ONE WORD

The results of the 2015 general elections have been taken down from the official website of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). This alarm was raised by Reuters reporter, Paul Carsten. Carsten tweeted on Wednesday: “The Nigerian Independent National Electoral Commission appears to have taken the 2015 election results off its website: bit.ly/2SA5xk4 “#NigeriaDecides2019.” A quick check by DAILY POST, revealed that pdf file on the page was missing. The error message displayed read: “Oops! That page can’t be found. “It looks like nothing was found at this location. Maybe try search again?” However, the countdown timer to next week’s election, was ticking away at the top of the page. Source:https://samueljackson12.blogspot.com/2019/02/inec-deletes-2015-election-results-from.html

Aircraft The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar Wednesday said a total of 22 aircraft were recently added into the inventory of Nigerian Air Force (NAF) to support various on-going military operations across the country, particularly the fight against Boko Haram Terrorists, TheNation has reported. According to Abubakar, as at July 2015, the aircraft serviceability status of the Nigerian Air Force was below 60 percent, but as at date, the aircraft serviceability status has improved beyond 80 percent. Abubakar made the remarks while declaring open the NAF Finance Training Workshop with the theme “Strenghtening the NAF Finance Specialty for Efficient Service Delivery in Support of NAF Operations”, at the NAF Headquarters, Abuja. The Air Chief who was represented by the Chief of Policy and Plans, Air Vice Marshal M A Mohammed said the NAF has been able to deploy its platforms in support of military operations through prudent management of resources. He added that

.Says next battle for implementation of new minimum wage next level By Victor Ahiuma-Young and  Johnbosco Agbakwuru THE 12th Quadrennial National Delegates Conference of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), yesterday returned its President, Ayuba Wabba, unopposed to lead NLC for the next four years. Wabba Wabba will head a 16-member National Administrative Council (NAC), of NLC, who were equally elected unopposed to administer the affairs of NLC for the next four years. Three persons elected unopposed as Deputy Presidents were Amaechi Asugwuni, Muhammad Nadir Idris, and Najim Usman Yasin, while Ibrahim Khaleel, was elected National Treasurer. Four persons elected Vice-Presidents were Abdrafiu  Adeniji, Peters Adeyemi, Lawrence Amaechi and Oyelakan Lateef who was returned unopposed. Other officials elected include Marven Adamu, National Financial Secretary and Adewale Adeyanju, National Trustee, among others. In his acceptance speech, Wabba said the next level would be to

Head of the ECOWAS Election Observer Mission for the 2019 elections, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has asked the police to ensure a peaceful, free and fair general election. She made the call on Wednesday when she visited the acting Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu. Sirleaf, however, commended the police for what she described as their professionalism in the run up to the elections. In response, the IGP said police personnel are fully prepared for a hitch-free exercise. According to him, they have been trained in various aspects of election security matters, before, during and after the elections. Later on, she visited the National Peace Committee where she met with the Director of the Kukah Center and head of the National Peace Committee secretariat, (Reverend Father) Atta Barkindo. Barkindo briefed her on some of the challenges faced by the committee especially the arduous task of brokering peace accords among political parties at the state level particularly in vi

Nollywood actress and producer, Stephanie Okereke-Linus, has received special recognition for her movie, Dry, from the Los Angeles City Council. The multi-award winning actress shared pictures of the event, which held on Tuesday, on her Instagram page on Wednesday. The 36-year-old revealed that the recognition is coming ahead of Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF) Screening, in Los Angeles, later in February. She wrote: “I got a Special Recognition for DRY at the Los Angeles City council ahead of Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF) Screening “Dry, in 2019 is still making great impact around the world. The movie has been selected to screen for the second time at the highly coveted Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF) in Los Angeles, USA this February, and as a prelude to the festival, I was recognized at the first-ever Blacks In Cinema presentation. The event took place at the Los Angeles City Council Chambers.” See more photos of her below:

