YellowStone Media International

President Muhammadu Buhari has met with the service chiefs at the presidential villa, Abuja — about 24 hours after senators demanded their sack. The service chiefs are Gabriel Olonisakin, Chief of Defence Staff; Tukur Buratai, chief of army staff; Sadique Abubakar, chief of air staff; and Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, chief of naval staff. Also present at the meeting are Mohammed Adamu, inspector-general of police; Ahmed Rafa’i Abubakar, director-general of the National Intelligence Agency, and Yusuf Bichi, the director-general, Department of State Services (DSS_. Some senators had called for the sack of the service chiefs over the frightening spate of insecurity in the country. TheCable previously reported that the service chiefs are all due for retirement, having spent 35 years in service. Speaking at the Senate on Wednesday, Elisha Abbo, senator representing Adamawa North, said funding for the military is not the problem but its leadership. “Going by thi

Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, on Thursday said arrangements have been concluded to employ a foreign expert to effectively manage the N5 billion Aliko Dangote Skills Acquisition Centre located at Gurjiya town in Dawakin Kudu Local Government Area, which will soon be launched. Ganduje stated this when he inspected the centre, adding that Aliko Dangote has agreed to take the responsibilities of paying the salary of the foreign expatriate for six years. According to Ganduje, the structure of the Centre, which has about 24 different craft departments, also cost about N2.5 billion. He added that why he was employing an expatriate to manage the integrated skill centre for about three years was to imbibe the culture of prudent management so as to prevent the Centre from collapse. The governor said CCTV cameras would also be installed for property security of the management, staff, students and the state-of-the-art equipment at the

A member of the National Assembly, Senator Christopher Ekpenyong, on Thursday canvassed for the amendment of the Electoral Act to make the use of card readers compulsory for voters during elections. Ekpenyong, representing Akwa-Ibom North West senatorial district on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), assured Nigerians that the ninth Senate would ensure that an amendment to the Electoral Act to make card reader compulsory for election is passed soon. Speaking with journalists after plenary, Ekpenyong, who narrated his experience during the re-run election with his opponent and former Governor of Akwa Ibom State and now Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, said   he was ready to sponsor a bill on the amendment of the Electoral Act. According to him, "The card reader is a very strong device both in accreditation and the determination of who votes by the electorate, and it is through the card reader that we can determine the

Borno State University on Thursday held its inaugural matriculation, marking the commencement of academic life of the school. The institution which was established by a law passed by Borno State House of Assembly on September 10, 2012 and granted an approval in 2016 by the National Universities Commission (NUC), matriculated 647 students. Speaking at the matriculation, the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Umar Kyari Sandabe, disclosed that 801 students were given admission but 647 students registered and subsequently matriculated. He noted that the school has four faculties, which include Agriculture; Arts and Education; Social and Management Sciences; and Sciences, and running 32 programmes.   The VC revealed that the university has kicked off with 12 sabbatical and 66 visiting lecturers, comprising nine professors and 66 senior lecturers from various universities, mostly from University of Maiduguri. He said the full recru

Hundreds of houses have been burnt and thousands of persons displaced in Mu Makurdi local government area of Benue State as a result of communal clash. The incident an eye witness who pleaded anonymity told journalists that its a lingering crisis, adding that it is usually over tussle for land. According to him, it is a struggle for ownership of land between the indigenes, Iharev and the settlers, Iparev. Speaking with journalists after undertaking an assessment tour of the destroyed area, Secretary to the State Government, Professor Anthony Ijohor, frowned at the magnitude of destruction,  noting that it is 'unexpected' and 'embarrassing' to the state. "The level of destruction is massive. Imagine brothers who have lived together for over 60 years engaging in this kind of destruction. Though there was no lose of life. We will bring the full might of the State and security apparatus to ensure that the culprits are brought to book. &q

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared on Thursday that the coronavirus epidemic in China now constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced the decision after a meeting of its Emergency Committee, an independent panel of experts, amid mounting evidence of the virus spreading to some 18 countries. Tedros told a news conference in Geneva that recent weeks have witnessed an unprecedented outbreak which has been met by an unprecedented response. “Let me be clear, this declaration is not a vote of no confidence in China,” he said. “Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems,” he added. The WHO panel, chaired by Didier Houssin of France, is composed of 16 independent experts. Twice last week the experts had decided not to declare an emergency while they sought more information from China and awaited evidence of c

The Senate on Thursday confirmed the nomination of Dr Kingsley Isitua Obiora as the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This was sequel to the adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions read at plenary by its Chairman, Senator Uba Sani, which recommended the confirmation of the nominee. President Muhammadu Buhari had sent a letter to the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan to screen and confirm the appointment of Obiora for the position. The Senate also approved the appointment of Zikrullah (Sikiru) Olakunle Hassan as the Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).

