PL NEWS : Man City officially sign 25-year-old forward

Manchester City Women have announced the signing of South Korea forward, Lee Geum.

City signed the 25-year-old from Gyeongju KHNP on a two-year contract.

Man City disclosed this Wednesday morning in a statement on the club’s official website.

The statement read: “Lee Geum-min: Manchester City sign South Korea forward on two-year deal.

“Manchester City have signed South Korea forward Lee Geum-min from Gyeongju KHNP on a two-year contract.

“The 25-year-old represented South Korea in this summer’s World Cup, where they lost all three of their group games.

“Lee has scored 16 goals in 54 appearances since making her senior debut for her country.”

Speaking after signing for City, Lee Geum told the club’s website: “To my team-mates, coaches, manager, the fans and everyone involved, I want to be remembered as a good player.”

COZA SCANDAL : I signed police invitation letter at gunpoint – Busola Dakolo

Photographer, Busola Dakolo has claimed that she signed the invitation letter from the police to appear in Abuja over alleged threat to life at gunpoint.

Dakolo had alleged that the Senior Pastor of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly (COZA), Biodun Fatoyinbo raped her 20 years ago in Ilorin when she was 16 years old.

Fatoyinbo denied the allegation and when pressure mounted, he stepped aside from the pulpit. But a month later, he is back preaching again.

Dakolo had filed a case against Fatoyinbo at the police station, but she became a prey as the police brought allegations of threat to life and blackmail against her.

However, she recalled that the silver Toyota that tailed her as she was driving into her Lagos housing estate, and the white minibus with tinted windows already parked outside her house, had no police markings. By the time she got to her gate, the minibus had blocked her path. According to Dakolo, a man appeared and told her to get out of the car, get into the bus and speak to his oga – Nigerian pidgin English for boss.

Dakolo said when she refused, three men got out of the minibus and walked towards her.

“One was holding a gun, and I noticed a second one holding a letter. They told me they were from IG’s [the inspector general of police] office in Abuja and that I needed to sign this letter and acknowledge it,” Dakolo said in an interview with the UK Guardian.

Dakolo said it was “extremely intimidating” to have a gunman emerge from a darkened minibus, and that while she had eventually acquiesced, she had been in shock.

“Is this what everybody goes through, everyone that comes out to say their truth, everybody that says something about someone that is influential?” she asked. “I felt: who’s going to be there for the common man? Who is going to be there for someone who nobody knows?”

The letter contained allegations of criminal conspiracy, falsehood, mischief and threat to life. These were not levelled against Fatoyinbo, however, but against Dakolo and her husband, a well-known musician.

According to Dakolo, “Our culture doesn’t allow speaking of these sorts of things against anointed men of God. They’d rather hide it, and the party that is being victimised tends to live with that self-blame. The damage on the survivor is extremely terrible. The society, the church, keeps sweeping things under the carpet.

“This issue is beyond me. This is what’s happening, and the church is a place where they don’t talk about this. I decided to come out for me. It’s for me and others, so they can begin their process of healing, so they can begin to live freely.”

- PM NEWS

Nigeria drifting towards war – Prophet El-Buba blasts Buhari

General Overseer of the Evangelical Bible Outreach Ministries International (EBOMI), Prophet Isa El-Buba, has stated that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government is gradually worsening the prospects of unity and cohesion in Nigeria, stressing that the country “is already drifting towards war” due to certain tendencies, actions, and policies of the administration.

He said because of the insincerity of those in power and because of the personal benefits they derive as the war rages, Boko Haram terrorism will continue until its perpetrators in power decide to end it.

El-Buba disclosed this while addressing journalists in Jos, the Plateau State Capital, on the state of the nation.

He maintained that it was regrettable that Nigeria has never had it so bad, citing the manner insecurity has spread across the land; the impunity that has characterised the operations of bandits as well as the impetus of herdsmen carrying out sporadic killings in different parts of the country.