The U.S. Coast Guard announced a major drug bust after they seized close to 35,000 pounds of cocaine from suspected drug smuggling vessels in Eastern Pacific Ocean.  The drugs, worth an estimated wholesale value of $466 million, were intercepted off the coasts of Mexico, and Central and South America and off-loaded in Port Everglades, Florida on Tuesday, the Coast Guard said in a news release. In the statement, it was revealed that the U.S. Coast Guard offloaded approximately 34,780 pounds of cocaine. Six different crews seized the drugs from 21 separate vessels stopped in Pacific waters. The haul was the "result of the collaboration and coordination of multiple Coast Guard and interagency assets to address the complex maritime challenge of transnational criminal organizations,”  Cmdr. Michael Sharp  said. Most of the drugs originate in Colombia and are destined for the U.S., according to Schultz. Source:https://samueljackson12.blogspot.com/2019/02/us-coast-guard-s

Former Premier League champions, Chelsea have identified Barcelona ace, Philippe Coutinho, as a potential replacement for forward, Eden Hazard. Hazard on Tuesday confirmed that he has made a decision over his future at Stamford Bridge. The Belgium international, who is yet to sign a new deal with Chelsea, has less than a year remaining on his contract. The 28-year-old has also made no secret of his desire to play for Real Madrid. According to The Independent, Chelsea are willing to sign Coutinho as Hazard’s replacement at the end of the season. Coutinho has struggled at Barcelona this season, with Barca manager, Ernesto Valverde, admitting that the former Liverpool star was far from happy with life at the club. Speaking about his future with Barcelona last week, Coutinho told beIN Sports: “Nobody knows what will happen in the future. All I have in my head right now is to work hard.” Coutinho will hope to feature for Valverde’s side when Barcelona tackle Real Madrid in

Barcelona president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, has said that he will contact Real Madrid president, Florentino Perez, in order to sign midfielder, Isco. Bartomeu said this ahead of Barcelona’s El Clasico clash with Real Madrid on Wednesday night in the Copa Del Rey first leg at the Camp Nou Stadium. Isco has been strongly linked with a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu in recent months. The Spain international has not been playing regularly for Real Madrid so far this campaign since Santiago Solari replaced Julen Lopetegui as manager. “If our coaches asked us to sign a player and they want to leave Real Madrid, of course, we would sign them,” Bartomeu told El Partidazo de COPE. “But it has not happened since I’m here. “There are no non-aggression pacts. Each one tries to make their team more competitive. “Isco? For the sake of Real Madrid, I would speak with the president of Real Madrid.” Source:https://samueljackson12.blogspot.com/2019/02/barcelona-president-bartomeu

Chelsea have announced their updated Europa League squad for the knockout stages. Chelsea manager, Maurizio Sarri, however, made one surprise inclusion in the team. Danny Drinkwater, who was not in the squad for the group stages, has been included in the team. Nigeria star, Victor Moses has also been dropped out of the squad after his loan move to Fenerbahce. Argentine striker, Gonzalo Higuain also replaced Alvaro Morata after his switch to Atletico Madrid. English star, Rob Green remains out of the squad so that Chelsea don’t go over their homegrown quota with a third goalkeeper. Full list: Goalkeepers: Kepa Arrizabalaga Willy Caballero Jamie Cumming Marcin Bulka Defenders: Antonio Rudiger Marcos Alonso Davide Zappacosta Gary Cahill Andreas Christensen Cesar Azpilicueta David Luiz Emerson Palmieri Midfielders: Jorginho Danny Drinkwater N’Golo Kante Ross Barkley Eden Hazard Pedro Ruben Loftus-Cheek Mateo Kovacic Callum Huds

