Citizen
Nigeria ratifies membership of AfCFTA
The Federal Executive Council, FEC, on Wednesday ratified Nigeria’s membership of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, as the implementation of the agreement formally takes-off on January 1, 2021. This is as the Council has approved N62.7 billion for the construction of Kano-Dawakin-Tofa-Gwarzo-Dariyo road in Kano. Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the 23rd virtual FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said whereas the implementation of the agreement was initially scheduled to commence in July, this year, the plan was stalled by the spread of COVID-19. Alhaji Mohammed, who briefed on behalf of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Inves...
US election: Donald Trump’s action disgraceful – Pennsylvania governor
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has condemned a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump’s campaign to stop the counting of ballots in the State. Trump’s campaign had filed a lawsuit to stop vote counting in Pennsylvania. Also Trump’s campaign demanded recount of votes in Wisconsin. Democrat governor Wolf, reacting during a press conference, described the action as against the basic principles of democracy and disgraceful. He vowed that the people of Pennsylvania will fight to ensure all votes are counted and there is a free and fair election. Wolf said: “This afternoon, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit to stop the counting of ballots in Pennsylvania. “That is simply wrong. It goes against the most basic principles of our democracy. It takes away the right of every American citizen to cast...
APC says it won’t trade words with PDP on national security
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that it will not trade words with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in its plot to score selfish and insensitive political gains from issues of national security. Mr Yekini Nabena, the APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, said this in a statement on Monday in Abuja. The statement is in reaction to recent comments by the PDP on the swift operation by the United States to rescue its citizens held hostage by some bandits in Nigeria. The PDP, in an earlier statement by Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, its National Publicity Secretary, said that the development confirmed that the APC-led Federal Government could not secure the territorial integrity of the country. He also said that the development further confirms that the Buhari-led admi...
South African main opposition party elects new leader
South Africa’s largest opposition party on Sunday elected John Steenhuisen as their leader, who vowed to take the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) to greater heights after a slump in electoral support. Steenhuisen, who has acted as interim party leader since its first black leader Mmusi Maimane quit over a year ago, has also served as party chief whip in parliament. The triumph will see him lead the DA in the 2024 presidential elections against the ruling African National Congress (ANC). In his acceptance speech, Steenhuisen said under his leadership “people power” would be the order of the day, promising to “fight to give power and opportunities to every law-abiding, honest and hard-working citizen, regardless of their background”. Securing a whopping 80 per cent of the historic virt...
Saudi wounds guard at French consulate in knife attack
A Saudi citizen has wounded a guard in a knife attack at the French consulate in Jeddah on Thursday, state media and the French embassy said. “The assailant was apprehended by Saudi security forces immediately after the attack. The guard was taken to hospital and his life is not in danger,” the embassy said in a statement. Police in Mecca province, where Jeddah is situated, said the attacker was a Saudi, but it did not give the nationality of the guard, who they said had sustained minor injuries. The French embassy in Riyadh strongly condemned the attack and urged its nationals in Saudi Arabia to exercise “extreme vigilance”. Neither the Saudi authorities nor the French embassy gave any indication of the motivation for the attack. The assault came after a suspect in France, also armed with...
#EndSARS: HURIWA charges President Buhari to set up assets recovery panel
Foremost rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has condemned what it called the silence of President Muhammadu Buhari over protests against operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, a unit of the Nigeria Police Force, in the past two weeks. The group in a statement issued by its national coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, on Thursday, claimed that “certain ethno-religious extremists have been paid by some government officials to stoke the embers of ethno–religious division to graphically paint the #EndSARS movements with ethnic and religious colourations.” The statement noted that youths of the country are angry “because the elders who have had access to public offices and those wielding political powers have continuously feasted on the comm...
Premier: India set to mass produce COVID-19 vaccine, launches digital health mission
India is ready to mass produce COVID-19 vaccines when scientists give the go-ahead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day speech on Saturday. Modi made the revelation while also launching a national project to roll out health identities for each citizen. In annual celebrations, held at the 17th-century Red Fort and scaled down due to the pandemic, Modi identified health and economic self-reliance as the key priorities for his government. “Not one, not two, as many as three coronavirus vaccines are being tested in India,’’ he said from the ramparts of the red sandstone palace in the old quarters of Delhi. He was wearing a flowing orange and white turban and covering his mouth and nose with a scarf of the same colours whenever anyone came close to him at the ceremony. “Al...
France arrests globally wanted darknet child porn suspect
French police have arrested a man wanted internationally for managing child porn sites on the darknet, Bordeaux Prosecutor Frederique Porterie said on Monday. The 40-year-old French citizen was “one of 10 global priority targets,” and had enabled thousands of people to access child pornography, Porterie alleged. The man had admitted the alleged offences when held for questioning after his arrest last week, she said. French police had been cooperating with EU policing agency EUROPOL on the case. He was placed under formal investigation on charges of distributing and possessing child pornography, incestuous rape, and incestuous sexual assault on a child aged less than 15, and remanded in custody. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Da...
Presidency: Ibrahim Magu’s probe shows anti-corruption fight is real
The Presidency on Saturday said those who hold the belief that the ongoing investigation of the suspended acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, is an indication of the administration’s failing anti-corruption fight have missed the point. It said rather, the development was a further proof that the fight is real and active. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said this in a statement titled “Presidency’s statement on the suspension of Mr Ibrahim Magu.” This is the first time the Presidency will react officially since Magu’s travails started on Monday when he was arrested and brought before the Justice Ayo Salami-led presidential panel. The statement read, “Those who see Magu’s investigation, as a signal ...