The General Overseer also said, “there is too much of insincerity, deceit, injustice, and sundry vices that manifest in the day-to-day running of the Buhari-administration, with very little hope for the youths and other ethnic components of the country.

“In spite of Government’s claim of winning the war against the Boko Haram insurgents in the North East, Nigerian troops are being daily decimated and depleted as secret burials are often carried out in Maiduguri, without the authorities informing the families of the dead soldiers or making the burials public.”

El-Buba further said, “the insincerity of those in power, because of the personal benefits they derive as the Boko Haram war rages will continue until its perpetrators in power decide to end it”.

Speaking on the ministerial designate, the Clergy described the proposed cabinet as “uninspiring and unambitious” for good governance.

He pointed out that, “the Buhari government has given no hope to the youth population of this country, because the composition of the cabinet, replete as it is with characters of questionable moral pedigree, does not have the outlook or determination to re-position the public space and forge a new direction predicated on moral rectitude.”

Speaking on the continuous disobedience of court bail order for El-Zakzaky by the Buhari government, the cleric described their action as “primitive and punitive stance”, saying their insistence on keeping the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) in the cell of the State security has neither helped the cause of justice nor the prospect of democracy in Nigeria.

He urged the Buhari government to be careful in handling the El-Zakzzaky issue, noting that if the detained IMN leader dies in government custody, the consequences could be more than imagined.

In the same vein, the General Overseer carpeted President Buhari over the arrest and detention of the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, for proposing to stage a pro-revolutionary protest against the “ills, injustices, failures, and ethnic and geopolitical inequalities prompted by the present administration”.

He said while the idea of ‘revolution’ is not patently negative or strictly connoting change of government, there was no basis to arrest Sowore, or use state security to abort the protest, saying it amounts to hypocrisy as Buhari and his government have benefited from such ‘revolutionary’ protests in the past.

-DAILY POST

Falana: If Sowore is charged, Buhari will be my first witness in court

Femi Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), says the government will be making a mistake if it files charges against Omoyele Sowore.

Sowore, who is the convener of #RevolutionNow movement, has been detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) since Saturday.

The DSS had accused him of threatening public peace and safety with his planned nationwide protest. 

But speaking at an event organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) on Tuesday, the senior lawyer who though did not mention President Muhammadu Buhari’s name directly, said Sowore had briefed him from detention that in the case he would be charged, his first witness would be someone in government who in 2011 also called for a revolution. 

Then a presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Buhari had called for a revolution in Nigeria – although through an electoral process. 

Sowore, according to Falana, refused to write a statement, insisting the DSS allow him to speak with his lawyer. 

“I do hope that the government will not be stupid to charge Sowore. In fairness to them (DSS), they gave him a telephone to phone me. Of course I knew they were monitoring the phone, and I told him I hope they won’t charge you, because if they do, some of the people in government will be our witnesses,” he said. 

“You know why? One of them, I won’t mention his name. In 2011, he asked Nigerians to learn from the Egyptian revolution and be ready for a revolution in Nigeria. So, he will be my first witness. 

“The late Chief Gani Fawehinmi and four other people were charged with treasonable felony by the Ibrahim Babangida junta. I was one of them. We were detained in Kuje prison for two months. We were taken to the court, and what was the offence? I think we went beyond Sowore. We posted thousands of posters across the country, that Babangida must go. That was the treasonable felony.” 

Falana, who stood in defence alongside Fawehinmi, said they argued that the then military president did not come to office through constitutional means. 

He added that those in government now harassing Nigerians with treason would someday, too, be tried for treason. 

It is not clear if Sowore will be charged as Peter Afunanya, DSS spokesperson is yet to respond to messages seeking development on the matter. 

- THECABLE

SAME ALMAJIRI SYSTEM !!! FG to review revenue sharing formula to suit ‘current economic realities’

The federal government says it will set up a committee to review the revenue sharing formula for federal, states and local governments due to current economic realities.

Elias Mbam, chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), made this known after he received an award of excellence from the Nigeria Civil Service Union.

