FULL UPDATE: ElBaradei has not been named PM as earlier announced - State Media

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Egyptian state television said the interim prime minister had not yet been chosen, after named officials and state media earlier said Mohamed ElBaradei would be appointed on Saturday.

An adviser to the interim president, Ahmed al-Muslimani, said that: "There is still no exact date for the nomination of a Prime Minister or for the formation of a government." "Negotiations are still ongoing," he added, noting that representatives of the "Muslim Brotherhood will allowed to participate in the elections."

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"Nobody can stop me from contesting in 2014" — Opeyemi Bamidele

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The Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Legislative Budget and Research, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, has said his determination to contest the 2014 governorship election in Ekiti State was unstoppable.

Bamidele spoke in Ado Ekiti on Saturday while addressing his supporters who are members of the Action Congress of Nigeria. Surprisingly, some members of the Peoples Democratic Party were seen at the event which was held along Basiri Road. The event was held under the platform of ‘Ekiti Bibire Coalition.’

Leaders of the ACN including Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande, had on Wednesday in Ado Ekiti, endorsed Governor Kayode Fayemi for second term. Tinubu had asked Bamidele to drop his ambition saying the right time would come for him to contest but the lawmaker insisted that nothing could stop him from contesting the poll. 

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We don’t need two-party system — SNG ( Do You Agree?)

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The Save Nigeria Group has said the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and the emerging mega opposition party, All Progressives Congress, lack the ideology to be the dominant parties in a two-party system. In an interview with our correspondent, the Publicity Secretary, SNG, Yinka Odumakin, while faulting the call for two-party system in the country, noted that countries like Britain and the Unites States of America had two dominant political parties.

Odumakin said, “In our political sphere, having a two-party system is like having a one-party state. When you look at the character of the politicians who are in the parties that appear to have dominion, they are not different from each other.

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Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi gives N300m to 82 communities

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Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has given N300m to 82 communities in the state to undertake various community projects under the Self-Help Programme of the state government.

The cheques were presented to the communities in Oye Ekiti at a ceremony attended by dignitaries including the Chairman of Action Congress of Nigeria, Chief Bisi Akande, a former governor, Niyi Adebayo, and Fayemi’s wife, Bisi.

He said the gesture was in fulfillment of the resolutions reached with community leaders in the state during the stakeholders’ meetings held last year.

He added that the self-help project was in line with the government’s commitment to bring development to the people. Fayemi, “As part of the efforts of the present administration to bring development to the rural communities where over 75 per cent of the populace reside, the Ministry of Rural Development and Community Empowerment was created in January 2013.

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Pension Fund Administrators to invest ₦3.4tn in infrastructure from part of the growing pension funds

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Acting Director-General, PenCom, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu

Culled From Punch Nigeria

Pension Fund Administrators will invest part of the growing pension funds in infrastructure after the Pension Reform Act 2004 must have been replaced with a new act.

This was contained in a memorandum submitted by the National Pension Commission to the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service and the House Committee on Pensions at the joint public hearing for the proposed enactment of the Pension Reform Act 2013.  Acting Director-General, PenCom, Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, said the commission proposed that the funds should be utilised for national development.

The bill states, “There is a consensus among stakeholders that the PRA should facilitate the optimal utilisation of pool of funds generated by the Contributory Pension Scheme towards national development.” It added that provisions had been made in the bill for the expansion of permissible investment instruments to accommodate initiatives for national development, such as investment in the real sector.

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FG Considers New Approach To Create one Million fresh jobs Annually

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The Federal Government will quickly unveil a new plan that will assist you to create about one million fresh jobs annually.

The Special Adviser to the President on Job Creation, Mr. Obi Adim, who disclosed this during a chat with journalists in Abuja on Friday, said the initiative would address the country's high unemployment rate in a pragmatic way.  Nigeria's unemployment rate, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, currently stands at 23.9 per cent.

Adim, who addressed journalists in company with the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation, Josephine Washima, said already the initiative, Integrated Youth Development Programme, had received a lot of buy-in from stakeholders, adding the entire details of the programme would be released before the conclusion of next month.

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Otunba Gbenga Daniel not our leader — South-West PDP

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The Peoples Democratic Party in the South-West on Saturday said a former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, did not lead its members in the zone to the inauguration of the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway by President Goodluck Jonathan.  The party said it was laughable that Daniel now known as the “chief promoter” of the rival Labour Party in the zone would be the head of the party’s delegation to the event presided over by a president elected on the platform of the PDP.

Jonathan had on Friday in Sagamu, Ogun State inaugurated the reconstruction of the road.

