BlackBox Nigeria

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Zamfara, lost one card reader during the training of ad-hoc staff in Anka Local Government Area, an official has confirmed.

INEC's Head of Voter Education and Publicity in the state, Alhaji Garba Galadima, who confirmed the incident on Sunday in Gusau, said security agents, were investigating the matter.

Also confirming the development, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Sunusi Amiru said the police had already arrested some suspects in connection with the stolen machine.
He said investigation had also commenced to unravel the circumstances behind the missing machine.
Amiru expressed the command's readiness to ensure peaceful election in the state, saying that "we will not tolerate any threat to disrupt election process and we have to ensure full protection of INEC materials."
He called on members of the public to cooperate with security agents and the INEC to ensure successful elections.

@blackboxupdate

Peter Ogba, 72, on Friday pleaded with an Ojo Customary Court in Lagos to dissolve his 44-year old marriage with Felicia, for alleged infidelity.
Ogba, an architect, told the court that the respondent turned promiscuous and unruly 32 years after their marriage which was contracted in 1971 and had produced eight children.
"In 2004, my wife started running after other men, sleeping about. I am a chief, and according to our culture, she has done something taboo", he said.

He said he had stopped eating at home because of his wife's current behaviour, adding that he had lost the love he used to have for his her.
"I complained to my fellow chiefs in my community and they have advised me to send her out.
"I bought a car for my wife in the 1970s when she was very young. I did all I could for her but she prefers to be promiscuous and I cannot take it anymore.
"Though my children are against my action because she had poisoned their minds against me, I prefer to die than coexist with a woman that indulges in fetish acts", he said.

Ogba said he had to get another woman to take care of him two years after his wife packed out of the matrimonial home.
"I appeal to this court to dissolve this marriage and eject Felicia from my house because we cannot coexist", he said.

Felicia, however, told the court that their families had settled the case back in the village, which had dragged on for 10 years before then.
She said that this made her to return to the matrimonial home in January.
"I don't know why my husband should bring the case to this court because we have settled the matter in the village after sacrificing a goat as required by our tradition.
"It is the other woman he brought into the house that is controlling him. However, my children have asked me not to pack out of my matrimonial home, so I will not pack out", she said.

Isioma Akolape, one of her daughters, said she and her siblings had been pleading with their parents and praying to God for the settlement of the crisis.
"I was pregnant when my dad drove our mum away from the house with a cutlass, we even performed traditional rites with N90,000 to settle the matter.
"My mother married my father when she was 16 years old and without any experience and they had been living together.
"But my dad had refused to listen to our pleas for settlement because he had brought in a new lady.
"I am pleading with our dad, on behalf of the eight children as my elder brother is out of the country, to forgive our mum and restore the relationship", she told the court.

The president of the court, Mr Hakeem Oyekan, said, "we acknowledge the fact that a disagreement arose in the relationship but dissolving the union will be a bad precedence that will not be pleasant in the future.
"Truth is bitter but it must be told, the children should not have allowed the case to drag on for 10 years before thinking of a settlement", he said.

He appealed to Ogba to allow the wife to move into an apartment outside the main building.
He advised the couple to remain peaceful and adjourned the case to April 27 for further hearing.

@blackboxupdate

Lagos State University has been shut down till further notice. This announcement was made earlier today by the management in a statement obtained by BlackBox Nigeria. The management however disclosed that the upcoming general elections was the reason they decided to close the school indefinitely putting paid to tension that it was as a result of the ongoing crisis involving some staff unions on campus.

The statement from the management read thus...

Perhaps, this move might be a way of curbing the ongoing crisis within the citadel!

