Adamawa governor sued over ‘certificate forgery’

Muhammad Jibrilla Bindow, Adamawa governor, has been sued over the alleged forgery of his West African Examination Council (WAEC) certificate.

The governor was sued by the Global Integrity Crusade Network (GICN), a rights group.

According to the originating summons, the group claims that the governor did not complete his secondary education at Government Secondary School, Mangu, Plateau state.

GICN asked the court to compel WAEC to produce the governor’s certificate.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the All Progressives Congress (APC), WAEC and the police are defendants in the suit filed at the federal high court, Abuja.

The group also asked the court to determine “whether by the true interpretation of Section 177 (d) of the 1999 constitution, the first defendant (Jibrilla) is not absolutely disqualified from seeking re-election to the office on the ground that he does not possess a school certificate or its equivalent issued to him by the second defendant either in 1983 or at any time whatsoever.

“Whether the fourth defendant should not decline to present the first defendant to the third defendant to purposes of screening ahead of the forthcoming election to the office of governor of Adamawa state on the ground that he does not possess a school certificate or Its equivalent issued to him by the second defendant either in I983 or at any time whatsoever”.

GICN also requested an order directing the police to “carry out its legal duty by arresting and prosecuting the first defendant for perjury if the fifth defendant investigates and finds that first defendant neither completed his secondary education at Government Secondary School, Mangu, Plateau state in 1983 nor was issued any school certificate or its equivalent by the second defendant”. - TheCable

Rotten tomatoes cause cancer – NAFDAC warns Nigerians

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Friday warned Nigerians against the consumption of rotten tomatoes to forestall cancer.

Mrs. Christiana Essenwa, a Deputy Director with the agency, gave the warning in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Onitsha.

According to her, rotten tomatoes contain micro organisms that induce cancer.

She explained that “once tomatoes become rotten, it will have micro organisms, mostly fungi, and fungi in rotten tomatoes produce mycotoxins, which are deadly and induce cancer, and cause immune deficiency in man and animals.

“Mycotoxins are deadly, and can cause all sorts of poisoning in the body,” the director said.

She said that some research suggested that mycotoxins could also cause kidney damage.

According to her, some people think that rotten tomatoes, which are cheap, can be consumed after washing and heating.

She, however, stressed that the toxins could not be washed or killed by heating “because mycotoxins are heat-resistant.”

She, therefore, advised consumers to keep-off rotten tomatoes often sold cheap in the market, saying “it was better to spend money to prolong life than to use such money to buy death.” - Daily Post

Kim Kardashian West basically wore an outfit made of money

  Kim Kardashian West wore a money-inspired outfit while attending a party in Los Angeles on Thursday night.

-She wore a vintage Jeremy Scott trench coat featuring an all-over print made of dollar bills.

-Kardashian West paired the coat with matching boots and a handbag shaped like a sack of money.

When you're as rich as Kim Kardashian West, sometimes you turn to your own bank account for a little fashion inspiration. It appears that's exactly what Kardashian West did when she stepped out for a party in Los Angeles on Thursday night.

The KKW Beauty mogul wore a vintage Jeremy Scott trench coat with a print made entirely of dollar bills, essentially turning her estimated $350 million net worth into an outfit.

She paired the coat with some matching boots and a handbag shaped like a sack of money, just in case the coat didn't quite get the theme across.

While Kardashian West certainly has a few million of her own, she explained in a Snapchat video captured by Instagram account kimkardashiansnap that the outfit was actually inspired by a friend who she said sold her company "for a couple billion." Though Kardashian West didn't name the friend in question, Cosmopolitan reported that she attended a party for beauty brand Anastasia Beverly Hills. The outfit could also be in celebration of Donatella Versace, who just sold the Versace brand to Michael Kors for $2.1 billion. - Insider

PL News : Sturridge stunner snatches draw

Daniel Sturridge scored a stunning late equaliser as Liverpool fought back to claim a 1-1 draw against Premier League title rivals Chelsea in an absorbing contest at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening.

Eden Hazard fired in the opening goal after 25 minutes, just days after coming off the bench to secure a 2-1 Carabao Cup win for Chelsea at Anfield.

Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino had shots blocked on the line and Xherdan Shaqiri sliced wide from 12 yards out as Liverpool's hopes of extending their perfect start to the Premier League season faded.

However, they managed to salvage a draw thanks to a stunning 89th-minute strike from former Chelsea striker Sturridge, who curled a 30-yard shot over Kepa Arrizabalaga.

