Pressure on Trump likely to be intense at second debate with Clinton

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Debate
U.S., Oct. 9, 2016 (Reuters/ NAN)  Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, facing eroding support from his party over lewd remarks about women, goes into a second presidential debate with Democrat Hillary Clinton on Sunday needing to demonstrate he remains a credible candidate.

The pressure on the 70-year-old Trump at the debate will be intense. Not only must he parry attacks from Clinton and explain why he is a better alternative.

He must also show an apologetic side to stop more Republican supporters from giving up on him.

Trump already had an uphill battle to win the White House in the Nov. 8 election before disclosure of a 2005 video in which he could be heard talking crudely about women.

A Reuters-Ipsos poll had Clinton leading by five points on Friday, before the video surfaced. Now, the question is whether Trump’s quest for the presidency is all but over.

The fresh controversy adds an air of unpredictability over the 9 p.m. EDT debate at Washington University in St. Louis, the second of three scheduled presidential debates as the long-running U.S. election contest enters its final weeks.

It will be a town hall-style debate with undecided voters posing half the questions and the debate’s two moderators posing the others.

His vice presidential running mate, Mike Pence, said on Sunday that Trump needs to show contrition.

“We pray for his family and look forward to the opportunity to show what is in his heart when he goes before the nation tomorrow night,” Pence said in a statement.

The crisis has put the Republican National Committee in a tight spot with less than a month to go until Election Day.

Trump would have to resign the nomination to allow Republican leaders to choose a successor, but the New York businessman is showing no signs of stepping down despite increasing calls from elected leaders for him to let Pence become the nominee.

At the first debate, on Sept. 26, Trump was repeatedly put on the defensive by Clinton. He never let her accusations go unanswered, and as a result he missed opportunities to use his speaking time to draw attention to Clinton’s perceived weaknesses.

Republicans said Trump needed to perform more like Pence, who was deemed the winner in his vice presidential debate against Democratic rival Tim Kaine last week.

Republican strategist Ron Bonjean said there is plenty Trump could learn from Pence, who stayed on offence at the vice-presidential debate, did not bother to respond to Kaine’s accusations, and looked calm and unflappable.

“It was a clear lesson in how you avoid falling into your opponent’s traps,” Bonjean said. “Don’t talk about what the other side wants you to talk about, focus on what you want to talk about.”

Clinton has been hunkered down for days getting ready for what could be, for her, a knockout blow against Trump.

Before the video surfaced, Clinton campaign officials said they were expecting the Republican nominee to come to the debate more subdued than the first round.

But they were also prepared in case Trump follows through with a threat to focus on Clinton’s sometimes troubled marriage to former President Bill Clinton.

Clinton, who has already capitalised on Trump’s treatment of women, herself foreshadowed how she might respond to an attack from Trump on her marriage during a speech to a fundraiser in Washington on Wednesday.

“I feel it’s my responsibility not to defend myself against his attacks because, really, been there, done that,” she said. “I think it’s my responsibility to defend everybody else against his attacks,” she said, drawing cheers from the crowd.

Clinton has her own issues to face.

Wikileaks on Friday published an email from Clinton advisers appearing to contain excerpts of paid speeches to corporations, in which Clinton voices support for open trade and borders and says how sometimes it is important to have a public and private position. (Reuters/ NAN)

(Edited by Julius Enehikhuere)

Sukuk: CBN approves guidelines for granting liquid asset status
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Guidelines
By Lucy Nwachukwu
Abuja, Oct.9, 2016 (NAN) The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)on Sunday said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved the Guidelines for Granting Liquid Asset Status to Sukuk Instruments issued by State Governments.

A statement by the Head of Corporate Communication, SEC, Mr Naif Abdulsalam, in Abuja, said this was a major boost in the issuance of Sukuk in the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Sukuk is a non-interest equivalent of bonds.

The statement said, “SEC is pleased to notify issuers and investors that the Central Bank of Nigeria has approved `Guidelines for Granting Liquid Asset Status to Sukuk Instruments Issued by State Governments’’.

“This is a major milestone for Nigeria as it will catalyse the development of non-interest capital market products,” it said.

According to the statement, the release of these guidelines followed diligent advocacy efforts from the Capital Market Committee (CMC) on the need to grant liquidity status to Sukuk.

It said that the aim was to bolster its (Sukuk) appeal as a product for both issuers and investors alike.

It explained that Sukuk was becoming increasingly attractive as a capital market instrument across the globe.

“Annual Sukuk issuances around the world have grown from $15 billion in 2008 to over $150 billion in 2015.

“As the Federal and State governments seek alternative funding sources for infrastructure, these new guidelines will make Sukuk one more available option,’’ it stated.

