Nedu Echianu's Blog

Former President Goodluck Jonathan Monday morning escaped what would have been a disastrous situation when some suspected militants allegedly working for the All Progressives Congress in Bayelsa State drove into his convey. leadership newspaper reports that the men, who intercepted and drove into a short motorcade conveying the former President from the Julius Berger bridge area of the state capital Yenagoa, trailed and chased the motorcade to the entrance of the Yenagoa private residence of the former President in the Kpansia area of the town, before they were overpowered and arrested by a combined team of security operatives attached to the former President. Members of the arrested gang are said to have been taken to the Bayelsa State Police Command for further investigation and interrog

A Premium Times  Exclusive has revealed why a former minister in the Goodluck Jonathan's administration and others have just been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC.

The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, says terrorism in Nigeria was indirectly created by northern leaders, who used religion to deceive poor Muslims. Kukah said this in his keynote address at a conference organised by the Islamic Welfare Foundation at the Fountain University, Osogbo.

The trustees of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) will on Monday (November 30, 2015) be arraigned before a Lagos State High Court in Ikeja over the collapse of a six-story building in the church on September 12, 2014, which led to the death of 116 persons. Senior Pastor of the church, Prophet T.B Joshua is one of the trustees.

Ibrahim Babangida, former military president, says he is ready to vote for an Igbo president in 2019. Speaking with The Interview, a magazine focused on leading professionals and politicians, IBB, as he is fondly called, described the agitation for Biafra republic as a distraction. “We do not need this distraction now,” he was quoted as saying, adding that “I will vote for an Igbo president in 2019, if I find one.” He also revisited one of the most controversial issues involving him – the death of MKO Abiola, acclaimed winner of the June 12 1993 election. He said he recieved the news of his death with shock but without regret.

Britain’s Tyson Fury was crowned the new world heavyweight champion on Saturday after a unanimous points win over Wladimir Klitschko, who suffered his first defeat in eleven years. The 27-year-old Fury was awarded the fight in Duesseldorf 115-112, 115-112 and 116-111 by the judges to take Klitschko’s WBA, IBF, IBO and WBO belts as the Ukrainian suffered his first defeat since 2004.

Members of the public in the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja have been warned to be extra vigilant as Boko Haram insurgents are reported to be planning massive attacks in the territory.

The mother of Nigeria's under 23 male National team coach, Samson Siasia has regained her freedom, after spending 13 days in captivity. Madam Beauty Siasia was seized by kidnappers on November 16, from her residence in Odoni community of Sagama Local Council Area of Bayelsa state. The release of Madam Siasia was confirmed by the Bayelsa State police spokesman, Asinim Buswat, who revealed that she was dropped off on the highway of the East-West road in the wee hours of Saturday. Buswat said: “Madam Beauty Siasia, who was abducted on  November 16 2015, was abandoned by her abductors along the East-West Road, at about 0130hrs, 28 November 2015, due to hot pursuit by the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Police Command.” The Police spokesperson however, failed to disclose if any amount was paid as ransom for her release. Source: Ynaija

A Court of Appeal sitting in Makurdi, the capital of Benue State has nullified the election of former senate president, David Mark. The Makurdi division of the Court of Appeal on Saturday, ordered a re-run of the poll within 90 days.

The All Progressives Congress, APC, have reportedly picked Yahaya Bello to replace the late Prince Abubakar Audu as its candidate for the December 5 supplementary election in Kogi state, The Nation reports. Bello will be replacing Audu who gave up the ghost shortly after the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, declared the November 21 governorship election in the state inconclusive.

More Photos after the cut... viewer discretion advised.

About twenty one persons are feared dead at Dakasoye village, Garun Mallam local goverment area of Kano state Friday when a suicide bomber blew himself up among the Shia procession on there way to Zaria witness says.

“You look sleepy” “My brother, let’s just say I slept at a fuel station, looking for fuel.” “For which of the women in your life, because I hear these days, to please a woman in Nigeria, you must be ready to supply the three major things lacking in the land: money, fuel, and happiness.”

James Falake, the running mate to late Abubakar Audu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Saturday’s governorship election in the state, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to declare him governor elect without delay.

