Gist Arena

Within a week of their permanence, NDA have caused serious havoc to the Nigeria economy by constantly blowing up major pipelines owned by foreign oil companies in the Niger Delta Region After appeals from president Buhari and other prominent Nigerians, notable organisations and pressure groups appealing to them to lay down their arms, the Niger Delta Avengers(NDA) has refused to do so, stating that they won't negotiate until their listed conditions for peace in the Niger Delta region are met by President Buhari of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The 10 major lists of demands By Niger Delta Avengers (NDA). Read below: 1. The immediate implementation of the report of the 2014 National Conference report, failure of Nigeria will forcefully break-up. 2. President Buhari, the director-general of the State Secret Service and the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in Bayelsa state, Timipre Sylva should apologize to the people of the Niger Delta region and ...

According to Hillary Clinton, Just a few of the ways Trump has proven that he's unfit for the presidency: Just a few of the ways @realDonaldTrump has proven that he's unfit for the presidency: https://t.co/dp65Gh93JC — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 17, 2016

Presidential Spokesperson, Mr Femi Adesina, has explained that there are other factors to consider other than federal character when the President makes his appointments. Mr Adesina was on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics to provide the Presidency’s perspective to the debates over the concept of federal character which many Nigerians believe has not been fairly followed by President Buhari’s appointments. Statistics collated by Channels TV political desk shows that the South-East region has had 12 appointments while the South-South has 17, with the South West producing 16 appointees. Up north, however, the North-West has produced the largest number of appointees with 34, the North-East has 25, while the North Central has 16 appointments. Many Nigerians believe that the appointments are lopsided in favour of the North and Sunday Politics sought to know if these is mere coincidence. Mr Adesina, while admitting that the appointments are indeed ...

Two men identified as Odinaka Orji, 32, a driver and Nonso Ejimene, 22, an accountancy student from Ezeagu, were almost lynched by irate mob yesterday, July 17, at Coal Camp over homosexual activities. According to a statement issued by the Enugu State Police Command, both men had been stripped naked before security operatives of the Central Police station Enugu promptly arrived the scene and saved them. During interrogation, Odinaka maintained that he is married but his wife has left him owing to this illicit activities which he blamed on the devil. According to him,he has visited many pastors to cure him. Odinaka confessed that he was about to have intercourse with a boy staying with him in the same room. The boy identified as Sunday, a barrow pusher ran out, shouting which attracted the attention of irate mob. He was caught and severely beaten before the Police arrived. On his own part, Nonso Ejimene claimed that he is also in the habit but had left it b...

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was in Sokoto state yesterday July 16th where he visited former President Shehu shagari at his home. He also paid a insolence visit to the family of former presidential candidate Umar Shinkafi who died at a UK hospital recently. Obasanjo also paid a visit to the Sultan of Sokoto. More photos below..

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has urged President Mohammadu Buhari to stop acting like the grandfather of corruption in Nigeria by shielding his men from probe, just as he asked Nigerians to demand the release of the authentic report of the Committee on Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement in the Nigerian Armed Forces. He described claim by the federal government that the probe panel only looked into procurement and contracts awarded by the military between 2011-2015 because documents regarding procurement from 2007 to 2010 were not available as a clear indication of his support for corruption. In a statement issued on Sunday by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said “it is now obvious to the entire world that anyone that is in President Buhari’s good books can never be adjudged as corrupt even if such a person is caught looting the entire money in Nigeria’s treasury.” The governor said it smacked of...

One person died this Sunday evening in this needless crash along Iwo road - Toll Gate expressway in Ibadan. The Lagos-bound 18-seater commercial vehicle in Oyo state colour was reportedly chased by members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers for allegedly picking passengers at unauthorized place. Two passengers who survived the fatal crash, told Fresh 105.9 FM that the transport union members, riding in a vehicle with NURTW written on its body, smashed the windscreen of the bus and threw a tyre in its way, making the driver to lose control and the vehicle somersaulted, as it went up in flames. The passengers were lucky to escape with the help of people around the scene. The driver, who was trapped under bus was however burnt beyond recognition. His remains were evacuated by officials of the Toll Gate Unit of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Oyo State Sector. Source: Samson Akindele

Controversy continues to trail the demolition and urban renewal exercise of the Imo State government led by Governor Rochas Okorocha. Former Minister of Interior and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the 2015 governorship election, Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho, has expressed concern about the government’s decision. Speaking through his lawyer, Ikechukwu Ikeji, the former minister condemned the ongoing exercise, saying the government did not follow due process and no clear cut plan has been put in place to compensate those affected. The fence of one his buildings along Orlu-Amakohia road in the state capital was badly affected. Captain Emmanuel Ihenacho has vowed to take Government to court as government insists the beautification and urban renewal exercise is in the best interest of the state. During a routine inspection to some of the sites on Orlu road, the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha appealed to the peop...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has seized some properties said to belong to Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State. It was learnt that the properties located in the highbrow areas of Lagos and Abuja were seized as part of investigations into the N1.219bn the governor allegedly received from the Office of the National Security Adviser when Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd) held sway, through a former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, as well as some kickbacks he (Fayose) allegedly received from the Ekiti State Government contractors. The anti-graft agency has also quizzed a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, on his alleged role in the $15bn arms scam. Falae was grilled by investigators at the commission’s office on Thursday. Investigators told one of our correspondents that the seized houses belonging to Fayose were allegedly purchased with stolen funds and the EFCC invoked the Assets Forfeiture clause to sei...

