Gist Arena

For the governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi, the christmas holidays offered an added opportunity as he took time to respond to claims making round that he was having an affair a daughter of Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, and that the daughter, never named in the rumor, was pregnant. The governor denied the rumour through his twitter handle on December 18. PREMIUM TIMES became aware of the tweets Saturday morning. The rumour, in Port Harcourt, widely broadcast, claimed that a daughter of the Nobel Laureate was expecting a child for Mr. Amaechi and that she was already living in the Government House. It was further alleged that the governor's wife, Judith, had moved abroad following the domestic challenges she was having with her husband. It was claimed that the absence of the First Lady gave Mr. Soyinka's daughter the opportunity to establish her full presence in the Government House. But in the tweet, Mr. Amaechi debunked the rumour, saying it was a big lie, which was...

A man, known as Muyideen Olalere, allegedly set ablaze his wife and 8-year-old son inside their house in Ibadan on Friday. They later died from serious burn wounds. According to neighbours, Muyideen and his wife, Felicia, had a quarrel at about 8pm, where she accused her husband, who served time in prison two years ago, of stealing N14,000 from her bag. The man reportedly became angry, saying that his wife had exposed his secret and threatened that she will not witness 2014. Around 2 am, neighbours said they heard shouts and saw smoke coming from Muyideen's flat. They rushed to the flat but discovered the house had been locked with padlocks from outside. They broke down the door and saw Felicia in her underpants clutching her son who had gone stiff with serious burns. According to neighbours, two prominent government hospitals in Ibadan rejected Felicia and Gbolahan because their burns were too severe. They both died at Felicia's brother's house at...

Mrs. Ossai may not get this life saving treatment if she does not get financial assistance. The health of Alexandra Ossai, the woman who was allegedly physically assaulted by her Lebanese boss causing her to lose her seven months old pregnancy has drastically deteriorated to the extent that her doctor has advised that she gets an immediate blood transfusion to save her life, PREMIUM TIMES has been told. "I just finished talking with the surgeon that did the emergency surgery and he said her condition has worsen sharply since yesterday," said Courage Erhuen, Mrs. Ossai's lawyer. "Her stitches were removed today but the doctor said she is very weak and under serious emotional trauma. He said she needs immediate blood transfusion or else her situation would get worse," Mr. Erhuen added. According to Mr. Erhuen, her condition has got so bad that she can hardly talk without feeling intense pain. On December 13, Kaveh Noine, her manager at a Lebanese owned printing fi...

31-year-old pregnant banker who was arrested by the lagos state police command for cutting her 34-year-old husband's man-hood  during a fight at their home in Surulere has explained why she did it. "Please, kindly judge this by yourself. As a pregnant woman, will I willingly attempt to cut off my husband's man-hood? I ordinarily would not have said anything. I did not realise this will escalate to this stage. The case is being handled by my lawyer at the moment. "My husband is not a hot-tempered man but he gets angry once in a while. He lied that he washes my clothes. He only did that once or twice when I was ill. We had a disagreement that day and he beat me up. My mother came to the house and took away our son. "Without telling anybody, I went to my hospital and was treated. I did not tell him. But when I got home, he continued to harass me. He said I must ensure his son was returned to the house. "I was so tired and I went to sleep. But in t...

Vice President Namadi Sambo is spending a fortune to furnish and upgrade his official residence and guest house, two projects costing N2.1 billion and lingering since his election alongside President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011. In three years leading up to 2013, the government has spent a minimum of N300 million annually to furnish and upgrade the vice president's residence and guest house, according to past and present federal budgets. The biggest spending -N900 million- for the upgrade and furnishing was done in 2011. That year alone, N500 million was channelled into acquiring, upgrading and furnishing the vice president's guest house at Aguda House, while a separate N400 million was spent on purchasing some more furniture and extending the vice president's lounge there. In 2012, the government spent additional N437.1 million for the "upgrading and furnishing" of the same guest house, and squandered additional N112 million solely on "household equipment...

One man who is out to right many old "wrongs" in the Catholic church is Pope Francis. Some of the beliefs that are held in the church but contrary to the loving nature of God are being corrected by the Pope who was name The Man of The Year by TIME Magazine. I don't know if he truly said this, but read it below... In his latest revelations, Pope Francis was quoted by Diversity Chronicle as saying: "Through humility, soul searching, and prayerful contemplation we have gained a new understanding of certain dogmas. The church no longer believes in a literal hell where people suffer. This doctrine is incompatible with the infinite love of God. God is not a judge but a friend and a lover of humanity. God seeks not to condemn but only to embrace. Like the fable of Adam and Eve, we see hell as a literary device. Hell is merely a metaphor for the isolated soul, which like all souls ultimately will be united in love with God."  In a shocking speech that is r...

The Serving Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Lagos, Pastor Tunde Bakare, says former President Olusegun Obasanjo is guilty of the sundry allegations he levelled against President Goodluck Jonathan in his (Obasanjo) recent letter to the President. Bakare, who said this during his sermon in his church in Lagos on Sunday, noted that the former President's letter to Jonathan painted a portrait of Obasanjo himself while he was in office as the nation's helmsman. Obasanjo had written an 18-page letter to Jonathan, calling the President's attention to critical issues in the polity, which he believed could plunge the nation into chaos if not urgently addressed before they degenerated. Jonathan had responded to the ex-President letter, where he tried to justify his actions and policies while calling Obasanjo to produce the evidence to back up his claims, especially the former President's assertion that Jonathan was raising about 1,000 strong snipers against political oppone...