Celplus Media

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has accused Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim of attempting to compromise the Ondo State Resident Electoral Commission (REC), Mr. Olusegun Agbaje. The commission also restated its earlier position that there was no truth in Ibrahim’s allegation that its Acting Director, Legal Services, Mrs. Toyin Babalola, demanded $1 million from him to comply with court order recognising him as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Ondo State governorship election. Ibrahim had, at a press conference on Sunday, alleged that Agbaje “requested to hold a meeting with him (Ibrahim) in London in the United Kingdom.” He, therefore, called for Agbaje’s removal as Ondo REC as he would not conduct a credible election on November 26. But in a statement yesterday by Prince Adedeji Soyebi, National Commissioner in Charge of Publicity, INEC said Ibrahim was economical with the truth. According to the commission, it was Ibrahim, who through an...

An Ikeja magistrate’s Court, weekend, sentenced a 37-year-old man, Ibrahim Abu, to six months imprisonment for touching the breast of a 17-year-old girl (names withheld) without her consent. Abu, who lives at 6, Mosque Close, Isheri-Olofin, Lagos State, was arraigned before Magistrate Osusanmi and sentenced last Friday for sexually assaulting the girl Monday last week. Vanguard gathered that the girl was asked by her parents to learn hairdressing, while awaiting the release of her Senior Secondary Certificate Examination, SSCE, result. It was learned that at 7:30p.m. last week Monday, while she was returning home, Abu accosted the victim at Baale Bus Stop Akowonjo, and touched her breast without seeking her consent. It was gathered that in retaliation, she slapped Abu and he hit her with a plank; she reportedly fell, became unconscious and was rushed to a hospital. Abu was later arrested by policemen attached to Shasha Police Station and the case reported to Domestic, Sexual ...

Former Ondo State Commissioner for Education in Ondo State, Princess Oladunni Odu, yesterday said the governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) once saved one of the legacies of Chief Obafemi Awolowo from being sold. Odu, who served alongside Akeredolu as commissioners under the regime of Navy Capt Anthony Onyarubulem, said the Araromi-Obu Rubber plantation was almost sold off but for the dogged intervention of Akeredolu who was then the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state. She spoke with reporters in Akure, the state capital, where she and other members of Prof Ajayi Borrofice Campaign Group declared support for Akeredolu’s governorship ambition. She expressed confidence that Akeredolu’s government would be very beneficiary especially to the masses. Relieving her experience as a commissioner during the military regime, Odu said: “I have worked with him (Akeredolu) and I know he’s a bold ma...

Ebonyi State Government is to acquire 5.5-Megawatt biomass plant from Germany which would utilize rice husk and other available waste materials to generate electricity. Governor David Umahi, who made this known after inspecting two of the three state-owned rice modern mills on Tuesday, said the plant would arrive the country in the next four months. He also disclosed that one megawatt of rice husk plant and another 500 kilowatt would arrive the state soon. Governor Umahi added that the government was ready to meet the daily water intake of the three rice mills located in the three senatorial zones of the state. The inspection visit took the governor to Iboko in Izzi Local Government Area and Ikwo where he inspected the condition of the facilitates, on-going rehabilitation works and the production and packaging of various sizes of rice bags . Governor Umahi said the essence of the visit was to have first-hand knowledge of the water needs of the mills especially for the parboiling s...

Ebonyi State governor, Chief David Umahi, has directed that only Abakaliki rice be served in all government functions in the state. Umahi made this known while briefing journalists in Abakaliki shortly after inspecting Iboko and Ikwo rice mill clusters, adding that he has directed persons who cook for the state government to change over to indigenous rice forthwith. He said: “The parboiling process of Abakaliki rice makes it durable unlike the imported rice which does not undergo parboiling; that is why after six months it becomes chaff and unhealthy for consumption. “That is why we have stopped our cooks from cooking any other rice except Abakaliki rice.” The governor stated that the parboiling plants fully installed in the two locations would enhance massive rice production in the state, adding that the problem of inadequate water supply identified as militating against optimal function of the machines, would soon be resolved. He expressed confidence that the p...

José Eduardo dos Santos, President of Angola, has fired, the country’s Finance Minister, following a slump in the country’s economic situation. The sack, which was announced on Monday, Yesterday, is coming two months after the Angolan government pulled out of talks with the International Monetary Fund, IMF, over emergency funding. A statement quoted by Reuters, said Manuel, who was appointed in 2013, and whose term had been due to run till 2017, would be replaced by Archer Mangueira, an expert in capital market. Over the last two years, Manuel had presided over an economic slump, caused by a sharp drop in oil prices. The Angolan currency, Kwanza, has slid more than 30 percent against the dollar in 2015, and in January, the Central Bank allowed for another 15 percent, weakening to 155 against the dollar. Angola’s inflation had soared from 11 percent in August, 2015, to 35 percent in July, 2016, while Nigeria’s is from 9.3 to 17.1 percent, within the same...

An Abuja Federal High Court on Monday sacked two members of the House of Representatives from Enugu State for alleged wrongful emergence as flagbearers of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2015 general elections. The affected lawmakers are Stella Ngwu from Igbo-Etiti and Uzo-Uwani Federal Constituency, and Dennis Agbo from Igbo-Eze North and Udenu Federal Constituency. Two other members of the party, Gabriel Okafor and Chijioke Ugwu, had approached the court after PDP conducted its primaries in December 2014, ahead of the 2015 general elections. They argued in separate suits later merged by the court that Stella Ngwu and Denis Agbo’s emergence as flagbearers of the party was wrong, since they were not elected delegates to represent the party at the November 1 congress held in 2014. The PDP and its National Working Committee were the 1st and 2nd defendants in the suits, while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was the 3rd defendant. Ms. Ngwu and Mr. A...