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      Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has appointed transition committees for the 20 local government areas of the state. Elected chairmen completed their tenures in October 2019. The transition committees will be in place until the Ogun State Electoral Commission (OGSEIC) conducts election to pick new council chairmen. According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the State Governor, Mr Kunle Somorin, the new caretaker committee members were chosen in furtherance of the Government philosophy of inclusive and participatory governance. Each of the committees comprises of a chairman, a vice chairman, secretary to the local government and two members (see list attached)....More photos below.

    According to Reuters '' BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Dozens of U.S. citizens working for foreign oil companies in the southern Iraqi oil city of Basra were leaving the country on Friday, the Oil Ministry said, after a U.S. air strike killed a top Iranian commander in Iraq. The U.S. embassy in Baghdad urged all its citizens to leave Iraq immediately, hours after the U.S. killed Iranian Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Iraqi officials said the evacuation would not affect operations, production or exports. Company sources told Reuters earlier the workers were expected to fly out of the country. Oil production in Iraq, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, was about 4.62 million barrels per day (bpd), according to a Reuters survey of OPEC output. A spokesman for BP ( BP.L ), which operates the giant Rumaila oil field near Basra, declined to comment. Rumaila produced around 1....

        The Minister of State for Transport, Gbemisola Saraki, has frowned at the demolition of her father’s property, ‘Ile Arugbo’, by the Kwara State Government in the early hours of Thursday. Recall that Governor AbdulRazaq-led administration had claimed that the property did not have a C of O, adding that no dime was paid to the state government before the land was “grabbed” by the Saraki’s  father, late Olusola, during his administration as the Governor of the state. Earlier today around 4:00 am, it was learnt, the security operatives dispersed protesters, including aged women within the complex while the demolition was going on. However, in a swift reaction, the minister decried the governor’s decision to wipe out their history, saying: “We have a history and we are proud of that history”. A statement on Tuesday, by her special assistant, Titilope Anifowoshe, the minister renamed her movement to ‘GRS-OLOYE’ in perceived solidarity with the Saraki...

      The residence of a former Senate President, David Mark, in Otukpo town, Benue State, was gutted by fire, on Thursday. Witnesses said that the fire spread from a nearby bush bordering the fence of the ex-Senate President’s residence, and bunt down two ambulance vehicles, as well as over 15 motor cycles parked in the premises. It was gathered that the domestic workers at the residence made frantic efforts to put out the fire without much success, before the arrival of the State Fire Service, in Otukpo. One of the domestic workers who preferred anonymity, said: “We made every effort to quench the fire, but the more we tried, the more it continued to spread. “It was when we noticed that we could not stop it from engulfing the Guest House, that we called in the Fire Service.” At the time of this report, however, none of the family members had yet commented on the matter, even as it was learnt that Mark himself was away from the home.

          Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says he is cutting short a visit to Greece and returning home to follow “ongoing developments” after a U.S. airstrike killed Iran’s top general. The Israeli army has ordered a ski resort on Mount Hermon, on the Israel-controlled Golan Heights, to close. It took no other immediate precautions. Yair Lapid, a leader of the opposition Blue and White Party, praised the killing and said Gen. Qassem Soleimani got “exactly what he deserved.” The head of Iran’s elite Quds Force topped Israel’s list of threats, accused of masterminding a network of enemies that included the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. Israel has struck Quds Force targets in Syria on several occasions. Yoel Guzansky, an expert on Iran at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Strategic Studies, said Iranian retaliation against U.S. or Israeli targets was likely in the short term. Guzansky said the killing struck a huge blow to...

      Imo State governor, Emeka Ihedioha, has said he is not perturbed about the prophesy of Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka, adding that his prophesy has made he, Mbaka, a laughing stock. Mbaka had prophesied that the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Hope Uzodinma, would emerge victorious at the Supreme Court where he and another governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance  (APGA) Ifeanyi Araraume, are challenging the victory of Ihedioha. While cautioning Mbaka on the consequences of his prophesy, the governor who responded through his Senior Special Adviser on Media, Steve Osuji, described the prophesy as contempt of court. “No matter the garb with which Father Mbaka dresses his comments, what he has said represents a calculated contempt of the highest court in the land, and we believe judicial notice has been taken. This is an unprecedented law in cases of contempt. Even if Fr Mbaka claims to be illiterate or ig...

       Pastor Adeboye, the general overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, says God told him there will be earthquakes in places that have not experienced them before. Sharing his prophesy at the Crossover service of the RCCG at the Redemption Camp, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway this morning, Adeboye also said volcanoes that had been dormant for years would erupt in several places across the globe. He however didn't give specific prophecies concerning Nigeria, but said since the nation was also part of the world, whatever affected the globe would affect Nigeria. He said... “This year, unless we pray very hard, it is going to be behaving like a child that is having convulsion. There will be earthquakes in many places it has never happened before; that is one of the reasons why you should pray for Nigeria. “Volcanoes that have been dormant for years will be erupting. If you look at the prophecies for 2019 on the international scene, I gave you a bible...

      The Rivers State Government has terminated the services of Kingsley Ichegbo of the Rivers State Government Taskforce on Street Trading, Illegal markets and Motor Packs. