May Day 2017: Workers Get 60% Pay Rise With Immediate Effect

As the world celebrates 1st May which “Worker’s Day”, a President has increased his country’s minimum wage, effective from Monday.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has ordered a 60% increase in the country’s minimum wage, effective from Monday.

Including food subsidies, the worst-paid workers will now take home about 200,000 bolivars a month – less than $50 (£38) at the black market rate.

According to BBC, the pay rise is the third this year from Mr Maduro, and aims to benefit government workers and the military.

It comes a month after deadly protests erupted in the country.

Demonstrators first took to the streets on 1 April to demand elections, after the courts tried to strengthen the president’s grip on power.

Marches in various cities descended into clashes between riot police and protesters, which have left 28 people dead.

Why I oppose Buhari –Fayose

Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose last Tuesday caused attention to be on him when he went to the Federal High Court, Abuja to identify with the detained leader of Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu. In this chat, he explained the rationale for identifying with Kanu, his many controversies and what APC government was not getting right. 

You were with the detained IPOB leader in court, what message were you trying to pass?

Well just for us as leaders to identify with the oppressed in our society, people at our level should rise up to make sure that the ordinary citizens of this country are not oppressed by the authorities that are supposed to be protecting them.

What Americans does most often is to keep pressure on government that does the wrong thing; we will continue to keep pressure on this administration not to prevent them from becoming dictators. Sinc

e we cannot carry gun, we must be able to identify with such people and let the whole world know that this is an oppressive move against the ordinary man.

'Why we didn't give Senator Isiaka Adeleke a befitting state burial' - Osun State Government

Read the state government's press statement below...

We are still in shock and great pain over the transition of our friend, associate and brother, Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke. He was a prominent son of our state and its first democratically elected Governor.  Until his death, he was the senator representing Osun West in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

He was an astute and colourful politician and a generous personality. He was gregarious, enthusiastic and full of life and zest. His death is therefore shocking and totally unexpected.  

The State Government of Osun had intended to give him a befitting state burial which he rightly deserved and which the state had prepared to undertake. Regrettably, however, the enemies of the state, through brigandage, violence and evil machinations, created an atmosphere of fear and terror in the minds of our citizenry and friends throughout the federation. 

Senate Gives Five Conditions for Peace with President Buhari

Buhari & Saraki

 

Following yesterday's directive by President Buhari durng the Federal Executive Council to set up a committee to settle the rift between the executive and legislature, Nigerian Senators, has reacted with conditions. 

The Senate has reacted to the setting up of a committee by the Federal Executive Council to settle the rift between it and the National Assembly with five conditions that must be met for peace to reign, DailyTrust reports.

 

The Senate through a ranking senator (name withheld) who is close to the leadership of the senate identified five conditions for peace to reign between the executive and the legislative arm of government.

 

He said for peace to prevail between the presidency and the senate, the trial of the senate president, Bukola Saraki should be discontinued forthwith.

 

"The trial of Saraki is central to the crisis because it is believed that they came up with it because he ‘violated’ the interest of the presidency and the party (APC) to emerge the senate president. If his trial is stopped, there would be peace," he said.

Lagos, Osun, Delta, Akwa Ibom lead states’ N3.4tr debt profile

Yobe, Anambra least owing
Lagos, Delta, Osun and Akwa Ibom led the total debt profiles of state governments as at December 2016, according to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

It puts the four states total debt at N1.262 trillion representing about 38 per cent of debts owed by the 36 states of the federation, which NEITI put at N3.442 trillion.

The breakdown shows that Lagos was indebted to the tune of N603.25 billion, Delta owes N331.95 billion, Osun and Akwa Ibom owe N165.91 billion and N161.23 billion respectively, as at 2016.

This was contained in the third edition of NEITI Quarterly Review, a researched publication of NEITI, which focuses on Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements in 2016.

Davido Hospitalised At Undisclosed Hospital

Nigerian singer, Davido is reportedly hospitalised at an undisclosed hospital being treated for a yet to be disclosed illness.

Reports of Davido’s admission at the hospital reached the internet when a Snapchat photo of the Omo Baba Olowo (OBO) taking a drip in a hospital clothing on a hospital bed went viral.

President Buhari submits ministerial list to senate

President Muhammadu Buhari has sent names of two new ministerial nominees to the Senate for confirmation.

A source close to the Senate told NAN that the letter arrived the Senate late Tuesday.The source revealed that the two nominees are from Kogi and Gombe state.

Jumia Agent Killed In Rivers After Delivering iPhones To Customers

Men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, in Rivers State have arrested three suspects alleged to have murdered a delivery agent working for popular online shopping mall, Jumia.

The Jumia agent was allegedly killed after delivering two iPhones to the suspects at the Ada-George area of Port Harcourt.

Rivers State Commissioner of Police, CP Zaki Ahmed, who led a team of Police officers to the scene, said the murder of the victim over iPhones was unfortunate.

Buhari has no certificate scandal – Presidency

The Presidency says President Muhammadu Buhari has no certificate case hanging on his neck as being insinuated in some quarters. Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, gave this clarification while reacting to the Sunday Punch newspaper where the president was featured among prominent Nigerians the paper alleges have certificate scandals. Shehu, however, exonerated President Buhari from such category of Nigerian leaders with questionable certificates. He enjoined the Punch editors to update their records to avoid making this repeated mistake. 

