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.

SENATE PRESIDENCY BID: EX-GOVERNORS QUEUE BEHIND SARAKI AS ONE OF THEIR OWN FOR SENATE PRESIDENT SLOT

Some Peoples Democratic Party Governors-elect on Tuesday night attended a meeting held by some of their All Progressives Congress counterparts rooting for the emergence of former Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki as the Senate President.
The PUNCH learnt that the meeting which held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja had 65 senators-elect in attendance.
A source who attended the meeting listed Godswill Akpabio, Theodore Orji and Sam Egwu among the PDP senators-elect that were in attendance.
Our source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said some of the PDP senators-elect were backing Saraki because it appeared that the APC leaders were in support of Ahmad Lawan.
The source said, “For now, the PDP has not endorsed any candidate but some of us are in support of Saraki because the APC leaders appear to be supporting Lawan.”

South African Airways enabler for tourism and driver of economic growth

South African Airways enabler for tourism and driver of economic growth
Movement of people and goods by air more important than ever before.
South African Airways (SAA), the South African National Flag Carrier, has a specific and important role to play as an enabler for tourism and a driver of economic growth through trade. The movement of people and goods by air is more important than ever before.
Nico Bezuidenhout, SAA’s Acting Chief Executive, emphasised at the Durban Tourism Indaba SAA’s continued support of the economy and tourism through the effort the airline has made in bringing stability by implementing its 90-Day Action Plan.

Obiano’s wife acquires land to build elderly people’s home

Wife of the Governor of Anambra State, Chief (Mrs.) Ebelechukwu Obiano, receiving the Ambulance keys from Dr. Obi and Barrister (Mrs.) Rosaline Ifezulike, with wife of Anambra East LGA Chairman, Mrs. Jennifer Udeanoh (extreme right) during the presentation of Ford Ambulance to CAFÉ

The dream of the wife of the governor of Anambra State, Chief Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano to touch the lives of the young and old people through her pet project, Caring Family Enhancement Initiative (CAFÉ) appears realizable as she has acquired sizeable hectares of land for the establishment of Old People’s Homes in the three Senatorial Districts of the State.
Speaking in an interactive session with pressmen in Awka,
Chief (Mrs.) Obiano said that her passion for taking care of the aged over the years exposed her to the realization that what the old people in our society need most is attention and care.  According to the governor’s wife, “you would agree with me that the social safety-net imbued by our practice of the extended family system is not as strong as it used to be. Today you find the older folks not getting the necessary attention they deserve because the younger ones are busy struggling to build their own life. Even where it exists, you find out that what the elderly desire most is the company of others. That is one cushion they will get in the proposed Old peoples’ home.”

Obiano Commiserates with Azikiwe Family

Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano has condoled the Azikiwe Family and Obi of Onitsha on the death of Chief Chukwuma Bamidele Azikiwe, Owelle of Onitsha, eldest son of Nigeria’s first president, the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe on Sunday May 11, 2015, aged 75.

Obiano in the condolence message stated that he was shocked when he got the news of the demise of Chief Chukwuma Azikiwe, a 1964 Harvard Business graduate whom he described as a political leader in his own right.