Gist Arena

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC today said it would maintain the status quo concerning the recall of Kogi state senator, Dino Melaye. Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES on the phone, INEC’s director of publicity, Mr Oluwole Osaze-uzzi said they would abide by all the stipulations outlined by the court. When asked what the commission’s next specific steps would be, he said only the court can determine that. INEC had yesterday said it had been served with the ruling of a Federal High Court on the process to recall the senator representing Kogi West senatorial district. The commission had told PREMIUM TIMES it would study the document and respond appropriately. The lawmaker is presently fighting a tough political battle to stop a large number of his constituents from seeing the recall process they initiated through.

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has dismissed insinuation that his face-off with the National Assembly was confrontational. Mr. Fashola spoke with State House correspondents on the side-line of the Presidential Quarterly Business Forum held at the old Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja, on Tuesday. He said that he was not fighting the lawmakers but only had disagreement with them, pointing out that he had many friends among them. The minister, however, said having many friends among them would not stop the right thing from being done. “There is no problem between me as an individual and the National Assembly. “And let me make that very clear, many of the senators and honourable members are my personal friends, and so you don’t fight your friends. But we have a disagreement. “You will remember when President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, he had enormous support from the leade...

The Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, is off to London to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari. This was disclosed by Laolu Akande, Mr. Osinbajo’s spokesperson. Mr. Buhari has been in London for medical treatment for over 65 days, during which time Mr. Osinbajo has acted as president. In his tweet on Wednesday, Mr. Akande said the acting president would return to Abuja “immediately afterwards.”

The shocking method used by fraudsters to swindle bank customers has been exposed after Operatives of the Police’ Special Fraud Unit (PSFU) Ikoyi, Lagos State, arrested suspects who are allegedly involved in swindling customers using a sophisticated method. Those arrested include a pastor, 2 MTN employees, 3 bankers, an ICT specialist and others. The police disclosed that the suspects belong to a syndicate that specializes in defrauding bank customers. With the help of the unscrupulous bankers arrested, the gang are able to get the details of customers with funded account while the 2 MTN staff work to ensure that the victims' mobile numbers are tampered with in such a way that they do not receive alert that money is being diverted from their account. The suspects have allegedly defrauded subscribers of over N150 million. The spokesman for the SFU, ASP Lawal Audu paraded the suspects. Chukwunonso Ifeanyi, 30, and Okpetu John, 29, who both confirmed they wer...

Deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, says he has pity for the people of Kogi state over their stance to recall Senator Dino Melaye who represents Kogi West in the senate. Ekweremadu said this on the floor of the senate while he was reacting to an advertorial on a National daily in which the Attorney General of the state, Ibrahim Muhammad, called him out for a comment he made on the floor of the senate regarding Dino's recall. Ekweremadu last week said the recall process was dead on arrival and that the senate would have to certify the recall process carried out by INEC before Dino can be shown the door out of the house. In the newspaper publication, Muhammad faulted Ekweremadu's position “I must put on record that legal opinion of senator Ekweremadu on the role of the senate in the recall process, the senate has no role whatsoever in the recall exercise than to receive the certificate under the hand of the chairman of INEC stating that the pro...

This man can use his skin to do the unthinkable. Just Watch the video