It has been revealed that four Nollywood actors have taken part in the auditions for the soon to air, Big Brother Naija 2019, reality show. You will recall that an RCCG worker stole the show in one of the audition centres earlier. The actors are Olumide Oworu, who is popularly known for his role in a family sit-com ‘Johnsons’, fast-rising actor Emem Efe, Yoruba actor Joseph Jaiyeoba, and Joshua Richard. The four actors were spotted among over 5000 Nigerians that auditioned at the Lagos audition venue, Edmark D’Podium events centre, on Friday, February 1, 2019. Olumide and Ufot made their way to the final round of the auditioning process at about 1:45 pm. Richard and Jaiyeoba were spotted at a different time, while some upcoming comedians were also spotted during the audition. The 2019 Big Brother Naija kicked off February 1st, with auditioning in eight cities across the country. The places are in Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt, Calabar, Ibadan, Benin, and Warri. sourc

Real Madrid manager, Santiago Solari, will have a full squad at his disposal for Wednesday’s night Copa del Rey semi-final against Barcelona. All Madrid players were present in training on Tuesday including Jesús Vallejo and reserve team player, Javi Sánchez. AS however reports that Solari has 16 names who are guaranteed to be on this squad sheet, and they include: Courtois, Keylor, Ramos, Varane, Nacho, Carvajal, Marcelo, Casemiro, Kroos, Modric, Marcos Llorente, Ceballos, Vinicius, Benzema, Bale and Lucas Vázquez. The question mark is whether Isco will make the trip. Solari will have to choose two from seven players in the first team squad namely: Reguilón, Odriozola, Vallejo, Valverde, Isco, Brahim and Mariano. Source:https://samueljackson12.blogspot.com/2019/02/barcelona-vs-real-madrid-solaris-squad.html

FC Barcelona players will wear some unique shirts in this Wednesday’s game against Real Madrid. To commemorate the Chinese New Year, which is being celebrated this week, the shirts will have player names with Chinese characters just below the regular names, the first time that the Club has added new characters on the back of the shirt. This action is added to the video of congratulation for the Chinese New Year that was made by the Club and released this Monday, with the participation of first team players Leo Messi, Gerard Piqué, Marc-André ter Stegen and Samuel Umtiti. Also known as the Spring Festival, this traditional festival is the most important of the year in the Chinese calendar, which in 2019 marks the Year of the Pig. This year is also an important one for the strategy of establishment of Barça in China, which will experience its most important moment next summer when the first team will visit China and Japan on their preseason tour. The Barça Store Camp Nou and the

U.S. President Donald Trump says he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam on Feb. 27 to Feb. 28 for their second summit, local media report said on Wednesday. Trump told Congress in his State of the Union address that as part of a bold new diplomacy, the U.S. would continue its  historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula. US President Donald Trump (R) and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un shake hands following a signing ceremony during their historic US-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore on June 12, 2018. “Our hostages have come home, nuclear testing has stopped, and there has not been a missile launch in 15 months. “If I had not been elected president of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion be in a major war with North Korea. “Much work remains to be done, but my relationship with Kim Jong Un is a good one,’’ he stressed The pair held their first summit in Singapore in June, the first time a sitting

FC Nantes football club supporters gather in Nantes after it was announced that the plane Argentinian forward Emiliano Sala was flying in vanished during a flight from Nantes in western France to Cardiff in Wales, in January 22, 2019. – The 28-year-old Argentine striker is one of two people still missing after contact was lost with the light aircraft he was travelling in on January 21, 2019 night. Sala was on his way to the Welsh capital to train with his new teammates for the first time after completing a £15 million ($19 million) move to Cardiff City from French side Nantes on January 19. (Photo by LOIC VENANCE / AFP) British crash investigators on Tuesday launched an underwater operation to recover a body from the wreckage of the plane carrying Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala in the Channel. “We are attempting to recover the body. If we are successful, we will consider the feasibility of recovering the aircraft wreckage,” an Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) spokes

