Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Tuesday 23rd June 2020
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 23/06/20
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E2%80%94ondo-deputy-governor-ajayi Why I Dumped APC —Ondo Deputy Governor, Ajayi
Agboola Ajayi
Agboola Ajayi, deputy governor of Ondo State, has given reasons why he dumped the All Progressives Congress to join the Peoples Democratic Party.
In a statement on Monday by his Press Secretary, Babatope Okeowo, the Ondo deputy governor while being officially welcomed into the PDP, described the APC as a “poisoned space” he needed to move away from.
According to him, the APC was now like “a house divided against itself in Ondo State, adding that the party was having breathing difficulties because one man was kneeling on its neck”.
Agboola Ajayi
He said, “For too long, I watched like a typical bystander within APC, Ondo State, in the administration I am supposed to be part of.
“I have always seen the political party system and position as privileged platforms to serve the people and not self, members of one’s family, clan or cronies.
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I’m Ready To Participate In PDP Governorship Primary, Ondo Deputy Governor Says
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“At the moment in Ondo State, democracy and wide participation by the people have given way to unsolicited and illegitimate outsourcing of power, familitocracy, nepotism, clannishness and primitive accumulation of illegal wealth under state cover.”
Speaking further, Ajayi expressed delight at joining PDP, promising to abide by the rule governing the party.
Video of Akeredolu Orders Police To Detain Deputy Governor As Deputy Concludes Plan To Defect To PDP
Akeredolu Orders Police To Detain Deputy Governor As Deputy Concludes Plan To Defect To PDP
WATCH: VIDEO: Ondo Governor, Akeredolu Orders Police To Detain Deputy Governor In Office For Over Four Hours As Deputy Concludes Plan To Defect To PDP
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Ondo Governorship: PDP Extends Sale Of Nomination Forms
The Peoples Democratic Party has extended the sale of nomination forms for the Ondo State governorship election primary.
The party has extended the last day for the sale of nomination forms from the earlier announced date of Monday, June 22, 2020 to a new date of Wednesday, June 24, 2020.
PDP in a statement on Monday by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, said, “All other time frames related to the nomination processes for the Ondo State governorship election remain as earlier announced.
“All leaders, governorship aspirants, critical stakeholders and members of our great party in Ondo State should be guided accordingly.”
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I’m Ready To Participate In PDP Governorship Primary, Ondo Deputy Governor Says
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Man Dragged To Court By DSS Over Facebook Post Against Osun Assembly Speaker
Osun Assembly Speaker, Timothy Owoeye.
One Joshua Sayo Oki, a resident of Osun State, has been arraigned before an Osun State Magistrate Court for making a Facebook post against Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Mr Timothy Owoeye.
Oki, 48, was alleged to have published contemptuous pictures and words on his Facebook account on June 19, 2020.
He was arrested and charged by the Department of State Services for making the post allegedly portraying the Speaker in an embarrassing way.
Osun Assembly Speaker, Timothy Owoeye.
He was charged for defamation as the prosecutor, Mr Boo Nweke, stated that the offence committed by the accused person was contrary to Section 374(1)b & 374 and punishable under Section 375 of the Criminal Code Cap 34, Vol. 2 Laws of Osun State of Nigeria, 2002.
At the hearing of the case on Monday, Oki pleaded not guilty to the allegations as his legal counsel, Ibraheem Imran, applied for his bail.
The Magistrate, Modupe Awodele, granted him a bail bond in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.
The case was adjourned till 14th of July, 2020, Daily Trust reported.
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E2%80%93ncdc No State In Nigeria Is COVID-19 Free –NCDC
NCDC Boss Chikwe Ihekweazu
Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director-General of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, has warned Nigerians against false optimism following ‘COVID-19 free’ declarations by some state governments.
Ihekweazu said no state in the country can be declared Coronavirus free unless a vaccine was developed to treat the virus.
The NCDC boss made this known in Abuja during the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Monday.
NCDC Boss Chikwe Ihekweazu
He said, “Concerning some states declaring themselves COVID-19 free because they were discharging patients, I will like to say no single state in Nigeria is COVID-19 free, not one.
