Algeria Lifts 2019 AFCON Cup, Defeats Senegal 1-0

July 19, 2019

Algeria’s players celebrate their winning goal during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFP)

Algeria have emerged champions by lifting the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 1-0 victory over Senegal.

Baghdad Bounedjah scored a freak goal in the 3rd minute when his shot took a huge deflection off a Senegalese player and looped in for Algeria.

Details shortly…

Buhari Approves Recruitment Of 5,000 Personnel For Drug Law Enforcement

Greenbarge Reporters

July 19, 2019

Officials of Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, inspecting some seized drugs

The Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), retired Colone Muhammad Abdallah has confirmed that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved recruitment of 5,000 personnel for the agency to boost its manpower.

Abdallah, who spoke today, July 19 at the Public Destruction of Drug Exhibits by Taraba Command of NDLEA in Jalingo, said that the gesture would go a long way in improving operations of the agency on campaign against drug addiction in Nigeria.

He said that increased consumption of illicit drugs among the youths in Taraba was worrisome, appealing to families to brace up to their responsibilities.

According to Abdallah, effective drug prevention must involve positive engagement of children, youths and adults with their families, schools, workplace and community.

He commended Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba for his support to the agency in addressing drug problems in the state even as he also commended Mrs. Anna Darius, wife of the governor, for giving great impetus to the war against drug abuse in the state.

The chairman said that the provision of Hope Afresh Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), managed by the wife of the governor for sensitization against drug abuse is a great boost to anti-drug abuse campaign.

Acting Commander of NDLEA in the state, Peter Odaudu, had said that the agency had assembled seven tonnes (6,963.80 kilogrammes) of deadly weeds and psychotropic substances for destruction.

Odaudu said that the exhibits were seized between January, 2003 and December, 2018.

He listed some of the illicit drugs assembled for destruction as Cannabis Sativa, Diazepam, Rophynol, Cough syrups with codeine and Tramadol.

According to him, a court order for their destruction has been duly obtained, even as he commended other security agencies in the state for their cooperation in the success recorded by the NDLEA.

Stakeholders Challenge APC In Court Over Proposed Indirect Primary In Kogi

Editorial staff

July 19, 2019

Some stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State have dragged the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to court challenging the adoption of indirect primary for a candidate in the August 29 primary.

In the Originating Summons filed today, July 19 by their lawyer, Oluwole Aladedoye, at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the plaintiffs are asking the court to halt the indirect primary proposed in the primary by the NWC.

The plaintiffs, who are members of Haddy Ametuo-led faction of the party in the state, are the Ex-officio, Destiny Eneojoh Aromeh; Organising Secretary, Isah Abubakar; Zonal Youth Leader, Noah Aku, and Zonal Women Leader, Mrs. Joy Onu.

Ametuo had earlier withdrawn from the case filed by the faction against the state Executive Committee, chaired by Abdullahi Bello and loyal to Governor Yahya Bello. The case pending before Justice Okon Abang of an Abuja Federal High Court is to determine which faction of the party is the genuine executive.

The stakeholders in the notification of the suit sent to the National Legal Adviser, Babatunde Ogala, prayed him to advise the party on the need to respect court processes and halt any action on the proposed indirect mode of the primary.

Among issues formulated for determination are whether having regard to the pendency of suit filed by Haddy Ametuo, Salam Adejoh (suing for themselves and on behalf of other members) of the SEC elected on May 19, 2018, the APC can adopt the indirect primary mode.

Whether the involvement of persons claiming to be members of the Kogi SEC during the pendency of the suit in the nomination of the governorship candidate would not amount to interference with the judicial process and run against the principle of subjudice which would render the outcome of such primary illegal, null and void.

Whether the defendant can ignore the suit which seeks to determine the authentic members of the Kogi SEC, who constitute the delegates by adopting the indirect mode of the primary.

Whether it is not an act of disrespect for judicial processes for the defendant to adopt the indirect mode of primary in nominating its governorship candidate having been made a party to the suit, which seeks to determine the authentic members of the Kogi SEC, who will constitute the bulk of the delegates to participate in the indirect primary mode for the nomination of the governorship candidate.

Source: Punch

Buhari Has No Hand In El-Zakzaky’s Case, Won’t Ask Court To Stop It – Presidency

Editorial staff

July 19, 2019

The Presidency has made it clear that President Muhammadu Buhari has no hand in the court trial of the leader of the Shiites, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and will not interfere in the case.

The Presidency asked members of the sect therefore, to desist from needless violent street protests but to rather await for the decision of the court in Kaduna where their leader is currently being tried.

