The Majority Leader and candidate of the All Progressives Congress for Speaker in the Ninth National Assembly, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, has said he now has the numbers to win the seat at the House of Representatives leadership election.
Chairman of the Gbajabiamila Speakership Campaign Council, Mr Abdulmumin Jibrin, who addressed journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, said the Majority Leader was reaching out to the current Speaker, Mr Yakubu Dogara; former Speakers, opposition members and other speakership aspirants.
“For now, we have a comfortable margin,” Jibrin said.
An undergraduate student of the University of Abuja, Abiodun Allen, has been sentenced to death by a Lagos State High Court for stabbing his younger brother, Wale, to death over their father’s property.
Abiodun was convicted of one count of murder contrary to Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
It was gathered that 33-year-old Abiodun had killed Wale with a broken bottle at their family house on Oritse Street, Imude, in the Oto-Awori Local Council Development Area of Lagos State during an argument over the property.
Our correspondent learnt that Wale, a serving naval officer in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, had visited the family home to settle a dispute over their late father’s property which was allegedly taken over by Abiodun.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Abiodun, who stabbed Wale several times in the neck, dragged his body to a bush and covered it with leaves.
During the trial, the prosecutor, O. R. Ahmed-Muil, called four witnesses, including the suspect’s landlord, Mr Sunday Abogunrin.
Abogunrin told the court that the convict was a troublesome fellow who fought his siblings at every slight provocation.
He added that he caught the convict dragging the deceased’s body into the bush after killing him.
The landlord said, “I have known the defendant since he was a child; I know his entire family.
“On February 20, 2013, around 2am, I heard dogs barking and people around were afraid to come out to see what was making the dogs bark for fear of robbers. Later, people came out and I came out as well.
“I later went to investigate the cause of the noise. I noticed someone dragging something into a nearby bush. I initially wanted to raise the alarm, but instead, I turned on my torch and the person ran towards the defendant’s house.
“I immediately followed to see who it was, only to see the defendant washing his hands, which were covered in blood, near a well. I quickly alerted the baale of the community, who then ordered youths to apprehend him.”
He noted that the convict broke his sister’s hand and smacked his elder brother’s head while attempting to escape, adding that he was later apprehended by some Oodua People’s Congress members who took him to the baale’s palace.
The Investigating Police Officer, ASP Uthman Lamidi, told the court that he saw the deceased’s body at the scene, adding that upon interrogation, the defendant admitted to killing his younger brother with a broken bottle and that he was about to bury the corpse when he was intercepted.
He said, “I handcuffed the defendant and took him away. The defendant followed me willingly and confessed to killing his younger brother. His confession was read to him and he signed it, while I countersigned. In the course of investigation, we also discovered that the defendant had threatened to kill his late brother several times before actually carrying out the act.”
Delivering her judgement on Monday, Justice Raliat Adebiyi held that the prosecution had proved a case of murder beyond reasonable doubt against the defendant and consequently sentenced him to death.
She said, “The defendant is hereby found guilty and convicted of the murder of his brother, Allen Wale.
“You, Allen Abiodun, is hereby sentenced to death. May God, the giver of life, have mercy on you.”
Sally Rooney’s Normal People has taken the top prize at the British book awards, beating Michelle Obama’s widely-tipped autobiography Becoming and last year’s Man Booker winner Anna Burns’s Milkman, to win the title of book of the year.
The 28-year-old Irish novelist’s second book, which charts the protracted on-off love affair between two young people over several years, landed the top prize at the awards, also known as the Nibbies or “Bafta’s of the book trade” on Monday night. While Rooney’s novel has been nominated for a number of awards, including the Man Booker, Folio and Dylan Thomas prizes, it has only picked up a couple of titles, including the Costa novel award and Waterstone’s book of the year.
Receiving the award, Rooney called it “an enormous privilege and an honour”, thanking librarians and booksellers in particular for their help finding her audience. “I do feel astonishingly lucky,” she said.
Brett Wolstencroft, judge and manager of Daunt books, said that Rooney’s novel achieves “that rare thing, a sublime work of literary fiction that exquisitely renders a universal experience: being young, finding love, friendship and, ultimately, a sense of self”.
