BUHARI, GOWON, OTHER DIGNITARIES EXPECTED AS OSHIOMHOLE WEDS IN EDO

All roads lead to Iyamho community, Etsako West council area of Edo state and the political stronghold of former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Governor of the state, Adams Oshiomhole, as he marries Miss Lara Forte.
The Ethiopian young lady, who is a former model and air hostess, is expected to be the center of focus as former Head of State General Yakubu Gowon, ex-Presidents, Ibrahim Babangida, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, and the President- elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari storm the state today to grace the historic ceremony.
Also, expected to arrive the state for the event are APC National leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the party’s national chairman, Chief John Oyegun, Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, other top politicians, captains of industry, labour leaders, the clergy and activists, as well as associates of the governor.

AREGBESOLA EXPRESSES DISMAY OVER NONPAYMENT OF WORKERS SALARIES

Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, has said he is pained by the inability of his administration to pay civil servants in the state for the past six months.

The governor said this in Ilesa on Thursday during the unveiling of the partnership of the Airtel Nigeria with RLG, which is partly owned by the state.
The governor told the gathering and his itinerant praise singers that he would not dance as he usually does because of the mood in the state. The governor, who was obviosuly carried away however joined the praise singers after that.
Aregbesola said, ” It is painful to me that we have not paid our workers but we are working to put this one behind us.
“Let them know that we are pained by this situation but those who created the problem will soon go away. We will not dance today.

BUHARI TO TAKE OVER PETROLEUM MINISTRY

Barring any last minute change in plans, the President- elect, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, will personally oversee the Ministry of Petroleum, as he is considering not appointing a minister to supervise the ministry.
Rather than having a Petroleum Minister, sources told New Telegraph that the former military head of state who once supervised the Ministry of Petroleum Resources as well as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the 1970s, will appoint a special adviser on power and energy, who will report to him.
It could not be immediately confirmed if the incoming president was also considering same option for the beleaguered power sector. If he sees through his plan, Buhari will be following in the footstep of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who directly supervised the Ministry of Petroleum Resources for about seven years.
He relinquished the position in January 2007 when, in a cabinet reshuffle, he elevated the then Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Edmund Daukoru, to head the newly-created Ministry of Energy, formed from the merger of Ministry of Petroleum Resources as well as Ministry of Power and Steel. One of the sources said Buhari was considering the idea of not appointing a minister for the Ministry of Petroleum as part of efforts to clean the rot in the ministry.
The source said: ”This is part of the immediate plans General Buhari has mapped out to tackle the rot in the oil sector and it is likely to remain as long as the industry remains mysterious and shrouded in secrecy.”

23-Yea-Old Graduate Needs 6 Million Naira For Kidney Surgery In India

He needs six million naira to live. His name is Emmanuel Ikewe, a 23 years old from Ekwu-Oma in Ika
North-East Council Area of Delta State. Since his graduation from Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashi-Uku in Business Administration, he has not known peace as a result of the debilitating illness that has held him down since 2013.
Ordinarily one would have expected the youth after his graduation from the polytechnic to have high hopes about life, but this has not been the case, as the young Ikewe has been battling with chronic kidney failures which has become a life threatening problem for the past two years.
Filled with tears, the young Ikewe who could barely speak due to his weakness only managed to mumble some words of appeal to the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, the state Governor-elect, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, corporate organizations and well meaning individuals within and outside the state to come to his aid and assist his family financially so that he could be flown to India for the needed surgery that will see him come back to life again.
The youth also appealed to members of the public not to let him die, but should come to his aid, saying he still has much he could contribute to the good of society. His cousin and current benefactor, Rev. Father Emmanuel Nwankwor, of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Umunede, Delta State, who spoke with sobriety to our reporter over the illness, said they have spent well over two million naira in trying to find a solution to the kidney problem, all to no avail.

Over 700 participants registered for maiden edition of Diplomatic Sports

Moses Essien, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the 2015 Diplomatic Sports, on Thursday said more than 700 participants registered for the maiden edition of the ongoing competition.

The  competition is being organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“We have more than 700 participants from 62 countries at the maiden edition of this competition, and we are hopeful that next year’s edition will be more glorious and better than this.

“But, with this, we can see a mini-Olympic Games happening in Nigeria annually, and it will boost the commercial activities of this city,’’ Essien said.

Four Edo govt officials arrested over cult activities

                                                                          IGP Arase
Barely 24 hours after the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, dispatched a special squad to Edo State to tackle the spate of cultism, kidnapping, robbery and other related crimes, the team has arrested 11 suspected leaders of cult groups in the state, among them, four state government functionaries.

Police sources said the team, led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in-charge of Federal Special Anti-robbery Squad, FEDSARS, Chris Ezike, stormed the hideout of the cultists few hours after arriving Benin City and successfully arrested leaders of cult confraternities for alleged complicity and murder of 10 Nigerians in the last one month in Edo State.

Fire Gut Section of Federal Secretariat Abuja

Ashiwaju.org was rightly informed that fire fighters were successful in extinguishing the fire. whle we are yet to confirm the level of damage and number of  injured personnel  at the time of filling this report.

Ashiwaju.org  received multiple reports that the Federal Secretariat is on fire in Abuja. The Federal Secretariat hosts many of the administrative offices for the government.

Early reports say that the fire began in the Federal Ministry of Education before spreading to nearby locations.

Rent: Court evicts former Anambra governor Nwobodo from Abuja home

Justice Suleiman Belgore of the Federal Capital Territory High Court has ordered the eviction of former Governor of Anambra State, Senator Jim Nwobodo from a mansion he is living at the high-brow Maitama District in Abuja. The court ordered Nwobodo to relinquish the property to the owner, Adib-Miles International Limited.
The property in question is a six-bedroom mansion with one bedroom guest chalet and two-room boys quarters at 24, Ona Crescent, Plot 768 Cadastral Zone A5, Maitama Abuja. Justice Belgore, in his judgment, a copy of which was obtained by Vanguard, equally ordered Nwobodo to pay N11 million as arrears of the rent on the premises from June 1, 2009, to May 31, 2011.

Missing $20 Bn: Sanusi Faults Alison-Madueke, Says Audit Report Proves At Least $18.5bn Lost

A former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has reacted to the recent audit report by PricewaterhouseCoopers on the alleged missing $20 billion oil money, saying the report has confirmed in the first instance that at least $18.5 billion was indeed missing.

The Emir of Kano faulted the petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, who said the report had exonerated the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, earlier accused of diverting the money.

In an opinion article published by the Financial Times of London, Mr. Sanusi, said the argument that the outstanding amount was used by the NNPC for apparently unlawful purposes such as kerosene subsidy, does not dismiss the notion that the NNPC illegally withheld billions of oil dollars from the government.

Bloody clash looms in Anambra communities

There is a looming communal crisis over a piece of land between the people of Umuoji and Nkpor in Idemili local government area of Anambra State.
Addressing reporters shortly after its emergency meeting, the President-General of Dimboko, Umuoji, Chief Tony Onwuachu, claimed that Okofia land which was in dispute between the two communities belonged to them.
According to him, his community has been farming on the land in ages past without molestation or any form of attack until recently when some miscreants from Nkpor started attacking them over the land even when a court of competent jurisdiction in a consent judgement had ruled that the land belonged to his community.
He added that the piece of land was registered with the Ministry of Lands with the title of Dim Onyia Estate.