GOVERNOR "EL RUFAI" ORDERS IMMEDIATE CLOSURE OF 2 CHURCHES, SEMINARY & A CHURCH OWNED HOSPITAL.

Governor Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State has orderd the immediate closure of two churches, a seminary and a church-owned hospitals and secondary school all in Saminaka, Lere Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

He said the closure was to avoid the eruption of violence among factions of the congregations whose leaderships’ positions he described as, “principally to preserve their personal interests with little concern for the common good, and the peace and security of Kaduna State”.

A statement on behalf of the governor sign by his spokesman, Samuel Aruwan Wednesday in Kaduna named the affected bodies as: Theological Seminary of Northern Nigeria, (TSNN), Shalom Comprehensive College, Assemblies of God Church, AGC, Nmbare all in Saminaka. The rest are: Assemblies of God Church (Jerusalem) and AGC Evangelist Hospital, also in Saminaka:

NIGERIAN COLLEGES DO NOT TAKE SEXUAL HARASSMENT OFFENSES SERIOUSLY.

A recent study has shown that college authorities in Nigeria might be culpable in providing a conducive atmosphere for sexual harassment and bribery due to passiveness in vigorously curbing sexual harassment and bribery.

According to a survey conducted by Dream Project for Africa during Phase I of the “End Sexual Harassment and Bribery in Nigerian Colleges” campaign, only 8% of students believe that school authorities take sexual harassment offenses seriously. The respondents in the survey were mainly students of the University of Lagos campus, where one of the lecturers in the Accountancy Department, Dr. Akin Baruwa was alleged to have raped an 18-year old student.

#CCBvsSARAKI - SENATE PRESIDENT BUKOLA SARAKI SET TO BE ARRAIGNED ON FRIDAY.

Senate President Bukola Saraki is likely to be arraigned on Friday before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for alleged false assets declaration, it was learnt yesterday.

The office of the Attorney General of the Federation has filed a 13-count charge against Saraki. The charges were endorsed by Muslim Hassan, a deputy director in the Federal Ministry of Justice.

The allegations are under Section 2 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act. The offences are punishable under paragraph 9 of the fifth schedule of the Constitution.

FAMILIES OF SIX NIGERIANS WHO DIED IN THE SAUDI CRANE ACCIDENT TO GET N7OM EACH.

Families of the six Nigerian pilgrims who died in the last Friday’s crane collapse in Saudi Arabia’s grand Mosque will get N70 million each.

They will also be entitled to two Hajj slots each next year to be fully paid for by the Saudi government.

The custodian of the two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Tuesday ordered that top officials of the Saudi Binladin Group be banned from traveling outside the kingdom after the probe of the incident partially blamed the construction company for the crane crash.

The Saudi authority announced that families of each of the 111 people who died in the accident will be paid a compensation of  one million Saudi Riyals.One Saudi Riyal is the equivalent to N70.

READ ABOUT THE CRANE ACCIDENT HERE.

Saudi local newspaper, Arab News, reported that ‘King Salman ordered the payment of the following to the families of the victims: SR1,000,000 to the family of each person killed in this accident; SR1,000,000 to each injured whose injury resulted in permanent disability; SR500,000 to each of the other injured.”

According to the report, such payment would not deprive the families of the deceased and the injured from claiming for private right before the competent judicial authorities.

“The king also issued directives to host two family members of the deceased as the king’s guests to perform Hajj next year.

“The injured who cannot perform Hajj this year can perform it next year as the king’s guests. The families of the injured who stay in hospitals for treatment shall be granted visiting visas to take care of the injured during the remaining period of Hajj and return to their country,” the royal court said.

A royal court announcement published by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said the king is reviewing the report of the Accident Investigation Committee, which suggested negligence on the part of the Saudi Binladin Group, but concluded that it found an “absence of criminal suspicion.”

The report said “the main reason for the accident is the strong winds while the crane was in a wrong position.”

Apart from the 111 people who were killed, 331 others were injured when the giant crane being used in the expansion project at the Grand Mosque toppled and crashed into a portion of the mataf (circumambulation area) around the holy Ka’aba on Sept. 11.

The Nation

MINISTERS ARE JUST NOISE MAKERS - PRESIDENT BUHARI.

President Muhamadu Buhari will appoint his ministers before month’s end as he promised although he believes technocrats do much of the job.

In a 12-minute interview with France 24 Television during his state visit to France from where he returned yesterday, the President was quoted to have said: “The ministers are there to make a lot of noise; for the politicians to make a lot of noise. But the work is being done by the technocrats. They are there to provide the continuity, dig into the records and then guide us, [those of us] who are just coming in.

