Years
Ghanaian fisherman sentenced for snatching ballot box
A 39-year-old fisherman has been sentenced to three months imprisonment for interfering in the just-ended elections at the Sene West constituency in the Bono East region. Christain Nukpeta who a resident of Tato Bator is reported to have snatched a Parliamentary ballot box at one of the polling stations in the area when the counting process was ongoing. He was subsequently pursued by some security personnel and arrested. But the retrieved ballot box was without the seal of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Appearing before the Techiman Circuit Court presided over by Justice Alexander Graham, the accused pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a fine of GH₵3, 600 and in default, serve a six months imprisonment term. In addition, the 39-year-old has been disqualified from voting for the next fi...
Appeal court upholds Brazil striker Robinho’s rape conviction
Veteran Brazil international striker Robinho on Thursday had a nine-year sentence for the rape of a young woman upheld by a court in Italy. Judges of the Milan Court of Appeal confirmed the sentence for both Robinho and one of his friends for group sexual violence dating back to January 2013. Robinho was playing for AC Milan at the time of the attack and was tried in absentia in November 2017. The pair were among a group of six men accused of taking part in the gang rape of a 22-year-old Albanian woman in a Milan nightclub. They were both ordered to jointly pay the woman damages of 60,000 euros ($ 73,000). The case against the four other accused has been suspended. Robinho, 36, who has denied the charges, has the right to again appeal the sentence within 90 days. Robinho was forced to pull...
NUC: Visitation panels to federal universities to be gazetted
The National Universities Commission (NUC) said the visitation panels to 38 federal universities and four Inter-University Centres recently approved by the President Muhammadu Buhari will be gazetted to enable the exercise to be carried out. The NUC Executive Secretary, Abubakar Rasheed, disclosed this in a statement by Ibrahim Yakasai, Director, Corporate Affairs, NUC in Abuja on Tuesday. The statement quoted the executive secretary as saying that the federal ministry of education was working with the justice ministry to ensure that the gazetting is done expeditiously. He said that as soon as the gazetting was done, the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, would inaugurate the panels after which they would proceed to their respective universities for the assignment. He explained that all f...
NASS bye-election: APC’s David Lyon calls for peace, hails INEC
The South-South representative at the National Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Chief David Lyon, has sued for peace over the outcome of the Bayelsa Central bye-election held on Saturday. Lyon, who commended the people for the peaceful conduct of the election, expressed satisfaction with the improvements by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in distributing sensitive and non-sensitive materials across the difficult creeks of his constituency. He called for unity among the people of the State, pointing out that elections provide the opportunity for people to freely choose their own candidate and equally afford the candidate the opportunity to canvas eligible votes in a free and fair manner. Lyon condemned situatio...
Rising crime in Lagos due to damage to police assets – LSSTF chief
The Executive Secretary/CEO Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), Mr Abdurrazaq Balogun, has blamed the rising crime across Lagos in the past weeks to the damage done to police assets and the number of lethal weapons in the possession of non-state actors. Balogun disclosed this during the 14th Town Hall Meeting on security, organised by the LSSTF, with the theme, “Lagos security: Resilience in the face of adversity,” held at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island. Balogun noted that an estimated 80 per cent of the operational vehicles used by the police in the last 13 years were donations from the LSSTF. Balogun observed that there was a decline in donations to the fund, which has been dismal compared to what it had received in the previous years, a challenge he attributed to the outbreak of...
Lagos by-election: Assemblyman advises INEC to improve on voter registration
Rotimi Abiru, a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, has advised INEC to improve on the voter registration exercise conducted in the country. Abiru, representing Shomolu Constituency 2, gave the advice in an interview with newsmen after he had voted at his Gbagada Ward, G PU030 during Saturday’s by-election. He said since the law permitted citizens that had attained 18 years to vote, then they would be disenfranchised if the exercise was conducted only every four years. The Assemblyman said the commission should conduct voter registration every year instead of the four years exercise to allow citizens that had attained voting age to vote. “INEC should step up the game in the area of voter registration. The process should be improved upon as it should not be a four-year periodic exe...
