REPS REDUCES AGE OF QUALIFICATION FOR PRESIDENCY, GOVERNOR AND SENATE TO 30.

The Bill seeking to reduce the age qualifications for interested candidates to contest for the positions of President, governor and senate in the country to 30 years yesterday passed second reading in the House of Representatives. 

The bill, which also makes provision for independent candidacy into the country’s electoral process, further reduces the age qualifications to contest for the House of Representatives and State Houses of Assembly to 25 years. 

The Bill is an alteration of section 65, 106, 131 and 177 of the 1999 constitution which had prescribed qualification into the office of President to 40 years and above, office of governors and senate, 35 years and above as well as House of Representatives and state Houses of Assembly to 25 years and above. 

MUSLIM YOUTHS IN KADUNA STAB CHRISTIAN MAN FOR NOT FASTING.

A Christian man, Francis Emmanuel, on Wednesday narrowly escaped death as a gang of six youths, believed to be Muslims, armed with daggers stabbed him severally at a restaurant in Kakuri, Kaduna. 

They accused him for not fasting. Tension flared after the incident as the man was rushed to St. Gerald Catholic Hospital about a kilometre from Sokoto Street, Kakuri, where the incident happened. Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, on learning about the development rushed to the hospital and greeted the victim and promised he would get the culprits to face justice. 

ELEGUSHI BEACH TRAGEDY - POLICE ARREST 2 BEACH MANAGERS OVER DEATH OF 2 UNILAG STUDENTS.

The Lagos State Police Command says it has arrested two managers of the Elegushi Beach in Ajah where two postgraduate students of the University of Lagos drowned on Sunday during their friend’s birthday.

The command, however, declined to disclose the names of the suspects, adding that it was on the trail of some other members of the management to investigate their complicity in the incident.

It was reported that the deceased Adesola Ogunmefun and 25-year-old Funmi Odusina  were having fun with their friend, Bolu, on the beach when they were submerged by strong tides, which swept them into the Atlantic Ocean.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SET TO BEGIN RECRUITMENT OF TEACHERS.

The recruitment of the 500,000 teachers promised by President Muhammadu Buhari in his Democracy Day speech starts on Sunday.

According to a statement on Wednesday by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, the recruitment would be done online.

Akande said the 500,000 Teacher Corps, nicknamed N-Power Teach on the portal, was one of the three direct job creation and training schemes Nigerians could start applying for from Sunday.

SHOCKING - FORMER SUPER EAGLES CAPTAIN AND COACH STEPHEN KESHI "THE BIG BOSS" DIES OF CARDIAC ARREST.

One of the most iconic captains of the Nigerian national football team, the Super Eagles, and former coach of the team, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, is dead, his family has announced. He was 54.

Emmanuel Ado a brother to the late coach said the 54-year-old died of Cardiac arrest in the early hours of Wednesday, June 8.

“With thanksgiving to God, the Ogbuenyi Fredrick Keshi family of Illah in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State, announces the death of Mr. Stephen Okechukwu Chinedu Keshi,” Mr. Ado said in a statement.

LAWYER SUE LINDA IKEJI FOR DAMAGES IN THE SUM OF N50M ONLY.

A Lagos-based Lawyer Olumide Babalola has dragged the popular celebrity blogger, Linda Ikeji before the Lagos High Court for several reliefs bordering on unauthorized and offensive use of picture.

In Suit No. LD/3265MFHR/2016 before Hon. Justice O.H. Oshodi, the lawyer sued the blogger for damages in the sum of N50, 000,000 (Fifty Million Naira) for the unauthorized use of his picture on her blog for crime-related stories which he claimed has subjected him to mental and psychological torture in violation of his constitutional right to dignity of human person and freedom from degrading treatment.

NIGERIA MAY REVISIT LAW ON GAY MARRIAGE - GOODLUCK JONATHAN.