“No country in the world is COVID-19 free. Even New Zealand that is an island state is still having new cases after a period of not having any. We can’t separate ourselves from the rest of the country because we live in a context and viruses spread.
“That is why prevention is very important; if you can’t prevent, then you must detect. It is that detection that we call lab testing, and that is why we have to scale our lab test.
“We can only start talking about any state or community being disease-free when we have an effective tool to fight that disease. That will come when we have a vaccine. Until then, there is no easy way to say this. We have to keep pushing on these preventive measures and we have to develop our laboratory capacity to test.
“I think there are six or seven states in the country that do not have a testing facility yet; there are some that are in progress using the GeneXpert technology. By next week, we will be able to say that the country is covered.
“The challenge will now be about how to convey the samples from one part of the state to the other depending on how big the state is. We want to make sure we have testing capabilities in every state in Nigeria.”
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E2%80%99s-humanitarian-affairs-minister-sadiya-farouq-makes-u-turn-says-government-owes Nigeria’s Humanitarian Affairs Minister, Sadiya Farouq, Makes U-turn, Says Government Owes 12,000 N-power Beneficiaries Stipends
Despite initially dismissing claims by beneficiaries of the N-Power programme that they have not been paid their monthly stipends, Sadiya Umar Farouq, Nigeria’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, has now said 12,000 beneficiaries are yet to receive payment.
Farouq on May 23 said all beneficiaries had been paid in response to allegations that not all participants of the scheme had received payment.
However, after overwhelming complaints reported across the media, she has now backtracked to admit that not everyone had been paid.
Speaking on Monday during the briefing by members of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the minister said, “As far as the ministry is concerned, we have paid N-Power beneficiaries that have been verified and recommended for payment. We have 500,000 N-Power volunteers.
“Those who are claiming that they have not been paid, we are looking into these issues with the Office of the Account General of the Federation.
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Despite Irregular Payment Of Beneficiaries, N-Power To Begin Fresh Recruitment
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“We have had issues around migrating from the platform that we used to operate to the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) platform. So, these are the administrative issues that have hindered the payment of some of the volunteers.
“There are about 12,000 of them based on our record and as I am speaking with you, the permanent secretary of the ministry is in the office of the accountant general to sort out these issues and once we get the report, we will make it available to all.”
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COVID-19: Saudi Arabia Bans International Pilgrims From Hajj
Saudi Arabia has banned all international visitors from making the Islamic pilgrimage known as Hajj this year as part of measures to stop the spread of Coronavirus.
Saudi Arabia has so far recorded 161,005 cases of infection and 1,307 deaths.
Only a very limited number of people currently living in the kingdom may take part, BBC reports.
There are fears that Hajj might be cancelled altogether.
So far, only citizens from countries around the world, who are already resident in Saudi Arabia will be allowed to attend this year.
The authorities say this is the only way they will be able to make plans for social distancing that will keep people safe.
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Nigeria’s Economy Slippery Under President Buhari, Says PDP Chairman, Secondus
The Peoples Democratic Party on Monday tackled President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, saying the country’s economy was slippery under his watch.
Uche Secondus, National Chairman of the party, who stated this in Akure, Ondo State, said the ruling All Progressives Congress government at the federal level, had failed Nigerians.
He spoke while receiving Ondo State deputy governor, Mr Agboola Ajayi, and some of his supporters to the PDP at its secretariat in Akure.
Secondus condemned the increasing cases of banditry and kidnapping in the country, noting that the economy was in comatose.
He said, “The APC has fooled this nation for the past five years and they have even performed woefully.
“The APC under Buhari had damaged this country and destroyed the economy and there is no longer security anywhere.
“As we can see, our country is slippery and sliding under his watch, if they cannot see it, we can see it clearly.”
While welcoming the Ondo deputy governor to the PDP, Secondus described his exit from the APC as an act of God, which will boost the chances of the main opposition party in the state during the governorship election.
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EXCLUSIVE: Eight-month Pregnant Nigerian Woman Trafficked To Lebanon And Locked Up In Office Building Cries Out For Help
Rasheedat Taiwo Saka, an eight-month pregnant Nigerian woman trafficked to Lebanon, has cried out for help after she was abandoned to her fate by Nigerian authorities.
