The Daily News

04/07/2022

01/07/2022

Court orders Immigration, banks to release Ukpo’s details to Ekweremadu, wife

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday ordered the Nigerian Immigration Service and three banks to immediately release details of David Ukpo to the detained former Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, Ike Ekweremadu to defend himself in a London court.

Justice Inyang Ekwo issued the order while delivering judgment in a suit instituted by Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice.

The judgment against the defendants followed their non-appearance in court to defend the suit.

By the court order, all official information including the account opening package in relation to Ukpo are to be released to Senator Ekweremadu to ascertain the real age of the said Ukpo.

Ukpo had claimed at a London court that he was a minor of 15 years old which led to the arrest and detention of the Nigerian Senator.

Other defendants are the Comptroller General (C-G), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS); Stanbic-IBTC Bank, United Bank of Africa (UBA), and Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc as 2nd to 5th respondents, respectively.

Details later.

01/07/2022

Anita Okoye Insists On Divorce, Accuses Paul Of P Square Of Sleeping With Housemaid, Cheating Her Of N10M

Anita Okoye, the estranged wife of Paul, one half of the famous Nigerian music group, P Square, has dragged her husband to court for allegedly having illicit in*******se with their home help and cheating her of a total sum of N10 million.

Anita filed to divorce Paul Okoye, aka Rude Boy last year, with the official petition citing irreconcilable differences as the basis for divorce.

She filed the papers at a High Court in Abuja court.

However, fresh court papers show Anita alleged in a petition that Paul slept with their home help, identified as Florence.

The allegation was contained in a petition filed by her before a High Court Sitting in Abuja against Paul.

She alleged that Paul was inviting Florence to hotels so they could engage in criminal activities, Anita also described Paul as an irresponsible father to his children.

The court document as deposed to by someone close to Anita reads: "That I know as a fact that the Respondent on 11th June, 2020, threw the Petitioner's Sister and I out of the house after we discovered that he had started an illicit affair with one of the house helps by name Florence.

"That I know as a fact that while sending I and petitioner's sister packing, the Respondent also boasted that the reason for his actions was to ensure that the Petitioner's wings were clipped and that she had no one else to lean on.

"That I know as a fact that the Respondent has shown minimal interest in the upbringing of the children and rarely participates in discipline of the children.

"That I know as a fact that the Respondent has always been travelling on music tours and is barely at home and does not have time for family life.”

There were also claims that Anita gave her husband the sum of ten million naira (N10,000,000.00) and they had an agreement that she would be granted a portion of land at his company, TannkCo premises to build a mall. It was alleged that Paul failed to honour the agreement after he collected the money.

The document further said: "That I know as a fact that the Petitioner founded a company called TannkCo in 2019.

"That the Petitioner and the Respondent agreed to build a mall where TannkCo would have its main offices and the Petitioner contributed N10,000,000.00 (Ten Million Naira) for the purchase of the land and the building of the mall.”

"That I know as a fact that the Respondent upon completion of the mall, reneged on the agreement and failed to give TannkCo a space in the mall.

"That I know as a fact that I have been close to the petitioner and the respondent since their marriage and I know that the Petitioner has endured a lot of painful experiences in the marriage and I was always encouraging her to continue to do her best for the marriage to survive.



"That I make this written statement oath in good faith and to the best of my knowledge, information and belief and in accordance with the Oaths Act," a deponent close to the petitioner said.

01/07/2022

Drama on wedding day as ex-lover reportedly abandons baby for groom in Akwa Ibom state

Reports have it that a bizarre stunt occurred during wedding proceedings as a lady abandoned her baby for the groom and his newlywed wife in front of the congregation.

It was reported that the man identified as Mr. Solomon Etim Usanga who hails from Ini Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State was having a blissful wedding ceremony until his estranged lover, Comfort Solomon arrived at the venue and dropped their baby inside a bowl he held for offerings as practiced in some churches.

The incident is said to have occurred at Nkari village in Ini L.G.A.

A photo attached to the report shows the baby inside the bowl of the groom while his bride stood beside him.

