Sabinews Evening News Update for June 26, 2015

President Buhari Dissolves Board Of NNPC

President Muhammadu Buhari has dissolved the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) with immediate effect.

The directive to this effect was conveyed in a letter signed today, 26th June, 2015 by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Danladi Kifasi. In it, the President thanked members of the dissolved board for their services to the nation. Read more

Nigeria deploys 700 soldiers to Liberia

No fewer than 700 officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army are set for deployment for peace keeping operation in Liberia, just as the Army authority has warned the troops to prevent Ebola through hygienic living

The troops were warned to avoid any act capable of dragging the image of Nigeria and Nigerian Army to the mud, as the army will not accept a situation where its soldiers are seen as soft targets. Read more

Group protests against police torture

A civil society organisation, Centre for law and development on Friday in Abuja protested against the use of torture by police as a tool of investigation.

It called on the government to punish any policeman caught engaging in torture, just as it offered pro bono legal representation for victims of torture. A lawyer and coordinator of the group, Deji Ajare, stated that the protest was to mark the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture and to compel the government to punish any security personnel that engaged in the despicable act. Read more

Several killed as gunmen attack Tunisia tourist hotel

At least seven people have been killed after a tourist hotel near the Tunisian town of Sousse was attacked by gunmen, officials said.

Ongoing exchanges of gunfire were being reported between the attackers and security forces, sources told Al Jazeera.

The attack was on the Imperial Marhaba hotel, local radio said, according to the Reuters news agency. Other reports indicated that two hotels may have been attacked. Read more

Ebonyi Assembly indicts 12 ex-LG chairmen

The Ebonyi House of Assembly on Thursday indicted 12 of the 13 Local Government Caretaker Committee Chairmen for financial misappropriation.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the immediate past assembly had set up a committee to probe the financial dealings of the chairmen between November 2014 and June 2015 when they all resigned their appointments.

The indictment was contained in the committee’s report submitted to the state assembly and read by its Chairman, Chief Obasi Odefa, who is also the Deputy Speaker of the assembly. Read more

Suicide blast hits Kuwait Shi’ite mosque

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a Kuwaiti Shi’ite Muslim mosque in Kuwait city during Friday prayers, wounding at least eight people, Kuwaiti newspaper al-Jarida said on social media.

The newspaper said the attack targeted Imam al-Sadeq Mosque in the Sawaber district.

“Eight casualties have been taken to the Emiri hospital, two in critical condition,” al-Jarida said on its Twitter feed, without giving a source.Read nore

I wasn’t invited to appear before NFF panel – Enyeama

Nigeria’s international Vincent Enyeama has disclosed he never got any letter from the Nigeria Football Federation inviting him to any disciplinary hearing in Abuja.

The 32-year-old Super Eagles goalkeeper, who did not show up on Tuesday to explain his remark against the NFF’s choice of Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna, for the Eagles 2017 AFCON qualifier against Chad on June 13, said he was not notified officially by the NFF, saying he only heard of the invitation through the media.

“I was told to apologise for my comments, which I did immediately and they told me that’s fine,” Enyeama told BBC Sport. Read more

Supreme Court makes gay marriage legal throughout US

The US Supreme Court ruled Friday that gay marriage is a nationwide right, a landmark decision in one of the most keenly awaited announcements in decades and sparking scenes of jubilation.

The nation’s highest court, in a narrow 5-4 decision, said the US Constitution requires all states to carry out and recognize marriage between people of the same sex. Read more

Nigerian court sentences nine to death for blasphemy

Nine people have been sentenced to death in northern Nigeria after being found guilty of blasphemy, a court clerk and the head of the religious police told AFP on Friday.

The Upper Sharia Court in the city of Kano handed down death sentences to a Sufi Muslim cleric and eight of his followers for remarks they made about the Prophet Mohammed last month.

The comments, made during a religious ceremony, sparked anger and violence in the city.Read more

Decapitated man found in French factory attack

A person has been found decapitated and at least two others have been wounded in what officials are calling a “terrorist” incident at a gas factory in southeastern France.

French President Francois Hollande, speaking in Brussels, said one person was killed and two injured in the incident, which began shortly before 10am local time on Friday when a car crashed the gate and ran into gas canisters, causing an explosion. Read more

Blatter ‘did not resign’ – report

Sepp Blatter has claimed that he “did not resign” as FIFA president, according to a report by the Swiss newspaper Blick.

“I did not resign. I put myself and my office in the hands of the FIFA congress,” Blick reported Blatter as saying during a visit to the site of the future FIFA museum in the Swiss city of Zurich.

The 79-year-old Blatter announced on June 2 that he would step down from the FIFA presidency at an extraordinary congress to be held between December this year and March 2016. Read more

Kidnapped Lebanese rescued in Bayelsa

The two Lebanese nationals who were kidnapped Wednesday at Onuebum in Ogbia local government area of Bayelsa State by some unknown gunmen have been rescued by the police. Read more

Fasehun, Musa, others want APC to settle crisis

Some politicians on Friday in Lagos advised the All Progressives Congress (APC) legislators in the National Assembly to find a way of settling their problems and settle down for effective service delivery.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that there was no party crisis beyond settlement.

