Blog

Keys crushes Cibulkova to reach U.S. Open quarters

Flushing Meadows

New York (U.S.), Sept. 3, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Madison Keys eased into the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova on Monday.

The 14th-seeded American, looking to go one better than her runner-up finish at Flushing Meadows last year, relied on both her dangerous serve and powerful groundstrokes.

She effectively denied Cibulkova any chance of an upset win.

Cibulkova, who arrived on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court brimming with confidence after toppling Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber in the previous round, countered with a similarly aggressive game to little avail.

With the U.S. Open’s heat advisory put back into effect, the pair traded punishing groundstrokes under the blazing sun.

It was Cibulkova who was often pinned well behind the baseline and at the mercy of her opponent.

Keys has been solid in New York, having dropped a single set through four matches, and turned it up a notch against her 29th-seeded opponent.

She lost only 10 points on serve during a 76-minute match in which she was broken once.

Cibulkova pulled ahead 3-2 in the second set but Keys stormed home from there and clinched the win on her second match point when the Slovak sent a forehand wide.

She had not reached this stage of the final Grand Slam since reaching the last eight in 2010.

With the win, Keys improved to 5-0 lifetime against Cibulkova and becomes only the second woman, after Kerber, to reach the quarter-finals or better at three of the four Grand Slams this year.

Next up for Keys is the winner of the evening clash between five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova and Spanish 30th seed Carla Suarez Navarro. (Reuters/NAN)

KIA/SA

Edited by Salif Atojoko

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Ajimobi
By Akeem Abas
Ibadan, Sept. 3, 2018 (NAN) Gov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has assured members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state that he would not impose any candidate on the party for the 2019 general elections.

He gave the assurance on Monday at the Oyo South Senatorial District stakeholders meeting of the party held at Lafia hotel in Ibadan.

The News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) reports that the meeting was attended by State Executive Council members, local government chairmen, councillors, local government executives, ward executives and other stakeholders in the district.

NAN also reports that district is made up of the nine local governments of  Ibadan North, Ibadan North-West, Ibadan South-East, Ibadan South-West and Ibadan North-East.

Others are Ido, Ibarapa Central, Ibarapa North and Ibarapa East.

Ajimobi, who said that he does not have any anointed candidate among the aspirants, expressed the belief that the APC  has more qualified aspirants than other parties.

He also said that every governorship aspirant within the party would be given the same opportunity provided they could afford the party ’s nomination form of  N22.5 million.

“All the aspirants took permission from me and I told all of them to go ahead. I did not call any of them, they called and I supported it.

“I am not going to impose anyone. They are all qualified provided they can afford the nomination form,” he said.

Ajimobi also expressed confidence that whoever emerged as the APC flag bearer would eventually become the governor of the state.

He also disclosed that most of the governors prefer indirect primary at the last deliberation of the party in Abuja.

Ajimobi, however,  assured the members that further consultations would be carried out with party leaders to ensure that the best option was adopted in the state.

The Chairman of the party in the state, Chief Akin Oke,  said the large turnout of aspirants within the party was a reflection of the performance of the governor.

He urged all aspirants within the party to accept the outcome of the primary election in good faith.

Earlier, Mr Adekanye Adefioye, the APC Chairman in  Oyo South Senatorial District, said the large turnout at the event was a reflection of the unity within the party.

Among those present were an APC chieftain, Alhaji Olayide Abas, Sen. Adesoji Akanbi, Dr Olusola Ayandele, Mr Joseph Tegbe, Mr Niyi Akintola(SAN), Mr Adebayo Adelabu, Dr Azeez Adeduntan and Dr Fola Akinosun. (NAN)
TAA/CHOM/OJO
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(Edited by Chioma Ugboma/Mufutau Ojo)

NSE: Trading resumes on downward trend, index depreciates by 0.03%

Shares

By Lilian Okoro

Lagos Sept 3, 2018 (NAN) Equity transactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) resumed on Monday on a negative note with market indices dropping marginally by 0.03 per cent.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the market capitalisation shed N4 billion or 0.03 per cent to close at N12.718 trillion against N12.722 trillion posted on Friday.

Also, the All-Share Index, which opened at 34,848.45, lost 10.95 points or 0.03 per cent to close at 34,837.50 amid price losses.