Nigeria may revisit a law that banned same-sex marriages, former President Goodluck Jonathan.

“When it comes to equality, we must all have the same rights as Nigerian citizens,” Jonathan said at a forum at Bloomberg’s European headquarters in London on Monday.

Jonathan in 2014 signed a law criminalizing same-sex marriages, gay groups and public displays of affection by homosexuals. The decision triggered condemnation by religious leaders, human rights groups and Western governments.

“In the light of deepening debates for all Nigerians and other citizens of the world to be treated equally and without discrimination, and with the clear knowledge that the issue of sexual orientation is still evolving, the nation may at the appropriate time revisit the law,” Jonathan said.

Source - Bloomberg

TEN MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN PRESIDENT BUHARI'S GOVERNMENT.

In June 2015 shortly after he was inaugurated, President Muhammadu Buhari travelled to South Africa and used the opportunity to meet with Nigerians resident in that country.

During the interactive session, the septuagenarian Nigerian leader did not mince words in saying that his age would limit his performance as the president of the country. “I wish I became Head of State when I was a governor. Now at 72, there is a limit to what I can do,” he had said.

It however seems Buhari has found a way round the limitations imposed by age.

POLICE ARREST ALFA FOR ABDUCTING AND RAPING CHARMED 24-YR-OLD DUBAI RETURNEE WHO FOR FIVE MONTHS. #SAYNOTORAPE.

The police in Ogun State have rescued a 24-year-old Dubai returnee from the custody of an Islamic cleric five months after he allegedly abducted her from the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Ikeja, Lagos State.

The suspect, Olalekan Anifowoshe, aka Alfa, was said to have kept the victim, Simbiat (pseudonym), in his rented apartment in the Atan-Ota area of the state and allegedly had sex with her during the period.

A Good Samaritan, who saw her sometime in May, was said to have informed her family and the case was reported at the Onipanu Police Division, leading to Alfa’s arrest.

INDIAN COURT FINDS FIVE MEN GUILTY OF GANG-RAPING DANISH TOURIST IN 2014. #SAYNOTORAPE.

An Indian court has found five men guilty of gang-raping a Danish tourist at knifepoint in New Delhi.

The 52-year-old got lost on the way back to her hotel in January 2014, and stopped to ask a group of men for directions.

But the men she asked for help instead lured her to a secluded area, where she was raped over a three-hour period, robbed and abandoned.

PRESIDENT BUHARI HEADS TO LONDON FOR 10 DAYS REST AND MEDICAL TREATMENT.

President Muhammadu Buhari will today travel to London for 10 days to seek medical attention and take a rest, his verified Twitter handle announced, yesterday. The President’s verified Twitter handle, @NGRPresident, tweeted yesterday, “During the holiday, the President will see an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist for a persistent ear infection. 

President Muhammadu Buhari “The President was examined by his personal physician and an E.N.T Specialist in Abuja and was treated.  Both Nigerian doctors recommended further evaluation purely as a precaution. 

SENATE PRESIDENT BUKOLA SARAKI LOSES N12M TO BURGLARS AT HIS ILORIN HOME.

The President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, said yesterday that he lost N12 million to burglars in his Ilorin, Kwara State home. News of the robbery was first revealed by an online news portal, which alleged that N300 million mysteriously disappeared from the Senate President’s bedroom. The online news medium claimed the alleged N300 million was provided by the Kwara State government and was in different foreign currencies. The money was reportedly meant to serve as Ramadan handout to be distributed by the Senate President to supporters. 

BELLO DEFEATS FALEKE AT ELECTION TRIBUNAL.

FALEKE                                                           BELLO

James Faleke, running mate to the late Abubakar Audu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 21, 2015 election, has lost his bid to unseat Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi state. 