The result sees both sides remain unbeaten in the Premier League, but Manchester City now lead the way at the top of the table ahead of their clash with Liverpool next Sunday, live on Sky Sports.

Liverpool, who were aiming to win their first seven games of a top-flight campaign for only the second time, looked the more threatening side in the early stages as Salah twice failed to test Kepa with shots from outside the box.

Sadio Mane then sliced wide before Chelsea created their first opening; David Luiz playing a fabulous long pass over the top for Willian, who was denied by Alisson.

Chelsea took the lead in the 25th minute after some intricate build-up play in midfield resulted in Mateo Kovacic releasing Hazard, who finished into the far corner with a low strike.

Salah went close to equalising when he took the ball around Kepa and then saw a shot cleared off the line by Antonio Rudiger.

Liverpool enjoyed more of the possession in the second half but were frustrated as Kepa made a sharp save to keep out a low shot from Mane.

Hazard spurned an excellent chance to make it 2-0 when he was played through on goal by a quickly-taken free-kick but failed to beat Alisson.

Shaqiri then skewed wide from the penalty spot and Roberto Firmino saw a header blocked on the line by David Luiz as Chelsea looked as though they would hold out.

However, Sturridge snatched a draw in memorable style as he curled a left-footed shot over Kepa from 30 yards out.

Opta statsChelsea have won only two of their last nine home Premier League games against Liverpool (W2 D3 L4).Liverpool remain unbeaten in their opening seven matches of a Premier League season for the first time since 2008-09.Chelsea's Eden Hazard is the Premier League's top scorer this season with six goals - he has scored those six goals from just nine shots on target.Liverpool have only conceded two first half goals in their last 13 Premier League matches - both at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea (Oliver Giroud in May, Eden Hazard today).This was the 38th home Premier League game that Chelsea forward Eden Hazard has scored in - he has never ended on the losing side in any of those games (W34 D4 L0).Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge has scored 17 Premier League goals as a sub - only Olivier Giroud (19) and Jermain Defoe (24) have scored more off the bench in the history of the competition.Daniel Sturridge is the seventh player to score 50 Premier League goals for Liverpool, after Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, Luis Suarez, Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt. Man of the match - David Luiz

Hazard was bright throughout for Chelsea, but Luiz produced an assured display at the centre of defence. He played a couple of superb long-range passes, blocked a header from Firmino on the line and made two more interceptions than any other player on the pitch. He might still make fans nervous at times, but this was one of his better performances for Chelsea.

The managers

Maurizio Sarri: "I think they are a step forward but I think also that we are closer than I thought one week ago. In the first two places, as you know, for me, is going to be very difficult because Manchester City and Liverpool are a step forward on us. So it is very difficult. But I think we can fight for the Champions League."

Jurgen Klopp: "Six, seven times we had big chances. We gave them one proper chance, they used it and we didn't use ours. That's how life is. As long as we play like we did tonight we will win football games." - Sky Sport

Missing Gen Alkali’s car found

The Joint Task Force constituted by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has found the car belonging to Maj-Gen. Idris Alkali (rtd).

Alkali was declared missing since September 3, 2018.

On Saturday, the Nigerian Army made the announcement via its Twitter handle @HQNigerianArmy.

“Joint Task Force constituted by COAS Lt Gen TY Buratai comprising officers & soldiers from 3 Div Quick Response Team, Op Safe Haven, @PoliceNG #VIO @Fedfireng, as well as Local Divers have found the vehicle belonging to Maj Gen Alkali RTD at a pond in Lafendeg Du Plateau State,” the tweet read.

Meanwhile, the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) District Church Council Fellowship in Plateau State, has cautioned the Military Taskforce to careful while tracing the whereabouts of Alkali.

Its Chairman, Rev. David Laje, said “The Church is sounding the caution against the plans by the military to go to any length at tracing or otherwise the whereabouts of its retired top military officer who has not been seen or heard of since the last couple of days.

“Any act that could bring back the memory of the military action in Zaki Baim, Benue State, some years ago should be avoided at all cost.”- Daily Post

I’ll serve if it becomes necessary, says Shittu on skipping NYSC scheme

Adebayo Shittu, minister of communications, says he can still partake in the one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.

It was recently discovered that Shittu did not participate in the mandatory service after graduating from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU), despite finishing school below the required minimum age of 30.

He had defended the act, saying his first political post after graduation – as a member of the Oyo state house of assembly – could suffice as national service, a claim TheCable fact checked and found incorrect.

In an interview with Edumund Obilo, an Ibadan-based journalist, the minister said he is willing to join fresh graduates in the scheme “if it becomes necessary”.