Because Obama’s biography sold 253% more copies than Rooney’s novel – 654,000 in all formats, compared to 185,000 – while breaking all-time audiobook sales records in the UK, it was anticipated that Becoming would be a shoe-in for an award usually hooked to sales. But Alice O’Keeffe, chair of the judges and books editor of the Bookseller said that despite Obama’s impressive sales, Normal People was the most deserving winner.
“It was a really difficult decision and we went back and forth for a good while, but after much discussion we felt that Sally Rooney is such a major talent and that her ‘difficult second novel’ was just as impressive as her debut was astonishing. She has been described as a millennial writer with millennial concerns, but I know readers in their seventies who loved Normal People. The passion that came through on the grassroots for this book is really something,” she said.
Taking factors like sales into account in the judging process meant that the Nibbies have been “accused of following everything else”, O’Keeffe said, but she felt Rooney’s status as a bestseller in literary fiction, a genre that has struggled with sales in recent years, had yet to be acknowledged.
“She has transcended literary fiction. It is not something I can say about many young writers,” she said.
Obama’s memoirs, which trace her trajectory from growing up in south side Chicago to the White House, still picked up two British book awards, for best non-fiction and audiobook of the year. Obama’s performance of her own memoir beat Ben Whishaw’s telling of the late Stephen Hawking’s final book, Brief Answers to the Big Questions, and Robert Galbraith’s Lethal White, narrated by Robert Glenister.
In other categories, three-time winner David Walliams has picked up the award for children’s book of the year again, this time for The Ice Monster, the story of a 10-year old Victorian orphan and a 10,000 year old woolly mammoth. Sam Taylor’s translation of Leïla Slimani’s Lullaby picked up the gong for best debut novel, while Bosh!, a cookbook written by “vegan Jamie Olivers” Henry Firth and Ian Theasby received the award in the lifestyle category, seeing off household names Tom Kerridge and Yotam Ottolenghi.
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Apart from being a renowned rapper and personality, Drake is now a proud owner of a private jet.
Not just any jet either – a customized Boeing 767-300F, which costs $220 million as reported by CNN.
His very own ‘Air Drake’, is a 30-seat airplane that the artist purchased all for himself.
Drake, whose real name is Aubrey Graham, has created this personalised jet with Cargojet, a Canadian airline. Twitter was abuzz with videos of his new plane’s unveiling. Check it out below.
Famous friends like NBA player Tristan Thompson, rapper Lil Yachty, and businessman Dan Bilzerian all left comments on the post.
Speaking about his new purchase, Drake thanked CargoJet’s President Ajay Virmani, saying,
That guy made it happen right there, that’s the man.
Virmani on his part, had this to say,
We have had a lengthy relationship with Drake, and this partnership has grown organically between both parties. Cargojet and Drake are both great Canadian successes; we are thrilled to be partnering together.
God’s plan in drake’s plane – looks like he’s sorted for another vacay!
Rapper Drake announced that he is now the proud owner of a private jet — but this isn’t your typical personal plane. The jet’s average retail price is a whopping $220 million, and the customized Boeing 767-300F has “AIR DRAKE” emblazoned on its engines. https://t.co/WubDwT91Qnpic.twitter.com/Szjb6jVQ4a
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has refuted reports that he was set to dump the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP for the All Progressives Congress, APC.
In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, Governor Ortom maintained that he enjoys a robust relationship with other PDP leaders and members at the state and national levels.
The governor, however, stressed that his visit to the President on Monday was to discuss State matters, particularly to give him an update on the security situation in his state and the efforts the Government is making to guarantee peace in all parts of the state as well as its borders with other states such as Taraba and Ebonyi.
The statement added that ”We wish to advise those spreading the rumour and misleading people to know that President Buhari is not an APC President. He is the President of the whole Nigeria across party divides. He is the Commander-in-Chief of the country’s armed forces and receives periodic briefings from State Governors and other stakeholders.
”The Benue electorate has also indicated clearly from the results of the last general election that the PDP remains their preferred political party. Governor Ortom always stands with his people and this, he will continue to do.
