BlackBox Nigeria

While other Nigerian celebrities are busy vying for minor political seats in the forthcoming election, Davido is seeking Goodluck Jonathan's job, he wants to be the first entertainer to seat comfortably on that seat of power.

The award winning pop star and HKN boss, Davido said he is good enough to be the president of Nigeria.

However, if given the opportunity, the Skelewu crooner doesn't sound unprepared at all as he has highlighted some of the things he'll do if he gets to become the number one citizen of Nigeria. While responding to MTV Base's Choose or Lose Vox Pop, Omobaba Olowo declared his intention to be the first entertainer to become Nigeria's president in the 45-second video.

The young star began by stating his readiness to vote in the forthcoming elections: 'Yes I'm voting, I want my voice to be heard, there's no point in complaining if you are not going to vote.'

And when asked if he'll love to see a celebrity as Nigeria's president, who the person will be and why, Davido responded: 'I think I'm good enough to be president, because it's me, I want to be the president.'

He went on to outline some of the things he'll do if he is named President for just one day: 'I'll fix all the bad roads, I'll fix up the currency of course, and different other things, as much as I can do in a day I'll do.'
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Davido wants the youth to take over governance in the country in order to provide better roads, cleaner environment and better structured cities and it remains to be seen just how serious he is in future, given he is from a family with a history of political involvement.

Interestingly, he is surely not the first to declare that ambition. Late rapper, DaGrin once declared the dream of becoming Nigeria's president in one of his songs.

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2face Idibia has spoken concerning the latest scandal rocking his relationship.

2face has been under media scrutiny over the viral photos of him kissing another woman while married to wife, Annie Idibia.

The woman with 2face in the photos has been identified as his ex and the mother of 3 of his children, Pero Adeniyi.

With rumours of marital problems between 2face and Annie being fueled by the couple's silence over the photos – said to be taken last weekend – 2face has finally bowed to pressure.

He took to his Instagram page at midnight to share a photo of himself and his wifey, Annie walking down the aisle on their wedding day in 2013 with the caption "Our love does not have 2 make sense 2 u. pls go on with your perfect life and know the true story behind something before u judge and start making nasty comments based on an orchestrated story by some blog.U shall know the truth and the truth shall set u free.LYTID uwana idibia"

We await the release of the 'true story' as promised by his team.

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Ten Catholic priests and two church lay workers in the southern Spanish city of Granada have been charged with child sexual abuse, in a case brought after Pope Francis corresponded with one of the victims, court documents showed.
According to the indictment filed on Tuesday, the 12 are suspected of abusing four teenage boys in the priest's parochial home between 2004 and 2007.

They are free on bail pending trial.
The pope told reporters he received a letter documenting the abuse from one of the alleged victims in November and then phoned him, telling him to report the case in person at the Granada diocese.
The Catholic Church leader also said that he wrote to the Archbishop of Granada Francisco Javier Martinez and pressed him to launch an investigation.
Several priests were removed from their duties and arrested after the probe in November.
The suspects face possible jail time of more than 20 years each.
Pope Francis has promised a policy of zero tolerance for sexual abuse of children by clerics after church scandals in several countries over many years. Groups representing victims say he has still not done enough.
The Vatican said last year it had defrocked about 850 priests between 2004 and 2013 who had been accused of sexually abusing minors.

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A grandfather, 55-year-old Mikeal Shane Pruett of Stevensville, Montana, has been sentenced to 200 years in prison after impregnating his 11-year-old granddaughter and sexually assaulting the victim's younger sister.

Pruett, who is reportedly married, was the guardian to both girls when he raped them.

District Judge Jeffrey Langton handed down a sentence of 100 years each for the two counts of incest.

The grandfather was arrested after the 11-year-old girl was found to be 32 weeks pregnant.

According to reports, the girl went to see a doctor after suffering from cramps.‎

She, however, did not know she was pregnant until she was informed by a doctor "because she did not know what it felt like to be pregnant."

When questioned, the child claimed that she had sex with a 14-year-old boy, whose name she did not know, at a county fair.

However, the medical staff noted that the term of pregnancy and the estimated date of conception, were off by three months.

It was only upon further questioning that the girl admitted that her grandfather told her to make up the story and that he was the one sleeping with her and her sister.