Asked if he is willing to still serve, Shittu replied: “Of course I will go. It will be a pleasant thing to go, after I have been governor by the grace of God.”

The minister, who has since been disqualified from the race for Oyo state governorship election, said he is willing to serve in any part of the country.

Obilo asked him “what camp would you like to serve in?”, to which he responded: “Whichever camp. I will serve in any place if it becomes necessary for me to go. If it becomes necessary, I will.”

He, however, insisted his political service supersedes participating in the mandatory scheme.

“The courts would have to decide whether serving in the house of assembly and being minister is not superior and does not replace service in the NYSC,” he said.

“I am not Kemi Adeosun because I didn’t have any forged certificate of exemption. She didn’t forge, she was a victim of circumstance.”

The NYSC act does not provide a minimum age required to participate in the scheme, but states that a graduate is bound to serve if he or she leaves school before the age of 30. - TheCable

FAO says Nigeria needs external food assistance

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations has listed Nigeria as one of the countries in need of external food assistance across the world.

In its recently released quarterly report, Crop Prospects and Food Situation, FAO said 39 countries are in this category globally.

The 39 countries currently in need of external food assistance are: Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini (former Swaziland), Ethiopia, Guinea, Haiti, Iraq, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

“Persisting conflicts are the dominant factor driving the high level of severe food insecurity, as well as climate‑related shocks which have also adversely impacted food availability and access,” the report read.

“In Nigeria, prices of cereals and tubers remained at high levels particularly in northeast areas where market activities have been disrupted by insurgency.

“The conflict in northeast Nigeria continues to affect millions of people across the region and prevent many households from engaging in their typical livelihoods, leading to continued displacement and disruption of economic activities.

“The areas inaccessible to humanitarian interventions are facing the worse food security conditions.

“According to the March 2018 “Cadre Harmonisé” analysis, about 2.7 million people were affected by severe food insecurity (Phase: 3 “Crisis” to Phase: 5 “Famine”) in the area, with 2.3 million people estimated to be severely food insecure in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.”

States in Nigeria’s northeast has been dealing with attacks from Boko Haram insurgents which has left several people displaced from their homes and others dead since 2012. -TheCable

Anambra : Flood kills Osadebe’s son

Okechukwu Osadebe, an 18-year-old son of late highlife maestro, Chief Stephen Osadebe, has lost his life in a flood disaster in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra.

He died on Thursday, Sept. 27 in the Osadebe’s Atani country home in Ogbaru when he was swept away by the flood at about 7:30pm.

On Friday, Mrs Amaechi Osadebe, mother of the deceased, told NAN that Okechulwu was returning home with two other persons when flash flood overwhelmed them.

She explained that it was due to high current and turbulence of the water wave that made it difficult for the other two young boys to pull him out of the water.

Mr Arinzechukwu Awogu, the Transition Chairman of Ogbaru, who visited the family, described the death as a tragedy to the whole Ogbaru community.

Awogu said he came to commiserate with the family as it was very painful to lose a child at such a tender age, regretting that the floods had brought unimaginable loss to the entire Local Government.

He, however, called on the people of the area to take extra precautions to avoid further loss of life.

“As we wait for the water to recede, my advice is that everybody, especially the underage, should be very careful when they go close to the areas already submerged,’’ he said. - Daily Post

384 killed as quake triggers tsunami in Indonesia

At least 384 people have been killed after a strong earthquake and tsunami struck Indonesia.

The national disaster agency released the official death toll and said all of the victims were killed in the tsunami-struck city of Palu, warning the toll was likely to rise.

Some 540 people were badly injured, it added.

Waves of up to two metres (6.6ft) high swept through the city of Palu on Sulawesi island after the magnitude 7.5 quake brought down several buildings and sent people fleeing from their homes.

Many of those killed were at a beach festival in Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi province, which was strewn with debris from collapsed buildings and pooled seawater.

"When the (tsunami) threat arose yesterday, people were still doing their activities on the beach and did not immediately run and they became victims," disaster agency official Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

Palu, which has a population of more than 380,000, is built around a narrow bay which apparently magnified the force of the tsunami water as it raced into the tight inlet.

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake which earlier hit central Sulawesi also reportedly killed one person and injured 10 others, as well as damaging dozens of houses.

Authorities are struggling to co-ordinate the rescue effort because a power outage has cut communications around Palu and the nearby town of Donggala, which is closest to the epicentre of the quake.

Hospitals have been overwhelmed by the influx of injured, with many people being treated in open air, while other survivors helped to retrieve the remains of those who died.

