this, he said the agency is collaborating with Solina Health with funding from BMGF, to develop a structured  and coherent technical support programme that will enable the agency to effectively deliver the required Technical Support to States in the delivery of PHC services.

He further stated  that the Technical Support Programme is designed to facilitate the effective delivery of support to SPHCBs. This programme present all stars a platform that can be leveraged for states technical capacity requirements across PHC building blocks.

The agency boss   promised that it will employ various approaches to addressing state needs which include on site  consultation, sharing of knowledge materials and peer- to- peer learning networks. Our action and response to the needs of  states will  be guided by reliable evidence obtained through thorough information gathering, problem identification and situation analysis, and prioritization of needs.

“As part of its strategy to sustain the programme and ensure the availability of the critical skilled human resources required to address the needs of the State Primary Health Care Boards, the agency will commence a Leadership Development Academy to build the capacity of the workforce within and outside the agency.”
This pool of trained professionals will increase the availability of the human resources critical to address issues arising at National and  sub- national levels of the system and PHC in particular”, he assured.

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Rita Dominic always thrilled her 4 million Instagram followers with something to marvel at anytime she post a picture of herself,  she recently uploaded a snap of herself looking sensational in a white fashionable dress.

Here is Rita Dominic’s sensational style.

Rita in a fashion forward white dress

Rita flaunted her enviably gorgeous body in white fashion forward dress which she teamed with a white tip toed shoe and a silvery metallic purse.

Prior and after this fashion forward statement, Rita kept her 3.1 million followers updated with her highly fashioned display as she continued to enjoy her beautiful life.

The Nollywood legend looked sensational in a black lovely gown.

Rita in a beautiful black dress

She was also sensational in this black and peach dress she shared on Instagram.

Rita in an exquisite black and peach dress

Take a look at her style story…

Rita’s style story

Rita’s style story

Rita’s style story

Rita’s style story

Rita’s style story

Rita’s style story

Rita’s style story

Rita’s style story

Rita’s style story

Rita’s style story

All hail the Cookie Lyon of Nigeria!

Rita started performing when she was a child, appearing in school plays and children’s television shows in Imo State. In 1998 she starred in her first movie, A Time to Kill. She won the City People Awards in 2004 as the Most Outstanding Actress. She has starred in over 100 Nollywood productions.

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The Chief of Staff to the Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola has been announced winner of yesterday’s primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The direct primary election of the party produced Oyetola as the flag bearer of APC in the forthcoming September 22 gubernatorial election.

The slot which 17 aspirants contested for through direct primaries method was won by Oyetola from iragbiji in Boripe local government.

Announcing the result, senator Ovie Omo-Agege declared Oyetola the winner of the contest with total votes of 127,017 which gave him the ticket to fly the flag at general election.

Ovie Omo-Agege acknowledged the sportsmanship spirits that the aspirants displayed

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APC osun party primary election results.

1- Adeoti,Moshood Olalekan — 128

2- Adegoke,Kunle Rasheed Okiki — 252

3- Ajayi,Adeyinka — 196

4- Akintayo,Amere Gafar — 1773

5- Alamu,Johnson Oyebisi — 1349

6- Alabi,Benedict Olugboyega — 284

7- Babalola,Peter Adebayo — 141

8- Layonu,Ismail Abiodun — 2369

9- Omoworare,Babajide Christopher — 21

10- Oriolowo,Adelere Adeyemi — 5373

11- Oyebanji,Julius Oludayo — 9

12- Oyemomi,Ezekiel Oyebola — 326

13-Oyetola,Adegboyega Isiaka — 127,017

14- Raifu,Mumini Adekunle — 1053

15- Salaam,Najeem Folasayo — 17,958

16- Taiwo,Babatunde Adedotun- 21

17- Yussuff,Sulaimon Lasun — 21,975

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FG to investigate 400 people over ownership of suspicious Multi-million naira mansions in Abuja

A Presidential Panel has revealed that over 400 names of past and present public servants linked to ownership of suspicious property in Maitama district of the Federal Capital Territory are under investigation.

