Ebonyi Assembly makes move to impeach Governor Elechi

Gov. Martin Elechi

Ebonyi State Governor, Chief Martin Elechi, on Friday accused some key figures in the Federal Government and the Peoples Democratic Government of masterminding the impeachment plot against him.

He made the allegation just as an impeachment motion was passed against him by members of the Ebonyi House of Assembly.

In his response to the plan, Elechi labelled the Secretary to the Federal Government, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim; Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Uche Secondus; and the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Olisa Metuh as those behind the move.

In the eight-count charge signed by fifteen lawmakers and read on the floor of the House by the Acting Leader, Ogbonnaya Nwifuru, Elechi was accused of gross misconduct.

The lawmakers said they endorsed the notice of impeachment served on Elechi because his alleged offence was a clear violation of the Constitution.

However, addressing journalists at the Executive Council Chambers of Government House, Abakaliki, the state capital, about the same time the impeachment motion was being moved at the House of Assembly, Elechi alleged that Anyim, Secondus, Metu and others within and outside the state offered financial inducement to the lawmakers to impeach him.

Need to hold the Governorship election before presidential

Mr. Great Ogboru

The Labour Party Governorship Candidate in Delta State, Mr. Great Ogboru, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to fix the governorship and House of Assembly elections for March 28 while the presidential and National Assembly elections should hold on April 11.

Mr. Ogboru said alternating the election dates would give each political party an idea of its strengths. He said this during an interview with journalists in Lagos.

He said if a political party wins the governorship election in a particular state, it would give an idea of the popularity that party has ahead of the presidential elections.

He said, “I advocate very strongly that the sequence of the elections should be alternated. Let the governorship and state House of Assembly elections hold first because the tension over the presidential elections is too much. So, why can’t we have the state elections first?

“Today, we have been made to believe that a particular party has already won the presidential elections; so if the outcome is different, it would appear as if the elections were rigged and that would cause them to form a parallel government.

Arsenal aiming higher despite upcoming clash with Monaco

Arsenal have run into a fine sequence of results in the Premier League since the turn of the year, but now it is time to take our thoughts onto their Champions League clash with Monaco on Wednesday. The Gunners will be looking for a healthy lead to take to the Principality for the second leg, but it is by no means going to be easy. Monaco have the amazing record of not having conceded more than one goal in their last 18 games. They won 12 of those matches and have only lost once in 90 minutes. But they haven’t played anyone in the same form as Arsenal, and striker Danny Welbeck is looking forward to the challenge and has declared his hopefulness of going a long way in the Champions League this season. “It’s a special competition,” Welbeck said on Arsenal.com. “You get to play against different styles of play, the best sides in Europe and it’s something that a lot of the players look forward to. It’s massive if you can get far in the competition and that’s what we’re going to be doing this season.

Golden Eaglets qualifies for semi-finals

Nigeria National Under-17 team, Golden Eaglets, on Saturday thrashed their Zambia counterparts 3-1 at the African under-17 Championship in Niger Republic.
The Zambians needed to win towards making the last four having silenced hosts Niger Republic 1-0 in the second group game but were unable to curtail the firepower of the Nigerians who also needed a win, or at least a draw to stand a chance of defending their World Cup title.
With this victory, Nigeria U17 ended Group A as winners and will have to wait till Sunday to know their semi-final opponent.
In the other group game, hosts Niger Republic got their first win of the tournament after defeating Guinea 2-1 but were unable to reach the last four of the competition.

Former NBA Star Jerome Kersey Dies of Blood Clot

Former basketball star Jerome Kersey, who spent 17 seasons in the NBA and was a beloved player for the Portland Trail Blazers, has died, according to reports.

The official cause of his death was a pulmonary embolism, according to pathologist Dr. Larry Lewman who conducted the autopsy. “There was a blood clot in his left calf that broke loose and traveled to his lungs and clogged both his pulmonary arteries.”

Dr. Lewman adds, “We’re still gathering information, but it appears he had a surgical procedure recently. Anyone who is post surgical, who isn’t moving around a lot, is at risk.”

Kersey went in for a routine knee surgery earlier this week, according to Comcast SportsNet.

“Wednesday [he] reportedly told fellow Trail Blazer employees at the team’s Rose Quarter office that he wasn’t feeling well and was going to go home,” the site reported, adding that a source told them Kersey collapsed on the way to his car. There is, however, a conflicting report that he was taken by an ambulance from his home in Lake Oswego to a local hospital.

President and Military remain glued to election dates

Air Marshal Alex Badeh (Chief of Defence Staff)

President Goodluck Jonathan and the Defence Headquarters have assured Nigerians that efforts were being intensified to ensure that the general elections were held on March 28 and April 11 as scheduled by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Their assurances came barely 24 hours after INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega, said he was not in a position to guarantee the sanctity of the new election dates. He was at the Senate to brief members on the electoral body’s preparedness for the elections had been asked to state categorically if the dates were sacrosanct.

Avoiding being committal, he replied, “I have said consistently that there are things under the control of the electoral commission and there are things that are not under the control of the electoral commission. For things that are under our control, I can give definite and categorical assurances...“There are certain questions that we are not really competent to answer. Certain questions should be directed to the military; they can answer them better.’’

Lawyers criticize Aliyu for handing over to the State's Speaker

A number of lawyers in the country have described the action of Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State asking the Speaker of the State House of Assembly to act on his behalf, instead of his deputy, as illegal and unconstitutional.

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), said Aliyu was by his action treating the government of the state as his party’s affair.

The governor belongs to the Peoples Democratic Party while his deputy, Mr. Ahmed Ibeto, recently defected to the All Progressives Congress from the PDP.

Falana said, “The deputy governor is still the Deputy Governor. This is not a party affair. It’s not PDP affair.

“We are not talking about the chairmanship of the PDP. Under the constitution, whenever the governor is not around, it is the deputy governor that takes over. It is a governmental affair, which has to be run according to the Constitution.

“He (the governor) has to operate under the constitution of Nigeria and not the constitution of the PDP.”

Gen. M. Buhari away to UK

The Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Major General Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday flew out of Abuja on a working visit to the United Kingdom.

"Buhari is expected to hold meetings with key members of the British political establishment and interact with some global institutions with stakeholder interest in the affairs of Nigeria," said his campaign office.

The Director of Media for the campaign, Malam Garba Shehu said, “General Buhari would hopefully give a talk at the prestigious foreign policy hub, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatam House in London.”

Obasanjo Dumps PDP; Rends Membership Card

Olusegun Obasanjo

 
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, early on Monday dumped the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

He announced this disengagement at his Hilltop Mansion in Abeokuta while hosting PDP leaders from his Ward II Ita-Eko, in Abeokuta North Local Government.

The party led by the leader in the ward Sunmonu Oladunjoye had gone to see him to clear rumours that the former president has been expelled from the party following his recent comment in the media.

Obasanjo said Nigeria belongs to all and must not be allowed to collapse. He noted that he stands on what will strengthen the nation at all times.

Obasanjo thereafter handed his PDP membership card to Oladunjoye who tore the card in the presence of all.