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A police officer has been arrested on charges of murder after allegedly killing his mistress because she threatened to tell his wife about their affair, police in Japan have said.
Osaka Police said that they arrested 26-year-old Takashi Mizuuchi on Sunday, after being accused of killing 23-year-old Hikaru Shirata at her apartment.
Police investigation revealed that Mizuuchi arrived at Shirata's apartment around 8:00 a.m., and strangled her with a belt.
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According to reports, when Shirata failed to show up for work at a nearby hospital, the manager called police to do a welfare check. Officers who arrived at the scene, found the body of the victim in the bathtub around 11:00 a.m.
Police believe that Shirata died as a result of strangulation. Mizuuchi was questioned by police and was charged with murder.
Mizuuchi told investigators that he was angry with his mistress because she decided to end the relationship and threatened to tell his wife about the affair.

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-Femi Aribisala

THESE are interesting times. Muhammadu Buhari, the APC presidential candidate whose only policy plank is that he will fight against corruption without wavering, is not as straight-forward as he would have Nigerians believe. Buhari lied under oath. He perjured himself claiming his school-leaving certificate is with the military. This has now been revealed to be a tissue of lies.

This is a scandal of immense proportions in an aspiring presidential candidate. Under no circumstances should it be swept under the carpet. For this blatant perjury, Buhari must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. It should also lead to his disqualification from contesting for election as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

In the language of Buhari's own anti-corruption rhetoric, Nigeria must be shown to be a nation of laws and of the rule of law. No man, no matter how highly-placed, no matter his ethnic or political pedigree, should be shown to be above the law. For this reason, a public example must be made of Buhari.

Non-existent certificates
Buhari has run for the presidency on three earlier occasions. On those occasions, he did not contravene any law with regard to his non-existent certificates because there were no provisions for them. However, with the new Electoral Act, there is now a requirement for proof of credentials. But instead of providing his certificates to INEC, as now required by law, Buhari deposed in an affidavit at a High Court in Abuja that: "All my academic qualifications documents as filled in my presidential form, President APC/001/2015, are currently with the Secretary, Military Board as of the time of presenting this affidavit."

This affidavit has turned out to be false. The military board says it does not have Buhari's academic qualification credentials. That means Buhari committed perjury when he swore on oath that the military has them. As a matter of fact, the military board does not even have the photocopies of Buhari's credentials because he did not submit them when he enrolled into the Nigerian Army.

Maybe Buhari expected the military to let sleeping dogs lie about this. However, the Nigerian Army released the following statement which quickly gave the lie to Buhari's affidavit: "It is a practice in the Nigerian Army that before candidates are shortlisted for commissioning into the officers' cadre of the Service; the Selection Board verifies the original copies of credentials that are presented. However, there is no available record to show that this process was followed in the 1960s. Neither the original copy, Certified True Copy (CTC); nor statement of result of Major General M Buhari's WASC result, is in his personal file."

Guilty of perjury: This denial by the army that it has Buhari's certificates has put the APC presidential candidate on the horns of a dilemma. As I said, it shows Buhari committed perjury. In the bid to repair this damage, Buhari cobbled together a press conference during which he said the following: "I had assumed all along that all my records were in the custody of the Military Secretary of the Nigerian Army. Much to my surprise, we are now told that although a record of the result is available, there are no copies of the certificates in my personal file."

This excuse is hogwash. An experienced politician like Buhari who is running for president surely has a panoply of aides, assistants and advisers. He should know that it is not acceptable for a man to swear an oath in court based on assumptions "all along." Oaths are sworn as certification that what is said is true. Truth is not amenable to assumptions. Section 118 of the Nigerian criminal code reads: "Any person who commits perjury is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years." This is the fate that must now befall Muhammadu Buhari who must not be allowed to be above the law.

Buhari stated in his affidavit that his academic qualification documents: "are currently with the Secretary, Military Board as of the time of presenting this affidavit." However, the evidence indicates that Buhari must have known that this was not true at the time he swore on oath to this. This is because Buhari was the Military Secretary, Army Headquarters, from 1978-1979.

That means Buhari should not be believed when he says: "I had assumed all along that all my records were in the custody of the Military Secretary of the Nigerian Army." On the contrary, Buhari knows from his experience as Military Secretary that certified true copies of the credentials of military men are not kept with the military board. Nobody keeps the originals of their credentials with the organizations where they worked: only photocopies are kept there. Therefore, Buhari was just being disingenuous when he claimed his certificates were with the military.