Special Assistant to the President on Prosecutions and Head of Special Investigation Panel for Recovery of Public Property, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, made this known in Abuja at the official launch of Properti Tracka platform, an initiative of the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ).

Obono-Obla, in statement issued Saturday, said the fight against corruption by the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was total and that public officers have to be engaged on how they acquire their wealth.

He insisted that there was nothing unconstitutional about the Executive Order 6 recently signed by the President, saying anybody who has not stolen money to acquire assets should not be jittery by the executive order.

He said the Panel is also investigating public office holders who have assets outside the country, saying United Kingdom has been very cooperative in this regard.

Obono-Obla, added that the new law activated in UK, “Unexplained Wealth Order” has strengthened the effort of the Panel to recover stolen assets in the country in cash and landed property.

“Thank God there is a law in UK that has strengthen our hands. The law is known as unexplained wealth order. That law says if you have property that is above 50 thousand pounds, you have to explain where you made the money to acquire that property.

“We have Nigerians who have properties in London, landed property, worth 20 million pounds. One of them I am investigating was a Group General Manager of NNPC who has a piece of property in London worth over 800 thousand pounds,” he said.

He commended the Executive Director of ANEEJ, Reverend David Ugolor, for partnering with the Federal government in tackling corruption through improving transparency in property ownership.

Obono-Obla, said: “Fighting corruption should not be responsibility of President Muhammadu Buhari alone. It should be the responsibility of everyone of us. National Assembly, the civil society, because this country has suffered tremendously because of corruption.

“I have already 400 names of some past and present public office holders who have property in Maitama district alone in my data that we are investigating and I will make them available to you.

“All of us have the duty to ask some Nigerians mostly present and past public office holders, some of them with massive estates, let them come and tell us how they make the money.

“For instance, if I earn less than N7 million a year, and at the end of my tenure I have property that is more than N200 million or one billion naira, you must find out how I make my money. It cannot be from my legitimate earnings.

“Most of these people who have properties in Maitama and Asokoro are public servants, earning less than N2 million a year. Where do they get the money? If they cannot explained where they made the money from, it means that is a proceed of corruption.

“That is the question we have not been asking. We have to engage our public officers. They must tell us where they make their money from to build massive estates all over Abuja.

“The money they would have used to invest in our schools, social infrastructure and so on are siphoned to build massive estates nobody is living all over Abuja,” he said.

He recalled how a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Apo, Abuja, recently ordered temporary forfeiture of 86 luxury vehicles, together with four houses and a quarry plant in Abuja, belonging to a civil servant.

The luxury vehicles were allegedly seized from the Director of Finance and Account in the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing.

He noted that all the 86 exotic vehicles were brand new and that 23 of them were armoured plated, adding that there was no evidence that the National Security Adviser authorized him to import the vehicles.

He said: “We first wrote to the Accountant General of the Federation to give us how much this director has earned from 2007 and 2017 and they gave us the figure that the man has earned about N30 million.

“But this man has 86 vehicles. I am not talking about toy vehicles, we are talking about exotic vehicles and 23 of them were armoured plated X Class Mercedes 200. One of those vehicles is going for about N250 million and we had Jaguar and so on.

“The vehicles where warehoused in Jabbi and we went there we saw the vehicles, brand new vehicles. There was no evidence of payment of import duties, there was no evidence that he was given authority by the National Security Adviser to bring them into the country.

“So, if he had earned N30 million in those years, where did he get the money to buy those vehicles. It means the money must have come from the treasury of Nigeria.

“There was evidence that he had other properties in Nigeria and abroad. All these assets have been seized from him. That is the only way we can stop public officers from stealing; when you take over their assets and that is why some people are very uncomfortable with the Executive Order issued by Mr President.

“I am happy that you are working towards that line, in order to track down these properties illegally acquired,” he said.

He said there is chronic and scandalous poverty in the country because of corruption, saying those entrusted with the responsibility of running the country were selfish and self-centred.

Obono-Obla, said the country has tremendous resources that could take care of everybody but said most public officers were not interested in the general welfare of the people.

