Elections not sole responsibility of INEC – European Centre

The European Center for Election Support (ECES) says elections are not the responsibility of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) alone.

Mr Fabien Marie, ECES Representative stated this on Saturday in Port Harcourt at the end of a two-day training for security personnel on managing security during the forthcoming general elections.

“It should be the responsibility of every Nigerian to ensure that the forthcoming election is peaceful and credible,” Marie said.

He therefore urged security agencies and all stakeholders in Nigeria’s election project to work together for credible and peaceful election.

“We are very proud to be able to give our little support for the success of the electoral process, our joy will be that the process is successful in the end.

“I urge you to pass on the lessons you will learn from this training to other officers, and also put it to work during the election,” Marie said.

Speaking at the event, Ebo Efanga, INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in Rivers, said that the training was important due to the critical role of security agencies in the electoral process.

“The arm which plays the primary role in the election is INEC; but the security agencies play a supportive role, which is critical to the overall success of the election.

“It is a training that will enable us tell the security agencies what is expected of them, we expect that they should be conversant with how elections are conducted,” Efanga said.

On his part, CSP John Ohanyere, a participant, described the training as timely and laudable.

Ohanyere said that the training was a reminder to the agencies of the basic rules and regulations guiding the conduct of elections.

- PM NEWS

Transfer News: Allegri speaks on Pogba’s return to Juventus

Juventus coach, Massimiliano Allegri has said it is “fantasy” to think Manchester United midfielder, Paul Pogba will play for the Italian side again.

The midfielder enjoyed four successful years at Juve after joining the club as a youngster from United in 2012.

He returned to Old Trafford in 2016 for a then-world record transfer fee of £89m but the World Cup winner struggled under Jose Mourinho this season prompting suggestions he could re-sign for Juve.

However, the 25-year-old France midfielder appears to have been revitalised by United’s decision to bring in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as caretaker manager to replace Mourinho.

He has been United’s standout player over the last month as they have won eight games in a row, including a 3-1 victory at Arsenal in the FA Cup on Friday, leaving Allegri to accept there is little chance of Pogba making a return.

“Oh my… you [journalists] have such fantasies,” the Juventus head coach told Skysports on Saturday.

“I think that a return of Pogba to Juventus is very, very unlikely.

“I will not deceive myself, I think it will be really hard to see Pogba come back.”

- DAILY POST

62,000 graduates jostle for 7,600 teaching jobs in Kaduna

A total of 62,000 applicants on Saturday sat for aptitude and qualifying test to teach in secondary schools across the 23 local government areas of Kaduna state.

The state Commisioner for Education, Science and Technology, Alhaji Ja’faru Sani said in a statement that “out of the number, the State Government will recruit only 7,600 qualified teachers that will teach in the state’s public secondary schools.

Giving the breakdown, he said “about 31,000 HND, B.sc, Master’s Degree and Ph.D. holders were participating in the first phase of the aptitude test.”

His words: “more than 31,000 holders of NCE would write their examination in a later date.”

According to him, “the measure is to ensure effective supervision with a view to getting the best to teach in secondary schools.

“You will recall that about two months ago, we placed advertisement seeking for qualified candidates to apply for teaching positions in our secondary schools.

“Today in this centre and many other centres across the state, the applicants were writing the aptitude test to be considered for the teaching positions.

“We had to do the screening in phases because we earlier envisaged a manageable number but ended up with more than 60,000 applicants seeking to join the teaching service of the state government.

“Because of logistics and the need to have a conducive environment for the examination, we decided to stagger the screening exercise, starting with over 30,000 HND, B.Ed., B.sc, Masters and Ph.D holders.

“The over 31,000 NCE holders will be invited for the examination at no distant time.”

Sani added that “the recruitment was part of the current administration’s efforts to address the problem of teacher quality in public schools.”

He said that the goal of the current administration was to achieve better education service delivery for all by 2030

- DAILY POST

TRANSFER NEWS : Arsenal in talks to sign Perisic

Arsenal are in talks to sign winger Ivan Perisic from Inter Milan, according to Sky in Italy. 

