COLU @ CONCEPTS

South Africa's ANC Rejects Calls for Zuma to Quit JOHANNESBURG —  South Africa's African National Congress "closed ranks" around President Jacob Zuma after two key allies of the ruling party called for his resignation following a cabinet reshuffle that cost the country one of its investment-grade credit ratings. The rand fell more than 1 percent and bonds weakened after ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe told a news briefing on Wednesday that the ANC would not support removing Zuma, whose party leadership role ends in December. Zuma's presidential term will finish in 2019. Last Thursday's dismissal of finance minister Pravin Gordhan, a totem of policymaking stability for many foreign investors, was criticized by unions, civil society groups and the opposition, and has revived pressure on Zuma to quit. Since taking office in 2009, the 74-year-old president has repeatedly denied accusations of corruption, and senior ANC officials have backed h...

kEbola Treatment Unit Torn Down as Liberians Recall Outbrea PAYNESVILLE, LIBERIA —  Bulldozers cleared the remains of a once busy Ebola treatment unit in Liberia on Wednesday, as health care workers, officials and some who were treated there gathered to mark the center's last day and official decommissioning. Music echoed near the gathering at the former ELWA Treatment Center in Paynesville, Liberia, the largest center in the country during the 2014-2015 outbreak of the virus that killed more than 4,800 people in this West African country. The virus' surge in West Africa two years ago was Ebola's deadliest ever. About 11,300 people died starting in December 2013, mostly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. The World Health Organization declared an end to the outbreak in June 2016. Physician's assistant Jianjay Moore-Potter, 40, was among the health care workers who gathered to pay tribute to their time at the center. “From the beginning, it was very hard be...

English Premier League Leading Goal Scorers With just 8 games to go, the English Premier league has been a turn of interesting events this season. Moreso, with the proliferation of goals and goalscorers. Below are the leading goalscorers in EPL: 21: Lukaku (Everton) 19: Kane (Tottenham) 18: Sanchez (Arsenal) 17: Costa (Chelsea) 16: Ibrahimovic (Man Utd) 15: Agüero (Man City), Alli (Tottenham) 14: Defoe (Sunderland) 13: Hazard (Chelsea), Mané (Liverpool) 12: King (Bournemouth) 11: Benteke (Crystal Palace), Llorente (Swansea) 10: Deeney (Watford), Vardy (Leicester), Walcott (Arsenal) Source: (NB)  kemi ,  

Senate Bows To Militants' Threat, Calls  For Release of Amnesty Fund Nigerian Senate on Thursday has urged the Minister of Finance , Mrs. Kemi Adeosun to release N15bn balance for Amnesty Program based on threats by ex-militants over non-payment. PHOTO Source: NB The Senate asked its Committee on Niger Delta to investigate fictitious names included as Abia and Akwa Ibom state natives in Amnesty Program me. Source: Sumner Sambo, TVC Correspondent

50 Nigerians Deported From 8 European  Countries [LIST]                                                           Photo Source: NB   Some 50 Nigerians were on Thursday deported from eight European countries for committing immigration-related offences. The Nigerians were deported variously from the following countries: Switzerland Germany Sweden Luxembourg Austria Belgium Spain Hungary. Their deportation is coming barely 48 hours after another set of 40 Nigerians were deported by the Italian government, for similar reasons. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the fresh batch of deportees arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos at about 7.36 a.m. The deportees, comprising of 48 males and two females, were brought back in a chartered Privileged Time aircraft, with regis...

Why Court dismissed corruption charges against Justice Ademola The court held that government failed to prove any of the allegations it levelled against the embattled Judge who hitherto served at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court. Consequently, trial Justice Jude Okeke, in a ruling that lasted over five hours, terminated further hearing on the criminal case, even as he discharged and acquitted all the defendants. Justice Okeke held that the federal government failed to establish that Ademola received gratifications from Agi to the tune of N38.5m, including a BMW Saloon 320i car gift. Government had alleged that Justice Ademola got N30million from the senior lawyer through the account number 201/110160/1/1/0 of a new generation bank operated by his wife who was the former Head of Service in Lagos State. It alleged that Agi, SAN, had on January 5, 2015, purchased the car from Coscharis Motors Ltd on January 5, 2015, and handed it over to Ademola’s son, Ademide. More s...

APC, Sagay on warpath over Senate summons The party specifically took exceptions to comments credited to the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, PACAC, Prof. Itse Sagay, SAN; describing the lawmakers’ actions as childish and irresponsible and warned Sagay to exercise restraint and desist from attacking the Senate. Surce: http://www.vanguardngr.com But Sagay fired back at the party immediately, saying it can’t tell him what to do as he is not an APC appointee, adding that the party is “just compromising with evil.” The warning is part of the efforts of the party to resolve the feud between the Presidency and the Senate following a battery of meetings with the APC caucus in the National Assembly. “In furtherance of the All Progressives Congress efforts to resolve the rift between the Executive and the National Assembly, the APC urged all government appointees to stop making statements that may further worsen the relationship between the two arms o...

2017 budget is a budget that goes for more debt -Sanusi II The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has raised alarm over the increasing debt in the country. He stated that among other producing countries in Africa, Nigeria has been on a borrowing bench, “Borrowing domestically to fund current expenditure”.      Sanusi II Surce: http://www.vanguardngr.com He added that the growth of Nigeria was driven largely by rising commodity prices and debt, adding that the module has reached the logical limit such as the collapse in oil price. He said according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Federal Government of Nigeria is spending 66% of its interest revenue on debt, which means only 34% of its revenue was available for capital expenditure, recurrent expenditure and development. The Emir made this known at the Kaduna State Investment Summit with the theme “Making Kaduna Investment Destination of Choice”. He said the 2017 budget presented by the Federal Gove...

Buhari launches Economic Recovery Plan The plan, which is the brainchild of the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, contains 60 critical initiatives expected to help get Nigeria out of recession and reposition it on the path of sustained growth. It also focused on five execution priorities, which are central to achieving the 7% growth projected by the end of the Plan period. The priority areas include Stabilizing the Macroeconomic Environment; Achievement of Agriculture and Food Security; Expansion of Energy Infrastructure capacities (power and petroleum); Improving Transportation Infrastructure and Driving industrialization principally through local and small business enterprises. Speaking at the brief ceremony that preceded the meeting of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, President Buhari said his government was determined to turn Nigeria from a consumer nation to a producing one. He said: “I want to assure all Nigerians that we are approaching the solution to our economic...