GOVERNOR AMBODE MAY SACK EXECUTIVE SECRETARIES OF THE 57 LOCAL COUNCIL DEVELOPMENT AREAS IN LAGOS.

There are strong indications that the on-going restructuring and reforms in the Lagos State Civil Service will soon be extended to the 20 Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas, LCDAs in the state.Presently, the affairs of the councils are being managed by Executive secretaries appointed in the twilight of Governor Babatunde Fashola’s administration to replace the former chairmen after the expiration of their tenure, pending the conduct of fresh election. 

The implication of this is that the 57 executive secretaries may be replaced by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State in order to conduct a credible election into the offices, considering the fact that Ambode’s reforms have been characterized by several replacements of heads of ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs.

It is instructive to note that Ambode, at a recent public function, had pledged to embark on local government reforms with the aim of making the 57 councils more responsive to the needs of the people.

APC LEADERS ANGRY AS PRESIDENT BUHARI APPOINTS MORE NORTHERNERS.

There was an outrage in the ruling All Progressives Congress on Thursday over the announcement of new appointments by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Leaders of the APC, complained that the appointments tilted in favour of the North and said the party must move fast to cope with the backlash of expected rumblings in the polity.

“The President does not consult before making most of these appointments and I can tell you that Nigerians are going to term the party and the President as a northern party and the President of Northern Nigeria,” a leader of the party said to one of our correspondents late on Tuesday.

WE HID COCAINE IN CATERING SUPPLIES - ARIK AIR DRUG SMUGGLING ACCOMPLICE.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on Thursday said it had apprehended another employee of Arik Air, Ikechukwu Chibuzor Oliver, for his alleged involvement in the smuggling of 20kg cocaine to London on Monday.

According to the NDLEA, Oliver had confessed to the crime and had revealed that he charged N400,000 for each of the three bags containing the substance.

Oliver, Arik Air’s employee in the catering department, was said to have assisted Chika Egwu Udensi to get the cocaine onboard the London-bound Flight W3101 on which Udensi arrived in the UK on Monday night.

LETS'S BREAK THE CULTURE OF SILENCE ON RAPE. #SAYNOTORAPE.

Celebrated actress, Omoni Oboli, is one of the stars to watch in Code of Silence, a new film in which she plays the role of a lawyer and counsellor.

Among other themes, the movie dramatises the evils of rape, to which Oboli is calling the attention of everyone.

According to her, for the safety of the society, the culture of silence that has surrounded rape over the years must stop and everyone, whether they are men or women, should come together to fight the menace.

PRESIDENT BUHARI APPOINTS CHIEF OF STAFF & SSG.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Engr. Babachir David Lawal as Secretary to the Government  of the Federation.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, said this in a statement on Thursday.

He said the president also on Thursday approved the appointment of Alhaji Abba Kyari as Chief of Staff to the President.

SEE COMPLETE #UCLDRAW.

MAN WHO GOT BITTEN WHILE TRYING TO TAKE A SELFIE WITH A RATTLESNAKE MAY LOSE HAND AS HIS SKIN S ROTTING.

A Southern California man who picked up a rattlesnake to pose for a photograph was badly hurt when the reptile bit him on the hand.

Alex Gomez, 36, was bitten on Monday by the 4-foot rattler in a field at his family's ranch in Lake Elsinore, a community about 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles, according to TV station KCBS, which showed a picture of the man holding the snake around his neck.

Alex Gomez's mother, Deborah, told KCBS on Tuesday that her son might lose his hand because of the bite wound to the extremity. 

POLICE OFFICER CRUSHED BY TRAILER WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ARREST BUS DRIVER IN LAGOS.

A police officer attached to Orile Division died in a motor accident opposite Fatgbems Filling Station, along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway at about 9a.m., yesterday.

It was learned that the deceased, while attempting to apprehend a commercial bus (Danfo) driver, who was picking up passengers along the road, jumped into the moving bus with number plates KJA305XL.

