News & Announcements

A former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, has said the presidential candidate of the party, Bola Tinubu, is an example of what Nigeria’s unity should reflect.
The former Edo State Governor said this in a recent interview with ARISE TV.

He was reacting to the concerns over the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the APC in the 2023 elections.
Oshiomhole dismissed the concerns, saying religion should not be an issue Nigerians should be concerned about, but that the focus should be on the track record of who can provide good governance.

The ex-Edo governor also said Tinubu’s relationship with his wife, Remi, who is a Christian, is enough to ignore criticism concerning the Muslim-Muslim ticket.

He said, “Who is a better Christian in the Nigerian context? Somebody like Asiwaju who has a Christian wife of about 40 years, happily married, no record of divorce, with four or five children, some of them Muslims, some of them Christians, is not an example of what the nation should be.
“The real question I thought would disturb anyone is, ‘if we have Muslim-Muslim ticket, will that affect the freedom of worship?’ If yes, then there’s a serious issue.

“If we have a Christian-Christian ticket, will that affect the freedom of Muslims to worship? If yes, there is an issue.

“But the truth is that both Christians and Muslims even now worship freely. So, why should it be a problem for anyone?”

The dust over the presidential primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the choice of Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa as running mate by its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has not settled.

Although Atiku and Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike met yesterday in Abuja at the instance of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), led by Senator Walid Jibrin, a source said it did not lead to a truce.
The meeting was hosted by former Information and Culture Minister Prof. Jerry Gana at his residence. At a meeting with BoT members on Wednesday, Atiku boasted that PDP can win next year’s election without many votes from Rivers State.

He said there was no cause for alarm if Wike did not want to fall in line with him.
Exuding confidence, Atiku recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari, who did not win Rivers State, relied on votes from Lagos, Kano, and other strategic states to win the 2019 presidential poll.
He also said that the PDP ran into crisis because Wike allegedly monetized the presidential primary.
Wike, who was privy to what transpired at the BOT meeting, was said to have complained about Atiku’s recent comment about him.

A source said: “Wike joined issues with Atiku over his recent comments or pronouncements at the second meeting.
“He asked Atiku some questions:
”Did I tell you I want to be the next Minister of Petroleum Resources?”Have I not been a minister before?”Do you control Lagos and Kano, like President Muhammadu Buhari, if you don’t need Rivers?”Have I asked for anything to support you?”
Atiku responded with “no” to most of the questions.

“Throughout the meeting, Wike was busy with posers to clear some impressions from Atiku’s camp in public space. Obviously, he was uncomfortable with some comments attributed to Atiku and some of his strategists.

“But the presidential candidate of the PDP was calm in managing the situation.”
Sources said Atiku and Wike had been engaged in a hide and seek game over a session with the BoT. However, BoT members have consistently pleaded with Atiku to reconcile with the Rivers governor.
Although the two leaders got invitation letters from the board, none of them was interested in a face-to-face meeting before yesterday.

Atiku and Wike had resorted to bitter verbal exchanges and name-calling in the media in the past few weeks.
Their loyalists had also picked the gauntlet, with the two camps launching media attacks against each other, leading to a gradual alienation of Wike and his loyalists by the PDP leadership.
The BoT had waded in on Wednesday, with the setting up of a reconciliation committee headed by Senator Jibrin.
It was also gathered that party stakeholders will empanel another committee comprising nominees from the Atiku and Wike camps to resolve the differences.
It was also learnt that whatever the committee agreed upon would be tabled before a larger meeting of stakeholders for approval and ratification.
“One takeaway from the meeting is that supporters of Atiku and Wike must stop the media war with immediate effect,” a party source said.
Worried by the protracted rift, BoT members had on Wednesday met with Atiku in Abuja behind closed doors.
A member of the BoT said: “When the two leaders did not honour our invitation, we decided to meet with Atiku on Wednesday. We will still have an audience with Governor Wike. Our main interest is to keep the party united before we start the campaign.
“Atiku took time to explain to us how he is ready to work with all party leaders and governors to enable PDP to regain power in 2023.
“He said since 1993, he has desired to contest and win the nation’s presidency without bitterness. He then asked: “‘How can a first-time presidential aspirant be so bitter for losing the primary? What of President Muhammadu Buhari who contested four times for the office?’
“Atiku also revisited the primary and how it was heavily monetized by Wike, but he said he still won.
“He urged the BoT members to prevail on Wike to work with him and others for the success of the party.
“He said otherwise, he will go ahead with the campaign without Wike and his team.
“He also said there are other PDP leaders from Rivers State who have bought into his candidacy, including Abiye Sekibo, ex-Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Austin Opara, Sen. Lee Maeba and others.”
The source quoted Atiku as telling the BoT members that “if Wike does not want to fall in line, we will go ahead with our campaign. One man alone does not make a state. Some PDP elders in the state are solidly with us.”
He added: “After all, President Buhari won the presidential election without many votes from Rivers State. He lost Rivers and still became the nation’s President after winning in Lagos, Kano and other strategic states.”
The BOT members, however, pleaded with Atiku to “allow more interventions to have a united campaign structure for the party’s victory.”
But Wike flew into Abuja yesterday afternoon to hold a session with his strategists before storming Gana’s residence.
But a source close to Wike’s camp said it was wrong to have accused Wike of monetizing the presidential primary of the party.
He added: “We got to know all that transpired between Atiku and the BoT members. Wike did not monetize the PDP primary. Maybe, the Atiku group did. We don’t know what he is saying.”
The source said Wike rallied his friends, supporters and associates to boost the campaign of the PDP’s candidate with a huge amount in 2019.
“Wike has been a party man and he has never wavered in his commitment to his party’s return to power in 2023.
“If he did it for Atiku in 2019, he will do the same this time around.”

