APC HUNTS VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

In preparation for the 2015 general elections, the opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC) has began its search is for the party’s vice presidential candidate right.

Popularly, it was assumed that former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, may get the presidential slot. In case this option fails, the incumbent Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, former Federal Capital Territory (FCT), minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido are slated for a replacement.

However, Governor Lamido has always maintained that he won’t leave People’s Democratic Party (PDP), as he is a founding father of the party. It was, however, learnt that the stakeholders who met behind the closed-door last weekend, have no mandate of the party or of any of the candidates being considered for the vice presidential slot, which was the highpoint of the parley.

GUNMEN KILL 30 AND BURN 40 HOUSES IN PLATEAU

No fewer than 30 people were reportedly killed and 25 others injured on Monday  when gunmen struck  at Shonong    in Bachit District of the Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State.

The latest round of killings came barely  12 days after  the burial of the acting heads  of   Shonong  and Attarkar, who were murdered on December 23. A correspondent gathered from eye-witnesses that apart from those killed, over 40 houses were torched by the gunmen believed to be Fulani cattle rearers . Also affected were domestic animals belonging to the villagers.

The attackers were said to have stormed the village around 7am on Monday  in a commando-like  manner, shooting sporadically. Those killed were caught in the pandemonium that followed staccato bursts of gunfire.

Shom Toma, one of the survivors, who is receiving treatment  at the Vom Christian Hospital, Jos, told journalists  that the attackers  numbering over 100  struck  at a time  most of the villagers had gone to their farms.

JONATHAN'S 11TH PRIVATE JET - THEOPHILUS ILEVBARE

The Presidency has made a proposal for an upfront depositof N1.5billion for a brand new private jet, which will become the Presidential Air Fleet’s (PAF) 11th aircraft. This figure is contained in the details of the 2014 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly by President Goodluck Jonathan through the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The Federal Government has budgeted another N1.52b for the maintenance of the 10 aircraft currently in the PAF in 2014 and it is now set to spend just about that amount on a new one. This prodigious squandering of taxpayers’ money is reckless and unacceptable.

The PAF already boasts two Falcon 7X jets, two Falcon 900 jets, Gulfstream 550, one Boeing 737 BBJ (Nigerian Air Force 001 or Eagle One), and Gulfstream IVSP. Others are one Gulfstream V, Cessna Citation 2 aircraft and Hawker Siddley 125-800 jet. The combined estimated value of the PAF is about $390.5m (N60.53bn). According to industry experts, it costs a minimum of 20 per cent of that figure to maintain them annually. So we’re looking at about $58.57m (N9.08bn) yearly for maintenance. Private jets are money guzzlers either in the air or on land.

The proclivity of this administration for frivolous spending is well documented.  The government has been severely criticised in the past for the colossal amount of embezzlement, rip-off and wastage that have been its hallmark. The rationale behind this new aircraft in the PAF must be condemned .

#STATEOFTHENATION - HIGH COURT BOMBED IN PORT-HACOURT

Ahoada East High Court in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State in southern Nigeria was razed today after a bomb explosion this morning. The bombers are yet to be identified.

The bombed court belongs to Justice C. N. Wali, the judge who on 16 December last year made an interim order barring Evans Bipi, a member of the House of Assembly, from parading himself as the speaker of the house.

Bipi has been a pretender for the position of Speaker of the Assembly, since an aborted attempt in November to unseat the authentic speaker, Amachree . Bipi leads a group of six members, compared to the 26 members in support of Amachree. According to reports from Port-Harcourt, the court was billed to continue the case today, when it was bombed.

JONATHAN'S WASTEFUL SPENDING ON PRESIDENTIAL AIRCRAFT FLEET

SOME of the details contained in the 2014 budget proposals of the Federal Government currently awaiting the approval of the National Assembly are as outrageous as they are disquieting. Those details have, as usual, exposed the government’s propensity for frivolities and plush living.

