Author: straightnewsng.com

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Thursday, issued open cheque to defectors to vie for presidential slot and other political offices. The party gave the leeway to Bukola Saraki, Senate President; Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State and former governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to contest its presidential ticket ahead of the 2019 general elections. This was even as all the presidential aspirants were present but former Vice President Atiku Abubakar was absent when the returnees stormed PDP headquarters for National Executive Committee, NEC. Tambuwal, Kwankwaso and Saraki dumped the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the…

Clark Kent may be Superman, but a 10-year-old boy who shares his name has the powers of Aquaman. At the Far West International Swimming Championship Sunday, Clark Kent Apuada placed first in all seven events he swam in. But in the 100-meter butterfly, he broke a record set by Olympian Michael Phelps at the same meet back in 1995. “Most people just call me Clark, but now, when I beat Michael Phelps’ record, they start calling me Superman,” he said. “I thought to myself yeah if I had positive thoughts, positive things would happen.” “It’s the coolest thing in the…

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Thursday, accused President Muhammadu Buhari administration of committing serious acts of mis-governance and a lot of unforced errors. Soyinka spoke at the official launch in his Interventions VIII series, entitled: “Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes? (Who keeps Watch over the Watchmen?), Gani’s Unfinished Business,” held at the Freedom Park, in Lagos. “There are acts of mis-governance under this administration. There are unforced errors and acts that are considered being stupid; failure to secure lives; languages of self-excusing which were condemned in the past but resurfacing all over the place,” he said. Soyinka decried that the administration…

Akwa Ibom State is second on the list of 21 states in the country to get a whopping N78.7 billion refund approved by the Senate on Federal projects executed by the state government over the years. Mr. Ephraim Inyang-Eyen, Akwa Ibom Commissioner for Works, had told journalists in May 2018 that the Federal Government was owing Governor Udom Emmanuel administration N140 billion for the construction and rehabilitation of 44 major road projects across the state. Senator Victor Umeh (APGA, Anambra Central) who stated this Thursday in an interview with newsmen in Awka said Senate approved N489 billion to be refunded…

President Muhammadu Buhari, Thursday, likened defectors from All Progressives Congress, his party to ‘bad eggs’, saying “God will continue to flush out the bad eggs among us.” Buhari, who spoke in Bauchi, told supporters not to be perturbed by the recent defections in the party. Over two scores of federal and state lawmakers as well as three state governors from Benue, Kwara and Sokoto and a deputy governor from Kano have defected from the APC in the past two weeks. The states where the defections occurred include. However, Buhari had on Wednesday met with APC senators and governors separately to…

Despite the huge budgetary allocations for security infractions, Mansur Dan-Ali, Minister of Defence told President Muhammadu Buhari that the military needs more equipment to tackle security challenges in the country. This is even as Abdulrahman Dambazzau, the Minister of Interior, Thursday, tasked security agencies on intelligence gathering, listing poor welfare, inadequate logistics and indiscipline as factors responsible for the inability of security men to contain the killings across the country. Dan-Ali also assured the President that the military, through Operation Delta Safe, would continue to sustain its operations against illegal activities in the Niger Delta with resultant reduction in illegal…

Nigeria’s Joy Udo-Gabriel, Thursday, qualified for the finals of the Women 100m at the ongoing Africa Senior Athletics Championships in Asaba. Udo-GabrIel told the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday at the event that she was delighted to be in the finals of the event scheduled for later in the day. The Abia-born athlete, who was part of Nigeria’s Women 4x100m bronze winning team at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, said she was excited to represent her country in the ongoing event. “I am happy to be in the finals of the 100m here in Asaba, I am not under any…

Apple became the first private-sector company in history to be worth $1 trillion, after its share price reached an all-time high above $207 on Thursday. The share price jumped by more than 8 percent this week after Apple reported impressive quarterly earnings on Tuesday, driven largely by strong sales for high-priced iPhones. In a call with investors, CEO Tim Cook also touted growth in other areas such as smart home products, wearable and services like the App Store and Apple Pay. The $1 trillion milestone is largely symbolic, though impressive. Apple’s market capitalization — a common financial measure of worth…

The Roman Catholic Church, Thursday, formally changed its teaching to declare death penalty inadmissible in all circumstances. The Vatican said it had changed its universal catechism to reflect Pope Francis’ total opposition to death penalty. Previously, the catechism, a summary of Church teaching, had allowed the death penalty in rare cases. The 1.2 billion-member Catholic Church had allowed death penalty in extreme cases for centuries, but the position began to change under the late Pope John Paul II who died in 2005. The Vatican said it had changed its universal catechism, a summary of Church teaching, to reflect Pope Francis’…

The Kwara State High Court in Ilorin, Thursday, granted an interim bail of N20 million to Olalekan Alabi, the Personal Assistant on Political Matters to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed. Alabi had been in police custody in Abuja since May 30, 2018, following his arrest over alleged link with Offa bank robbery suspects. Justice I.A. Yusuf granted the bail after carefully considering the oral application for bail made by Alabi’s counsel, Mr Adebayo Adelodun, SAN, and the response of Adekunle Iwalaye, who is the counsel to the respondent, the Inspector General of Police,. Adelodun had on July 27, 2018 moved an ex-parte…