Sharing the story, a netizen wrote:

Quote
“BABY MAMA ABANDONS BABY FOR COUPLE ON WEDDING DAY

A certain Mr. Solomon Etim Usanga of Ini LGA received the shock of his life on his wedding day as his estranged lover, Comfort Solomon stormed his wedding venue during offering and “offered” their love child to the father and walked away while the couple were holding offering basins to receive offerings for the church as is the practice in some denominations during wedding.

The wedding ceremony took place at Nkari village in Ini LGA, Akwa Ibom State and left the couple as well as attendees in awe.”

29/06/2022

Abuja-Kaduna Train Victim Shot In Captivity, Says Negotiator.

29/06/2022

Okonjo-Iweala’s son, Uzodinma suggests Nigeria’s dissolution months to 2023 elections

Beasts of No Nation writer, Uzodinma Iweala, has stated that Nigeria needs another independence and should be dissolved.

Uzodinma made the declaration in his article,’Nigeria’s Second Independence: Why the Giant of Africa Needs to Start Over’, published in Foreign Affairs.

The American magazine of international relations and United States foreign policy is published by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

Uzodinma’s call comes as Africa’s most populous nation prepares for the general elections scheduled for February and March 2023.

The author insists that one of the solutions to the political troubles of the country is its dissolution.

As citizens face serious security and economic problems, he urged them to decide if they want Nigeria’s existence as a state to continue or to expire.

“Nigeria’s political system defies neat packaging”, stressed the son of ex-Finance Minister and WTO DG Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

“Scholars have labeled it everything from the facetious “chaosocracy” to the more benign “entrepreneurial democracy” to the pejorative “kleptocracy.”

Uzodinma said such tags wrongly suggest that Nigeria’s problems stem from individual moral failings within the political class.

Citing experts’ recommendation of good leadership and good governance, the Harvard graduate believes no individual, however well intentioned, can fix the challenges.

“Nothing should be off-limits for discussion – even the dissolution of the country”, he suggested.

“Before doing anything else, Nigerians need to decide: Do they want the patchwork entity named Nigeria to remain Nigeria?

“It is a reasonable question, given that the country is the arbitrary product of colonial boundaries.”

Uzodinma said in their quest to form a working system, citizens should not “limit their thinking to outdated and flawed U.S. and European models of democracy”.

The novelist won the Hoopes Prize and Dorothy Hicks Lee Prize for Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis while in Harvard, among other honours.

03/06/2022

APC Screening Panel Disqualifies 10 Presidential Aspirants Out Of 23

GUESS WHO?

1. Yemi Osinbajo
2. Badaru Abubakar
3. Robert Boroffice
4. Uju Ken-Ohanenye
5. Nicholas Felix
6. David Umahi
7. Ken Nnamani
8. Tunde Bakare
9. Ibikunle Amosun
10. Bola Ahmed Tinubu
11. Ahmad Rufai Sani Yerima
12. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi
13. Oladimeji Bankole
14. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba
15. Godswill Akpabio
16. Kayode Fayemi
17. Rochas Okorocha
18. Yahaya Bello
19. Tein Jack-Rich
20. Ogbonnaya Onu
21. Ahmad Lawan
22. Ben Ayade
23. Ikeobasi Mokelu

12/05/2022

BREAKING: APC confirms Jonathan’s membership in Bayelsa, as he awaits NWC waiver to contest

The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogbia ward 13 in Ogbia Local Government Area in Bayelsa State has finally confirmed that former President of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, has joined the APC to run for president.

The Ogbia ward 13 chairman, Igori Freeman, confirmed that Jonathan officially joined the APC on Wednesday, 12th May 2022, in his country home in Otuoke Community of Ogbia LGA.

Igori however, refused to give further details of Jonathan’s registration process but pleaded that the state chairman of the APC, Dennis Otiotio, be contacted to get the full details of the registration.

The state chairman abruptly dropped the call when our correspondent requested further details of Jonathan’s registration and refused to take further calls put across to him.

However, a state executive member who pleaded anonymity was contacted, he said that “Jonathan has the right to join the party but based on our party constitution, he would have to wait for the National Working Committee of the APC to grant him waiver to vote or be voted for during the party’s primary.”

It would be recalled that Jonathan had on May 9 rejected presidential expression of interest and nomination forms of the ruling APC bought for him by a Northern group but was reported to have made a u-turn to accept the offer.

