Gist Arena

It's a new Legislative day in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu took the official prayer and led the chamber into today's proceedings. Senator Marafa moved for the approval of Votes and Proceedings of Tuesday 13th June, 2017. Senator Godswill Akpabio seconded. EXECUTIVE SESSION Senate now moved into an Executive Session. Senate resumed from its Executive Session and Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu Reported Progress that at the executive session Senate deliberated on issues bothering on the workings of the Senate and the National Assembly in general *ANNOUNCEMENT * Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu welcomed staffs and students who were present in the gallery to observe Plenary. POINT OF ORDER Senator Garba Binta Masi and Senator Ben Murray Bruce raised a point of order on the anomalities in their various constituencies. Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu stated that the p...

Imo State Commissioner of Police, Chris Ezike, has announced plans by the state command to confer posthumous promotion on the two officers, Sergeant Chukwudi Iboko and Sergeant Sunday Agbo, killed during a bank robbery in Owerri, the state capital in February this year. This awards come as Zenith bank where the police officers were stationed, also released funds as compensation to the deceased families. The CCTV footage of the bank robbery went viral last week with many Nigerians calling for the families of the brave mobile police officers to be adequately compensated. Sergeant Chukwudi Iboko was the officer who ran out of the security post during the robbery attack. He succeeded in killing one of the robbers before running out of the security post. Many Nigerians have applauded him for the bravery he displayed during the attack. At a press briefing in Owerri yesterday, the police boss said "Let me state for the avoidance of doubt that the ...

The Code of Conduct Tribunal today discharged Senate President Bukola Saraki in a stunning ruling delivered by the Chairman of the tribunal, Danladi Umar. Mr. Umar in a ruling delivered on the "no case" submission by Mr. Saraki held that the Code of Conduct Bureau had not established a prima facie case against Saraki relating to his false declaration of assets. SaharaReporters learnt of the plot to deliver a judgment in favor of Saraki late last night from cronies of the Senate President and in a late night tweet revealed that Saraki had bragged to friends that he had "settled" the judge in deal involving $2million. FLASH: Code of Conduct Tribunal to give a ruling on @bukolasaraki 's "No-case" filing tomorrow as Saraki brags that everything is "settled" — Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) June 13, 2017

Amid growing concerns about the impact on businesses of the high interest rates charged by financial institutions, the Senate on Tuesday asked the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to intervene to save the economy. The CBN, the regulatory authority, has continued to insist it cannot reduce interest rate in the country, currently at between 25 and 30 per cent, to avoid worsening the inflationary pressure on the economy. During the last Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, meeting, the CBN left the benchmark lending rate, also known as Monetary Policy Rate, MPR, unchanged for the seventh successive time at 14 per cent. But, at the round-table between the Senate and interest groups in the country’s financial and business sectors in Abuja on Tuesday, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, frowned at the decision to keep lending rate unchanged, saying it was stifling businesses. “The economy will not grow despite the current efforts by the Federal Government to revive ...

A former governor of Rivers State and Nigeria’s Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, on Tuesday said he once rejected N1 billion bribe when he served as governor of the oil rich state. Mr. Amaechi, who spoke in Lagos at a forum convened to discuss the place of social media in Nigeria’s political and socio-economic development, said the social media contributed to the erroneous perception Nigerians have about him. The minister, who said he rejected the bribe because of his principled stance on corruption, said Nigeria needed to go back to its value system. “My first confrontation with bribe was with a big contractor in Rivers State. After awarding the contract, he brought a billion naira. I screamed. “I asked, ‘where did you get the money?’ and he said from what he got (from the contract) and I said ‘look, that means you overquoted the contract’. “I said ‘the only reason you are giving me N1 billion was because if the contract was N32 billion, you made it N3...

Pan-Igbo youth group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council, OYC, says the only thing that can put a stop to the agitation for Biafra by the Igbos is for someone from the Igbo extraction to emerge President in 2019 with a Vice President from the North. The group said this in a statement released after its executive meeting in Enugu state yesterday. In the statement which was signed by its Secretary General, Okwu Nnabuike, the group said “it is Igbo president 2019 or Biafra 2020”. They alleged that the Igbos have been unjustly denied the seat of power for many years and that it is time they are allowed to become president or the calls for the Biafra nation will be actualized. The statement in part reads "It is sheer injustice and hatred, a situation where no Igbo has been allowed close to the seat of power for decades of years, whereas other geo-political zones have been taking turns either as military or civilian presidents. More annoying is the fact that the ...