New gambit
Having been thrown under the bus by the military brass, Buhari came up with another gambit. He now declared that Provincial Secondary School, Katsina (now known as Government College, Katsina), which he attended over 50 years ago, would make available to the public the school's copy of his Cambridge/WASC certificate. In doing this, Buhari blundered yet again. He shows that, in spite of his highfalutin campaign on the platform of integrity, he does not believe in transparency.

Buhari failed to explain the contradiction in the letter of recommendation from his school principal to the military which suggests he had not graduated from school before he opted out to join the military. The principal said: "I recommend him fit for military commissioning. I consider that he will pass the WASC examination in English, Math and three other subjects."

If you want to confirm your exam credentials, you don't write to your school asking for a copy of your result; you ask the relevant examinations council to provide you with a copy of your result. Instead of Buhari to ask for his result from Cambridge/WASC, he asks for his primary school in Katsina to tell us his result. The primary school then presents a result that is inadmissible as evidence of Buhari's result. It presents a result headlined "Katsina State Government," when Katsina State did not even exist in 1961 when the result is alleged to have been given.

Inadmissible credentials
A statement of result by Katsina Provincial Primary School is inadmissible, according to Buhari's INEC affidavit. To repeat: Buhari said in an oath to INEC that "all" his academic qualification documents are with the military. When that did not work, he turned to his primary school. But what his primary school provided is not his academic qualification document. It provided what is ostensibly a photocopy. However, in law, you cannot authenticate a document by providing the photocopy. You must provide the original.

The credentials Buhari needs to rest his case are with Cambridge/WASC; and only Buhari can apply to get them. Therefore, if he is really interested in putting this matter to rest, he should stop wasting time. The military board cannot apply for his credentials on his behalf; neither can Government College, Katsina.

The University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), now known as Cambridge Assessment, affirms this position on its website. It says: "We can only confirm or verify results at the direct request of or with the permission of a candidate. This is in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000."

In short, Buhari should apply for and get his certificate by himself. That way, he would not have to go through the dubious circuitous routes he has been following to his detriment. If Buhari truly wants all the brouhaha over his certificate to die down, he needs to request for his certificate from Cambridge/WASC with the utmost urgency and quickly present this to INEC as proof of his compliance with electoral regulations. Otherwise, APC has a big problem in its hands.

Suspect documents: The document Government College, Katsina has presented is suspect. It contains an obvious alteration on the Mathematics column which effectively renders it invalid. Indeed, the document itself states that: "any alteration or erasure renders this Statement of Results invalid." Other anomalies evident in the statement include a recent photograph on an old document; a wrong name (Mohamed instead of Muhammadu); and the absence of the principal's name.

There are other nagging questions pertaining to the validity of the results published by the Katsina State government. How come the expectations of Buhari's grades as expressed by his principal turn out to be virtually the mirror-image of his alleged results? This suggests the likelihood Katsina State might have fabricated the Statement of Results to fit in with the grades predicted by the principal. In effect, the evidence suggests that what Buhari has asked Government College, Katsina to present to INEC as evidence of his credentials is a forged certificate. According to Section 137 (10) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution: "A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if he has presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission."

Anti-corruption stance
Forgery is implied in this case because the Katsina Ministry of Education issues the transcripts of an examination it did not conduct. The Ministry of Education, Katsina, did not conduct WASC exam in 1961. Therefore the ministry could not have issued Buhari a WASC certificate in 1961.

INEC cannot address this matter because in the precedence established in the case of Atiku Abubakar in 2007, only the judiciary has the power to ban a candidate. However, the courts are on strike at the moment. Nevertheless, Buhari needs to save himself and his party future embarrassment by coming clean now.

Many of us, knowing Buhari's antecedents, have always insisted his anti-corruption stance is a ruse. Buhari "talks water but drinks wine." He preaches anti-corruption but is surrounded and sponsored by the corrupt. This scandal of his non-existent certificate has again confirmed our fears. Buhari is not fit to be president of Nigeria. As soon as the judiciary strike is over, Buhari must be prosecuted for perjury to the full extent of the law.

