Joel Williams Blog

Borno South Senator, Ali Ndume, on Tuesday described the 8th Senate as the worst he had seen in terms of attendance at plenary. Speaking as special guest on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja, Mr Ndume blamed the situation on “bad leadership’’ in the upper legislative chamber. Legislative activities in the National Assembly have been at a low ebb since the different political parties held their primaries in October. This is so, according to political watchers, because many of the lawmakers failed to secure their parties’ tickets either for re-election or for other public offices. Since resumption from the extended annual recess on October 9, the Senate has adjourned plenary twice: first for two weeks on October 24 to pave way for “oversight duties”. On November 13, the senators adjourned plenary for one week after failing to form quorum, a situation they blamed on continuation of oversight duties by most of the absentees. The tempo is expected to take a further dip ...

The Minister for Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, says the South-west has more to gain by re-electing President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 presidential election. Mr Fashola, who was in Lagos on Tuesday for the inauguration of 5000 campaigners for Mr Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said that the South-west already had high stakes and appointments in the current administration. He said the promise of the Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF) slot by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is not enough for the South-west to lose the positions it is currently occupying. Gbenga Daniel, the Director General of the Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation, had said that the position of the SGF would be given to the South-west, if Mr Abubakar emerged as president in 2019. “As a South-west indigene, I will vote for the Buhari/Osinbajo ticket, because my people stand to gain more from it,” Mr Fashola said. He said the reelection of Mr Buhari would guarantee that power wo...

Health experts have decried the failure of the Nigerian government to release the one per cent of consolidated revenue appropriated in the 2018 Budget for the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF). The fund is a basic provision under the National Health Act but was only appropriated this year for the first time since the Act was signed in 2014. Senior Technical Advisor for Development Research and Project Center (dRPC)-PAS, Emmanuel Abanida, on Monday said the fund is yet to be released, even as the year draws to a close. Mr Abanida spoke in Abuja at an event organised by DFID Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (DFID-PERL). The event, “Strategy Session on Social and Conventional Media Advocacy/Campaign for Implementation of BHCPF of the National Health Act” , was held to enlighten Nigerians on the BHCPF and the importance of releasing the fund. The National Assembly provided N55 billion in the 2018 budget for the fund. Mr Abanida said failure to release the money was hav...

The National Chairman of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Chekwas Okorie, on Tuesday defended the party’s adoption of President Muhammadu Buhari as its candidate in the 2019 presidential election. He said the decision is to preserve the zoning formula of the party, adding that the re-election of President Buhari will enable power shift to the South in 2023. Mr Okorie stated this in a statement made available to journalists after a press briefing at the party’s secretariat in Abuja. The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the UPP in August decided the party would not field a presidential candidate in 2019 but back Mr Buhari. After leading a South-east group to a closed door meeting with Mr Buhari on Friday at the Presidential Villa, Mr Okorie announced the party’s decision to adopt Mr Buhari as UPP presidential candidate. The unwritten power-sharing agreement known as zoning aims to alternate the presidency between northern and southern parts every eight years. It was consol...

Despite an increase in disbursements at the monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting since the beginning of 2018, no state in Nigeria can finance its budget without borrowing, a report by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has shown. The report which detailed analysis of FAAC disbursement for the third quarter of the year is contained in NEITI’s quarterly review, an analytical review of topical issues designed to ensure transparent and accountable management of revenues from the extractive sector. The report, made available to PREMIUM TIMES on Monday, showed that there are wide disparities between revenue figures of many of the states across the federation and their budgetary figures. The review showed that the trend of increasing revenues to the federation witnessed since the beginning of the year continued in the third quarter of 2018 as total FAAC disbursements in Q3 rose to N2.278 trillion. “The last time total disbursements...

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the national chairman of the governing All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, are currently attending a public presentation of a book “My Transition Hours” written by former President Goodluck Jonathan. Former Vice President Namadi Sambo as well as former presidents of Ghana, Benin and Sierra Leone are also attending. President Muhammadu Buhari is being represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha. The event is holding inside the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. Other notable persons at the event are the Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, former Senate minority leader, Godswill Akpabio, former Senate president, David Mark, and PDP national chairman, Uche Secondus. Jonathan guaranteed Nigerian Peace In a brief remark, former military head of state, Abdulasalmi Ab...

