Home » Today » Page 11

Today

CSOs threaten to occupy National Assembly over Electoral Act amendment

A coalition of Civil Society Organisations has threatened to occupy the National Assembly after Ramadan fasting, if the lawmakers fail to pass the Bill for an amendment of the Electoral Act. The CSOs which include Center For Liberty, Concerned Nigeria, The Electoral Hub, and Raising New Voices Initiative, issued the threat at a joint news conference on Thursday in Abuja. The Co-convener, Centre for Liberty, Mr Dare Ariyo-Atoye, who read the joint speech of the CSOs, said they were worried that the 9th National Assembly was yet to pass the bill. According to him the passage of the bill could have given them lasting legacies and written their names in gold. Ariyo-Atoye said that in the last 15 months, CSOs had consistently engaged lawmakers and appealed to the NASS to make the passage of a n...

PDP zonal congress: We’re out to put our best forward – Oyo governor

Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has declared that the South-West Zonal Congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) holding in Osogbo, Osun State, is an opportunity for the geo-political zone to put its best people forward. The governor, who was speaking at the venue of the zonal congress, said that the future will be brighter for the party if it gets things right at the congress. Addressing the Press just before the commencement of the congress, inside the WOCDIF Centre, Osogbo, Osun State, the governor said that the South-West Zonal Congress has implications for the PDP at the national level, stating that the congress will help put the best people in place, who would in turn help the party at the national level. A statement by the Special Assistant (Print Media) to Governor Makinde,...

South-West PDP congress: Seyi Makinde, Ayo Fayose’s groups fight over 756 delegates

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and a former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, are to test their popularity with 756 delegates that will elect officials of the Peoples Democratic Party in the South-West on Monday. While Makinde is backing a former Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Taofeek Arapaja, for the position of chairman, Fayose is mobilising for Dr Eddy Olafeso. Olafeso, who is from Ondo State, is a former occupant of the office. He resigned to contest the party’s governorship ticket in the last Ondo State election, which he lost to Eyitayo Jegede (SAN). Makinde had wanted the congress to hold in Ibadan, but the Fayose faction wanted it in another venue, saying the Oyo State capital was not safe for it and its supporters. However, two days ago, the National Working Committee of...

NNPC to partner Borno government to establish gas power plant

The Group Managing Director, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Alhaji Mele Kyari has said that the corporation will partner with Borno State Government to establish a Gas Power Plant following the vandalization of the national grid by insurgents which put the state almost three months into total blackout. Kyari who led a powerful delegation on a courtesy call on Governor Babagana Umara Zulum on Friday said, the Federal Government will not fold its arms and neglect the state which is been ravaged by insurgents, especially cut off from the national grid, as power is a source of income to the teaming people of the state. “We are here with my colleagues, the Head of Gas and Power Business, Engineer Yusuf Usman, Representatives of Greensville Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), which is a...

Kano NLC suspends planned strike

The organised labour has suspended the three-day warning strike it planned to commence today (Thursday) in Kano over the deduction of workers salary for the month of March by the state government. The NLC Deputy National President, Najeem Yasin, announced the suspension of the strike on Wednesday night at a joint news conference with other labour movement and affiliates in Kano after a meeting with the State government team led by the Head of Civil Service, Hajia Binta Lawan Ahmed. The NLC had last week given a seven-day ultimatum to the state government to refund and stop what it described as “illegal deduction” from civil servant salaries or face industrial action. Similarly, the labour leaders insisted that failure of the government to stop the “unexplained” deduction before the end of ...

U.K. to open first LGBT+ retirement home as market grows

Britain’s first LGBT+ retirement home is set to open in mid-2021, the housing association behind the London riverside apartments said, highlighting a growing market of older people who do not want to be forced back in the closet. There is a critical need for housing for older LGBT+ people, said Anna Kear, Chief Executive of Tonic Housing, as many say it would be “terrifying” to live in a predominantly straight home where other residents did not accept them. “People say that if they get to that stage, they would rather (die by) suicide than go into a heterosexual care home or sheltered housing environment, which is just awful,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. With an ageing population, the demand for specialist housing for older people is growing, with private retirement units acco...

Gunmen abduct APC caretaker committee chairman in Rivers

The Rivers Chapter of the APC has announced the abduction of Hiasine Wiye, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of APC in Khana Local Government area of the State. He was kidnapped in his residence on on Sunday evening, according to the party in a statement issued in Port Harcourt by its Spokesman, Ogbonna Nwuke. He expressed dismay at the abduction of a grassroots member of the party. The party said the abduction of Wiye without any trace confirmed the claim that even ordinary citizens resident in Rivers State are not safe. “The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the APC in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State was snatched on Sunday from his home by unknown persons. “We have been briefed that he was taken into captivity at a time when well meaning people were celebrating the resurrection ...

Ex-governor’s daughter: Why I had two abortions

Tito, daughter of former Oyo State Governor, Rashidi Ladoja, has disclosed on her Twitter page that she had two abortions and dealt with the shame for a long time. The ex-Governor’s daughter said this in a series of tweets on her Twitter handle. Tito, who is married to singer, Bez Idakula, stated that she had the abortions because she thought those were the only options available to her at the time. But when she was eventually ready to have kids and suffered a miscarriage, she said she thought it was God punishing her for her past. However, she said she was wrong because she didn’t understand the salvation she has in Christ. She explained that Christ’s death and resurrection took away the shame and guilt and advised those dealing with shame to look to Christ for redemption. She further sai...

Anambra governor: I will not abandon families of slain policemen

Governor of Anambra state, Willie Obiano, has assured the families of the policemen killed during an attack on Prof Charles Soludo that government would not abandon them. Obiano gave the assurance on Easter Sunday at a statewide broadcast to address the violent attacks in the state. “To the families of the slain Police officers, my heart once again, goes out to you. I share in your grief and mourn with you. While I pray for the repose of the souls of the deceased, please be assured that the State Government will not abandon you” he said . He prayed that the spirit of the season would permeate their hearts and engender love, peace and tranquility in their daily lives, now and in the future. The yet to be identified gunmen had on 31st of March 2021 invaded a town hall meeting at Isuofia with...

Yinka Odumakin: Premature departure of a bright star – Senator Tinubu

Like millions of Nigerians, I received with profound shock the news of the death early this morning of Mr. Yinka Odumakin, spokesman of Afenifere, committed fighter for democracy, dedicated civil society activist, courageous and outspoken defender of whatever ideals and principles he believed in and a patriotic citizen in every sense of the word. Ever since his student days, Odumakin had been fearless and unrelenting in speaking up in promoting the cause of justice and what he perceived as the best interest of the citizens of Nigeria. He participated actively at the forefront in the various students and youth struggles against successive military dictatorships in the 1980s and 1990s. In the process, he was arrested, harassed and even detained several times. Yet, he never allowed himself to...