Global trends however suggest that public officials should scale down the cost of governance and roll back casual luxuries in public office. But President Goodluck Jonathan is again making a public statement of opulence in a country where the majority of the people live below the United Nations poverty threshold. It is obvious that what the government has succeeded in doing with the budget, as usual, is to use it to promote the ostentatious and wasteful lifestyle of government officials, while further impoverishing the Nigerian citizenry. When the government is not budgeting N2.2 billion for a “befitting banqueting hall in Aso Rock Villa,” as was the case last year, it is proposing N34.5 million for the feeding of lions in the Aso Rock Zoo.

$10.8BILLION CRUDE OIL MONEY IS NOT MISSING - NNPC

Dr Omar Ibrahim, General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has dismissed the claim that the sum of $10.8billion, out of the alleged unremitted $49.8 billion crude oil fund, was missing.

In a  statement released on Sunday in Abuja, Ibrahim, said that the issues surrounding the allegation of unremitted $49.8billion against the NNPC, had since been explained last December at a joint press conference by NNPC, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

“There was no where it was admitted by any of the parties in the course of the press conference, that the sum of $12billion or $10.8billion, out of the alleged unremitted $49.8billion, is missing,” the statement read. “The truth of the matter is that as at the time of the press conference, $30 billion of the alleged unremitted oil revenue, had been reconciled by all the parties involved.

FOOTBALL LEGEND EUSEBIO DIES AT 71.

 

Portuguese football legend Eusebio has died at the age of 71. The forward scored an incredible 473 goals in 440 matches for Benfica, the Portuguese giants with whom he spent most of his career and won the European Cup in 1962.

He also scored 41 goals in 64 appearances for the Portugal national team, helping them to third place in the 1966 World Cup in England - a tournament in which he was top goalscorer with nine goals. He memorably scored four goals in the 5-3 quarter-final win over North Korea at Goodison Park.

SACK STELLA ODUAH NOW!!!!!!!!

HAVING tried all the delay tricks in the book, President Goodluck Jonathan is now confronted with a choice: retain the Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, or sack her. The President’s body language and vacillation demonstrate unmistakeably that he prefers to keep the controversial minister. This is a tragic error of judgment and confirms to the whole world what many Nigerians already know: that Jonathan’s body language encourages corruption.

Indeed, most Nigerians believe that under the current administration, the war against corruption is virtually lost. Jonathan will only be confirming the view of critics by his continued waffling over Oduahgate. Surely, he does his credibility no good by retaining a minister that has been so tainted in a corruption scandal. Just two weeks ago, in response to an acerbic letter to him from a former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, which was leaked to the press, he pompously declared that he (Jonathan) was fighting corruption. “I have been strengthening the institutions established to fight corruption. I will not shield any government official or private individual involved in corruption…,” he declared.

OJB JEZREEL'S THREE WIVES AND EIGHT CHILDREN - TUFACE HAS A POTENT COMPETITOR

Next time you want to mention a father of many nations, please ensure Tuface Idibia is not alone in the list.  Just a  realistic joke though. Legendary music producer OJB JEZREEL survived a kidney disease few months ago after a successful surgery in india. Before his illness and miraculous recovery, Babatunde Okungbowa aka OJB Jezreel‘s family never came under the light. Sure, we were all aware he was legally married to three wives but other than his first wife Mabel, we never really knew who the others were or how many children they had for him.

NET investigations have revealed the music producer is blessed with eight children (yup, I guess we can all cut 2face Idibia some slack now). Our correspondent gathered that OJB is actively involved in the lives of his wives and children and they all seem happy with their husband.

The entire family was involved when he battled ill-health. And it was his eldest wife, Mabel, who eventually donated a kidney for the producer’s transplant.

OJB has three kids with his first wife Mabel, three with his second, Ama and two with his third, Korede.  All three ladies have a deep background in music and entertainment. Check out their family photos below

See pictures and details after the cut.........

FA CUP NEWS - MIKEL SCORES FOR CHELSEA WHILE MANCHESTER UNITED LOSE TO SWANSEA AT OLD TRAFFORD

A late Wilfried Bony goal gave Swansea their first ever win at Old Trafford as they knocked ten-man Manchester United out of the FA Cup with a 2-1 victory.

