AFRICAN NEWS FLASH

The Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday demanded that the South African Government should pay compensation to victims of the latest xenophobic attacks in the country. The lawmakers made the call at the plenary where they condemned the unwarranted attacks. Mr. Tunde Braimoh, representing Kosofe II, who raised the issue under ‘Matter of Urgent Importance’, recalled how Nigeria helped South Africa during the apartheid regime. Braimoh wondered how the country suddenly decided that Nigerians were now strangers in their land.

The Federal Capital Territory Administration says it has identified  undeveloped plots of land in serviced districts of the Phases I, II & III of the Federal Capital City, Abuja and had given the owners three months’ grace period to develop them or risk revocation.  The FCT Director of Land Administration, Adamu Hussaini, said in Abuja on Tuesday that this was one of the highpoints of the Federal Capital Territory Executive Committee meeting held recently. He stated, “Allottees of plots of land within Phases I, II & III of the Federal Capital City that have been serviced with infrastructure should take major steps to develop them or have them revoked. Government has expended huge amount of money to open up those districts by providing the engineering infrastructure and would not afford to be left fallow”.  A statement by the Director, Information and Customer Service, Abuja Geographical Information Service, Mohammed Sule, explained that the director of land...

President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, admitted before the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja on Tuesday that no certificate was listed on the President’s curriculum vitae and that none was among the documents obtained from Cambridge University earlier tendered as exhibits, PUNCH reports. Kyari, who testified as the President’s third defence witness, also admitted obtaining the Cambridge documents personally on July 18, 2019. The Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, had filed the petition before the tribunal to challenge the victory of President Buhari and his All Progressives Congress in the February 23, 2019 poll. Part of the grounds of the petition was that Buhari did not possess the academic qualification necessary to contest the poll. Under a cross examination by the petitioners’ lawyer, Kyari said he was 67 years old and that he had known Buhari for nearly 40 years. Kyari also said he signed ...

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has written yet another letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, warning that Nigeria is tipping towards a dangerous cliff and only the president could forestall such a looming disaster. Mr Obasanjo a former Nigerian leader, between 1999 and 2007, said Nigeria has been consumed by violence and ethnic divisions since Mr Buhari assumed office four years ago, in a manner not seen for decades. In the July 15, 2019 letter, Mr Obasanjo said the world, especially Western countries, has been warning Nigeria against descending into a state of violence because any outbreak would be difficult to contain. He warned that for Mr Buhari to be able to stop the “smouldering ethnic agitations”, he would have to stop fanning “the embers of hatred, disaffection and violence.” Mr Obasanjo also called on armed herdsmen to publicly state their grievances in order to form a national discussion around it, rather than waging a violent campaign across th...

The fuel-laden vehicle was said to be trying to avoid a pothole when it fell on its side and off the road in Ahumbe village.

Former Tottenham manager, Harry Redknapp, has said that Manchester United are ‘miles away’ from challenging for the Premier League title. He said the Red Devils could need six additional signings after the arrival of Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have already signed Daniel James in an £18 million deal from Swansea City and are on the verge of announcing the acquisition of Wan-Bissaka for £50m from Crystal Palace. “But Redknapp has warned Solskjaer that an overhaul of his squad is still needed and believes United could slip out of the top six in the Premier League next season,” Redknapp told Sky Sports. “I think next season we might see one of the big six dropping out.

The immediate past governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, awarded a contract for the same project twice to the same contractor at bloated cost, documents exclusively obtained. The contract for the construction and drilling of 84 solar-powered boreholes across the 14 Local governments of Zamfara State was first awarded in 2014 to a Chinese firm, China Zhonghao Nigeria Limited, for N27.5billion. The same contract was again awarded in 2018 with the same scope and at the same cost. Worse still, the initial valuation communicated to the company when the state government first notified it of the award of the contract, was N19.7 billion.

Super Eagles captain, John Mikel Obi, has intervened in the bonus row between the players and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the BBC reports. The players had threatened to boycott training, after the federation failed to pay outstanding bonuses and allowances, following their 1-0 win over Burundi in their first Africa Cup of Nations Group B fixture. The squad was an hour late for training on Tuesday, before Mikel Obi persuaded the players, to come out and train ahead of tomorrow’s crunch clash against Guinea. The NFF, which receives its funding from the government, has denied it was responsible for the delay in paying the players’ bonuses. It is however understood that payments would be paid, before Gernot Rohr’s men take on Syli Stars, looking for a win that will see them qualify for the Round of 16. This comes few days after the Super Falcons staged a sit-in protest at their hotel in Paris, after they were eliminated from the Women’s World Cup in F...

