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The Vanguard is reporting that federal lawmakers who unsuccessfully ran for second term mandates in the just concluded election cycle have started moving their belongings out of their various offices in the National Assembly.

According to the report, members of the lower House of Representatives have began to move out their belongings.

The lawmakers’ aides were reportedly seen moving the personal effects of their reps.

Similarly, President Goodluck Jonathan’s things were reportedly being loaded into “vehicles at the White House and the new extension wing of NASS Complex.”

This movement of the belongings was said to have started on Tuesday morning.

The post Defeated Federal Lawmakers Have Reportedly Started Moving Out Of The National Assembly appeared first on Ekekeee.

Ex-militant leaders from the Niger Delta on Thursday, April 23, urged President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari not to abolish the Presidential Amnesty Programme of the federal government.

The ex-freedom fighters under the aegis of Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiative also pledged to support the incoming administration.

The LPCDI’s National President, Pastor Reuben Wilson hailed Buhari for his victory at the poll, but implored him not to abandon the government’s lavish amnesty programme.

Wilson also called on all freedom fighters to support the incoming administration to enable it to fulfill its campaign promises to Nigerians.

Describing the amnesty programme as the only thing that guarantees peace and security in the Niger Delta region, Wilson warned that it should not be toyed with by the incoming administration, saying that there would be no peace in the region if it was neglected or abandoned.

He also said if the Niger Delta was neglected as it was in the past, the ex-militants would use all resources at their disposal to stop oil production.

He praised President Goodluck Jonathan for his “good leadership” in ensuring peace in the country before and after the elections, and assured the President of “their support at all times.”

The post From Niger Delta Ex-militants To Buhari: ‘Don’t Abandon Amnesty Programme’ appeared first on Ekekeee.

Staff of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly on Thursday, April 23 in Uyo, began a three-day warning strike following the refusal of the state government to honour the agreement it reached with the union on the payment of the new consolidated salary structure.

The aggrieved workers, who numbered at least a hundred, blocked the entrance to the Assembly gates, bearing fresh plantain leaves and other objects, preventing visitors from gaining access into the complex.

The workers also chanted anti-government songs during the protest in front of the Assembly complex, condemning it for paying lip service to the welfare of the workers despite the state’s oil riches.

Speaking with journalists, the State Chairman of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria, Mr. Kufre-Abasi Aderi, said the union decided to embark on the strike after the expiration of a 21-day ultimatum issued by the union.

The PASAN chairman said lawmakers had refused to look into their demands and the plight of the workers after a series of agreements between the union and the Assembly workers, listing two of the key worker demands as the non-payment of outfit allowance and non-implementation of new consolidated salary schemes.

Aderi also decried the poor and unhygienic working condition of the Assembly complex, saying it needed an overhaul.

“Consequent upon this, the entire staff of the state House of Assembly, after due consultation, unanimously declared a three-day warning strike from yesterday,” he said.

He stated that if the government failed to yield to the request of the union after the warning strike, the workers would embark on an indefinite strike to press home their demands.

The post The Staffers Who Help Akwa Ibom’s Lawmakers Have Had Enough appeared first on Ekekeee.

According to the federal government, within the last five years, at least 103 Nigerian products, which were exported to other countries, have been rejected for not reaching acceptable international quality standards.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga, who made this disclosure in Abuja on Thursday, April 21, while unveiling the new office complex of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, called the high volume of rejected products unacceptable.

He put the ugly development down to a lack of accredited laboratories in the country, where products could be tested before being shipped abroad.

While drawing comparisons, he said while the rate of rejected products exported from Nigeria was over 103, countries like South Africa and Ghana had just six and seven rejected products respectively.

The minister said with the reforms carried out by the Goodluck Jonathan government within the past four years, Nigeria now had an internationally-accredited laboratory in Lagos, which would help to check the rising tide of substandard production.

In his words: “We all say we want to diversify the economy with a view to increasing our income from non oil products. But there is no way we can achieve this without having quality infrastructure such as the laboratory.

“For instance, we could not export yam to the United Kingdom because we do not have a laboratory to test it here. Those who export products in Nigeria take them to Ghana to test them and the credit goes to Ghana.

“In the last five years, Nigeria has more than 103 rejects. If you compare that to other African countries like South Africa and Ghana, who only have between six to seven rejects, ours is unacceptable.