An analysis of price movement indicated that Total Oil led the losers’ table with a loss of N2.4 to close at N187.7 per share.

Glaxosmith trailed with N2.1 to close at N97.9, while Nigerian Breweries dipped by N2 to close at N36 per share.
FlourMill declined by 9k to close at N13, while Zenith Bank lost 65k to close at N21 per share.

Conversely, Dangote Cement led the gainers’ table during the day, gaining N2 to close at N230 per share.

Okomu Oil came second with a gain of 55k to close at N77.5, while GTBank appreciated by 5k to close at N36.5 per share.

Zenith Bank increased by 35k to close at N21.35 and Eternal Oil rose by 2K to close at N6.9 per share.

Overall, the volume of shares decreased by 65.83 per cent with 131.531 million shares worth N3.14 billion transacted by investors in 3,080 deals.

This was in contrast with 384.893 million shares worth N9.79 billion exchanged in 4,070 deals on Friday.

NAN reports that Diamond Bank was the most active, exchanging 101.80 million shares valued N124 million.

Stanbic IBTC followed with an account of 67.77 million shares worth N897.18 million, while GTBank traded 46.40 million shares valued at N1.34 billion.

Zeno Bank traded 42.29 million shares worth N2.3 billion and Dangote Cement traded 399.86 million shares valued at 953.08 million. (NAN)
LUC/CHOM/SA

Edited by Chioma Ugboma/Salif Atojoko

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Election

By Taiye Agbaje

Abuja, Sept. 3, 2018 (NAN) Ahead of 2019 elections, civil society organisations (CSOs) have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to march his words with action by ensuring free, fair and credible elections.

Buhari had on Sunday in Beijing, China, said that as a beneficiary of free and fair elections, he was not afraid of a credible process in 2019 general polls in Nigeria.

He reaffirmed this commitment at an interactive session with members of the Nigerian community in China.

‘‘I have no fear about free and fair elections because that is what brought me to the present position.

“I know what I went through and very few Nigerians could boast of trying four times, contesting for the presidency.

‘‘Those interested in participating in the elections must get their PVCs, register in their constituency and elect anybody of their choice across ethnicity and religion.

‘‘The Nigerian police, law enforcement agencies and INEC must respect the people to express their wishes,’’ he had said.

Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, a cross-section of Nigerians said that the president’s words should be backed with action by first, assenting to the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill.

Executive Director, Life and Peace Development Organisation, Mr Franklin Oloniju, who described the president’s statement as encouraging, said “having a free and fair election also depends on signing the relevant legislations that can enhance the poll.’’

‘’Those words should be backed with action, especially as it relates to the Electoral Bill that was submitted to him by the National Assembly.

‘’There is the need for him to sign the bill and if there are issues, an amendment can be made,” he said.

Oloniju also said that a free and fair poll also depended on the legislature’s readiness to approve the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s budget on time.

He called on the lawmakers to take it as a matter of priority.

Mr Nyong Essien, a Programmer with African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development, said that it would be a plus for the president if he remained committed to the promise.

He, however, corroborated that the Electoral Bill before the president was an instrument that would help to further make the electoral process credible.

‘’Like the president rightly said, he benefitted from a free and fair election but from what we see, his refusal to assent to the Electoral Bill is equally a cause of worry.

“The apprehension is because the bill is the instrument that will help to further make the process credible.

“When you refuse to assent to such an instrument, it will begin to create doubt in the minds of the people.

“However, we are believing that because he has said so and he is known to be a man of integrity, he would abide by what he has said,” Essien said.

On her part, Programme Officer, Nigeria for Change Initiative, Veronica Dibang, said though Buhari was doing well, there was need to ensure that security agencies did not gag the media or victimise opposition parties. (NAN)

TOA/NNO/OPI

Edited by Nick Nicholas and Olisa Ifeajika

Vote-buying

By Angela Atabo

Abuja, Sept. 3, 2018 (NAN) The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday said it was working on secret balloting to curb vote-buying in the Sept. 22 governorship election in Osun.

Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Osun, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, said this while making a presentation on INEC’s Preparations ahead of Osun election at the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room Dialogue Session in Abuja.

Agbaje said that the commission had been worried about vote-buying since the Ekiti elections and was looking for ways to curb it.

According to him, the current trend of inducing voters with money popularly known as ‘see and buy’ in the local parlance, was particularly worrisome to the commission.