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To say that the peace which have been enjoyed in Lagos State University is that of a graveyard is putting words mildly as BlackBox Nigeria can confirm that the Lagos owned citadel is on the verge of witnessing another round of crisis due to what actors have described as wanton despotic activities of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dapo Obafunwa, victimisation of lecturers and students, interference in students union activities leading to the indefinite postponement of union elections amongst others.

In a mail sent to BBN by the Education Rights Campaign, the school management is accused of numerous wrong doings which include; the indefinite postponement of Students Union Elections, the withdrawal of the Ph.D certificates of the Chairman of Lasu Chapter of ASUU and 18 others, the continuous persecution of a leading Presidential candidate who participated actively in agitations against tuition fee increment among several other sundry issues.

It was discovered that the ASUU Chairman; Dr. Idris Adekunle and others affected were asked to submit their Ph.D certificates due to an administrative problem on the part of the school management. It would be recalled that the Lecturer's union actively participated in the call which eventually led to the reversal of the outrageous school fees by the state Governor; Barr. Babatunde Fashola.

The ERC Statement also mirrored in on the plight of a certain Adeyemi Onikoro who allegedly led the #SaveLasu struggle which campaigned against the outrageous increment leading to a social media campaign as well as protests in various parts of the state. The statement disclosed that Onikoro, a student of the Faculty of Law is being witch hunted for his participation in the struggle.
"The truth of the matter is that only the University administration has any real problems with Adeyemi Onikoro's candidacy. It was the University administration once it realised that Adeyemi Onikoro was a popular candidate in the election with a chance to win that decided to unearth and reactivate a disciplinary action against him for allegedly participating in one of the early protests against LASU fee hike as far back as September 12, 2012 when he was just in 100 level! LASU fee was hiked in September 2011 and Adeyemi Onikoro as a 100 level student played roles in the struggles that broke out against the fees in 2012. For this reason, he was dragged before an investigative panel in 2012 on trumped up charges of participating in an "illegal protest" and of disrupting a GNS examination. The panel sat on the case from late 2012 into 2013 and from then on nothing more was heard about it until now when the University saw an opportunity to use it to stop Adeyemi Onikoro's ambition for the presidency of the Students Union.

When the investigative panel sat on the case in 2012 and 2013, the DSA Prof. Kabir Akinyemi appeared before it to testify against Adeyemi Onikoro. Now in 2014, the case was transferred to the Student Disciplinary Committee. When Adeyemi Onikoro appeared before the committee, he discovered to his chagrin that his chief prosecutor the DSA Prof. Kabir Akinyemi is now the Vice Chairman of the Disciplinary committee. Interestingly all the time the committee sat on the case, the substantive chairman, Prof. Senapone Bakre who is the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics), was conveniently away allowing the DSA Prof. Kabir Akinyemi to chair the process. Now there is no better example of an undemocratic and unfair trial in which an individual, in this case the DSA, becomes the judge, prosecutor and witness in a case in which he as much as his employers, the University administration, have interest. It was therefore not surprising when on December 2, 2014 this committee recommended Adeyemi Onikoro to be rusticated for one academic session on trumped up charges only the DSA out of all members of the University community could prove he committed. This completely unfair verdict is now awaiting the approval of the University Senate after which Adeyemi Onikoro's studentship would be suspended," the statement read in part.

The ERC further accused the Management of also victimising members of various staff unions on campus including the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and members of the Senior Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (SSANU).

JAF CALLS FOR PROTEST
In a similar development, the Joint Action Front is today leading a major protest across Lagos State to call on the Government to put in other all the anomalies currently being witnessed in LASU.
A short message received by BBN read...

"Join d MASS PROTEST on Wed, 28 Jan 2015.
Protest March starts from Nigeria Civil Service Union, CBD, Alausa-Ikeja @ 9am.
JAF Declares Support 4 LASU Students, Lecturers & Non-Academic Workers to:
#CAll OBAFUNWA(LASU VC) to Order!
#RESIST Administrative impunity!!
#STOP Obafuwa's Victimisatn of Students, Lecturers & Non-Academic Workers!!
#SAVE LASU from OBAFUNWA's interference in Unions' affairs & Destructn of Academic Freedom. Cde-Aremu, JAF Sec."

Today's protest comes on the heels of various agitations by several actors in the University community who have described the administration of the Vice Chancellor as an authoritarian style of leadership. BBN shall keep you abreast of happenings as it unfolds...

