NASS leadership tussle: Dogara, Saraki threaten APC

                                                                                                
Dogara and Saraki
The All Progressives Congress, APC, was at the weekend teetering towards a major crisis following serious disagreements over the emergence of the new leadership of the National Assembly.
The party leadership was, however, last night rallying round to quench the dissent with an appeal for unity, saying the party must not enter tomorrow’s leadership contest as a divided party.
That appeal was, however, of little effect in the camp of supporters of Senator Bukola Saraki’s aspiration for Senate President and those for Rep. Yakubu Dogara’s speakership ambition who were insisting on taking the battle to the floor of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Supporters of Dogara, it was learnt, had petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari as the party leader to step into the matter.

Breaking news: Speakership: Court asked to disqualify Gbajabiamila over US indictment

The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court is at the moment hearing an ex-parte motion seeking to disqualify Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila from emerging as the Speaker of the House of Representatives tomorrow.
Justice Abdul Kafarati is presiding over the suit which was lodged before the high court by the Registered Trustees of Social Justice and Civil Rights Awareness Initiative.
The group, in the suit filed pursuant to Order 26 Rule 8 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules, 2009, is contending that Hon. Gbajabiamila is not morally fit to head the third arm of governance in Nigeria, alleging that he was previously ‎”convicted in the state of Georgia for unethical practices and was debarred as a lawyer for 36 months”.
Aside Gbajabiamila, the House of Representatives and the Attorney General of the Federation were equally cited as defendants in the matter.
The ex-parte motion is being argued on behalf of the group by Human Rights lawyer, Chief ‎Mike Ozehkome, SAN.

BREAKING NEWS: Adeyemi Replaces Essien as New Ecobank Group CEO

 

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (“Ecobank”), parent company of the Ecobank Group, the leading pan-African bank with operations in 36 countries across the continent, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ade Ayeyemi as its new Group Chief Executive Officer. His appointment is effective from 1 September 2015.
Mr Ayeyemi, 52, will replace Albert Essien, who retires on 30 June, 2015 after 25 years of meritorious service with the Group. An interim arrangement will be made by the Ecobank Board for the management of the Group during the period 1 July through 31 August, pending the resumption of the new GCEO.
Mr Ayeyemi is a highly experienced banker who has had a long and successful career with Citigroup, where he is currently Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup’s sub-Saharan Africa division, based in Johannesburg. He is an Accounting graduate of the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree with First Class Honours.

He also studied at the University of London and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Programme. A  Chartered Accountant, Mr Ayeyemi is also a trained UNIX Administrator and Network Operating Systems Manager. His many interests include business strategy, economics, process engineering and technology.

Pastor Adeboye Charges Leaders to Use Their offices to change Nigeria’s bad image

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye has charged Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State to use their new offices to change the bad story about Nigeria.
He spoke just as Osinbajo and Ambode assured Nigerians that God would make peace to reign in the country with the advent of the new administration.
The trio spoke at the Seventh Edition of the Excel Programme of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, organised by Apapa Family of the church at the Tafawa Balewa Square, TBS, Lagos, with the theme; “Riding on the Wings of Change.”
In his sermon, Pastor Adeboye urged political office holders to use their position to change the story of Nigeria, just as he assured that Nigeria will continue to march forward with the present crop of leaders.
According to him, “Change has two wings, power and glory and the two will dwell in you if you are connected to Christ. Colossians 1:27 says Jesus is the King of Glory.”

EXPOSED: Femi Gbajabiamila's Past Now Hunting His Speakership Seat As Ex-Convict In US

Following the emergence of Femi Gbajabiamila as the speaker-elect of the All Progressives Congress (APC), several revelations about the lawmaker’s past have been made public. Known as ‘Gbaja’ in the United States of America, the APC man was convicted of fraudulent law practices in the state of Georgia, where he allegedly defrauded clients. To avert crisis within their ranks, the leadership of the All Progressives Congress at a crucial meeting on Sunday voted Femi Gbajabiamila for speaker with his main rival, Yakubu Dogara from North East rejecting the primary election saying election of the speaker cannot be held outside the chamber of the House of Representatives.
And after emerging as the APC candidate for the position of speaker, many Nigerians in Diaspora expressed disappointment over the development noting that Gbajabiamila’s candidature is a mockery of anti-corruption and moral discipline that President Muhammadu Buhari epitomizes. “He is not qualified for speakership on moral grounds,” said one of the Nigerians in Diaspora who spoke with Global Village Extra.