The South-West PDP in a statement by its Zonal Publicity Secretary, Waheed Lawal, in Abeokuta said the clarification was necessary against the backdrop of reports in some sections of the media that Daniel led the party’s delegation to the event.

Why I retired as Major-General — Buhari

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A former Head of State, Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) on Friday said he decided to retire with his current rank in 1985, to defend and promote the integrity of the military, instead of promoting himself. Buhari said this at a public presentation of two books: “Nigerian military in politics: 1966-2011 and Politics of transition to civil rule in Nigeria” in Zaria, Kaduna State. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the books were published by Head of Political Science Department, Federal College Education, Zaria, Nuhu Ramalan

“It was the conviction of our regime that, being the Head of State and Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, does not mean that you are the overall General. “My ultimate goal as at then was to ensure integrity, justice, equity, accountability and transparency in the system. That was why I did away with unnecessarily promoting myself to General,” he said. Speaking on the military in politics, Buhari, the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change in the 2011 general elections, identified some weaknesses of the past military regimes to include corruption and abuse of office. 

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First ladies’ impunity should stop — Falana

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Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana, in this interview with LEKE BAIYEWU, says the office of the First Lady is illegal and the roles of president/governors’ wives should be limited

W hat does the Nigerian constitution say about the office of the First Lady and what are the roles assigned to the occupant?

The post of the First Lady is not a creation of the constitution. In other words, there is no mention or reference to the post in the constitution or any other statute in the land. So, the question of assigning responsibilities to the office does not arise. In the first and second republics, there was no office of the First Lady. Even under successive military regimes up to the Muhammadu Buhari/Tunde Idiagbon era, the post was unknown. It was under the Gen. Ibrahim Babangida junta that the wife of the military president created the post, albeit illegally. There was no decree to back it up.

Unemployment giving me sleepless nights — Okonjo-Iweala

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The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said the spate of unemployment in the country is giving her sleepless nights.

Okonjo-Iweala said this while inspecting an ultramodern Information and Communications Technology factory of Omatek Nigeria Plc in Lagos on Friday.

She said, 

“According to the National Bureau of Statistics, each year, about 1.8m young Nigerians enter into our labour market and we need to ensure that our economy provides jobs for them.

“In fact, some people ask, ‘What keeps you awake at night, with regard to this economy?’ I say it is the issue of job creation. And I know this is what keeps Mr. President (Goodluck Jonathan) awake at night as well.

“That is why we have responded to the challenge of creating jobs by trying to transform several sectors of the economy; from agriculture, where we’re expecting to create 3.5m jobs and where the progress of reaching our goal of feeding this country is already well advanced.”

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We’re searching for Fashola’s successor – ACN (Tinubu to impose his wife on Lagos?)

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The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria has refuted speculations that Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the wife of the National Leader of the Party, Bola Tinubu, has been chosen to succeed Governor Babatunde Fashola as Lagos governor.  The speculations, which have become a subject for debate on the Internet, has it that Tinubu has decided to impose his wife on the state, by  ensuring that she emerges as the candidate of the ACN in the 2015 governorship election.

But the Publicity Secretary of Lagos ACN, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, told SUNDAY PUNCH that it was mere fabrication, saying the Senator was not interested in governing the state. “No, it’s not true. There is no element of truth in that. It is a figment of the imagination of the people who are propagating the idea. The woman is not interested in that. There’s nothing like that. We see it as a rumour of the marketplace. It’s all noise and no substance. She is satisfied with where she is in the Senate,” he said.

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Q&A: 10 UNBELIEVABLE Things That Can Spoil Your Fast - Hnmnm

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well this is to all friend that will be fasting shortl...check it out
THINGS WHICH SPOIL FAST

Q. 1: Will fast be spoilt by chewing "Paan" or tobacco?
A. Fast is spoilt by every that thing which is eaten or drunk and so is the case with the chewing of "Paan" (betel leaf) or tobacco even though its spittle is spewed, for, its tiny pieces definitely reach up to the throat. Similarly, putting such thing in the mouth that melts like sugar will also spoil the fast if the fasting man swallows the spittle so sweetened.

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Jungle Justice: Brazilian Referee Beheaded by Fans for Killing Player

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There were absolutely horrific scenes at an amateur football match in Brazil when spectators lynched a referee and put his head on a stake after he had killed a player.  The barely believable incident happened in Maranhao, Brazil, last Sunday.  According to reports in Brazil, referee Otavio Jordao da Silva (20) fatally stabbed footballer Josenir dos Santos Abreu (30) during a heated moment of a match, reports Eurosport.