According to the current revenue allocation formula, the federal government gets 52.68%, states get 26.72% and local governments, 20.60%.

Also, 13% of oil and gas federally collected revenue is returned to the oil-producing states as derivation revenue to compensate for ecological disasters arising from oil production.

“My agenda is to expand the sources of revenue for the federation. I will like to expand the cake that we are sharing so that people will get a reasonable quantity,” he said.

“I intend to do this through diversification in areas outside oil and gas, and that includes solid minerals, agriculture and manufacturing.

“So, we will encourage states and let them know what is available outside oil and gas so they can develop those aspects of the economy to their own benefit.”

The formula was designed during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.

In 2013, the RMAFC saw the need to review the formula for balanced development of the country, hence it embarked on a nationwide consultation and met with notable figures on the issue.

In December 2014, the commission came out with a proposed new revenue formula but for some reasons, it has not been implemented.

-THECABLE

Nigerian Ogbeifun docked in South Africa for dating scam

A Nigerian Christiano Ogbeinfun has been charged in South Africa with fraud and money laundering, executed through an online dating scam.

The 48 year-old Nigerian appeared briefly in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. But he was not asked to plead.

Hawks will investigate the South African victims who have allegedly been fleeced out of of R1.4million, about $94,000.

Hawks spokesperson Captain Philani Nkwalase said: “Several South African, Swedish and American victims fell prey to the alleged scam.

“We’re working with different authorities and we will investigate the South African victims. There are a lot of victims who lost their money.”

About R4.1million was estimated to have been lost by all his victims.

Ogbeinfun was arrested last Friday in a joint operation between the Hawks and the FBI. 

“It is alleged that the suspect lured mostly US-based victims from a dating site,” said Nkwalase.

After building a certain level of trust the victims were tricked into paying money into the suspect’s business account in the belief that the money was going to be paid back.

- PM NEWS

- PM NEWS

Revolution Now: Release Sowore, others now — PANDEF charges FG

Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, has criticised the Federal Government for cracking down on the Convener of ‘Revolution Now’ movement, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, and other Nigerians for demonstrating their disaffection with the state of affairs in the nation.

In a statement by its National Secretary, Dr. Alfred Mulade, the Niger-Delta group said rather than the militaristic approach to the complaints of the people, the federal government should address the issues they have raised.

The statement reads in part, “PANDEF calls for the immediate release of Mr. Omoyele Sowore and all those Nigerians who may have been arrested in course of peacefully demonstrating their disaffection at the state of affairs of the nation.

“The Federal Government ought to note the issues highlighted by the RevolutionNow protestations and take needed actions to address the hardship in the country, rather than cracking down on citizens for exercising their rights to speech, association, and assembly.

“The PANDEF strongly condemns the arrest of the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, by the Department of State Service (DSS) for his active role in the planned nationwide march to demand for decisive actions, from the government, on the nation’s security, economic, educational and healthcare challenges.

“PANDEF equally condemns actions of the Nigerian Police Force for describing the planned protests as treasonable felony and acts of terrorism. If we may ask, how can protest against insecurity, suffering and hardship in the country occasioned by misrule, amount to treasonable felony?

“Meanwhile, those who are actually threatening the unity and stability of the country by killing and maiming innocent Nigerians daily, are freely moving around in the country.

“It is disconcerting that the Federal Government of Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari is increasingly becoming intolerant of criticism and contrary opinions, and undemocratic in its actions.

“The fundamental human rights of association and expression of views are protected and guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution provides among other things that every person shall be entitled to assemble freely and associate with other persons, and in particular, he may form or belong to any political party, trade union or any other association for the protection of his or her interests.

“We would, therefore, call on the APC- led federal government and agencies of government to demonstrate greater respect for the nation’s constitution and its provisions, particularly those concerning fundamental rights such as right to life, right to dignity of the human person, right to personal liberty, right to freedom of expression, right to peaceful assembly and association.”

- DAILY POST