Rampaging Boko Haram insurgents overran a Nigerian Army battalion in Borno State on Sunday, killing the unit’s commander and dozens of soldiers, military sources have told PREMIUM TIMES. A large cache of arms, ammunition and military equipment were carted away by Boko Haram fighters during the attack on 157 Task Force Battalion in Metele, Abadam Local Government Area, at about 6:00 p.m., a setback for government forces trying to push terrorists further out of Nigeria’s northeastern flank. There were fears for the fate of the troops from the base, which was raided only a month ago, as military sources said the Nigerian Army was making frantic efforts to contain the traumatic effect of the attack on the larger counterinsurgency operation. Bodies of fallen troops were still being recovered and evacuated from the scene as of Tuesday morning, PREMIUM TIMES learnt. But dozens of soldiers from the battalion have already been confirmed killed, amongst them their commander. Military sources...

One of the albatrosses of the Goodluck Jonathan administration was the granting of state pardon to the convicted late governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha. Mr Jonathan was the deputy to Mr Alamieyeseigha when he was governor of Bayelsa. Mr Alamieyeseigha who died in 2015 was convicted for money laundering related charges. On March 12, 2013, Mr. Jonathan pardoned Mr Alamieyeseigha. The state pardon elicited a barrage of criticism against Mr. Jonathan. But in his new book, “My Transition Hours”, Mr Jonathan explained that the decision to pardon Mr Alamieyeseigha was reached by his predecessor, Umaru Yar’Adua, who could not announce it before he died. He explained that in pardoning Mr. Alamieyeseigha he merely honoured an agreement reached by his late boss. “Let me say that after we came to office on May 29, 2007, two major issues that we had to grapple with were the peace process in the Niger Delta and growing menace of terrorism, driven largely by the radical Islamic...

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has railed against the conduct of Barack Obama, describing the former U.S. president as overbearing and ‘condescending’ in his message to Nigerians ahead of the 2015 general elections. Mr Jonathan said Mr Obama displayed an unusual level of bias during the 2015 elections, issuing a video appeal to Nigerians which all but advised them on which candidate to give their mandate. “On March 23, 2015, President Obama himself took the unusual step of releasing a video message directly to Nigerians all but telling them how to vote,” Mr Jonathan said in his new book, ‘My Transition Hours’, which launches Tuesday. “In that video, Obama urged Nigerians to open the ‘next chapter’ by their votes. Those who understood subliminal language deciphered that he was prodding the electorate to vote for the opposition to form a new government.” PREMIUM TIMES obtained a copy of the book hours before its unveiling in Abuja on Tuesday. Mr Jonathan had strictly kept the bo...

In his new book, the former President opens up on his trials and tribulations while in office. The post Real reasons I lost 2015 presidential election — Goodluck Jonathan appeared first on Premium Times Nigeria. Premiumtimes report The post Real reasons I lost 2015 presidential election — Goodluck Jonathan appeared first on Nightwatchng News Today . from Nightwatchng News Today https://ift.tt/2QXAquT via IFTTT

Gospel Artiste  Sinach  has been rendering Spiritual Gospel Music since the begining of 2018, her passionate method of expressing her love and pulling the anointing of the Holyghost can be acknowledged in the release of Matchless Love . Sinach released Matchless Love to express how limitless the love of Christ for us all, the song spreads love amongst all, translated into several languages, Matchless love is another track by Sinach that sooth the soul with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Download Mp3  The post Download Gospel Music: Matchless Love – Sinach appeared first on Nightwatchng News Today . from Nightwatchng News Today https://ift.tt/2PHuhX9 via IFTTT

The Nigerian Nollywood Industry has experienced another rude loss as news circulating online say that Actress  Tosyn Bucknor is Dead Reports have it that her husband, Aurélien Boyer , found her dead in her room last night when he got back home from work and she was confirmed dead upon arrival at the hospital. The OAP who also doubled as a vlogger, was a staff of Inspiration FM where she hosted her own morning talk show. It has not yet been confirmed what could have led to the death of Tosyn Bucknor, but the OAP was reported to be a Sickle Cell Anaemia patient and speculations on twitter have it that she might have lost the battle to complications derived from the disease. She was 37 years old. Tosyn Bucknor studied Law at the University of Lagos and the Nigerian Law School but she had always been attracted to writing, talking, acting and singing. Oluwatosin Bucknor Broke into the Nigeria Nollywood scene in 2014 with her star role on the Movie, Dazzling Mirage , she recentl...