A child who contracted the highly infectious Ebola-like Marburg virus in Ghana has died, a World Health Organization official has said.

The death brings the total number of fatalities in the country to three since Ghana registered its first-ever disease outbreak last month. The outbreak is only the second in West Africa after the first was detected in the previous year in Guinea.

The dead child, whose gender or age was not disclosed, was one of two new cases reported last week by the WHO.

“Last week I mentioned the two additional cases. One is the wife of the index case and the other is the child of the index case and the child unfortunately died, but the wife is still alive and improving,” WHO doctor Ibrahima Soce Fall told reporters.

The virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with bodily fluids, surfaces, and materials, the WHO said.

So far, the Ghanaian health ministry has only reported three confirmed cases and further testing remains to be done on a fourth suspected case, Fall said.

The first two cases, in southern Ghana’s Ashanti region, both had symptoms including diarrhea, fever, nausea, and vomiting, before dying in hospital, the WHO said previously.

Tensions remain high after a night of heavy weapons fire between the Gaza Strip and Israel.
Dozens of rockets fired from Gaza lit up the sky, following the killing of at least 10 people in Israeli air strikes, reports the BBC.
Militant leader Tayseer Jabari was among the dead. Israel said the strikes followed an “immediate threat” from his Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group.

A five-year-old girl in Gaza also died, local health officials said, and dozens more were injured.
PIJ responded by firing more than 100 rockets into Israel overnight “in an initial response.”
Most were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence shield, but sirens sounded in a number of Israeli cities throughout the night.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had resumed rocket strikes against multiple militant positions in Gaza, continuing the attacks into the early hours of the morning.

On Saturday, Israel said it had arrested 19 members of PIJ in raids across the West Bank.
The overnight exchange of fire marks the most serious escalation in violence since May 2021’s 11-day war, which left more than 200 Palestinians and a dozen Israelis dead before a ceasefire was agreed.
Egypt, which has acted as a mediator between the two sides in the past, is reportedly offering to act as a go-between once again in a bid to prevent further escalation.
Cairo officials were preparing on Saturday to host a potential delegation of PIJ representatives as part of that process, Egyptian media said.

Referring to the initial strike on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said: “Israel carried out a precise counter-terror operation against an immediate threat.”
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked said: “We don’t know how this will play out… but this could take time… this could be a lengthy round [of conflict] and a hard one.”

The IDF said its attacks targeted sites linked to PIJ, including the high-rise Palestine Tower in Gaza City which was hit on Friday in a loud explosion which left smoke pouring from the building.
An Israeli military spokesman estimated that “about 15 militants” were killed in the operation.
Local health officials inside Gaza say four PIJ militants, including Tayseer Jabari, have been killed since the strikes started.

The IDF said Tayseer Jabari was a “senior commander” in PIJ, and accused him of having committed “multiple terrorist attacks” against Israeli civilians.
Five-year-old Alaa Kaddum was among those killed in the strikes, local officials also said.
Gaza authorities said another 79 people were also injured, AFP news agency reports.In remarks delivered while on a trip to the Iranian capital Tehran, PIJ secretary general Ziyad al-Nakhala said: “We will respond forcefully to this aggression, and there will be a fight in which our people will win.”

“There are no red lines for this battle… and Tel Aviv will be under the rockets of the resistance”.
Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, said the armed groups were “united” in battle and would not keep silent.
The latest conflict closely follows Israel’s arrest of Bassem Saadi, reported to be the head of PIJ in the West Bank, on Monday night.

