Miss Universe is set to hold its 2018 edition in Thailand and Steve Harvey has once again been announced as the host for the pageant for the fourth time in a row.
The three-hour pageant which would take place on the stage of Bangkok, Thailand will hold on December 16. It will air in more than 190 countries and be seen by more than half a billion people.
Are you looking forward to the pageant?
Photo Credit: Getty Images
More than 200 people were arrested on murder charges in a single day across Brazil Friday in a coordinated sweep that emphasized the fight against femicide, the government said.
In all, well over 1,000 people were nabbed in the crime crackdown which was conducted by some 6,600 police officers around the country, according to updated figures from the public security ministry.
The sweep was part of government efforts to respond to ever-rising violent crime in Brazil, including a sharp increase in femicide, or murders specifically targeting women.
By the afternoon, 1,027 adults and 75 adolescents had been detained, authorities said.
Of these, 14 were arrested on charges of femicide and 143 others were accused of crimes related to the so-called Maria da Penha law, which since 2006 has strengthened penalties for domestic violence.
Among the others arrested were 225 people on standard murder charges, 224 on charges such as drug dealing or illegal firearms possession, and another 421 for other crimes.
Public security minister Raul Jungmann said a chief focus was on violence against women.
"What matters to us is protecting lives and above all combating femicide, this terrible and unacceptable crime," he said.
"Some crimes are more serious and repugnant, especially those against women."
A respected annual report released this month by the non-profit Brazilian Forum for Public Security found that Brazil's steady annual rise in homicides continues. There are now on average more than seven homicides an hour in Latin America's biggest country, up 2.9 percent on 2016 figures.
There was a six percent increase in murders of women in 2017.
These included 1,133 deaths as a result of femicide, or victims being deliberately targeted because they were women. The 60,018 rapes were up more than eight percent compared to 2016.
The 114 women who were arrested for protesting for Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have been release.
A High Court sitting in Owerri, the Imo state capital, granted their bail request and ordered their immediate release on Friday, August 24, 2018.
The women who were earlier jailed on charges bothering on treasonable felony were denied bail by the Magistrate Court.
Their detention sparked wide criticisms from civil society organisations, activists and Nigerians including the former education minister, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili .
Ejiofor Uche , lead counsel to the women, filed a bail application which was not opposed.
The court granted the bail application, and freed the women unconditionally.
The women were arrested at a protest in Owerri, the Imo State capital on Friday, August 17, 2018.
The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel on Friday declared his intention to run for a second term in office.
Emmanuel, who became a governor in 2015, declared his intention for a second term while addressing supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Eket area of the state.
The Governor, who gave the score-card of his first term, stated that so far in office he maintained peace and brought about civility of engagement.
According to Emmanuel, “I have been a servant-leader which I had promised you. I have maintained peace in Akwa Ibom State and brought about civility in our engagements. I hereby submit myself to complete the Divine Mission which you had first sent me to accomplish in 2015.
“I have operated a Christ-centric Government, I have led a People-centric Government, I have worn humility like a badge of honour, believing that power comes from the people; I have refused to hurl insults at people who have attacked and called me names.
“I come today following the ratings and commendations of Akwa Ibom People drawn from the 3 Senatorial Districts in our state & also cutting across diverse segments of our population, that I have made results-oriented efforts in serving Akwa Ibom people since I was elected in 2015.
“I submit myself to continue with the good works that I have done and I seek your support for my candidature as Governor for second term under the PDP.”
Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, has deflated the story making the rounds that the international community was strongly against President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term bid.
He also said that it was not true that Nigeria went into recession because international investors frightfully withdrew their funds because of President Buhari’s utterances and hardline posture against corruption.
His statement, however, drew the ire of Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, Second Republic lawmaker, Junaid Mohammed and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who agreed that the poor performance of the present government would not elicit the support of the international community.
Onyeama stated that to the contrary, Nigeria under President Buhari had been enjoying the goodwill of the international community, to the extent of being supportive of his second term bid.
He made the remarks yesterday at Awgu, Enugu State, when Enugu West Peoples Assembly donated vehicles in support of President Buhari’s 2019 presidential election campaign.
Onyeama said: “The international community is very supportive of President Buhari. As you can see President Buhari has transformed our relationship with foreign countries and also the perception of Nigeria by foreign leaders. An evidence of that is the rate and number of high level foreign leaders that are coming to Nigeria.