In a statement today, July 19, the senior special assistant to the President on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu stressed that as far as this country’s Ministry of Justice is concerned, the case involving El-Zakzaky is no longer in its domain.

“The Federal Government no more has hands in the matter and to that extent, the government at the centre can be said to be clear of any alleged violations of court orders as being trumpeted every day.”

Garba Shehu made it clear that the rallies and street dances which members of the sects have consistently carried out, sepecially in Abuja, the nation’s Federal Capital during which they engaged in open insult on the President and other leaders, threatening bloodshed will lead nowhere.

“President Buhari will not ask the country’s judiciary to abandon due process and set a suspect free. At the same time, the administration is determined to enforce the decision of the court clearly issued. The Buhari administration has absolutely no hand in the on-going court case and the courts are free to determine the bail request and the final outcome.

“The mentality that you are above the law and that your own rights are superior to other people’s rights is unacceptable.

“You can’t be provoking other citizens by interfering with their own rights on public roads and disrupting their businesses and call it democratic freedom. In democratic traditions, their rights end where the rights of others begin.

“Law abiding citizens must avoid deliberate lawlessness. It is not within the rights of any group to enter protected public institutions such as the National Assembly by force to attack police and destroy public and private property.

“It is always advisable to embrace dialogue and eschew violence in all our actions so that we can continue to live together in peace.

“We therefore appeal to the Shiite group to stop deliberate provocations that result in violence and fatalities and allow the trial of El-ZakZaky to take its course.”

The Presidential spokesman asked El-ZakZaky’s supporters to focus on his trial in Kaduna court “instead of causing daily damages, disruptions and public nuisance in Abuja.

“It is wrong to be in court and resort to violence at the same time in order to get justice for anybody accused.

“The destruction of public property in the name of protest is not within the right of this group of Shiite members and no government anywhere would have tolerated a situation where any group would take over public roads in cities as they have done in Abuja and interfere with the rights of other citizens who are prevented from reaching their destinations.

“We imagine a situation where families are taking their loved ones to hospital for emergency treatment and they are held up needlessly by the protesters. No government anywhere in the world would turn a blind eye to this unlawful behavior.

Atiku’s Witness Confesses He Never Saw INEC Server; 62 Witnesses Testified Instead Of 400

Editorial staff

July 19, 2019

Osita Chidoka, who appeared as the chief witness for the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has confessed before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal that he had never seen the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) server.

This was even as the PDP and Atiku ended their testimony today, July 19 with only 62 witnesses appearing in the Tribunal to testify, as against the party’s promise to present 400 witnesses.

Former Aviation Minister under ex-President Goodluck Jonathan administration, Osita Chidoka, on Friday

Chidoka served as Aviation minister in the regime of President Goodluck Jonathan, testified as the petitioners’ 62nd and last witness at the tribunal. He served as the PDP’s collation agent at the National Collation Centre for the February 23, 2019 presidential election.

In his evidence, Chidoka told the tribunal that INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, had consistently told them about the server and also acknowledged its existence during the collation of the presidential election

He said that he served as the head of the PDP’s situation room in Abuja where he was during the election receiving reports from party’s agent.

Under cross-examination by INEC’s lawyer, Yunus Usman (SAN), Chidoka said: “I have not seen the server but INEC consistently told us of the server and the INEC Chairman at the national collation of results of the election acknowledged the existence of the server.”

He acknowledged that the collation was done manually.

In his testimony, the petitioners’ 60th witness, Joseph Gbenga, an expert witness admitted before the tribunal that he had not been certified.

Gbenga, an Industrial Chemistry graduate from the University of Ilorin, described himself as a database analyst and designer who was engaged by the petitioners to analyse the results of the presidential poll in 11 out of the 36 states of the federation.

But when asked under cross-examination by counsel for INEC, Usman (SAN), if he had been certified to carry out the type of job he did for the petitioners, Gbenga said: “I have undergone training but I have not been certified.”

He said under cross-examination that he carried out his analysis through the inspection of result sheets from 11 states.

The witness said that he could not get the certified true copies for Zamfara State, and had to rely on the pink duplicate copies.

He did not give the full list of the 11 states whose results he analysed even as he said that he was not mindful of whether the petitioners won or lost in the 11 states.

“I am not aware that the petitioners conceded defeat in eight of the 11 states.

“If I applied my mind to whether or not the petitioners won or lost, I would not be able to come up with a professional and an unbiased report.”

But it was the immediate-past Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige, that threw the court into laughter while cracking jokes on the claim by the petitioners on alleged existence of INEC server.