“The issue of vote-buying is worrisome to the commission because it is not easy for INEC to prepare for election and on that day people will come with bags of money.

“This undermines the credibility of elections; so, INEC has decided to re-arrange its voting cubicle in a way that voters cannot display their votes.

“There will no longer be a way of showing your votes to politicians to go and collect money; we are also working on not allowing voters with phones into the area and security agents will be there to make arrests.

“Vote-buying is a disease that is graduating to kill our electoral system and must be stopped,’’ he said.

Agbaje said that INEC was ready for the Osun election, adding that 1,192,386 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) had been collected while 483,826 were yet to be collected in the state.

He said that there were 3, 010 polling units, 332 registration areas and 30 local government areas in the state.

He added that voting points were 755, registered voters, 1, 682, 495 and that 71 per cent of registered persons had collected their PVCs while 29 per cent were yet to do so.

The REC said that the commission would continue to strengthen its voter-education machinery for improved and targeted exercise.

He urged those that had not collected their PVCs to do so because there won’t be voting without the PVC.

He said that there were 48 governorship candidates contesting the Osun election, adding that more than N73, 525,500 was used for training of ad hoc staff for the election.
Agbaje said that the attitude of politicians remained a stumbling block to credible election, adding that their mind-set on winning elections was worrisome.

He said that violence and malpractices were also a thing of concern to the commission and stakeholders and that lack of adequate capacity to deal with electoral offences and offenders was another challenge.

He insisted that there was urgent need for the political class to stop using money to buy votes during elections.

The electoral boss in the state called on stakeholders to join hands with INEC to fight the ills in the electoral process by playing their roles in line with relevant laws.

He said that the commission in Osun would create hot lines about two weeks to the election, for citizens to call in cases of noticed irregularities.

He said that the hotline for INEC’s headquarters for the election was called INEC’s citizens contact centre 0700callinec or 070022554632, adding that the number was a 12-digit special number.

On his part, Mr Clement Nwankwo, Convener, Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, a coalition of civil society organisations, said that the meeting was organised to ensure credible polls in Osun.

Nwankwo said that the issue of dealing with electoral offenders was a big task that should be carried out by a designated body.
According to him, the government needs to, as a matter of urgency, establish a commission to handle that aspect for effective arrest, investigation and prosecution of electoral offenders.

“we are looking forward to a credible election in Osun as CSOs will be there and draw INEC’s attention to issues that may arise,’’ he said. (NAN)

ATAB/ECN/OPI

Buhari declines assent to reviewed Electoral Amendment Bill

Bill

By Cecilia Ijuo

Abuja, Sept. 3, 2018(NAN) President Muhammadu Buhari has declined assent to the Electoral Act(Amendment) Bill, 2018, transmitted to him by the National Assembly.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Sen. Ita Enang, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

He said the president declined assent to the bill due to some drafting issues.

According him, one of the concerns of the president is the period fixed for primaries.

He said the schedule for primaries provided that it should not be earlier than 120 days and not later than 90 days to elections.

He further said the schedule would allow Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) only 9 days to collate list of candidates among others.

“His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, has by communication dated Aug. 30, 2018, to the Senate and the House of Representatives. declined assent to the Electoral (Amendment) Bill, 2018.

“I pray for leave, that in view of public interest, the fact of the National Assembly vacation, the imperative to avoid speculation and misinformation, that I give just a few of the rationale by Mr. President.

‘’Mr. President is declining assent to the Electoral Amendment Bill due to some drafting issues that remain unaddressed following the prior revisions to the Bill.

“Mr. President invites the Senate and House of Representatives to address these issues as quickly as possible so that he may grant Assent to the Electoral Amendment Bill.

Enang added that Section 87(14) of the bill among other sections, needed to be reviewed by the national assembly.

He said, “the proposed amendment to include a new Section 87 (14) which stipulates a specific period within which political party primaries are required to be held has the unintended consequence.

” It leaves INEC with only nine days to collate and compile lists of candidates and political parties as well manage the primaries of 91 political parties for the various elections.

“This is because the Electoral Amendment Bill does not amend sections 31, 34 and 85 which stipulates times for the submission of lists of candidates, publication of lists of candidates and notice of convention, congresses for nominating candidates for elections.”