The away side got off to a fine start with Wayne Routledge opening the scoring after he produced an excellent chipped finish over Anders Lindegaard in goal. United were level just minutes later, however, through Javier Hernandez who managed to divert Alexander Buttner’s delivery past Gerhard Tremmel.

                                                           MANU 1 SWANSEA 2

Swansea gained the advantage in a tight second half after substitute Fabio was shown a red card for a high challenge on Jose Canas, before Bony scored the winner with a thumping header, getting on the end of Wayne Routledge’s cross.

#ALUU4 - STILL NO JUSTICE AFTER 15 MONTHS

One year and three months have passed since the gruesome murder of four (4) students of the University of Port-Hacourt by a deadly mob in the infamous village of ALUU.

The story remains the same...........NO JUSTICE.

RIP Ugonna Ibuzor!!! RIP Llyod Michael!!! RIP Tekena Elkanah!!! RIP Chidiaka Biringa!!!

FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS!!!!!!

(NEW VIDEO) - ELEDA MI - OLAMIDE (@OLAMIDE_YBNL)

ELEDA MI

CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO.

JONATHAN SEEKS N1.8BILLION TO FUND GHOST PROJECT

Investigative Journalism media outfit, Premium Times has revealed that President Goodluck Jonathan is asking the National Assembly to appropriate about N1.8 billion this year to help connect his home state of Bayelsa, to the national electricity grid, but this request suggests that federal officials only want to pocket the money.

PREMIUM TIMES investigations into the proposed project reveal that President Jonathan is asking money for projects that have been completed seven years ago, and that were all fully paid for in 2006 when he was the governor of the state.

In the 2014 Federal budget recently presented by the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to the National Assembly for consideration and approval, the government lists as priority, the need to connect the state to the national electricity transmission network, but this shocking blunder is drawing attention to the absence of project monitoring and evaluation principles in policy making under the current administration, and the shabbiness that attends to budget preparation.

SEVEN CORRUPT JUDGES SET TO BE PROSECUTED BY THE EFCC

The Supreme Court is set to meet on the cases of the 23 judges, who are being investigated over large scale corruption. This is just as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, moves in to take over the matter from where the council stops.

Information reaching us indicates that already the commission’s operatives had established enough evidence of corruption against seven of the affected judges and was ready to charge them to court any moment from now.

The Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, is reported to have visited the Chief Justice of Nigeria and given the assurance that the judges would be charged as soon as the NJC concluded its findings on them. The CJN had however asked the panels probing the judges to give them ‘fair hearing’ in the discharge of their assignment.

BURIAL RITES FOR PROFESSOR SOYINKA'S DAUGHTER ANNOUNCED

Iyetade Verity Soyinka, a daughter of Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka and Mrs. Olayide Soyinka, will be buried on Friday, January 10 in Ibadan, capital of Oyo State. The late Ms. Soyinka died on December 28, 2013 at theUniversity Teaching Hospital, Ibadan, after a brief illness. She was born on June 5, 1965.

In a statement released today, the Soyinka family stated that Iyetade’s death had brought “great sadness and an overwhelming sense of loss,” describing the deceased as their cherished daughter. The funeral statement disclosed that Ms. Soyinka is survived by two children, a daughter, Oreofe, and a son, Adeoto.

The late Iyetade “will be laid to rest on Friday January 10 in Ibadan, after the funeral service at the Chapel of Resurrection, University of Ibadan at 11a.m.,” the family’s statement revealed. It added, “A short service of songs will be held at 5 p.m. on Thursday 9 January.”

PAUL WALKER'S AUTOPSY REVEALS HORRIFIC DETAILS OF HIS TRAGIC DEATH

Paul Walker's autopsy results revealed a horrific list of injuries that led to the star's death as reported be DailyMail. According to a coroner's report released Friday, the actor's skin burned off, he suffered from multiple broken bones and a fractured jaw after his November 30 car crash in a California suburb. It was also revealed the driver of the Porsche Carrera GT carrying the Fast & Furious icon was going 100 mph.