“We are having these rejects because we did not have accredited laboratory in the country. However, we can confidently say we have addressed that challenge now.

“About two days ago, I commissioned a new internationally accredited laboratory in Lagos. It is first time ever that we will be having such an accredited laboratory with such scope, twelve scopes.”

The post #DidYouKnow That 103 Nigerian Products Are Deemed ‘Substandard’ Globally? appeared first on Ekekeee.

Chief Ebenezer Babatope, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party’s Board of Trustees on Wednesday ruled out a President Goodluck Jonathan comeback in 2019.

Babatope, who doubles as a member of the party’s elders’ caucus, said the PDP will field a strong Hausa/Fulani candidate to run against President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

The PDP chieftain referred to Jonathan as a leader who has done his best in uplifting Nigeria’s democracy, adding that the country would forever remember him as a committed leader who kept the nation as one despite encountering real challenges.

“The people of the South-South have the right to present a candidate for the election, I’m sure the President will not contest; He will not lead us against the All Progressives Congress,” Babatope said.

He also noted that “The President has set himself apart as a great Nigerian leader, who is committed to seeing Nigeria blossom into a great democracy. He has laid a solid foundation for the nation’s democracy and he would forever be remembered.

“The President will not contest the 2019 presidential election. The PDP will look for a strong Hausa/Fulani presidential candidate to contest against Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.). We have a strong presence in the South-South, South-East and we have two governors in the South-West.

“We are going to slug it out together in the North in 2019. We are going to flush out the APC in 2019 because we are going to correct our mistakes and take back the central government.

“We are going to restructure our party. The National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, will convene a meeting in two weeks’ time when we will objectively discuss the last elections.

“Apart from the grand conspiracy against our party by the powers that be in the elections, we are going to tackle the problem of imposition, which was a great area of mistake on our side. Crises were recorded across the states over imposition. We are going to guard against this. The APC will, naturally, make its own mistakes and we will capitalise on these.

“It is given in politics that mistakes would occur among the ruling party. We will all see when this begins to happen. We are watching and waiting,” he concluded.

The post #InCaseYouMissedIt: The PDP Has Ruled Out A Jonathan Presidential Comeback In 2019 appeared first on Ekekeee.

Ten years ago today, a startup called YouTube uploaded its first video. The first video clip (“Me at the Zoo”),  uploaded on April 23, 2005 — an 18-second clip of co-founder Jawed Karim at the San Diego Zoo — offered little indication the service would become the leader in Internet video and a key part of the Google empire.

Today, YouTube attracts more than 1 billion unique visitors a month — or one out of every seven people on the planet, with localized service in 75 countries and 61 languages.

That dominance wasn’t a foregone conclusion. In 2006, Google paid $1.65 billion for YouTube, which was founded by Karim along with entrepreneurs Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. The sheer might of its parent, though, didn’t guarantee success. (How frequently do you check your Google+ social network, for example?)

Several factors early in YouTube’s existence played out in its favor and set it on the path to becoming the biggest media platform on the planet.

Google is reserving its own 10-year anniversary celebration for May 10, marking the day the site went public, a spokesman told AFP. But analysts and others were talking about the milestone.

Here’s the video.

According to Business Insider, when YouTube was bought by Google, Karim got 137,443 shares of stock worth roughly $64 million. Karim went on to found venture capital firm Youniversity Ventures, which has invested in companies including Airbnb.

The post Hurray, YouTube Is 10! Here Is The First Ever Video Posted On The Site [WATCH] appeared first on Ekekeee.

A traditional ruler at Sasaro in Akoko-Edo local government of Edo has been arrested by the police on suspicion of being in possession of a police rifle, which allegedly was found in his bedroom.

It all started on Tuesday when a member of the community, who works in a quarry company owned by some Lebanese nationals, drowned in a river.

His employers went to the community leaders to report the incident, but youths attacked them and the two police officers in their entourage escaped.

When the police returned with reinforcement to rescue the expatriates, they found one of their missing rifles in the traditional ruler’s bedroom during a house search.

He was arrested and taken to Igarra Police Station from where he was transferred to the state Police Headquarters, Benin, for further investigation.

A source at the Command confirmed the arrest to Vanguard on Thursday.

However, state police spokesman, Stephen Onwochei, who has just assumed the role, says he had not heard anything about the incident.

The post This Is How A Police Rifle Has Left An Edo Traditional Ruler With Some Serious Explaining To Do appeared first on Ekekeee.