Pictured is Alh.Yusuf Buratai Rtd, the father of the current COAS, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai. The older Buratai joined West African Army in 1942, at the age of 18 and fought in World War of 1945 , and later he joined the services of escorting ships from Lagos to Cotonou and Cape Town in South Africa.  From then he went to Mombasa, and later to Bombay in India from there he also joined a train to Lahore and was later redeployed to jungle where he was trained in preparation for the war of Burma. Yusuf Tukur Buratai is the second son of Buratai, who is also a serving flying officer in Nigerian Air force. Source: Abdul Shuaibu

Dr. Doyin Okupe, a former Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has revealed that the embattled former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), gave him N100m on the instruction of Jonathan. Okupe, who served as Jonathan’s spokesman from 2012 to 2015, added that he received N10m monthly from Dasuki to pay salaries and run a weekly programme on NTA. The former presidential aide said this in a Facebook post on Sunday while reacting to his arrest and interrogation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The EFCC had alleged that Okupe received N85m from Dasuki at different times. In his reaction, Okupe said,  “The initial N50m was approved by the President to be paid to me from his security vote. N10m was to furnish my rented living apartment and another N10m for my office. The balance N30m was approved as take-off grant. “The N10m I received from the ONSA monthly was to run my offic...

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved the disbursement of about N75billion as loan to farmers in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under the Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing in Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL). The loan guarantee scheme is a public-private sector initiative set up to transform the country’s agricultural sector. It was initiated by the apex bank, the Bankers’ Committee and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, to guarantee 75 per cent loans provided by Deposit Money Banks (DPB) to farmers as part of efforts to transform the country’s agricultural sector. The Head of NIRSAL Project Implementation Office under the Development Finance Department of the CBN, Jude Uzonwanne, who spoke on the role of NIRSAL in Abuja, told the Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, Oloye Akinjide, that the guarantee would be issued to farmers through commercial banks and other financial institutions. ...

Femi Fani-Kayode, spokesman of the presidential campaign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says he would never join the Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) “to move Nigeria forward”. Fani-Kayode regained freedom on Friday after 67 days in detention. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had accused him and three others of criminal conspiracy, fraud and money laundering to the tune of N4.9 billion. Following his release, Fani-Kayode has resumed his criticism of the incumbent administration. He took to his Facebook page on Sunday to disown a post which insinuated that he apologised to Buhari and might be willing to return APC, where he was during the formative stage of the ruling party. “There is a sick individual on fb [Facebook] who has posted some rubbish and attributed it to me,” he wrote. “Kindly note that this is FALSE. It is a total fabrication. I never said any such thing privately or public...

The Presidential Fact-Finding Committee on the Abducted Female Students of Government Secondary School, Chibok, has asked the federal government to take advantage of foreign support, backed with hi-tech equipment, to locate the abducted girls and rescue them. It also called for the beefing up of arms and ammunition of the military as well as the strengthening of security agencies in the theatre of operation. The committee made the recommendations in its 50-page report submitted to the government and which was obtained exclusively by PREMIUM TIMES. The 27-member panel chaired by Ibrahim Sabo, a retired brigadier general, was inaugurated by former President Goodluck Jonathan on May 6, 2014, to, among other things find out the circumstances leading to the abduction of the 276 female students of the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State on April 14, 2014 by Boko Haram terrorists. The establishment of the committee followed claims and counterclaims about the...

The brother of Qandeel Baloch, whose risqué social media posts angered conservative Pakistan, on Sunday, July 17, admitted to killing her for the family's 'honour' Muhammad Waseem, who was arrested late on Saturday, said he gave a "tablet" to Baloch to subdue her and then strangled her in their family home over the weekend. "I have no regrets," he told journalists in a press conference arranged by the police early on Sunday . "The police arrested Muhammad Waseem, brother of Qandeel Baloch, for killing his sister late  on Saturday ," Multan City police chief Azhar Akram told AFP. "Waseem confessed to his crime, saying he killed his sister for honour after her recent objectionable videos, mostly posted on Facebook." The killing sent shock waves across Muslim Pakistan and triggered an outpouring of grief on social media for Baloch, whose real name was Fauzia Azeem. In Facebook posts, Ba...