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( Nigeria) The All Progressives Congress, APC, has described as sickening and outlandish claim by the Jonathan campaign Organisation that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu plans to become Vice President through the back door was designed to divert attention from the runaway success of the APC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, at the Chatham House in London last Thursday. APC in a statement on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,  said that the PDP and the Jonathan Administration still do not have any answer to what has now become an epochal moment that has separated the wheat from the chaff. ''Our presidential candidate's globally-acclaimed outing has presented Nigerians, and indeed the global community, with a choice between a bumbling, ineffective, incoherent, clueless, visionless and incompetent President and an assertive, knowledgeable, dignified, purposeful and principled President-in-waiting. ''Having failed to discredit that ou

(Nigeria) Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, PDPPCO, on Saturday, alleged that it has uncovered plots by the National leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC , Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to become the president of the country through the back door. Speaking with newsmen in Abuja, Director, Media and Publicity of PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani- Kayode who noted that the PDP was not wishing APC's presidential candidate, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari anything bad, in an address titled "APC is selling a dummy to the whole world; Tinubu is the real candidate" said, "I welcome you to this press conference, which purpose is to announce to the whole world the sinister plan by the opposition APC to foist on our dear nation an evil, ungodly, wicked and ruthless agenda an unlikely event the APC wins. "Since the formation of the APC it has been an open secret that Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu is its national leader and

(Nigeria) The All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate in Plateau State, Mr Simon Lalong, has cancelled his scheduled interactive session with stakeholders in the justice sector and the campaign rally  in Jos South Local Government Area of the slate for this weekend.  A statement by his campaign directorate, said the cancellation was in honour of victims of the twin bomb blast which occurred in the state and claimed several lives. The statement added that interactive session slated for weekend and  campaign rally are suspended till further notice.  Lalong had earlier met with the Jos Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, where he informed them of his intention to contest the governorship election.  He had invited stakeholders to the interactive session before the news of the blast. "My heart goes out to the victims of the blast and their families, The interactive session  with stakeholders in the Justice sector will hold on a date to be announced  very s

Leader of the Russian North Caucasian republic of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov has accused Western secret services of assassination of the RPR-Parnassus party co-chair, Boris Nemtsov. "Forces interested in fanning tensions could have been just those that agreed to this devious step as the plotters had hoped the whole world would accuse the country’s leadership in Nemtsov’s death and it would arouse a protest wave," Kadyrov wrote on his Instagram page, reports Tass. "It goes beyond doubt that Nemtsov’s assassination had been plotted by the Western secret services striving to produce by all means an internal conflict in Russia. That is their rule. First, they have a person get closer, lend him wings and then sacrifice in order to blame the political leadership." He claims there were loads of such examples and "Kiev’s hatred towards Russia" could not but be just shrugged off. "Hands of Ukraine’s secret services were the ones that could have enforced a

Russia is prepared to supply natural gas directly to the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics only if Ukraine’s oil and gas monopoly, Naftogaz Ukrainy, files a notification on refusal to deliver gas there, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday in an interview with Rossiya’24 news channel. "Only if there’s a written confirmation," he said. "As for now, we hear only oral statements from Naftogaz," reports Tass . Novak said deliveries of Russian gas to Donbas had been separated from the exports to Naftogaz. "The problem of payments for this fuel will be resolved later," he said. He recalled that Russia was supplying 12 million cubic meters of gas to the crisis-stricken embattled south-eastern regions of Ukraine. The Russian side believes the pumping of gas through the gas measuring stations in south-eastern Ukraine stands in line with the effective agreement, which Gazprom and Naftogaz Ukrainy signed in 2009.

