Naijaplate News Update

On 21 November, Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe resigned as president under intense pressure from the military, his own party, and mass protests. The news  was celebrated on the streets of Harare  and also by pro-democracy activists across the continent. But in Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni – who has been in power for almost 30 years – clings on, plotting to change the constitution so that he can stand in the 2021 elections. So how long can he stay in power? When multi-party electoral politics were restored in Uganda in 2005, what Museveni was handed in return was the  removal of presidential term-limits . This allowed the president, in power since 1986, to repeatedly stand for re-election. However, the constitution still placed a limit: presidential candidates could not be over 75 years of age. Time flies, and now that restriction stands in Museveni’s way: he will be 76 by the time of the next polls in 2021. Following a pattern that is emerging ac...

Abdulrasheed Maina, embattled former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, has signified interest to appear before the House of Representatives if his security is guaranteed. The former Pension boss said he was ready to appear before the committee and provide more details on the controversy that led to his sack if lawmakers can ensure that no security agency arrests or harasses him. He said this through his lawyer, Mohammed Sani Katu on Thursday during the committee’s investigative hearing into his reinstatement back into the Civil Service. He said, “We ask that you give Maina protection so that no security agency will interfere or arrest him so that he’ll appear in person. “If that is done, we can assure you that Maina will come. We want you to give Maina a cover to appear.” Katu had earlier insisted that his client was still on the payroll of the Federal Government. Maina is currently on the run for allegedly committing fraud to the tune of N2.1 b...

Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has resigned from the All Progressives Congress. Abubakar confirmed this in a statement he personally signed on Friday. He also gave reasons for quitting the party. However, he did not state which party he intends to join, but said he is pondering on his political future. The statement, titled: “Statement of resignation of His Excellency Atiku Abubakar (Waziri Adamawa) Vice President of Nigeria, 1999-2007 from the All Progressives Congress,” reads in full… “On the 19th of December, 2013, I received members of the All Progressives Congress at my house in Abuja. They had come to appeal to me to join their party after my party, the Peoples Democratic Party, had become factionalized as a result of the special convention of August 31, 2013. “The fractionalization of the Peoples Democratic Party on August 31, 2013 had left me in a situation where I was, with several other loyal party members, in limbo, not knowing which of the parallel...

The Federal Government empowerment scheme, has called on the general public to report candidates who already have a job and went ahead to apply for the voluntary job. According to N-Power, such persons will immediate be removed from the list of the pre-selection candidates for the physical verification. The scheme also said selection of candidates was done based on information submitted by the applicants. It wrote on its twitter handle, “Know anyone who has been pre-selected and has a job already, report them NOW. “Know anyone who has been pre-selected and has a job already, report them let us make room for the unemployed. “We pre-selected based on the information given. A shock is waiting for those people at the physical verification stage.” The scheme had earlier released the  criteria used in pre-selection of candidates  for the physical verification.

Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, on Thursday, said that the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) has helped bring Nigerians together irrespective ethnic differences. The scheme which was founded in 1973 has united the nation after the bloody civil war where millions of people died. While speaking during the official opening and swearing ceremony of 2,169 of the 2017 batch ‘B’ Corps members at NYSC permanent camp, Dakingeri, the governor who was represented by his deputy, Col. Samaila Yombe Dabai (rtd) described the scheme as a child of necessity in the country immediately after the war. “The establishment of the National Youth Service Corps came as a child of necessity, arising from the bloody civil war that left millions of casualties on both sides of the conflicts. “We appreciate the founding fathers of the scheme for looking the way of youths to begin the acceleration of true journey to nationhood, through the promotion of a united egalitarian and integrated c...

The immediate past President, Goodluck Jonathan has said he should be blamed for the Peoples Democratic Party’s loss in 2015. Jonathan said it was better to take responsibility for the party’s defeat to the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the last presidential election. The former President said it has become his priority “to ensure that the Peoples Democratic Party regains the Presidency in 2019.” He said this when one of the aspirants for the national chairmanship position of the PDP, Chief Olabode George, paid him a courtesy visit in his countryhome in Otuoke, Bayelsa State. The former President said it was his responsibility to ensure that the PDP rose again as a strong political platform to win the next elections. Jonathan said, “Whether I like it or not, I must take responsibility for the defeat because I led the party to the election. “The only thing that will make me sleep well is to ensure that the PDP comes back to power.” He further explained that he wa...

Senate President, Dr.Bukola Saraki has lamented over carnage in Zamfara communities state where scores of people were killed. He said, the Senate was getting tired of one minute silence often observed in honour of the dead in Nigeria. In his apparent abhorrence to incidences of killing across the nation and lately, in Zamfara communities, he noted that the ugly trend must not continue. Reacting to a motion sponsored by Senator Tijjani Kaura representing Zamfara North Senatorial district, Saraki posited that drastic measures must be taken to forstall further killing of innocent citizens anywhere in Nigeria. ‘Distinguished Colleagues, I must say therefore, that we are tired of observing one minute silence for the dead in this chambers.” “How long do we continue? Something must be done. Enough to these killings”, he insisted. source: dailypost.ng