He was held in the Jenin area as part of an ongoing series of arrest operations after a wave of attacks by Israeli Arabs and Palestinians that left 17 Israelis and two Ukrainians dead. Two of the attackers came from the Jenin district.
After Bassem Saadi’s arrest, Israel warned that PIJ intended to attack civilians and soldiers in retaliation – and so heightened security measures for communities living near the border with Gaza.

PIJ, which is one of the strongest militant groups operating in Gaza, is backed by Iran and has its headquarters in the Syrian capital Damascus.
It has been responsible for many attacks, including rocket-fire and shootings against Israel.
In November 2019, Israel and PIJ fought a five-day conflict following the killing by Israel of a PIJ commander who Israel said had been planning an imminent attack. The violence left 34 Palestinians dead and 111 injured, while 63 Israelis needed medical treatment.

Israel said 25 of the Palestinians killed were militants, including those hit preparing to launch rockets.

No fewer than six soldiers on board a military helicopter have been confirmed dead after it crashed in Pakistan.
The commander of the south Pakistan-based 12 Corps, Lieutenant General Sarfraz Ali, was among those killed on the helicopter.

A separatist insurgent in Pakistan’s resource-rich Balochistan province was said to have claimed that they shot down the military helicopter.
Confirming the incident on Tuesday, A senior military official dismissed the insurgents’ claim as propaganda and fake news indicating that the helicopter crashed during bad weather.
According to him, it went down during a flood relief operation on Monday, killing all six soldiers on board, including a top army commander.
On their part, The Baloch Raaji Aajoi Sangar (BRAS), an umbrella group of Baloch insurgent groups was said to issue a statement to newsmen claiming that its fighters shot down the “low flying helicopter” with an anti-aircraft weapon.
However, the group was said to have not provided any evidence for their claim.
As gathered, Ethnic Baloch militants have for decades waged an insurgency against the Pakistani government in the southwestern province, complaining that its rich gas and mineral resource are unfairly exploited to benefit other parts of the country.
The province is also home to deep-water Gawadar port, which neighbouring China has been developing as part of a multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to link road and sea routes with Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative. The insurgents oppose those projects and try to attack them.

A court in the United Kingdom on Thursday adjourned the case involving the former deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, till October 31.

According to reports, Ekweremadu will be remanded in custody until the next adjourned date.
Ekweremadu, who is the lawmaker representing Enugu West Senatorial district, and his wife, Beatrice, are facing allegations of organ harvesting.

His wife was granted bail last week.

Recall that we had reported that Ike was charged by the UK Metropolitan Police with conspiracy to facilitate the travel of another person for organ harvesting.

It is alleged that Ike, 60, and his wife, Beatrice, 55, brought the 21-year-old man from Nigeria to the UK.
Prosecutors claim they planned to have his kidney removed so it could be given to their daughter.
“The position is that I have granted bail to Beatrice subject to some fairly stringent conditions, but I have refused bail to Ike,” Daily Mail quoted the Common Serjeant of London, Judge Richard Marks, to have ruled.

Prosecutors are not appealing the decision, the court heard.
Prosecutor Tim Probert-Wood said previously that the case involved ‘exploitation and the harvesting of an organ.’

It was also reported that a United Kingdom-based doctor was accused of conniving with Ekweremadu and his wife to traffic a homeless man into the UK to harvest his kidney for their daughter.
The doctor, Obinna Obeta, 50, from Southwark, South London, is charged under the Modern Slavery Act.
Obeta, who appeared at Bexley Magistrates’ Court on 13 July, is charged with arranging the travel of 21-year-old Davi Ukpo from Nigeria to the UK.

He is also accused of conspiring with the lawmaker to arrange or facilitate the travel of the man with a view to him being exploited through organ harvesting.

Kidnapped Nollywood Stars Regain Freedom – Actors Guild stars, Cynthia Okereke and Clemson Cornel (Agbogidi), have been freed by their abductors days after they were declared missing.
The Actors Guild of Nigeria confirmed this, saying the duo were released unhurt.

The Guild’s Director of Communications, Monalisa Chinda Coker, in a statement on Wednesday, said, “This is to inform the public that the kidnapped actors, Cynthia Okereke and Clemson Cornel, have been released, unhurt.”

She quoted the National President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Ejezie Rollas, as saying that they were freed by their abductors “who were touched by the spirit of God to set them free and unharmed”.
“The guild has arranged for medical checks and psychological support for the victims.

“On behalf of their families, the National President expressed our heartfelt appreciation to the Nollywood industry and Nigerians at large for the support and prayers during this trying period.

