Gist Arena

National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Oyegun on Monday said that Nigerians who are non card carrying members of party were likely to serve as Ministers in the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. Oyegun also said that he was not interested in the office of the secretary to Government of Federation, SGF as being speculated in different quarters of the country. According to APC National chair, Buhari’s government and APC as a political party were more concerned with assembling technocrats and other competent hands who would key in to the vision and objectives of the present government. Oyegun who spoke to Journalists in Abuja added that the background of such persons does not matter as long as he was capable to deliver and serve the Nigerian people, even as he explained why the list of ministers was yet to be made public. He said: “There is absolutely no dispute between the party and the president. We agreed that we shall u...

The pledge by President Muhammadu Buhari to serve only one term is responsible for the whirligig into which the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), and indeed the political class in the country have been thrown, according to the Daily Times. If not quickly resolved, the intrigues may make governing Herculean in the next four years, as politicians of different ideological backgrounds are forging informal alliances. Two-time Governorship candidate in Lagos, Mr. Jimmy Agbaje, and former Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio recently paid separate visits to the Abuja residence of former Vice President Abubakar Atiku in what is believed to be linked to the politics of 2019. It was learnt last night that apart paying the APC back in its own coin, the decision of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not to support any candidate put forward by the ruling party for the positions of Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, has serious ...

The United States has announced a $5 billion contribution to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in order to boost military operations against Boko Haram insurgency. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US assistant secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, announced this at a news briefing via telephone from the African Union Summit on Monday. “We have been working with Nigeria as well as the African countries innovation to address their concerns about Boko Haram because we don’t see this as just a Nigerian problem,” NAN quoted her as saying. “We are having discussions with President Buhari on how we might bolster our support. We have already been working with them and providing information.  “We are providing some training and support and we’ll love to work with the new administration to see how we might increase the level of support to Nigeria. “At the same time, we’ve just announced at the venue of the AU, a five billion dollar contribution to the Multinatio...

The son of ex-Governor Theodore Orji, Mr. Chinedum Orji, representing Umuahia Central State constituency (Peoples Democratic Party), has emerged the Majority Leader of the Abia State House of Assembly. Speaker, Rt. Hon. Martins Azubuike, disclosed this on Monday when he led the lawmakers to the Government House for  a courtesy call on Governor Okezie Ikpeazu. The Speaker, while introducing his colleagues to the Governor, identified Hon. Abraham Oba, representing  Aba Central constituency (All Progressive Grand Alliance), as the Minority Leader. He introduced Tony Mezie Nwubani (PDP), Ukwa West Constituency, as the Majority Whip; while the Minority Whip, according to him, is Chibuzor Okogbue ( APGA), Bende South constituency. Mr. Cosmos Ndukwe (PDP) representing Bende North had been elected the Deputy Speaker during the inauguration of the House last Thursday. The House comprises 13 PDP members and 11 APGA members. This has ended months of spec...

Residents of Zappa in Asaba, Delta State over the weekend were thrown into a state of confusion as a 23-year-old girl stabbed her female neighbour with a dagger for allegedly having an affair with her boyfriend. The angry lover was said to have carried out the act because her victim tried to snatch her boyfriend who had always been faithful to her until she moved to the area last year. According to the embittered lover, she reached an agreement with her victim to stay away from her boyfriend which she accepted. She further added that she stabbed her with a dagger after seeing the two of them together in a romantic conversation Report says the victim was immediately rushed to the hospital where she is currently receiving medical attention. The assailant, according to report attacked her victim while she was on her way to fetch water. The incident was confirmed by a Police source at the ‘A’ Division Police Station Asaba. The source said that atta...

New bride Iara Fortez Oshiomhole pictured laughing heartily with other women at the dinner organized Aisha Buhari at the conference Center of the Presidential villa Abuja on Saturday June 13.

A married Pastor named Reverend Rosbon Munamba, has been arrested for pouring raw acid on his estranged lover, Rudo Bakasa in Zimbabwe. According to Zimbabwean media  Iharare.co , Rev. Rosbon was a friend of Rudo's ex husband and got into a relationship with her after her marriage ended. They dated briefly and then she decided to call off the relationship. Her decision to call off their relationship made Reverend Rosbon angry. After Rudo refused his pleading for them to get back together, he attacked her with acid. Narrating how he attacked her, Rudo said "He would always say he would kill me if I decided to dump him but I didn’t believe him until the day he pounced on me. I had on several occasions tried to end things to the extent of changing my phone numbers but somehow he would always phone me. On the day in question he attacked me, he had phoned the previous night saying that he wanted to see me. I told him that I would not be around since I wa...

The Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, community has again been thrown into mourning following the sudden death of a 400 level accounting student, korede who was crushed to death by trailer. This is coming barely a week after a 400 level mechanical student of the institution slumped and died playing football. We gathered that the gory accident occurred on Friday, June 12th, 2015. Our correspondent gathered that the commercial motorcycle she boarded to school collided with a trailer which resulted to her death. We commiserate with the family of korede on the untimely death of their daughter, urging them to take solace in God for the unquantifiable loss. The loss of a loved one is always an unfathomable tragedy, which is compounded when such death occurs at an unripe age. We pray that God will grant repose to the soul of the departed, korede and give her entire family the strength to bear the irreparable loss. We also...

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Rivers state chapter has accused the state governor, Nyesom Wike of appointing family members and associates into sensitive government positions in a grand scheme to empty Rivers state treasury. Chris Finebone, the state publicity secretary of the party, also called on the people of Rivers to disregard the recent appointments made by Wike on the grounds that his administration did not represent their best interest. “A couple of days ago, Chief Wike announced the appointment of a Sole Administrator and a Board of the Greater Port Harcourt City, GPHC which was created by Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the former Governor of Rivers state,” Finebone alleged. Adding that: “In constituting the Board, Wike appointed his immediate cousin, Okas Wike, the brother of Emma Wike and Partners, a direct cousin of chief Wike to the Board of the GPHC. “Not done, Governor Wike also appointed his direct in-law, the immediate brother to his f...

The federal government is on the verge of fulfilling one of its campaign promises as the president Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is set to pay the poorest citizens across the country. Making this disclosure during the 10th year anniversary lecture of Crescent University, Abeokuta was Nigeria’s vice president, professor Yemi Osinbajo, who hinted that the unemployed as well as the poor Nigerians would pocket N5,000 monthly. According to Leadership reports, the number two citizen of Nigeria stated that government is currently evaluating the best ways to collapse existing cash transfer and social welfare schemes to ensure consistency and alignment. “Once this is completed, we will implement the first phase of this program, using recognized identification platforms and transparent payment solutions. “We cannot talk about the economy of the future without addressing how we move people out of poverty. One of the most striking promises we made during the...

The woman pictured left named Ronke Olayinka has been arrested for inflicting terrible injuries on her 9 year old nephew named Abdullahi Taoreed (left). According to  New Telegraph , the woman inflicted blade cuts on the boy for eating at a party on June 7th. The boy's parents are dead. On the day of the incident Abdullahi said he went to the house opposite theirs at Pipeline Street in Oke-Odo area of Lagos to serve food and also to eat since there was no food in their house. This got his aunt, who he calls mummy, angry "Yes, it was my mummy who inflicted blade cuts on my hands because I went to a party opposite our house to eat. There was no food at home. I was hungry, so I assisted the people holding the party to carry chairs. I knew that if I assisted them, they would give me food. They gave me food. My sister went to report to my mummy. We went for evening prayer. After the prayer, my mummy called me and started cutting my hands with a blade. She we...

I Guess Banky wants to be like others, so he has to go gyming. A video posted by Banky Wellington (@bankywellington) on Jun 15, 2015 at 6:52am PDT A video posted by Banky Wellington (@bankywellington) on Jun 15, 2015 at 6:42am PDT

(AFP) - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir arrived in Khartoum from Johannesburg Monday, an AFP correspondent said, after a court ordered him not to leave as it decided whether to arrest him over alleged war crimes. Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the Darfur region, was returning from an African Union summit. Dressed in his traditional white robes, a triumphant Bashir waved his trademark cane in the air as he stepped off the plane and shouted: "God is greatest!". Walking down a red carpet leading from the aircraft, he was greeted by his ministers on the tarmac as well as a crowd of journalists and photographers. Nearby, an area had been prepared for a news conference. Bashir, 71, was indicted over his alleged role in the Darfur conflict. African rebels in the western region launched an insurgency against Bashir's Arab-dominated governmen...