“Next week, for instance, which is very unusual for any country, we are having the UK Prime Minister and two days later will be the visit of the German Chancellor. ‘’This shows what they feel about President Buhari; that Nigeria is now a country they want to do business with.”
On the allegation that President Buhari’s posture and speeches were scaring away international investors, Onyeama said: “It’s on the contrary. Mr. President has taken the initiative to establish the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, PEBEC, chaired by the Vice President and the World Bank ranks countries according to ease of doing business.
“Within one year of Mr. President establishing this council, and taking measures to make doing business easier, Nigeria has jumped about 25 places in the World Bank ranking and has been promoting the most impressive jobs in Nigeria in the last one year.
So the whole world is seeing that Nigeria under President Buhari is more and more a place of doing business.”
The minister, while commending the gesture of Enugu Peoples Assembly for donating towards the President’s re-election bid, indicted the Enugu State Government for non-performance in the past three years. “The state government spends so much money on advertisement but pensioners are not being paid.
We want a serious government because Enugu is matured to have a serious government. It is not winning the election that is the matter but plans for governance.
“It is not about building houses everywhere; I am looking for better governance in Enugu State. The people who elected leaders should be the ones dictating the pace of governance and not the other way round.”
Reacting to the minister’s claim yesterday, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, challenged him to name the countries supporting Buhari’s second term bid.
Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said: “Well, he should be specific and name the countries in the international community that support him. The last time, we heard the United Kingdom talking about the killings in Nigeria. Also, the Americans talked about the killings in Nigeria. So, we want to know which of the international community is supporting Buhari’s second term. ‘’Is it Afghanistan, Iraq or Turkey?
He should name the world powers so that we can ask those countries if they think what is going on in Nigeria now should continue, except those international community are the ones I mentioned now like Iraq, Afghanistan or Turkey.” He’s lying, says Junaid Mohammed
Reacting in a similar vein, Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, said: “If I were a member of the media, I would dismiss the claim by Onyeama. He is lying, he knows he is lying. The international community he is purporting to be speaking for knows he is lying. ‘’The kind of characters, who have been brought into office speak volumes about the incompetence and irresponsibility of the Buhari administration.
‘’Because of his friend he was made the foreign minister when he knows nothing about this country. That is why he has nothing to offer to this country. “That is why they will be claiming to speak on behalf of the international community. That is why nothing in this country moves and nothing is going to move. We have the wrong people in sensitive positions.
‘’It is not in the nature of international diplomacy and international community to say so. I don’t think they are going to dignify the claims by the Buhari administration. But those, who have a connection with the international community, know that it has nothing but contempt for the Buhari administration because of poor performance.
‘’I was Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Representatives in the Second Republic and I have contacts in the international community. I know what I am talking about. If they are relying on that and nothing more on performance and competence, Buhari is going to be disappointed. ‘’
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which spoke through its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said the minister and APC leaders were deluding themselves. ‘’It is delusion. They are just deluding themselves. How can they say the international community is supporting President Buhari’s second term bid, in spite of his poor performance and failure? Why are you bothered about what they are saying? They are just deluding themselves,’’ the party said.
Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola has said that the club will not sign a replacement for goalkeeper, Claudio Bravo.
Bravo earlier this week suffered a rupture in the tendon of his left foot.
The Chilean shot-stopper, who joined City two seasons ago from Barcelona, is set to miss six months of action.
He flew to Barcelona for further tests on Thursday.
Guardiola, however, said he trusts Montenegro Under-21 keeper, Aro Muric to step in as back-up to City’s No.1, Ederson.
“Unfortunately with Claudio the first option was [for Muric] to come back because the window is closed,” Guardiola was quoted by Goal as saying.
“We have Aro and Grimshaw. They will be our three goalkeepers,” he said.
Guardiola’s men will clash with wolves on Saturday in the Premier League.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC, has countered President Muhamadu Buhari’s claim of good governance in the last three years.
President Buhari had said that members of the opposition cannot fault the efforts his administration had made in its three major areas of focus, namely security, economy and the fight against corruption.
Buhari stated this in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu on Thursday in his hometown, Daura, Katsina State, while hosting some state governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress, some federal and state lawmakers and state commissioners to a lunch.