Operatives of the Enugu State police command have arrested a notorious kidnapping ring that specialized in abducting children from schools located in the six local government councils in Enugu east senatorial zone and whisking them to neighbouring states for sale. According to reports, the ladies identified as Nkeiruka Odo from Imilike Agu village in Udenu council area of Enugu State and Precious Chukwuemeka Chineneye from Aguleri, Anambra State had been terrorizing residents with their nefarious attitude. The ladies were said to have enticed children with dresses, Biscuits, Chin-Chin, and Candies among others. Last month the kidnappers had abducted a little boy identified as Ugwu Levi Chiagozie from a Nursery school located in Imilike Ani, Udenu and whisked him away to Anambra State where they had sold him to a nurse. They met their waterloo on Monday after they were arrested when they attempted to abduct a child at a certain Primary school located at Imilike Ani, Udenu are

By Issa Aremu NLC’s 12th National Qurdirall Delegates Conference started  Monday February 4, 2019 in Abuja with the pre-Conference  Central Working Committee, CWC, National Executive Council, NEC, meeting. The conference is scheduled to hold  from Tuesday 5 to Thursday 7 February 2019  at the International Conference centre, ICC, Abuja. NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Waba (4l) flanked by other Labour leaders during the rally to create awareness on the new Minimum Wage for workers organised by the Nigeria Labour Congress at the Federal Capital territory, Abuja. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida Oshiomhole calls for united labour movement to confront challenges The conference theme is:  Towards a Decade of Activism for the Promotion of Labour Unity, National Re-birth and Development.  An    estimated number of delegates is 675 drawn from 43 industrial unions affiliated to the NLC compared to as many as 3119 delegates from 42 affiliate industrial unions that attended the 11th Congress in

Bremen’s Player celebrates after the German Cup (DFB Pokal) last 16 football match BVB Borussia Dortmund v Werder Bremen in Dortmund, western Germany on Februarz 5, 2019. – Dortmund lost the penalty shoot-out after extra-time to be knocked out of the competition. (Photo by SASCHA SCHUERMANN / AFP) / DFB  Flu-hit Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund crashed out of the German Cup on Tuesday, losing a penalty shoot-out at home to Werder Bremen following a 3-3 draw after extra time. Goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka was Bremen’s hero in the shoot-out as he saved Dortmund’s opening attempts from Paco Alcacer and Maximilian Philipp as Bremen won the last-16 tie 4-2 on penalties. It finished 1-1 over 90 minutes after Dortmund captain Marco Reus rifled home a direct free-kick to cancel out an early goal by Bremen’s Milot Rashica. The game exploded into life with four goals in extra time as Bremen twice equalised, through substitutes Claudio Pizarro and Martin Harnik, to force penalties af

According to SaharaReporters, the residents of the popular Nnebisi and commuters plying the road narrowly escaped death on Monday, after the electric scoreboard at the newly commissioned Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, Delta State, collapsed. Staff of the Sports Commission headed by Tony Okowa, younger brother of Ifeanyi Okowa, Governor of Delta State, who witnessed the collapse of the electric scoreboard at about 7pm, told SaharaReporters that the scoreboard collapsed as a result of a heavy wind. Members of staff, including others who came for training at the stadium, were seen scampering for safety. A staff who witnessed the incident, but preferred not to be named, said: "So many people would have been dead by now if an event was going on in the stadium. The collapsed scoreboard fell on top of some buildings used as restaurants, where people normally eat at night. "I witnessed the collapse of the electric scoreboard and I thank God that it did not fall towards the

Recently, we saw the news of the RCCG worker who got excited about the N45 million Big Brother Naija was going to offer, promising she could do anything since she was not a virgin anymore. But Daddy Freeze reacted to that with this post… “If the church fails at teaching morality then of what use is it? She is not a floor member o, she is a WORKER in church willing to do anything for money. It’s not her fault though, most pastors are also willing to do anything for mammon their god of money. Did you see her excitement when she heard that the prize money this year was 45million Naira?” See The Post Below; source:https://samueljackson12.blogspot.com/2019/02/daddy-freeze-reacts-to-video-of-rccg.html