A series of attacks targeting public places and Shiite militia checkpoints in and north of Iraq's capital killed 37 people Saturday, authorities said. The first bombs exploded near the market in the town of Balad Ruz, 70 kilometers (45 miles) northeast of Baghdad, killing 11 people and wounding 50, police and hospital officials said, reports AP. Two suicide car bombers later attacked checkpoints manned by Shiite militiamen near the city of Samarra, killing 16 Shite fighters and wounding 31, authorities said. Samarra and surrounding areas have been under constant attacks by the Islamic State group, which holds about a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in its self-declared caliphate. Clashes between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State militants followed the attack around Samarra, 95 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad. Saturday night, police said a bomb killed four people in western Baghdad, while another in Baghdad's neighborhood of Abu Dashir killed three people an

An Egyptian court declared Hamas a "terrorist organization" on Saturday, further isolating the blockaded rulers of the Gaza Strip once openly welcomed by the country's toppled Islamist-dominated government. The ruling is unlikely to have any immediate effect on Hamas, still reeling from last summer's war with Israel and choked by an Israeli-Egyptian blockade set up in 2007, reports AP. Moussa Abu Marzouk, Hamas' No. 2 leader, is based in Cairo and is receiving medical treatment there, members of the group say. The move underlines Egypt's increasing hostility to Hamas, which the court blamed for violence in the country's restive Sinai Peninsula. The secretive movement, founded in Gaza in 1987 as an offshoot of the region's Egyptian-originated Muslim Brotherhood, faces a growing cash crunch and has yet to lay out a strategy to extract Gaza from its increasingly dire situation. "There is no doubt that Hamas is being pushed into the corner further

The people of the southern African mountain kingdom of Lesotho voted Saturday in early parliamentary elections aimed at restoring stability after the prime minister accused the army of a coup attempt in August. Twenty-four parties vied for support among the 1.2 million registered voters in the country, which is surrounded by South Africa, reports dpa. Long queues formed at polling stations, raising hopes of a high turnout. The vote count was due to start immediately after polling stations closed, with the first results expected Sunday and the final ones by Thursday. The elections were moved forward by two years after soldiers were accused of attempting a coup on August 30, surrounding Prime Minister Thomas Thabane's residence and police headquarters. One police officer was killed. The army said at the time it only wanted to disarm rogue elements within the police force - but the Southern African Development Community (SADC) said the events "had the hallmarks" of a co

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe on Saturday marked his 91st birthday with lavish celebrations at Victoria Falls, defying Western criticism of his policies by vowing to expel the country's last remaining white farmers from their land. "We don't need a white man to continue to guide us. No. We are now equipped with skills," Mugabe told thousands of guests at a luxury safari lodge, reports dpa . Songs in his honour, and poems recited by children, were part of the tribute to Zimbabwe's leader of the past 35 years, who has faced criticism in the West for repression of the opposition, corruption and for redistributing thousands of white-owned farms to inexperienced black farmers. Critics say the redistribution sparked food shortages and contributed to a massive inflation. In a speech deviating from its original script and lasting more than an hour, Mugabe said he was "shocked" to discover that 163 farms were still owned by whites. He made the remar

Iran is ready to build smaller reactors than previously announced, the head of the country's nuclear agency indicated Friday ahead of next week's new round of talks on Iran's nuclear programme. Reactors with a capacity of 50 to 100 megawatts would be effective and they would be cheaper than reactors of 1,600 megawatts, Ali Akbar Salehi was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency, reports dpa. Iran had presented plans for power reactors ranging from 360 to 1,600 megawatts in past years, which could be built in addition to its operating reactor in Bushehr. Smaller reactors would need less fuel made from enriched uranium, a material that can be processed further into nuclear weapons. Iran is negotiating a deal with Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany to curb Tehran's uranium enrichment and other parts of its nuclear programme in return for ending economic sanctions on Tehran. A new round of talks is to start Monday evening in Montreux, Switz

France at this stage is satisfied with the implementation of the Minsk agreements, in particular, on ceasefire, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexandre Giorgini said on Friday. "France satisfactorily notes that ceasefire in east Ukraine is in general observed by both sides," Giorgini said, reports Tass . Paris also welcomed the latest prisoner swap as 138 Ukrainian soldiers and 52 self-defense militiamen were exchanged on February 21, the spokesman added. "We approve the continuing process of heavy weaponry withdrawal which must be carried out in compliance with the package of measures adopted in Minsk on February 12," the diplomat said. "France also welcomes the participation of OSCE [Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe] mission and observers at the scene. We call upon all sides to ease the process of observing and monitoring the ceasefire and heavy weaponry withdrawal for OSCE and provide full access for observes on the whole territory,