Christopher Ezekiel, who is currently being investigated by the Lagos State Investigation Department, SCID, Panti, Yaba over the death of his facebook lover, Adekemi Faboro, has revealed how she died.
Recounting the incident that led to the victim's death, the father of two said this was actually the second time he was visiting her house in Lagos.
He said: "I met her online sometime between September and October 2014 on facebook and we began to chat. Early this year she came to Sagamu to visit me and she spent two days with me. She actually came on Friday and went back to Lagos on Saturday.
"I have an apartment where I work in Sagamu but my wife and children live in another apartment in Ibadan. I came to see her in Lagos around first week of March where I spent the weekend with her. This was the second time I visited her.
"On that fateful evening, we went out, spent quality time together and later retired to her apartment and slept.
''At about midnight, she began to complain about headache and then she started coughing. She coughed for a long while. It was when the coughing persisted that I had to go and knock on her next neighbours' door to help me locate a nearby hospital, since I am not familiar with Lagos terrain.
"So with the help of her neighbours, we went to a nearby private hospital (names withheld). After examining her condition, she was referred to the general hospital. At this time, her condition was getting worse, yet I did all I could to get her to the hospital.
"With the assistance of her neighbours, we made it to Ifako General Hospital in Ogba. By the time they began to attend to her, she had passed on. I am not in any way responsible for her death."
Ezekiel was arrested over the death of his facebook lover, Adekemi, who died during his visit to her apartment at 5, Folorunsho Street, off Ajayi Road, Ogba.
It was learned that the suspect's wife who works with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in Ibadan, was at the State Investigation Department, SCID, Panti, last Wednesday to see her husband.
Confirming the incident, Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, said autopsy would soon be conducted to determine the actual cause of the victim's death as investigation continues.

@blackboxupdate

Christopher Ezekiel, who is currently being investigated by the Lagos State Investigation Department, SCID, Panti, Yaba over the death of his facebook lover, Adekemi Faboro, has revealed how she died.
Recounting the incident that led to the victim's death, the father of two said this was actually the second time he was visiting her house in Lagos.
He said: "I met her online sometime between September and October 2014 on facebook and we began to chat. Early this year she came to Sagamu to visit me and she spent two days with me. She actually came on Friday and went back to Lagos on Saturday.
"I have an apartment where I work in Sagamu but my wife and children live in another apartment in Ibadan. I came to see her in Lagos around first week of March where I spent the weekend with her. This was the second time I visited her.
"On that fateful evening, we went out, spent quality time together and later retired to her apartment and slept.
''At about midnight, she began to complain about headache and then she started coughing. She coughed for a long while. It was when the coughing persisted that I had to go and knock on her next neighbours' door to help me locate a nearby hospital, since I am not familiar with Lagos terrain.
"So with the help of her neighbours, we went to a nearby private hospital (names withheld). After examining her condition, she was referred to the general hospital. At this time, her condition was getting worse, yet I did all I could to get her to the hospital.
"With the assistance of her neighbours, we made it to Ifako General Hospital in Ogba. By the time they began to attend to her, she had passed on. I am not in any way responsible for her death."
Ezekiel was arrested over the death of his facebook lover, Adekemi, who died during his visit to her apartment at 5, Folorunsho Street, off Ajayi Road, Ogba.
It was learned that the suspect's wife who works with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in Ibadan, was at the State Investigation Department, SCID, Panti, last Wednesday to see her husband.
Confirming the incident, Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, said autopsy would soon be conducted to determine the actual cause of the victim's death as investigation continues.

@blackboxupdate

Tragedy struck in the Ajegunle, Apapa area of Lagos State, after a 20-year-old woman, Gift Wahab, stabbed her lover, Ebi Amade, 28, to death.

It was learnt that the incident occurred at the couple's residence on Fasasi Street, Ajegunle, Apapa, on Thursday, March 19.
‎It was gathered that the suspect, Wahab, who hails from Uromi, Edo State, had been living with Ebi since 2013, after she dropped out of secondary school. Ebi hailed from Bayelsa State.
The two reportedly had a kid in 2014, who died in December after a brief sickness.

It was learnt that the couple had gone on an outing on Thursday when an argument ensued in the afternoon over feeding money.
Wahab, a hairdresser, was said to have stabbed the 28-year-old to death after they got home.
Policemen from the Layeni division were alerted by neighbours and she was subsequently arrested.

In a confessional statement, the suspect said she did not intend to kill her lover, adding that she acted in anger.
She said, "We have been together since 2013. My father died and I dropped out of school when I was in SSS 3, and that was when we started dating.
"On Thursday, we went out for an event. As we were returning home, I said he should hand me the key to the house and my feeding allowance, but he said no. He explained that he had no money for our feeding.
"Then he started to abuse me. I told him I was going home, and that he should not bother about the money again. That was how he punched me in the face and attacked me while we were still on the road.
"I left him and went to look for a hammer, which I used to break the door. That night, when he came in, I was still angry. I got a knife which I used to stab him. I didn't intend to kill him. I was just annoyed over what happened in the afternoon."