Saka told SaharaReporters on Monday that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, she has had no access to food or medical care and was currently locked up in her traffickers’ office alongside other victims.
Narrating her ordeal, Saka said she left Nigeria after her husband died in November 2018 and things became difficult financially.
She said three agents in Nigeria including one Mr John and another person named Victor approached her and presented her the opportunity of working in Lebanon.
“Before I left for Lebanon, they bought our passport and ticket and said two months of our salary will be theirs’ when we got there.
“I didn’t know I was pregnant when I left Nigeria. When I got to Lebanon, the agency and my employer took me to the hospital, they found out I was pregnant but still forced me to work.
“Despite my condition, I was forced to work for six months from house to house until the house where I worked last. I had started showing very well, the woman returned me to the agency.
“I have not been paid. I reached out to the agent, Mr John, and narrated my ordeal to him saying I wanted to come home because the agency in Lebanon claimed I owed them. He dismissed me, saying my trouble was too much and asked me to contact my family to settle the Lebanese traffickers even when he knew I have no family. He has also been disturbing me, asking me to pay him, claiming I still owed him after collecting my salary from the agency in Lebanon,” she said.
Saka, SaharaReporters gathered, is currently locked up in the trafficking agency called Damaj Services in Lebanon.
“I, alongside other women, some from Nigeria and others from Ghana, are currently locked up in an office building.
“The bed we are sleeping on is children’s size and I am eight months pregnant. Throughout yesterday I could not sleep because I am in severe pain.
Video of 8 Month Pregnant Nigerian Woman Trafficked To Lebanon And Locked Up In Trafficker’s Office
8 Month Pregnant Nigerian Woman Trafficked To Lebanon And Locked Up In Trafficker’s Office
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“I am hungry too. In fact, so hungry that I had to beg one of the staff in the building to buy food for me yesterday to eat, he bought bread and gave me. Then we were given five pieces of potatoes to eat; we are more than six in number,” she lamented.
When SaharaReporters contacted Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, over the issue on Monday, her phone rang out without response.
A text message sent to her was also not replied as at the time of filing this report.
Adekola Damilola an activist with Rescue Africans In Slavery (projectferry), a project working to draw attention to the plight of trafficked Nigerians in Lebanon and Oman, said the biggest challenge they encounter is the unwillingness on the part of the Nigerian Government to rescue women and girls in danger abroad.
“There is unwillingness on the part of government. They can do more by sending a flight, like an amnesty and asking all women and girls who are trafficked and want to return to come back home from Lebanon, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
“Immigration officials are also part of the problem. They collect money from these agents who are traffickers and allow them.
“If staff from agencies like NAPTIP are positioned in airports, they’re trained to know who is being trafficked and can intervene even before the women leave Nigeria. They should also be positioned in embassies abroad because I have heard of many cases where embassy staff just take names and complaints and send the women back to their traffickers without any action.”
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Ezekwesili Loses Mother To Cancer
A former presidential candidate and Minister of Education in Nigeria, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, has lost her mother, Mrs Cecilia Nwayiaka Ujubuonu.
An official press statement by Ezekwesili’s spokesperson and publicist, Mr Ozioma Ubabukoh, stated that Mrs Ujubuonu died in the late hours of Sunday, June 21, 2020 at the age of 78.
A native of Ndodolu Village, Umunuko, Ukpor, in Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State, she was widowed after the death of her husband, Benjamin Ujubuonu, in 1988.
Born on April 18, 1942, Ujubuonu, a retired businesswoman, devoted her life to her children, grandchildren, the church and service to humanity.
She died in the arms and home of her daughter, Ezekwesili, in Abuja on Sunday night from cancer.
Until her death, she was a member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
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Ex-Edo House Of Assembly Speaker, Adjoto, Dumps APC
Former Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, Alhaji Kabiru Adjoto, has announced his resignation from the All Progressives Congress.
Adjoto tendered his resignation to the Edo State APC chapter, adding that his action was in line with Article 9.5(i) of the APC constitution.
“My resignation takes immediate effect,” he said.
He added that he took the decision after deeply consulting with his conscience, family, friends and supporters.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, Adjoto disclosed that he was leaving the APC because it was necessary for him to do so.
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