The statement recalled that the commission had in 2013, issued Rules on Sukuk Issuance in Nigeria following which the State Government of Osun raised N11 billion in Nigeria’s first Sukuk issuance which was oversubscribed.

It stated that since then, several State Governments had been exploring issuing Sukuk to raise funds for infrastructure financing and other much-needed public interventions.

The statement further said that the absence of a liquid secondary market had, however, been a key concern for investors like pension funds and other institutional investors.

To address this constraint, it stated that the Capital Market Master Plan had highlighted the need to push for liquidity status for Sukuk.

“ In implementing the Master Plan, the SEC and the capital market community closely engaged the CBN to develop and release guidelines for this purpose.

“With these guidelines, Sukuk instruments by State governments can be discounted at CBN discount windows and can be applied by banks in their liquidity ratio computation, similar to conventional State bonds.

“This will facilitate the emergence of a vibrant secondary market that will encourage more issuance from State governments,’’ it said.

The statement further explained that the guidelines would play a key role in broadening and deepening Nigeria’s financial system by catalysing the development of non-interest products and enhancing financial inclusion.

It also commended the CBN for the laudable step while appreciating the Capital Market Sub-Committee on non-interest products for their dedicated work leading to the release of these guidelines.(NAN)
LCN/EAL/AMY

Edited by Ekemini Ladejobi and Abdullahi Yusuf

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Threat
By Emmanuel Atswen
Makurdi, Oct. 9, 2016 (NAN)  Some Nigerians have condemned the threat by the leadership of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) to Nigerians over the arrest of some judges for alleged corruption and professional misconduct.

Those who made the call in interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Makurdi on Sunday, urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to succumb to pressure but to ensure that the judges faced the law.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Department  of State Services (DSS) on Friday night arrested  some judges for alleged corruption.

The agency stated that it recovered huge sums in local and foreign currencies from the judges.

Following their arrest, the leadership of NBA headed by Mr Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN). at  a news conference, demanded the judges’ immediate release on the ground that due process was not followed in their arrest.

The association said, “It is not the responsibility of DSS to arrest judges.’’

It described the action of the agency as unconstitutional and a way of intimidating the judiciary and undermining its independence.

“President Muhammadu Buhari should order immediate release of the affected judges or there would be consequences,” NBA said.

Some of those who responded to the threat accused NBA of encouraging corruption, adding that it was an indication that “corruption is fighting back” against the anti-corruption campaign of the government .

They said the action of NBA had vindicated the president, who had said that the judiciary was a major hindrance to the fight against corruption.

A resident of Makurdi, Mr James Audu, wondered why NBA would ask the Federal Government to immediately release  the judges.

“I am not sure I understand why the NBA is asking the Federal Government to order the immediate release of some judges that have been arrested over allegations of corruption.

“Were they arrested without warrants? Is it unlawful to investigate a judge on allegations of corruption? Or are our laws meant to be obeyed by some people while others breach them and go free?

“Do judges also enjoy immunity under our laws? Are judges not subject to our laws?

‘’Is there no rule of law here or are judges above the law?” he  asked.

Another resident, Miss Shidoon Agbe, said the judges should be prosecuted according to the law.

Agbe said that it was a shame that a respected legal body, such as NBA, would allow itself to be used by corrupt politicians to achieve their goals.

“The Nigerian Constitution does not make provision for judges’ immunity neither does it exclude them from investigations.

‘’In fact, even the Mr President can be investigated while still in office,’’ she said.

Agbe said that in other parts of the world judges were arrested and tried like other citizens.

“Few months ago, South African President was investigated and tried even with his immunity and nobody complained about it.

‘’Examples of cases of this nature are too many to mention.

“This is a legal issue, all we expected of NBA during their press conference was for them to clearly quote the various sections of the constitution that prohibit security agencies from investigating and arresting judges,” she said. (NAN)

AEB/JCE
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Edited by Chukwudi Ekezie

Russia says U.S. actions threaten its national security

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Threat
Russia, Oct. 9, 2016 (Reuters/NAN)  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday that he had detected increasing U.S. hostility towards Moscow, saying it amount to series of aggressive U.S. steps that threatened Russia’s national security.

In an interview with journalists , he said its likely to worsen already poor relations with Washington, Lavrov made it clear he blamed the Obama administration for what he described as a sharp deterioration in U.S.-Russia ties.

“We have witnessed a fundamental change of circumstances when it comes to the aggressive “Russophobia’’ that now lies at the heart of U.S. policy towards Russia,” Lavrov said.

“It’s not just a rhetorical Russophobia, but aggressive steps that really hurt our national interests and pose a threat to our security.”

With relations between Moscow and Washington strained over issues from Syria to Ukraine, Lavrov reeled off a long list of Russian grievances against the U.S. which he said helped contribute to an atmosphere of mistrust that was in some ways more dangerous and unpredictable than the Cold War.