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For your dream to see reality & become stronger, it must pass through fire & brimstone.

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Over 200 shops have been razed down  by a Mysterious fire in the early hours of Saturday morning at the burnt Jos main market; causing the affected traders financial setback .

The cause of the fire, officials and the victims could not say but while some said the fire started at about 1.30am, the State Fire Service said it got a call at about 12.30am and got to the scene at about 12.45am. The affected shops deal mostly with second hand clothing, bags, shoes and other accessories.

Mysterious fire razes over 200 shops in Jos

Our correspondent who visited the market at about 9am observed that smokes were still emitting from the area though the State Fire Service had battled to put out the flames and some shop owners were seen in groups discussing the incident while some were searching through the rubbles to see what they could salvage. 

Speaking at the scene, the State Commissioner of Police, CP Adie Undie, the Management Committee Chairman of Jos North local government area, Mr. Philip Nyam and the Chairman, Traders’ Association, Abdulrahman Yussuf explained what they know about the incident.
According to the CP, “This incident happened in the early  hours, we received a report, my DPO in-charge of this area got a report and he promptly alerted me and we equally alerted the State Fire Service and they too did not waste time. They mobilized their men but because of the location of this point of incident, it made it difficult for the Fire Service to promptly put out the fire and avoid the kind of damage that we have here.
“My officers with the STF unit were able to cordon-off this place and ensure that there was no looting. A few of the wares here were salvage and secured at the Police Post. We are liaising with the Chairman of the market so that we identified those who suffer losses here; we are also liaising with the Fire Service team so that we will be able to know the probable cause of the fire. For now, we will continue to maintain security here to make sure that miscreants don’t take undue advantage of the situation to loot. We cannot say exactly the cause of the incident, we are still investigating.”

The Committee Chairman of Jos North, Mr. Nyam whose local government hosts the market, added, “My attention was drawn around 2am about this incident. My heart goes out to the traders who lost their valuables and we appreciate the swift response of the Fire Service and the Police who have been on top of the situation since the incident happened. You can see they have cordoned-off the area to avoid situation where looting will take place. Again, the Fire Service has done much to contain the situation, you can see the market is large but they salvage the situation by their timely response, you can see their efforts.
“I want to commiserate with the traders. This market was burnt some time ago causing temporary setback but we cannot just allow this place to lie fallow, security-wise if you leave this place like that, it will give room for a lot of problems that is why they were allowed to use it temporary pending when the structures would be rebuilt. I cannot estimate the revenue we were getting from here but the Director of Finance will have the records.”

The Deputy Director of the State Fire Service, Mr. Samuel Musa said, “Our men were called around 12.45am to a scene of fire within the premises of the former burnt down Main market, the Terminus area, there are some makeshifts shops they made there and they are selling second hand clothes majorly around that area. It is in the second hand cloth section that the fire started, since around 1.45am up to 10.15 am that our men disengaged, they were able to control the fire. The severity of the situation is yet to be assessed; we are going there to assess the situation.”

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Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong  has condoled with those affected by the unfortunate fire incident that ravaged the satellite market attached to the burnt Jos Main Market.

The fire incident which occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning of 21st July, 2018, did not affect any life but ravaged goods and property.

Governor Lalong in a message through the state Commissioner for Information and Communication,  Yakubu Dati described it as unfortunate, coming at a time when the State is on the path to  recovery from recent challenges.

The government is already acting on preliminary recommendations received from a team of assessors who visited the site earlier. 

The government remains committed to it’s sacred responsibility of the protection of lives and property as it urges the general public to observe safety precautions at all times

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In order to eradicate any act of manipulation in the future primary elections in the Country, group of observers who were in Osun State on Saturday to monitored the just concluded governorship primary election of the All Progressives Congress, APC, have commended the decision of adopting a direct primary system by the party.

According to the groups, the Coalition of Civil Societies in Osun state in conjunction with Comrade Olaoni Centre for Social Research while addressing a press conference in Osogbo on Saturday, the direct primary as observed in Osun, reduced manipulation and inducement of voters with money as experienced in the past exercises.