It was gathered that neither the victim's relatives nor the suspect's had learnt about the incident.
However, the corpse of the victim had been deposited in a mortuary in the area.

A police source revealed that Ebi was stabbed to death on the right side of the neck.

He added that the police had also recovered the knife used to commit the crime.
He said, "The couple met each other at a night club in 2013 and had been dating since then. They were not legally married. They went out on Thursday and probably got drunk in the process. When they returned, there was an argument and a fight began.
"The suspect ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. She stabbed her lover in the right side of the neck, and he was rushed to a hospital, where he died."

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the incident, adding that the matter had been transferred to the State Department of Criminal Investigations for further investigation.
He said, "The case has been transferred to the SDCI for further investigation, while the suspect is in our custody."

@blackboxupdate

The police in Ekiti have arrested a man, Wale Ede, 25, for allegedly beheading a 50-year-old Vehicle Inspection Officer and father of seven, Joshua Fagbola.

Fagbola, a patrol assistant with the Directorate of Road Traffic Service, otherwise known as the Vehicle Inspection Officer, in Ado Ekiti, met his untimely death at the wake of a relative on Friday at about 8pm in the Iro quarters of Iyin Ekiti, Ekiti State.

It was learnt that Ede attacked Fagbola when he was about to start the engine of his motorbike and
leave the venue of the wake.

The deceased had on Thursday reportedly seized the cell phone of his suspected killer when he failed to supply the brick block for which he had been paid.

An eye witness said Ede, on sighting the VIO at the wake, had rushed home to fetch a machete and inflicted cuts on the deceased's neck and other parts of the body.

The Ekiti Police Public Relations Officer, Alberto Adeyemi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, confirmed the incident to PUNCH on Sunday. He said that the suspect was being held at the Criminal Investigation Department at the police headquarters in Ado Ekiti.
"The suspect attacked the deceased from behind at the wake and almost cut his head off. It was reported that the deceased had on Thursday seized the suspect's cell phone for failing to provide the blocks he had paid him for.
"The suspect is being held at the state CID and we are still investigating the matter," Adeyemi said

@blackboxupdate

The police in Ekiti have arrested a man, Wale Ede, 25, for allegedly beheading a 50-year-old Vehicle Inspection Officer and father of seven, Joshua Fagbola.

Fagbola, a patrol assistant with the Directorate of Road Traffic Service, otherwise known as the Vehicle Inspection Officer, in Ado Ekiti, met his untimely death at the wake of a relative on Friday at about 8pm in the Iro quarters of Iyin Ekiti, Ekiti State.

It was learnt that Ede attacked Fagbola when he was about to start the engine of his motorbike and
leave the venue of the wake.

The deceased had on Thursday reportedly seized the cell phone of his suspected killer when he failed to supply the brick block for which he had been paid.

An eye witness said Ede, on sighting the VIO at the wake, had rushed home to fetch a machete and inflicted cuts on the deceased's neck and other parts of the body.

The Ekiti Police Public Relations Officer, Alberto Adeyemi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, confirmed the incident to PUNCH on Sunday. He said that the suspect was being held at the Criminal Investigation Department at the police headquarters in Ado Ekiti.
"The suspect attacked the deceased from behind at the wake and almost cut his head off. It was reported that the deceased had on Thursday seized the suspect's cell phone for failing to provide the blocks he had paid him for.
"The suspect is being held at the state CID and we are still investigating the matter," Adeyemi said