Ngige who attended the proceedings of the tribunal for the second time had walked up to a group of SANs having a chat within the courtroom.

This was shortly after, the Justice Mohammed Garba-led tribunal of five judges went on break.

They were joined by the PDP’s Vice- Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who had succeeded Ngige as the governor of Anambra State.

After the exchange of greetings, Ngige held Obi by his hands and walked him up to where a heap of documents produced in court by INEC at the instance of the petitioners was lying.

On getting to the point, just some few steps from where they were standing, Ngige held Obi by the shoulder with one hand and lowered his other arm pointing to the heap of documents, and said, “These are from my server.”

The whole courtroom burst into laughter.

Obi, too could not hold back laughter as the ex-minister continued holding him by the shoulder, with both seeming to out laugh each other.

Meanwhile, the five-man tribunal led by Justice Mohammed Garba adjourned till July 29, for the 1st respondent, the Independent National Electoral Commission to open its defence.

The PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Friday rested their case after calling only 62 out of the 400 they had proposed to call to prove their petition challenging President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory at the February 23, 2019 election.

The petitioners’ lawyer, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), announced the close of their case after the 62nd petitioners’ witness, Osita Chidoka, testified on Friday.

How Illicit Financial Outflows Encourage Terrorists, Criminals, Others – NIA Boss

Editorial staff

July 18, 2019

The Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ambassador Ahmed Rufai Abubakar has said that apart from its direct harm to the economies of Africa, Illicit Financial Outflows have been responsible for facilitating clandestine financing of terrorist organizations, criminal ventures, and other subversive activities.

He said that Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) have been migrating into Africa to join other criminal networks engaged in all kinds of trafficking drugs and arms, kidnapping for ransom and banditry.

“They continuously seek out alternative funding for their despicable activities. These criminals have links with individuals and non-state actors around the world. All these activities threaten our fundamental existence and undermine our development efforts.”

Ambassador Ahmed Rufai spoke today, July 18, at the opening of the 16^th Conference of the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services (CISSA) in Abuja, Nigeria.

The NIA Director General said that as a direct threat to internal stability, Illicit Financial Outflows allow unscrupulous individuals to amass fortunes, which are then used to undermine the state and its institutions, intimidate citizens, manipulate public opinion, create and sustain a never-ending cycle of violence driven by propaganda, hate speech and other divisive rhetoric. “Illicit outflows from Africa, therefore, constitute an existential threat to the continent, which no amount of foreign assistance can undo.”

Ambassador Ahmed Rufai said that putting an end to Illict Financial Outflows and several other security challenges is daunting, but that “it is a task that we can and must do. We are all aware of why CISSA came into being – to assist the African Union (AU) and its institutions in effectively addressing the security challenges confronting our continent.

The reason is as valid today as it was in 2004. 14. The Thabo MBEKI-led African Union High Level Panel on Ilicit Financial Flows from Africa commissioned in 2011, as well as the appointment in 2018 of President Muhammadu BUHARI by his counterparts to give impetus to the African Union’s fight against corruption, is an indication of a strong political commitment from our leaders to address these related challenges.

“Our organization, CISSA, is uniquely placed to strengthen and support this resolve, to serve as the nexus between information, solutions, actions and feedback. In this connection, I cannot overemphasize the importance of timely and robust intelligence support for policy formulation and decision making.

“The magnitude of the problem calls for stronger determination and cooperation among us as well as creative and new ideas in order to find innovative solutions to long-standing issues. “Towards this end, we need to streamline regional and continental collaboration as well as harness national strategies to combat trans-national problems.”

Kogi Gov Orders Full Payment Of Local Govt Workers

July 18, 2019

The Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has ordered the payment of full salaries to the workers of local government areas in the state.

The state Chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria, Alhaji Taufiq Isa, who spoke to news men yesterday, July 17, said that the governor had given the order since last week.

The local government workers in the state had on Tuesday issued a five-day ultimatum to the state government to comply with NFIU directives on payment of full salaries to local government workers.

Taufiq Isa said that the clarification became necessary in view of the rumour making the rounds that Administrators, Directors of Local Government and Treasurers had been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission for refusing to effect 100 percent salary payments against the directives of the Nigeria Financial Intelligent Units that local government workers salaries should be accorded top priority.

Taufiq Isa, who is also the administrator of Ijumu LGA, said ALGON was not aware of the invitation by the EFCC or the arrest of any official of the state and described the speculation as nothing but fallacy which should be disregarded.

He called on workers in the 21 local government areas to be patient as it was not possible for any director or treasurer to flout the order.

