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Gov Hope Uzodinma Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State has expressed optimism that the Supreme Court would not reverse its judgment that sacked his predecessor, Emeka Ihedioha, and declared him the winner of the March 19, 2019 governorship election. Reacall that the apex court had, on January 14, removed Mr Ihedioha of the PDP on the ground that he did not score the lawful majority votes in the Imo governorship race. Also read: Supreme Court’s ruling on Imo election painful – Abaribe The court said it arrived at that decision after adding votes scored by Mr Uzodinma in 388 polling units, which showed that he won the race. It subsequently declared him the winner of the election and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to give him a certificate of return as elected Imo governor. Mr Ihedioha has, however, vowed to return to the Supreme Court with a view to seeking a review of the judgment that removed him from office. Mr Uzodinma, who spoke with State House...

By Muyiwa Adetiba It is natural to develop some vested interests in a place when you have lived there for as long as I lived in FESTAC town.So ten years after I left, I still know about the traffic to and from the town; I am aware of the congestion in parts of the town that is threatening to turn them into slums; I know about the rising crime caused in the main by a growing number of loitering, jobless youths. I am still updated on the activities of my former church. It is probably because of my abiding relationship with FESTAC and efforts to keep me updated, that a friend sent me the story of a lady’s encounter with okada riders along a major road in the town. According to the lady’s story, a reckless okada rider had collided with her car. As she got out of her damaged car to complain, she was suddenly, besieged by a swarm of okada riders who came as it were from nowhere, beat her up and forced her to take their colleague to the hospital. This story is very familiar to those who p...

Regina Daniels Delectable Nollywood actress, Regina Daniels has turned publisher.  Information available to us revealed that the wife of billionaire philanthropist, Prince Ned Nwoko will launch her own celebrity magazine called ‘Regina’ on February 12th, 2020 in Abuja. According to our source, the maiden edition which is billed to roll out that day features her exclusive interview where she confessed that she once told her dad that she would marry his mate. READ ALSO: What Regina Daniels needs to learn from her mother Showtime Bonus confirmed that the magazine publication is meant to be celebrating Nigerian super divas, those female folks who have succeeded in their live’s endeavors. And also to inspire the upcoming young ones. The focus of the magazine will be on entrepreneurs, entertainment, Nollywood reviews, politics, business, among others. Notable actors, actresses and top notch celebrities are expected at the launch. Regina is also the owner of RET (Regina Entertainm...

By Emmanuel Aziken For a National Assembly whoseleadership was configured to fit the image and body language of President Muhammadu Buhari, the quivers that emerged on resumption from the yuletide break this week were remarkable. Not too long ago, Senate President Ahmad Lawan and his deputy, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, had shocked stakeholders with their unpretentious disposition to do anything to please President Muhammadu Buhari. As it was said, Buhari always knows what is good for Nigeria! READ ALSO: We won’t pass law that will be detrimental to Nigerians – Lawan Senator Omo-Agege had earlier given a picture of the deference that would be accorded Buhari when hours after his election as a presiding officer, he knelt down in traditional Urhobo greeting to Buhari in the Presidential Villa. As Omo-Agege knelt down for Buhari last June, the symbolic message many Nigerians received was that the 9th assembly was one that would be tied to the apron string of the presidency. However, pa...

ID Africa, owners of theNETng and producers of Nigerian Entertainment Conference (NECLive) have announced a new format for the 8th edition of the long running conference to be held on Wednesday, April 22, 2020. NECLive which is the premier and largest gathering of entertainment industry professionals in Nigeria will be expanding its format to accommodate new activities, events and programmes in order to deepen its impact and shore up its contributions to Nigeria’s entertainment and creative industry. For the past seven years, NECLive has run as an intensive full day, nine-hour event featuring powerful panel sessions, insights from industry leaders and critically innovative conversations. Past editions of NECLive have seen over 12,000  attendees, reached over 60 million viewers online and via live TV, and hosted over 450 industry experts as speakers and panelists, including MI Abaga, 2Baba, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Simi, Davido, Bayo Adekanmbi, D’Banj, among others. READ ALSO: San...

Femi Otedola Nigerian billionaire Mr. Femi Otedola has paid a surprise visit to the cast and crew of ‘Citation’, a new movie by award-winning filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan. Otedola who was at the Obafemi Awolowo University campus, Ile-Ife,  Osun State where the movie is currently being shot, noted that his mission was to see what the making of a film looks like, adding that his new interest would be to support the fast growing Nigerian movie industry. The billionaire whose daughter Temi Otedola is playing a lead role in the college drama was joined by another VIP visitor and cinematographer, Tunde Kelani  on set of the movie. READ ALSO: My husband okays my flaunting of my boobs — Busayo Owolabi The much much advertised movie is expected to move locations to Senegal and the beautiful Island of Cape Verde in a couple of weeks. Exploring a subject of social decadence in the educational sector, the movie is about a female postgraduate student who has to find a way of dealing w...

