Hundreds of Thousands of Catalans Join Rally in Barcelona

Hundreds of thousands of Catalans participated in independance rally that was held ahead of regional elections on September 27.

Supporters of an independant state of Catalonia and Republicans display a huge Catalan flag. File photo


 Hundreds of thousands of Catalans took to the streets of Barcelona to participate in a mass independence demonstration, called Gateway to the Catalan Republic.
The march began at 17:14 local time (19:14 GMT), a time chosen as a reminder of the year 1714, when Catalonia was defeated during the War of the Spanish Succession.

America's New Nightmare: How to Cope With Russia on the Ground in Syria

No matter how persistent Russia is in insisting that it supports not the mere regime of the Syrian President Assad but rather its fight against the Islamic State, Washington won’t listen: the US media is abuzz with fearmongering over Russia’s military aid to Damascus, trying to guess what it could mean and what to do next.
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‘Ige’s Spirit Still Hunting His Killers’

The Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, said on Thursday that the spirit of the late Chief Bola Ige, was still tormenting his killers almost 14 years after he was murdered.
Aregbesola said this at Esa Oke, Ige’s hometown, at the inauguration of the Bola Ige Mechatronics Institute at the Osun State College of Technology.
The institution was established to immortalise the late politician, who was the first executive governor of the old Oyo State.

Kano To Sponsor 100 Herdsmen For Training In Turkey

ABOUT one hundred herdsmen are to be sponsored to Turkey for training on modern rearing techniques and artificial insemination by the Kano State government.  This was disclosed by the state governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, at the weekend during an event marking his 100 days in office.

He added that the state government decided to assist the cattle farmers to teach them modern method of rearing to boost their economic activities.
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Okorocha Leads Another 100-Man Delegation To Turkey

• Raises panels on assets recovery, others
IN less than a year, Imo State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, has led another 100-man delegation to Turkey to explore business and investment opportunities in that country.
The governor had travelled with a large contingent to the same country some months ago. He said that the gains of the last trip would be seen soon.
Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General, Mrs. Elma Eluwa, has inaugurated two task force to ensure quick dispensation of criminal cases, recover government assets and other related matters.

Buhari’s 100 Days In Office Brought ‘Changes With Security’, Says Ndume

• ‘2016 budget to meet MDAs policy targets’
THE Senate Leader in the National Assembly, Mohammed Ali Ndume, has said that the renewed fight against corruption in the country is a “big and second war” that could be even harder or tougher than Boko Haram insurgency that has claimed many lives and property in the North-East sub-region of the country.

APC Govs On Assets: We Won’t Follow Buhari’s Example

Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress have said they will not follow the example laid by President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo in declaring their assets publicly.
The governors, who spoke to Saturday PUNCH, said it is not compulsory for them to declare their assets publicly and that they would not be pressured to follow the president’s action.
According to them, there is no law mandating the governors to publicly state their worth in terms of property and cash.
Buhari and Osinbajo last week made a public declaration of their assets with the former stating that he had declared his assets four times since 1975.

I’m Joining APC, PDP Shut Me Out Long Ago –Ndoma-Egba

In this interview with MUDIAGA AFFE, the immediate past Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, speaks on the amendment of Senate Rules, allowances for legislators and his planned defection, among other sundry issues

FG Awaits Report On Senator Detained In S’Arabia

The Federal Government has said it is waiting for a full report on the circumstances that led to the detention of a former Chairman, Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism, Senator Hassan Barata, in Saudi Arabia.
The spokesman, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmedu Ogbole-Ode, said that the government had yet to be briefed by the Nigerian embassy on the arrest and detention of the former governorship aspirant in Adamawa State.
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Let’s Change The North, Shetima Tells Northern Governors

The Northern Governors’ Forum, NGF, is holding its maiden meeting in Kaduna since the governors were sworn in last May.

The meeting is taking place at the Hassan Katsina Hall, along Kawo road, with 12 out of the 19 Northern Governors in attendance, while the rest were represented by their deputies.
The Governor of Borno State, Hon. Kashim Shetima, who is the Chairman of the Forum, read his opening address in which he lamented that poverty in Nigeria wears a Northern face.
He however affirmed that the days of lamentation were over, promising to lead the forum to a new prosperous north.

Obasanjo Almost Fainted Day I Shook Hands with Him – Alamieyeseigha

I will expose Obasanjo
TEN years after, the anger arising from the impeachment and subsequent imprisonment of former Bayelsa State Governor, Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamie-yeseigha by former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration is still reverberating even though Alamieyeseigha claims he has forgiven Obasanjo.
Alamieyeseigha, who spoke to Saturday Vanguard in his country home in Yenagoa, said that he had forgiven all those who plotted and sent him to jail purely for political reasons even though the experience remains very painful to him.

Obasanjo’s Library A Product Fraud, Extortion And Corruption, Says Soyinka

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka has categorically stated that the library of former president of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is a product of fraud, extortion and corruption.
Soyinka stated this in a press statement issued on September 11 in response to former Osun State governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola over the chairmanship and origin of the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU).
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Develop Niger Delta Or There Won’t Be Peace, Ex-Militants Tell Buhari

•Group wants security agencies cautioned over Tompolo
FORMER Militants in the Niger Delta under the Third Phase Group has called on the Federal Government to aggressively pursue development of the Niger Delta to forestall another crisis in the region. The former militants, who flayed the actions of former Presidential Adviser to the President on the Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku, said that the call is timely as such failure in the past led to increase in militancy and unrest, which caused drastic drop in national earning.

