News Desk Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Ministerial List: Senators Worry Over Nominees' Portfolios

ABUJA — THE non attachment of portfolios to the list of ministerial nominees is provoking palpable angst in the Senate. Already, only 17 of the 34 names submitted have been given security clearance for the screening which is expected to start today. The non-inclusion of the portfolios first caused a sharp division among senators after the list was presented last week. MORE>>

EFCC Moves to Freeze Kaduna Govt's Accounts

ABUJA — OPERATIVES of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday, swooped on the branches of some commercial banks nationwide, seeking to freeze the accounts of the Kaduna State Government. MORE>>

Constitutional Amendment, Senate's Priority

President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, has said that the amendment of the 1999 Constitution is a priority of the new Senate.A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Paul Mumeh, on Monday said Mark made the commitment when he addressed the Annual General Meeting of the Idoma National Forum on Sunday in Otukpo. MORE>>

PDP Chairman Rains Insults on Journalists

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Ahmadu Ali, on Monday, went wild in Abuja as he rained insults on journalists and the media. In a fit of anger, the PDP chairman described Nigerian journalists as a bunch of ignoramus who had always found it impossible to understand his English. MORE>>

CNN Has Apologized to Nigeria - Obiozor

Cable News Network, CNN, has apologised to Nigeria, the country’s outgoing Ambassador to the United States, Professor George Obiozor, has said. Empowered Newswire reported that Obiozor, who spoke on Friday in New York at a reception to mark his departure from the US as Nigeria's Ambassador, said a Nigerian delegation including himself visited the CNN to express Nigerian’s displeasure at the repeated coverage portraying Nigeria in bad light. MORE>>

Resign Now, CNPP Tells Yar'Adua

Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has asked President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to resign since he admitted that the election that brought him to power was marred by fraud. MORE>>

Etteh Tasks Okiro on Cops' Welfare

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Patricia Etteh, has challenged the Acting Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro, to faithfully implement the police budget for the improvement of the welfare of his officers and men. MORE>>

How Kidnappers of British Kid Lost N50m Ransome

Combined pressure from Rivers State government and some prominent Ijaw leaders forced the release of Baby Margaret Hill, the three-year-old British girl abducted last week. The little girl, who was kidnapped Thursday last week near her school in Port Harcourt by five gunmen, was let go on Sunday night by her abductors. MORE>>

Uba Denies Begging Ngige

Controversial godfather of Anambra politics, Chief Chris Uba, has denied reports that he apologised to former governor Chris Ngige, over his travails while serving as governor. A national daily (not THISDAY), had quoted Ngige as saying that he had accepted Uba’s apology in good faith, adding, “if there is no sin, there won’t be forgiveness.” MORE>>

Nigeria to Avoid External Debt Trap, says President

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria will avoid the pitfalls of foreign debts, President Umaru Yar'Adua said on Monday, two years after a landmark deal with the Paris Club granted Africa's top oil producer $18 billion in debt relief. Nigeria's Debt Management Office told Yar'Adua that the country's external debt now stood at about $2.6 billion, while internal debts were 1.86 trillion naira. MORE>>

Militants to Hold Talks With Yar'Adua

PRESIDENT Umaru Yar'Adua is to meet with Niger-Delta militants in Abuja soon over their demand for the creation of two more states - Oil Rivers and Toruebe for the Ijaws and an additional Local Government Area in Bayelsa State, as part of the conditions for peace to reign in the region. MORE>>

Nigeria's Guaranty Trust Bank to Raise 750 mln usd from London Listing - Report

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Nigeria's Guaranty Trust Bank is planning to raise 750 mln usd in a global offering of shares to become the first bank from sub-Saharan Africa to list on the London Stock Exchange, the Financial Times newspaper reported. MORE>>