Several samples of firearms of western manufacture have been found at Donetsk’s ruined airport, the spokesman for the Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Eduard Basurin, told a news briefing at the Donetsk News Agency. "Samples of Western firearms have been unearthed during debris-clearing operations at the Donetsk Airport. Our specialists are now examining them," he said., reports Tass. Heavy weapons withdrawal in eastern Ukraine The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has pulled out 17 artillery groups from the line of contact in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine, defence ministry’s spokesman went on to say. "Howitzers were pulled out from our positions in Makeyevka and Illovaisk in the presence of the monitors of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE. We have already withdrawn 17 artillery groups," he said. Basurin also said that by now the DPR had no reliable proof of Kiev’s withdrawing heavy w

The death toll from the current Ebola outbreak has reached 9,660, while the number of those infected amounts to 23,825, the World Health Organisation, WHO, said in a statement on Friday. These cases were reported from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, reports Tass. In line with statistics, the maximum number of Ebola-related deaths and cases has been registered in Liberia — 4,057 cumulative deaths and 9,265 cumulative cases. Liberia is followed by Sierra Leone (3,490 deaths and 11,370 cases) and Guinea (2,113 deaths and 3,190 cases). The number of Ebola deaths in these three countries rose by 71 and the number of cases rose by 131 since February 25. Separate cases have also been registered in Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Spain, Great Britain and the United States. In most of these countries the number of Ebola-related cases does not exceed ten, with the only exception of Nigeria, where 20 people are infected by Ebola virus and eight have died. WHO describes Ebola virus disease (former

(Nigeria) Ndigbo Cultural Society of Nigeria, NCSN, on Friday, said it would amount to discriminating conduct, if they the Federal Government fails to direct Prof. Attahiru Jega to  proceed on a pre-disengagement leave. President of the group, Chief Udo Udeogaranya in a statement, said "We all recalled in 2010, the then Acting President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan ordered that the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission,  INEC, Professor Maurice Iwu to proceed on a pre-disengagement leave and those shouting now on the roof top over purported Prof Jega terminal leave, hailed Maurice Iwu's terminal leave order then, as the best thing to have happened to democracy in Nigeria. "Prof. Jega having displayed the highest level of incompetence ranging from poor distribution of voters cards to inability to conduct elections as when due, should and must proceed on terminal leave, hence it is believed that his tenure would not be renewed. "What is good for the Goose is

(Nigeria) The All Progressives Congress, APC, has condemned the needless resort to sheer hysteria by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the Goodluck Jonathan administration over what it called the globally-acclaimed appearance of the APC's Presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, at the Chatham House in London on Thursday. APC in a statement in on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said even when it was so apparent that the PDP and the Jonathan Administration were so stunned and stung by Gen. Buhari's well-accepted presentation,​ ​they could have saved themselves from further disgrace by simply keeping quiet, instead of exposing their inanities. ''For the spokesmen of the PDP and the Jonathan Campaign organisations to have rushed to the press to denounce what was a patriotic presentation by a high-regarded Nigerian is not only absurd but a new low, even for those who have lost every sense of propriety in their public actions and

(Nigeria) The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has arrested an Indian national for importing and distributing fake and unregistered regulated products into Nigeria. His arrest followed a special raid and enforcement operation in some markets and locations in Port Harcourt Rivers state by the Investigation and Enforcement directorate of the Agency from Lagos. Addressing journalists after the exercise,the leader of the team,Mr. Folorunso Idowu, a Chief Regulatory Officer, said the Indian who gave his name as Mr Prakarsh Mohinani was arrested along with several cartons of unregistered confectionery worth millions of naira following  a tip-off in one of the hotels in Port Harcourt. Idowu stressed that the confectionery arrested along with the Indian included products such as "Maliange" mushroom pieces and stems used as spices for delicacies such as fried and jollof rice among others. He revealed that the team also sealed two other shop

By Mohammadu Buhari Permit me to start by thanking Chatham House for the invitation to talk about this important topic at this crucial time. When speaking about Nigeria overseas, I normally prefer to be my country’s public relations and marketing officer, extolling her virtues and hoping to attract investments and tourists. 