The Nasarawa State Government on Thursday said it intended to treat about 720,000 school-age children in the state for Schistosomiasis and Helminthes diseases. The state Commissioner for Health, Ahmed Baba Yahaya, disclosed this on the occasion of the World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) celebration in Lafia, the state capital. However, the commissioner stated that the state was mindful of its neighbouring states, which were still struggling with these diseases and at the risk of re-infecting the state through border local government areas.   According to him, "Such states are Benue, Kogi, Taraba, Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Advocacy and mobilisation will also be made to the border areas for observation of people entering their communities for festivities, farming, fishing as well as the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). "Medicine will be requested and sent to Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) at the border

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has said about 100 million Nigerians are currently faced with the risk of some tropical diseases such as Guinea worm, leprosy, elephantiasis, river blindness, rabies and sleeping sickness. He said the disease prevalence could be linked to high poverty level and lack of basic healthcare facilities in most rural areas of the country. Speaking at the first World NTD Day in Abuja organised by the Federal Ministry of Health in conjunction with the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Thursday, the minister said Nigeria’s large population exposes it to ‘endemicity’, adding that NTDs are mostly found in sub-Saharan Africa with millions of children trapped in the cycle of diseases. He described NTD as a diverse group of communicable diseases that prevailed in tropical and sub-tropical conditions. According to him, “They (NTDs) are singled out because of the adverse impact they have and their relative obscurity and availabil

Sunday Okobi Former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, has reiterated his unswerving stance that the only way out of the present challenges plaguing Nigeria is to restructure the country and possibly return to regional government system. The elder statesman stated this on Thursday in Lagos at the launching of a book ('Contemporary Issues in Law and Society' in Iyizoba’s tribute) and the inauguration of the initiative of retired Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Chinwe Iyizoba, African Women Forum for Good Governance (AWFG), as the chairman of the occasion. Anyaoku, who also lauded Justice Iyizoba as a distinguished lady who had a great and enviable career at the Bar, Bench, and academic environment, also decried what he termed as constant bashing of the judiciary, calling on the executive and the judiciary arms of government to guard the integrity and independence of the third arm of government. According to

As panic grips the country over outbreak of Lassa fever, the Ekiti State Government has said there is no cause for alarm over the outbreak of Lassa fever in some states in the country as there's no confirmed single case of the fever in the state. The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mojisola Yaya-Kolade, stated this in Ado Ekiti while addressing journalists on the preparedness of the state to fight Lassa fever which had reportedly hit neighboring states of Ondo, Osun and Kogi recently. Yaya-Kolade noted that all primary health facilities, Specialist and General Hospitals, university Teaching Hospital as well as the Federal Teaching Hospital across the state have been sensitised and adequately prepared on the issue of Lassa fever. "We are doing a lot of sensitisation and educating for food handlers, store keepers, and all residents in the state on radio, television and in all our health facilities across the state," she stated.  

  The lingering crisis between the feuding factions of the Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Party (APC) on Thursday turned bloody as a top member of the party, Mr. Henry Idahagbon, claimed that he narrowly escaped death when gunmen suspected to be hired assassins attacked him in his office. Idahagbon, a former Edo State attorney-general and commissioner of justice, said the gunmen who came in three vehicles fired several shots at his office located on Siluko Road, near the popular Oliha Market in Benin-city. He said he was in his office attending to his clients when he was jolted by the volley of bullets which were aimed at his office sited on the mid-floor of the three-storey building. Idahagbon, who has since gone underground, said he quickly dashed for the back exit through which he escaped, even as the shooting was still going on, adding that many persons were injured in the process. While lamenting the incident, he said: "I was in my of

The federal government on Wednesday said it would partner World Food Programme (WFP) on food security, poverty alleviation, education and health in the Northeastern states affected by insurgency. The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadia Umar Farouq, disclosed this when a delegation of WFP, led by Paul Howe, paid her a courtesy visit in Abuja. Farouq noted that the government was concerned about poverty alleviation, education, health and malnutrition facing children and the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the North-east region in almost two decades of the Boko Haram insurgency in the region. She stressed the need for World Food Programme to support the federal government effort, especially in security and capacity building of personnel, to enable them tackle malnutrition challenges in the affected areas. The minister also stressed the need to improve on the Social Investment Programme (

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Makurdi zonal office, Benue State, on Wednesday secured the conviction of one Abdulkadir Musa Inna at the Federal High Court in Makurdi presided by Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon. Inna is to spend the next year in prison custody after he was arraigned and convicted on a one-count charge of fraudulent impersonation. The count read that Abdulkadir Musa Inna and one Aliyu Musa Mohammed now at large, sometime in September 2019 in Nigeria within the jurisdiction of the court, conspired among themselves to use a GTBank ATM card belonging to Aliyu Musa Mohammed to withdraw money paid in by one Abigail Atsuku that resulted in her loss of N30,000. “By this act, you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 33(2) of the Cybercrime (prohibition, prevention etc) Act 2015 and punishable under section 33 (2) of the same Act,” the charge read. Inna pleaded guilty to the charge when it was read to him, with

Worried by the poor state of power supply in the country, especially as it concerns Lagos State, the state government has pledged collaboration with the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) and the distribution companies in the state towards resolving the challenges. The inability of the distribution companies to pick available power from the NDPHC, the implementer of the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP), coupled with the difficulty of securing a space to build additional transmission line in the state, has been identified as part of the issues depriving Lagosians of stable power supply. Speaking to journalists on Wednesday during a visit to NDPHC's transmission substation at Oke Aro, a suburb of Lagos, the state Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Olalere Odusote, said the state government was ready to support every move by the NDPHC, the Ikeja and Ibadan Discos to solve the power problem. Odusote, who was taken rou

A group, the Societal Safety Network (SSN), has kicked against the South-west Security Network, codenamed Amotekun, which was recently launched by the South-west governors, warning that it may promote violence. The Executive Director of the group, Abdulrahaman Agboola, while addressing a press conference on Wednesday on the motive for the establishment of the regional security outfit, described Amotekun as a threat to the federation. Agboola warned that if the already rising tension is not tamed, it might escalate to violence and put the lives of Yoruba people in other regions at risk. He, therefore, called on the federal government to thoroughly scrutinise the operation. According to him, "We respect the ideals of the developmental agenda of the Southwestern Nigerian and commend their progressive action plan on the economy of the region, but we seriously   frown at the hurried nature without considering   the plight of the Yoruba living i