EFCC FILES 7-COUNT CRIMINAL CHARGE AGAINST OLISA METUH.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, yesterday, preferred seven-count criminal charge against detained National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Olisa Metuh

Metuh and his firm, Destra Investment Limited, were charged before the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court over alleged N400 million fraud.

The charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/05/2016, was signed by the Assistant Director, Legal & Prosecution Department of the EFCC, Mr. Sylvanus Tahir.

DAMMY KRANE APOLOGIZES TO HIS FANS FOR CALLING WIZKID A THIEF.

Dammy Krane has apologized to his fans for calling Wizkid a thief few days ago.

See screenshots after the cut.

LASSA FEVER - MEDICAL DOCTOR IN RIVERS STATE DIES OF LASSA FEVER

A medical doctor with Rivers State-owned Braithwait Memorial Specialist Hospital, BMH, Dr. Livy Ijamala, has died from Lassa Fever, bringing to three the number of people killed by the disease in the state.

Chairman of the state branch of Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Dr. Furo Green, disclosed this yesterday in Port Harcourt, saying the late doctor, Ijamala, who died in the early hours of yesterday from the ailment, had contact with patients infected with Lassa Fever.

Dr. Furo added that the late medical doctor had been buried in line with recommendations of World Health Organization, WHO, for deaths from contagious diseases.

COURT ORDERS ARREST OF TOMPOLO FOR SHUNNING COURT SUMMONS OVER N34BN FRAUD.

Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the arrest of an ex-Niger Delta militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, for his failure to appear before him on Thursday to answer 30 counts of alleged N34bn fraud.

The judge issued a bench warrant against Tompolo and ordered that he must be produced in court on February 8, 2016 by all means to answer the charges.

The EFCC has charged Tompolo and a former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Patrick Akpobolokemi, alongside eight others.

#MISSINGBUDGET - CONTROVERSY DEEPENS.

The Senate on Thursday accused the executive of smuggling copies of a doctored version of the 2016 Appropriation Bill into the upper chamber of the National Assembly.

The Senate stated this while discussing the report of its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, which it set up to investigate the alleged disappearance of the budget.

The Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, after a two-hour executive session with his colleagues, explained that the upper chamber deliberated extensively on the report of the committee behind closed doors.

PRESIDENT BUHARI ORDERS FRESH INVESTIGATION INTO ABDUCTION OF CHIBOK GIRLS.

Almost two years after their abduction, President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday ordered a fresh investigation into the case of the 219 schoolgirls seized from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.

This was contained in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu.

He quoted the President as announcing this while meeting parents of the abducted girls, representatives of the Chibok community and members of the Bring Back Our Girls movement at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

OSCARS 2016 FULL LIST OF NOMINATIONS.

Best picture

The Martian

The Revenant

Room

Bridge of Spies

Spotlight

The Big Short

Brooklyn

Mad Max: Fury Road

ARSENAL COMPLETES £7.4M ELNENY MOVE FROM BASEL. #ElnenySigns.

Arsenal have completed the signing of the midfielder Mohamed Elneny from Basel in a €10m (£7.4m) move.

The 23-year-old passed a medical at Arsenal at the end of last year but completion of the transfer was delayed while a work permit was attained.

Arsenal’s manager, Arsène Wenger, has said that Elneny could be in contention to make his debut in Sunday’s Premier League match at Stoke City.

AT LEAST SEVEN KILLED IN INDONESIA TERROR ATTACK.

A series of explosions and gunfire have rocked the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on Thursday afternoon, with reports suggesting at least seven people have been killed.

Police say a suicide bomber was responsible for one of the explosions, while the other blasts were caused by men on motorbikes throwing grenades.

At least three police officers and four civilians were killed by the blasts that went off at a Starbucks cafe, the Sarinah shopping mall, and United Nations offices in central Jakarta. Three other bombs went off in the Cikni, Silpi and Kuningan neighbourhoods, near the Turkish and Pakistani embassies.

I AM NOT AT WAR WITH THE EXECUTIVE ARM OF GOVERNMENT OVBER NON-COMPLIANCE WITH COURT ORDERS - CJN.

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, said, last night, that he was not at war with President Muhammadu Buhari or any agency of government over the purported non-compliance with court orders freeing suspects of the arms scandal who were granted bail by judges.

A top source in the judiciary said last night, that contrary to claims in certain quarters that the CJN was furious with Buhari for allowing EFCC to ignore court orders freeing the Dasukigate suspects, Mohammed had nothing to do with the issue.

The top official noted that though there were concerns among judges that some of their orders had not been carried out to the letter by some government agencies, there was also fury in the judiciary that many judges had aided and abetted top government officials to loot the treasury with impunity through frivolous orders and injunctions which were against the interest of the country and its people.

EFCC ARRAIGNS TOMPOLO AND AKPOBOLOKEMI OVER N13BN FRAUD.

TOMPOLO

A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered an ex-Niger Delta militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, to unconditionally appear before it on Thursday (today) to answer 40 counts of alleged N13bn fraud levelled against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Tompolo had been charged on Tuesday with amended 40 counts of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering alongside an ex-Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Patrick Akpobolokemi.

