Human Rights Layer, Femi Falana has petitioned the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in The Gambia over the death sentence passed on Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, a musician in Kano state, for committing blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad, in a song Ashenewsonline recalls that Sharif-Aminu was sentenced to death in August 2020, after a Shari’a court found him guilty. However, Falana in a the petition dated September 8, asked the African Commission to appeal to Nigerian government “to stop the irreparable damage that would be caused to the petitioner and his charter rights”. He observed that Nigeria, having been party to…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
Federal Government agencies in the Presidency on Saturday in Abuja held consultations on the 2021 budget toward meeting the September deadline for the submission of the document to the National Assembly. Mr Attah Esa, Deputy Director (Information), State House, who confirmed this in a statement on Sunday, said the Permanent Secretary, State House, Mr Tijjani Umar, led the 2021 budget bilateral meeting. He said the virtual meeting was between government agencies under the Presidency and officials of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning. He quoted Umar as saying that the preparation of the 2021 budget estimates takes…
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Sunday expressed belief that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, would conduct free, fair and credible elections in Edo. Obaseki stated this when he played host to the Senate Committee on INEC, on a courtesy visit to the government house in Benin. According to him, as government we have made all the resources at our disposal available to all agencies of government that are going to handle the conduct of the election weather INEC or the security agencies. “We want to believe that INEC, the umpire,…
Drugmaker AstraZeneca announced Saturday that its COVID-19 vaccine studies have resumed in the United Kingdom, though not yet in the United States. The vaccine trials had been placed on hold around the world earlier in the week after a U.K. participant in one of the studies developed a neurological illness. The candidate vaccine was developed by the University of Oxford along with AstraZeneca. The goal of the large studies is to see whether the vaccine is capable of preventing COVID-19 and whether it is safe. Although initial studies didn’t reveal serious side effects from the vaccine, rare complications of any vaccine, if…
To state that we live in challenging times is perhaps an understatement and does very little justice in accurately capturing our current realities. Those realities include a world faced with a pandemic the scale of which hasn’t been seen in 100 years. The crisis has crippled economies, destroyed global supply chains and obliterated once productive and viable sectors of the economy. Our dear nation has not been spared in this difficult period and, indeed, has felt the impact of the global crisis. But as a responsive government, the Buhari administration has within limited resources designed responses that are targeted at…
At least 33 people have been killed by fires raging in California, Oregon and Washington since the start of a record-breaking wave of fires in mid-August, according to the latest figures. Wildfires this year have burnt a staggering 1.3 million hectares in California and killed 22 people there since Aug. 15, according to the state’s CalFire agency. Another 10 people have died in Oregon and a child died in Washington. While cooler weather conditions and calmer winds are helping authorities battle the blazes over the weekend, many of the fires in Oregon and California remain largely uncontained, forcing tens of…
The Big Brother Naija, BBNaija, has evicted the duo of Nelson Enwerem (alias) ‘Prince’ and his housemate, Terseer Kidwaya, from the Reality Show. This is coming two weeks to the end of the Big Brother Naija lockdown edition. Prince, Dorothy, Ozo and Kiddwaya were put up for possible eviction by fellow housemates. With Prince’s eviction, the lockdown house is left with eight housemates.
The Presidency has reacted to former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s assertion that Nigeria was becoming a failed state under President Muhammadu Buhari, saying that he had descended from a “Commander-in-Chief” to a “Divider-in-Chief”. In a statement by the Spokesperson of the President, Malam Garba Shehu available to news men on Sunday, the Presidency said Obasanjo’s recent comments attempted to divide the nation. ”In his most recent statement, former President Olusegun Obasanjo attempts to divide the nation while President Muhammadu Buhari continues to promote nation building and the unity of Nigeria. ”The difference is clear. From the lofty heights of Commander-in-Chief,…
The Nigerian Working Group on Peace-building and Governance, a group of Nigerian civic and thought leaders, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerian governors, to initiate dialogue aimed at finding lasting solution to the rising insecurity in the country. The group has also offered key observations as well as recommendations on ways government could strengthen its efforts to manage the coronavirus pandemic by addressing the rising insecurity across the country. This is contained in a statement jointly signed by Cardinal John Onaiyekan, General Martin Luther Agwai (rtd.), Professor Attahiru Jega, Ambassador Fatima Balla, Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, Mrs. Aisha Mohammed-Oyebode, Dr.…
The Deputy President of the Senate and Chairman, Senate Adhoc Committee on Review of the 1999 Constitution, Mr Ovie Omo-Agege has assured that the panel would not downplay any bill presented before the committee, to alter the constitution. He promised that the Senate would recommend all the bills before it for consideration and that in plenary, the Senate would determine whether or not such proposals should be transmitted to state assemblies. Speaking at the weekend on The Platform, a current affairs programme on TVC, anchored by cerebral columnist, Sam Omatseye, Omo-Agege clarified that members of the committee were not under…