Officials said some victims had been trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings.

Mr Nugroho said: "Bodies of victims were found in several places, because they were hit by the rubble of collapsing buildings or swept by tsunami... but we are still collecting data."

Indonesian president Joko Widodo said the military was being called into the disaster-struck region to help search-and-rescue teams reach victims.

United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said UN officials were in contact with Indonesian authorities and "stand ready to provide support as required".

The earthquake hit at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles) just before 6pm local time (12pm UK time) on Friday, the US Geological Survey said.

A tsunami warning was issued but lifted within the hour.

Footage posted online showed waves of water bring down several buildings and swamp a large mosque in Palu.

"I just ran when I saw the waves hitting homes on the coastline," said Palu resident Rusidanto.

In the nearby city of Donggala, home to nearly 300,000 people, a large bridge with yellow arches that spanned a coastal river collapsed.

The 7.5 magnitude tremor later on was more powerful than a series of quakes that killed hundreds on the Indonesian island of Lombok in July and August.

Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because of its location on the Ring Of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

In December 2004, a massive 9.1 magnitude earthquake off Sumatra in western Indonesia triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries. - Sky News 

Brexit uncertainties cause Irish border communities to fear the worst

Martin McVicar gazes out over the factory floor where workers weave in and out of aisles piled high with machinery. The firm he directs, Combilift, is the largest global manufacturer of multidirectional forklift trucks. Designed, made and exported from County Monaghan, just on the border with Northern Ireland, Combilift was established in 1998, the same year that peace came to the island and the militarized border between the two territories started to be dismantled.

“Fifty-four [out of 550] of our employees live in the north and travel across the border daily to work — they don’t think of it as another country,” McVicar says. “If you ask the younger generation today where the border is, they couldn’t tell you. In their mind, they don’t see a physical border.”

And the border is largely invisible, 300 miles zigzagging through fields, streams, towns and even houses. Out of the 300 crossings, most do not even show a sign that you have crossed countries, save for the road signs — miles in the north and kilometers in the Republic. It’s a far cry from the Troubles — the three-decade period when rival unionist and republican paramilitaries warred over the political status of Northern Ireland — that saw the frontier strung with British Army checkpoints, soldiers and watchtowers.

The 1998 Good Friday Agreement saw the phasing out of this physical infrastructure, allowing people and goods to cross freely and unchecked. This was helped by the two countries being in the European Union Single Market and customs union for goods and services, largely removing any need for inspections at the border. In March 2019, Britain is expected to leave the European Union regulatory systems, leaving many to wonder how the currently open Irish border will be policed and how this could affect the fragile peace process.

A precursor to new Troubles?

As a child growing up in Monaghan, McVicar remembers having to lift his bicycle over the concrete checkpoints to go shopping in the north.

“I don’t think it’s going to end with a border like that but then any border is not in the interest of either side. But the reality is that if you want peace across multiple countries, the best way is easy movement of product and people. The minute you create borders, that’s not a way to create peace long term.”

With only six months until Britain is due to leave the European Union, the country is still yet to finalize a withdrawal agreement on the terms of its departure. One of the main sticking points is the British government’s failure to present the EU with a realistic proposal of how to keep the Irish border open. If no deal is reached, Britain would leave without any trade, regulatory and customs agreements with Europe and risk potential disruption at ports and borders.

Combilift currently exports its product to about 85 countries worldwide. The economic uncertainty of Brexit has caused McVicar to alter his supply chains accordingly.

“There’s no more certainty today than there was when the vote was cast two years ago,” he says. “We are actively looking for new suppliers from mainland Europe or Ireland rather than trying to increase our supply base from the UK because we don’t want to be subjected to import duty on our raw material coming in for products that we might export.”

Fabrication manager Jonathan McKenna, who has worked for Combilift for 18 years and lived in the north all his life, agrees.

“How to prepare for it? It’s the unknown. Even at the moment I’m wondering do I move to the south? Nobody’s really come up with anything concrete and people fear the worst,” he says.

Much anxiety over any interference with the border stems from Ireland’s painful recent past.

Dr. Katy Hayward, a reader in sociology at Queen’s University Belfast, explains how the border quickly became a flashpoint for violence:

“If you look at what happened during the escalation of the Troubles in the early 1970s when it was a customs border, customs officials and posts were targeted by paramilitary organizations, especially the IRA. So then customs officials became accompanied by armed police officers and eventually the British army. These areas would be most affected by any change to the status as they suffer from a legacy of underdevelopment due to being cut through by a border. The impact of conflict and division is only really beginning to be addressed now as a result of European integration and the peace process.”