Stephen Omaidu (pictured below), who is a graduate of the Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, has been arrested and arraigned for allegedly hacking into a bank’s database and stealing N68 billion.

Omaidu is said to have worked with four accomplices to transfer the said sum into four different accounts

According to an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission spokesperson, the suspected hacker’s accomplices, Alhaji K. B. Kabiru, Godswill Oyegwa, Ben and Oliver, escaped and are still at large.

Omaidu was arraigned before Justice Nasir of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Jabi, Abuja on two counts bordering on theft to the tune of N68 billion, an offence punishable under Section 287 of the Penal Code.

EFCC counsel, S. A. Ugwuegbulam, asked the court to fix a date for the trial to commence after Omaidu pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Defense counsel, Gabriel O. Sanifu, urged the court to admit the accused to bail pending trial.

Ugwuegbulam countered the application, saying that the suspect had breached the conditions of the administrative bail terms earlier granted him.

Justice Nasir refused to grant bail. The case has now been adjourned to the 28th of April, 2015.

The post The EFCC Says This Kogi Graduate Hacked A Bank And Stole, Get This, N68 Billion! [LOOK] appeared first on Ekekeee.

Cool FM On-Air Personality, Freeze, has just done a major takedown of celebrities currently campaigning for an end to the rife piracy that is bedeviling Nigerian entertainment.

He has a simple reason – surprise, surprise, they also patronize pirated content.

The father of two, who got divorced just a few months ago, took to his Instagram page to condemn celebrities who use ‘fake’ (read copycat) wristwatches as well as hand me down clothes that carry brand labels.

For him, the deal is simple. Stop wearing imitation stuff and maybe, just maybe, it will have a positive effect on your campaign against piracy.

Freeze believes that the way it hurts Nollywood stars to be swindled by pirates, is the same way it hurts designers to see their watches and clothes among others copied and patronized by top celebrities.

In his words:

“Celebrities marching against piracy yet they wear fake (Pirated) watches. Stop patronizing sites like these and maybe, just maybe they would stop pirating your movies and music. Funny thing about piracy is that it only hurts when it’s been done to you! The same way it hurts when your material is being pirated is the same way it hurts #Rolex #FranckMuller #Cartier #Hublot #Panerai #Patek etc.”

The post ‘It Hurts When It’s Done To You’ | Cool FM’s Freeze Thinks Nollywood Is Super Hypocritical About Piracy Fight appeared first on Ekekeee.

Abia’s Resident Electoral Commissioner, Professor Selina Okon says she has been pelted with assassination and death threats.

Ahead of the April 25 supplementary election, Okon told the Punch that some elements are after her life.

She stated the death threats went as far as describing how she would be eliminated.

“Yes, I have been getting calls threatening my life. I have been getting text messages about how they will shoot me through the window of my car.”

Okon went further, stating that she has reported the threats to the appropriate security agencies.

“Yes, I have. I told them that my life is being threatened.”

The candidates of both the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr Ikpeazu Okezie and the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Dr. Alex Otti, will go head to head on Saturday in a supplementary vote, following a controversial first round.

The post #YouWannaReadThis: Abia’s REC Says She’s Been Told How She Would Be Killed appeared first on Ekekeee.

The Lagos state government has said the monthly environmental sanitation will be observed tomorrow, Saturday April 25.

It also said that human and vehicular restrictions between 7 and 10am of every last Saturday of the month will remain in place.

This is in spite of the order made by the High Court Judge which the State said it had appealed through the Attorney-General’s Office. Justice Mohammed Idris had ruled on March 16 that the government had no right to ban Lagosians from moving about during sanitation.

READ: Lagos Will Appeal Court Ban On Movement Restriction During Sanitation Exercise

Speaking yesterday, Environment Commissioner, Tunji Bello, said the ruling will not affect the enforcement of restrictions during sanitation. He warned that anyone found flouting the order will be liable to arrest.

The commissioner appealed to Lagosians to respect the court ruling, as sanitation is aimed at attaining a clean and sustainable environment in the state, which is in the overall interest of the people.

Bello said it was an incontrovertible fact that a clean and hygienic environment is a sine-qua-non for the socio economic well being of Lagosians.

He explained that besides the monthly sanitation, the cleaning of environment should be an everyday affair, stressing that, human beings generate waste daily. .

The post Sorry Lagos, You’ll Have To Remain Indoors For Tomorrow’s Sanitation Exercise appeared first on Ekekeee.