@blackboxupdate

Christopher Ezekiel, who is currently being investigated by the Lagos State Investigation Department, SCID, Panti, Yaba over the death of his facebook lover, Adekemi Faboro, has revealed how she died.
Recounting the incident that led to the victim's death, the father of two said this was actually the second time he was visiting her house in Lagos.
He said: "I met her online sometime between September and October 2014 on facebook and we began to chat. Early this year she came to Sagamu to visit me and she spent two days with me. She actually came on Friday and went back to Lagos on Saturday.
"I have an apartment where I work in Sagamu but my wife and children live in another apartment in Ibadan. I came to see her in Lagos around first week of March where I spent the weekend with her. This was the second time I visited her.
"On that fateful evening, we went out, spent quality time together and later retired to her apartment and slept.
''At about midnight, she began to complain about headache and then she started coughing. She coughed for a long while. It was when the coughing persisted that I had to go and knock on her next neighbours' door to help me locate a nearby hospital, since I am not familiar with Lagos terrain.
"So with the help of her neighbours, we went to a nearby private hospital (names withheld). After examining her condition, she was referred to the general hospital. At this time, her condition was getting worse, yet I did all I could to get her to the hospital.
"With the assistance of her neighbours, we made it to Ifako General Hospital in Ogba. By the time they began to attend to her, she had passed on. I am not in any way responsible for her death."
Ezekiel was arrested over the death of his facebook lover, Adekemi, who died during his visit to her apartment at 5, Folorunsho Street, off Ajayi Road, Ogba.
It was learned that the suspect's wife who works with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in Ibadan, was at the State Investigation Department, SCID, Panti, last Wednesday to see her husband.
Confirming the incident, Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, said autopsy would soon be conducted to determine the actual cause of the victim's death as investigation continues.

@blackboxupdate

Christopher Ezekiel, who is currently being investigated by the Lagos State Investigation Department, SCID, Panti, Yaba over the death of his facebook lover, Adekemi Faboro, has revealed how she died.
Recounting the incident that led to the victim's death, the father of two said this was actually the second time he was visiting her house in Lagos.
He said: "I met her online sometime between September and October 2014 on facebook and we began to chat. Early this year she came to Sagamu to visit me and she spent two days with me. She actually came on Friday and went back to Lagos on Saturday.
"I have an apartment where I work in Sagamu but my wife and children live in another apartment in Ibadan. I came to see her in Lagos around first week of March where I spent the weekend with her. This was the second time I visited her.
"On that fateful evening, we went out, spent quality time together and later retired to her apartment and slept.
''At about midnight, she began to complain about headache and then she started coughing. She coughed for a long while. It was when the coughing persisted that I had to go and knock on her next neighbours' door to help me locate a nearby hospital, since I am not familiar with Lagos terrain.
"So with the help of her neighbours, we went to a nearby private hospital (names withheld). After examining her condition, she was referred to the general hospital. At this time, her condition was getting worse, yet I did all I could to get her to the hospital.
"With the assistance of her neighbours, we made it to Ifako General Hospital in Ogba. By the time they began to attend to her, she had passed on. I am not in any way responsible for her death."
Ezekiel was arrested over the death of his facebook lover, Adekemi, who died during his visit to her apartment at 5, Folorunsho Street, off Ajayi Road, Ogba.
It was learned that the suspect's wife who works with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in Ibadan, was at the State Investigation Department, SCID, Panti, last Wednesday to see her husband.
Confirming the incident, Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, said autopsy would soon be conducted to determine the actual cause of the victim's death as investigation continues.

@blackboxupdate

Add BBN on 2BAFB965‎

Some suspected thugs yesterday shot at All Progressives Congress (APC) members who were campaigning at Obalende in Lagos.
Five people were injured –one of them critically – after the shooting.
An eyewitness said but for the intervention of soldiers from Dodan Barracks, the injured would have been more and that people would have been killed immediately. Four people – Babangida Bello shot in the leg; Gambo Idi shot close to the eye; Ibrahim Musa and Jubril Ishaku whose  ankles were shattered – were last night being treated at the Island Maternity Hospital (IMH), Lagos.
The fifth person, whose injury is critical, was referred to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Idi Araba for further care.
According to an eye witness, the thugs chased after APC members who began their rally close to the State House en-route Obalende. But as the thugs advanced behind them, they scurried into Dodan Barracks and Ikoyi Cemetery for safety.
Some of those shot were not even part of the rally.
Recounting his ordeal, Bello, who resides at 32 Ajeniya Street, said: "I was sitting in from of the mosque when I saw the thugs. They were many and armed with guns and machetes. They approached me without saying a word and shot me in the chest and leg. They also shot some other people."
Bello, who was writhing in pain, said some people also sustained minor injuries while running from the attackers.
APC member, Alhaja Rikiya Jubril, said their rally was peaceful and orderly until they approached Obalende via Ajeniya and Suya Junction when news reached them that some thugs were advancing to the area to unleash terror.
"Most of us scampered for our dear lives. I, along with some women, ran into the barracks while some of our members took solace in the cemetery. It was a frightening sight. This must stop before Saturday," she said.
Mrs Jubril said the incident happened at about 6pm. "It was soldiers that saved us.  I had to beg a woman for clothes in the middle of the stampede."
She said the thugs shot at APC members who were at the Obalende Office. "Many of those who got injured were those sitting in the front of the mosque," she added.
Adamawa Youth Leader of APC in Lagos, Alhaji Zakari Mohammed, said the casualty would have been more but for two police men from MOPOL 2 who told them not to go to Obalende and the intervention of some soldiers from Dodan Barracks.
"Some PDP thugs came in buses and were removing banners. We asked them not to remove our candidates' banners. The next thing they did was to bring out their guns and machetes and started attacking people. Many people were injured," he said.
He said: "Because the place is close to Dodan Barrack the soldiers came in The soldeires were forced to return fire which forced them to disperse.
He said the soldiers recovered a bus loaded with arms which they pushed into the barracks.
But PDP Lagos State Chairman Tunji Shelle denied that the thugs were his party members.