”Politics is over. Now is time for governance to ensure that development gets to the people. We advise those making unfounded speculations and fanning embers of discord to allow Governor Ortom and President Buhari to synergise where possible and concentrate on strategizing to ensure the security of lives and property as well as general welfare of the people.”
– Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state reportedly offered Emir Sanusi three options – The governor had on Wednesday, May 8, approved the creation of 4 new emirates in the state – Sanusi was said to have been told by Ganduje to resign from his position or be sacked by his government. There are indications that an ongoing probe by the Kano state government’s anti-corruption agency could lead to charges being filed against the Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II. Daily Trust reports that Sanusi’s status as the only first class emir in the state was whittled when the state government broke the emirate, carving out four new emirates and appointing first class emirs to rule them.
The fresh investigation by the Kano state public complaints and anti-corruption commission as well as the bid to appoint new first class emirs by the state assembly kick-started almost simultaneously last week. According the newspaper, the source in the commission, who craved for anonymity, on Saturday, May 11, said that the ongoing probe by the commission was targeting the emir, noting that, ”it will reach to a point where the commission will transfer the case to court for the emir to defend himself. After our findings, whoever is found wanting in misappropriating the public funds will be dragged before the court.” It also stated that a government source disclosed that Emir Sanusi, after sensing trouble at the turn of events between the state government and the palace lately, sent business tycoon, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, to beg the governor to have a change of mind. “I can confidently tell you that when the probe was renewed and the move for creation of four new emirates in the state started, the emir sent the renowned business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, to Ganduje to plead with him to stop the two moves. “However, Ganduje in his response told Dangote to go back and tell the emir that he should choose from three alternatives: To resign on his own or be removed from office or the government will create additional emirates in the state. “Ganduje assured Dangote that one of the three options must be implemented by government since the emir will not stop playing partisan politics against him. If not for the quick intervention by Dangote, Ganduje would have dethroned the emir,” the source revealed. However, the source added that even though the governor has spared the emir being removed from office, there is likelihood that after the turbaning ceremony of the four new emirs, Ganduje will transfer the emir to another emirate and replace him with one of the newly appointed emirs.
A 15-year-old boy, Ekele Franklin, from Imo has emerged the overall best candidate in the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculations Examination (UTME), conducted between April 11 and April 15.
Franklin, who made University of Lagos his first choice, scored 347 and may not be admitted because of his age.
Ishaq Oloyede, Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), disclosed this at a news conference to announce the release of the results in Abuja on Saturday.
Emmanuel Chidebube, a 16-year-old boy from Abia came second with a score of 346, while Isaac Olamide, a 17-year-old from Osun came third with 345.
In all 2,906 candidates scored over 300 as against 4,683 in 2018.
Statistics
According to Mr Oloyede, 57,579 candidates scored between 250 and 299 as against 64,120 in the 2018 results.
Mr Oloyede said 366,757 candidates also scored between 200 and 249, which is a significant improvement from the 2018 results.
“361,718 candidates scored between 180 and 199 as against 325,152 in 2018, while 494,484 scored between 160 and 179 as against 455,898 last year.
“410,844 candidates scored between 140 and 159 as against 346,825 recorded in 2018 while also 99,463 scored between 100 and 139 as against 64,712 in 2018.”
The registrar said that about 1,792,719 candidates sat for the exams, while 34,120 candidates had their results withheld for examination malpractice.
Mr Oloyede stated that 15,145 results were withheld for further clarification.
The registrar, therefore, advised candidates to use the phone number used for registration and text it to 55019 to get their results instantly.
Infractions
Mr Oloyede identified a lot of infractions from candidates and Computer Based Centres (CBT) owners ranging from multiple registration, manipulation of biometrics and deliberate destruction of power sources during the examination.
“No doubt, examination malpractice is a cankerworm that has eaten deeply not only into Nigeria but also the rest of the world, especially the developed countries such as the USA and U.K.
“In Nigeria too, examination malpractice is exacerbated by the insatiable greed and desperate antics of parents, who are hell-bent on inducting their innocent and not-so-innocent children into the world of sharp practices and corruption.
“Double registrations led to the cancellation of some results last year, but we realised that this year not only double registrations but also multiple registrations were recorded.
“Someone for instance registered as many as 23 times for just a single examination.