The Lagos tourism commissioner, Oladisun Holloway says hotels in the state incurred a loss of about N8 billion during the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the country.

The commissioner, who made this known while speaking at the 2015 Ministerial Press Briefing on Thursday, April 23, said the hospitality business was particularly hard hit while Nigeria suffered from the Ebola scourge.

According to him, “the impact of Ebola on hotel patronage was significant. The patronage fell from 76 percent to 35 percent for the four months that the disease lasted. It really affected the turnover of the hotels. They lost about N8 billion within this period. The hotels were losing about N2 billion per month. This was only applicable to big hotels. We did not factor in what smaller hotels lost.”

The hotel industry in the state makes an estimated N46 billion. The Ebola outbreak, with the attendant drop in patronage was therefore a huge setback, Holloway said.

He also called for improved infrastructure development for the state’s tourist sector.

The post #EkekeeeFACT: N8 BIllion – The Pile Of Revenue Lagos Hotels Lost To Ebola appeared first on Ekekeee.

MILAN (AP) — An Italian prosecutor says Islamic extremists suspected in a bomb attack in a Pakistani market that killed more than 100 people had also planned an attack against the Vatican in 2010 that was never carried out.

Prosecutor Mauro Mura told a press conference in Cagliari, Sardinia, on Friday that wiretaps indicated the suspected terrorists were planning a bomb attack at the Vatican and that a suicide bomber had arrived in Rome.

Mura said the attack plans never went further and that the suicide bomber left Italy, though it wasn’t clear why. He said the wiretaps gave “signals of some preparation for a possible attack.”

Italian police said Friday they were making arrests of 18 suspected extremists, including two purported bodyguards for Osama bin Laden, who allegedly staged attacks in Pakistan and sought to topple the Pakistani government.

The post #DidYouKnow That Some Islamic Extremists Planned A Vatican Suicide Bombing In 2010? appeared first on Ekekeee.

The post INEC Is Taking Saturday’s Taraba Election So Seriously, It Has Sent 3 Extra RECs There appeared first on Ekekeee.

Have you seen them yet?

The Lagos government, in its bid to aid and improve the image of this often dirty, loud and brash megacity (and deal with traffic offenders), has provided the state traffic management agency, LASTMA with brand new 2014 Kia Rios (pictured above).

The Korean made cars will aid the body in its thankless job of keeping Africa’s largest city safe for pedestrians and motorists.

Good luck to them and some hard luck for the danfo drivers who are often easy prey.

The post Watch Out Lagos, These New LASTMA Cars Are Coming To A Road Near You [LOOK] appeared first on Ekekeee.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has advised the president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, to consider selling off nearly half of Nigeria’s Joint Venture equity with multinational oil companies, to enable the new government raise a huge balance for immediate developmental projects.

If Mr. Buhari accepts the advice, Nigeria stands to generate about N14.9 trillion, about three times the country’s annual budget, which should be immediately ploughed into providing badly needed infrastructure development, Mr. Emefiele said.

The Nigerian economy has faced continued pressure from spiralling debts, in the face of dwindling revenues resulting from falling global crude oil prices.

Many of the 36 states of the federation are barely able to meet their obligations to contractors and workers from their monthly allocations from the federation account.

Foreign reserves slumped to about $29.9 billion as at March ending.

The CBN governor said the incoming administration should give serious thoughts to the proposal for Nigeria to scale down its majority stakes in the joint ventures currently with various multinational oil companies in the country.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation currently holds, on behalf of the Nigerian government, at least 55 per cent equity in the joint ventures with Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total, Nigerian Agip, and Pan Ocean.

The partnership means for each daily production of oil in Nigeria, the government receives 55 per cent after production cost had been deducted.

Mr. Emefiele wants government to shed at least 25 per cent of that equity to raise some emergency funds for infrastructure development in key sectors of the economy.

Mr. Emefiele told the Financial Times of London that the outcome of the study would be presented to Mr. Buhari when he assumes office on May 29.

The post The CBN Thinks It’s A Brilliant Idea For Buhari To Sell Off Some Of Nigeria’s Oil Stakes appeared first on Ekekeee.

According to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, African leaders are giddy that they won’t have to deal with President Goodluck Jonathan again.

He told an audience at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington DC that his checks in a number of African countries suggested they were happy over the result of the March 28 presidential election.