@blackboxupdate

Add BBN on 2BAFB965
Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, 91, is dead.
A statement by the country's prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong confirmed that Lee died at about 03:18 local time on Monday equivalent to 19:18 GMT on Sunday.
"Mr Lee passed away peacefully at the Singapore general hospital today at 3.18 am," the statement said.
Late Lee credited to have built his country into one the richest world nation has been on life support machine after his admission to the hospital on February 5 for severe pneumonia.

@blackboxupdate

After alleging that President Goodluck Jonathan and first lady, Patience Jonathan, were after his life, controversial Catholic Priest, Reverend Fr. Ejike Mbaka has reportedly shut down his church, Adoration Ministries in Enugu.

On Friday, March 20, Mbaka suspended his weekly crusade until after the general elections due to alleged threat to life.

On Wednesday, Mbaka had alleged a threat to his life through a statement signed by his Media Officer, Ike Maximus Ugwoke. He said: "It is with a deep sense of concern that we are constrained to make this statement on the continued threat to the life of Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka over his 2015 New Year message titled 'From Good Luck to Bad Luck. Last Wednesday, mean looking men in a black Hilux besieged his parish compound but they left disappointed when they could not see him."

The Adoration Ground in Emene, Enugu, usually attracts thousands of worshippers every Friday for spiritual healing and deliverance from satanic attacks.

However, last Friday, not less than 100,000 worshippers were reportedly left disappointed when they visited the church premises.

By night on Friday, what would have ordinarily been filled with a bevy of worshipers was a deserted holy ground.

@blackboxupdate

Two people have been killed, while at least 14 others injured after some hoodlums went on the rampage in the Idi Oro, Mushin area of Lagos State.

A source disclosed that the fight started on Wednesday after a man gave N1m to the hoodlums for the protection of a piece of land he newly acquired in the area.‎
He said the sharing of the money brewed bad blood among the groups, as they resorted to shooting and unleashing mayhem on one another.

It was further learnt that the first victim, identified simply as Eniba, was shot dead on Wednesday, while another yet-to-be-identified person was killed on Saturday.
He said, "The fight started on Wednesday night. A man who wants to build a structure in a site formerly occupied by a filling station gave N1m to the boys. He said the money was for the protection of the land.
"They did not agree on the sharing formula and that was how they started fighting. The gun battle was intense and nobody could come out in the area.
"As of Saturday, two people have been killed and many people injured."

Our correspondent was told that the fight was between gangs from Matuwo Street, who are called Oyindamola boys, and those of Olabinjo and Idi Oro streets.

A resident, who pleaded anonymity, said policemen from the Alakara division tried in vain to curtail the fight.
He said, "The boys were fighting in front of the filling station over money given them to protect the land.
"The police tried to curtail them, but they killed one person on Wednesday. Fourteen people were injured. They are factions and have refused to come to agreeable terms."

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed that there was a skirmish in the area.
He added that no life was reported lost in the incident.
He said, "Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the skirmish. Normalcy has since been restored to the area. Nobody was killed."