Governor Oyetola: Yoruba believe in unity of Nigeria
The Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, on Saturday said the Yoruba people are a nation of hospitable, accommodating and warm people who believe in the oneness of Nigeria. Oyetola, who fielded questions from international media organisations: BBC, Voice of America, DW News and Radio France, during the 29th edition of Owu International Conference, also lauded the Yoruba race for the role it is playing in fostering peace and unity in the nation. Commenting on the theme of the conference: “Harmony in Owu polity: A recipe for national unity,” Oyetola described the Yoruba race as a believer in the harmony and oneness of the nation, adding that the migration of other tribes to their territories and settlements is not an issue because they are accommodating and hospitable. Oyetola also comme...
Group dismisses Nigerian Army chief’s coup alarm as diversionary
A Coalition of elders under the auspices of Nigeria Elders for Peace and Good Governance (CONEPAGG), has accused the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, of raising false alarm about “imaginary” coup to divert the attention of Nigerians from the failings of the Service Chiefs. Buratai had while decorating the 39 newly promoted Major Generals, said he was aware that some Generals were being approached by politicians, warning that his eyes are on them. He vowed that the Nigerian Army will never tolerate any agent of destabilization bent on scuttling the current democratic dispensation. “Democracy has come to stay. We will not tolerate any agent of destabilization. The years of military misadventure in politics have never carried us anywhere. It is over,” Buratai had stresse...
Egyptian rights group head hopes release will help other prisoners
The head of a leading Egyptian human rights group who was held for two weeks on terrorism charges said Saturday he hoped the campaign to secure his release would help others still jailed on similar Allegations. Activists saw the detention last month of Gasser Abdel Razek, executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), and two of the group’s other staff, as the latest escalation of a broad crackdown on political dissent under President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. Egypt’s foreign ministry had said EIPR was operating illegally, an accusation the group denies. There has been no official statement from public prosecutors since Abdel Razek’s release, and officials could not be reached for comment. The arrests, which came after EIPR hosted a briefing on human rights for 13 s...
Ayo Fayose: President Buhari must account for $1 billion taken from excess crude account
Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose has queried President Muhammadu Buhari to account for the $1 billion withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) to battle insecurity in the country. However, newsmen found that the call may be superfluous as government rendered an account on 22 July. Oblivious of this, Fayose, in series of tweets appeared to suggest that the money had been wasted, because of the rising killings and kidnappings being witnessed on daily basis. “Nigerians should recall that I took a stand openly against withdrawal of the $1bn,” he said. According to Fayose, 30 months after the $1bn was released, Nigerians, including soldiers and FG officials were complaining of no arms and ammunition to combat insecurity in the country. “When in December 2017, FG took $1bn fro...
Nigerian governors to meet with President Buhari to address security challenges
Governors of the thirty six states under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF have resolved to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari to address the security challenges with continued cases of armed banditry, terrorism and kidnapping across the country. The governors are meeting with President Buhari especially to discuss last week’s gruesome beheading of about 43 Farmers in Zarbamari near Maiduguri, Borno State by Boko Haram Insurgents while they were working in their farmland without any form of resistance. The decision was part of the resolutions reached at the end of the 22nd NGF teleconference meeting. In a Communique signed by the NGF Chairman and Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said, ” Members of the forum resolved to meet with Mr. President as soon as possible to ad...
UEFA Nations League: France draw Belgium, Italy to face Spain in semi-finals
The draw for the UEFA Nations League finals has been conducted, with World Cup holders France set to square off against world number ones Belgium while hosts Italy face Spain next October. The European governing body rubber-stamped Milan and Turin as the cities set to welcome the second edition of the tournament’s showpiece last four event on Thursday, confirming that the Group 1A winners would be on home soil. Roberto Mancini’s Azzurri will welcome La Roja under the stewardship of Luis Enrique to San Siro on October 6, while Didier Deschamps’ Bleus will face Les Diables Rouges led by Roberto Martinez at Allianz Stadium a day later. The winners will then meet in Milan three days later on October 10, with the third-place play-off unfolding in Turin upon the same date. The second semi-final ...
