Ehirim Files News Desk Monday, July 02, 2007

AU Plans United States of Africa

Leaders of the African Union, on Sunday, began a three-day summit in Accra, Ghana, and planned to forge a confederation of states with an acknowledgement that the continent’s current system of governance had to improve. MORE>>

Civil Society Discusses Darfur, Zimbabwe at Summit

African officials and members of civil society organizations across the continent have been debating the twin crises in Darfur, Sudan and Zimbabwe ahead of the African Union Summit in Accra, Ghana. While the official theme of the conference is the so-called "Grand Debate on a United States of Africa," which would accelerate political and economic integration within the body's 52 member states, discussions of the ongoing violence in Darfur and the worsening political and economic situation in Zimbabwe are largely taking place outside of the official forum. MORE>>

You Stabbed me in the Back, Buhari Accuses ANPP Leaders

Presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) has accused the party and its leadership of betraying him in their acceptance to participate in the proposed government of national unity in the country, even after counselling him to go to court. MORE>>

Uwazuruike: Selective Justice!

Pained by the condition of the Igbo 25 years after the civil war in the project Nigeria in 1995, I wrote the book, Igbos: 25 years after Biafra. My aim of writing the book was not only to encourage and motivate my people to stop complaining of marginalization and take affirmative action but to prick the conscience of other Nigerians that time has come for us to put the war behind us and forge ahead as one united family to join the human race. MORE>>

More Trouble for Ehindero

The noose appears to be tightening round the neck of the immediate past Inspector General of Police, Mr. Sunday Ehindero, as anti-fraud detectives at the Police Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) in Abuja unearth fresh clues in the ongoing probe into the recent N21million scam for which three of his close aides were held. MORE>>

ICPC Begins Fresh Probe of ex-Govs - EFCC now to Concentrate on Money Laundering, Terrorism

ABUJA—THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has transferred the case files of former state governors it is investigating to its sister organisation, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). MORE>>

Fuel Sells for N120 per Litre in Imo

OWERRI—OVER one week after the national leadership of Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) forced down the pump prices of petroleum products in the country, prices of the commodities, especially the premium motor spirit (PMS), have remained very high in Imo State. MORE>>

Nigeria's Domestic Debt hits N1.8 trillion

NIGERIA'S domestic debt stock is ballooning, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO). From N897.95 billion in 2000, the debt portfolio rose to N1.66 trillion in 2002 and hit N1.87 trillion at the end of March 2007. MORE>>

Ministerial List: IBB, Anenih dare OBJ - Dangote, others back OBJ's Nominees - Senate May get List Tomorrow

THE battle between the pro and anti-Obasanjo forces within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has shifted to the ministerial list as both camps are now struggling to get their nominees onto the final list. MORE>>

Price of Machetes Drops in Nigeria after Elections

ABUJA, July 2 (Reuters) - The price of machetes has halved in parts of Nigeria since the end of general elections in April because demand from thugs sponsored by politicians has subsided, the state-owned News Agency of Nigeria reported. MORE>>

University Teachers in Nigeria Suspends Strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, the ASUU, a representative body for teachers of state-owned universities in Nigeria, says the strike was suspended to give the new Nigerian administration a chance to address its grievances. MORE>>

AIG Investments Invests in Nigeria's Intercontinental Bank PLC

NEW YORK, July 2 /PRNewswire/ -- AIG Investments today announced that AIG Global Emerging Markets Fund II, L.P., a fund sponsored by AIG Capital Partners, Inc. (AIGCP), a member company, acquired a minority interest in Intercontinental Bank Plc, a leading bank in Nigeria, as part of a consortium of international investors, including Emerging Capital Partners, Vectis Capital through West African Financial Holdings Limited Partnership, Firstrand International Limited and Rashed Abdulrahman Al Rashed & Sons Company Limited. The transaction will support Intercontinental Bank's expansion strategy in and outside Nigeria. The transaction was part of a larger US $850 million fundraising exercise by Intercontinental Bank to increase its Tier 1 capital with the funds earmarked for various growth initiatives. MORE>>

US Experts Arrive to Audit Nigerian Airlines

Technical experts from the United States' Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) arrived in the country yesterday to audit three domestic airlines, Arik Air, Virgin Nigeria and Bellview which had been designated to fly tthe Nigeria-US air route by the Federal Government. MORE>>