•Operation unlikely even with states reaching legal framework •What S/West states may do to legalise it By Soni Daniel – Regional Editor, North Amotekun: Although the nation’s constitution puts security and defence on the Exclusive Legislative List, meaning that only the Federal Government has the power to make laws regarding security, the current skirmishes across the country, have provided fillip to those calling for immediate decentralization of the security apparatus in the country to enhance effectiveness and reduce the colossal loss of lives and property to criminals. The appalling security scenario has also provided the South-West governors with a weapon to forge ahead with a long conceived but controversy-riddled ‘Operation Amotekun’, which according to the leader of the governors, Chief Rotimi Akeredolu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Ondo State governor, is not a regional army but a child of necessity brought about by the prevailing security challenges across the lan...

…Say, we’re waiting for the taskforce … As ban takes effect from today … Residents commend ban, express fears … 600 deaths recorded in 10,000 Okada accidents in Lagos …If this ban came early, my husband would’ve been alive —Bereaved lady …Benefits of the ban By Ishola Balogun, Evelyn Usman, Olasunkanmi Akoni and Samuel Ameh The stage is set for a major confrontation between the Lagos State Government and commercial motorcyclists and tricycle operators otherwise known as Okada and Keke riders today. Last week, the state government announced the ban on their activities in six Local Government Areas and nine Local Council Development Areas in the state, with its enforcement to begin today, February 1, 2020. Other states in the federation have equally banned them but they found their way to Lagos. The decision to ban them according to the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, was reached after consultation with stakeholders and the State Security Council, in ...

The remaining PDP members of Imo State House of Assembly By Chidi Nkwopara About 48 hours after the Supreme Court upturned the gubernatorial victory of Chief Emeka Ihedioha, the Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Most Rev. Professor Godfrey Onah, called Saturday Vanguard to ask how Imo people were “managing the unexpected development”. The telephone conversation went on fine for about five minutes before an international call hit his end. He promised to call back after taking that call. He did, as promised, and the discussion continued for 15 minutes. The Catholic cleric said a few things that eventually turned prophetic, before saying good night that evening. His words: “I will not be surprised if, in the days ahead, a political party that could not win a single seat in Imo State House of Assembly, will turn out to be in the majority! Ours is a country, whose politicians do not know what it means to have an ideology. For them, anything and everything is fair, so long as they ge...

United States President, Donald Trump, on Friday slapped immigration restrictions on citizens of six countries including Nigeria, in addition to the list of nations already targeted by his controversial travel ban. Besides Africa’s most populous nation, the new measures also pertain to Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan and Tanzania, administration officials said. “The president’s decision is the product of a comprehensive and systematic assessment that was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security, as well as in partnership with other federal agencies,” said one of the officials. The official added that the decision was the “result of these countries’ unwillingness or inability to adhere to certain baseline identity management, information sharing and national security and public safety assessment criteria that were established by the department in 2017.” Unlike the travel ban Trump unveiled in January 2017 shortly after taking office, which banned citizens of certain Mu...

President Muhammadu Buhari By Henry Umoru On Wednesday, 29th January, 2020, barely twenty- four hours after the Senators resumed from the Christmas and New year break, they decided to spend the entire day of the plenary session to brainstorm on the very burning issue of security challenges confronting the country. For six hours from 11.30 to 4.25pm that the Senators were at the hallowed Chamber deliberating, there was tension, uproar, sharp disagreement, but at the end of the day, they landed on the same page. They resolved that for the very fact that the security infrastructure has failed in the country, President Muhammadu Buhari should as a matter of urgency declare a National Security Emergency. The Senators also asked President Muhammadu Buhari to walk the talks and if he would achieve this, he must as a matter of urgency, sack the Service Chiefs who they said were no longer fit and had ran out of ideas to tackle the myriad of security problems where Nigerians are maimed, ki...

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, Tuesday concluded a two-day inspection tour of on-going Highway Projects in Niger State stating that President Muhammadu Buhari was making the Nation’s economy the front and centre of his administration’s Next Level Agenda. Speaking at Bokani Junction in Niger State where he was briefed on the progress of work on the Dualization of Jebba-Mokwa-Bokani Road (Section II), Fashola said the President, in making this decision, has chosen the development of infrastructure as anchor to achieve economic growth more quickly adding that the passing of the 2020 Budget in the first week of January was a clear indication of that decision. The Minister told hundreds of residents of Mokwa Community who trooped out to welcome him at the site, “Whether you notice or not, the President has been very clear in his commitment to build infrastructure”, adding that the passing of the annu...