BREAKING: Ambode loses bid to stop probe by lawmakers over purchase of 820 buses

Justice Yetunde Adesanya of an Ikeja High Court on Thursday struck out a suit filed by former Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos, seeking to stop his probe by the state Assembly over purchase of 820 buses for Bus Reform Project.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adesanya ruled that the ad-hoc committee set up to investigate Ambode was a fact-finding committee.
According to the judge an investigation is not an indictment.

“The claimant (Ambode) has not been indicted. An invitation by an agency of government cannot in anyway cause a breach of the threat of the fundamental rights of the claimant.

“I hereby find that the claimant’s action is an invitation to the court to cripple the legislative exercise of the statutory power of the Lagos State House of Assembly under Section 128 and 129 of the 1999 Constitution.
That is not the function of the court, and no court of law should accede such invitation. The claimant’s suit is hereby struck out,” she said.

NAN reports that Ambode had instituted the civil suit against the State House of Assembly, its Speaker, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, and the House Clerk, Mr A.A. Sanni.

Other respondents are Mr Fatai Mojeed, the Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee set up by the House to probe the procurement of the buses, and eight members of the committee.

BREAKING: Court Sentences Olisa Metuh To Seven Years In Prison Over N400m Money Laundering Case.

The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced a former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Olisa Metuh, to seven years in prison.

Justice Okon Abang handed down the sentence on Tuesday in his judgement on seven counts of money laundering and criminal diversion of funds to the tune of N400 million.

The charges were filed against Metuh and his company, Destra investment, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The trial judge sentenced Metuh after convicting him and found him guilty of all the charges brought against him by the anti-graft agency.

Details later…

BREAKING NEWS: Kaduna Speaker resigns

Speaker of Kaduna Assembly, Hon. Aminu Abdullahi Shagali, has resigned his position.
Sources from the Assembly said Shagali tendered his resignation before commencement of Plenary session on Tuesday morning

Details shortly…

Breaking: Oluwo suspended for six months

Osun state traditional rulers council has suspended the Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi for six months over his attempt to drag the institution into the mud with his public conduct.

The council at its emergency meeting held at the Finance Building at the State Secretariat on Friday banned the monarch from attending its meetings and also constituted a committee headed by Orangun of Ila, Oba Wahab Adedotun to further investigate the matter.

Addressing journalists after the meeting, the Orangun of Ila, Oba Wahab Adedotun said the decision was not because of alleged fight between the Oluwo and Agbowu but due to his conduct to other traditional rulers in Yorubaland, including the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, Awake of Egbaland and the Ooni of Ile-Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi.

The Oluwo was alleged to have punched a fellow monarch, the Agbowu of Ogbaagbaa, Oba Dhikurulahi Akinropo during a peace meeting at the instance of the Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone XI, Bashir Makama at his office in the state on the dispute between the monarch and members of Iwo traditional rulers council.

BREAKING: Shops destroyed as fire guts Jabi motor park, Abuja

Many shops were destroyed when fire gutted some sections of Jabi motor Abuja on Friday.

The cause of the fire cannot be ascertained at the time of this report but men of the FCT fire service have arrived the scene .The incident, which started at 10:12am, led to chaos as passengers and motorists scampered for safety.
The situation got worst when the fire spread to a shop where car batteries and car gas were being sold, causing more havoc .

As time of filing this report, FCT fire fighters have arrived the scene and are battling to put out the fire.

16 killed in stampede in Niger's Diffa region

NIAMEY, Niger

At least 16 Nigerian refugees were killed in a stampede on Monday during a donation drive in southeastern Niger, multiple sources confirmed.

"The incident occurred when the governor of Borno State [Nigeria] was distributing rice, loincloths and cash to refugees from his country who are temporarily based in Diffa city," Mahamadou Mado, a local journalist told Anadolu Agency.

A security source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media, also confirmed the incident and the death toll.

He said the stampede occurred as people rushed to get the essential items and even security officials deployed at the scene could not control the crowd.

Nigeria's Borno state Governor Babagana Umara Zulum has been touring the Diffa region since Saturday to inquire about the condition of Nigerian refugees.

Terrorist violence in the northeastern states of Nigeria since 2013 has forced tens of thousands of people to seek refuge in neighboring countries, including Niger.

Man City banned from Champions League for two years and fined €30m

The Premier League side say they are "disappointed but not surprised" by the decision and described it as "prejudicial"
Manchester City have  been banned from competing in the Champions League for two years.

UEFA handed down the punishment, which includes a €30 million fine (£25m/$33m), to the Premier League giants for breaching Financial Fair Play rules.

Following an investigation, the Adjudicatory Chamber of UEFA's Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) found City guilty of "overstating its sponsorship revenue" between 2012 and 2016.
Manchester City have been banned from competing in the Champions League for two years.
The investigation started after a series of allegations published by German magazine Der Spiegel in November 2018, which drew on documents purportedly obtained by whistleblowers Football Leaks.
UEFA's statement read: "The Adjudicatory Chamber, having considered all the evidence, has found that Manchester City Football Club committed serious breaches of the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations by overstating its sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information submitted to UEFA between 2012 and 2016.
The Adjudicatory Chamber has imposed disciplinary measures on Manchester City Football Club directing that it shall be excluded from participation in UEFA club competitions in the next two seasons (ie. the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons) and pay a fine of €30 million."
Denying any wrong doing, City responded with a statement on their website, saying UEFA made the decision even before the investigation had started.
Manchester City is disappointed but not surprised by today’s announcement by the UEFA Adjudicatory Chamber," the statement said. "The Club has always anticipated the ultimate need to seek out an independent body and process to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence in support of its position.