“He urged members to be security conscious on and off movie sets and always take precautionary measures on their security at all times,” she added.
Recall that the Nollywood stars were declared missing on Saturday after their families could not reach them following their work on a film set.

Days later, their kidnappers reportedly contacted them, asking for a $100,000 ransom.
But Rollas said the Guild could only raise N1.2 million, a sum the abductors laughed off.

Nigerian singer, Innocent Idibia, better known as 2Baba, says ‘African Queen’, his first single hit, is a source of blessing and a curse.

The hitmaker spoke about the 2004 hit song in the fifth episode of the ‘Journey of The Beats’ documentary which premiered on Showmax last month.

The documentary centres on the history and rise of the Afrobeats genre.
The 46-year-old singer said he regards ‘African Queen’ as a blessing because it’s the track that thrust him into the limelight and earned him awards, international recognition, and accolades.
He also said that the track gave him the “King of R&B” title in Nigeria and became a template for delivering a quintessential Afrobeats song.

The ace singer added ‘African Queen’ is a curse because its success “served as a yardstick to his other works.”

According to 2Baba, the hit song would always overshadow his other works in terms of success.
The fifth episode also explored momentous events that contributed to Afrobeats during the mid-2000s.
These events included music journeys of icons such as Style Plus, P-Square, ID Cabasa, 9ice, Da-grin, and Olamide.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted the imminence of a global recession that could be driven by rising inflation across nations.

According to the IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas. “The world may soon be teetering on the edge of a global recession, only two years after the last one.”

IMF downgraded its outlook for the global economy this year and next while giving an even starker assessment of what may lie ahead.
This is largely attributed to the surging inflation and severe slowdowns in the world’s three largest economies: the United States, China, and Europe

In its latest World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund cut the 2022 global GDP estimate to 3.2 percent, four-tenths of a point lower than the April forecast, and about half the rate seen last year.
According to IMF; “Last year’s recovery from the pandemic downturn has been followed by increasingly gloomy developments in 2022 as risks began to materialize”

“Several shocks have hit a world economy already weakened by the pandemic,” including the war in Ukraine which has driven up global prices for food and energy, prompting central banks to raise interest rates sharply.

Ongoing Covid-19 lockdowns and a worsening real estate crisis have hindered economic activity in China, while the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes are slowing US growth sharply.

Key among concerns is the fallout from the Ukraine war including the potential for Russia to cut off natural gas supplies to Europe, as well as a further spike in prices and the spectre of famines due to the war’s chokehold on grain supplies.”

During his wedding ceremony in China, a groom decided it was time to expose his cheating bride by playing a video of her infidelity.
Where you would typically expect a compilation of photos or videos of the couple over the course of the relationship, the groom had a different idea instead.
The groom played a video of his wife cheating on him with her pregnant sister’s husband in front of everybody.
The unverified footage has been making its rounds across several prominent Chinese media outlets, which claim that the footage was shot by one of the guests.

As the emcee announced “now we are going to show you the videos of how the newlyweds grew up,” the groom had set up a different video to expose his wife.
The groom had the five-minute tape between the bride and her brother-in-law play out in front of family and friends at the ceremony in order to publicly humiliate the woman who cheated on him.
The moment the video begins to play and guests register what exactly is going on, there is an audible gasp from everyone in the crowd, which leads to the groom shoving his bride, who retaliates by throwing her bouquet at him.

According to Sina, the groom shouted “You thought I didn’t know?” before she threw the bouquet.
They also report that sources familiar with the couple claim that the groom had been domestically abusing her over the course of their relationship, but she decided to stay after he bought her brother a house, and a bag and helped him find a job.
According to Apple Daily, which has since been shut down, the couple had been in a relationship for two years and had gotten engaged six months ago.

The groom found out that his wife cheated after he installed a security camera in their future home for a renovation project.
While this may seem like a shocking turn of events and an incident of revenge porn, some people speculate that the entire incident was actually staged and was an elaborate, malicious marketing stunt by a video-sharing website.

A gossip columnist that goes by the name of “Mr. Zha,” shares his skepticism about the whole incident, wondering how the video app had obtained the footage “exclusively.”

The video that was played at the wedding shows a clear watermark in the top right corner of a video-sharing platform, meaning that the video had come from the website.
“Who would air their dirty laundry on a video website?” Mr. Zha argued. “To summarise, there is only one explanation, this is a malicious marketing stunt.”

Speculation of the event is all over Twitter as well for much of the same reason — if this were a private video caught on a security camera, why would there be a watermark from a video-sharing website?

At the time of writing, clips involving the incident have been removed from the social media platform Weibo, but continue to circulate across Twitter and the messaging app WeChat.