Boko Haram - Telecoms Firms Deactivate 38 Million Lines

As Nigerian security agencies intensifies operations to comply with President Muhammadu Buhari’s order to eradicate insurgency within three months, mobile telecommunications operating companies and their subscribers have started to bear the brunt with the deactivation of 37.79 million mobile lines resulting in a daily loss of N251.94 million revenues.

We’ll never hang Buhari’s portrait in our offices –PDP

The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party has refused to hang the official portrait of President Muhammadu Buhari at the party’s national secretariat, checks by The PUNCH have revealed.
Over 100 days after the President assumed office, the PDP has yet to hang his portrait at any of the offices in its Wadata House national secretariat, located at Zone 5, Abuja.

Nigeria is built on satanic foundation, says FFK

A former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, says Nigeria has refused to develop because it was built on a ‘satanic’ foundation.
The former minister said this in a Facebook post titled, ‘Lord Lugard’s Magic and Flora Shaw’s Spell.’


Fani-Kayode, who also served as the Minister of Tourism under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, said the manner with which Nigeria was created in 1914 was the reason the country was still struggling.

A-Ibom Govt House invasion: Nigeria sliding into dictatorship under Buhari —PDP GOVS

Yenagoa—The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Governors, yesterday, lamented that Nigeria was sliding into dictatorship under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The PDP governors led by their chairman and Governor of Ondo State, Mr. Olusegun Mimiko, in a communiqué, said that the invasion was against the spirit, ethos, values and fundamental tenets of democratic norms and tradition, more so with the existence of a duly elected and sworn in governor of the state.

Present your primary school certificates before getting salaries, Osun government tells workers

Hope of civil servants in Osun State to receive backlog of their salary arrears appears dimmed as the state government, on Tuesday, demanded the presentation of their primary school certificates for screening before the payment of their salaries.

Buhari demands names of Nigerians using diplomatic Passports Illegally!

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, directed that a list of people using diplomatic passports illegally be submitted to him.
Speaking after being briefed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bulus Lolo, President Buhari said he intended to take a decisive action against offenders.
“Something has to be done so that we can get back our respectability as a country. Some people carry official passports and get involved in all sorts of negative acts. We need to do something about it,” the president told the ministry officials at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The Reinstatement Of Notorious Zakari Biu By PM News Editorial

The reinstatement of dismissed Commissioner of Police, Mr. Zakari Biu, by the Police Service Commission, was a wrong and insensitive decision due to the despicable antecedents of this notorious man. It was with shock that we learnt of Biu’s reinstatement on Friday, three years after he was dismissed for allegedly aiding the escape of Boko Haram kingpin, Kabiru Sokoto.

Outrage greeted Sokoto’s escape, with many calling for the head of Zakari Biu over his alleged role in the escape because Sokoto masterminded the 2011 Christmas eve bombing of St. Theresa Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State, in which 44 worshipers of the church were killed. However, Sokoto was re-arrested, tried and is now serving a jail term in Abuja.

Nigeria Sliding Into Dictatorship – PDP Governors

Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday morning claimed that Nigeria is gradually sliding into dictatorship under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Rising from a meeting of the PDP Governors’ Forum (PGF), held in the inner chamber of the Bayelsa State Governor’s office, Government House, Yenagoa, the governors decried the activities of the Department of State Security (DSS).

Declare Your Asset, Ekiti APC Tells Fayose

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has urged Governor Ayodele Fayose to declare his assets 10 months after its earlier call on the governor to follow his predecessor, Governor Kayode Fayemi, who publicly declared his assets to the applause of Ekiti people.

Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, in a statement said that the call became imperative against the background of earlier calls for the governor to declare his assets, failure of which had fueled speculations that state resources were allegedly being channeled towards private enterprises outside the state by the governor.

Buhari Moves To Close Unessential Nigerian Foreign Missions

President Muhammadu Buhari said Tuesday in Abuja that his administration would undertake a review of Nigerian foreign missions to determine those that are really essential.

Speaking after being briefed by the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bulus Lolo, President Buhari said a presidential committee would soon be established to carry out the review.

Two Fake Policemen Arrested In Lagos (Photo)

A 43-year-old man, Lawal Hakeem, said he impersonated a policeman to get money to fight excruciating hunger. Hakeem was arrested along with Abiodun Ibrahim, 32, at Mile 2 area of the Lagos metropolis by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS).

The suspect, who was found with a fake police identity card, said he used to be a policeman, but was dismissed for deserting. Hakeem, who resides at 16, Shittu Ajiron, Ajangbadi in Ojo Local Government Area, said: “I got enlisted into the police on April 4, 1989 with force number; 180939 before I was dismissed last year due to absenteeism from work after the death of my wife. Since that time, things have not been easy for me.

Aregbesola Lodged N35bn Bailout In Fixed Deposit For Profit” - PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Osun state chapter has accused the Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, of fixing the N34.988bn bailout received from the Central Bank of Nigeria for two months with a commercial bank.

Its spokesman, Diran Odeyemi, in a statement in Osogbo on Monday said Osun received the fund about two weeks ago but that the governor decided to lodge it in a fixed deposit in order to attract interest.