FG TO SPEND N2B ON BUHARI’S INAUGURATION, OVER 50 PRESIDENTS EXPECTED – DUKE

About N2 billion will be spent on the inauguration of the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, on May 29 which over 50 presidents and international figures are expected to attend.
The Chairman, Media and Publicity Sub- Committee of the Presidential Inauguration Planning Committee, Edem Duke, made this disclosure on Friday in Abuja.
Meanwhile, the Eagle Square, venue for the inauguration is already wearing new looks with military personnel expected to have a match parade having their training ahead of the May 29 event.
Duke, who is also the Minister of Culture and Tourism, said: “As we speak the 54 countries of the continent of Africa have been invited. Very many of the head of states will be coming.”
“There has been a huge interest, especially, from head of countries in Europe to attend this inauguration and at the last count, I think we must have in excess of about 50 heads of state and delegation expected at this inauguration.”
He said that the week long programme started on Friday with Jumaat prayer at the National Central Mosque, Abuja.

KANO: MUSLIMS SET COURT ABLAZE OVER 'INSULT' TO MUHAMMAD

Hundreds of rioting Muslims set a Shariah court ablaze Friday in Nigeria's northern Kano city, protesting its decision to free a cleric accused of insulting the prophet Mohammed.
An AP reporter watched protesters throw blazing, fuel-filled tires into the building then start marching through streets to demand punishment for Malam Abdul Nyass.
Police monitored the crowd, which turned peaceful after the fire.
Nyass is accused of saying that the long-dead leader of the Tijanniyah sect is more powerful than the revered prophet Muhammad. Kano's mainly Muslim population adheres in almost equal numbers to the Sunni and Tijanniyah sects of Islam.

NDLEA OFFICIALS STORM BURUJI KASHAMU’S RESIDENCE

There are reports that officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have surrounded the residence of Ogun State Senator-elect, Buruji Kashamu.
The drug law enforcement agency is said to be set to extradite the Ogun State born politician to the United States of America to answer drug related accusations proffered against him, according to Channels TV.

'OBASANJO, BUHARI’S EMERGENCE, POINTER TO MILITARY DOMINANCE OF NATIONAL POLITICS'

The Catholic Arch Bishop of the Sokoto Diocese, Rev Father Hassan Kukah, has voiced his concern for a long term military dominance of Nigeria's politics, which had been accentuated by the emergence of two retired Generals, Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari as the President of the country.
Kukah made this observation yesterday at the formal presentation and official launch of the biography on Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, titled: "Destiny Calling My Name".
As a result, he advised retired military personnel, especially the imposing generals to lessen their interference in the political space of the country.

According to the clergy, the military had taken away several years of the nation’s democracy, having already two retired generals as Presidents in "the persons of Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo (was once a President) and now Muhammadu Buhari, who is the President-elect", and urged them allow civilians to grow the country’s democracy.
He said: "We really and truly thank God that we are making progress in our democratic dispensation. Great things has happened and continue to happen to Nigeria.
"You know that the military has already taken away most of our years in this democracy, and as you have seen, they are still not yet through with us.

WHY WE SOLD OUR SON, NOLLYWOOD ACTOR, WIFE CONFESS

A Nollywood actor and his wife have sensationally told the po¬lice why they decided to sell their two-year-old son, Samuel Chukwuneye for N350, 000 to a Port Harcourt based woman simply identified as Ogechi. The couple, though not legal¬ly married, had been living together. They were identified as Kanayo Awurum, 29, and Ugochi Kelechi, 28, both of who are from Ikeduru Local Government Area in Imo State.
Trouble started when Ugochi, who is pregnant with their second child, suspected that her live-in lover, who she claimed gave out their son temporarily to Ogechi, was planning to abandon her in Lagos. She alert¬ed and confessed to the police about what they did before relocating to Lagos. Kanayo was arrested and handed over to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos police command, Ikeja for further investigation.
According to a police source, Kanayo, who is an upcoming Nollywood actor im¬pregnated Ugochi more than two years ago and ran away. He returned sometime in October 2014 and apologized to her with a promise to marry her. Ugochi accepted him back and got pregnant again. When his re¬sources dwindled, he convinced Ugochi to relocate with him to Lagos State as soon as they were able to raise money.

