China jails tycoon Ren Zhiqiang for corruption

 

China on Tuesday sentenced real estate tycoon, Ren Zhiqiang, a critic of President Xi Jinping, to 18 years in prison for corruption.

The Beijing Second Intermediate People’s Court found Ren guilty of “corruption, bribery, embezzlement of public funds and abuse of power by personnel of a state-owned firm.”

Ren, 69, a former Communist Party member and chairman of Huayuan Properties, had been friends with party elite, including Vice President Wang Qishan, China’s second-most powerful leader.

He was a former employer of Liu He, now Beijing’s top negotiator in the trade war with the U.S.

Ren was expelled from the party in July after being accused of “colluding with his children to accumulate wealth without restraint.”

Ren, his son and assistant disappeared earlier in the year, after he wrote an essay critical of Beijing’s response to the coronavirus crisis.

Although his essay didn’t name Xi directly, it talked about a power-hungry “clown” “determined to play emperor.”

He had previously criticised the party in social media posts.

His punishment suggests that the space for criticism of China’s top leadership has all but closed, as Beijing recently clamped down on academics critical of the party.

The court said Ren confessed to his crimes and accepted the sentence.

- PM NEWS

Obaseki: There’ll be no mercy for Oshiomhole if he creates problems in Edo

 

Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, says there will be no mercy for Adams Oshiomhole, former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), if he creates problems in the state.

Obaseki was re-elected on Saturday, having secured the highest votes in the governorship election.

He secured 307,955 votes across 18 local government areas while Osagie Ize-Iyamu, candidate of the APC, polled 223,619 votes.

The governor won in 13 local government areas while Ize-Iyamu, his closest challenger, won in five.

Oshiomhole, Obaseki’s predecessor, turned his back against the governor and supported Ize-Iyamu.

The former national chairman also made several allegations against the governor.

Speaking on ARISE TV on Tuesday, Obaseki said Oshiomhole’s negative remarks will no longer be tolerated.

He said the former APC chairman will be shown no mercy if he tries to create problems in the state.

“I don’t have any plans to (drive him out of town). But if he continues to behave the way he has always done, if he continues to be disruptive, if he continues to flaunt his lions and tigers in Edo state and tries to create problems for us here, then we would not have any mercy. So it is totally up to him,” he said.

Obaseki accused Oshiomhole of causing disharmony between him and Ize-Iyamu whom he described as a relative.

When asked if he would forgive the former governor for his conduct during the campaigns, Obaseki said Oshiomhole betrayed his trust, adding that he should maintain his lane.

“For Oshiomhole, I won’t want to say much here. But when you find that you have been deceived, you don’t share the same values, you don’t trust at all,” he said.

“It is his responsibility to rebuild that trust and to show if his values align with what we represent as a people. Clearly I am not God but I will say he should stay on his lane while I maintain mine.”

Obaseki said he does not intend to run for senatorial office after the expiration of his second term as governor.

He also said it will be unfair of him to leave the PDP which gave him a platform to be reelected.

“I won the election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic  Party (PDP). I think it will be immoral and unfair to even have any other consideration at this point about leaving the platform that gave me the mandate,” he said.

“There must be moral on politics, people must be ethical. At this point in time, I do not think it is a proper thing to do, to jettison the party that has brought me into the party. Particularly, I have no issues or challenge with the party now.”

- THECABLE

JUNGLE !!! Abuja: Ifeoma Abugu, lady arrested in place of fiancé dies in SARS custody

 

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Commissioner of Police, Bala Ciroma, has ordered a probe of the death of Ifeoma Abugu.

DSP Anjuguri Manzah, Public Relations Officer, made this known in a statement on Monday.

Abugu is a graduate of the Institute of Management and Technology, IMT, Enugu State.

She was arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) on September 10 when operatives stormed the residence of her fiancé, Adam Ugwunwa, in Wumba village, Lokogoma.

The next day, the lady who recently concluded her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and had her introduction with Ugwunwa in Enugu days earlier, was dead.

Manzah announced that Ciroma has ordered a post-mortem to unravel the cause of Abugu’s demise.

“While sympathising with the family and friends of the deceased, the command wants to assure the public that it will be professional and transparent in the investigation”, the spokesman said.

- DAILY POST

Coronavirus: English Premier League fans can’t return to stadiums yet

 

British Cabinet office minister, Michael Gove, said plans for English Premier League fans to return to stadiums and watch live matches by October have been suspended.

He said the staged return of fans would be paused and Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, would reel out new measures.

“We were looking at a staged programme of more people returning. It wasn’t going to be the case that we were going to have stadiums thronged with fans,” he said.

“We’re looking at how we can, for the moment, pause that programme, but what we do want to do is to make sure that, as and when circumstances allow, get more people back.

The plans for fans to return were placed under review after a sudden rise in coronavirus cases earlier this month. The UK COVID-19 alert level moved to 4 implying that transmission is high or rising exponentially.

The English Premier League has also sent a letter to the government to warn that football stands to lose £100m a month while games are played behind closed doors.

- PM NEWS

How BBC Africa Eye exposed real cause of Abule Ado explosion

 

A BBC Africa Eye investigation has exposed the cause of the explosion which occurred at Abule Ado in Amuwo Odofin local government area of Lagos state.

In March, about 23 people were killed and more than 50 houses were destroyed when a massive explosion hit the area.

Among those who lost their lives were a family of four and Henrietta Alokha, an administrator at Bethlehem Girls High School, a Catholic-owned school where at least 60 students sustained injuries from the incident.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had attributed the explosion to gas cylinders hit by a truck in the area where NNPC has its pipelines.

But in a 17-minute forensic investigation released on Monday, BBC Africa Eye faulted NNPC’s explanation on the cause of the blast that decimated over 100,000 square metres of the city.

The video documentary showed how a leak of vapourised flammable liquid from an NNPC pipeline ignited and caused the explosion.
New video evidence filmed at the explosion site, five minutes before the blast, shows a catastrophic leak of vaporised liquid at the exact location where the NNPC high-pressure petroleum pipeline runs beneath the ground through that area.

The BBC found there was no gas processing plant at the explosion’s epicentre. Moreover, analysis of gas cylinders found at the site after the blast indicates they could not have been at the centre of the explosion when it happened.

The investigation revealed that the NNPC pipeline was not maintained and protected.

When the BBC approached NNPC with its findings, the agency again denied complicity and maintained its earlier stand that a truck hit gas cylinders at an LPG shop.

The NNPC had said the pipelines are strictly compliant with safety and regulatory guidelines, insisting that there was no leakage prior to the explosion.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos state, had announced that a N2 billion relief fund had been set up for victims of the explosion.

He also announced that a committee had been set up to investigate the explosion.

- THECABLE

Barcelona lists four clubs Luis Suarez must not join

 

Barcelona are set to add Atlético Madrid to the list of clubs Luis Suarez cannot join this summer.

Onda Cero reports that there is a list of ‘vetoed clubs’ already, which includes Real Madrid, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.

Suarez has been told he has no future at the club, with Barca trying to take him off their wage bill.

Nou Camp chiefs are willing to let him leave as a free agent, but are specific about teams he cannot sign for.

It is believed the LaLiga giants are worried about him scoring against them for a direct rival this season.

Atletico have now switched their attentions to Suarez’s international team-mate, Edinson Cavani, in case their deal for Suarez falls through in the latter stages.

Suarez, meanwhile, is still in limbo and waiting to know his next club, with a move to Juventus seemingly off the cards.

- DAILY POST