Buhari said he would continue to do what he was expected to do in the leadership position God had given him.
Disagreeing with Buhari’s claim, the Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, Chief Okey Nwosu, said it was unfortunate that Buhari had converted the exalted office of the President to a “lie manufacturing plant.”
Nwosu, whose party has been endorsed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, said statistics from every credible organisation and even agencies of government showed that poverty and unemployment had worsened.
He further stated that the crisis in the Middle Belt had reached unprecedented levels under the Buhari administration and it was therefore deceptive of Buhari to claim that he had effectively tackled insecurity.
The ADC chairman said “Transparency International had exposed Buhari’s anti-graft war for the sham that it was and subsequently urged the President to focus on improving the lives of Nigerians rather than propaganda.
“Buhari has turned the Presidency into a lie manufacturing plant. He has no right to evaluate himself. It is Nigerians that are supposed to assess his performance. However, the facts speak for themselves. Under Buhari, poverty and unemployment have worsened.
“He claims to have effectively tackled insecurity but every day new IDP camps are springing up. I recently returned from Borno State where I saw IDP camps all over the place.”
A new research report published in the journal of Alzheimer’s Disease has revealed that smoking cannabis ages the brain by an average of nearly three years.
According to New York Post, Marijuana was found to ramp up brain aging by 2.8 years making it worse for the mind than bipolar disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Schizophrenics’ brains were found to age by an even greater average of four years.
Boozing was also shown to age the organ by 0.6 years, the research adds.
Brain aging is defined as reduced blood flow through the organ.
Lead study author, Dr. Daniel Amen, founder of Amen Clinics, said: “The cannabis abuse finding was especially important, as our culture is starting to see marijuana as an innocuous substance. This study should give us pause about it.”
Reduced brain blood flow has previously been linked to strokes and dementia.
The researchers analyzed 62,454 brain scans from 31,227 people.
Scans were collected during both rest and concentration and taken from people aged between nine months and 105 years old to determine factors that contribute to brain aging.
Researchers analyzed the blood flow through 128 regions of each brain to determine how old they thought the individual was.
Once they learned the person’s actual age, they were able to measure the rate of accelerated aging.
Dr. George Perry, from the University of Texas, San Antonio, commented on the research, saying: “This is one of the first population-based imaging studies, and these large studies are essential to answer how to maintain brain structure and function during aging.”
The results also suggest bipolar disorder accelerates brain aging by 1.6 years, with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) speeding it up by 1.4 years.
No link was found between depression and brain aging.
Amen added: “Based on one of the largest brain imaging studies ever done, we can now track common disorders and behaviors that prematurely age the brain.
“Better treatment of these disorders can slow or even halt the process of brain aging.”
Study author, Sachit Egan, from Google, a partner in the study, added: “The results indicate that we can predict an individual’s age based on patterns of cerebral blood flow.
“Additionally, groundwork has been laid to further explore how common psychiatric disorders can influence healthy patterns of cerebral blood flow.”
The findings were published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - One political analyst calls it "an almost impossible map." Others are even less optimistic.
But despite the Democrats' long odds to retake the U.S. Senate in November’s congressional elections, party strategists meeting in Chicago this week say the escalating legal troubles of President Donald Trump's former associates and corruption scandals engulfing Republicans could boost Democrats chances.
The path, however, remains difficult.
Democrats are defending two dozen Senate seats this cycle - including 10 in states Trump won in 2016, some by huge margins. They need a net total of two seats to seize control of the chamber.
Having a majority would allow the party to derail or stall much of Trump’s policy agenda and increase congressional oversight and investigation of the administration, as well as complicate future conservative nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court should another vacancy occur.
Stu Rothenberg, a non-partisan political analyst, called the Senate landscape "an almost impossible map" for Democrats. But, he added, given the headwinds facing Republicans, "the Senate could be in play."
In interviews at the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting in Chicago, a dozen party strategists, party members and candidates discussed the party's path and strategy to winning back the Senate, which Democrats last controlled in 2014.
CRITICAL CONTESTS
Democrats say five races are particularly difficult this year. They are spending hundreds of millions of dollars defending them. Losing just one of the seats in West Virginia, Indiana, North Dakota, Montana and Missouri - all won by Trump in 2016 - could doom any shot of retaking the Senate.