The Senate has issued a two weeks ultimatum to the ministry of petroleum resources to end the recurring fuel scarcity in the country and put to a stop the various corrupt practices associated with the distribution of petroleum products.

The attention of the Media Office of the Senate President has been drawn to comments regarding the launch of the "Speak to SP Suggestion Boxes" at various points of the National Assembly.   With the efforts of the Senate to promote the two-way interaction between Nigerians and their representatives in the 8th Senate, Senators launched the suggestion boxes in order to allow staff and visitors to the National Assembly  to submit internal recommendations on improvements that can be made at the National Assembly. Additionally, the suggestion boxes are a physical component of the online approach being adopted by the Senate to receive feedback from Nigerians. Many will remember that earlier this month, the Senate President sent a message to Nigerians seeking their participation in the formulation of the legislative agenda of the 8th Senate. Many of the credible and practicable recommendations that were submitted online were taken into account, and the Senate adopted them in d

The federal government has ​​​assured that it would commence payment of N5,000 promised unemployed Nigerian youth during the electioneering campaign, from 2016.

Pope Francis has arrived in Kenya for a three-nation African tour - his first to the continent as pontiff. The BBC reports that President Uhuru Kenyatta and ululating crowds welcomed him at the airport in the capital, Nairobi.

A plane with Nigerians deported from the UK arrived Lagos Wednesday afternoon,  Photos of some of the deported Nigerians (courtesy of the BBC)

A group of Muslim youths under the aegis of Muslim Youths in Da’wah on Tuesday at the headquarters of the National Youth Service Corps in Abuja protested against the ban on the use of hijab by female Muslim corps members, especially during orientation camps.

The All Progressives Congress, APC, Tuesday said it would organize fresh primary election amongst interesting contestants to choose a replacement for its fallen gubernatorial candidate, Late Abubakar Audu in Kogi state supplementary election.

The Rector of Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti, Dr Theresa Akande, has said tertiary institutions are central to the change agenda in Nigeria because lecturers are more corrupt than politicians.

About a decade ago, it would be unheard of to say a Nigerian can be involved in suicide bombings, in fact Nigerians were known for their resilience in the midst of adversity that they would never think of taking their own life nor take the "extreme" step further to take the lives of others in the process of taking theirs.

Republican presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Ben Carson claimed on Monday they saw a video of Arab Americans cheering as New York’s twin towers collapsed on September 11, 2001.

A Nigerian twitter user with the handle; @sugarbelly has sent out a couple of tweets where she said a lot of uncomplimentary things about the family of late Abubakar Audu, the APC Governorship Candidate in the Kogi state election who passed on last Sunday. I first saw the story online where what she said was munched and attached to the report, I tried following her to get first hand scoop only to find our that she protected her handle, that means you can't follow her unless she approves of it... Lol

The Department of State Services (DSS) today arraigned the leader of a group called the ‘Indigenous People of Biafra’, Nnamdi Kanu, before a Magistrate Court in Abuja. It however asked the court to discontinue the case so it can be moved to the Federal High Court, following fresh facts just discovered against the accused that are beyond the jurisdiction of the magistrate court.

The one time governor of Kogi state and candidate of the All Progressive Congress APC in last Saturday's election, Abubakar Audu has finally been laid to rest after all the rumour of his resurrection He was buried amid tears in his home town Ogbonicha, Ofu Local government area in Kogi state at about 2pm Nigerian time, may his soul rest in peace.

Supporters of Director of Radio Biafra and Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, on Monday, purportedly stormed Abuja in luxury buses, to show solidarity, in a peaceful protest, for their leader who was finally arraigned by the Federal Government before the Wuse Zone 2 Magistrate Court, Abuja. More Photos after the cut...

Reports that the candidate of the All Progressives Congress for Saturday’s governorship election in Kogi state, Abubakar Audu, may have died as a result of the news of the declaration of Saturday’s election as inconclusive is not true as investigations by online newspaper Premium Times indicates that  Audu’s health problem started on Saturday evening.

The governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, in the Saturday Governorship election in Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu has been confirmed dead. Vanguard newspaper reports that Audu was said to have complained of stomach ache on Saturday shortly after voting and returning to his country home in Ogbonicha, Ofu Local government, and was advised to take a rest. Though some said he had died as early as 10am Sunday but other source said he slumped and died after the Independent National Electoral Commission declared the result of the election inconclusive. One of the aide of the APC candidate, Tenimu Nasidi said being a Muslim they have taken his death in good faith as they strongly believed that God gives and God takes, “To me I believed that his time was up; nothing any man can do to stop it”. Audu was born on October 24, 1964

The Independent National Electoral Commission has declared Saturday’s governorship election in Kogi state inconclusive. According to  results declared by the Returning Officer, Emmanuel Kucha (Vice-Chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi), Abubakar Audu of the All Progressives Congress scored 240,867 while Idris Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party garnered 199,514 votes. Mr. Kucha said the margin of votes between Messrs Audu and Wada is 41,353. And that the election was inconclusive because the total number of registered voters in 91 polling units, in 18 local government areas, where election was cancelled is 49,953. That figure is higher than the 41,353 votes with which Mr. Audu is ahead of Mr. Wada. The returning officer said by INEC guideline, no return could be made for the election until supplementary election is held in areas where election was cancelled. Date for a supplementary election is to be announced by the electoral umpire INEC.

On his way to Iran on Sunday to participate in the 3rd gas exporting countries forum GECF, President Mohammadu Buhari is reported to have flown on a chopper from the Aso Rock Villa to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. Sahara Reporters believe that this is unusual and are asking why?...lol 

Nnamdi Kanu The apex Igbo socio–cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Friday disowned the Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, and his cohorts in their struggle for the actualisation of a sovereign state of Biafra.

There has been reports that over one hundred Nigerian troops involved in the battle with Boko Haram militants in the North East have been missing and some photos have even surfaced on the internet purportedly suggesting that some of the troops were killed by the militants.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan marked his 58th birthday today with friends and associates, a happy birthday to him and many more years ahead...more photos after the cut.

Suspected Islamist gunmen who stormed a hotel in Mali's capital, Bamako, have "no more hostages", officials say. The Radisson Blu Hotel was stormed by special forces after gunmen entered it and seized 170 people, many of them foreign guests.

Almost 200 people are being held hostage in a hotel in Mali's capital after armed gunmen stormed a Raddison Blu hotel in Mali.  The unidentified men attacked the hotel in the country's capital of Bamako at around 8am on Friday, with some reports claiming grenades as well as automatic weapons were used in the initial assault.

Members of the immediate family of embattled former Minister for Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, as well as her legal team are outraged over the recent visit of Nigerian journalist Dele Momodu to the former minister’s London flat.

The 36 state governors have said that they can no longer pay the N18,000 minimum wage that was signed into law in March 2011 by former President Goodluck Jonathan, owing to the poor state of the economy. Organised labour in its immediate reaction, however, kicked against the governors’ stance, saying workers are ready to shut down the country, if the governors push them into it.

Chief of Army staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai has waved aside reports that about 105 soldiers prosecuting the war against Boko Haram terrorists met their untimely death when they failed to return in a bid to annihilate the terrorists in the North East. The media had been awashed with news that about 100 Nigerian soldiers were missing after Boko Haram attacks in the epicenter of the battle.

Senators of the All Progressives Congress (APC ) opposed to the leadership of Senate President, Bukola Saraki, seem to have capitulated as they accepted to be inaugurated as chairmen of several committees on Thursday.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria FAAN says the power outage experienced yesterday November 18 at some sections of the International Terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos has since been rectified by its team of engineers and power has been restored at the airport.

The Senate has summoned the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase to brief it on measures being taken to curb the increasing rate of kidnappings in the country while also urging traditional, religious institutions and all Nigerians to be more vigilant and participate actively in the security of their various localities.

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has accused the governing All Progressives Congress of trying to assassinate the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu. Mr. Ekweremadu’s media aide, Uche Anichukwu, had on Tuesday alleged that suspected assassins trailed his boss on his way to the office at about 10:00am between Apo Flyover and Dantata Construction Company’s yard, close to the Old Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, junction.