The All Peoples Congress (APC) just released the routes that President Mohammadu Buhari will ply during his campaign tour of Lagos state. The date is  next week Monday –  February 11th, 2019. Typically, traffic will be a bit hectic in some other routes as a result of traffic diversions. The details of the affected routes are as follows. APC Presidential Mega Rally/Visit Of The President To Lagos state Presidential Movement Routes 1. ROUTE ONE(MOTORCADES) PRESIDENTIAL WING –OBA OF LAGOS PALACE: From Presidential Wing – Airport Road – Airport Toll Gate – Ajao Estate – Oshodi Oke –Anthony Oke  – Gbagada – Oworonshoki – Third Mainland Bridge– Adekunle Inter-section – Adeniji Adele Junction – Oba Of Lagos Palace. 2. ROUTE TWO (MOTORCADE) OBA OF LAGOS PALACE – STATE HOUSE MARINA From Oba of Lagos Palace – Oyebanji – Third Mainland Bridge – Obalende – Onikan Bridge –Onikan Round About – TBS – State House Marina. 3. ROUTE THREE (MOTORCADE) OBA OF LAGOS PALACE –TES

File: Donald Trump President Donald Trump’s call for a bipartisan commitment to eradicate HIV in the United States within a decade has been welcomed by experts and advocacy organizations even as major challenges remain. Addressing Congress during the annual State of the Union speech, Trump hailed what he called recent breakthroughs which “have brought a once-distant dream within reach.” “My budget will ask Democrats and Republicans to make the needed commitment to eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years. “Together, we will defeat AIDS in America and beyond.” The announcement was reminiscent of his predecessor George W. Bush’s announcement at the same venue in 2003 of his President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a $15 billion program considered a great success. Though Trump’s plan doesn’t yet have a dollar figure, his Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar later added details to the president’s rhetoric: the initiative would reduc

“One in four girls and women (27 per cent) aged 15-49 years have undergone FGM in Nigeria.” – UNICEF It’s one of the lower rates in Sub-Saharan Africa but due to Nigeria’s large population, Nigeria has the third highest absolute number of women and girls (19.9 million) who have undergone FGM worldwide. The World Health organization defines Female Genital Mutilation, colloquially known as FGM: a composition of all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. But in Nigeria, people call it culture and there are four types – Type 1: This is the partial or total removal of the clitoris and in very rare cases, only the prepuce (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris). Type 2: This is the partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora (the inner folds of the vulva), with or without excision of the labia majora (the outer folds of skin of the vulva). Type 3

The League of Patriotic Lawyers has given Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Olusegun Odumosu, 24 hours to unravel those behind the torture and insertion of pepper into a girl’s private part in Benin City over alleged stealing of a mobile phone.  Chairman of the platform and former Student Union President of the University of Benin, Mr. Abubakar Yesufu, who said this in a statement yesterday, also urged the state Director, Department of State Services, DSS, to be involved in the investigation. A video of the incident, seen by Vanguard yesterday, showed the girl being stripped naked by a group of people, who inserted pepper into her private parts for allegedly stealing a phone. The unidentified girl was heard crying and saying she didn’t steal any phone, while she was being humiliated by the crowd. Yesufu said: “The League of Patriotic Lawyers has given the Edo State Commissioner of Police 24 hours to arrest and commence prosecution of all the street urchins behind this ba

Director, Governance and Sustainability, Sahara Group, Pearl Uzokwe (left); Head, Corporate Communications, Sahara Group, Bethel Obioma; Chair, Omnia Strategy, Cherie Blair; and Group Managing Director, Sahara Power Group, Kola Adesina during a meeting on partnership between Sahara Group and Omnia Strategy towards promoting the SDGs in Africa… in Davos, Switzerland. Egbin Power Plc is set to increase generation capacity to 1,320 Megawatts (MW) from its current strength of 1,100MW by the end of February, the Group Managing Director (GMD) Sahara Power Group (SPG), Kola Adesina, has declared. Adesina, who made this revelation in Lagos, during the SPG’s Graduate Engineering Programme (GEP) induction, noted that even though evacuation still stands at 543MW due to challenges of transmission evacuation, the company is working to ensure this new capacity is achieved by the end of this month. According to him, the plan is to increase the generation of Egbin Power to about another 1900MW

