Breaking News in Nigeria Today 3rd January 2019
iDonsabi brings you: NFF Pinnick Faces Jail Over World Cup Money and Why Dino Melaye will not Surrender to the Police. Continue reading for more…
1. Army Raises Alarm over Fundraising for “Starving” Nigerian Soldiers.
The Nigerian Army is after one Doctor Perry Brimah, a Nigerian in Diaspora for initiating a gofundme campaign to feed starving Nigerian soldiers who are fighting Boko Haram in the North-East.
According to the NA, “the criminal embarked on this fund raising venture ostensibly to defraud unsuspecting members of the public especially the international community”.
The NA stated that the Nigerian soldiers deployed in the North East or elsewhere, neither lack logistics nor food.
Therefore, they are requesting the general public to come forward with any information to arrest this Doctor Perry Brimah.
2. IPOB on the Come, Peter Obi on the Run
Members of IPOB, on New Year Day disrupted a historic celebration called “Orji Mbaise” which some Igbo leaders including PDP’s Vice Presidential candidate Peter Obi, and other Party members attended in in Ezinihhite Mbaise, Imo state.
The members of the IPOB numbering over 600 stormed the venue with Biafra flags chanting “No Election in Biafraland”.
The dignitaries including Peter Obi stylishly made an exit with his entourage for fear of the unknown as the event came to a dramatic end.
3. ASUU Persistent Ahead of Friday Meeting with INEC
There have been calls on ASUU to end the strike in the interest of the nation and to enable university students and the National Youth Service Corps members to work as ad hoc staff during the general elections.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ahead of its planned Friday’s meeting with the Independent National Electoral Commission, has said that its ongoing seven-week strike is in the national interest.
He added that the strike would not be called off until the Federal Government acceded to their demands.
4. Why I Won’t Surrender to the Police – Dino Melaye
Dino Melaye, the senator representing Kogi West, has finally spoken from his hideout on the reasons why he will not surrender himself to the Nigeria Police Force.
Mr Melaye, who had earlier alleged that the IG of Police, Ibrahim Idris, will inject him to death if he is arrested, compared his challenges to that of Prophet Elijah in the Bible, in a tweet on Tuesday evening.
He also maintained that he will continue to remain in his hideout until the coast is cleared.
5. Articulated Lies Don’t Win Elections – APC Apologist
A public affairs analyst, Okemeke Goodluck wrote from Port Harcourt on Leadership Newspaper to air his opinion of the PDP Presidential Candidate using high sounding grammar with too much ludicrous sagacity. Read excerpts of his opinion below.
“Suddenly, Atiku Abubakar has become a fanciful dancer, shifting and shunting his retired and tired body with visible stress that raises eyebrows and heart beats of surprised spectators”.
Amazingly, he continued, “Atiku Abubakar has gate-crashed into the youthful constituency, donning face caps and T-shirts and cajoling his grandchildren to adopt him as an “uncle” instead and let him take them back 16 years”.
According to the APC Apologist, Atiku has a “National Bakery” where he has been baking personal cakes of “articulated improbabilities” to rule Nigeria since 1999.
He concluded by saying that Nigerians should protect the nation by using their PVCs to reboot Atiku’s memory at the February polls!
6. Crude Oil Production Rises By 9%
Nigeria’s crude oil daily production recorded an upward swing of about 2.09million barrels in 2018, translating to a 9% increment, compared with the 2017 average daily production of 1.86million barrels.
Pitched against the low-level daily crude oil production in 2016 and what is obtained now, the NNPC Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, said the nation had maintained a line of consistent year-on-year improvement.
Baru touted the new business models his team has in place in the national oil company’s old and new business entities as reason for the giant strides.
7. Pinnick Faces Jail Sentence over World Cup Money
Solomon Dalung has threatened officials of the Nigeria Football Federation NFF to retire world cup money or risk going to jail over the sum of N1.6 billion allegedly released to Amaju Pinnick to cover its expenditure up to the quarterfinals of the Russia 2018 World Cup.
In a one-page document signed by Mohammed Cheku Salihu, the Director Finance and Administration, endorsed with the official stamp of the Office of the President NFF Abuja titled: ‘retirement of World Cup funds’ showed a list of 16 items expenditure of the sum of N1, 372,996,192.40 while also disclosing that Ambassador Chris Giwa spent N140million during his short stay at the NFF during the crisis.
Additional further check revealed that all the claims of expenditure by the NFF might not be correct as FIFA takes care of all items listed by the NFF.
8. Nigerian Players Miss Out on Final Shortlist for African Player of the Year
Nigeria has missed out again in the final shortlist of three players in contention for the African Player of the Year award to be announced by CAF on January 8 in Dakar, Senegal.
This is the fourth edition in a row no Nigerian player is considered worthy enough to make it to the final three despite on-fire Arsenal star, Alex Iwobi, who was in the second shortlist of 10 but was dropped when CAF announced the final shortlist on New Year Day.
Both Ahmed Musa and Odion Ighalo who were in the first shortlist of 33 along with Iwobi dropped out when the list was reduced to 10 before Iwobi and six others were snubbed.
9. Ordega, Oshoala Make CAF Award Top 3 List
Nigeria’s duo of Asisat Oshoala and Francisca Ordega, and South Africa’s Chrestinah Thembi Kgatlana have made the final three for the Women’s Player of the Year 2018.
The three made the cut after a performance-filled year which saw them make headlines at both club and national levels.
Oshoala, winner for the past two years with three titles overall (2014, 2016, 2017) has her sights on a fourth title, to equal the feat of compatriot Perpetua Nkwocha (2004, 2005, 2010, 2011).
10 Trailer Crushes Pregnant Woman, Others in Ibadan
A pregnant woman simply identified as Mrs. Funmilayo and about 30 other persons were reported to have been crushed to death by a trailer on New Year eve at the second gate of Bola Ige International Market located along Ife-Ibadan Expressway, in Ibadan Oyo state.
Though the Nigeria Police Force and the Federal Road Safety Corps gave conflicting details of the incident, both confirmed that people were killed.
