SABINEWS MIDDAY NEWS UPDATE NOVEMBER 8, 2018
Ekweremadu: We were on a mission to steal not assassination – Suspect
Mohammed Yusuf, 25, the principal suspect in the alleged assassination attempt on Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, has confessed that they only were on a mission to steal and not for assassination. “We did not go to the residence of Ekweremadu to assassinate him or anybody in the house,” he said. He told newsmen that he had been stealing for five years without using gun and that his colleague, Dan Ali, escaped while he was caught. The confession of Yusuf may have corroborated the preliminary investigation that the attack on the home of the top senator was not an assassination attempt.
PDP reacts to alleged detention of Oshiomhole by DSS over bribery
The People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has said the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Adams Oshiomhole, should be probed and made to face the full wrath of the law over allegations of him receiving bribes during the party’s recent primaries. Secretary, Edo State chapter of the PDP, Hon. Felix Imoisili, stated this on Wednesday. Oshiomhole was reportedly grilled by the Department of State Services, DSS, and operatives for nine hours after some APC governors alleged that he received bribes during the party’s primary elections across the country.
2019 polls: Senate slashes power, health, education, presidency funds
The Senate on Wednesday made a U-turn on the source of funding for the budgets of the Independent National Electoral Commission and security agencies to conduct the 2019 general elections. While the National Assembly had earlier approved N242,245,050,100 from only the Special Intervention Programme under the Service Wide Votes of the Presidency, half of the money will now be taken from the 2018 budgets of ministries, departments and agencies.
120 lawyers to defend suspected killers of Alkali
Over 120 lawyers, including Senior Advocates of Nigeria, have expressed their interest in defending the 19 persons arrested in connection with the murder of a former Nigerian Army Chief of Administration, Gen. Mohammed Alkali. The revelation came as the accused filed their bail application on Wednesday before Justice Daniel Longji of a Plateau State High Court in Jos. Lawyer for the accused, Gyang Zi. The application was filed following the earlier arraignment of the accused on two counts to which they had all pleaded not guilty.
Rowdy session as Senate probes Buhari’s SIF, Jonathan’s SURE-P
Plenary at the Senate on Wednesday turned rowdy when the Minority Leader, Senator Biodun Olujimi, asked the chamber to investigate the Special Intervention Fund programme by the Federal Government. According to the Bank of Industry’s website, the Special Intervention Fund for Medium and Small Scale Enterprises is under the National Enterprise Development Programme. “The fund is a Federal Government of Nigeria’s initiative to provide subsidise loans to MSMEs at single digit (9 per cent per annum) all-inclusive interest rate,” the bank said.
Bayelsa urges Residents to Cross Check Their Names
The Bayelsa State Government on Wednesday called on all eligible voters in the state to go to their various polling units and check their names on the displayed voters register. The State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Daniel Iworiso-Markson made the announcement in Yenagoa, following the commencement of the display of the National Register of Voters by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The exercise which started on November 6, will last for six days across polling units in the country.
NYSC cautions corps members’ against bribery
The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Suleiman Kazaure, has cautioned corps members’ against bribery ahead of the 2019 general elections. Kazaure gave the warning on Wednesday while visiting corps members at the NYSC permanent orientation camp in Suru Local Government Area, Darkingari, Kebbi State. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the DG was represented by Mrs Victoria Ango, a Deputy Director in the Evaluation Department, NYSC headquarters, Abuja. “I urge you to please avoid bribing and fraud during the 2019 general elections. You are not covered by any immunity; anybody caught violating electoral acts is going to face the full wrath of the law.
Dismissed banker raids ATM gallery, steals N14m
A dismissed banker, Emmanuel Onuma, has been arrested by the police for breaking into the Automated Teller Machine gallery of his erstwhile employer and stealing N14m. The 34-year-old was said to have carried out the heist at the Garki, Abuja branch of the new generation bank on October 19, 2018. Parading Onuma alongside other suspects in Abuja on Wednesday, the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Operations, Federal Capital Territory Police Command, Valentine Olumese, said the ex-banker was dismissed in August for fraudulent activities.
Passenger Slumps, Dies at Lagos Airport
A passenger scheduled to travel out of the country on Wednesday morning slumped and died at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. Eyewitnesses said the deceased, identified as Ademola Adeleke, had yet to check in when the incident occurred. It was gathered that the passenger, who arrived at the airport early in the morning for his flight, slumped and started gasping for breath at about 5.30am.
Kachikwu: Nigeria’s Oil Output Hits 2.2mbpd Early 2019
Nigeria’s oil production is set for a timely boost, climbing to around 2.2 million barrels per day (mbd) by early 2019 with the start-up of the giant 200,000 barrels per day (bd) Egina field, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said. This is coming as crude oil rebounded to $73 per barrel Wednesday after falling to its lowest since August, supported by a report that Russia and Saudi Arabia are discussing oil output cuts in 2019. Speaking on Tuesday in an interview with S&P Global Platts on the side-lines of the Africa Oil Week conference in Cape Town, South Africa, Kachikwu acknowledged that there have been delays in the planned revamp of the four petroleum refineries owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt.
Arsenal no longer priority for Dangote
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has said that he would turn his attention to buying another football club if Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke refuses to sell. Dangote does not think this is the right time to buy the Premier League club because he wants to complete one of the world’s largest oil refineries in Lagos, Nigeria. ”I’m very attached to Arsenal but if he won’t sell, I might have to change,” Dangote told Bloomberg TV at the New Economy Forum in Singapore. ”I’m very much a fan of football. I have to have a club. I don’t have to own Arsenal.”
New demolitions halt search in deadly French building collapse
Two dilapidated buildings next to those which collapsed in southern France were to be demolished Thursday, forcing rescue workers to call off their search after six bodies were pulled from the rubble. Two people are thought to still be missing after two apartment buildings suddenly crumbled on Monday morning in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille. A third building then collapsed later that day, slowing the search for survivors as rescue workers cautiously cleared the debris amid the risk that adjacent structures could fail as well.
Britain seeks to soothe Brexit tensions with France
Britain’s foreign minister will seek to ease tensions with France caused by Brexit on Thursday with a speech that will pay tribute to the “bonds of friendship and commerce” between the countries, his office said. France has taken a hard line in the Brexit negotiations, with President Emmanuel Macron insistent that Britain should not be allowed to negotiate advantages for itself as it withdraws from the European Union. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt also raised hackles in Paris last month when he compared the EU to the Soviet Union and suggested its members were trying to punish Britain for leaving.
White House bars CNN reporter after verbal duel with Trump
The White House on Wednesday suspended the press pass of a CNN reporter who sparred with Donald Trump at a news conference, during which the president branded him the “enemy of the people.” A visibly angry Trump called reporter Jim Acosta a “rude, terrible person,” after the CNN White House correspondent refused the president’s orders to sit down and yield the microphone during the conference one day after the US midterm election. “The White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice,” said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders hours later, referring to Acosta, who then tweeted that he had been denied White House entry.
I won’t continue with activism, if I become King –Prince Charles
Britain’s Prince Charles said on Wednesday he was not “stupid” enough to keep speaking out on contentious public issues once he becomes king in a rare interview about his future role. The eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II — formally known as the Prince of Wales — has long been seen as interfering because of his private lobbying of ministers and public statements on a range of subjects from architecture to the environment. But he told the BBC in a documentary marking his 70th birthday next week that he did not intend to be a meddling king.