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Security chiefs yesterday got a distress call from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
There are plans by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members to cause trouble, the APC said.
The APC Presidential Campaign Organisation spoke of  plans by hired thugs to attack its presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, during his visit to Taraba State today.
Director (Media and publicity) of the organisation Mallam Garba Shehu said in a statement that it had intelligence report of plans to use thugs to throw stones and sachets of water at the Buhari team.
Shehu said the APC Campaign viewed seriously any plot to cause a breach of the peace, and then blame it on opposition leaders, stressing that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is not committed to the agreement signed by parties and their candidates to conduct violence-free campaigns.
According to him, any attempt to use thugs to embarrass Gen. Buhari in Taraba State is against the intent of the Kofi Annan initiative, which requires assurances from political parties to shun violence.
He urged the Inspector General of Police, the Director General of the Directorate of State Service (DSS) and the National Security Adviser (NSA) to halt anarchy from creeping into the campaigns.
The APC in Rivers State also yesterday said it had received credible information that PDP members were planning to stone President Goodluck Jonathan during his visit to the state today and blame it all on APC members, as they did in Bauchi State.
Publicity Secretary of Rivers APC, Chris Finebone, said in Port Harcourt that the PDP members hatched the plan to blackmail the ruling party during the President's campaign.
Finebone said: "According to the plan, which is now in the possession of the APC, huge sums of money and many APC T-shirts will be provided for groups of PDP thugs, who will stone the convoy of Mr. President during the presidential campaign rally  of Port Harcourt.
"According to the information, the money and T-shirts will be distributed to the thugs by Tuesday January 27 (yesterday). The idea behind this satanic plot is to paint the APC in bad light before the media, observers and the Nigerian public, as well as to divert attention from the various acts of violence that PDP thugs have unleashed on APC members and property across Rivers State in recent times.
"It is also meant to undermine the reputation of Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who is also the Director-General of the Buhari Campaign Organisation.
"The APC in Rivers State will like to state that its members will continue to undertake peaceful campaigns and always act within the ambit of the law and the peace accord signed by its leaders, both at the national and state levels. We will continue to abhor electoral violence in whatever form and we will like to call on the PDP and other parties to do the same at all times."
Finebone called on security agencies to be aware of the "dangerous antics" of the PDP members to maim, destroy, kill, bomb and now blackmail the APC members.
Two APC offices in Rivers State have been bombed. The party's campaign programme was disrupted in Okirika by gunmen who shot at those arranging the podium.
Dr. Jonathan's convoy was stoned in Katsina and Bauchi. Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda has alleged that PDP members were behind the stoning in his state.
Preparations were in top gear yesterday in Jalingo yesterday to receive Gen. Buhari.
"We are ready, " said APC State Chairman Hassan Ardo.
Ardo said "everything", in terms of security and logistics, have been done in readiness for the main opposition's presidential rally in the "Nature's Gift" state.
The Trade Fair Complex on Hammaruwa Way, near the State Secretariat, was being decorated, under the watch of the senator representing Northern Taraba, Aisha Jummai Alhassan, who is the governorship candidate.
It was gathered that the State APC requested to use the stadium for Gen. Buhari's rally, but the PDP government refused, on grounds that President Jonathan will be holding his rally at the sports complex tomorrow.
The APC Chairman, however, seems to be more comfortable to hold the "broom rally" at the Trade Fair Complex.
"We are not complaining. This place is very ok," he said.
A trade fair had been going on in the complex, but traders "voluntarily" packed their goods to release the arena for Buhari. A huge crowd was already gathering in the arena even as the venue was only being decorated.
Many giant billboards carrying Gen. Buhari's portrait have been mounted outside and inside the venue. Many residents were staring at the billboards.
In 20011, Gen. Buhari held his presidential rally in the same venue. The rally shut down Jalingo town for two days.
Today's is expected to draw more supporters.
The Buhari Campaign Organisation said that the claim by President Goodluck Jonathan that four years are not enough to transform the country is double-mouthing by a president who has failed to deliver on his own timeline.
"It is very imprudent of Mr. President to shift the goal post mounted by him in the middle of the game. It was this same President Jonathan who said in 2010 that if he could not improve on the country's power generation capacity within four years, then it means he could not do anything.
"What was the president thinking about when he said: 'Four years are enough for anyone to make significant improvement, and if I can't improve on power within this period, then it means I cannot do anything.'
"Nigerians expect that a president must own up to his own words and be responsible for his own beliefs. There can only be one reason why President Jonathan is changing his own beliefs about what it takes to transform the country and that is because he is incompetent for the job.
"Today, Nigerians are clamouring for change because, for six years the country has been led by a president who cannot give the people direction on how to stop corruption, how to provide security, create employment and provide infrastructure that will impact positively on the economy.
"We have said it in the past and we will be repeating it that the 2015 election, more than anything is a referendum on the performance of President Jonathan. The President has not measured up to the least expectations of Nigerians and that is why they are earnestly waiting for February 14 to pass their verdict.
"Whereas the Goodluck Jonathan administration has not been able to deliver on any of the promises the president made to Nigerians in 2010, the government under the President's watch has surpassed every known boundaries on issues of corruption and impunity.
"Let us remind the president that if truly Rome was not built in a day, Rome is also not built forever. The President has failed to deliver by his own timelines and he should patiently wait for Nigerians to pass their verdict over the incompetence of his administration," Shehu said.