Further along the border in County Armagh, by the roaring Belfast-Dublin highway, farmer Damian McGenity stands in a graveyard in the Republic of Ireland, pointing at the church which lies in Northern Ireland. Nearby, a row of houses contains rooms on both sides of the international frontier. For McGenity, whose group Border Communities Against Brexit has been erecting billboards across the region, the suggestion of any impediment to free flows over the border would ruin everything.

“There are so many layers to it,” he says. “My wife works in the south, we get fuel and food in the south, I buy farm supplies in the south. Socially, if you go out to a restaurant, or see a football game, you would typically go to Dundalk in the south. All of that would be disrupted.”

The nearby customs post at Killeen was a site of frequent bombings and shootings throughout the Troubles.

“Nobody wants to go back to any kind violence or trouble. Absolutely not. But when you create the situation or the possibility of it, you take the lid off the Pandora’s Box. It’s madness, when there is complete peace here,” McGenity added.

Over in Warrenpoint on the north side of Carlingford Lough, the sea inlet that forms the beginning of the Irish border, local businessmen Adrian O’Hare and Jim Boylan sip tea at the seafront Whistledown Hotel, recalling the bad old days when, during bomb threats, the town’s residents had to run to the beach. In 1979, Warrenpoint became the site of the biggest single loss of life of the British Army since World War II after a convoy was bombed by the IRA twice, killing 18 soldiers and one civilian.

Boylan  and O’Hare are part of a group campaigning to build a bridge from Warrenpoint in the north to Omeath, on the opposite side. They say it will slash a journey that currently takes half an hour by car into a two-minute ride, revitalize trade and increase tourism to the area.

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“The Good Friday Agreement is based on the whole concept of consent,” O’Hare says. “It’s accepted that, unless you consent to changing the political system, I’m not going to force you. And what we have now, bearing in mind people in Northern Ireland voted to remain in the European Union, the consent thing has gone out of the window.”

O’Hare also believes that the pre-existing disparity between the two entities — GDP per capita south of the border is more than double that of the north — heightened by Brexit, will cause further tensions as people in the north get taken out of the EU while the Irish Republic stays in.

“You take the low wage, democratic deficit and history of the two communities here while [the Irish] across the Lough seem to be doing a lot better, you have a recipe for trouble. The Good Friday Agreement was only possible because we were in the EU, one jurisdiction, and it just parked the issues. Peace ensued thereafter. Now you’ve disturbed that, you’ve got a border, a ‘them and us’ and you’ve got an opportunity for both sides to exploit the situation.” 

Though the Irish border may be imperceptible, dividing lines in the Northern Irish capital are all too visible. After the Brexit vote, writer Garrett Carr decided to walk the entirety of the Irish border for a book project. He also lives in east Belfast, where some Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods are still separated by towering barricades referred to as "peace walls" — built to guard against sectarian killings throughout the Troubles.

Standing in the shadow of one such wall in the Short Strand district, says that he sees the connections between both areas:

“The fear of Brexit is that it will reharden the border and therefore other aspects of Northern Ireland’s social life will harden along with it. I think a lot depends on the border, and what happens in the cities sort of reflects the state of the border. The Good Friday Agreement softened the border and made life softer in the cities. What will happen when once again there is a confrontation, if no-one can say ‘the border’s not there’? That’s the real worry for a lot of people.” - PRI

2019: Political party sets written exams for presidential aspirants

The presidential aspirants of the KOWA Party, KP, have sat for a written examination set by the party to assess their intellectual grasp of the challenges rocking the nation ahead of the 2019 elections.

One of the aspirants, Remi Sonaiya, who was the party’s standard-bearer disclosed this on Friday via a post on her Facebook page.

She wrote: “#KOWAPARTY presidential aspirants going through written examination as part of the process of winning the party’s candidacy!!!

“It was actually a good exercise – and I passed! KOWA Party… making a difference,” she posted with the picture of three aspirants writing the test.

Early this year, the national secretary of the party, Mark Adebayo, had hinted that the party’s presidential and gubernatorial aspirants would be subjected to a written test so as to produce the best candidates for important political positions in 2019.

“There will be a written examination for presidential candidates of KOWA Party and governorship candidates. At least for those two categories. We need a candidate who can sell the party profitably to Nigeria,” Mr Adebayo said.

In 2015, Mrs Sonaiya, a professor, won 13,076 votes, 0.05% of the total votes cast, while Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives’ Congress, APC, polled 15,424,921 (53.96%) votes. - Daily Post