He further said, “for clarity, may I provide some details of the provisions referenced.

“Clause 87 (14) states that, ‘the dates for the primaries shall not be earlier than 120 days and not later than 90 days before the date of elections to the offices.

“The Electoral Act 2010 referred to herein states in Section 31, ‘’that every political party shall, not later than 60 days before the date appointed for a general elections, submit to the Commission the list of candidates the party proposes to sponsor at the elections.

“Section 34 stipulates that ‘the Commission shall at least 30 days before the day of the election publish a statement of the full names and addresses of all candidates standing nominated.

“Section 85 (1) provides that a ‘political party shall give the Commission at least 21 days notice of any convention, congress etc., for electing members of its executive committees or nominating candidates for any of the elective offices.’’

Enang explained that for the avoidance of doubt, neither the Constitution nor any written law allowed a president or a governor to whom a Bill was forwarded by the legislature to edit, correct, amend or in any manner alter the provisions of any such Bill to reflect appropriate intent before assenting to same.

He said such a person was to assent in the manner it was sent or withhold assent.

The presidential aide also listed other reasons for the withholding of assent by the president.

“A few of the outstanding issues are, there is a cross referencing error in the proposed amendment to Section 18 of the Bill. The appropriate amendment is to substitute the existing sub-section (2) with the proposed subsection (1A), while the proposed sub-section (1B) is the new sub-section (2A).”

He further noted the president had communicated his action on other bills earlier transmitted to the national assembly.

The bills, according to Enang, include the National Agricultural Seeds Council Bill, 2018, The Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2017
and The Chartered Institute of Entrepreneurship (Establishment) Bill, 2018.

Others according to him, are the Subsidiary Legislation (Legislative Scrutiny) Bill, 2018; National Institute of Hospitality and Tourism (Establishment) Bill, 2018; National Research and Innovation Council (Establishment) Bill 2017; Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2017.

Enang had in August, clarified that the Electoral Bill passed by the National Assembly on July 24 and forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari on Aug. 3, was alive and awaiting assent.

He gave the clarification against the backdrop of  report published by a national daily that Buhari had again vetoed the 2018 electoral bill forwarded to him for assent.

Enang had said the vetoed bill was the one sent to the President on June 27 and not the one passed by both chambers of the National Assembly on July 24, the day it embarked on annual recess.

Enang added that the vetoed bill was the one with contentious provisions and infractions on provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

NAN reports that aside the vetoed version of the 2018 electoral bill forwarded to the President on June 27 and vetoed on July 26 in line with the 30 days constitutional life line for such bill, the President had earlier in the year, rejected the first of the 2010 Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2018 forwarded to him in February for assent.

Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal on Aug. 1, nullified the April 25 judgment of the Federal High Court, which struck out the National Assembly’s election re-ordering provision of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2018.

A five-member panel of the court, headed by its President, Zainab Bulkachuwa, ruled that a bill could not be challenged in court until it became an Act.

Meanwhile, the national assembly had removed the controversial section prior to the Court of Appeal ruling and resent the revised edition of the bill to President Buhari for assent.(NAN)

CJM/IA

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Fraud
By Oluwatope Lawanson & Moji Eniola
Ikeja, Sept. 3, 2018 (NAN) Three businessmen were on Monday remanded in prison over their alleged involvement in a 146,060 dollars (N52.87 million) fraud on the orders of an Ikeja High Court.

The trio — Martins Nwaedi, 48; Oliseh Anthony, 38; and Victor Okafor, 43; and a company, Marydicc Ventures Ltd — were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly defrauding an American of the amount in a phony business transaction.

However, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the nine-count charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretences, forgery and use of forged documents.

Following their pleas, the vacation judge, Justice Oyindamola Ogala ordered the defendants to be remanded in prison and adjourned the case until Sept. 6 for the hearing of their bail applications.

The EFCC alleged that in the phony transaction, Nwaedi went by the alias Prince Martins Dike while Anthony used the aliases Lawrence Mhkize, Terry Cassidy, Okolie Anthony and Dike Anthony.

According to Mrs Zainab Ettu, the prosecution counsel, the three men committed the offences between March 2012 and June 2015 in Lagos.

“The businessmen connived to defraud Mr Khanh Lai, a United States of America citizen of the said sum on the pretext of helping him to secure an investment in Nigeria worth 200 million dollars.