THE BUHARI YOU DIDN'T KNOW • “Nobody in Daura got an oil bloc”

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, victorious at the polls, opened up to Weekly Trust in an all-access interview, wherein he relaxed, revealing previously unknown sides to his personality against the backdrop of his Daura home. Excerpts:
Weekly Trust: It’s about a week to the inauguration and we believe you are terribly busy, but you still had to come back home. What does Daura mean to you? 
Muhammadu Buhari: This is where I was born and raised. I have nieces, nephews, cousins, first and second generation and I have schoolmates here. I believe after the inauguration there will be a lot of work and maybe for several or many weeks, I may not be able to come here even if I wanted to. I have my farm, orchard and animals that are very dear to me, that I would like to say goodbye to.
WT: You are talking of weeks, which suggests that every few weeks you will want to come home and reconnect with your roots?
Buhari: Especially when Ramadan is a few weeks away, yes. Normally, while I was busy in Kaduna, I always visited Daura on the first week of Ramadan. I don’t spend Eid-el Fitr here but always come at the beginning and the end of Ramadan. I don’t think being the president would stop me from doing that.

DAVID MARK IN SECRET BID FOR SENATE PRESIDENCY

The rumoured plot by the out¬going Senate President, David Mark to stage a comeback as leader of the 8th Senate may not be false after all, as fresh indications show that the retired military General turned politician may spring a surprise on June 4 when the next Senate session is expected to begin.
A reliable Peoples Democratic Party, PDP chieftain, who knows about the plot, told Saturday Sun that Mark may join the race for the Senate President should the All Progressives Congress (APC) fail to get a consensus candidate among its three contenders for the seat. They are Senators Bukola Saraki, Ahmed Lawan and George Akume.
Though Mark, who has spent eight years on the same seat, is a member of the mi¬nority party, PDP, with about 45 members in the upper chamber, it was learnt that he is going to capitalize on the division within APC to emerge.

GRANT AMNESTY TO BOKO HARAM, NORTHERN ELDERS TELL BUHARI

SOME prominent northerners including the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Mohammed Uwais and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe and former Nigerian Ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Gambari have asked the President -elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, rtd, declare amnesty for Boko Haram
insurgents when he takes over power on May 29.
However, Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, dismissed the call saying it would amount to rewarding criminals instead of punishing them for crimes against humanity.
They also asked Buhari to give priority attention to the special economic programmes for the North East geopolitical zone which had been ravaged by the Boko Haram terrorists, just as they warned against the scrapping of the on-going amnesty programme for ex-militants in the Niger Delta region.
These were contained in a communiqué issued after a two-day conference with the theme: “Security and Governance Challenges in Africa’s largest Democracy,” by the Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development, SCDDD, as part of its “Nigeria Beyond 12015 Project,” in Abuja yesterday.

I’LL BECOME PEACE AMBASSADOR AFTER LEAVING OFFICE – JONATHAN

President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday said his major commitment after leaving office on May 29 will be to engage religious and ethnic leaders across the country on the need to allow peace to reign.
He said he took the decision because of his strong belief that Nigerians can only practise their different religions in an atmosphere of peace.
Jonathan disclosed this shortly after he was presented with the 2015 Epitome of Peace Award by the Field Superintendent of The Apostolic Church Nigeria, Federal Capital Territory Field, Apostle John Buzu, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The President said the award, which was in recognition of the step he took after the March 28 Presidential election, which had led to peace in the country, had further spurred him into doing more for the country.
He said he would work hard to reduce religious and racial discrimination in the country after leaving office, expressing the hope that people would be ready to join him in the crusade.
Jonathan said, “To whom much is given, much is expected. For you to honour me today, you have given me another mandate to work harder to ensure that we as Nigerians continue to live in peace.
“One thing I have decided I will do after leaving office is to be talking to faithful of all religions: Christians, Muslims and other religions, on the need for Nigerians to live in peace.
“This is because when there is crisis in any part of the country, nobody can practise his own religion. If there is crisis anywhere, people cannot go to the mosque, they cannot go to the church.

DELE MOMODU WRITE A FAREWELL LETTER TO PRESIDENT JONATHAN: GO YE WELL, PRESIDENT JONATHAN

By Dele Momodu
Our dear President, please permit me to write my last epistle to you as our leader and Commander-in-Chief. By this time next week, I expect you to have flown back to Yenagoa via Port Harcourt. How I wish I could have the opportunity of being on that last trip, not to mock you but to capture your swinging moods in those few moments of realising that the end has come eventually. I would love to know how many of your big friends would take the pain to follow you or if most would abandon you to your fate and move on pronto to the new brides. Even as a writer with what I believe is vivid imagination, I’m not able to paint a picture of the sort of life or future that awaits you in Otuoke, Yenagoa, Abuja, Chad, Germany, Dubai or wherever you decide to hibernate in the short or long run.
Let us give thanks to God no matter the situation. You have been the luckiest man I know in Nigeria or anywhere else for that matter. You have been in high office for the past 16 years and I doubt if any other soul has had such uncommon favour. Therefore, it shouldn't be any big deal to you, Sir. Though as a human being, one would still expect that you would feel the pain of rejection and dejection as they usually walk hand-in-hand like romantics do. It is sad that it had to end like this despite many warnings and prophesies foretold by me and a few others.