Churchill Choken

- The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) accuses the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of being the mother of corruption in Nigeria - A representative of the party, Kunle Okunola, says the PDP practices internal democracy in the selection of aspirants for political offices - Okunola notes that any party that does not practice internal democracy cannot help Nigeria out of the problem it has found itself The Peoples Democratic Party has said it is now free of corruption because all its corrupt leaders have joined the All Progressives Congress (APC). The party during a political stakeholders’ forum organised by the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) in Ikeja, Lagos, also accused the APC of being the mother of corruption, The Punch reports. A representative of the party, Kunle Okunola, told the political gathering that the PDP practiced internal democracy in the selection of aspirants for political offices “We are the only party that went through democratic selection whe...

Update:: Nigerian singer, Esegine Allen, more popularly known as Orezi, on Thursday, posted a photo of himself burning a one thousand Naira note and this got him into trouble with Nigerians. Orezi shared the photo as artwork to promote a new single of his on his verified Instagram handle but his creativity was lost on Nigerians as they found his action, a form of disrespect to the nation. Just as some Nigerians were not pleased with his artwork, others praised his creativity. Some others even said the burning of the Naira note wasn’t real, that it was photoshop. See reactions: turblisswealths: You are burning Nigerian currency as if is paper, you will now tell people to respect Nigeria😒😒 official_my_creations_my_joy: But you shouldn’t do that even if it’s art. It means you are abusing our currency, just a suggestion though. iam_elninoo: @oreziworldwide Artistic or not you dey portray say you dey burn money and it’s a bad message to your fans and young folks out th...

Update:: China claims to have deployed missiles "capable of targeting medium and large ships" days after the latest US Navy "freedom of navigation" operation near contested islands in the South China Sea, state media announced. The deployment of the DF-26 ballistic missiles in China's remote northwest plateau, originally announced Tuesday on China Central Television, follows a mission from the US guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell, which steamed close to the Paracel Islands, the previous day. Capable of hitting targets 3,400 miles (5,471 kilometers) away with nuclear or conventional warheads, the DF-26 was dubbed the "Guam killer" by analysts at the time because it would allow China to bring unprecedented firepower to the US island territory -- home to Andersen Air Force Base and other key US military installations. The 1.3 million-square-mile South China Sea has seen increasing tension in recent years, with China aggressively asserting ...

Abubakar Abdul Mumin is a student of the Tamale Technical University and he has a story that should easily inspire majority of the youth today. The 27-year-old comes from a poor background but has managed to advance all the way to tertiary level. Aside school, Abubakar is into a couple of other things including selling coconuts to make money. Narrating his story, he said he started the coconut business at the age of 19 and has not looked back since. Currently, he is in his final year at the Tamale Technical University where he studies statistics, Abubakar says he is never embarrassed by what he does. According to him, his biggest dream is to complete school with flying colours and to be able to make his parents proud. Read Abubakar’s full story below: "My name is Abubakar Abdul Mumin, from Yepeli in the Northern Region of Ghana. I am 27 years and a final year student of Tamale Technical University. I am studying Statistics. Read also Buhari Constitutes New Minimum Wage ...

Update:: "Green Book" director Peter Farrelly, whose film is enjoying healthy momentum this award season, has apologized after news articles referencing past instances of sexual misconduct, veiled at the time as attempts at humor, resurfaced on Wednesday. "True. I was an idiot," Farrelly said in a statement to CNN. "I did this decades ago and I thought I was being funny and the truth is I'm embarrassed and it makes me cringe now. I'm deeply sorry." The Cut was the first to bring attention to two entertainment news articles, both from 1998, that referenced instances in which Farrelly showed unsuspecting people his penis, including actress Cameron Diaz before she starred in "There's Something About Mary," which was directed by Peter Farrelly and his brother Bobby Farrelly. CNN found an additional reference to this behavior in a 1998 article in The Sunday Times by author Ivan Waterman. A passage in the story reads: So how d...