The bus sped off, while trying to escape, and hit another car with number plates LND340DF. The sudden stop made the policeman, who was hanging on the bus, to fall.

NDLEA SEARCHES HOME OF ARIK AIR'S CREW WHO WAS ARRESTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING, DRILLS CO-WORKERS.

CHIKA EGWU UDENSI

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on Wednesday stormed and occupied the Lagos house of Chika Egwu Udensi, a crew member of the Arik Air flight W3101, who was arrested with 20 kilogrammes of cocaine at the London Heathrow Airport.

The NDLEA moved to the house after they had interrogated pilots and flight attendants of the flight that left the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos for London on Monday night. The interrogation lasted for several hours at the NDLEA head office in Lagos.

It was gathered that soon after the interrogation, the NDLEA moved to the suspect’s house in the Ejigbo area of Lagos State.

POLICE IG REDEPLOYS 37 COMMISSIONERS.

The Police Service Commission, PSC, has carried out a redeployment of Commissioners of Police of the 36 states of the federation and Federal Capital Territory, FCT. A statement from PSC said: “The Police Service Commission approved the deployment in line with Section 215 of the 1999 Constitution, which empowers the commission to appoint officers to states as Commissioners of Police, CP.”

Those affected in the deployment are Emmanuel Ojukwu, formerly Force Public Relations Officer, who has been deployed to Kogi State and Ikechukwu Nwodibo, formerly CP in charge of Legal Services, who has been posted to Taraba State.

Others are J. Habila, Abia State; Adejo Gabriel Adaji, Adamawa State; Muritala U. Mani, Akwa Ibom; Karma Hosea, Anambra; Mohammed K. Mohammed, Bauchi; P. Okafor, Bayelsa; Dibai P. Yakadi, Benue; J. Opadokun, Borno.

APC LAGOS IS ONE FAMILY - ASIWAJU BOLA TINUBU.

The past elections were an epic confrontation between two opposing political camps. Those who believed in the progressive governance of the people gathered under the banner of the APC. Those who harkened to the conservative elitism that had cast this nation downward for so many years held to the PDP.

The elections clearly showed the preference of the average Nigerian.  They chose the APC and rejected the PDP nationally and in Lagos state. Since the commanding victory of the APC in Lagos and all over Nigeria, the enemies of progressive governance have cleverly been at work, trying to regain through intrigue and subterfuge what they so openly and fairly lost in the elections.

Our political opponents now try to steal victory when their only entitlement is resounding defeat.

Having fared woefully with the electorate, their game plan is to sow discord within the ranks of the party people had chosen to lead them. The PDP hopes to strike division in the APC, in that way weakening us and our ability to govern.

LAGOS LANDLORD WHO SET HIS TENANT ABLAZE IS DEAD.

The Lagos landlord, Sola Solomon, who allegedly set his tenant ablaze in the Idumota area of the state, has died.

It was learnt from a police source on Wednesday that the suspect died from the burns injuries he sustained while setting fire to the tenant, Abeeb Daraloye.

Our correspondent had reported on Tuesday that Abeeb and his landlord had a disagreement over the use of the compound toilet.

THE HUNTER BECOMES THE HUNTED - PROBE OF LAMORDE, EFCC BOSS BEGINS.

The probe of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Lamorde, commenced as scheduled on Wednesday with his accuser telling the Senate that the EFCC boss gave out properties recovered from looters to siblings and friends.

George Uboh, the man who petitioned the Senate against alleged diversion of N1tn recovered funds by the Federal Government, in his oral submission before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, said that his interaction with ex-Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha showed that the amount recovered from the former governor was far more than what the EFCC declared in its reports.

“We have evidence of how Lamorde has been giving out some of the choice seized property and assets to some of his siblings, especially Usman, and we are ready to produce necessary evidence at the appropriate time,” Uboh told the Senate committee.