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Former Chairman of Lagos Island local government area and Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro has urged residents of Lagos not to vote for the governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Akinwunmi Ambode, stating that he does not have what it takes to manage the state.
"When I was the chairman of Lagos Island, Ambode was a council treasurer and I can tell you that he (Ambode) doesn't have what it takes to manage a state like Lagos. Ambode was forced to resign as a civil servant by the government and we must look into his record," he said. ‪
Obanikoro also noted that Ambode is a puppet to the powers that be in the state, while recommending the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Olujimi Agbaje as the man of the people with the capacity to manage the state.
"In Lagos State, we have a case of the puppet and puppeteer and Lagosians are saying that both of them must be thrown away on February 28. Agbaje is a man of the people and he has the capacity to manage our state," he added.
He posted the message on his facebook page.

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Unknown killers have beheaded an octogenarian, Pa Goodluck Uwumwanrogie, at Arougba village, near Benin, over alleged land tussle.
The deceased, 85, who was the next in command to the Village Head, was alone in his in-law's residence at Irhirhi village when the killers allegedly shot him before chopping off his head.
He had fled to Irhirhi village shortly after crisis broke out last year at Aruogba, where many houses were burnt and three persons killed.
Widow of the deceased, Julie, 55, said she was informed at about 5:30pm that her husband had been killed, alleging that her husband was killed over tussle for the community land.
She said: "A man (names withheld) had earlier threatened to kill my husband before the crisis.
"After we ran away from the village during the crisis to seek refuge at my father's village at Irhirhi, the same man saw him here and said he would still kill him.
"I was called and told that my husband was killed. He was killed because of land tussle. They have been fighting over the community land.
"He said my husband joined the other faction against them. People said he was shot before they cut off his head and took the head away.
"I hid my husband in my father's house. Nobody was at home when it happened."
Edo State Police spokesman, Joseph Edogiawerie, who confirmed the killing, said two suspects had been arrested.
He said the police were on the trail of the killers, and that they left with the victim's head.

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The Yoruba socio-political group Afenifere has endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan's bid for a second term in office.
It gave its endorsement at a meeting of its members with the President at the residence of Afenifere leader, Chief Reuben Fasanranti in Akure on Tuesday.
Jonathan told reporters as he left the meeting place that he had come to pay homage to the leader of Afenifere.

Spokesman for the group, Yinka Odumakin, told reporters after the meeting that the endorsement was predicated on the President's commitment to implementing the recommendations of report of the National Conference 2014.
"Afenifere supports the President's reelection because he had the courage to convoke the national conference and we hope that he will implement the report.
"The President expressed the commitment that he will adopt the report within 12 months of returning to office," Odumakin said.

Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who spoke after the meeting, said "This is the first time Afenifere will be endorsing any President."
He said Afenifere remained a credible and dependable socio-political group in the south west.

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Four activists have filed a fresh criminal suit against the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari before an Abuja Magistrates' Court over alleged false information.

The activists are Shield Jones Ufot, Jimmy David, Ogueri Enwerem and Tochukwu Okorie.

The activists filed a direct criminal complaint through their lawyer, Ugochukwu Ezekiel at the court.