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday  confirmed the appointment of the Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division (COMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kolo Kyari, as the new Group Managing Director of the corporation. Mr Kyari from Borno State, succeeds the incumbent GMD, Maikanti Baru, who is due for retirement from the NNPC next month. Mr Kyari comes to the job as the 19th GMD of the NNPC with a rich profile of professional and service credentials. A geologist, Mr Kyari is known in the oil industry as a crude oil marketer with outfield pedigree in petroleum economics and crude oil and gas trading. With over 32 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, his tour of duty traversed the entire value chain of the petroleum industry. “Under his watch, the Crude Oil Marketing Division of the NNPC has recorded noticeable transformation in the management and sales of the various Nigeria’s crude oil grades via an infusion of ...

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Mr. Mele Kolo Kyari as the new Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, bringing to an end the tenure of Maikanti Baru, as the oil firm’s boss. NNPC’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu, who disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday morning, stated that the President also appointed alongside Kyari, seven new Chief Operating Officers.

Report of investigation over missing funds at Nigerian Apex Bank submitted to the Presidency

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said his close ally Mohamed Morsi was “killed” and accused Egyptian authorities of failing to intervene to save the ex-president. “Morsi was struggling on the floor in the courtroom for 20 minutes. Authorities, unfortunately, did not intervene to save him,” Erdogan said during a televised speech in Istanbul. “Morsi was killed, he did not die of natural causes.” Details Later…

The United States Mission in Nigeria says it's not denying Nigerians student visas. The United States Mission in Nigeria has denied media reports that it has placed a ban on issuing student visas to Nigerians. A report last week had claimed that the U.S. immigration office had effectively halted issuing student visas to Nigerians until further notice.

Top-ranking lawmakers in Nigeria’s National Assembly said they were expecting President Muhammadu Buhari to submit a list of ministers that will form his federal executive council before or by July 2. The Ahmad Lawan-led 9th Senate would upon resumption from its two weeks recess in July begin a speedy screening and confirmation of persons whose names are expected to have been submitted by the Presidency before the July 2 resumption of the upper legislative chamber. A ranking senator told The Guardian, however, that at the moment, nothing is on the ground regarding the list of persons to be confirmed as ministers but was optimistic that within the two weeks of the Senate recess, the President would have submitted the list. Another lawmaker who just got elevated from the House of Representatives to the Senate in the February 23, 2019 election said that although the President is still within a reasonable time if he submits the list before July, expectations are that President Muha...

…Petitions against Buhari drop to three Ade Adesomoju, Abuja The Coalition for Change has withdrawn its petition challenging the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives Congress in the February 23 presidential election. The request made on behalf of the party by its lawyer, Mr. Obed Agwu, at the resumed hearing before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on Monday, was not opposed by the lawyers representing the respondents -Buhari, APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission. The Justice Mohammed Garba-led panel of the subsequently dismissed the petition. With the development, there are now three petitions against the Buhari’s victory at the poll.

The two contenders for the position of the Senate presidency on Sunday intensified efforts to woo senators-elect ahead of Tuesday’s election for the leadership of the 9th National Assembly. While the immediate past Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, met the former Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu and some other Peoples Democratic Party senators, there were indications that Senator Ali Ndume, had got the support of some members of the opposition parties.

Devastating floods in South Africa have left 51 dead and forced more than a thousand people from their homes, according to an updated toll issued Wednesday as President Cyril Ramaphosa flew to the deluged region.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned an official of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Philomina Chieshe, who claimed that some funds kept in her custody by the commission have been swallowed by a mysterious snake. She is being arraigned today before Justice Peter Afen of a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja alongside five others. The suspect is prosecuted by the EFCC on an eight counts , following her alleged refusal to furnish the management of JAMB the true information on the financial status of JAMB e-cards supplied to the Benue Zonal office between 2014 and 2016. The commission added that the action of Philomena was contrary to section 139 (a) of the Penal Code Law. Other suspects arraigned alongside Chieshe include Samuel Umoru, Yakubu Jekada, Daniel Agbo, Priscilla Ogunsola, and Aliyu Yakubu. Chieshe in February 2018 told auditors the snake had eaten N35 million kept in the accounts office of JAMB in Makurdi, th...

DESPITE the expiration of the presidential order for the relocation of trucks from roads in Apapa and its environs, the enforcement is suffering set back following the continued presence of articulated trucks on most of the routes.

The Supreme Court on Friday, sacked 35 candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara state. APC had what it considered a clean sweep in the state, but the apex court has now awarded the ruling party’s votes to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The cause of this massive loss by the ruling party, could be traced to internal crisis that prevented it from holding primary elections. In all, APC lost seven House of Representatives seats, three senatorial positions, 24 House of Assembly seats and the governorship. Below is a full list of those affected by the ruling: SENATE Tijjani Yahaya, Zamfara north Aliyu Bilbis, Zamfara central Abdulaziz Yari, Zamfara west HOUSE OF REPS Muhammad Ibrahim – Birnin-Mogaji Kaura-Namoda/Birnin Magaji federal constituency Husaini Moriki – Shinkafi/Zurmi federal constituency Rikiji Garba – Gusau/Tsafe federal constituency Zubairu Bungudu – Bungudu/Maru federal constituency Sharu Anka – Anka/Talat...