VIRGINIA KILLER IDENTIFIED, HE POSTED VIDEO OF KILLING ON SOCIAL MEDIA BEFORE COMMITING SUICIDE.

A man who was fired from his job as a television reporter two years ago took revenge against the small-town Virginia news station by executing two of his former coworkers on live television, and then posting disturbing first-person video of the attack on social media.

ORUBEBE IS CLOWN WHO IS AFRAID OF PROBE. - ADAMS OSHIOMHOLE.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State says former Minister of the Niger Delta, Mr Godsday Orubebe is afraid of President Muhammadu Buhari’s planned probe of several billions of naira squandered on the East-West road and on the Amnesty programme under his watch as Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs, adding that this is the basis for his latest outburst in the media.

The Governor in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Peter Okhiria said the incompetence of people like Orubebe contributed to the dismal failure of the administration of former president Goodluck Jonathan.

He said: “Our attention has been drawn to the latest outburst of one clown called Godsday Orubebe in his attempt to taint the image of the Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

ICONIC 9/11 SURVIVOR SUCCUMBS TO STOMACH CANCER, DIES AT 42.

It became one of the enduring images that helped symbolize an unfathomable disaster.

Marcy Borders - the woman who was photographed covered in ash and pulverized concrete as she fled the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 - died on Monday.

The 42-year-old mother-of-two, who became known as 'dust lady' because of the iconic photograph, succumbed to stomach cancer.

REPORTER & CAMERAMAN SHOT DEAD LIVE ON TV BY DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEE.

A disgruntled employee at a small Virginia news station is believed to be behind a deadly early morning shooting that was caught on live TV.

The unidentified gunman shot dead reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward as the two were conducting a live interview with Vicki Gardner, the local chamber of commerce director, at 6:45am. 

Suddenly eight shots ring out and screams are heard as the women duck down and the camera falls to the floor. The camera is still running as a person dressed in all black appears and aims a gun at Ward.

BOMB BLAST IN DAMATURU AGAIN!!! - TWO FEMALE BOMBERS DETONATE BOMB SIMULTANEOUSLY KILLING 7 & INJURING 26.

Two suspected female suicide bombers attacked a motorpark and Pompomari ward simultaneously in  Damaturu, the Yobe state capital, killing seven with over 26 others injured. 

Sources said, one of the suicide bombers, wearing a veil and pretending to be passenger, detonated her bomb at about 9:45am when security men manning the park had not commenced  routine check of people entering the park.

Meanwhile, the scene of the explosion has been condoned off by security men as as corpses and the enjured were taken to Sani Abacha Specialist hospital.

PAST ADMINISTRATIONS ALLOWED DECAY OF INFRASTRUCTURE IN OIL SECTOR & ENCOURAGED SUBSIDY FRAUD.

President  Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, accused past administrations of allowing the infrastruc-ture in the oil sector to collapse to enable their cronies steal by importing refined products.

The President, who made the accusation while speaking at a meeting with the Chairman and members of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, lamented “the current situation in which Nigeria is forced to spend billions of Naira annually on alleged subsidies for petroleum products.”

A statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, quoted the President as saying that “the escalation of petroleum subsidy payments over recent years was due to the deliberate neglect of the nation’s refineries, oil pipelines and other related infrastructure to allow the importation of petroleum products and corruption to thrive.”

FG SET TO SLASH SALARIES OF LAWMAKERS.

Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, Mr. Elias Mbam, disclosed yesterday that the Commission had started the process of trimming down the pay packages of the President, Senators, members of the House of Representatives, governors and all the elected public officials to reflect current economic realities. 

Speaking with journalists after meeting President Muhammadu Buhari,  the RMAFC Chairman said that no federal lawmaker received N1 million monthly as salary, adding that their salaries would be pruned down to reflect the current economy status.

Asked whether the parliamentarians would give a nod to the idea, the Chairman said it was a constitutional mandate, which no one should argue about.