• The late Nigerian footballer, David The remains of T-Team skipper, David Faramola Oniya of Nigeria, who died after collapsing on the field due to heart complications during a friendly match against Super League side Kelantan at the Sultan Mohd IV Stadium in Kota Baru, Malaysia at the weekend will be sent back to Nigeria. Terengganu state Youth, Sports and Human Resource Committee chairman Datuk Rozi Mamat said Oniya’s family had been contacted in Lagos and informed of the player’s death. Rozi said they (Terengganu) were also in touch with the Nigerian Embassy to expedite the process of sending home Oniya’s remains to Nigeria for burial. “The procedures at the Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital (HRPZII) in Kelantan has been completed and we have contacted Oniya’s father in Nigeria and his wife in Uzbekistan…his father wants his son’s remains to be sent to Nigeria. “We will make the necessary arrangements as soon as possible. All the costs involved will also be...

President Muhammadu Buhari has queried why Nigerians are eager to have him name his cabinet, two weeks after he was sworn in as president of the country. In an interview with AFP on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Johannesburg, Buhari addressed concerns he had not yet appointed a cabinet more than two weeks after he came to power following his victory in March polls. “I don’t know why people are so anxious to have ministers, but eventually we will have,” he said. Buhari said that audits were currently being carried out in various government departments — and the finance and petroleum ministries in particular — to try and establish what situation they were left in by the previous administration. “I am not in a hurry to get ministers,” he said. “I want to get ministers after at least I have seen this report, so that I don’t have to appoint a minister today and sack him next week,” he said. PM News

A 17-year-old auto mechanic, Ornyagh Chia, who specialized in trafficking persons with chronic ailments, has confessed that he made N20, 000 daily using sick captives to beg for money from members of the public. According to Chia, he was introduced into the illicit trade by his master, Mr. John Chia of Lessel in Ushongo local government area of the state. He said that they would capture the victims and transport them to various parts of the country where they make them beg for money. The suspect, alongside the two victims, Miss Blessing Tsoosu and one Mimidoo, was arrested by the police in Lagos State following a tip-off by the national coordinator of Hands That Care Foundation, Evangelist Jacinta Nworie According to LEADERSHIP,Nworie says she saw the suspect with the victims who had swollen breast and stomach, at Ladipo market in Lagos State. She took the victims to a hospital in Festac town for medical experts to diagnose their ailment and further discovered ...

According to the official account of the Defence Headquaters, Boko Haram used children and women as shield during combat! So cruel...

Like a scene from Jaws ,a 12-year-old girl and a teenage boy each lost an arm in separate shark attacks in North Carolina. The female victim had her left arm amputated at the elbow and could still lose a leg while the 16-year-old boy lost his arm below the shoulder, officials confirmed. The pair had to be airlifted from the beach after both were mauled by an unidentified shark within 90 minutes of each other off the coast of Oak Island on Sunday. Both arrived at the New Hanover Regional Medical Center in a critical condition but have responded well to treatment, hospital spokeswoman Martha Harlan told Mail Online.

One soldier was killed while scores of Boko Haram members were injured during an attack in Babangida, the Headquarters of Tarmuwa Local Government Headquarters in Yobe state yesterday June 14th. Over 10 rifles and weapon, three hilux cars as well as hundreds of rounds of ammunition and some Hand Grenades were recovered from the terrorists. A vigilante member died while 5 were wounded during the attack.

According to this twitter user, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state took his sick 1yr old child to the Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital in Kaduna at about 5am this morning without his security detail.

These photos shared by CNN's Christian Purefoy show how local gin popularly known as Ogogoro is brewed in Nigeria. Ogogoro has been banned in Nigeria following the death of 66 people in Rivers state and over 20 in Ondo state due to contamination. More photos from the brewing point below See more photos  here

Our First Lady doesn't want to be referred to as The First Lady. Strange? Read the press statement... I am not the first Lady says the wife of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Hajia Aisha Muhammadu Buhari. I am the wife of the President and will be addressed as such going forward. With her large smile that easily lights up a room, Mrs Buhari's sense of direction is established. Her jovial nature belies a strong personality who says what she thinks. Speaking at the Appreciation Dinner held last night ,June 13 th  at the state house , mrs Buhari shared some of the challenges experienced on the campaign trail, ensuring that she diffused a potential life threatening situation with light laughter which shows her sense of balanced perspective on the trials that come with being in the public glare. She attributed the success of the camapaign to team work and was profoundly greatful to the team , women and youth that helped vote her husband into of...