INVESTIGATION: VP Osinbajo was never excluded from national security meetings

More details are now emerging about the purported exclusion of the Vice President from some National Security Council meetings held so far, days after the presidency formally denied the false speculations describing them as “the creation of someone who just wanted to write something”.
Informed presidency sources said the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo was actually informed and invited to the meeting by the President himself, and that due to other pressing engagements and commitments of the presidency, the VP had to be present at other events, including a foreign trip to Sudan.
According to sources, “there was no way the Vice President would be excluded from a meeting for which it was the President himself that told him about it and requested him to attend in line with the law of the land, but as things turn out there were other events requiring the attention of at least the President or the Vice President at the same time.”
Some of the media outlets that reported and republished the false story includes naij.com, dailypost.ng and a foreign paper, International Business Times.
No major Nigerian or international media organization published the story
Sources close to Mr. Osinbajo said they believe some outgoing political appointees of the PDP administration still in the presidency were responsible for planting the falsehood in the media in order to cause disaffection among the Nigerian people, hoping to spur an early crisis for the new Buhari presidency.

UPDATE: Buhari TERMINATES N9.3b pipeline security contracts with ASARI-DOKUBO, Gani Adams N9.3b pipeline security contracts

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has terminated the N9.3 billion surveillance contracts offered to some former Niger Delta militants and self-determination groups.

Info reaching us at Ashiwaju.org have it that President Muhammadu Buhari stopped the renewal of the multimillion dollars pipeline surveillance contracts which expired yesterday. In March, the Federal Government under  President Goodluck Jonathan through the NNPC had handed over the job of protecting the nation’s oil and gas pipelines and waterways to former militants and self-determination groups.

Among the beneficiaries of the contracts are Government Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo), Mujaheed Asari-Dokubo and Chief Bipobiri Ajube (aka Gen. Shoot-At-Sight) alongside Fasehun and Gani Adams of OPC.

I AM READY TO BUY ARSENAL AT ‘WHATEVER PRICE’

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote insists that soon he will have ‘enough time and enough resources’ to buy Arsenal football club, whatever the price.
Dangote, 58, is Africa’s richest man having amassed a fortune in the region of $18.4 billion (£12.2 billion). He is currently the 67th richest man in the world.
He first spoke of his interest in purchasing the Gunners last month when he admitted that ‘one day’ he hoped to buy the club, adding that he ‘already knew’ his strategy to take them forward.
That day may arrive sooner than first expected, with Dangote telling the BBC Tuesday that completion of his proposed oil refinery in Nigeria will provide the funds necessary to launch a takeover of the club.
“When we get this refinery on track, I will have enough time and enough resources to pay what they are asking for,” he told BBC Hausa.

I will donate my allowance to Osun workers – Murray-Bruc

                   
                                                                 Ben Murray -Bruce
THE lawmaker representing Bayelsa East Senatorial District, Senator Ben Murray Bruce, has promised to donate his wardrobe allowance to the unpaid workers in Osun State.
He made this known via his Twitter handle.
For about seven months now, workers in the Osun State civil service are yet to be paid their salaries.
But in a swift reaction, the Osun State government lampooned the lawmaker , saying he was playing to the gallery just as he said he (Murray-Bruce) was trivialising the issue.
The Senator said “I, Ben Murray Bruce, will not sit down idly, while my fellow citizens die because salaries have not been paid. As a first step, I am immediately donating my wardrobe allowance to unpaid workers in Osun State and widows in my Constituency
We are starting in Osun, but we will not end there. I will do as much to help workers who’ve not been paid in other states.”
He, however, called on his friends and followers to make contributions to alleviate the plight of the workers.

GLO NIGERIA PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS/FIXTURES

By Cyril MegaMoney Shadrack
From Awka
Here are the result of all the Glo premier league matches played on wed 17
Enyimaba 2-0 Heartland fc, Rangers 1-0 Abia Warriors,
Ifeanyi Ubah fc 1-0 Dolphins, Akwa utd 2-1 kwara utd
Bayelsa utd 0-0 Shooting stars, Lobi Stars 2-1 Nasarawa utd
Sharks fc 0-0 El Kanemi Warriors.
TODAY FIXTURES/HIGHLIGHT

CHAD BANS ISLAMIC FACE VEIL AFTER SUICIDE BOMBINGS

Chad has banned people from wearing the full-face veil, following two suicide bomb attacks on Monday.
Chad's government accused Nigerian militant Islamist group Boko Haram of the bombings, which killed more than 20 people.
The Chadian Prime Minister, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), said the veil was used as a "camouflage" by militants and said the security forces will burn all full-face veils sold in markets.
Chad is to host a new regional force set up to tackle Boko Haram.
The militant group has not commented on the attack but has previously threatened to attack Chad, after its forces started to help Nigeria.
At a meeting with religious leaders, Prime Minister Kalzeube Pahimi Deubet said the ban applied everywhere, not only public places.
He added that any clothing that covers everything but the eyes was a camouflage.
The attackers were on motorcycles when they blew themselves up outside two police buildings in the capital, N'Djamena.