He complained that NATO had been steadily moving military infrastructure closer to Russia’s borders and lashed out at Western sanctions imposed over Moscow’s role in the Ukraine crisis.

He also said he had heard that some policy makers in Washington were suggesting that President Barack Obama sanction the carpet bombing of the Syrian government’s military air fields to ground its air force.

“This is a very dangerous game given that Russia, being in Syria at the invitation of the legitimate government of this country and having two bases there, has got air defence systems there to protect its assets,” said Lavrov.

Lavrov said he hoped Obama would not agree to such a scenario.

Russia suspended a treaty with Washington on cleaning up weapons grade plutonium earlier this month in response to what it said were “unfriendly acts” by the U.S.

Lavrov said both countries had the right to pull out of the treaty in the event of “a fundamental change in circumstances”.

“The treaty was concluded when relations were normal, civilised, when no one … was trying to interfere in the internal affairs of others. That’s the fundamental change of circumstances,” said Lavrov. (Reuters/ NAN)

(Edited by  Julius Enehikhuere)

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Farming

Keffi (Nasarawa), Oct 9, 2016 (NAN) The  Emir of Keffi in Nasarawa State, Dr Shehu Chindo-Yamusa, says only farming can take Nigerian out of the current economic recession  if properly harnessed.

Chindo-Yamusa made the assertion on Sunday when some farmers in his emirate conducted communal labour on his farm located at Saura Area, Keffi .

According to him, God has blessed the nation with fertile land that if properly harnessed, can provide  abundant food for the country.

He said Nigerians should collectively go back to the farm and engage in both rain-fed and dry season farming to boost food production.

Chindo-Yamusa particularly urged youth to embrace  farming as a means of livelihood, saying such a move was the best approach to eradicating poverty and addressing the problem of  unemployment.

The emir also advised  the Federal Government to initiate policies that would encourage young  farmers  to embrace modern farming techniques. (NAN)

BAB/OSA/ASH

Edited by Shittu Obassa/Controlled by Abdullahi Salihu

Recession: Borno Govt.cautions traders against price hike
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Traders
By Ali Inuwa
Maiduguri, Oct. 9,2016( NAN) The Borno Government on Sunday cautioned traders in the state against arbitrary increase in prices of commodities, especially foodstuff, due to the current economic recession in the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the traders had been increasing prices of commodities daily, due to the depreciation of the value of the Naira in the foreign exchange market

But Alhaji Ahmed Ashemi, the Sole Administrator of the Borno Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, said it was irrational for the traders to increase prices of goods.

Ashemi was speaking at an emergency meeting with leaders of the various traders groups in Maiduguri.

He said government was disturbed by the trend where traders were hiking prices of commodities “arbitrarily and without any cause”.

“It is sad that our traders have taken advantage of the current economic recession in the country to hike prices of commodities without any cause.

“The situation is so bad that a commodity sold at N1000 on Monday will end up being sold at N3000 by Friday, in spite of the fact that the trader purchased the same stock from the same supplier at the same price,” Ashemi said.

He also lamented that some traders even engaged in hording commodities to cause price hike.

“Some traders hoard the commodities in stores to cause unnecessary high price.

“All these acts are unlawful as they end up creating hardships for the people, ” Ashemi said.

He said rather than engage in unnecessary price hike the traders should seek God’s blessings by making things easier for the common man

“We must copy from other states where prices of commodities, especially foodstuff, are crashing.

“We must remember that hiking price arbitrarily cannot make us rich, you can only get rich by the will of God and not through cheating,” the sole administrator said.(NAN)
ABI/AMY

Edited by Abdullahi Yusuf

South Africa’s Tutu wants ‘the option of an assisted death’

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Tutu
Jo’burg, Oct. 9, 2016 (Reuters/ NAN) Retired South African cleric and anti-apartheid campaigner Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said in a published commentary that when his time comes, he would “want the option of an assisted death”.

The 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, who has been living with prostate cancer for nearly 20 years, reiterated his support for assisted dying in an opinion piece published on the Washington Post on his 85th birthday.

Tutu came out in support of assisted dying in 2014, but was more ambiguous about whether he personally wanted that option.

“I believe that terminally ill people should be treated with the same compassion and fairness when it comes to their deaths. Dying people should have the right to choose how and when they leave Mother Earth,” Tutu wrote.

Tutu, who has struggled with ill health in recent years, said now more than ever he feels compelled to lend his voice to the cause as his life is closer to “its end than its beginning.

“I have prepared for my death and have made it clear that I do not wish to be kept alive at all costs. I hope I am treated with compassion and allowed to pass on to the next phase of life’s journey in the manner of my choice,” he wrote.