(Nigeria) Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday visited the scene of what is feared to be Boko Haram's worst massacre and vowed that the insurgency would soon be over.

(Nigeria) Rivers State Government has dismissed as untrue, allegations that Governor Rotimi Amaechi abused public funds.

About 35 persons have been killed in bomb explosions in Jos, Plateau State and a suicide attack on a bus station in Borno State.

(Nigeria) The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Rivers State, has said that repeated attacks on its members has become most worrisome and can no longer be taken as ordinary as certain persons opposed to the party seem to have made it a point of duty to eliminate marked PDP candidates and chieftains, the state party chairman, Mr Felix Obuah has cried out.

An Al-Jazeera journalist will face court for illegally flying a drone in Paris, amid a spate of drone flyovers that have confounded French authorities amid heightened security concerns.

The number of Christians abducted by the Islamic State group in northeastern Syria has risen to 220 in the past three days, as militants round up more hostages from a chain of villages along a strategic river, activists said Thursday.

Ukraine said Thursday that it has begun withdrawing heavy weapons from the front line in the country's east, injecting new hope into the latest peace agreement.

South Korea's Constitutional Court Thursday repealed a law punishing adultery, after four previous attempts to throw out the law had failed, a news report said.

Ali Abdullah Saleh Yemen's former president Ali Abdullah Saleh has allegedly amassed assets estimated at 32 to 60 billion dollars during his 33 years in power, a United Nations report said Wednesday.

One Turkish soldier and one Afghan passerby die in a suicide attack that targeted the vehicle of senior North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO representative in Kabul, officials say.

(Nigeria) The Nigerian Army on Wednesday announced a special promotion for all soldiers involved in liberating Baga in Borno from Boko Haram insurgents.

(Nigeria) The Senate on Wednesday, slashed the allocation for petrol and kerosene subsidies presented by the Ministry of Finance in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework for 2015 - 2017.

(Nigeria) Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Wednesday commended the Armed Forces for advancing in the fight against insurgency.

(Nigeria) The kidnappers of the 87-year-old American woman missionary , Rev. Phyllis Sortor, have reduced their ransom demand for her release from N60 million to N30 million, an aide of hers said.

Three Al-Jazeera journalists have been arrested for illegally flying a drone in Paris Wednesday, after unidentified drones flew over the Eiffel Tower and key Paris landmarks for a second night running.

(Nigeria) The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan on Wednesday, gave reasons why President Goodluck Jonathan deserves to be reelected for a second term.

(Nigeria A defence witness, Kola Olapoju, on Wednesday told a Federal High Court in Lagos that the transactions which led to the trial of a former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, were "unusual and exceptional".

Zimbabwean government said on Wednesday in Harare, that it has deported 179 Ethiopians who illegally entered into the country in October 2014.

A woman holds a picture of Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko during a rally outside the Russian Embassy in Kiev, Ukraine. Photo by AP  A Russian court on Wednesday refused to release a Ukrainian prisoner whose fate has attracted global attention.

 Stephen Keshi (Nigeria) Stephen Keshi, has lost bid to coach the Stallions of Burkina Faso. Federation of Burkinabe Football, FBF, named 61-year-old German trainer, Gernot Rohr, as the new handler of their senior national football team.

(Nigeria) The Consumer Protection Council,CPC on Thursday in Abuja signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to further protect consumers’ interest.

(Nigeria) An attempted jail break in Calabar prison, Cross River State, has been foiled by officers and men of the Nigerian Prisons Service, NPS, with the support of the Army and Police Force, with eight prisoners killed, 17 wounded and four prison warders also injure.

President Putin President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia will cut gas supplies to Ukraine if it fails to pay in advance for future deliveries.

Lesothoans are set to hit the polls on Saturday amid fears that the early parliamentary elections aimed at restoring order following a coup attempt could plunge the southern African kingdom into yet more instability and violence.

Warning of a threat to national security, a top South African official on Wednesday condemned an alleged leak of South African intelligence documents and said an investigation is underway.

(Nigeria) The All Progressives Congress, APC, has described as untenable and an after-thought the statement credited to President Goodluck Jonathan as the reason why the Ekiti State rigging audio tape has not been investigated, saying the President's position on the issue shows he may have something to hide.

(Nigeria) A 59-year old man, Tajudeen Shoneye, has been charged before a Lagos High Court in Ikeja for allegedly having unlawful canal knowledge of an 8-year old girl.

(Nigeria) Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has appeal to four United Nations Special Rapporteurs and the Special Envoy on Global Education over the imposition of compulsory insurance scheme for students of the Federal Government Colleges.

     Scene of a clash between insurgents and Nigerian army (Nigeria) Niger Delta former militant leaders, yesterday, said that the remarkable achievement gained by the Nigeria Armed Forces, the Joint Multi-national Task Forces in their present onslaught against Boko Haram in the North-East region, has proved President Goodluck Jonathan critics wrong.

Chadian soldiers  with tanks fighting Boko Haram on Nigeria’s border   A Cameroonian soldier stands behind a chest-high wall of sandbags, his machine gun pointing in the direction of Nigeria. He's concentrating hard, his trigger finger at the ready.

(Nigeria) Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, has accused the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP-led Federal Government of destroying the nation’s economy.

(Nigeria) Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, has claimed that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state has perfected plans to rig the forthcoming general elections on March 28 and April 11.

(Nigeria) Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP governorship candidate, Mr Nyesom  Wike has berated the All Progressives Congress, APC for refusing to support the military following their successes in decimating Boko Haram.

A total of 80 percent of buildings have been destroyed during combat activities in the city of Debaltsevo in the Donetsk Region, city mayor Alexander Afendikov said Tuesday.

(Nigeria) President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday,  condemned the reversion by the terrorist group, Boko Haram to the callous bombing of soft targets in parts of Nigeria in the wake of the ongoing rapid recovery by gallant Nigerian troops and their multinational allies of areas formerly controlled by the sect.

A United States church, has said that  several people abducted one of its missionaries from a compound in Kogi State, Nigeria.

Oscar Pistorius' case will return to court next month after his lawyers said Tuesday they will challenge a judge's decision to allow prosecutors to appeal the Olympic runner's negligent killing conviction.

(Nigeria) Two blasts rocked bus stations in Potiskum,  Yobe State and Kano on Tuesday, killing at least 27 people, as relentless attacks persist less than five weeks from general elections.

(Nigeria) The campaign organisation of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate for Lagos State has accused the ruling All People’s Congress, APC of intimidating and indiscriminately arresting its supporters.

(Nigeria) Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, has reassured the general public that the Ultra Modern Central Hospital in Benin City, currently under construction will be completed and ready for use before the end of 2015.

(Nigeria) A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Tuesday, ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Femi Fani-Kayode's traveling passport.

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has said President Goodluck Jonathan bears a huge moral responsibility that will hunt him for a long time to come for deliberately allowing the Boko Haram insurgency to fester, leading to the deaths of over 15,000 Nigerians and the displacement of over three million others in the past six years.

A French woman working for an international organisation was kidnapped Tuesday morning in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, France's Foreign Ministry said.

A prime minister and interior minister under former Egyptian leader Hosny Mubarak were cleared Tuesday in their retrial on corruption charges.

Leaked cables purport to show that claims made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Iran's uranium enrichment programme were rejected by Mossad, his own intelligence agency.

Iraqi Christians demonstrate in Brussels Islamic State extremists have abducted at least 90 Assyrian Christians in the north-east of Syria, a monitoring group said Tuesday.

Howitzers were seen moving east Tuesday from the largest rebel-held city in eastern Ukraine further into separatist-controlled territory, but the Ukrainian government disputed the rebels' claim that a heavy weapons pullback had begun.

The separatists in eastern Ukraine said Tuesday that they have started a full-scale unilateral withdrawal of their heavy weapons from the front line, while fresh talks on implementing a ceasefire began in Paris, France.