The Gunners want to sign the 29-year-old on loan with an option to buy, but the Italian side are only interested in a permanent deal.

Perisic has scored three goals and registered five assists in 25 appearances in all competitions this season for Inter, who currently sit third in Serie A.

The winger was an integral part of Croatia's success in last summer's World Cup and scored in the final as they were beaten 4-2 by France.

Back in November Perisic hinted at his desire to one day play in the Premier League.

He said: "I have always said that it is my dream, in football everything is possible, we will see in the future. Now I'm focusing on Inter."

Inter Milan manager Luciano Spalletti says Perisic will not be sold on the cheap, while Gunners boss Unai Emery previously told the media that Arsenal can only sign players on loan this month.

Perisic was previously linked to a move to Manchester United when Jose Mourinho was in charge.

- SKY SPORTS

Anthony Joshua : Fury fight is 'massive'

 Joshua has revealed his renewed interest in a "massive" British battle with Tyson Fury, but admits he will have to wait for WBC champion Deontay Wilder.

Britain's unified heavyweight champion is set to make a decision this weekend about an opponent for his next title defence, which could be staged either at Wembley in April, or New York in May or June.

A rematch with Dillian Whyte or a US debut against Jarrell Miller are among his options, while Joshua has also admitted that he hopes Fury is part of his future plans.

Asked about Fury, he told The Graham Norton Show: "That would be massive. I would love to.

"The fight that Wilder and Fury had, I felt that Fury won, so it would be amazing to have two British heavyweights and we would be combining the belts up.

"In the eyes of a lot of people, Fury is a champion as such.

"We're the top three, so I would love to fight him. Even though he hasn't got a belt, it's still fighting one of the top three."

Wilder has been ordered to agree a rematch with Fury after retaining his WBC belt in a split decision draw in December.

Joshua praised Fury's performance after he returned from a lengthy break from the sport last year, insisting that Wilder should have suffered defeat after underestimating his British rival.

"Three years is a long time to take out and I think it was a good name, but he must have thought it was an easy fight, because he thought he was getting him when he was a bit cold," said Joshua.

"Tyson Fury is very talented, very skilled and showed that to the world when he boxed him, so it ended in a draw."

Negotiations over a fight between Joshua and Wilder have broken down again, with the WBA 'super' IBF and WBO title holder accepting that he needs to take an alternative fight.

"He's got other options in the States that he's interested in fighting, but my view is that I've got four, you've got the last one," he said. "Like 'Lord of the Rings', let's combine them together.

"You can fight in front of the biggest audience, the best UK crowd there is, and fight for the heavyweight championship of the world.

"That's a great offer, but he's interested in fighting someone else, so I have to go a different route at the minute.

"We're playing the waiting game."

- SKY SPORTS

No drug can shrink or pass out fibroid – Surgeon

A Surgeon, Dr Benjamin Olowojebutu, says no drug will shrink or pass out fibroid from a woman.

Olowojebutu, also the Founder, Benjamin Olowojebutu Foundation (BOF), an NGO, made this known at a news conference on Saturday in Lagos.

Fibroids are non-cancerous abnormal growths that develop in or around the womb (uterus). The growths are made up of muscle and fibrous tissue, and vary in size.

The surgeon advised women that instead, they should visit a doctor and get examined when they suspected to have fibroid.

The foundation helps indigent women suffering from various conditions such as Fibroids, Breast lumps, and Hernias.

“There are lots of fallacies and superstitious beliefs around fibroid that you can take medicines to shrink or pass it out from the anus; that is what is killing many women today.

“Some women have been taken herbal drugs for years and instead of shrinking the fibroid, it is getting bigger.

“We want to create awareness to let people know that there is help for them,” Olowojebutu said.

The surgeon said that this had contributed a major challenge to the reason many people sought other alternatives rather than visiting the hospital.

He said that his foundation was willing to meet the needs of women who could not afford to pay for surgeries.

According to him, we are targeting 1,000 women for free surgeries in 2019.

Olowojebutu said that the average cost of surgery was N500,000 in the Mainland and about N1million in the Island, both areas in Lagos State.