- The presidential candidate of the YPP, Professor Kingsley Moghalu, is confident of victory in the February 16 presidential election - Moghalu said his confidence stems from the fact that Nigerians are tired of recycled politicians - He said as long as Nigeria does not have a philosophical foundation, the country cannot make progress The presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), Professor Kingsley Moghalu, is confident of victory in the February 16 presidential election. Moghalu, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, says he would defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) while speaking at a town hall meeting tagged ‘The Candidates’ in Abuja. He said Nigerians were “tired of recycled politicians’’ and that the Peoples Democraric Party (PDP) was not an option. “We will defeat President Muhammadu Buhari and the reason is very simple, Nigerians are tired of recycled politicians and the PDP is not an option. “Going for the PDP from th...

- Senator Bukola Saraki has criticised President Buhari's war against corruption - The Senate president said it war was mere propaganda - The PDP chieftain said those around Buhari should have faced the law The Senate president, Bukola Saraki has described President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption was as propaganda saying it is not realistic. In an interview with Channels TV, the director-general of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign claimed evidence showed the country was failing when it comes to corruption. Saraki said if the president was actually serious about corruption, those around him would have neen made to face the law. He said: “We go to the issue of corruption. I believe that is more of propaganda than reality. Why do I say that? Even by most of the world organisations, if you look at our indices in corruption, we have gone back. And more importantly what examples are they showing in the government and anybody in the government been...

Update:: At least 100 camels have died after after drinking contaminated water, reports Kenyan newspaper The Nation. The newspaper adds that the event has plunged the entire village in Marsabit County, near the Kenya-Ethiopia border, "into mourning". The camels drank water from an abandoned well, veterinary officer Dr Shanda Guyo told The Nation. He added that samples of the water were being tested to ascertain the exact cause of the deaths.

Update:: An ancient Egyptian artefact illegally smuggled out of the country has been returned after being displayed at an auction hall in London, officials say. It was retrieved following searches of international auction websites, Egypt's ministry of antiquities said. Steps were then taken to stop the sale and withdraw the listing, the ministry added in a Facebook post. It is not clear how or when the relic, a cartouche of King Amenhotep I, was originally smuggled out of the country.

Update:: Nigeria's military has released an editor of the respected Daily Trust newspaper after detaining him on Sunday over an article about a planned offensive to recapture territory lost to militant Islamists in the north-east in recent weeks. Uthman Abubakar had been treated "courteously" during his detention, but his mobile phones and laptop were still with the military, Daily Trust editor-in-chief Mannir Dan-Ali said in a statement. "They told him that they needed time to finish the forensic checks they are carrying out on the equipment,” Dan-Ali added.

Update:: Opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi has won the Democratic Republic of Congo's tightly contested presidential vote, the electoral commission says. Provisional results put him ahead of another opposition candidate Martin Fayulu, and the ruling coalition's Emmanuel Shadary. If confirmed, Mr Tshisekedi will be the first opposition challenger to win since the DR Congo gained independence. Current President Joseph Kabila is stepping down after 18 years in office.

Update:: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, are to divorce after a 25-year marriage. The pair announced the move in a joint statement on Wednesday on Twitter. "After a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends," the couple said in the statement. Amazon, formed 25 years ago, this week eclipsed Microsoft to become the world's most valuable listed company.

For the second time in a row, Japan has topped the list of the world's most powerful passports. This is according to the Henley Passport Index, which periodically measures the access each country's travel document affords.  Japan retains its top spot as the world's most travel-friendly passport thanks to the document's access to 190 countries.  Below is a full list of the world's top ten which contains no African country. 1. Japan (190 countries) 2. Singapore, South Korea (189) 3. France, Germany (188) 4. Denmark, Finland, Italy, Sweden (187) 5. Luxembourg, Spain (186) 6. Austria, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States (185) 7. Belgium, Canada, Greece, Ireland (184) 8. Czech Republic (183) 9. Malta (182) 10. Australia, Iceland, New Zealand (181)

Update:: President Muhammadu Buhari has named the Managing Director of the Financial Derivatives Company, Bismarck Rewane as the chairman of the 24-man Presidential Advisory Committee on the New Minimum Wage. The Director General of the Budget office, Ben Akabueze is to serve as the secretary of the committee. The panel is given a month to submit its report on the new minimum wage. Members of the committee selected from the private sector are former Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, Sulieman Barau, Dr. Ayo Teriba, and Prof. Akpan Ekpo. Those selected from government institutions are Chairman of FIRS, Dr Babatunde Fowler, a representative of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Chairman of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission; Richard Egbule, Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Office of the Head of Service of the Federation; Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack, Permanent Secretary of General Service Office, Office of the Secret...

