NEWS

*Ngige escapes mob attack as Anambra APC meeting turns violent*

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, on Sunday evening escaped mob attack at a meeting of the All Progressives Congress in a hotel in Awka, Anambra State. The meeting, it was gathered, was for the harmonisation of the results of the party’s ward congress held on Saturday. As gunshots pervaded the scene, Ngige was whisked away by security agencies.

Security personnel repeatedly fired repelling shorts into the air to scare the mob who charged at him. They alleged that the minister was trying to manipulate the result of the ward congress in his favour. A member of the state’s ward congress committee, who was identified as Ali was not that lucky to escape as he was beaten to a pulp and stripped naked on allegations that he was among those drafted in the state to work in favour of Ngige.

The candidate of the APC in the November 18, 2017 governorship election in Anambra, Dr Tony Nwoye, had openly accused Ngige in the meeting of plotting to hijack the party in the state.

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*Buhari won’t hesitate to sack corrupt officials – Presidency*

The Presidency on Sunday said President Muhammadu Buhari would not hesitate to sack any government official found culpable in any shady deal the same way he fired a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, and a former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ayo Oke.

It also insisted that a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke, Jide Omokore and Kola Aluko allegedly made away with $3bn in a strategic alliance contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, disclosed these in a statement on Sunday evening.

While saying the present administration was aware of attempts to raise unsubstantiated claims about the government and its officials, Akande said this administration has proven itself to be above board.

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*Obasanjo coalition’s candidate will defeat Buhari – Okupe*

A former presidential spokesperson, Dr. Doyin Okupe, has said the Coalition for Nigeria Movement will present a candidate who will defeat President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 presidential election. He, however, said the group was not formed to either attack the Buhari government or to discredit the APC.

Okupe, in a statement on Saturday, said since it would be difficult to defeat an incumbent, the CNM was created as a broad platform with a view to presenting a candidate who would contest against Buhari with the hope of defeating the incumbent President.

Okupe stated, “It is absolutely impossible to oppose the incumbent especially a towering figure like President Muhammadu Buhari and hope to defeat him. To defeat Buhari will require an exact repeat of what Bola Tinubu and others were able to do with the APC in 2014 by creating a broad platform encompassing the political majority in the country. This strong coalition will present a candidate to contest against Buhari with the hope of being able to win.”

The former aide to Obasanjo explained that the CNM believed that the APC government, led by Buhari, had not done well since it took over power about three years ago.

To read full article - http://v.duta.us/H9LrKwAA

*PDP Accuses Osinbajo Of Condoning Bad Governance By APC*

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, of condoning bad governance, by allowing himself to be used as what it described as “the poster boy” for diversion of public attention from the impunity perpetrated by the All Progressives Congress (APC) -led administration.

According to the opposition party, the Vice President has also been silent about the alleged high-handedness, human rights violations and aloofness of government that has resulted in rampant killings across the country. In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, the PDP noted that Professor Osinbajo has been making unguarded statements at public events on behalf of the APC, against the opposition.

The statement read in part: “We note that Vice President Osinbajo has refused to heed wise counsel and accord respect to his office by desisting from such unguarded comments only because he has been sucked in and entangled in the propaganda, deception, impunity and sleazes that not only brought their administration to power but have become its trademarks in the last three years.”

To read full article - http://v.duta.us/L_xBCwAA

*Nigeria Kaduna: Bandits slaughter 51 villagers*

A gang of what are said to be former cattle rustlers has killed at least 51 adults and children in a village in northern Nigeria, burning down homes. Amongst the rows of dead bodies in Gwaska, in the Birnin Gwari area of Kaduna state, were children under the age of 10. Some bodies were mutilated. Survivors say the attackers surrounded Gwaska on Saturday afternoon.

They set homes alight and fired shots, causing people to flee in panic - many straight towards the gunmen. Residents have demanded that President Muhammadu Buhari's government urgently deploy more police and military to protect vulnerable villages on the state border with Zamfara. Last month 14 miners were reportedly killed in an attack by gunmen in the Birnin Gwari area.

Gwaska residents say Saturday's attackers used to be cattle thieves but had turned to banditry in the region's remote villages. The victims include members of a self-defence force, formed after attacks by well-armed cattle thieves.

To read full article - http://v.duta.us/7SNKIAAA