@blackboxupdate

Seven passengers reportedly died while 23 others were injured in a multiple accident which occurred at Danco filling station area along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Sunday.
It was gathered that those that died were four males and three females.

The accident, our correspondent learnt, involved four vehicles – a container-laden truck with number plate, AGL 632 XH; two commercial buses with number plates, XB 367 LAF; and XC 909 FFA ; and a Toyota Camry marked, KEY 857 DN.

The accident happened close to a reconstruction point on the expressway, and a site where the construction company handling the road project, Julius Berger, has its yard.

The Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Ogun State, Adetunji Adegoke, confirmed the accident on the telephone, but declined to make any comment on the number of casualties.
He said the FRSC officials and the police were at the accident scene to rescue the injured and clear the crash site for free movement of vehicles.
He said, "It is true that a multiple accident involving four vehicles happened on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Both the FRSC officials and policemen are there for rescue operation.
"Those injured in the accident have been taken to a hospital in the area."

The Unit Commander, Sagamu unit of the FRSC, Commander Abdullahi Mohammed-Lawal, who was at the crash site told our correspondent that those injured were taken to the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu and another private hospital in the area.
He said, "Those who were injured have been taken to the OOUTH, Sagamu, and a private hospital, Fakoya Hospital."

Efforts to reach the state police spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi, on the incident proved abortive, as he neither picked his calls nor replied to a text message sent to his phone.

However, the spokesperson for the state Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, Babatunde Akinbiyi, whose men were also at the crash site said seven people died and 23 others were injured.

@blackboxupdate

Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, has said the reasons adduced by his deputy, Tele Ikuru, for resigning from the All Progressives Congress, APC, were shocking to him.
He stated this via a statement by his Commissioner for Information and Communication, Ibim Semenitari, on Sunday.
Mr. Ikuru resigned from the APC and immediately canvassed support for the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Nyesom Wike. He followed Mr. Amaechi to the APC after the latter and four other governors dumped the PDP for the opposition party in 2013.
Mr. Ikuru, who was deputy governor to Mr. Amaechi's predecessor, Celestine Omehia, retained his position after Mr. Amaechi assumed office in October 2007 following Mr. Omehia's sack by the Court of Appeal.
Ms. Semenitari's statement said the governor received the news of Mr. Ikuru's resignation from the APC on Sunday evening. It stated that the news remained unofficial as the deputy governor was yet to notify the governor of his move. It, however, said the governor wished him the best in his future political endeavours.
"He however wishes to note that the reasons adduced by Engineer Ikuru are shocking as Deputy Governor lkuru has consistently been the one driving political activities in his local government area of Andoni. He has also been the second in command driving politics and governance in Rivers State," the statement said.
It also said the governor had hoped that "the numerous rumours of Engineer Ikuru's double-faced membership of the APC and open romance with the PDP were not true, he however appreciates the fact that every individual has a right to pursue his political dreams, as he deems most appropriate."
The statement further stated that it was regrettable that Mr. Ikuru chose the path of bare faced lies and name calling rather than the path of simply retracing his steps to where he has always been.
"On a personal note, Governor Amaechi has accorded Engineer Ikuru all the privileges and respect due the office of the Deputy Governor and has treated him with love as a friend and brother," it stated.

@blackboxupdate

NATIONAL leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, disclosed, yesterday, that following his nationwide consultations and discussions in the last couple of weeks, some governors and their deputies on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, would in the next few days return to the PDP.
Speaking in Abuja, Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, who noted that towards the last days of campaigns, the APC would totally crumble, stressed, however that with the defection of deputy governor of Rivers State, Tele Ikuru, to the PDP, it was a clear indication that President Goodluck Jonathan has the vision to take Nigeria to the next level which the Presidential candidate of APC does not have.
‎
Secondus, who described the defection of Ikuru to PDP as a welcome development, stressed that with the exit of the deputy governor and other candidates from the APC in Rivers, it was an indication that Governor Rotimi Amaechi was not providing any governance and the people have lost confidence in him, adding that it was now a landslide victory for PDP in the country.

PDPPCO urges others to emulate Ikuru
Meanwhile, PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation,  PDPPCO, yesterday  called on other leaders of the APC to emulate the deputy governor of Rivers State, Tele Ikuru, by decamping to the PDP.
In a statement. yesterday. by the Director of Media and Publicity of the PDPPCO, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode,  the PDP was happy to receive Ikuru back into its family.
According to Fani-Kayode, "we are glad to hear about the return of the deputy governor of Rivers State, Tele Ikuru, to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) family.  This was a deeply courageous step and we welcome him with open arms.
"We encourage other key leaders of the APC to abandon the ranks of the doomed and to join the PDP. We urge them to see the light and retrace their steps in the same way that the deputy governor of Rivers State has done.
"The defection of the deputy governor at this critical time represents a deep and grievous spiritual wound on the APC.  They are falling apart at the seams and they are crumbling. We agree with the deputy governor that the APC are a party of rebels and anarchists and they are a party of deceit.
"With a governor like Rotimi Amaechi, we wonder why the deputy governor took so long to leave.  The stench of filth and corruption that emanated from Amaechi's government must have been too much for his deputy governor to bear any longer.
"May God forgive the APC for that stench and for trying to deceive and destroy Nigeria.  Others should emulate the deputy governor and take the path of honour by leaving the APC before it is too late."

@blackboxupdate

President   Goodluck Jonathan has assured Nigerians that the polls re-scheduled to hold on March 28 and April 11, 2015, would not be shifted again.
The President gave the assurance in his closing remarks during the presidential debate, which held in Abuja yesterday afternoon.
The debate was organised by the Nigerian Elections Debate Group. Jonathan and 11 other presidential candidates participated in the debate.
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) was absent.

The Independent National Electoral Commission had shifted the polls earlier scheduled for February 14 and 28.
The President, during his last presidential media chat, said that the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, never informed him of his decision to postpone the polls after he (Jega) received a letter from the National Security Adviser calling for six weeks postponement of the elections.

Jonathan, on Sunday, thanked Nigerians for showing interest in the electoral process and assured that there would be no cause to postpone the elections again.
The President said, "Let me use this unique opportunity to thank Nigerians today for showing much interest in the electoral process and to re-assure Nigerians that elections will hold as scheduled by INEC . The presidential election and the National Assembly election on the 28th of this month, and the governorship and the state assembly election on 11th of next month."

The debate, which held in two batches, saw other presidential candidates promising alternative approaches to tackling corruption, the economy as well the problems in the oil, power, security and education sectors.

The four other candidates who debated with Jonathan in the second batch were those of the United Peoples Party, Chief Chekwas Okorie; United Democratic Party, Godson Okoye; Kowa Party, Prof. Oluremi Sonaiya; and the National Conscience Party, Martin Onovo.

Those who participated in the first batch included Tunde Anifowose-Kelani of the Action Alliance; Ganiyu Galadima of Allied Congress Party of Nigeria; Rafiu Salau of the Alliance for Democracy; Mani Ahmad of African Democratic Congress and Ayeni Adebayo of African Peoples Alliance.

Others are Sam Eke of Citizens Popular Party and Ambrose Owuru of Hope Democratic Party.

Jonathan urged Nigerians to vote for him for the second term on account of his administration's success in agriculture, power and infrastructural development.
He said that if he was re-elected, "Like we take GSM for granted, Nigerians will start taking power for granted."

Onovo of the NCP, who posited that corruption was at the root of every Nigerian problem, also promised that if elected, his administration "will increase the minimum wage by reducing the maximum wage."

He said his administration would follow the laid down strategy of the party in its fight against corruption. The NCP candidate, who said he would not privatise any sector of the economy, said the party's strategy against corruption had been captured as 4Es – Education, leadership by Example, Empowerment and Enforcement.

Sonaiya of the Kowa Party said that, if elected, her administration would restore the task of securing the nation's oil infrastructure to prevent theft to the traditional security forces, whose duty it is by law to perform.

Okorie of the UPP said his party would show leadership in the fight against corruption.
"If this cankerworm must be fought, it must be fought from the top," he said.

The UDP presidential candidate, Okoye, said the bane of Nigeria's problem was the neglect of merit in favour of ethnicity and primordial bias.

Anifowose-Kelani also said Nigeria's power problems ought to have been solved "with the N300bn released to power companies by the Central Bank of Nigeria."

Also Galadima of the ACPN said he would ensure that "each state generates its own power".

@blackboxupdate