“On impersonation, in the 2019 UTME, we were able to identify a large number of impersonators, who have been writing UTME for candidates.
“Most of the tutorial masters specialise in recruiting such professional writers for the candidates.
“They do so by using the names directly or variants of the names or by multiple registrations.
“An example is Anambra state where two centres registered a large number of impersonating candidates. In such cases, the results of the candidates have been cancelled and the CBT centres delisted.
“We have also tracked the registration centres and the computers used. In cases where we were able to ascertain the culpability of the centres, we delisted them,” he said.
‘Contributed fingers’
According to the registrar, the fraudsters thought they could beat the system through ‘contributed fingers’ where two or more persons would use their fingers to register for candidates.
“Two examples of this case are in the Aminu Saleh College of Education, Azare, where someone’s finger(s) was discovered in 42 person’s registration and Bauchi State University, Gadau, where one person’s is traced to the registration of 64 candidates.
“Another example was in Borno State where in Nassara Computer Academy, Maiduguri, 233 candidates had one particular finger included in each of their biometric registration.
“We have made representative arrests and we must thank the Inspector-General of Police and the Commandant-General of the NSCDC for their wonderful cooperation.
“The I-G actually set up a Special Task Force of the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB), which assisted tremendously in tracking the offenders”.
Mr Oloyede, however, noted that 116 centres had been delisted for various infractions, saying that 18 of the 116 centres was previously sanctions by the governing board of JAMB.
He, therefore, assured universities of the board’s commitment in sending biometrics and photo details of candidates to the universities for post UTME. (NAN)
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said the collapse of the National Grid on May 8, at 2:32 p.m. was caused by a multiple tripping on its substation in Onitsha, Anambra.
The Managing Director of TCN, Mohammed Usman, made the disclosure at a news conference in Abuja on Friday.
The national electricity grid had on Wednesday experienced some disturbances resulting in reduction of electricity allocation to electricity distribution companies in the country.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Yola electricity distribution company said it was allocated 0MW during the period while the Abuja electricity company said it received 20MW. Both electricity companies supply power to a minimum of three states each.
Mr Mohammed said that the collapse may also have been triggered because one of the generators went off.
“What happened a day before yesterday at 14:32 hours was a case of system collapse, we had tripping.
“The reason for the grid collapse was that there was a multiple tripping around Onitsha substation. We are also suspecting that one of the generators went out.
“We have sent our team of engineers to go and investigate, we normally investigate this kind of disturbances,’’ he said.
He however, said that in spite of the fragile nature of the nation’s power grid, TCN had achieved some level of stability on the national grid.
“Although, we have achieved some level of stability on the grid through the massive investment that we have done in the last two years.
“It does not mean that our grid has become disturbance free, because our grid is still very fragile. It is a journey that we are in that will take us to have a modern and stabilised grid.
“You remember, I had told you that we need to achieve four important things to have a stabilised grid.
“We need to have critical investment in lines and substations so that we put N-1 across the country, that will ensure that any equipment that goes out at any point in time will not affect supply on that area.
“For example, what happened in Apo recently, where we had a transformer that got burnt, we restored supply in two hours, because we had N-1 in that substation and that is what we are trying to achieve in all the country,” he said.
He said the company had raised 1.6 billion dollars for investment in lines and transmissions saying that attainment of the required investments in transmission would take some time.
“It is not what we will do in one day; the investment project for northern corridor transmission project, we just advertised; the one for Abuja, transmission project, we just signed, the one for Lagos and Ogun transmission project, we are about to launch the procurement process.
“The one for World Bank, we just launched the project, but the equipment has not arrived, so we are on a journey,’’ he said.
Mr Mohammed said that there was urgent need to have a functional SCADA in the power sector to monitor activities on the national grid.
“If we have a functional SCADA, it will show clearly what happened on the grid, and that is why we in TCN, deployment of SCADA is not an option, we have to deploy it.
“Because for us to have modern grid you need to have a functional SCADA, but management of the grid,’’ he said.
He said there was also urgent need to have a commensurate investment on the distribution chain to ensure a stable grid in the country. (NAN)
President Muhammadu Buhari has reminded Nigerian graduates that earning a university degree is no longer a meal ticket.
