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Abuja High Court has knocked off an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Michael Adariku who was billed to testify against the former National Security Adviser Colonel Sambo Dasuki Rtd in the charges brought against him by the Federal government. Former national security adviser of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, Sambo Dasuki Dasuki through his counsel Mr. Joseph Daudu SAN had protested vehemently against the inclusion of the EFCC operative on the ground that he was not listed on the witnesses list as demanded by Section 397 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015.  Daudu informed Justice Baba Yusuf that Dasuki and four others who are being prosecuted by government on alleged fraud had been ambushed by the introduction of a witness not listed in the list. The senior counsel insisted that it is the requirement that all witnesses in a criminal matters must be listed and that the list of the witnesses must be served on the defendant to enabl

The court-backed national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),Senator Ali Modu Sheriff yesterday told those canvassing his resignation as a way out of the crisis tearing the party asunder to forget it. He said he is not sold on quitting because   a worthy  captain does not abandon his troubled ship mid-sea. “There can be no aircraft without a captain, or a ship without a captain,” Sheriff told reporters after a breakfast meeting in Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State at the country home of his  deputy, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh. “Anybody wanting a captain of a ship to abandon his ship in the middle of the sea wants the ship to capsize. We do not want PDP to capsize .PDP will always get their leaders through a democratically elected process,” he added.                     Some party members believe one viable way out of the crisis is for both Sheriff and his rival, chairman of the party’s National Caretaker Committee,Senator  Ahmed Makarfi to resign.

Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, yesterday claimed responsibility for the recent spate of suicide bombings in Borno State. That was 24 hours after the latest suicide attack in Borno State in which two persons were killed when four female suicide bombers detonated their explosives. He said the terror sect was “responsible for all the suicide explosions in Maiduguri and we will continue with them.” He denied claims by the armies of Nigeria and Cameroon that scores of his fighters have been killed in recent encounters. Shekau spoke in a video message, saying he is in good health. There were speculations that he might have been hit in a recent attack by the Nigerian military. But he looked subdued in the video recording compared with previous appearances. He vowed that Boko Haram will not back down until it establishes Sharia in Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Mali. Shekau picked on President Paul Biya of Cameroon for saying Yaounde’s soldiers   killed 60

The naira yesterday recorded its biggest appreciation against the dollar in the parallel market in three weeks, gaining N13 to close at N445 per dollar. Vanguard investigations  revealed that the sharp appreciation of the naira was due to decline in demand  prompted by the sustained injection of dollar by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) into the foreign exchange market. Confirming this development, a bureaux de change chief executive, who spoke to Vanguard on condition of anonymity said: “The market is paralysed. There is no demand at the moment. We have collected dollars from the CBN, but people are not coming to buy like before. So people are keeping their dollars. But we expect the situation to  change by tomorrow.” The appreciation implies that the naira has gained N15 against the dollar this week in the parallel market. The steady appreciation is driven by the sustained intervention of the CBN via regular dollar sales to banks to meet demands for visible and invisibles like

At least nine members of the Boko Haram terrorists group have willingly surrendered to the troops of Operation Lafiya Dole deployed along Dikwa-Gulumba Gana road in northern Borno saying they were tired of life under Boko Haram. The former terrorists who came from  Tambashe Village in Dikwa Local Government Area of Borno state are also currently being held and interrogated by the Nigerian Army to determine the truth of their case. Meanwhile, soldiers have continued with clearance operations on suspected Boko Haram terrorist’s locations through patrols, ambushes and raids with appreciable progress in their respective areas of responsibility. According to the Director Army Public Relations Brigadier General Sani Usman, the efforts have led to arrest,  interception and neutralizing of quite a number of Boko Haram terrorists, as well as recovery of arms, ammunition and equipment.  The aim of the exercise he said is to ensure security in the areas and prevent infiltration by Boko Har

Four ex- militants have been employed as university lecturers after dropping their arms, going back to school and graduating with First Class Honours after their Bachelor’s degrees. The ex-militants were employed as lec­turers by Benson Idahosa Uni­versity in Edo State. This was disclosed by the co-ordinator of the Presi­dential Amnesty Programme (PAP) and Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Brig-Gen. Paul Boroh (rtd) during an interactive session with newsmen in Abuja. According to him, the names of the lecturers are Fianka Diamond Tamara (Computer Science), Debrah Ikpaazaere (Business Administration), Odiki Otogo (Political Science and Public Administration) and Lucky Boleidowa (Political Sci­ence and Public Administra­tion). “In fact, the Benson Idahosa University retained as lecturers, four of our students who had First Class. The perfor­mance of our students abroad was even more stunning. A total of 454 of them graduated mainly from British universities with 2

The immediate past Governor of Enugu State, Barr. Sullivan Chime has reportedly dumped the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP for the All Progressives Congress, APC party. This was made known on Thursday by the spokesman of the APC in the South-East, Mr. Hyacinth Ngwu. Mr. Ngwu took to his timeline to announce the defection of Chime. *Chime He wrote thus: “Breaking News: Today, His Excellency Barr. Sullivan Iheanacho Chime, immediate past governor of Enugu State joined APC.” Recall that Chime was indicted in a N450 million campaign funds involving him and two former Chairmen of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state, Chief Charles Egumgbe and Ikeje Asogwa among others. Chime had subsequently absolved himself from any blame on the disbursement of the fund, blaming it on Egumgbe and Rita Mba, who acted as Chairman and Secretary of the campaign committee, respectively, in his statement. /