An array of state polls give Democrats hope. Opinion surveys show toss-up races in North Dakota, Indiana and Missouri. In Montana, which Trump carried by 20 percentage points, incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Tester leads recent polls by an average of five percentage points. In West Virginia, which Trump carried by over 40 percentage points, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin is slightly ahead in recent polling.
“Those five states are clearly the biggest targets for Republicans,” said Geoffrey Skelley, a non-partisan analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “There’s two ways to look at the Senate map. It’s really bad for Democrats, but the flip side of this is that this is a perfect year for them to be defending it.”
A Republican operative working on Senate races said Democrats seeking re-election in states where Trump remains popular should be worried. "Their national party’s lurch to the left is doing nothing but turning off voters in these states and further damaging their vulnerable incumbents."
Florida's Senate fight concerns some Democrats. Polls show a tight race between incumbent Democratic Senator Bill Nelson and Republican challenger Rick Scott, the state's governor. Scott led Nelson by six percentage points in a Florida Atlantic University poll released on Tuesday.
While straining to hold all the states Trump won, Democrats are also focused on Arizona and Nevada, which strategists said are crucial pick-ups for the party.
In Arizona, where Republican Jeff Flake is retiring, Republicans are in a three-way nominating contest ahead of voting next Tuesday. On the Democratic side, Kyrsten Sinema leads in polls.
Senator Dean Heller of Nevada is considered the most vulnerable Republican incumbent. Party strategists said his vote to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, has been a gift in a state with many retirees and where access to healthcare is a major issue.
Democrats need to hold all the states they are defending and win Nevada and Arizona to secure a one-seat Senate majority.
FOCUSING RESOURCES
Priorities USA and Senate Majority PAC, two Democratic Super PACs, are together spending at least $120 million on ads in Arizona, Nevada, West Virginia, Indiana, Montana, North Dakota and Indiana. Super PACs must operate separately from political campaigns but can raise and spend unlimited money.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s independent expenditure arm has made an initial television buy of $30 million in Arizona, Nevada, West Virginia, Indiana, Montana and North Dakota.
The party and outside groups also have started to pour resources into more long-shot opportunities to gain seats in Tennessee and Texas, Democrats said.
Recent polls have placed Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke within as few as two to four percentage points of Republican Senator Ted Cruz in Texas.
In Tennessee's open race, former Democratic governor Phil Bredesen, a popular moderate, is now in a close race with Republican congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, according to polls.
HEALTHCARE, TAXES AND CORRUPTION TOUTED AS WINNING MESSAGE
Internal Democratic polling shows that healthcare and the Republican tax cuts that some voters view as a giveaway to wealthy Americans and corporations are winning issues for Democrats this November.
"Critical issues, like healthcare, are really important to voters. And Republicans thought the tax cuts would be a winning issue, but it's turned into a loser," said Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist at the Chicago gathering. "We have these big issue trends working in our favor."
DNC chairman Tom Perez made clear that Democrats in Senate battles would highlight the legal troubles around Trump after the conviction this week of Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and the guilty plea by his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen.
Cohen pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges including tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance violations. He testified that Trump had directed him to pay hush money to two women who claimed they had affairs with Trump, and the payments were made to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Trump, who has denied the affairs, says he paid Cohen out of personal funds and that the payments were not intended to benefit his campaign but to resolve a personal matter.
“The culture of corruption from this Republican leadership is out of control," Perez told the party's meeting
A new research report published in the journal of Alzheimer’s Disease has revealed that smoking cannabis ages the brain by an average of nearly three years.
According to New York Post, Marijuana was found to ramp up brain aging by 2.8 years making it worse for the mind than bipolar disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Schizophrenics’ brains were found to age by an even greater average of four years.
Boozing was also shown to age the organ by 0.6 years, the research adds.
Brain aging is defined as reduced blood flow through the organ.
Lead study author, Dr. Daniel Amen, founder of Amen Clinics, said: “The cannabis abuse finding was especially important, as our culture is starting to see marijuana as an innocuous substance. This study should give us pause about it.”
Reduced brain blood flow has previously been linked to strokes and dementia.
The researchers analyzed 62,454 brain scans from 31,227 people.
Scans were collected during both rest and concentration and taken from people aged between nine months and 105 years old to determine factors that contribute to brain aging.