Sahara Reporters' owner Sowore blasts Dino Melaye over threat to send him to jail

The publisher of the online news portal, Sahara Reporters (SR) Omoyele Sowore has reacted to the jail comment made by embattled Nigerian senator Dino Melaye.

You recall Senator Dino Melaye had vowed that Omoyele Sowore, would go to jail for an alleged crime of cyber-stalling against his person.
Dino stated this on his Twitter handle (@dino_melaye) while sharing a copy of a petition he wrote to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Kpotum Idris, calling for an investigation into the alleged crime of cyber-stalling.

Dino Melaye's Bachelor of Arts Certificate is Fake - ABU

Dino Melaye

 The management of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria has said that the Bachelor of Arts certificate purportedly obtained by senator Dino Melaye from the institution is fake. 

The qualification scandal that has enveloped the senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District at the upper chamber of the National Assembly, Dino Melaye, has deepened.

 

Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria said it only offers B.Sc. Geography and not B.A. Geography as reflected on Melaye's statement of results. But Melaye's Bachelor of Arts statement of results has ABU logo.

 

Documents obtained exclusively by Saturday Punch through painstaking and thorough investigations showed that the embattled senator has a Bachelor of Arts certificate in Geography from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State.

Buhari’s government is blood-sucking evil, wicked – Fani-Kayode

A former minister of Aviation, Femi Fani Kayode, has described the current government led by President Muhammadu Buhari as evil and bloodthirsty.

Fani-Kayode, who averred that Buhari is not competent enough to lead Nigeria, said the president had only succeed in turning non Hausa-Fulani Nigerians into second class citizens and slaves.

He wrote thus on his Facebook page on Saturday, “The Buhari government is evil, weak, incompetent, sectional, bloodthirsty, genocidal, wicked, divisive, mendacious and bereft of any integrity or intellectual pretentions.

Don’t Reverse the Progress Nigeria Made During Your Absence – Fayose Tells Buhari

Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose on Monday evening reacted to President Muhammadu Buhari‘s resumption.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, Fayose said:“While you were away, peace returned to the Niger Delta, impacting positively on crude oil production and sales. The economy also improved with the appreciation of the Naira. Now that you are back, it will not be right to put the country on the reverse gear again through some pig-headed policies and truculent, militarist posturing.

Aregbesola set to launch Osogbo City marathon

Governor Rauf Aregbesola will today unveil the maiden edition of the Osogbo City Half Marathon being organised by the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC).


A statement yesterday by Wale Idowu and Muideen Adeleke, the Chairman and Secretary of the organising committee, said the ceremony will hold at the House of Assembly in Osogbo by 10am.

Release Dasuki, Kanu, others unconditionally, Fayose tells Buhari

Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to grant unconditional release to former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd) and leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

In a statement in Ado-Ekiti, yesterday, by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi, Fayose urged Buhari to reciprocate the mercy of God upon his life by showing mercy to Sambo, Kanu and others.

He also said it will not be right to turn back the hands of the country’s clock, and noted that the current peace in the Niger Delta and the slight improvement in the economy must be improved upon.

House Of Reps’ Committee Clerk Slumps And Dies On National Assembly Premises

A senior staff of the National Assembly Management, Mohammed Shuaibu slumped and died on the premises on Monday, March 13.

The cause of death remained unknown as of the time of filing this report.

Mohammed, who was the Clerk to the House of Representatives Committee on Agricultural Production Services, died after he complained of experiencing some discomfort.

Many killed as Hausa, Yoruba traders clash in Ile-Ife

NO fewer than five people have been killed in a clash between Yoruba and Hausa traders in the Sabo area of Ile-Ife, Osun state. A resident of the ancient city told reporters that the fracas started on Tuesday but escalated Wednesday morning.

Mugabe jets out for urgent medical help

Mugabe: flown out for medical check up in Singapore

World’s oldest leader, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has travelled to Singapore for a medical checkup.

The medical trip came few days after he had a lavish 93rd birthday party during which he vowed to add to his 36 years in charge of the southern African nation.

As Mugabe flew to Singapore, nurses at public hospitals joined junior doctors in a two-week strike that is meant to pressure Mugabe’s government into paying 2016 bonuses due in December.

“Chai! Banky W’s Lekki Home Destroyed By Fire, Including His Awards”

“ A property located along Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos where popular singer, Banky W, lives has been destroyed by fire. A neighbour to the artiste related to us that the fire was caused by a faulty air conditioner. 

 The fire was believed to have started around 6am. A resident said, “The fire started around 6am and all of us came out to assist Banky in putting out the fire. “However, Fire service officials arrived around 7.30. “So many items were destroyed including Banky’s awards. but officials of the fire service arrived over an hour late.””

N-POWER SCHEME: FG To Hire 350,000 More Unemployed Graduates

The Federal Government on Sunday disclosed that it will employ additional 350,000 unemployed graduates in 2017, under the N-Power Volunteer Corps.

This was disclosed by Mr Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.