The complainants named Buhari as the only defendant in the suit.

They alleged that Buhari gave a false evidence to a public officer contrary to Section 157 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 158 of the Penal Code Law.

The complainants further claimed that they are Nigerian citizens, activists and social crusaders committed to ensuring obedience to the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with a duty to report crime and ensure prosecution of offenders.

They also claimed that they are tax payers and voters in Nigeria qualified to vote and be voted for in Nigeria.

In the particulars of the alleged offence against Buhari, the complainants submitted that Buhari on December 18, 2014, filled and submitted INEC Form C.F 001 to the Independent National Electoral Commission (a public office) wherein t Buhari gave his qualification to contest the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as West African School Certificate (WASC), which he claimed to have obtained in 1961.

They however, claimed that Buhari never sat for the West African Examination Council examination in 1961 as he claimed and that in the entire records of the school and WAEC, there appeared no name of the said Mohammadu Buhari.

They further submitted that Buhari with intent to mislead a public officer as to comply with the provisions of Section 31 of the Electoral Act, 2010, deposed to various affidavits in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja wherein he stated that he attended Katsina Provincial Secondary School, Katsina State and obtained a West African School Certificate and the certificates he claimed to have obtained are with the Nigerian Army.

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Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, has again lamented the depressing debt profile of the state, blaming it on the immediate past administration of former governor Kayode Fayemi.

Speaking during a low-key celebration of his 100 days in office yesterday, Fayose said the state government needed about N7.5 billion to settle arrears of entitlements due to public servants in the state.

Speaking while inaugurating some projects to mark his 100 days in office in Ado-Ekiti, the governor said the entitlements included August and September 2014 salaries of some workers, subventions due to state-owned institutions and leave bonus, among others.

He, however, noted that despite the enormous debts inherited from the previous administration, he had to strive to execute some projects and also ensure the prompt payment of salaries.

"We have about N7.8 billion obligation to workers in the state. The obligations were left behind by the former administration. Over N2 billion as leave bonus to workers. Over N1billion as deductions from workers' salaries that the former administration did not remit. They did not pay some workers August and September 2014 salaries amounting to over N2 billion; subventions to tertiary institutions, which is over N2 billion as well.

"I don't know where to start, sometimes I cannot sleep. We did not inherit anything tangible from the former administration.

"The six months' moratorium from banks that we got, will lapse in two months and when that happens, banks will be deducting N780 million monthly to service the over N31 billion loans the former administration left behind."

"Also, N800 million is deducted from our statutory allocation monthly to service the N25 billion bond that they took. We have approached four banks to borrow us money to pay at least one month out of the two months salaries owed some workers. But essential things must be done. I call for understanding from people and I am committed to making life better for the people," he said.

He added that paying workers' salaries promptly had become a cardinal point of his administration, given the poor state of the economy and finances of the state.

The governor said the challenges met in office would never be an excuse for him not to perform his duties and fulfill his electoral promises.

Among the projects inaugurated were the rehabilitated Matthew Road, Ado-Ekiti, Bisi Market, Awedele Road, Ado-Ekiti, drainages along Ajilosun Road, Ado-Ekiti.

Others are 12 ambulances, 19 patrol vans for security agencies,  20 motorbikes, three tractors and 12 waste vehicles.

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The Africa correspondent for The Globe and Mail, Geoffrey York who is based in Johannesburg, has said some foreign journalists are being blocked from getting visas that will enable them cover election campaign ahead of the February 2015. 

York disclosed this in a series of tweets last night saying, 

"Latest Nigerian scandal: scores of foreign journalists being blocked from getting visas to cover election campaign. Some waiting months at Nigerian Info Ministry, bored official shows no interest in helping journos enter; demands "security clearance" from "intelligence". Nigeria allowed many foreign journos to cover "Bring Back Our Girls" last year; yet now it's blocking at least 40 from covering election."