“So, imagine somebody earning N4,000 a month. How long will such person save to be able to pay for surgery.

“The goal of BOF is to, in the long run, change the healthcare space with love and compassion.

“Our project for 2019 is called “Journey To 1,000 Free Surgeries”; our aim is to be able to help 1,000 indigent patients suffering from Fibriods, Lipoma Breast Lumps and Hernia.

“We have started already and we just concluded the Ikorodu outreach where eight fibroid surgeries took place.

“We are off to Cross River, Imo, Abia, Edo, Rivers and Ondo States from the Feb.1,“ he said.

Olowojebutu said that fibroid was very common in African women and also in Nigeria.

He said, however, that the risk of developing fibroid could be reduced if a woman married early and there was a break in their menstrual flow.

“Women who menstruate early, let us say at 10 years old and you are now 35 years old, that is 25 years of bleeding without a break.

“When there is no break in your menstrual flow, that is, the longer you are menstruating for, you stimulate the oestrogen hormone to produce fibroid.

“Women who have many babies may not have fibroid, because there is usually a break; one year of pregnancy and another for breastfeeding, which is two years of break.

“So, the oestrogen hormone cannot stimulate their wombs to grow the fibroid,“ he said.

- PM NEWS

City crush Burnley 5-0 in FA Cup

Manchester City eased into the fifth round of the FA Cup as they thrashed Burnley at Etihad Stadium.

Gabriel Jesus scored with a low strike after a fine run, although Matej Vydra wasted a good chance to equalise.

That miss proved to be costly as Bernardo Silva’s shot went through Nick Pope’s hands, before Kevin de Bruyne added a third with a powerful effort.

Kevin Long’s own goal made it 4-0 and a Sergio Aguero penalty, after David Silva was fouled, sealed the rout.

City, who last won the competition in 2011, have now scored 30 goals in seven games in 2019, while Burnley suffered their first defeat in six matches.

Pep Guardiola’s side won the Premier League and Carabao Cup last season and are still on course for a quadruple in 2018-19.

They face Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final, play a Schalke side who are in the bottom half of the German Bundesliga in the Champions League last 16, are only four points adrift of Premier League leaders Liverpool and are now into the last 16 of the FA Cup.

Playing their seventh of eight games in January, they dominated from the start against Burnley, with Jesus not far from connecting with De Bruyne’s low cross, before Bernardo and Danilo both had shots saved by Pope.

But one-time England international Pope – making only his third appearance of the season – was helpless to stop Jesus’ powerful low strike that gave the hosts a 23rd-minute lead.

With Burnley 16th in the Premier League, manager Sean Dyche opted to make seven changes, and his side failed to have a single shot on target as City totalled 75% possession.

However, the visitors should have scored within three minutes of the restart when Otamendi gave the ball to Vydra but the Czech Republic international shot wastefully wide with only Ederson to beat.

Within five minutes of that miss, it was 2-0 as Bernardo’s low shot took a deflection and went through the arms of Pope.

The Burnley goalkeeper made up for that error as he tipped Riyad Mahrez’s effort wide, although he had no chance with De Bruyne’s well-struck effort for City’s third goal.

Clarets defender Long then put the ball into his own net for City’s fourth when De Bruyne’s powerful cross hit him and went in.

Long’s day got even worse with a needless foul on David Silva and Aguero – on as a 75th minute substitute – made it 5-0 from 12 yards to seal a routine victory for the home side.

-BBC

GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD RUBBISH !! PDP suspends Presidential Campaign to protest CJN’s suspension

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said it has suspended its campaign for 72 hours to protest the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen.

Less than twenty four hours ago, President Muhammadu Buhari controversially suspended Mr Onnoghen from office.

Many Nigerians including the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) and Senate President Bukola Saraki have described the president’s action as illegal.

In a statement, the national chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, said the party is suspending its campaign for 72 hours, in solidarity with Nigerians.

The campaign council, co-chaired by Secondus, also described Buhari’s action as a “dangerous and brazen assault on the constitution”

The PDP Presidential Campaign was scheduled to be in Benue State today, before the suspension.