We all know about seniority in secondary schools but who knew corps members will one day claim seniority and ask to be respected by those who began service months after them. A batch A corp member was filmed confronting a batch C corps member and demanding that she respects her because her batch began serving the nation first. The confrontation took place in Ekiti state on Monday, January 7, 2018, during the CDS meeting of dance and drama CDS and soon degenerated into a fist fight. According to reports, batch A and B corps members in the local government have been demanding respect from batch C corps members on the grounds that they are their junior and ought to show them respect. This demand for respect has reportedly led to various fights in the past but on Monday, it turned physical.

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics has said that it had no option but to continue its strike action in the new year because the Federal Government failed to release the N15bn revitalisation fund for the polytechnics promised in 2017. The National President of ASUP, Usman Dutse, stated this in an interview with our correspondent on Friday, noting that the government, in the 2009 agreement, had promised about N603bn to polytechnics but it was agreed in 2017, that due to paucity of funds N15bn should be released to show the government’s commitment. The polytechnic union said it hoped that on January 10, 2019, when its leaders meet with the Federal Government to review negotiations, there would be positive responses and commitment from the government. ASUP began its nationwide strike on December 12, 2018, citing the failures of the Federal Government to implement the 2009, 2013 and the 2017 agreements which it reached with the union. Dutse, told our correspondent that some s...

Update:: Ngige The Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have reached agreement on Monday toward resolving the ongoing lecturers’ strike. Sen. Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, said this after a reconciliatory meeting with ASUU in Abuja. Ngige said the meeting was fruitful as an agreement had been reached between the Federal Government and the striking university lecturers. According to him, the Federal Government has released N15.4 billion for the payment of the salary shortfalls, which was one of the major demands of the union. “On the issue of salaries in tertiary institutions, especially in universities, the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant- General provided evidence that as at December 31, 2018 the Federal Government had remitted N15.4 billon. Ogunyemi “Also on the issue of Earned Allowances in the universities system, they also showed us evidence that Mr President has approved the N20 billion to ...

Update:: US President Donald Trump is set to argue that an immigration "crisis" requires his long-promised wall along the Mexican border. Mr Trump will make his case in his first speech from the Oval Office at 21:00EST (0200 GMT Wednesday), ahead of a trip to the border on Thursday. A partial government shutdown has been in effect for 17 days after lawmakers failed to break a budget impasse. The president is insisting that $5bn (£4bn) be included for the border wall.

Update:: The official appointed by the French government to lead a national debate over the grievances raised by ‘yellow vest’ protesters quit on Tuesday following a controversy over her salary. Former sports minister Chantal Jouanno said she could not guarantee conditions for a calm debate as she had become a focus of attention after a news magazine revealed she was paid 14,700 euros (13,225 pounds) per month to head France’s National Commission for Public Debate.

Update:: At least three people were killed and around 300 injured on Tuesday after two trains collided in the South African capital Pretoria, an emergency services official said. The crash, which occurred at 9:30 a.m. (07:30 GMT), left 82 passengers with serious injuries after a packed train careered into a stationary train at Mountain View station. “We do not rule out the possibility of additional fatalities as we search under the wreckage,” emergency official Charles Mabaso told Reuters.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, the Saudi Arabian woman who fled her family and is now under UN protection in Thailand, has been sustained through the “terrifying” ordeal by thousands of online messages of support that probably saved her life, a friend has said. Nourah Alharbi, 20, told the Guardian: “Yesterday, they [social media supporters] made the difference in Rahaf’s life. You saved Rahaf’s life yesterday: the people, the media.” Speaking on Tuesday morning, Alharbi said Qunun was buoyed when she saw how many messages about her were being posted online. “She couldn’t believe it. Today when I was calling her ... [she said] she can see the thousands of messages, all of them supporting her. She’s terrified and stressed, and when she saw the messages it really made a difference for her.” Now based in Sydney, Alharbi said she fled Saudi Arabia herself after suffering abuse from her family, and is seeking asylum in Australia. She has kept in close contact with Qunun throughout her or...