APC cries out over hacking of Tinubu, Amaechi’s phones

Lagos - The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Presidency of hacking the phones of some of its leaders, reports Vanguard.

The party listed the leaders whose phones have been bugged to include the National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun; the  National Leader, Bola Tinubu, Senator Bukola Saraki, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, former Gov. Timipre Sylva and the party’s National Publicity Secretary. Lai Mohammed.
The leaders have also be placed under surveillance by security agencies

The party in a statement issued by Mohammed in Lagos on Thursday said that its leadership and members would not be intimidated by the latest alleged clampdown by the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration in the run-up to the March general elections.

He noted that Nigerians should hold the Jonathan administration responsible if anything happens to the party’s leaders.

Read more at Vanguard.

Read more on: 2015 elections

I won't Islamise Nigeria - Buhari

Lagos – The All Progressives Congress party's presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari has reportedly said he won't Islamise the country if he is elected president in the forthcoming elections.

According to The Nigeria Newsroom, Buhari, who was addressing Christian leaders in Abuja, urged Nigerians to reject those who sought to manipulate religious differences for religious gains.

Buhari himself a Muslim northerner, has, according to reports, previously been said to have given his support to Sharia but has denied allegations he has a radical Islamist agenda.

Read his profile on BBC here.
This proved a problem for him in the 2003 polls, as he failed to secure much support among Christians in the south, where he was viewed with some suspicion.

He is going to face incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, who is from the southern Niger Delta region, for a second time at the polls on 28 March.

Buhari said despite what his opponents said, he was not a religion fanatic and that he had never supported extremism.

- News24

Nigeria political parties top world's most corrupt

Lagos – Transparency International (TI)'s global corruption barometer shows that at least 94% of people in Nigeria think that the country's political parties are affected by corruption, making them (parties) the most corrupt in the world.

TI declared this in a graph that was published on its Twitter account on Thursday.
In the graph titled: "Where most people think political parties are corrupt" Nigeria appeared at the top with 94%, followed closely by Mexico and Cyprus with 91%. Spain was at the bottom, with 83%.

Woman dies after receiving no assistance for five days

2015-02-13 10:07
Abuja - The remains of a middle-aged woman along the Benin-Agbor Expressway have caused a stir after it was discovered that she had been calling for assistance from the same spot for five days.

According to a PUNCH report, the deceased was first sighted at Lucky junction on February 2, where she laid helplessly and periodically called for help after what seemed to have been a rape attack.

It has been reported that the woman was seen bleeding profusely from her private parts but was not helped by neither passersby, nor traders in the nearby market.

Traders subsequently avoided the spot where the woman had died after a foul stench began radiating from her decomposing corpse.

The corpse is said to have been removed by a relative of the deceased.
Joseph Ediogiawerie, Public Relations Officer at the Police, has said that no official report has been made to officials. He had, however, heard of the corpse and subsequently written to council authorities on the matter.
Read more at PUNCH

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CBN may devalue naira again

2015-02-13 10:07
Abuja - Indications have emerged that the Central Bank of Nigeria may devalue the naira again following developments in the foreign exchange market, Punch reports.

The currency has been experiencing free fall since November 25, 2014 when the CBN Monetary Policy Committee devalued it by eight per cent from 155 to 168 against the United States dollar.

The Bankers’ Committee which comprises the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, the deputy governors, chief executive officers of Deposit Money Banks and other stakeholders gave the hint of further devaluation on Thursday just as the nation’s External Reserves dropped by $1bn in 12 days.
Read more at Punch

- News 24

Niger deputy governer ordered out of state meeting

2015-02-13 11:12
Niger - The deputy governor of Niger State, Ahmed Ibeto, was ordered out of the state council meeting by the state governor Babangida Aliyu, Punch reports.

The deputy was reportedly asked to leave the meeting following his defection from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The governor who accused his deputy of referring to him as a thief during some of his campaigns threatened not to preside over the council meeting unless the deputy leaves.

The deputy governor was said to have hurriedly left for his office and parked his valuables after Aliyu allegedly threatened to use the security agents against him.
Read more at Punch

- News 24

NLC delegates destroy ballot boxes

2015-02-13 11:12
Abuja - The 11th National Delegates Conference of the Nigeria Labour Congress was on Thursday abruptly disrupted as aggrieved parties hijack, and smash ballot boxes being used to elect incoming leaders of the organisation, the News Agency of Nigeria is reporting.

The International Conference Centre’s venue of the conference was thrown into confusion as delegates ran for dear lives after some aggrieved contestants and their supporters suddenly became violent, hijacking and destroying ballot boxes even while voting was still underway.

The Conference, which began Tuesday, was organised to elect new leaders for the country’s central labour union following the expiration of tenure of the current executives.

It is not clear yet how the event, which had been peaceful since it began suddenly descended into crisis, but the election for the President of the Union had created tension among delegates and split them along partisan lines.

After the disruption, the police took over the venue and delegates were sent away, ostensibly to protect the facility from being vandalised.

Over 3 000 delegates commenced voting on Thursday as the General Secretary of National Union of Electricity Employees, Joe Ajaero and the President of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, Wabba Ayuba, presented themselves for election to replace Adbulwaheed Omar.

With the outcome of the delegates conference, the NLC appears to be heading for a major division.

- NAN