In the same vein, the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Donald Duke has also faulted the present administration for suspending Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen.

The former Cross Rivers state governor described the CJN’s suspension as undemocratic and not right for the polity.

He described the action as a “blatant and arrogant display of power.”

- PM NEWS

Sam Sodje opens up on fraud case, jail term, says family being witch-hunted

The Sodje brothers made headlines a few days ago when it became known that they were found guilty and jailed for fraud in 2017.

The brothers — Efe Sodje, 46, Stephen Sodje, 43, and Bright Sodje, 52 — were said to have siphoned off cash from their charity, Sodje Sports Foundation (SSF).

They were alleged to have pocketed money raised at black-tie dinners, auctions, and charity football matches.

The case was kept under wraps due to a clause preventing it from being publicised until the conclusion of a separate trial involving Sam, who was on Monday cleared of money laundering.

Speaking with TheCable, Sam, a former Super Eagles central defender, described the match fixing and fraud charges brought against him and his brothers as a witch-hunt.

Sam, 39, spoke about the allegations levelled against him and his brothers.

‘Highest witch hunt ever’

All these talks and crime they brought against my brothers are all lies. They are not really the ones they targeted but me – Sam Sodje. This is the highest witch hunt ever. It is all cooked up because the journalist that set me up on the match fixing/money laundering scandal was jailed for fake news. The one we called ‘fake sheikh’. Mazher Mahmoud is a well known journalist always setting up top people. He has been in this business for over 30 years. If it was true, why is it that it was the journalist that went to prison and not me?

On the part played by Bright Sodje

The £60,000 they claimed the Sodjes embezzled, Bright alone is worth 10 times more of that. He has a house in Tunisia, Morocco and Spain. Why will he go and do that kind of fraud? Bright is not like me. He is typical English. A proper English man and he is a magistrate. Can you imagine that? A magistrate. It is because they could not believe that Mahmoud will go to prison for lying and peddling fake news.

Two of our board of trustees/directors are Clive Betts (MP) and Ashley Carson. My brother Bright Sodje is the third person on the board. The three of them are the signatories to the foundation’s account. The three of them are the ones who sign cheques. I have never seen the cheques before. Efe has never seen the cheques too before.

If you say the foundation is a fraud, arrest everybody… but who are the first set of people to be arrested? Is it not the board of trustees/directors? And the accountant?

You know one funny thing? Betts and Carson left the foundation at the same time. When the investigators went to court, they included Bright because he is a Sodje but left both Betts and Carson out. Just think about that. You claimed to be investigating the foundation, why not bring in all the three people that do sign the cheques?

The question to ask is why is it that Betts and Carson that were part of board of directors was not included in the trial of the foundation’s fraud charges? Why just Bright alone? After all, three of them were the signatories to every cheque?

Why Sam was not convicted

They found me not guilty because I didn’t do anything. Where the judge became baffled was when he saw where they said I took £300 out of £80, 000 and also gave out £20,000 to charity in 2012. That made the judge to ask if I could give £20,000 of my personal money to charity, so, its only £300 money laundering he’ll go and get involved in?

I’ll tell you that it’s ‘operation bring the Sodjes down’ that’s going on in England. Let’s say the fraud issue is really correct, everyone is suppose to be in prison by now. It is lies.

The match fixing allegation didn’t go well as they expected that’s why they came up with the fraud thing with my brothers involved. I was also included in the fraud thing concerning the Sodje foundation. When I won that, they now brought money laundering charges against me again. It was not even my case but some other people.

The question my lawyer asked in court was ‘are you telling me that Sam took £80, 000, he gave £79,700 to the people involved and he took just £300 out of it? How stupid does that sound?’

The Sodjes hobnob with the MPs and most of our meetings were held in the parliament. For a black man to be doing that, we’ve gone too far and they don’t like that. You see me and my family, we don’t care about what they are saying in the media. You see, assuming we are not British, they would have told us to go back home. But because they can’t do that, they are left with tarnishing the Sodje name.