The press conference which was jointly addressed by Comrades Wale Adebisi, Amitolu Shittu and Waheed Lawal stated that, “From all variables and indices available to us on the field, the direct primary is actually the best so as to encourage internal, all inclusive democracy, because every party members is involved.

“It eliminates the emerging trend where aspirants camped delegates and bribe each with huge amount of money. It also eliminates manipulation to a large extent.

“We hereby encourage every other political party to embrace this process of direct party primary so as to improve the Internal democracy of the party politics which will gradually reduce the issue of financial inducement.

“Direct primary election process truly attests to the fact that democracy is truly for the people. Regardless of all shortcomings and drawbacks observed during the exercise, the process is still the best because it is transparent, free and fair.

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A carnival like atmosphere took over the city of Yola, capital of Adamawa State on Saturday as former Vice President of Nigeria and leading presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar formally declared his bid for the 2019 presidential election.

The declaration event which took place at the Ribadu Square in Yola, the capital of Adamawa’s home state of Atiku saw leaders of the PDP from all the geo-political zones of the country and the National Working Committee of the PDP represented by its National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, on ground to grace the epoch event.

While announcing his declaration to contest the 2019 presidential election, Atiku remarked that the current APC government had performed below par on managing the economy, keeping the country united and stemming the trend of wanton loss of lives in the country.

“Fellow Nigerians, the government of APC has failed, it has failed to unite Nigerians” Atiku said adding “today we are more divided than in any other time in the history of this country”.

According to him, “the APC government has destroyed our economy. They took over an economy with a growth of 7 per cent and brought it down to less than 2 per cent. Today we are witnessing the most insecure situation in Nigeria ever since APC took over.”

He noted that more people have died in Nigeria under the APC than in Iran and Afghanistan even as the country’s economy continues to flounder.

“Today we have the highest unemployment rate in this country. More than 10 million of our people have been made unemployed under the watch of the APC administration”.

He however said that he is poised to work with other compatriots in the PDP to secure the party’s nomination for the next year’s election and rebuild the economy and reunite the country.

“What the PDP is going to do is to restore our economy, restore hope of a greater Nigeria and ensure that we have security of lives and property.

“I therefore appeal to all of you wherever you may be that it is time to now re-embrace the party that has given us unity, prosperity and security in this country.

The Chairman of the PDP in Adamawa State Barrister Tahir Shehu also welcomed new defectors into the PDP.

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Adamawa agog as Atiku Declare for 2019 ,the declaration event which took place at the Ribadu Square in Yola, the capital of Adamawa’s home state of Atiku saw leaders of the PDP from all the geo-political zones of the country and the National Working Committee of the PDP represented by its National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, on ground to grace the epoch event.

While announcing his declaration to contest the 2019 presidential election, Atiku remarked that the current APC government had performed below par on managing the economy, keeping the country united and stemming the trend of wanton loss of lives in the country.

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Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano state, has stressed the need for Africa to resourcefully manage its population in such a way that the continent’s numerical strength can be a blessing and not burden.

“We said Britain has maintained a level of population for over how many years, and Nigeria, it is going further, and Africa, it is going further”, the governor stated, lamenting that Nigeria’s weak economy was not helping matters.

In his contribution during a seminar titled “Higher Education and Demographic Growth in Africa” at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, UK, on Thursday, the governor said population explosion in Africa was a reality and that despite the fast growing population rate, the continent was lagging behind in education.

“It seems we are comfortable with the population of Africa; that Africa will be highly populated and that would be an asset, and therefore we would conquer the world.

“One important factor that divides the population of the world into two is education, whether the population will be an asset, depends on education, whether it will be a liability also depends on education,” Ganduje said.

“The 10 most literate countries in Africa; Seychelles, Equatorial Guinea, South Africa, Sao Tome, Libya, Namibia, Mauritius, Cape Verde, Botswana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe — we all know that these are small countries.”

The governor said the continent needs to map out strategies to improve infrastructure for its people, and to efficiently manage population growth.

