June 11, 2019

Ogun Assembly passes motions against false evidence, others

Former Deputy Speaker of Ogun State House of Assembly Kunle Taiwo Oluomo has been elected the Speaker of the state’s All Progressives Congress (APC)-dominated Ninth Legislative Assembly.

The 26-member legislators at their maiden sitting presided over by Oluomo has also passed four motions, including two which empowered the Assembly to “move with utmost severity against anybody”, who gives “false  evidence” on any matter being investigated by it.

The assembly has also resolved to treat as “high  crime” and “move with severity against anybody that attempts to obstruct or interfere with witness” in matters before it.

Oluomo, an APC lawmaker, is …

Okorocha: INEC to meet today on Certificate of Return

Okorocha: INEC to meet today on Certificate of Return

Except by a miracle, former Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha will not be part of the inauguration of the ninth National Assembly today.

He will not be among those to elect the leadership of the Senate to which he won election early this year but has not been given the Certificate of Return.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it will meet today to look at the court rulings on the former governor’s Certificate of Return.

The ninth National Assembly will be inaugurated today and the election of leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives is also expected …

Atiku: I’m appealing tribunal verdict to ensure votes count

Tribunal hears objections to Atiku, PDP petition today

•Presidency lauds rival’s withdrawal of application

The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) yesterday resumed sitting 19 days after its last adjournment with the presiding justice of the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal, Mohammed Lawal Garba, as new chairman.

The pioneer chair and president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, had recused herself from the panel following a petition by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar alleging likelihood of bias against him and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on account of the judge being married to an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain.

A platform that sponsored Jubril (President …

Struggling begins for ₦10b N/Assembly supply contracts

Anxiety, intrigues as National Assembly picks leaders today

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held a series of meetings yesterday night aimed at advising its lawmakers on whom to vote for ahead of today’s election of presiding officers of the National Assembly.

The first meeting, between the party’s leadership and its 16 governors, was held at the Bayelsa State governor’s lodge. Thereafter, they all proceeded to the Rivers State governors lodge in Asokoro, Abuja, where an enlarged caucus meeting involving all senators-elect was held.

Invitations to all the meetings were sent out as early as Monday morning.

This was as the deputy minority leader of the Eighth Senate,

U.S. measles outbreak spreads to Idaho, Virginia

U.S. measles outbreak spreads to Idaho, Virginia

The United States’ worst measles outbreak in a quarter-century spread to Idaho and Virginia last week as public health authorities on Monday reported 41 new cases of the highly contagious and sometimes deadly disease.

The U.S. has recorded 1,022 cases of the diseases this year as of June 6, in an outbreak blamed on misinformation about vaccines, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The 2019 outbreak, which has reached 28 states, is the worst since 1992, when 2,126 cases were recorded.

Federal health officials attribute this year’s outbreak to U.S. …

U.S. moves to release migrant children faster from custody

U.S. moves to release migrant children faster from custody

The Trump administration is again changing the way it vets people who want to sponsor minors who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border alone in an effort to speed up the release of thousands of migrant children currently in U.S. custody.

Under the change, announced to staff on Friday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which houses unaccompanied migrant children, will no longer require an immigration records check on potential sponsors already backgrounded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

In May 2018, HHS began routinely sending sponsors’ fingerprints to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to check their records …

Bharti Airtel to pay Tanzania $26 million

Bharti Airtel to pay Tanzania $26 million

India’s Bharti Airtel has agreed to pay 60 billion shillings ($26 million) over five years and cancel debt to resolve a dispute over ownership of its Airtel Tanzania unit, the Tanzanian government said on Monday.

Tanzania’s minister for foreign affairs and east Africa cooperation, Palamagamba Kabudi, announced the deal at a ceremony to receive a three-month batch of monthly payments worth 1 billion shillings each due from April this year.

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Bharti Airtel also canceled $407 million of debt owed to it by Airtel Tanzania as part of the settlement, Kabudi