“I think this question of ministers is political. People from different constituencies want to see their people directly in government, and see what they can get out of it

WIFE OF SUN NEWSPAPER'S DEPUTY MD HAS BEEN FREED BY HER ABDUCTORS AFTER 2 DAYS IN KIDNAPPER'S DEN.

After spending two days in kidnappers’ den, the wife of The Sun’s Deputy Managing Director ( DMD ), Steve Nwosu, Toyin, was in the early hours of Thursday freed.

She was abandoned by her abductors at Festac First Gate, Amuwo Odofin, where the police recovered her at about 2:20am.

The heavily armed kidnappers had whisked her away from her Ago Palace residence in Okota on Monday at about 1:50am, with a speed boat, after robbing her family and two other houses.

NIGERIA ARMY ARRESTS 33 FOOD SUPPLIERS OF BOKO HARAM.

The Nigerian Army said on Wednesday that its soldiers had arrested 33 suppliers of foodstuffs to the members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect.

The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said in an electronic mail on Wednesday that the insurgents were arrested around Azir-Wazikoro in the Damboa axis of Borno State.

Usman said that the suspects were caught with large quantity of foodstuffs at Korode during intensive patrol carried out by the troops.

VANDALS KILL SEVEN DSS OPERATIVES, ESCAPE WITH THEIR CORPSE & GUNS.

Seven operatives of the Department of State Services had been reportedly killed in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.

The security operatives were reportedly killed in the Ishawo Road area of Ikorodu on Tuesday during an encounter with suspected pipeline vandals. It was learnt that the incident happened around 7pm on Tuesday.

Correspondents were told that the vandals, who were suspected to be Ijaw youths, made away with the dead operatives’ weapons after killing them.

(HIGHLIGHTS) Olympiakos 0 Bayern Munich 3.

OLYMPIAKOS 0 BAYERN MUNICH 3

(HIGHLIGHTS) Dinamo Zagreb 2 Arsenal 1.

Dinamo Zagreb  2 Arsenal 1

(HIGHLIGHTS) Chelsea 4 Maccabi Tel Aviv 0.

CHELSEA 4 MACCABI 0

NIGERIA ARMY CAPTURES & DE-RADICALISE OVER 200 BOKO HARAM FIGHTERS.

The Department of Civil Military Affairs at the Army Headquarters said on Wednesday that it had captured and de-radicalised over 200 Boko Haram insurgents in Adamawa.

The Commander, 28 Task Force Brigade, Mubi,  V O Ezugwu, a Brigadier-General, said this at the opening of a two-day sensitisation programme on de-radicalization held in Mubi, Adamawa.

“This Brigade has rescued and de-radicalised over 200 Boko Haram insurgents from November 2014 to date

14-YR-OLD MUSLIM STUDENT ARRESTED FOR TAKING HOME MADE CLOCK MISTAKEN FOR BOMB TO SCHOOL. #ISTANDWITHAHMED.

A 14-year-old Muslim boy was arrested after his teacher decided his homemade clock could be a bomb, prompting people to tweet they #IStandWithAhmed in solidarity with him.

Ahmed Mohamed, who enjoys making his own radios and go-karts, took the club to MacArthur High school in Irving, Texas on Monday.

A teacher raised concerns, prompting police to question him, search his things and march him from the school in handcuffs.

(DETAILS) FG FILES 13-COUNT CORRUPTION CHARGE AGAINST SENATE PRESIDENT BUKOLA SARAKI. (@BUKOLASARAKI).

The Code of Conduct Bureau has filed a thirteen-count corruption charge against Senate President, Dr Olusola Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

The charge was filed on September 11, 2015 Deputy Director in the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, M.S Hassan.

Among other charges, Saraki was accused of making false declaration of assets on assumption of office as Kwara State Governor in 2003.

Saraki was also accused of not declaring some assets he acquired while in office, acquiring assets beyond his official earnings and operating foreign accounts in contravention of the law as a public officer.

AMBODE VS FASHOLA - GOVERNOR AMBODE INDICTS FASHOLA ON N489.690BN 2015 BUDGET.

The frosty relationship between the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, and his predecessor, Babatunde Fashola, further degenerated yesterday as a letter indicting the previous administration of abysmal implementation of the 2015 budget was read on the floor of the state House of Assembly.

Ambode took over from Fashola on May 29, 2015.  He has, since then, cancelled some of the contracts and agreements entered into by the Fashola’s administration and also released indicting information about the amounts approved by the last administration for certain contracts.