To him, Nigerians have described President Jonathan as a moving train who was stopped from collapsing Nigeria.

The former President, who led the African Union Observation Mission to the April 2015 General Election in Sudan to the event, said, “I have visited six countries since the election, they are as happy about the results. It is good not only for Nigeria, it is good for Africa and I believe it is good for the world.”

He also advised African leaders to shift from the mentality of clinging to power by all means, urging them to demonstrate statesmanship for the survival of the African continent.

Obasanjo also said that the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) , “has moved Nigeria one very important step up in our democracy.”

He also has some advice for African leaders – do not be afraid of giving up power.

“Governance reform and capacity-building programmes, for example, are apt to look everywhere but within. For a change, let us move away from the melancholic issue of what is wrong with Africa.

“If we are truly committed to invigorating conversations about an Africa-focused, Africa-led and Africa-driven framework for substantive self-determination and sustainable development, it is important to rethink and reframe how we situate Africa at the centre of inquiry.”

Obasanjo cited countries like Togo, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon as countries with leaders reluctant to relinquish power for fear they might “land in prison or in the grave.”

The post Obasanjo Says Africa Is Excited That Jonathan Isn’t President Anymore appeared first on Ekekeee.

Former Information Minister and prominent Ijaw Statesman who cemented his place as a staunch President Jonathan backer, Edwin Clark, has said it is wrong for anyone to think he’ll die because the President lost the election to Buhari.

Clark moved to douse rumors in certain quarters that he had fainted while watching the vote tally on national television and was rushed to the hospital. He said he’s heading to London and needed to clear the air with journalists before the rumour mill will go into overdrive with stories that he was taken to London in an air-ambulance–all because his man lost an election.

“I am here today to tell you that I am not dead. Or am I dead? In every election, there would be winners and losers. The same thing happened during the last presidential election”, Clark told a posse of Journalists, Friday.

“Jonathan was the one who contested the election, so why should I be the one to die?”, he asked incredulously.

“I am alive. Today, I won’t talk about what happened before, during and after the election. That will come another day.

“I am talking to you now because I am travelling tomorrow and some people will go into the streets and say I was carried into air ambulance.

“President Jonathan that contested election had congratulated the winner and the whole world acclaimed him for conceding defeat”.

The post ‘Why Should I Die Because Jonathan Lost An Election?’ || Edwin Clark Has A Question For Y’all appeared first on Ekekeee.

Hasheem Suleiman, the gentleman who reportedly embarked on a trek from Lagos to Abuja because Buhari won the presidential vote, finally got his wish in the course of the week–he met Buhari in the flesh and the photo-op above is evidence enough.

He’s got a few doubters though, and he wasted little time in putting his doubters in their place. Here are our picks from what he said on the sidelines of his meeting with the President-elect:

# It was a promise kept for Suleiman and he did it for love

“I made a promise because of the love I have for Mr President that if Buhari should win the 2015 elections, I will trek from Lagos to Abuja which I have done. I thank God that I made a promise and I fulfilled the promise”.

# He did it in 18 days

“I passed through Kwara and Niger states to Abuja. I was trekking from 6.00am to 6.00pm and anywhere I find myself when it is 6.00pm, I pass the night there.I spent 18 days from Lagos to Abuja.

“Once I found myself inside the bush by 6.00pm and I managed to continue the trek till 9.00pm to a nearby village”.

# In case anyone still finds it hard to believe, he commenced his journey from Lagos

“I made this promise two years ago. I am based in Ibadan and I started my journey from Lagos, because Lagos is the most popular city in Nigeria and I started from Berger junction in Lagos”.

# Hello haters, you don’t have to believe him–and yes, we are looking at you, Jude Egbas!

“I am not bothered about what people think. It is a promise between me and my God. I don’t want anybody to believe me. I left Lagos because I made a promise. Right from Kwara state, I never walked alone for five kilometers. People always walk with me to the next village. I work with a construction company based in Ibadan”.

And here’s what Buhari told him afterwards:  “I want to congratulate you for making it. He is a young man and he was lucky that his health did not fail him. I also heard so many stories that you wore almost half a dozen pair of shoes. I also understand that there are people who have been quite generous to help you to pay for pairs of shoes”.

Awww! How totally romantic!

The post “I Don’t Even Want Anybody To Believe Me”–4 Quotes From The Man Who Trekked For Buhari appeared first on Ekekeee.