“The investment in question belonged to one late Mr John Alex Ivan, a U.S. national, who had resided and died in Nigeria.

“The defendants initially fraudulently obtained 137, 380 dollars in March 2012 as the cost of an investment deposit certificate worth N200 million.

“They later demanded a legal fee of 8,680 dollars cash deposit in June 2015 from their victim,” she said.

The offences, Ettuh said, contravened Sections 1(1), (a) and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Related Offences Act 2006.(NAN)
LAW/MAE/AOS/DA
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Edited by Bayo Sekoni/Dele Akinsola

Peace

Martha Azi

Jos, Sept. 3, 2018 (NAN) Rep. Johnbull Shekarau, an aspirant to the Plateau governorship seat, says reconciling warring communities remains the only way to achieve lasting peace in the state.

Shekarau, who represents Shendam/Quan-Pan/Mikang federal constituency, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Monday that reconciliation would foster mutual trust and breed confidence.

“Reconciliation will restore the togetherness and love that kept the people as one in the past. It is the only key to mutual acceptability,” Shekarau, who is seeking the PDP governorship ticket, said.

Shekarau promised to reconcile all warring groups when elected governor, saying that he would initiate a forum where each group shall state its grievances toward seeking solutions.

He regretted that the current government had politicised security issues, and blamed such posture for the incessant killings.

“The current government doesn’t seem to understand the issues; they merely use the security issue to play politics which is very dangerous.

“How can you preach peace when you have not reconciled those at war? How can the warring groups trust each other when they have not actually spoken with each other?

“If we are going to encourage people to live together, we must spell out the conditions for such peaceful co-existence,” he opined.

Shekarau said that security was a very dynamic issue requiring round-the-clock attention, and promised to make it his priority.

The lawmaker, however, promised to remain in power “for just one term”, adding that he would run an all- inclusive government.

He also promised to pay special attention to key sectors like education, agriculture, tourism and mining, and described the quartet as “very crucial to Plateau’s economic growth”. (NAN)

ADY/AZA/ETS
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Edited by Polycarp Auta and Ephraims Sheyin

CAF appoints Kenyan referee Omweno for Nigeria/Seychelles game in Victoria

Referee

By Victor Okoye

Abuja, Sept. 3, 2018 (NAN) The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has appointed Kenyan referee, David Omweno to officiate the Super Eagles clash against the Pirates of Seychelles at the Stade Linte on Saturday in Victoria.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 34-year-old Kenyan, Omweno will have as his first Assistant Referee (AR1), his compatriot Gilbert Cheruiyot, while Uganda’s Mark Ssonko will act as Assistant Referee (AR2).

Omweno was among the two referees suspended by CAF for three months in 2016 for poor performance.

The Kenyan referee was accused of ruling out a legitimate goal scored by Libya in their 1-0 loss to Tunisia in November 2016.

Nigeria are third in Group E with no point after losing 2-0 to South Africa in their opening game 14 months ago, while Libya and South Africa are joint leaders in the group with three points.

The Super Eagles are thus in dire need of a vital away win as the qualifying race in Group E  intensifies for Cameroon 2019. Only the group winners are guaranteed slots at the finals.

The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations is scheduled to hold from Jan. 12 to Feb. 3 in Cameroon. (NAN)
VO/
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Training
By Aisha Cole
Lagos, Sept. 3, 2018 (NAN) Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with United Arab Shipping Line to train 100 Nigerian cadets for free within five-years.

The Director General of NIMASA, Dr Dakuku Peterside, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.

“The United Arab Shipping Line knows that Nigerian cadets are knowledgeable and will also help to build their seafarers.

“United Arab Emirates had purchased ships and they need crew onboard the vessel. That is why they are willing to train Nigerian cadets to boost their shipping crew.

“NIMASA had also placed 298 cadets onboard the United Kingdom and Egypt ocean-going vessels to engage the cadets on sea time training,” Peterside said.

He said that the agency was also working closely with some indigenous ship owners on the possibility of placing some cadets on their vessels to enable them have sea time experience.

Peterside said that 1,880 certificates were authenticated for stakeholders in the last one year, compared to 113 certificates verified in 2016 to boost shipping business in the country. (NAN)

AIC/WOJ

Edited by Wale Ojetimi

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