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) As part of its consumer protection activities, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has received and satisfactorily resolved 92,757 service-related complaints escalated to it for resolution by aggrieved telecommunications consumers in the past two years. Deputy Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau of NCC, Ismail Adedigba, disclosed this in a report detailing consumer protection activities of the Commission presented during a consumer awareness campaign held in Niger State, at the weekend. “Between January 2017 and December 2018, the Commission received a total of 118,784 complaints from consumers, of which 92,757, representing 78 per cent of total complaints received during the two years period were successfully resolved to the satisfaction of telecom consumers,” he said. Accordingly, Adedigba said that 5,010 appreciations were received from some consumers who felt satisfied after the Commission had successfully resolved the

Experts urge politicians to watch comments The oil and gas sector in Nigeria, particularly upstream, will be affected by policy uncertainties, security, and slump in the price of crude oil, stakeholders have said. Players in the industry, in an outlook, ahead of the general elections, equally urged politicians to desist from comments that could further reduce investment inflow of into the sector, adding that the non-passage of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, would affect the growth in the sector. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), had earlier warned that politicians using the agency to canvas for votes were endangering investment inflows.NNPC spokesman, Ndu Ughamadu, had decried the use of the Corporation as a launch pad for political attacks, describing it as not only a disservice to national interest, but also inimical to the economy. The Nigerian Natural Resource Charter (NNRC), last month, disclosed that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Nigeria’

Telecom mast MTN expects 20% in 2018 earnings Telecoms ecosystem in Nigeria, and other sub-Saharan Africa, have been projected to see over $10 billion deals in 2019, as investors’ appetite and valuation grows. According to TMT Finance, Africa Telecom, Media and Technology (TMT) infrastructure, Initial Public Offering (IPO), Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) fundraising in Africa are expected to continue growing due to increasing dealflow across the region and appetite from global industry and investors. The $1 billion sale of South African datacentre firm, Teraco Data Environments to U.S. private equity firm, Berkshire Partners, last week was reported to be valued at 22 times its 2018 EBITDA of $40-$45million. This reflected outstanding growth expectations comparable with European and U.S. datacentre businesses. The sale of the Permira-owned datacentre also attracted interest from global industry players, Equinix, and Digital Realty, in a highly competitive sale and marke

More Nigerians would be having opportunities to play significant role in the maritime sector, with the Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta State, providing quality trainings to buoy the skill of Nigerian youths in shipping. The Vice Chancellor of the Nigeria Maritime University, Prof. (Mrs.) Maureen Ongoebi Etebu, who disclosed this during a tour of the institution’s teaching facilities and infrastructure at the take-off campus, said it would also save the nation foreign exchange. She affirmed that the standard of training in the institution is at par with international best standards, therefore negating the need to further send students abroad to obtain such trainings. According to her, the university had registered with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), a body that upholds the highest standard of maritime practice and training in the world.She stressed that the university, which is working in collaboration with the Caribbean Maritime University, has b

By Kayode Oyediran PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has suspended the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen, from office and sworn in Justice Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed JSC as CJN in an acting capacity. The President said his action was in compliance with an Order of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) directing him to suspend the Chief Justice pending final determination of the cases against him. It is not surprising that the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), many Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), prominent politicians and other groups have kicked against the President’s action, while several others have welcome it. Our stagnated corruption perception It is clear that Nigeria has set sail on uncharted waters. One prays and hopes it will navigate the journey successfully and peacefully, and emerge the stronger for it. However it is important to remind ourselves of how we got to this pass, and consider whether there were alternative routes which could have been taken. The r