Abandoned Boko Haram Explosives Kill Scores in Borno

Yesterday,improvised explosive devices (IEDs) abandoned by suspected Boko Haram insurgents killed scores of people in Monguno, a town in Borno state. A security source confirmed the attack to Newsintels, saying most of the victims were women and children. “There is no clear information about the causalities but women and children were the main victims,” he said. However, there are conflicting reports on the casualties. While Abdullahi Amadu, a vigilante leader, pegged the death toll at 12, Haruna Bukar, an operative of the vigilante group of Nigeria (VGN) who claimed to have witnessed the incident, told reporters that 63 people died in the attack. “We lost 12 members in the accidental explosion, which also injured 40 others,” Amadu said. “We have brought seven of the dead to Maiduguri this morning (Wednesday) and left five others behind in Monguno.” On his part, Bukar blamed the incident on the “carelessness of a group of civilian-JTF” on patrol along Monguno-Marte route. “When they found the bag containing what later turned out to be improvised explosives, they brought it to Monguno town where people gathered to take a look at it,” he said. “As they were busy fiddling with the content of the bag, the bombs went off with a massive blast that killed about 63 persons and injured dozen others.” An officer of the VGN in Maiduguri, Abbas Gava, also spoke to journalists about the incident. “Initially we thought it was a Boko Haram attack as it was being

SEE LADY WHO ATTRACT HUNDRED OF SUITORS WITH CAR, CASH, MARRIAGE OFFER

A drama played out at the Freedom Radio Kano on Wednesday when hundreds of teenagers besieged the station to marry a lady who promised to give a car and house to anybody who marries her.
The 22-year-old girl, Zainab Abdulmalik had on 'Inda Ranka', a popular programme of the radio station on Wednesday disclosed her intention to give the items to anybody who marries her.
Our correspondent reports that from across the state young boys thronged the radio station at the Sharada industrial layout area of the state wearing their best attires.
The girl had requested that all interested young boys who are between the ages of 17 and 25 should assemble at the radio station for screening on Wednesday morning.
When our correspondent went to the radio station around 11.am, hundreds of youths were seen slugging it out with security men of the radio station. While waiting at the entrance of the station, the boys were seen running after all female visitors, asking them whether they are Zainab.
The number of interested persons who were mainly teenagers kept swelling until the lady arrived around 1.pm. When she arrived, they all pounced on her expressing their love to her. She was ferried away by security operatives when the boys swooped on her.
Speaking to our correspondent, one of the boys, Haruna Usman said he was interested in the lady because of the offer.

Cher trashes Donald Trump on Twitter, calls him an obnoxious A-hole and a loudmouth bigot”

The iconic performer, 69, took to Twitter yesterday Tuesday June 16, to rant against Trump, also 69, and his recent decision to run in the 2016 Presidential election.
“Donald Trump can’t come up with a hairstyle that looks human, how can he come up with a plan to defeat ISIS?”.
She lashed out more. See more tweets below…

GOVERNORS MEET TODAY, SEEK BAILOUT TO PAY SALARIES

Governors of the 36 states of the federation will meet today to consider proposals for a possible bailout for states with financial difficulties, especially those unable to pay workers’ salaries.

Also, the governors are expected to discuss their dwindling monthly allocations from the Federation Account and the status of the Excess Crude Account (ECA).

Last month, governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had met with President Muhammadu Buhari requesting a bailout to enable them pay the backlog of salaries to workers in the states.

Already, workers in Osun, Enugu, Ekiti, Benue and Ebonyi States have embarked on strike over the inability of their state governments to pay their salaries.

In a statement by the Director General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Asishana Okauru, he said: “I have been directed by the Chairman, Governor Abdullaziz Yari, to invite you to a meeting of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum holding as follows on Wednesday, June 17, 2015 at 10 am at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.”

He listed the agenda for the meeting to include: brief by the chairman, update on the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) and ECA, proposal for bailout to states, and a revenue enhancement scheme for states, among others.