The Government had posted information on the official website of the state’s Public Procurement Agency (PPA) http://www.lagosppa.gov.ng about the list of contracts awarded under the Fashola administration. The list stated that Fashola had spent N78.3 million on his personal website, http://www.tundefashola.com, in 2014, and another N139 million on the drilling of two boreholes at the Lagos House, Ikeja.

MORE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS FOR WIKE AS INEC CONFIRMS ONLY 293,072 VOTERS WERE ACCREDITED TO VOTE IN THE APRIL 11 GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION.

The Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja was on Tuesday told that a total of  293,072 voters were accredited to vote in the April 11 governorship election in the state.

A Staff of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mrs Abimbola Oladunjuoye, told the tribunal that the figure consisted of those whose  finger prints and Primary Voters Cards (PVC) passed or failed to register in the Card Readers that were deployed for the election. The figure is however, in  sharp contrast to figures released after the poll won by Governor Nyesom Wike with over 1.2 million votes.

The All Progressive Congress, candidate in the election, Dakuku Peterside had petitioned the Justice Suleiman Ambusar-led tribunal, challenging Wike’s victory.

OONI'S THRONE - GIESI RULING HOUSE COMMENCES SCREENING OF 17 CANDIDATES.

As the Osun State Government initiates the process for the selection of new Ooni of Ile-Ife, the Giesi Ruling House of Ile-Ife has set up another screening committee to verify all the 17 contenders that have shown interest to contest the vacant stool.

A reliable source on Tuesday informed  in Osogbo that the screening committee superseded the one earlier put in place to collate and ascertain the intention of all the candidates.

No fewer than 31 candidates had signified interest to occupy the stool before they were reduced to 17.

EFCC ARRAIGNS FOUR OVER N1.2BN PENSION SCAM.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday  arraigned four persons before an Abuja High Court for their involvement in an alleged pension scam running to the tune of N1.2 billion.

According to a statement signed by EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, the accused persons, allegedly smuggled fake names into the pensioners’ register when they were offered a biometric contract to regularise the names of pensioners on the pension payroll, by the former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Steve Oronsaye.

The four accused persons arraigned  before Justice Abubakar Talba on a 29-count charge bordering on conspiracy, and obtaining by false pretence, allegedly smuggled in the names of fake pensioners, and collected unearned pensions.

According to the statement: “The four accused persons - Ibrahim Ahmed Mazangari, Muhammed Sani Sulaiman, Hajia Fatima Mazangari and Saleh Yerima Tsojon, were alleged to have obtained N1.2 billion from the federal government by false pretence and with intent to defraud, purporting same to be monthly pension payable to M. S. Suleiman, Saleh Yerima Tsojon, Isah U. Adamu, Daniel Mikano, and Abdulahi Garba Musa who were falsely held out at pensioners of the federal government, by inserting their names in the pensioners’ payroll.”

Uwujaren added that the alleged fraud involved two companies, which are Xangee Technologies Limited and Century Construction Company Limited.

FACING AFRICA'S DEEPENING POVERTY.

Africa’s poverty situation was put on the front burner when Nigeria’s Akinwumi Adesina was sworn in as the new President of African Development Bank in Abidjan, early this month. Lack of critical infrastructure, such as electricity, denies most economies on the continent the badly needed productive base for sustainable growth and development. This is a serious challenge the AfDB boss has pledged to confront from five priority areas: electricity, food production, economic integration, industrialisation and improvement in the quality of life.

According to him, electricity is the most significant because of its multiplier effect. Unfortunately, power is not available to two-thirds of Africa and this explains why the International Energy Agency says that additional $450 billion investment is required in the power sector to, at least, reduce the problem by 50 per cent, and make every urban dweller have access to power by 2040. It is this consciousness that propelled Adesina to pledge: “We must light up and power Africa…Energy is the engine that powers.”

TREASURY SINGLE ACCOUNT - BANKS MOVE N1.2TN INTO CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA.

Banks were, yesterday, busy with the transfer of an estimated N1.2 trillion of public sector funds to the Central Bank of Nigeria in compliance with the Federal Government directive on Treasury  Single Account, TSA.

As the deadline for the implementation of the  Treasury Single Account for MDAs closed, yesterday, Nigerian banks were sorting out accounts of MDAs the CBN circulated among banks to identify which of the accounts was domiciled in their banks.

As a result, there was no trading between banks. According to , banks made no bids on the inter-bank money market yesterday as they were engaged on how to comply with the directive to transfer government revenues into a single account with the Central Bank.