Buhari stated this on Friday at the 13th Convocation for the conferment of higher degrees, postgraduate diplomas and honorary degrees of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State.
He told the graduates that university degrees and diplomas would rather assist them to grapple with challenges of life.
While saying that his administration would address youth unemployment and underemployment, Buhari called on the youths to embrace the opportunities the Federal Government had put in place to mitigate the unemployment situation.
He said, “You are cautioned that university degrees do not usher you into an El Dorado. It rather equips you with the competence to grapple with the ever-changing challenges of life of which youth unemployment is a vexatious part.
“ The Federal Government will remain undaunted in tackling the challenges of youth unemployment and underemployment through a matrix of initiatives.”
He listed such initiatives to include N-Power, the Bank of Industry Youth Entrepreneurship Support Programme and the Central Bank of Nigeria and Bank of Agriculture Support Schemes.
Buhari, whose address was read by the Minister of State for Education, Anthony Anwuka, commended the management of the university for the infrastructural developments on the campus.
In his address, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof Joseph Ahaneku, said the 13th convocation of the institution was for the 2017/2018 academic year.
No fewer than 6,500 were conferred with first degrees; 182 received postgraduate diplomas while 763 were conferred with Master’s degrees and 269 got PhD degrees.
The Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, and Chief Emeka Offor were conferred with honorary doctorate degrees in science, politics and strategy and entrepreneurship, respectively.
The United States is deploying an amphibious assault ship and a Patriot missile battery to bolster an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers already sent to the Gulf, ratcheting up pressure Saturday on archfoe Iran.
In response to alleged threats from Iran, the USS Arlington, which transports marines, amphibious vehicles, conventional landing craft and rotary aircraft, and the Patriot air defence system will join the Abraham Lincoln carrier group, the Pentagon announced Friday.
The carrier and a B-52 bomber task force were ordered towards the Gulf, as Washington reiterated that intelligence reports suggested Iran was planning some sort of attack in the region.
CENTCOM, the US forces for the Middle East and Afghanistan, said Friday on Twitter that the B-52 bombers arrived at the area of operations on May 8, without saying where they had landed.
US President Donald Trump’s national security advisor John Bolton has said the deployment aimed to send a “clear and unmistakable” message to Iran about any attack against the US or its partners in the region.
Washington has not elaborated on the alleged threat, drawing criticism that it is overreacting and unnecessarily driving up tensions in the region.
There was no immediate reaction from Tehran on the latest US moves, but earlier in the week it shrugged off the carrier deployment.
“Bolton’s statement is a clumsy use of an out-of-date event for psychological warfare,” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council spokesman Keyvan Khosravi said.
Read Also: Iran announces partial departure from nuclear deal
The increasing tensions come as Tehran said Wednesday it had stopped respecting limits on its nuclear activities agreed under a 2015 deal with major powers.
Iran said it was responding to the sweeping unilateral sanctions that Washington has re-imposed since it quit the agreement one year ago, which have dealt a severe blow to the Iranian economy.
The Pentagon, for its part, said the deployments were “in response to indications of heightened Iranian readiness to conduct offensive operations against US forces and our interests”.
“The Department of Defence continues to closely monitor the activities of the Iranian regime, their military and proxies,” it said.
“The United States does not seek conflict with Iran, but we are postured and ready to defend US forces and interests in the region.”
Amid the rising tensions, Trump said Thursday he was open to talks with Tehran’s leadership.
“What I would like to see with Iran, I would like to see them call me,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
We don’t want them to have nuclear weapons – not much to ask,” he said.
In the latest of a series of escalating statements, however, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo the same day threatened a “swift and decisive” US response to any attack by Iran.
“Our restraint to this point should not be mistaken by Iran for a lack of resolve,” he said, adding however: “We do not seek war.”
In May last year, Trump pulled the United States out of an agreement aimed at curtailing Iran’s nuclear ambitions and reinstated unilateral economic sanctions.
On Wednesday, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would no longer implement parts of the deal and threatened to go further if the remaining members of the pact, including the European Union, failed to deliver sanctions relief to counterbalance Trump’s renewed assault on the Iranian economy within 60 days.
