No law prevents lawmakers from scaling fence –Victor Ndoma-Egba, senate leader

Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba

The Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, who is representing Cross River Central Senatorial District in this interview withSUNDAY ABORISADE defends criticisms against the Nigerian senate and the recent police invasion of the National Assembly

Some Nigerians believe that the executive has been taking the federal parliament for a ride because of the passive nature of the Senate. They cite last Thursday’s invasion of the National Assembly by the police as a case in point. What is your comment on this?

Agony of child slaves raped, abused by their bosses

 

Agony of child slaves raped, abused by their bosses

Theirs is a life devoid of any joy. People see them but never see the tragic lives they are trapped in. Day and night, many Nigerian children used as house helps labour and suffer in silence. They are locked in domestic servitude while their lucky peers go to school and live normal lives. KUNLE FALAYI, takes a look at the lives of such children, whose very existence are controlled by their bosses. They sometimes endure unimaginable trauma that changes their lives forever

Tosin Adeyanju rocked the six-month-old baby she was carrying gently to keep the child quiet. As the girl spoke, with a voice that belied the suffering and agony she had endured since she was a child, she looked around in fear.

Tambuwal asks court to jail IG for contempt

Speaker, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal
| credits: File copy

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, has asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to summon the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, to explain why he should not be jailed for disobeying the court order.

Tambuwal accused Abba of consistently disobeying the court order made on November 7, 2014, which directed parties in his substantive suit filed to stop his removal as a member and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The Speaker had on Thursday filed the fresh application before Justice Ahmed Mohammed, alleging that Abba’s instruction to the men of the police to deny him access into the premises of the National Assembly preventing him from carrying out his lawful duties on November 20, amounted to flouting the court order.

Fayose blasts Obasanjo for criticising Jonathan

Ayo Fayose

The Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, flayed former President Olusegun Obasanjo for allegedly criticising   Jonathan’s administration on corruption and insecurity.

Fayose, who spoke at a summit in Ife, said that Obasanjo had no moral justification to criticise Jonathan’s administration because the former President’s government was far more corrupt than the one he criticised.

The attack from Fayose came just as notable leaders of the Yoruba race present at the summit endorsed Jonathan for a second term in office.

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, led notable traditional rulers from many Yoruba towns majority of who are from Ekiti State to the summit.

120 killed in mosque bomb explosions

120 killed in mosque bomb explosions

No fewer than 120 died and 270 were injured on Friday as the violent Boko Haram sect bombed the 10,000 capacity Kano Central Mosque where the Emir, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, usually leads prayers.

About 10 gunmen went on a shooting spree after the blast at the mosque, which is close to the Emir of Kano’s palace.

A rescue official, who spoke with Agence France-Presse, put casualty figures at almost 400, adding that 120 were killed and 270 hurt in the three explosions that rocked the mosque.

The emir was said to have travelled to Saudi Arabia late on Thursday night from Paris.

Witnesses said the incident happened just as residents were getting set for Friday prayers.

“The attackers have bombed the mosque. I saw people screaming,” a local reporter who resides in Kano, Chijjani Usman, told Reuters.

APC ticket: Senator asks Buhari, Atiku to withdraw

 

former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Head of State, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)

The senator representing Kano South Senatorial District, Kabiru Gaya, on Thursday, appealed to a former Head of State, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.); and a former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, to step down for Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso in the struggle for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress.

Gaya, who was also a former governor of Kano State, stated this in an interview with journalists in Abuja.

He said since Buhari and Atiku were elder statesmen, they should allow a younger Kwankwaso to be the candidate of the APC.

Gaya said, “I am not trying to introduce politics into the situation but we have to tell ourselves the truth. Governor Kwankwaso was a minister of defence, and now a serving governor. He was a legislator, once being a deputy speaker of the House of Representatives.

“He was also Special Adviser to the President on Dafur. He was a member of the Niger Delta Development Commission, hence he has the credentials. He is a young man too. He can work for 18 hours a day.

“I believe that all our elders and leaders in the APC would support him. If you look at the situation in other countries, their citizens are going for young people to become their president.

President’s wife shuns Dickson at Jonathan’s birthday

Mrs. Patience Jonathan
| credits: kenetomagazine.blogspot.com

                                                                                          

Wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience, tactically avoided the Bayelsa State delegation, led by Governor Seriake Dickson, who came to rejoice with the President on his 57th birthday in Abuja on Thursday.

No member of the National Assembly from the state was also on the delegation.

There has been no love lost between the governor and the President’s wife over an alleged plan by Mrs. Jonathan to stop Dickson from being re-elected as the state governor.

The PUNCH had reported exclusively on Thursday that Bayelsa senators and members of the House of Representatives at the National Assembly had joined forces with the First Lady against Dickson.

The report had it that the federal legislators had formed a strong alliance to counter the moves by the governor and his loyalists to re-elect them in the 2015, through zoning, allegedly orchestrated by Dickson.