“The population of students in Kano state now is over three million; the population of those outside the school system is also over three million. So if we are talking about Africa, we can confidently say the level of literacy is inversely proportional to population. Are we safe?’’, he queried.

“The way our discussion is going on, it seem that we are working on the assumption that literacy level will be directly proportional to literacy level. So, I think we better examine these issues very, very seriously.

“We said Britain has maintained a level of population for over how many years, and Nigeria, it is going further, and Africa, it is going further”, the governor stated, lamenting that Nigeria’s weak economy was not helping matters.

“Since the economy is weak, we will work on the infrastructural facilities no doubt, but we also have to control the other side. Otherwise, what is the meeting point?

According to Dr. Ganduje, “As we are now, we are complaining of lack of funds in other to improve the quality of education in Africa, and we have seen that the population will continue to increase, and we have not seen how our economy will continue to blossom, so I think we should examine the issue of population control in Africa”.

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Yesterday was Nollywood legends Joke Silva and Olu Jacobs son’s white wedding. The wedding was done in grand style as celebrities grace the wedding to support their colleagues.

Olusoji and his wife, Blessing Douglas had their white wedding yesterday in Lagos. It was an intimate and colourful day for the couple and their guest as well.

Nollywood stars who turned out for yesterday’s ceremony include Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Rita Dominic, Monalisa Chinda, Richard Mofe Damijo, Kate Henshaw, Ufuoma McDermott, Lala Akindoju, Abiola Segun-Williams among others.

See photos below:

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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have shared a new photograph of Prince George to mark his fifth birthday.

The photo was taken by Matt Porteous in the garden of Clarence House after the christening of Prince Louis.

Just when we thought Prince George couldn’t get any more adorable, Kensington palace released this portrait to celebrate his fifth birthday.

George Alexander Louis of Cambridge was born in the private Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, at 4.24pm on 22 July 2013, weighing 8lb 6oz.

Prince George with his parents and sister at Prince Louis christening

He is the eldest child and elder son of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and third in the line of succession to the British throne, as a great-grandson of the Queen, he is third in line to the throne.

As he is expected to become king, his birth was widely celebrated across the Commonwealth realms.

Prince George was baptised by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace on 23 October 2013, with Oliver Baker, Emilia Jardine-Paterson, Earl Grosvenor, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, the Hon. Julia Samuel, William van Cutsem and Zara Tindall serving as godparents.

The ceremony used a font that was made for Queen Victoria’s first child and water from the River Jordan. The Royal Mint issued a set of commemorative coins to celebrate the christening, the first coins to mark a royal christening in Britain

Prince George’s official title and style is “His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge”. While his name was announced two days after his birth, he was, from birth, a British prince entitled to the style of Royal Highness under letters patent issued by King George V in 1917, which gave the title and style to the eldest son of the Prince of Wales’s eldest son.

He is said to love helicopters and flying – perhaps taking after his father, who worked as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot.

To mark his birthday, a new £5 coin has been issued by the Royal Mint, showing St George and the Dragon on its reverse.

Happy fifth birthday Prince George!

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Eighteen people have been killed in a brutal attack by suspected Boko Haram jihadists in the Lake Chad region, a Chadian military source said Sunday.

“Boko Haram elements attacked a village south of Daboua,” not far from Chad’s border with Niger, at around 9:00 pm (2000 GMT) on Thursday, the military source said.

The assailants “cut the throats of 18 people, wounded two others and kidnapped 10 women”.

Boko Haram’s Islamist insurgency has devastated the region since it took up arms in 2009 in Nigeria, leaving at least 20,000 people dead, displacing more than two million others and triggering a humanitarian crisis.

Chad, Cameroon and Niger have all joined the military effort by Nigeria to crush Boko Haram.

Chad has seen a recent increase in attacks by the group.

In May, six people were killed, including four government officials and a soldier, in a Boko Haram attack on a Chadian army checkpoint on an island in Lake Chad.

Niger’s army said Saturday it killed “ten terrorists” after one of its military positions in the southwest of the country was attacked by Boko Haram.

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