Read previous post about his tragic death HERE, HERE, and HERE.

The 40-year-old could have taken a few breaths after impact as bits of soot were found in his trachea, the report states. The cause of death - which was already stated on his Death Certificate - was from 'combined effects of traumatic and thermal injuries.'

NORTH KOREA'S ECCENTRIC LEADER "KIM JONG UN" FED HIS UNCLE TO 120 STARVING DOGS

 

 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un executed his uncle and a handful of the man’s aides by feeding them to a horde of 120 starving dogs, according to a shocking (but unconfirmed) account.

Jang Song Thaek, the former No. 2 official in the secretive regime, was stripped naked and tossed into a cage along with his five closest aides.

“Then 120 hounds, starved for three days, were allowed to prey on them until they were completely eaten up. This is called ‘quan jue’, or execution by dogs,” according to the Straits Times of Singapore. The daily relied on a description of the execution in a Hong Kong newspaper that serves as the official mouthpiece of China’s government there. More established outlets in mainland China have not repeated the account.

WAR IN THE WORLD'S YOUNGEST NATION - SOUTH SUDAN

South Sudan's army battled rebel forces Thursday, a military spokesman said, as negotiators from the warring sides prepared to meet for talks aimed at ending the violence that has pushed the world's newest country toward civil war.

Having sent delegations to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, the government and rebels are under mounting pressure from African and Western powers to reach a deal to stop clashes that have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced more than 190,000.

But there is no sign of an end of hostilities just yet. Military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer said that military forces fought with rebels south of the flashpoint town of Bor, the scene of some of the heaviest fighting in the nearly three weeks of violence. He said the Sudan People's Liberation Army was trying to stop the rebels from advancing on the capital, Juba, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) away.

OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER APPOINTED AS CARDIFF CITY MANAGER

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer rescued Manchester United in 1999 to help the club win the Champions League, and he has now been charged with the task of saving Cardiff City from relegation into English football's second tier.

The 40-year-old Norwegian famously came off the substitutes' bench for United in Barcelona to score the winner in stoppage time, giving them a 2-1 victory against Bayern Munich -- a win that wrapped up the Treble for Alex Ferguson's men.

Cardiff's Malaysian owner Vincent Tan will be hoping Solskjaer, who has been given a 12-month rolling contract, can work similar magic for the struggling Welsh side after appointing the former Molde boss as Malky Mackay's successor on Thursday. Cardiff, who lost 2-0 to Arsenal on Wednesday, currently sit one point and one place above the English Premier League relegation zone.

Solskjaer, who attended the match at the Emirates Stadium alongside Tan, promised the Cardiff fans a positive brand of football. I'm really looking forward to the challenge ahead. I'm going to bring my energy and enthusiasm to the club," he told reporters. "I'm a very positive manager. I want to play a good style of football and yesterday [against Arsenal] we showed what a threat we can be."

WOMAN SLUMPS & DIES WHILE TESTIFYING IN CHURCH AT OWERRI

Tragedy struck in Umuogwuta, Ndegwu, Owerri West local council area of Imo State, as a lady who was giving her testimony during the New Year service suddenly collapsed and died.

A villager, who spoke to Vanguard on ground of anonymity, said: “The Lagos-based lady, Ifeoma Anozie, collapsed and died while giving her testimony inside Saint John’s Anglican Church, Ndegwu.”

Ifeoma returned to her country home not to only give testimony about her achievements in the passing year, but also felicitate with her kith and kin. “The lady had hardly commenced her testimony when she suddenly slumped and died in front of the officiating  cleric and left the congregation completely perplexed,” the villager said.

Speaking also on the issue, a woman who simply identified herself as Felicia, lamented that what ordinarily should have been a double celebration for the Anozie family suddenly turned sour. “The church service was designed to be a double celebration for the Anozie family. It, however, turned out to be a tragedy for the family, the church and Ndegwu community,” Felicia lamented.

The remains of the lady had been deposited in an undisclosed hospital morgue.