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The Niger Delta Renaissance Organisation has hailed the Accolade Achievement Awards given to the Chairman of the National Social Insurance Trust Fund NSITF Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Olejeme. The group in a press statement signed by its National Coordinator Comrade Nwokoma Messiah said the award was a testimony of the relentless efforts of Mrs. Olejeme in bringing about development in not only her home state of Delta and the Niger Delta region, but to the country at large. The group says it is proud to be associated with Mrs. Ngozi Olejeme considering her patriotic commitment to the people which has helped motivate and encourage  women and youths in various callings all over the country. The group praised the Chief Executive Officer of Accolade Media Ambassador Ginika Tor and the Patron Alanyigi Sylva for deeming it fit to give Mrs. Olejeme its Achievement award stressing that it will go a long way in encouraging her to continue with the good work she has been doing to mankind. “This aw...

Ex-Militant leaders, under the aegis of the Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiatives (LPCDI), have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint a Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta. A statement issued yesterday on behalf of the ex—militants by Pastor Reuben Wilson, reads: “We call on the President Buhari to immediately appoint a Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta. This call is sequel to the approval of the number of special advisers by the National Assembly requested by Mr. President and the impending crisis as a result of the vacancy. “We, therefore, write to implore Mr. President to quickly appoint a credible person as a special adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme, which Hon. Kingsley Kuku just vacated. This request is coming on the ground that the absence of the SA/Chairman has hi...

The chairman of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Dr. Ngozi Olejeme has bagged the Accolade Lifetime Achievement Award for her outstanding qualities, innovation, demonstration of excellence and immense humanitarian service. The ceremony is slated for August 21 and 23, 2015 at Sheraton Atlanta Hotel, Atlanta Georgia in the United States of America. A letter dated June 8, 2015 and signed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Accolade Media, Ambassador Ginika Tor and Patron, Mrs. Alanyingi Sylva, said the award was conceptualized to recognize men and women of distinction in their various areas of endeavor as well as those who have positively impacted the society in very remarkable ways. “This year’s award is organized in collaboration with an American based organization, Southern Barter Club” the letter added. 08036977194 henryebi@yahoo.com Reply , Reply all or Forward | More Click to Reply All ...

President Muhammadu Buhari President Muhammadu Buhari has admitted that his age would limit his performance as the President of the country. Buhari, who was   a military governor at 33 and Head of State   at the age of 40, said he would have loved being a President when he was at a younger age . He will be 73 on December 17, 2015. The President spoke with Nigerians resident in South Africa on Monday after taking part in the 25th assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union   in Johannesburg. He said, “I wish I became Head of State when I was a governor, just a few years as a young man. Now at 72, there is a limit to what I can do.” ADVERTISEMENT Despite his advancement in age however, Buhari gave assurance that his administration would make a difference. Buhari explained that   what brought him to his current position was his love for the country. He recalled that he was in t...

Atiku and Buhari The need to further consult and calm frayed nerves has been adduced as reasons why the leadership of the All Progressives Congress shelved a meeting scheduled to hold in Abuja on Tuesday. It was learnt that some of the party leaders, who were still aggrieved on the outcome of the National Assembly leadership elections, are yet to agree to sit on the roundtable with individuals they claimed stabbed them in the back. A member of the party caucus, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said, “You expect me to sit with people, who for their selfish interests, connived with the opposition to deny our party what is due to it? ADVERTISEMENT “We need time for the wounds to heal. You must also understand that the comment of Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, which is in the papers today, has not helped matters.” It was further learnt that as part of the consultations before a wider m...

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has explained why Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo is being denied access to attend security meetings with President Muhammadu Buhari. The party took to its official twitter account to discharge claims. The APC also says in the absence of Buhari, Osinbajo is the President.

Former members of the House of Representatives mainly from the 2007-2011 set were sited at the House of Reps wing of the National Assembly. The members came to pay solidarity to the Speaker Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara. Rt. Hon. Dogara was voted in as the Speaker of the 8 th National assembly. His election drew the anger of his party the All Progressives Congress APC after the party had elected the former minority leader in the House Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila in a mock election. Dogara alongside the Senate President Sen. Bukola Saraki had disregarded the party’s directive by going ahead to contest leading to their victory. One of the old members of the Hon. Sabo Mohammed who spoke to Parliamentary Info said the emergence of Yakubu Dogara was the handwork of God. He described Dogara as a perfect gentleman who will bring his managerial sagacity to bear in running the affairs of the House. He said he believes the Speaker will reconcile all aggrieved members in the House. He said tha...