The Kogi State governorship election tribunal, sitting in Abuja, upheld the election of Governor Yahaya Bello as the duly elected governor of Kogi State. The three-man tribunal led by Justice Halima Mohammed held that Faleke lacked locus standi to challenge Bello’s election having never been sponsored by his party, the APC, as a governorship candidate in both the November 21, 2015 election and the December 6, 2015 supplementary poll. 

The Chairman of the Tribunal, Halima Mohammed, who read the judgment in the petition filed by a member of the House of Representatives, James Faleke, threw away the petition for lacking in merit.  

Vanguard

TRIBUTES POUR IN FOR LATE BOXING CHAMPION MUHAMMAD ALI WHO DIED AT 74.

Muhammad Ali, the former world heavyweight champion whose boxing feats, showmanship and political activism made him one of the best-known figures of the 20th century, died on Friday aged 74.

Ali, who had long suffered from Parkinson's syndrome which impaired his speech and made the once-graceful athlete almost a prisoner in his own body, died a day after he was admitted to a Phoenix-area hospital with a respiratory ailment.

His youthful proclamation of himself as "the greatest" rang true until the end for the millions of people worldwide, who admired him for his courage both inside and outside the ring.

CONFLICTING REPORTS ABOUT HEALTH STATUS OF FORMER BOXING WORLD CHAMPION MUHAMMAD ALI AS HIS FAMILY PREPARE FOR THE WORST.

The former heavyweight world champion Muhammad Ali remained in hospital on Friday, for treatment of a respiratory problem.

The Associated Press reported that the hospitalization was more serious than Ali’s previous hospital stays, though this could not be confirmed.

Other reports said the boxer’s family had gathered at the hospital and were “prepared for the worst”.

ANGRY MUSLIM YOUTHS BEHEAD IGBO WOMAN IN KANO OVER ALLEGED BLASPHEMY. CC @POLICENG @MBUHARI @PROFOSINBAJO.

Angry Muslims youths in Kano on Thursday evening decapitated an Igbo woman trader named Bridget Patience a native of Orodo, Mbaitoli, Imo State, over allegations that she blasphemed Prophet Muhammad. 

The victim, who was said to be of Igbo extraction was accused of blasphemy during a religious argument at Wambai market. 

The woman, who sells plastics at the local market was in the company of her husband when she was murdered.

BLOODBATH AS MILITANTS AMBUSH SOLDIERS IN DELTA STATE.

Two soldiers and six civilians have reportedly been killed on Wednesday’s night attack on soldiers’ houseboat around a creek close to Omadino/Idjere junction in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State.

Information gathered reveals that the incident occurred between the hours of 7pm and 8pm on Wednesday.

Investigations reveal that the militants struck when some of the soldiers deployed to safe-guard oil facilities had gone on a routine patrol.

ECOBANK SACKS 1040 WORKERS.

The gale of job losses being witnessed in the country due to the current economic hardship has caught up with Ecobank Nigeria, which has sacked over 1,040 of its employees.

It was reported on Tuesday that Diamond Bank Plc sacked over 200 members of its workforce, while FBN Holdings, the parent company of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, recently said it would prune the number of its employees by 1,000.

Investigations by our correspondents revealed that the affected staff members of Ecobank included full time and contract workers.

DETAILS OF PETITION BY BASELINE RECORDS AGAINST SKALES AND HIS MANAGER OSAGIE.

Earlier today, a petition issued by Skales‘ record label, Baseline Music against his manager, Osagie of Metal Entertainment surfaced online after which she was invited to the police station for questioning.

GAME OF THRONES IS TAKING LEGAL ACTION AGAINST PORNHUB FOR BREACH OF COPYRIGHT.

The makers of Game of Thrones are taking action against Pornhub over breach of copyright. HBO says it's because some scenes from the show have appeared on the site.

Some other videos even include parodies of porn stars pretending to be characters such as Cersei Lannister and Lord Varys from Game of Thrones.

In a statement, HBO said: "HBO is aware of the issue and is in the process of getting material taken down from Pornhub."