RACE GOES TO THE WIRE FOR SENATE PRESIDENCY

As the contest for the Senate presidency shifts to the main chamber of the Senate tuesday, there are indications that the race for the highly coveted post will go to the wire.
This is just as concerns are mounting over the overwhelming influence the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu could have on the National Assembly should both his favoured candidates – Senator Ahmed Lawan and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila – emerge Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representative, respectively.
Ahmed and Gbajabiamila had emerged the consensus candidates of the APC after a straw poll was conducted by the party on Saturday to pave the way for them to clinch the posts of Senate presidency and speakership unopposed.
However, former Kwara State Governor, Senator Bukola Saraki and Hon. Yakubu Dogara, who are also contenders for the respective posts of Senate president and speaker, walked out of the exercise on the grounds that Tinubu’s candidates were railroaded into emerging the consensus candidates of the APC.

MINISTERIAL LIST: PARTY CHIEFS REJECT TECHNOCRATS

President Muhammadu Buhari is in a dilemma on how to constitute his cabinet without hurting his conscience or offending chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC), some of whom were instrumental to his victory in the presidential election. New Telegraph learnt at the weekend that the delay in releasing the list of prospective ministers was due to Buhari’s insistence on constituting a cabinet comprising competent and tested technocrats as opposed to the pressure from prominent members of the APC that key ministerial positions must be reserved for them and their associates.
A source told New Telegraph that the ministerial list was being delayed because the party chiefs had rejected most of those chosen by Buhari to be part of the cabinet, irrespective of the fact that the eighth session of the National Assembly will be inaugurated tomorrow. The party chieftains, it was learnt, rejected the draft ministerial list of the president because most of the persons on the list were neither politician nor did they play any critical role during the party’s struggle to wrest power from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). According to the source, the president believes that the only way he can bring credibility to his administration and be able to fight corruption without feeling guilty is by using competent technocrats as ministers.

WHAT I WENT THROUGH FOR BELIEVING WE COULD DEFEAT PDP – TINUBU

National leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has noted how he and other party officials were mocked at and derided when they conceived the idea of forcing the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from power two years ago.
Speaking at the African Young Entrepreneurs Empowerment Nigeria, AYEEN 2015 programme in Lagos, weekend, the party leader thus urged youths not to ever give up on their ideas “even if no one believes in you.”
The APC leader who was represented by the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, said that the youths should learn from APC’s story, as they strive to achieve their dreams.
The former governor of Lagos State, who stressed that the journey of the party’s merger started in the minds of a select few said: “If I didn’t believe in the bold initiative, I wouldn’t have lent myself to the unprecedented merger of the political parties that became the APC. We wouldn’t have challenged the incumbent party controlling the central government, People’s Democratic Party, PDP.

Photos: Davido graduates from Babcock University, Ogun State

Davido is now a graduate from Babcock University. His family & other celebrities including Don Jazzy turned out to support him as he achieved this major milestone today. Another pic after the cut...

PETROL TANKER EXPLOSION ROCKS LAGOS AGAIN, RAZES 34 HOUSES, 70 SHOPS

Another petrol tanker went aflame on Saturday in Idimu, Lagos, destroying many houses and gutting investments worth of several millions, although there was no loss of life in the incident, which was the third of its kind in the last one week.
The tanker explosion, which occurred at about 12:05 a.m., left scores of residents disorganised and devastated in Idimu, Egbe-Idimu Local Council Development Area (LCDA) and completely tore the entire community apart.
Consequently, the incident razed down 34 houses and 70 shops unlike the Iyana - Ipaja incident that utterly gutted five houses, 44 shops, 21 vehicles of different makes and six tricycles to the ashes. A similar tanker fire had occurred on Tuesday at Iyana-Ipaja area of the state which left several shops and vehicles destroyed.
Also, the Asaba Motor Park, located along Onitsha-Enugu road, was the scene of a petrol tanker accident where 69 people were burnt to death and 50 persons sustained injuries on May 31.
However, the Anambra Government has expressed its intention to shut down the Asaba Motor Park at Upper Iweka and turn it to what it called a garden park.
However, the damage could have been graver than the loss already incurred, although officials of Lagos State Fire Services, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) saved the situation.