Senator Chris Anyanwu, sponsor of the Sexual Offences Bill, 2015, has faulted the reaction of Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, to passage of the bill. Soyinka had urged President Muhammadu Buhari to withhold his assent on the bill passed at the end of the 7th Senate. The Bill, 2015, stipulates a life imprisonment for any individual found guilty of rape or sexual intercourse with children under 11 years; 10 years for incest; 10 years for child pornography or a fine of N2 million; and 14 years for sexual abuse, among others. But Soyinka said that a nation should not be founded on the sexual exploitation of the fragile and innocent. “President Buhari should not give his assent to the Bill without amendments that address the earlier Yerima gift to the nation. It’s a trap,” he said. Responding at the weekend, Anyanwu noted that Soyinka was wrong, insisting that recommendations in the bill would go a long way in protecting women and children from sex offe...

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday night wondered why there was so much anxiety among Nigerians over the composition of his cabinet, stressing that he was in no hurry to appoint ministers to serve in his federal executive council, Arise TV reports. Stressing that the obsession was needless since his cabinet will eventually be constituted, Buhari revealed in South Africa that, “The main reason is that I had a Transition Committee which I agreed with former President, Goodluck Jonathan that the ministers of the outgone government should handover their notes and documents to this Transition Committee so that we could be prepared. “The ministers knew that they were going but the technocrats, permanent secretaries and so on, knew they will remain. So if anything goes wrong, they will be invited to explain. “Unfortunately, the outgone government did not cooperate, so what the committee did was to divide itself into about five sub-committees, and I (only) got the report I ...

Some Nigerians coming under the auspices of Nigeria Needs Positive Change Group, NNPCG, over the weekend urged an All Progressives Congress, APC, national leader, Senator Bola Tinubu, to toe the exemplary conduct of the party’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun by publicly accepting the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki as the Senate President. This was as they maintained that Tinubu would by so doing add value to the party and also ensure unity and stability of the APC. In a statement issued in Ilorin yesterday by its National Coordinator, Alhaji Mas’ud Adebimpe, the group further called on other APC leaders to put the issue of Saraki’s election behind them and face the serious job of governance. It insisted that the emergence of Saraki and Hon. Yakubu Dogara as Senate President and House of Representatives Speaker respectively “indeed symbolizes the positive change mantra of the APC”. While reminding APC leaders of their promise to effect positive change ...

Senate President Bukola Saraki Senate President Bukola Saraki has started reaching out to the All Peoples Congress leadership and colleagues opposed to his emergence as the head of the National Assembly. A senator loyal to him, Rafiu Ibrahim, made this known in Abuja on Sunday just as The PUNCH learnt that the APC leadership decided to soft-pedal on its initial opposition to the outcomes of the National Assembly leadership elections in order to stave off   rebellion by its lawmakers. Ibrahim said, “We are currently meeting with our colleagues in the Senate. Apart from the fact that the Senate President has been meeting with those who are aggrieved , we, members of the Like Minds Senators are also engaging them on one-on-one basis. ADVERTISEMENT “We are also meeting with our party leadership and I think the peace moves are achieving good result. It is in the interest of everybody that we have a united Senate.” Some members of the Senat...

Wife of the President, Aisha Buhari The wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, on Saturday implored politicians who may be picked to work with President Muhammadu Buhari and all his political associates to be careful the way they carry themselves. She said such people should be wary of the fact that it took her husband 12 years before getting to the position he currently occupies and hence, they should tread with caution. Mrs. Buhari said this during an “Appreciation Dinner” she hosted in honour of the All Progressives Congress’ women and youths at the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. ADVERTISEMENT She said, “There was nothing that people did not say about the past administration. It is not former President Goodluck Jonathan that is not good but the people around him. “So, the people that are going to be around President Buhari have to be very careful because this election ended peacefully. “We are praying and hoping that people ar...

The Youth Say Yes Initiative For Change YSYIC has kicked against plans to blackmail the Senate President Sen. Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara. The group in a press statement made available to newsmen in Abuja and signed by its National Coordinator Comrade Nwokoma Messiah said there is an orchestrated plan by elements in the All Progressives Congress APC to blackmail the leadership of both Arms of the National Assembly. The group said it was reacting to the publication in the Nation Newspapers titled “How Oil Barons, Others Hijacked Senate, House Elections” the story alleged that the emergence of Saraki and Dogara was through the sponsorship of oil marketers and corrupt politicians who have corrupt deeds to hide. The group said the publication was laughable and misleading because it shows the desperation by the sponsors of such story. The group warned that the APC as a party which promised change must be seen to be playi...