Researchers analyzed the blood flow through 128 regions of each brain to determine how old they thought the individual was.
Once they learned the person’s actual age, they were able to measure the rate of accelerated aging.
Dr. George Perry, from the University of Texas, San Antonio, commented on the research, saying: “This is one of the first population-based imaging studies, and these large studies are essential to answer how to maintain brain structure and function during aging.”
The results also suggest bipolar disorder accelerates brain aging by 1.6 years, with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) speeding it up by 1.4 years.
No link was found between depression and brain aging.
Amen added: “Based on one of the largest brain imaging studies ever done, we can now track common disorders and behaviors that prematurely age the brain.
“Better treatment of these disorders can slow or even halt the process of brain aging.”
Study author, Sachit Egan, from Google, a partner in the study, added: “The results indicate that we can predict an individual’s age based on patterns of cerebral blood flow.
“Additionally, groundwork has been laid to further explore how common psychiatric disorders can influence healthy patterns of cerebral blood flow.”
The findings were published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
The Bayelsa Government on Friday imposed a curfew on Twon Brass in the Brass Local Government Area of the state, where three were killed on Aug. 15.
The Deputy Governor of the state, Rear Adm. Gboribiogha Jonah retired, told a news conference in Yenagoa that the curfew would last from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily.
He condemned the killing, which was blamed on political thugs at Ada-Ama Square in Twon Brass, saying that the curfew would be lifted only when peace returned to the community.
“The State Government has gathered that the violence was sponsored by some individuals for political purposes.
“We have direct law enforcement agencies to carry out thorough investigation into the activities of the hoodlums and ensure the prosecution of all persons that may be found culpable,” Jonah said.
The spokesman of the Bayelsa State Police Command, DSP. Asinim Butswat, had earlier said that the incident involved suspected thugs, who claimed to be members of the APC and PDP in Brass.
“We have commenced investigation to ascertain the remote and immediate causes of the crisis. We advise people to go about their normal activities,” said Butswat.
The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ondo State has described the lawmaker representing Ondo North Senatorial District, Senator Ajayi Boroffice, as a hater of the party.
The party accused the lawmaker of giving the erroneous impression that the party in the state is divided and disunited.
Senator Boroffice had during the week, warned that it will be suicidal for the APC in the state to contest the 2019 general elections as a divided house.
But reacting, to the party’s Director, Media and Publicity, Steve Otaloro, in a statement yesterday, described the Senator’s statement as “appalling and uncharitable.”
The statement added, “This statement gave the erroneous impression that the party is in a fray of sort and needed a peace maker to appease it.
“Far from it as he has presented it. The party is in good shape and is at work in harmony to defeat the opposition in the coming general election.
“Boroffice’s statement also passively expressed such lies that it was by his influence the APC was able to defeat the PDP in the 2016 gubernatorial election in the State.
“Everyone living in Ondo State knew the overt anti-party activities perpetrated by him to subvert the APC’s victory in the 2016 governorship election.
“For a man, who worked assiduously to hammer out an action plan for the opposition against us to come back preaching party unity and cohesion, sparks stupidity.
“We are definitely wary of such person and his Trojan horse.
“Senator Ajayi Boroffice has continually demonstrated his open hatred for our party, hence, he is not in a position to advise us in any way. He can pocket that.
“APC in Ondo State is already moving forward as one united family and working across the state to reach out to the electorate.
“Senator Boroffice is not bigger than the party; it is expedient for him to jump on the APC bandwagon for his own good.”
About 14 political parties will be participating in the local government election in Imo state scheduled for Saturday, August 25
-The parties include the All Progressives Congress (APC ), Accord Party, Green Party of Nigeria (GNP), Young People’s Party (YPP), KOWA, Mega Party of Nigeria (MPN), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC)
- The parties will be contesting for 27 chairmanship positions and 645 councillorship positions
Ahead of the Imo state local government election, 14 political parties including the All Progressives Congress (APC ), Accord Party, Green Party of Nigeria (GNP), Young People’s Party (YPP), KOWA, Mega Party of Nigeria (MPN), Social Democratic Party (SDP), African Democratic Congress (ADC), among others will be participating, The Nations reports.
eagleee.com gathered that Hon Ethelbert Ibebuchi, the chairman of the Imo state Independent Electoral Commission (ISIEC), made the disclosure while briefing journalists on the preparedness of the commission.