‘All Nigerians are fraudsters’

I know how this country works. The only thing they can do is scandalise the Sodje family name. They can’t do us anything. In court, they were telling me to my face that all Nigerians are fraudsters. Majority of the people here in prison for rape are all whites. How can you take a professional footballer to court for £300? As at 2013, I was worth £1.2 million. How can I go and do money laundering for people I don’t even know for £300? Does that make sense? My mobile phone bill then alone was £550. How come they came up with that publication when I won my case on Monday that my brothers were jailed?

Are the Sodje brothers in jail?

How can they be in jail when we just returned from Nigeria? We all just came back from Nigeria from burying our mother. My brothers never went to prison for one day. When the jail terms were read out in court, they appealed it and that’s what’s going on right now. They never were in prison.

On Akpo Sodje being on the run

Akpo is on social media, he phones them everyday. And he has a very good job in Delta state. His address is on his social media pages. How can someone on the run do that?

‘We are fighting the system’

And guess who we are fighting again? It’s the British media. And all these is because of the journalist that is jailed for giving fake news in the case. Just because I won the case on Monday and they were ordered to pay my expenses for the duration of the court case, the next thing, the media went crazy.

There’s so much to this case that the world out there doesn’t know. Can you imagine how many copies of papers Sun UK sold that morning that the scandal broke with my pictures on their front page? I’ll tell you, they sold 1.7 million copies just within two hours.

Look at what they did to Sam Allardyce? They always set up people while claiming to investigate a none existing allegation. They could not even bring any indicting document to support their case against me in court. I have never even bet in my life before. How can a judge say every Nigerian is a fraudster? He has no right to say that.

The bone of contention against the Sodjes is that we are fighting the system back. As the case was going on, I went ahead to buy a 350 Benz SUV hero and that got them infuriated the more. Saying I was not suppose to buy the car as the case was ongoing in court. That my account should be frozen.

- THECABLE

Why I no longer wear pants – Actress Nazo

Delectable Nollywood actress and producer, Nazo Ekezie, has declared that she is part of the few Nigerians who no longer wear panties.

Speaking in an interview with Saturday Sun, the fast-rising movie star also said she is desperately in need of a man who would love her for who she is, not minding her fame.

Her words on pant stealers: “I might sound cliché but I don’t wear pants anymore. I’m not going to joke with my destiny, and if I’m taking my clothes off anywhere, my underwear is going straight into my bag.”

On her relationship, she revealed: “I’m single and available. I would love someone who sees me as Nazo and not as an actress all the time.

“Right now, I seriously want to be in a relationship. I want to be with a person that actually knows me, a person who loves me and willing to relate with me as Nazo and not as an actress. That one is so important. I’m not looking out to marry a (Aliko) Dangote but my man needs to be comfortable. He has to be able to provide for me,” she explained.

- DAILY POST

OGUN : Car loses control, crushes 4 students to death

A Toyota Avensis car on Friday lost control, after experiencing a tyre burst, tumbled and crushed four students of the Government Technical College and one other person to death in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The Spokesperson of Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE) in Ogun State, Mr Babatunde Akinbiyi, confirmed the incident to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday.

Akinbiyi said that the car lost control due to tyre burst, sumersaulted and hit the students where they were seated in front of a house.
“The vehicle lost control due to tyre burst and speeding , sumarsaulted and went to meet people sitting down outside a house instantly killing five of them and injuring two others.
” The accident occurred around 10:40pm. Four female college students and a little girl died on the spot.

“We Learnt they were students of Government Technical College, Abeokuta.
“They came for a Muslim programme called Tarjuud which was to start by 12am but were still outside around 10:30 pm, waiting for 12am to enter a mosque where the programme will take place before the incident happened.
“Alcoholic drinks were found in the car and unfortunately the driver of the car could not be located, ” he said.

Akinbiyi added that corpses of the deceased had been deposited at the morgue of the Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Abeokuta while the injured were taken to same hospital.

- DAILY POST

Onnoghen: Falana finally reacts to Buhari’s suspension of CJN, blasts Osinbajo, Fashola, Malami

A frontline legal luminary, Femi Falana, has reacted to the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Walter Onnoghen, by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The senior lawyer picked holes in the exparte order of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, relied upon by Buhari to suspend Justice Onnoghen.