Justice Ibrahim Buba granted the order to compel Tompolo’s appearance in chambers on Tuesday shortly after the amended charges were filed in court.

#MISSINGBUDGET - SENATE PANEL QUIZZES FIVE CHAMBER WORKERS.

The Senate Joint Committee investigating the alleged disappearance of the 2016 budget document from the upper chamber on Wednesday quizzed five members of staff of the National Assembly.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, and another member of the committee, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, told one our correspondents that five senior civil servants had been questioned over the issue.

Investigations revealed that some senior employees in the offices of the Clerk to the National Assembly, Clerk to the Senate, Senate Leader, Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate) and Rules and Business, were quizzed.

POLICE SERVICE COMMISION BARS OFFICERS FROM CARRYING UMBRELLAS AND HANDBAGS OF VIPs.

The Police Service Commission has warned police officers on escort duty with Very Important Persons to desist from carrying their handbags and umbrellas, describing it as an insult to the Nigeria Police Force.

The commission also said it would henceforth arrest police operatives on illegal escort duty, adding that its workers would soon be deployed in airports and on the highways to apprehend errant policemen.

The Chairman of the commission, Chief Mike Okiro, who said this at a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja, said it was an insult to the police uniform for cops to engage in “domestic duty” or carry handbags for VIPs.

(HIGHLIGHTS) Chelsea 2 Wba 2.

CHE 2 WBA 2

(HIGHLIGHTS) LIVERPOOL 3 ARSENAL 3.

LIV 3 ARS 3

LASSA FEVER - DEATH TOLL FROM 93 SUSPECTED CASES RISES TO 41.

The Federal Government disclosed, yesterday, that Lassa fever has claimed 41 lives from 93 reported cases in 10 states of the country even as the Senate has summoned the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, over the outbreak of the disease.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Federal Government, last Friday, put the death toll at 40 out of 86 reported cases of Lassa fever outbreak in same 10 states. The number of the suspected cases also rose from 86 last week to 93.

Adewole, who confirmed this in Abuja, yesterday, at a joint ministerial news conference on the update of the outbreak of the disease, however, said there were no new confirmed cases or death in the last 48 hours.

SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS 12 IN CAMEROON MOSQUE ATTACK.

At least 12 people have been murdered in a suicide bomb attack in a mosque in northern Cameroon.

The attack which occurred in the  early hours of Wednesday has been linked to the deadly militant group Boko Haram which has its roots in Nigeria.

According to Cameroon officials, the attack took place at 5:40am in a mosque at Kouyape. Thirteen people have been confirmed dead, including the suicide bomber who was identified as a man.

Since the group commenced its campaign of violence in 2009, about 20,000 people have been killed while more than 2 million have been displaced from their homes.

APPEAL COURT'S CONFLICTING JUDGEMENTS IN ELECTION PETITIONS.

In every constitutional democracy, the judiciary is one of the major pillars that sustains its principles and tenets. It is an embodiment of equity,fairness,justice and rule of law. Without the judiciary which is regarded as the last hope of the aggrieved,law and order will stand on their heads. It is against this backdrop that justice must not only be done by the institution but must be seen by all to have been done.

Until the amendments of the Electoral Act 2010,it was only the presidential election petition that got to the Supreme Court. Perhaps,the perceived injustice some of the petitions suffered partly informed the amendments. Hence,governorship election petitions in particular,no longer terminate at the Court of Appeal. The apex court is the final arbiter.

OJUKWU'S NIECE AND THREE OTHERS ARRESTED OVER IMPORTATION OF 2.24KG OF COCAINE.

IJEOMA OJUKWU

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) yesterday arrested Ijeoma Ojukwu, a niece to late politician, Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu and three others just as the anti-graft agency quizzed one of its staff over the importation of 2.24 kilogrammes of cocaine from Brazil.

In a statement issued in Lagos, spokesman for NDLEA, Mr. Ofoyeju Mitchell said “The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) is currently interrogating one of its operatives over alleged conspiracy to import cocaine from Brazil. The investigation which commenced after an abandoned luggage from Brazil was found to contain 2.24kg of cocaine at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos had already led to the arrest of five suspects.

Those being interrogated include Ali Bala Adamu, a staff of the NDLEA, Ijeoma Ojukwu, a niece to late politician, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and three others Victor Umeh, Uche Igwelo and Egbuche Fidelis Osiita.

COURT REFUSES TO BAR TROUBLED MTN FROM MOVING FUNDS ABROAD.

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Tuesday declined making an order to stop MTN Nigeria Communications Limited from moving its funds in 21 Nigerian banks out of the country.

The mareva application had been filed to prevent MTN from boycotting the payment of the N1.04tn fine imposed on it by the Nigerian Communications Commission for its failure to deactivate its unregistered subscribers.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), who filed the application on Tuesday, expressed the fear that MTN could move all its funds out of the country before the N1.04tn fine could be enforced.