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Governor Godwin Obaseki Says Plaintiffs failed to prove their allegations By Ikechukwu Nnochiri – Abuja Respite came the way of Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State on Saturday, as the Federal High Court in Abuja, dismissed the certificate forgery case the All Progressives Congress, APC, and one of its members, Mr. Williams Edobor, instituted against him. The court, in a judgment that was delivered by Justice Ahmed Mohammed, held that the Plaintiffs, failed to by way of credible evidence, discharge the burden of proof placed on them by the law. Justice Mohammed said there was no iota of evidence before the court to establish that Obaseki forged either his O’level certificate or the degree certificate that was awarded to him in 1979 by the University of Ibadan. He held that allegation of forgery the Plaintiffs levelled against Obaseki bordered on crime and therefore required to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. “It is quite known that he who alleges must prove. The bu

Congress has now certified President-elect Joe Biden's 2020 election victory, despite a chaotic and deadly scene that erupted after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol and delayed the proceedings. The joint session of Congress, which is normally a ceremonial step, was halted for several hours when rioters breached the Capitol. Proceedings resumed at about 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, with Vice President Mike Pence bringing the Senate session back into order. The Senate and House rejected objections to throw out Georgia and Pennsylvania's electoral votes for Biden. Republicans also objected to Arizona, Nevada and Michigan's electoral votes, but the motions failed before they reached debate. The Senate voted 93 to 6 to dismiss the objection raised by Republicans to Arizona's results, and 92 to 7 to reject the objection to Pennsylvania. These are the senators who voted to object to some of the results of the election (and the states they objected to): Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (Arizona,

The East Carolina University in the United States has denied appointing the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, as a visiting professor, saying the letter he received from a member of its faculty was unauthorised by the appropriate officials. Ganduje’s spokesperson, Abba Anwar, had on Tuesday said the governor’s appointment was contained in a letter sent to him by the school through a lecturer of the International Centre for IT and Development, Victor Mbarika, at the university’s College of Business on November 30. However, the university’s Interim Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr Grant Hayes, in a letter to Ganduje, dated December 4, 2020, titled ‘Re: Unavailability of Faculty Appointment,’ said, “I must inform you that that the letter you received from Dr Victor Mbarika on November 30, 2020 does not convey an authorised offer of appointment or establish any position of scholar or professor at East Carolina University.”

The Kano State Hisbah Board, which is tasked with the duty of enforcing Sharia law in Kano State, has written a letter to a radio station, in Kano State, 96.9 Cool FM, for using the term ‘Black Friday’. . Black Friday is an informal name for the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, which is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. The term is used worldwide to mean a day for promotional sales where goods are sold at discounted prices. . However, in a letter signed by Principal Executive Officer II, Abubakar Ali, on behalf of the Commander-General, Hisbah stated that Friday is regarded as a holy day in Islam and tagging it as ‘black’ is derogatory and would not be condoned. . The letter titled, ‘Letter of Introduction’ reads in part, “I am directed to write and notify you that the office is in receipt of a complaint for the conduct of ‘Black Friday Sales’ on November 27, 2020. . “Accordingly, we wish to express our concern on the tagging of Friday as ‘Black Frid

It’s the latest sign of the party’s lurch away from democratic ideals and practices, a shift that predates Trump but one that has accelerated precipitously since. Now, according to data released by an international team of political scientists just before the Nov. 3 election, it’s possible to quantify the extent to which the Republican Party no longer adheres to such principles as the commitment to free and fair elections with multiple parties, the respectful treatment of political opponents and the avoidance of violent rhetoric. “The Republican Party in the U.S. has retreated from upholding democratic norms in recent years,” said Anna Lührmann, a political scientist at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and a former member of the German parliament. “Its rhetoric is closer to authoritarian parties, such as AKP in Turkey and Fidesz in Hungary.” Lührmann is deputy director of the university’s V-Dem Institute, which compiled the data. For the project, researchers recruited more tha

The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, SMBLF, on Wednesday, warned that it will no longer allow a section of the country to play any supremacist role over others. The forum said this, in a communique, after an emergency meeting held in Abuja. The communique was signed by Chief EK Clark (PANDEF Leader), AVM Idongesit Nkanga, Chief Broderick Bozimo, Mr. Solomon Asemota (SAN), Senator Bassey Henshaw, Prof GG Darah and Chief T k O Okorotie. Others are Chief Ayo Adebanjo (for Afenifere Leader), Mr Yinka Odumakin, Senator Kofoworola Akerele-Buknor, Oba Oladipo Olaitan, Senator Femi Okunrounmu, Chief Supo Sonibare, Chief Demola Folarin, Dr. Akin Fapohunda. Chief John Nwodo (President General, Ohanaeze), Chief Guy Ikokwu, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, Mr. Chuks Muomah SAN, Mr. Mike Ahamba SAN, Mr. Madu Bright O Allwell, Chuks Achi-Okpaga, Chief Alex Ogbonnia. Dr. Pogu Bitrus (President, Middle Belt Forum), Air Commoder Dan Suleiman (retd), Dr. S D Gani, Elder Stephen Bangoji, Hon Jonathan Asak

President Muhammadu Buhari and former Minister of Finance and Coordinator of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, are meeting right now at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The former minister is one of two final leading contenders for the position of Director-General of the World Trade Organisation. Okonjo-Iweala and South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee had scaled the hurdles to the final stage on October 7, 2020. Okonjo-Iweala was cited going to meet with Buhari in company with the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Zubair Dada. THE WHISTLER learnt that the visit is most certainly in connection with the WTO election. Buhari has since backed Okonjo-Iweala, who served under the administrations of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former President Goodluck Jonathan, to clinch the plum job. She will probably speak with State House Correspondents after ending the session with Buhari Source: punchng.com

  An area of eastern Ghana has declared itself a sovereign state. The region known as Western Togoland has had secessionist attempts in the past. Armed men demanding the secession of Western Togoland from Ghana blockaded major entry points to the Volta region of Ghana on Friday morning. Local sources say the group are holding three police officers hostage, including a District Commander, and attacked two police stations. Prior to the blockade, the group reportedly broke into an armory and stole weapons. "This is a very serious situation because just few weeks ago we saw [what happened] when they mounted signs along the major roads welcoming people into the Western Togoland State," a local resident told DW. "Blocking the roads with heaps of sand, burning tyres [and ] even holding security personnel hostage." About 12 hours before Friday's dawn operation, the Western Togoland Restoration Front (WTRF) published photos of the graduation ceremony for around 500 perso

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), said on Thursday that his office had commenced talks over plans to establish special courts for rape and other sexual and gender-based violence cases. . He also said the Federal Ministry of Justice had started a review of relevant laws aimed at proposing relevant legislative changes to enhance preventive, investigative and counter-measures. . Malami, represented by the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr Dayo Apata (SAN), said this at a press conference jointly held with the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Mr. Tony Ojukwu. . The press conference focused on modalities for the eradication of rape and other sexual and gender-based violence in the country. . Malami said the talks over the establishment of the special courts to hear cases relating to the offences were being held with heads of various court

The National Examinations Council (NECO) has gotten a new Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, Professor Godswill Obioma. Professor Obioma’s appointment has been approved by President Muhammadu Buhari. In a letter dated 15th May 2020 with Reference No: FME/PS/396/C1/1/134 and signed by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, the letter stated that the appointment which is for an initial tenure of five years takes effect from 14th May 2020. In a statement signed by the Head of Information and Public Relations Division, Azeez Sani, the Registrar officially took over the affairs of the Council from the former Acting Registrar, Mallam Abubakar Gana on Friday, 22nd May 2020 at the Council’s headquarters in Minna. The new NECO Registrar is a Professor of Education Measurement and Evaluation and was a former Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council. Until his appointment as Registrar/CE of NECO, Prof. Obioma was the Ebony

A man by name Abdul Aziz Naibi celebrated 100 consecutive days president Buhari didn't travel to foreign countries.

The minister said this on Thursday, May 21, 2020, after the National Economic Council meeting. . She said, “The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has made an assessment. So, it is the NBS assessment that Nigeria will go into a recession measuring at an average of -4.4%. . “But with the work that the Economic Accessibility Committee is doing; bringing stimulus packages, we believe that we can reduce the impact of that recession. . “And if we applied all that have been proposed and we are able to implement it, we may end up with a recession that is -0.4 percent. In any case, we will go into recession but what we are trying to do is to make sure that it is shallow so that we will quickly come out of it come 2021.” . A country’s economy goes into recession when its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reduces for two consecutive quarters. . In her statement on Thursday, Ahmed suggested that Nigeria would slip into recession in the second quarter of 2020.

The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Maitama, Abuja, on Tuesday, struck out charges of resistance to arrest instituted against the former Kogi West Senator, Dino Melaye. . Justice Yusuf Halilu struck out the eight counts on the grounds of lack of diligent prosecution. . The judge made the order following the inability of the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to produce its sole proposed witness to testify on Tuesday. . Melaye was on January 22, 2019 arraigned before the judge by the Inspector-General on Police, who later handed over the case to the AGF office. . Melaye was arraigned on charges bordering on alleged conspiracy, resistance to arrest, failure to honour police invitation and intentionally giving false information to the public. . The police had alleged that the senator conspired with one Silas Omenka on December 28, 2018, to commit an offence of illegal obstruction to a lawful arrest, thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 97 of the Pe

The Senate on Tuesday asked the Federal Government to consider a comprehensive review of the power privatisation policy with a view to reversing the current arrangement. . The red chamber said Nigerians would not enjoy stable power supply in the next 10 years if the activities of the distribution companies were not reviewed and restructured. . The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, stated this on Tuesday after the Senate had considered and approved a motion by Senator Gabriel Suswan on the power sector recovery plan. . He said, “We gave power to them (power generation and distribution companies) and they still come to the public to ask for funds. . “I think it’s time for Nigeria to consider reversing the privatisation of the power sector or they should just cancel the entire privatisation process completely. . “If we leave it, we may not have power for another 10 years.” . Lawan said, “The privatisation of the power sector has, so far, not been successful. We expected efficienc

The managing director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Usman Gur Mohammed has been sacked. This development was announced via a statement issued by the Minister of Power, Mamman Sale, signed by his spokesman, Artimas Aaron on Tuesday evening. His replacement, Sule Abdulaziz, has been ordered to take over immediately. “As part of continuing measures to reposition and improve the performance of the Power Sector in the country, the Honorable Minister of Power Engr. Sale Mamman hereby announces major changes at the Transmission Company of Nigeria” “Accordingly, the Managing Director of the TCN, Usman Gur Mohammed has been removed from office with immediate effect. He is being replaced with Engr. Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, as Managing Director, in acting capacity.” It’s unclear the reason for the sack. Before joining TCN, Mohammed was the Principal Power Utility Transformation Specialist in the AfDB’s Nigeria Country Department