Ibebuchi said the political parties will be contesting for 27 chairmanship positions and 645 Councillorship positions.
He further stated that the commission has concluded all necessary arrangements to ensure a hitch free and credible polls.
“The Commission is ready for the election and we are urging the people to come out perform their civic responsibilities. Let me assure all and sundry that ISIEC has made available to all participating political parties and their candidates, a level playing ground to actively take part in order to actualize their political goals,”
“May I in unequivocal terms assures our numerous publics that ISIEC is sufficiently ready to go. Be rest assured that as part of our altruistic design to ensure a hitch free exercise, there shall be restriction of movement of persons between 8am and 4pm when polls are expected to come to an end,” he said
emiratco previously reported that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo has distanced itself from the proposed local government elections planned by the government of Owelle Rochas Okorocha as it described the polls fixed for July 14, as unconstitutional.
In a statement by Damian Opara, its spokesperson, the party argued that the proposed election did not follow constitutional stipulations.
According to the statement, the Supreme Court had advised the Imo state Independent Electoral Commission (ISEC) against holding the election.
Shehu Sani, the Senator representing Kaduna Central has spoken on receiving automatic ticket to seek re-election in 2019 under the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Speaking with newsmen after meeting with President Buhari in Daura, Sani said though he was not so keen about automatic ticket, the party had pledged to reward loyalty.
He, however, stressed that while rewarding members for their loyalty to the party, due process must be followed.
“I think the party had made it very clear and known to each and every person that there will be reward for loyalty but in every sense of the word due process of the party needs to be followed.
“And as far as we are concerned, what matters most to us is not simply about automatic ticket but about the peaceful and transparent conduct of the 2019 election and also the very need for us as a people and as a nation to know that the fate of the country is on our hands.
“There is the need for us to keep aside all sectional, ethnic and religious differences for the progress of this country and going by the very fact that the President has intervened and chairman of the party has intervened – all family squabbles would certainly come to an end,’’ he said.
A chieftain of Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, has said that the All Progressives Congress, APC, National Leader, Bolaji Tinubu must be naive to think that the North will allow him to succeed Buhari in 2023.
Adebanjo further called on the people of the South-West not to allow themselves to be fooled by Tinubu a second time.
“Tinubu is daydreaming if he thinks the North will ever support his presidential ambition. We have our principles,” Adebanjo was quoted by Punch as saying.
“We are not supporting Buhari under any circumstance and Tinubu cannot lead Yoruba land because all he has done is to lead us astray. All he has done for us is to give some of our people who are close to him appointments.
“Nothing tangible has been done for Yoruba land. He gave his stooges appointments, nothing more, nothing less. If he has done more than that, let him say it.”
The 90-year-old said the only demand the Yoruba had made was restructuring, which the APC had been dishonest about.
He added, “How can they be telling us about restructuring committee, when from the outset, they were supposed to have started restructuring. Who do they think they are fooling?
“If Tinubu is daydreaming, he shouldn’t think others are daydreaming like him.
“Buhari is a stranger to us in Yoruba land. The only Yoruba supporting him are those benefiting from this corrupt regime.”
Abdulmumin Jibrin says the APC caucus in the House has internal ways of resolving crisis
- Senator Shehu Sani states that he chose to remain in the APC because of the intervention of President Buhari and the national leadership of the party
A member of the House of Representatives, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has dismissed media reports that there is crisis within the All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus of the House.
Reports had emerged that the speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and some lawmakers on the platform of the APC are planning to remove the House majority leader, Femi Gbajabiamila.
But Jibrin, who is a member of the APC, in a tweet on Friday, August 24, said the caucus of the party in the House may have internal issues but resolves them internally.
He said the Femi Gbajabiamila remains the House majority leader.
Meanwhile, Senator Shehu Sani (APC- Kaduna Central) has stated that his decision to remain in the ruling party was not because his grievances against the party leadership in Kaduna state had been addressed, but due to the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari and the national leadership of the party.
Sani made the disclosure during a Sallah visit to President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura, Katsina state on Thursday, August 23, NAN reports.
Emiratco gathers that the senator called on all aggrieved members of the APC in the National Assembly to put aside parochial interests and join hands with the party in promoting national interest for the general good of all citizens.