11/05/2022

Who would you want to fly the PDP's flag at the Presidential Polls?

10/05/2022

Duplicate State Bank of India branch busted; son of ex-bank employee caught running fake division

A duplicate branch of State Bank of India, running for the past three months, was identified and closed down by the Tamil Nadu police yesterday and three people were arrested in the case

A duplicate branch of State Bank of India, running for the past three months, was identified and closed down by the Tamil Nadu police yesterday after officials of the state-run lender found out and filed a complaint. Among the three people arrested in the matter is a son of a former SBI employee, who had become well-versed with operations of the bank during his various visits over the years. The fake SBI branch was opened at Panruti in the Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu. However, police claim that so far no customer has reported having lost money in the branch.

Bank officials requesting anonymity told Financial Express Online that State Bank officials were made aware of another branch in the city after which they lodged a complaint with the local police authorities. The three arrested include Kamal Babu (19), A Kumar (42), and M Manickam (52). Kamal Babu is the son of a former SBI Bank employee and his mother retired from a bank 2 years ago. The three accused have been booked under sections 473, 469, 484, and 109 of the Indian Penal Code, according to local media reports.

Officials from the original SBI branch in Panruti, upon visiting the fake branch found that the infrastructure mirrored that of official branches of the bank according to reports. Police officials said that Kamal Babu had procured lockers, technological hardware, and other documents for the duplicate bank. The accused, police said, visited his now-deceased father at SBI during his younger days and from there remembered various aspects of a bank branch. Kamal Babu had applied for his father’s bank job but his application was delayed.

Surprisingly, no customers from the city have reported any loss of money at the fake branch. Kamal Babu who is said to be the brains behind the operation told police officials that his intention was never to cheat people but he only wanted to open a bank for himself, local media reports said.

(c) Financial Times Online

06/05/2022

JUST IN: Domestic airlines to shut down operations with effect from Monday...

Nigerian airline operators have issued a notice that with effect from Monday, 9th May, they will shut down their operations due to the high cost of aviation fuel which has hit 700 naira per litre.

A statement issued and signed by all the airline operators yesterday advised the traveling public who intend to fly to make alternative arrangements to avoid being stranded at the country’s airports.

The statement read : ” It is with a great sense of responsibility and patriotism that the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) have carried on deploying and subsidizing their services to our highly esteemed Nigerian flying public in the last four months despite the steady and astronomical hike in the price of JetA1 and other operating costs.”

“Overtime, aviation fuel price (JetA1) has risen from N190 per litre to N700 currently. No airline in the world can absorb this kind of sudden shock from such an astronomical rise over a short period. While aviation fuel worldwide is said to cost about 40% of an airline’s operating cost globally, the present hike has shut up Nigeria’s operating cost to about 95%. “.

” In the face of this, airlines have engaged the Federal Government, the National Assembly, NNPC and Oil Marketers with the view to bringing the cost of JetA1 down which has currently made the unit cost per seat for a one hour flight in Nigeria today to an average of N120,000. The latter cannot be fully passed to passengers who are already experiencing a lot of difficulties.”

“While AON appreciates the efforts of the current government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure air transport in Nigeria grows, unfortunately, the cost of aviation fuel has continued to rise unabated thereby creating huge pressure on the sustainability of operations and financial viability of the airlines. This is unsustainable and the airlines can no longer absorb the pressure.”

“To this end therefore, the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) hereby wishes to regrettably inform the general public that member airlines will discontinue operations nationwide with effect from Monday May 9, 2022 until further notice.”

“AON uses this medium to humbly state that we regret any inconveniences this very difficult decision might cause and appeal to travelers to kindly reconsider their travel itinerary and make alternative arrangements”, Alhaji Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina, President, AON advised.

04/05/2022

NEWS: NDLEA Uncovers N22Billion Worth of Tramadol Imported By Ukatu

The NDLEA has said that ongoing investigation of a billionaire drug baron, Chief Afam Mallinson Ukatu, has led to the discovery of how the suspect imported drugs worth N22bn into Nigeria in a single month.

Investigations reveal he has been a major importer of large consignments of different brands and high dosages of Tramadol Hydrochloride, ranging from 120mg, 200mg, 225mg and 250mg, all of which are illicit.