Santos Abreu is believed to have argued and then struck the referee after being unhappy with a decision.  It is believed the referee was carrying a knife throughout the match and fatally stabbed the player in retaliation.
Santos Abreu was rushed to hospital but died from injuries on the way.

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Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 Crashes At San Francisco Airport

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An Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 flying from Seoul crashed while landing on Saturday at San Francisco International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.  It was not clear whether there were any injuries, CNN said. The FAA said it did not know how many people were onboard the plane.  Images from television station KTVU in San Francisco showed extensive fire damage to the airplane, which had lost its tail and one of its wings in the crash. Fire engines were on scene and the fire, which had burned through the cabin’s roof, appeared to be out.

ElBaradei picked as new Egypt PM: anti-Morsi movement

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Liberal opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei has been chosen as Egypt's new prime minister, the Tamarod campaign behind the protests that toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi said on Saturday after talks with the country's interim president.

A military source confirmed to AFP that the former UN nuclear watchdog chief was to be sworn in as premier later on Saturday, three days after the army overthrew Morsi. The official MENA news agency said ElBaradei was in talks with interim leader Adly Mansour.

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If Care’s Not Taken, Nigeria’ll Go The Way Of Egypt, I Refused to Give Up - Muhammadu Buhari

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Three time Presidential candidate, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari(rtd), has warned political leaders in the country to take a cue from what happened in Egypt a few days ago.

Egyptian President, Mr. Mohammed Morsi, was on Thursday overthrown by the country’s military after days of protest near the Presidential Palace.

Speaking at the public presentation of two books by Malam Nuhu Ramalan, Head of Political Science Department of the Federal College of Education (FCE), Zaria, the former Head of State said:
“I encourage young men to buy the books to know their history. Although I know history would keep on repeating itself, as it (has) just been in Egypt. Nigeria would not be an exception, and by the way we are going only God knows where we are going to end up, but I hope we would end up well”.

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Voodoo man manhandled by Angry youths over suspected killer charms

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An herbalist, Ndem Asuquo renown for being a specialist in preparing killer charms for his clients, recently cheated death as he was seriously battered in Creek Town, Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State by angry youths.  Eye witness account had it that the voodoo man was manhandled by youths of the area while allegedly preparing a fetish concoction to kill the youth leader of the town, purportedly for one of his clients, identified as Bassey Nyong who was forced out of office by the youths.  Bassey who lost the fight to retain the youth’s leadership seat of the town, enlisted the services of the herbalist, renowned for preparing killer charms.

suicide bomber ‘kills 12’ inside police station

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At least 12 people have been killed and five wounded in a suicide attack at a police station in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan, officials say. Most of the victims are thought to be police officers who were having lunch at the time the attacker struck.  The station in Tirin Kot is used by police guarding the road to Kandahar. A senior intelligence official told the BBC that the assailant had managed to gain entry to the dining hall because he was wearing a police uniform.

It was not clear if the bomber was a member of the police force, but Mohammed Khpalwak said it was a clear breach of security that would be investigated. Five people were also injured in the incident.  Some of the casualties were said to be friends and relatives of the police officers who had joined them for lunch. Afghan police have consistently been targeted by the Taliban, and this attack comes shortly after Nato handed over security responsibility to local Afghan forces.

In a separate incident yesterday, two children were killed by a roadside bomb in the Chora district, officials said. They were thought to be aged 10 or 11.

'World's biggest cocaine dealer' deported to Italy

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An Italian mafia capo alleged to be the biggest cocaine trafficker in the world will be deported to Italy on Saturday, a day after being arrested in a Colombian shopping mall, prosecutors said.

Roberto Pannunzi was detained in Bogota with a fake Venezuelan identity card in a joint operation by Colombian police together with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

"He is the biggest cocaine importer in the world," said Nicola Gratteri, deputy chief prosecutor in Reggio Calabria in southern Italy.

"He is the only one who can organise purchases and sales of cocaine shipments of 3,000 kilos (6,600 pounds) and up," he said.

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Gunmen kill 42 in school attack in Nigeria: Medical Worker

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Gunmen believed to be Islamists from Nigeria's Boko Haram insurgent group killed 42 people, mostly students, in an overnight attack on a secondary school in restive Yobe state, a medical worker and residents said Saturday.

"We received 42 dead bodies of students and other staff of Government Secondary School (in) Mamudo last night. Some of them had gunshot wounds while many of them had burns and ruptured tissues," Haliru Aliyu of the Potiskum General Hospital told AFP.

Mamudo is some five kilometres from Potiskum, the commercial hub of Yobe State which has been a flashpoint in the Boko Haram insurgency in recent months.

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