Make No Mistake About It, I’m Committed To Freedom Of Religion – President Buhari

Editorial staff

July 18, 2019

President Muhammadu Buhari has once more swore that he is committed to the freedom of religion in Nigeria.

He made it clear that apart from constitutional guarantee for the freedom of religion, he is personally committed to the idea of every citizen being free to practice any religion of his or her choice, saying that under no circumstance will any religion or faith be imposed on the nation.

President Buhari spoke through a statement by the senior special assistant on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in a statement today, July 18, while congratulating Imam Abubakar Abdullahi of Nigeria, who received the International Religious Freedom Award conferred him by the U.S. Department of State.

The President said that Imam Abubakar well-deserved the honour, recalling that the recognition bestowed on the 83-year old Muslim cleric is towering and befitting for the patriot who risked his own life and that of his family on June 23, 2018 to save the lives of hundreds of Christians, fleeing from attacks by suspected bandits in Yelwan Gidin Akwati, Swei and Nghar villages in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State.

“Like Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said, on May 30, 2019 at the State House Abuja when he received the Imam, the Village Head, Damafulul Mangai; community leaders and a delegation from the US, UK and European Union, the cleric ‘‘has done so much to promote peace by his singular act than most politicians could do and deserve all the commendation and high honour.’’

President Buhari expressed delight that a Nigerian national has written his name in gold in the international arena and his deeds will resonate wherever and whenever there are discussions on religious tolerance, cordiality between Christians and Muslims in the country and around the world.

He recommended the sterling virtues of Imam Abdullahi to all clerics, in particular, and Nigerians in general.

I Can’t Tolerate Violence Against Women, Girls, FCT Permanent Secretary Warns

Editorial staff

July 18, 2019

The Permanent Secretary in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Chinyeaka Ohaa has warned that he would not stand and watch any form of violence against women and girls, especially in the Federal Capital Territory.

Permanent Secretary, who spoke today, July 18 at the opening of a two-day inception workshop to launch the EU-UN joint Spotlight Initiative in the FCT, stressed that the worst form of violence is against the vulnerable in the society, especially women and girls.

“It is about time that we all woke up and not only speak against this unconscionable evil but also take concrete action against it. Keeping silent only emboldens the aggressors and perpetrates the circle of violence and repression.

“Negative social norms which condone or support violence against women and girls and harmful practices remain pervasive. These, he continued are characterized by child marriages, female genital mutilation and reproductive organ ailments such as VVF”.

Ohaa described the Spotlight Initiative as a new global multi -year initiative focused on eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls, explaining that it was so named because “it brings focused attention to this issue and efforts to achieve gender equality and women empowerment.”

He said that the Initiative was timely and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adding that the six pilot states identified for the take-off of the programme in the six geopolitical zone and the FCT, is a welcome spread that would achieve a balanced intervention across the zones and thereafter replicated in all states of the federation.

The EU-UN Joint Spotlight Initiative, Sir Ohaa concluded will also, amongst other things, build on and scale up its efforts to eliminate violence against women and girls.

WHO Declares International Emergency On Ebola Outbreak

Editorial staff

July 18, 2019

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which surfaced in August 2018, is now an international emergency.

The declaration raises the outbreak’s visibility and public health officials towards galvanizing the international community to fight the spread of the frequently fatal disease.

“It is time for the world to take notice and redouble our effort,” said WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

In a statement, the Director-General said: “We all owe it to (current) responders … to shoulder more of the burden.”

As of today, July 18, Ebola has infected more than 2,500 people in the DRC during the new outbreak, killing more than 1,650.

By calling the current situation a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, has placed it in a rare category that includes the 2009 flu pandemic, the Zika epidemic of 2016 and the 2-year Ebola epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa before it ended in 2016.

A woman who died of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo may have taken the deadly disease into Rwanda, according to a Ugandan Health Ministry report published by the World Health Organization today, July 18.

The woman, a fishmonger, according WHO, vomited multiple times at a market in Uganda on July 11 before dying of Ebola in Democratic Republic of Congo. The case raised the risk of the disease spreading in Uganda.

“Upon leaving Uganda, she is suspected to have gone to Goma in DRC and later to Gisenyi in Rwanda with unknown business interests,” the latest report said.

Rwanda has never had a recorded case of Ebola. There is currently no vaccine licensed to protect people from Ebola virus.

An experimental vaccine called rVSV-ZEBOV was found to be highly protective against the virus in a trial conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international partners in Guinea in 2015.

FDA licensure for the vaccine is expected in 2019.

Source: Per Second News.

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