The former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town had surgery in August to remedy recurring infections that have afflicted him for more than a year.

Tutu, looking frail and wearing a thick sweater in a video posted on the Washington Post, called on politicians, lawmakers and religious leaders to support the choices “terminally ill citizens make in departing Mother Earth”.

Assisted dying, also known as euthanasia, is illegal in South Africa. But in a groundbreaking ruling in 2015, South Africa’s High Court granted a terminally ill Robin Stransham-Ford the right to die with dignity. (Reuters/ NAN)

(Edited by Julius Enehikhuere)

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NEMA
Yola, Oct. 9, 2016 ( NAN) The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has opened new operation offices in Adamawa, Edo and Kano states in its efforts to bring disaster management closer to communities and reduce response time, its Director General, Muhammad Sani Sidi, announced.

Sidi made the announcement in a statement issued by Mr Sani Datti, the Media and Public Relations Officer of the agency on Sunday in Yola.

He stated that “as the agency saddled with responsibility of coordinating disaster management and related matters, NEMA is making efforts to build stakeholders’ capacity and appropriate mechanism to address various facets of disaster risk reduction.”

He explained that the mechanisms being put in place to reduce disaster risks were prevention, mitigation, preparedness, quick response and recovery.

He stated that to achieve these, there was need for cooperation and collaboration by stakeholders at the Federal, State, Local Government and Community levels.

He added that “requests for NEMA’s intervention, even for minor incidents across the country is a testimony to the level of confidence placed on the agency by members of the public.”

He then commended the governments of Kano and Adamawa states for donating office spaces and warehouses to facilitate the opening of the new operation offices.

The operation offices will be responsible for taking disaster risk reduction to grassroots, capacity building programmes for stakeholders and coordinating government agencies and non-governmental organisations involved in disaster management in the states, he noted.

He said that with the creation of Adamawa, Kano and Edo operation offices, the agency now has nine operation offices and six zonal
offices across the country. (NAN)
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(Edited by Abdulfatah Babatunde/Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu)

Environmentalist warns against indiscriminate  dumping  of refuse

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Refuse

Ile-Ife (Osun), Oct. 9, 2016 (NAN) Mrs Abosede Obadimu, the Head of Water and Environmental Sanitation, Ife Central Local Government Area of Osun, has warned the residents against indiscriminate disposal of refuse in the drains and streams.

Obadimu gave the warning during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Ile-Ife.

She expressed concern that  majority of residents of the area were dumping refuse in streams and drains, thus blocking water from flowing  along its natural course.

According to her, blocking water flow  is the major cause of flooding  in the areas prone to to the disaster, and that  erosion is common  where there are blockages.

The environmentalist also called on the community to cooperate with the sanitary inspectors  enforcing rules and regulations that would restore sanity in refuse disposal in the area.

“Nobody should drop refuse indiscriminately into the stream, we make sure we enforce the law, anyone caught dumping waste indiscriminately will be sanctioned,” the environmentalist said.

She, however, commended Gov. Rauf Aregbesola for giving priority attention to  environmental health and  urged the people to support the policy. (NAN)
EDA/OSA/AMY

Edited by Shittu Obassa and Abdullahi Yusuf

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Commission
Nathan Nwakamma
Yenagoa, Oct. 9, 2016 (NAN) King Bubaraye Dakolo, the Paramount Ruler of Ekpetiama community in Bayelsa, has urged the state government to establish an oil producing areas commission in the state.

Dakolo made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa after the leadership of an NGO, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), paid him an advocacy and solidarity visit.

The monarch said the establishment of the commission would provide a framework that would enhance the development of the oil bearing communities in the state.

He also called on other state governments in the Niger Delta that had yet to establish such commissions to urgently do so.

According to him, the non establishment of oil producing area commissions in some states in the region is against the spirit behind the
provision of the 13 per cent derivation principle by the constitution.

He said it was unfair for some state governments in the region to divert the oil revenue to fancy projects in the state capitals at the detriment of the oil bearing communities.

He added that “it is traditionally wrong to neglect the goose that lays the golden egg; our culture encourages communal life but marginalising the oil communities is unjustifiable.

“In Ijaw culture, the elephant meat is for all to share and eat but the elephant tusk is reserved for the hunter that killed it.

“So, we expect the governors in the Niger Delta region to right the wrongs.”

The monarch also said that the Niger Delta environment had been degraded by multinational oil companies due to weak regulatory mechanism to enforce environmental laws.

He said that oil firms had exploited the loophole to pollute the region’s environment, whereas such firms observed international best practices while operating in their home countries.

The traditional ruler further noted that indiscriminate logging of wood was harmful to the environment. (NAN)
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(Edited by Ejike Obeta/Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu)