Author: straightnewsng.com

Days after the arrest of the son-in-law to the defeated presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, stated that he was arrested for laundering 150 million Euros. The commission, while admitting for the first time that its operatives arrested Alhaji Babalele Abdullahi, who is also the Finance Director of Atiku’s group of companies, did not specify how the huge sum was laundered or where it originated and terminated. This came on a day Atiku Abubakar decried what he described as persecution of his close associates and family by the administration of President…

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, said weekend it will not rescind its decision on the use of biometrics in the conduct of its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME. In the board’s weekly bulletin issued on Sunday in Lagos, the bulletin stressed the importance of biometrics in the conduct of the board’s examination. It noted that the Biometrics Verification Machine, BVM, was introduced by the board in an attempt to get rid of the numerous forms of examination malpractice. The bulletin said the BVM was a security mechanism used for the authentication of candidates’ identity as it provided access…

The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, in the 19 Northern states has congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari, urging him to run an inclusive government this time. Buhari was re-elected in the February 23 election, defeating Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who had since rejected the outcome of the election. In a letter to the President, dated March 1, 2019, the Northern CAN said Buhari’s victory at the poll was evidence of his uprightness and transparency in governance. The statement, signed by Yakubu Pam, chairman of the association, reads: “Run an inclusive government as you promised under the…

Immediate past National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, retd., has laughed off speculations on his death during an encounter with a former trusted aide allowed by the Department of State Services, DSS. The visit to the incarcerated erstwhile National Security Adviser was allowed by the DSS penultimate Saturday to douse speculations in social media and among concerned stakeholders that Dasuki died in DSS custody. The interaction between Yushau Shuaib and Dasuki who worked for the latter while  he was NSA took place at the headquarters of the DSS in Abuja, Mr. Shuaib said in a statement made available to Vanguard. Shuaib was escorted on…

The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted the application of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, seeking the final forfeiture of N732.85 million to the federal government. The forfeiture includes a plot of land situated at Katsina Road by Ogbomosho Road, Kaduna North Local Government, worth N190 million, all believed to be proceeds of unlawful activities. The EFCC was able to secure the final forfeiture, following the usage of non-conviction based forfeiture proceedings. The forfeited sum of N732.85 million was allegedly stolen from the Presidential Amnesty Programme Office by 17 respondents to the suit. The 17 respondents to…

In a fresh attack, suspected herdsmen reportedly killed more than16 persons in Agagbe community in Gwer West local government area of Benue State. Commander of the joint military operation in the state code named, Operation Whirl Stroke, OPWS, Major-General Adeyemi Yekini, who confirmed the attack, said seven corpses had so far been recovered by his troops from the besieged community. Yekini said he received report from the Sub-Sector Commander of OPWS in Gwer West local government area, Flying Officer Mohammed Abubakar that at about 4:30 p.m on Saturday, some of his reliable sources from Agagbe informed him that some men…

President Muhammadu Buhari will, on Monday, March 4, pay a thank-you visit to Akwa Ibom State. The visit will be the second since the President assumed office on May 29, 2015, having visited the state on Friday, December 28, last year for the flag-off re-election campaign christened Next Level in the South-South Region. Buhari, the All Progressives Congress, APC candidate won after polling 15,191,847 votes to defeat his closest rival, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, who scored 11,262,978 with a margin of 3,928,869  votes during the February 23 Presidential/National Assembly elections. In Akwa Ibom, President Buhari, however,…

Mfon Udoh, an ace striker for Akwa United, gave the team a lead in the Nigerian Professional Football League, NPFL before the final stoppage time on Sunday. However, relegation-bound Gombe United equalised in the 90th minute after playing a 2-2 draw with Akwa United all in Group B. In the match played at Pantami Stadium, Gombe, Gombe United were leading one goal to nil in the first half but equalised in the second half through goals scored by Musa Usman in the 26th and 90th minutes respectively. For Akwa United, Udoh scored for the team in the 78th minute while…

Barcelona have recorded their second Clasico victory in the space of four days by beating Real Madrid 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday. Having stormed to a 3-0 triumph at their home of their fiercest rivals in the cup on Wednesday, Barcelona edged to a more closely-fought win at the same venue on Saturday night to move 12 points clear of Los Blancos in La Liga and 10 above Atletico Madrid at the top of the table. Ivan Rakitic scored the only goal of the game as Barca took another big step towards a second consecutive league title, essentially…

The country’s trade value rose to N32.26 trillion year-on-year in 2018, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported. The amount contrasted with N23.16 trillion trade value, representing 39.3 per cent increase over the corresponding period in 2017. In Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics for Fourth Quarter of 2018 posted on its website, the bureau said the volume of total merchandise trade in 2018 was the highest recorded since 2014, nearly double pre-recession levels. During the fourth quarter of 2018, the bureau said a total merchandise trade stood at N8.60 trillion compared to its value of N9.06 trillion recorded in third…