NAN reports that the APC and some of its members in the National Assembly are at loggerheads over how principal officers in the federal legislative chambers should emerge. Read more

Mandela, Zuma relatives to pay $140m compensation to mine shareholders

Relatives of Nelson Mandela and South African President, Jacob Zuma, acted in a reckless and fraudulent manner when they stripped the assets of two mines operated by their company, a court ruled on Thursday.

Judge Eberhard Bertelsmann ordered the directors and associates involved in Aurora Empowerment Systems to pay shareholders and liquidators 1.7 billion rand, approximately 140 million dollars, in compensation for their role in the firm’s demise. Read more

NERC seeks Buhari’s advice on creation of EMS

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) Friday requested the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to advise it on the relevance of the creation of another electricity regulatory body that duplicates the functions of the commission.

Its chairman, Dr. Sam Amadi told reporters in Abuja that “the act is clear on what we should do and that is what we are doing. A new government is in power and they have to advise us on what to do. We are an independent commission under government. So at the end of the day, I expect that government will look at the law and take a position.” Read more

NDLEA nabs 246 drug suspects in Edo

Edo State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it has arrested 246 suspected drug barons in the state between June 2014 and June 2015.

It said 30 tonnes of different types of hard drugs were seized in different parts of the state.

State Commander of NDLEA, Mr. Buba Wakawa, disclosed this at the 2015 International Day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking. Read more

Fayose: 809 ghost workers uncovered in Ekiti

Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose has revealed that a total number of 809 ghost workers have been uncovered in the verification exercise recently conducted by his administration.

The governor also declared his intent to unveil the list of his commissioners-designate within 48 hours.

The gorvernor who spoke Thursday evening during his monthly media chat, “Meet Your Governor,” said he waited so long in appointing more commissioners because the state had no money to pay their salaries and allowances. Read more

Tribunal sacks Edo APC lawmaker

The Edo State Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Benin on Friday upturned the election of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Yakubu Gowon, as the lawmaker representing Etsako West II Constituency in the Edo State House of Assembly.

Gowon had been declared the winner of the April 11 state assembly poll and returned elected to represent the constituency, where Governor Adams Oshiomhole hails from, by the Independent National Electoral Commission. Read more

NASS Leadership Crisis Not Delaying Ministerial List – Presidency

The Presidency Yesterday refuted rumours making the rounds that the ongoing crisis in the National Assembly was preventing President Muhammadu Buhari from naming his ministers.

The Senior Special Assistant to the president on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu dispelled the claim on Sunrise Daily, a morning programme on Channels TV. Read more

‘Nigeria Spends N3.50k To Feed A Prisoner Daily’

The Nigerian government spends a meagre N3.50k to feed an inmate in Nigerian prisons each day, the Legal Defence and Assistance Project has said.
Speaking at a round table for media and civil society organizations in Lagos, Thursday, Chino Obiagwu said that the current cost was increased by the new Comptroller-General of Prisons from the previous N2.10k per prisoner. Read more

Nasarawa Generated N16bn As IGR In 4 Years

The Acting chairman of the Nasarawa state Board of Internal Revenue, Alhaji Usman Okposhi, has disclosed that the sum N16bn was realised as Internally Generated Revenue in four years starting from 2011.

Alhaji Okposhi who gave the hint during an exclusive interview with Journalists in his office in Lafia, the state capital, asserted that tax collection has improved since the inception of the current administration under the leadership of Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura. Read more

You cant restore Omehia’s priviledges, APC tells Wike

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has said Governor Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike does not have the powers to restore the rights and privileges of Sir Celestine Ngozichim Omehia as a former governor of the state.

Wike, had on Thursday announced the restoration the rights and privileges due Omehia as former governor of the state, and hanged his photograph at the Executive Chambers of Government House, Port Harcourt. Read more

S’Court reverses death penalty on armed robbery convict

The Supreme Court on Friday revered the death sentence passed on Alhaji Musa Sani who was convicted for armed robbery by a Katsina High Court.

Sani and his co-convict, Ifanye Amah, were accused of robbing their alleged victim of N940,000 and other items, including one computer set, two cameras and three mobile phones, in Katsina on May 28, 2008.

The Justice Muhammad Muntaka-Coomassie-led Supreme Court bench, in its judgment on Friday, discharged and acquitted Sani, whose conviction and sentence by the Katsina High Court had been affirmed by the Court of Appeal. Read more

Tanker crashes into vehicles in Osun, injures five

Tragedy was averted in Osogbo, the Osun State capital on Friday, as a truck laden with fuel crashed into six vehicles including three commercial buses.

Our correspondent gathered that the accident was caused as a result of break failure suffered by the truck bearing 33,000 litres of premium motor spirit.

The driver of the tanker marked, Lagos AGL 804XK, was said to have struggled to manoeuvre the vehicle and he eventually stopped it just before it plunged into the drainage.Despite this, the tanker crushed a Toyota Camry; Toyota Carina; Honda Civic and three mini commercial buses. Officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps, were said to have rescued some of the passengers who were injured in the crash . Read more