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, Tuesday had a closed door meeting with some Northern leaders at the state house Abuja. Osinbajo called for the meeting following the recent call by some Northern youths for Igbos residing within the region to relocate on or before October 1st. Speaking at the meeting, Osibanjo said the ultimatum by a group of Arewa youths could not be ignored and would not be tolerated as the hate speeches if not stopped, could throw the nation into serious crisis. The acting president in his speech, said: "As a government, we are determined to ensure the unity of the country along the lines of our Constitution and I want to say that hate and divisive speech or divisive behaviour where it is illegal will be met with the full force of the law. I want to ensure that there is no doubt at all that it is the resolve of the government that none will be allowed to get away with making speeches that can cause sedition or that can cause violence. Thi...

The police have denied reports that officers who arrested the “most wanted” kidnap kingpin last Saturday stuck broomsticks up his penis to spiritually disarm him. “The report is not true. It is unfounded. Nigerians should disregard it,” police spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, said Monday. Chukwudidumeme Onuamadike, a 36-year-old native of Anambra State, was arrested at his residence in Magodo Phase II, Lagos, around noon Saturday, bringing relief to law enforcement authorities who trailed him for years. Mr. Moshood told PREMIUM TIMES Saturday evening Mr. Onuamadike’s arrest was a major success and a moral booster in the war against incessant kidnapping, which has become a lucrative enterprise for hardened criminals in recent years. “Millions of Nigerians in different parts of the country who dreaded this suspect will now be able to sleep with their two eyes closed,” Mr. Moshood said. As part of its reporting of the development, The Guardian said securit...

President Muhammadu Buhari was not allowed to see his wife during her recent visit to the United Kingdom, presidency sources informed SaharaReporters on Tuesday. In the stunning disclosure, the sources affirmed that the president has been kept away] from several of his aides and even those bodyguards who supposedly traveled with him. The President's Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari who also frequents London to take care of himself, is still the manipulator-in-chief, according to the sources.  Furthermore, SaharaReporters learned that Mr. Buhari has not spoken to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo for several weeks following his departure from Abuja for a second round of medical treatment for an undisclosed medical condition suspected to be cancer. The sources gave the example of Wednesday last week when members of Buhari's cabal called the Acting President and asked him to await a call from the ailing President, pointing out that no such call was received exc...

National Chairman of APC, John Odigie-Oyegun, says he is aware that the party can fire them if they do not deliver on their promises. Speaking at the presentation of a book titled ‘APC: The Making of a Change Agent’, which was written by Okoi Obono-Obla, the special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Prosecution at the party secretariat in Abuja today, Oyegun said the ability to fire any party that does not live up to expectations is the beauty of democracy. "We created a machine that has started a significant move in entrenching democracy in this country. What is democracy? It is the ability to hire and fire. It was the first time that Nigerians had the ability of firing and it has become internalized in our political psyche. We know that we should not make the mistakes of the PDP. We too now know that we can be fired and that is democracy.” he said

A member of the National Assembly, Dino Melaye, has called for the declaration of a state-of-emergency in Kogi, saying there was insecurity and anarchy in the state. The call at Senate plenary on Tuesday was at the backdrop of two alleged assassination attempts on Mr. Melaye’s life. Mr. Melaye, who came under Order 43 of Senate Standing Rule, prayed the senate to order the Inspector-General of Police to immediately undertake an audit of the police armoury in Kogi command. He said he would move a motion for the upper chamber to prevail on the federal government to impose emergency rule in the state. He claimed that before the Governor Yahaya Bello assumed office, Kogi never experienced the high number of kidnappings, killings and anarchy as being recorded currently. “On Monday l left my village and arrived at Lokoja in the company of Directorate of State Services (DSS) operatives and police. “When I arrived at Lokoja, I phoned the state Directo...