DAILY POST reported yesterday that President Buhari suspended Justice Onnoghen as the CJN and swore in Justice Tanko Muhammad on acting capacity.

Falana, while pointing out discrepancies in the controversial order, called on the Bar and the Bench to challenge the illegal suspension and the fascism gradually creeping on the nation.

He also lambasted lawyers serving in Buhari’s cabinet, particularly the three senior advocates, although he did not mention their names.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami are all learned silks.

In a statement he personally signed on Saturday, Falana, said, “I have had cause to call on the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami SAN to withdraw the charge of false declaration of assets filed against the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

“The call was without prejudice to the merit of the serious allegations levelled against the Chief Justice. In line with decided judicial authorities, I had wanted the National Judicial Council to investigate the allegations.

“Unfortunately, the 88th statutory meeting of the National Judicial Council scheduled to hold on January 15, 2019, which could have deliberated on the matter and take an informed position was postponed indefinitely on the directive of the embattled Chief Justice.

“As the battle shifted to the courts, both the Judiciary and the Executive were shopping for court orders from the Federal High Court, the National Industrial Court, the Code of Conduct Tribunal and the Court of Appeal. In the process, settled principles of law were sacrificed for the exigency of the moment. Thus, at the 15th annual Gani Fawehinmi lecture which held in Lagos on January 15 2019, I was compelled to warn against the dangerous trend.

“Regrettably, the warning fell on deaf ears. Curiously, in an act of brazen impunity, the Executive procured an ex parte order from the Code of Conduct Tribunal for the immediate suspension of the Chief Justice from office. In his purported compliance with the ex parte order, President Mohammadu Buhari has announced the suspension of Justice Onnoghen as the Chief Justice and appointed Justice Tanko Mohammad as the Acting Chief Justice.

“It is unfortunate that the Bar and the Bench have played into the hands of the sponsors of incipient fascism in the country

“For reasons best known to them, the stakeholders in the legal profession stood by and allowed the Office of the Chief Justice to be completely desecrated. It is intriguing that the 12 lawyers including three Senior Advocates of Nigeria in the federal cabinet did not deem it fit to dissuade President Buhari from carrying out the illegal suspension of the Chief Justice on the basis of an ex parte order issued by the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

” In particular, they ought to have reminded the President of the compulsory retirement of Justice Stanley Nnaji and Justice Wilson Egbo-Egbo for issuing illegal ex parte orders for the removal of Dr Chris Ngige as Governor of Anambra State. It is sad to recall that it was the federal government superintended by former President Olusegun Obasanjo that instigated the illegal removal of the governor at the material time.

“However, notwithstanding the inauguration of Justice Tanko Mohammad as the Acting Chief Justice, the legal profession should not hesitate to review the entire Onnoghen saga in the interest of the nation’s judiciary. In Elelu-Habeeb (2012) 1 WRN the Supreme Court held that by virtue of section 292 of the Constitution the heads of the judicial arms of the state and federal governments in the country cannot be removed without a prior investigation conducted by the NJC.

” Consequently, the apex court set aside the purported removal of the appellant as the Chief judge of Kwara State upon an address forwarded to the house of assembly by former Governor Bukola Saraki. Therefore, the National Judicial Council should convene and constitute a committee to investigate the allegations levelled against the Chief Justice and make appropriate recommendation to the relevant authorities.

“Meanwhile, the legal team of the Chief Justice should proceed to challenge his suspension from office either at the Code of Conduct Tribunal or the Court of Appeal. Despite the gravity of the allegations levelled against the Chief Justice the illegality of the suspension should not be allowed to stand.

“The ex parte order is a suspect document as the motion ex parte on which it was predicated was allegedly filed on January 9, 2019, while the substantive charge against the Chief Justice was filed at the registry of the Code of Conduct Tribunal on January 11, 2019. Furthermore, the counsel who argued the motion is not indicated in the ex parte order.

“However, in view of President Buhari’s belated fidelity in the rule of law, the federal government should comply with all valid and subsisting orders of competent municipal and regional courts made against the federal government.”

- DAILY POST