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The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate in the February 14 election, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari has said anybody is free to drag him to court over the controversy surrounding his secondary school certificate.Buhari stated this while fielding questions from newsmen, after a visit to him by the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) delegation, led by its national chairman, Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim.
Buhari, reacting to reports that he had been taken to court over the controversy surrounding his Secondary School certificate, maintained that "Well, I am not surprised. This is Nigeria. If people are serious about this issue, they ought to have listened to the legal adviser of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). INEC said it has got all the necessary documents, so, anybody who has any different view should go to court. I think they have gone to court, so let them remain there".
Earlier, the PDM national chairman had announced the unanimous decision of the party's National Executive Committee for its members and supporters to vote for Buhari on February 14. According to him, "of the available presidential candidates, two clearly stood out, but it is the opinion of NEC that the incumbent, who has been at the helm of affairs of the nation in the past six years, had failed. "NEC believes it is time for Nigerians to, therefore, give Buhari a chance," Ibrahim stated.

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As the February 2015 general elections gather momentum, the Igbo apex ruling body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday in Awka, the Anambra State Capital, endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan , the People Democratic Party ,(PDP) standard bearer for the presidential election.

Addressing newsmen, the President of Ohanaeze in Anambra State  who is also the chairman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo State Presidents Forum,   Chris  Eluemunoh,  said that the seven presidents—general of the seven states that make up the Igbo nation which include, Anambra; Chris Elumunoh, Enugu; Dr Eric Ebeh, Imo; Dr Ezechi Chukwu , Abia; Chief Emmanuel Oparanta,  Ebonyi; Pius Nwankwo, Rivers; Prince Igo Okparamma and Delta; Ifeanyichukwu Onwukamike, resolved to endorse him because of the need to implement the national conference recommendations as he was the initiator of the conference that they said,  would unite the country .

In a communiqué signed by the seven presidents-general, they posited that since the All Progressive Congress (APC), opted out of the conference, it meant that the initiator, President Jonathan would be voted to implement it .

According to them, "considering the realities of the forthcoming 2015 general elections, Ohanaeze Ndigbo State Presidents forum, has objectively made a critical assessment of the scenario  and our findings revealed that the implementation of the just concluded National Conference  resolutions  is both timely and necessary for the sake of equity, fairness and common good of all Nigerians as an entity".

The group reasoned that since the conference was the brainchild of President Jonathan , it was then logical and impressive that he would be desirous to implement the said confab resolutions rather  than any other candidate..

"In view of the forgoing, the Ohanaeze state presidents forum therefore endorses President Jonathan in the forthcoming presidential election and urges all Ndigbo in the 36 states of the federation and Abuja to vote massively for him."

On the alleged crises rocking the apex Igbo body, they stated that  Chief Enwo Igariweh and Dr. Joe Nworgu remained the President- General and Secretary General of the body adding "we disassociate ourselves and condemn herewith illicit and inordinate activities of Chief Mbazulike Amaechi and his cohorts in their bid to undermine the integrity of the duly  elected National Executive Council (NEC) of Ohanaeze Ndigbo".

They hinted that Chief Mbazulike and cohorts lacked the locus standi, statutory legitimacy and moral wherewithal to decimate or truncate the constitutional four year term of the Igariweh  led executive .

"Mbazulike is neither the leader nor spokesperson of Ndigbo and should refrain from parading himself as same "

According to them," Mbazulike and his cohorts are running the risk of extensive sanctions from Ohanaeze Ndigbo if they do not desist from their well-established antithetical utterances and inimical activities geared toward denigrating the present Ohanaeze Ndigbo NEC and the corporate integrity  of Ohanaeze."

The forum condemned the alleged bombing of its secretariat by an unscrupulous elements in the night of Jan. 24 2015 and implored security operatives to fish out the perpetrators of this heinous crime to face the wrath of the law.

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In a dramatic twist to several opinion polls that have been carried out in recent times on the Presidential election which comes up in about 18days, President Jonathan has been declared to be leading in a new poll being conducted by the Youth Ballot Evolution.

This poll was shared surprisingly by a Pastor Leke Adeboye who is the youngest son of Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church (RCCG).

Pastor Leke social media-friendly and personal assistant to Baba Adeboye is an entrepreneur with several business establishments globally.

Yesterday, Pastor Leke shared on his Facebook timeline a poll put together by Youth Ballot Evolution. According to the poll results, President Jonathan is ahead of APC's Muhammadu Buhari with 2%. As of 5:15pm on Tuesday, 27th January 2015, the post- which was put up on the Youth Ballot Evolution Facebook page on Sunday, 25th January – had received 4,102 likes and 1,360 shares. 

It's imperative to state that sharing a poll may not indicate the political leaning of the highly-esteemed Adeboye family.

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