The Parliamentary Democrats Group (PDG), a group in the House of Representatives has warned the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers in the lower legislative chamber, against an alleged move to remove Yakubu Dogara as Speaker.
In a statement on Thursday, Timothy Golu, a lawmaker from Plateau and spokesman of the group, said any attempt to oust Dogara would be met “with fire”.
Golu said Dogara had been performing well and was leading the House with the fear of God.
“We believe that it is the aftermath of the gale of defections that had hit the APC in recent times, of which more are being expected that is affecting the members.
“However, any issue that concerns the larger house will not cease to get our attention, especially the accusation by one group that another group is contemplating the impeachment of the speaker.
“We want to warn that such discussions should start and end at the APC secretariat or the secretariats of the various APC house groups. We are keeping our eyes and ears wide open for any such eventuality and to restate our readiness to return fire for fire on anyone thinking of it.
“If they claim that someone is thinking of becoming speaker in 2019 when the current tenure has not ended, it will not be out of place to suspect such motives. This is especially so when the same people have been talking strongly on the urgent need to address critical legislative issues,” the statement read.
Golu also asked his APC colleagues not to distract the House from important issues.
“Our colleagues leading various splinter groups in the APC should allow the House to go on smoothly until June 9, 2019 or thereabout,” he said.
“We do not want the externally-influenced distraction taking place in the red chamber where some anti-democratic forces want to truncate democracy, to happen in the house. As true democrats, we are at alert, keeping vigilance and monitoring happenings with eagle eye wherever they are,” he added.
Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha on Thursday described the defection of some governors of the All Progressives Congress to the Peoples Democratic Party as painful.
He said this in Daura, Katsina State when he led other APC governors to visit President Muhammadu Buhari to felicitate with him in the spirit of the season.
Okorocha said: “We had wished that none of them, especially the governors, had left the part. We had wished, and it pains us so much.
“The pain is because they had associated and related together as brothers.
“All of a sudden, you don’t see one of your own; we feel it.”
Recall that three governors: Samuel Ortom of Benue State; Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State; and Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State recently defected to the PDP.
Okorocha,however, noted that despite their painful exit, he believes it had no further effect on the APC.
“The governors defection had no negative effect whatsoever on the APC. Within one week, people had forgotten and we have forged ahead,” he added.
A high court in Gauteng, South Africa has handed life sentences and an additional 106 years imprisonment to two Nigerians for human trafficking.
The duo, Frank Amaku and Ilo Promise Somadina (25), were arrested by the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime investigating unit in April 2016 at a hideous dwelling in Fourways where they reportedly ran a brothel and held victims captive.
Five victims were rescued during the operation and taken to a place of safety.
Godfrey Lebeya, national head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, applauded the investigation team for working around the clock to ensure that the accused were ultimately convicted and sentenced.
“The sentence couldn’t have come at a better time, taking into consideration that August is celebrated as Women’s Month in South Africa,” he said.
“This is a time to once again warn those who abuse women, that they will be brought to book and justice will be served.”
One of their victims from Upington was kept at the Fourways home, where she and three other women spent months servicing the pair’s clients until they were rescued.
The Nigerians denied their level of involvement in human trafficking and have stated on multiple occasions they will appeal the conviction.
Their lawyer, Moleko Ratau, asked that the court be lenient with the pair as they were “relatively young” when the said crimes took place in 2016.
The court was told that the duo kidnapped the women specifically for financial gain, transforming them into sexual objects and dehumanising them, which was evident by Boswell’s testimony that she had been starved and forced to live in terrible conditions.
Over 1,000 members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Ebonyi local government area of Ebonyi State have decamped to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
The decampees were on Thursday led into the PDP by Hon. Bede Nwali, former member representing Ebonyi North-East constituency in the state House of Assembly.
Nwali, who led his loyalists into the PDP, said “we have been in Egypt for years and have decided to go back to the PDP.”
He thanked PDP Executives and members in the Ebonyi local government area for welcoming them.
He declared support for Governor David Umahi’s administration, while appealing to other people of Izzi clan still in opposition to join hands with the Governor in developing the state.
Receiving the decampees, the state PDP chairman, Onyekachi Nwebonyi thanked them for taking the bold steps in joining the party and urged them to feel free and associate with the party members