"In December 2018, the UEFA Chief Investigator publicly previewed the outcome and sanction he intended to be delivered to Manchester City, before any investigation had even begun. The subsequent flawed and consistently leaked UEFA process he oversaw has meant that there was little doubt in the result that he would deliver.  The Club has formally complained to the UEFA Disciplinary body, a complaint which was validated by a CAS ruling. 

"Simply put, this is a case initiated by UEFA, prosecuted by UEFA and judged by UEFA. With this prejudicial process now over, the Club will pursue an impartial judgment as quickly as possible and will therefore, in the first instance, commence proceedings with the Court of Arbitration for Sport at the earliest opportunity."

Highlife maestro Victor Olaiya is dead

Veteran Highlife musician, Dr Victor Olaiya, is dead, his label, Evergreen Music Company, confirmed in a statement on Wednesday. He was 89 years old.
“The entire music world wish to announce the death of a Legend of Highlife music, One of the last men standing, the last of the original Dr Victor Abimbola Olaiya OON,” Bimbo Esho, Managing Director, Evergreen Music said.

Boko Haram kills 30, abducts dozens in Maiduguri

Boko Haram terrorists killed at least 30 people and abducted many women and children in a raid in Borno State, a regional government spokesman said on Monday.

The attack Sunday evening targeted the village of Auno on a key highway linking to regional capital Maiduguri.

The jihadists stormed in on trucks mounted with heavy weapons, killing, burning and looting before kidnapping women and children, state government spokesman Ahmad Abdurrahman Bundi said.
 They aimed at travellers who had stopped for the night and torched vehicles.

The attackers “killed not less than 30 people who are mostly motorists and destroyed 18 vehicles,” Bundi said in a statement after visiting the scene.

The attack, some 25 kilometres (15 miles) west of Maiduguri, occurred in an area where fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province have been active, mounting roadblocks to target security forces and civilians.
Witnesses said jihadists set alight 30 vehicles in the raid, including trucks that had stopped overnight on their way to Maiduguri.

“Many of the drivers and their assistants who were sleeping the vehicles were burnt alive,” civilian militia fighter, Babakura Kolo told AFP.

The jihadists combed through the village, looting and burning shops and property before withdrawing, he said.

Auno lies on the 120-kilometre highway linking Maiduguri to Damaturu, a major regional city in neighbouring Yobe state.
The highway has been increasingly targeted by ISWAP militants in recent months.

The surge has followed the creation of so-called “super camps” by the Nigerian military in the northeast – a strategy under which small army camps have withdrawn from several areas and combined into fewer, larger bases.

Last month four Nigerian soldiers were killed and seven injured when the jihadists attacked troops positioned in Auno.

The decade-long Islamist insurgency has killed 36,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes in northeast Nigeria.
The violence has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to fight the insurgents.

Donald Trump suspends immigration visa for Nigeria

Ex-IGP Arase reveals cause of insecurity, tells Buhari govt next action

                      Mr. Solomon Arese

Former Inspector General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, on Thursday called for the for wholistic data base collation to address the security issues threatening the unity of Nigeria.
Arase, speaking during the 4th annual public lecture organized by United Action for Change with the theme “Security of Citizens as a Social Contract’’ in Lagos, said that crime and criminality is increasing as a result of data gathering mechanisms

“I think what is wrong with our system is that we don’t have sustainability when it comes to policies, we don’t sustain anything in this country, when the person who initiated it leaves, there is no continuity,’’ he said.
He lamented the abandonment of a comprehensive digital database started during the Babatunde Fashola regime in Lagos State.

Arase urged that on organisations and government to import policy sustainability in order to stop such policies retrogression issues, NAN reports.

He suggested that the agitation for community policing should be harnessed to work in harmony with the Federal Police to address the current security threat.

OAU suspends another staff over alleged sexual misconduct

The Management of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-ife has announced the suspension of one of its staff working as Tutor at the University’s Centre for Distance Learning, Mr. Monday Omo-Etan, over alleged sexual harassment.

This is coming barely less than three weeks after a lecturer at the Department of International Relations, Mr. Olabisi Olaleye, was investigated and eventually suspended over an alleged sexual misconduct involving a female student in the department.

According to a release signed by the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Abiodun Olanrewaju, the copy which was sent to DAILY POST on Wednesday, Omo-Etan was accused of molesting a 19-year old female student at the centre.

It added that the Management of the school had since handed over Omo-Etan to the police.

“The University has suspended a staff of the University’s Centre for Distance Learning for sexually molesting a 19 years old female student.

“The Management has reinstated her commitment to the total eradication of any form of sexual harassment, molestation or other social vices”, the statement read

Pastor Adeboye Leads R.C.C.G Members In Walk Against Insecurity

General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Enoch Adeboye, on Sunday, led members of his church in a prayer walk against insecurity in Nigeria.
Pastor Adeboye had directed the congregation to participate in the prayer walk declared by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to address the spate of killings across the country.

According to an Assistant General Overseer of the church, Funso Odesola, about 25,000 Parishes of the church are expected to carry out the same exercise nationwide.

CAN President, Samson Ayokunle, earlier announced series of activities aimed at asking for divine intervention in stopping the killing of innocent Nigerians and giving the government the capacity to overcome terror in the country.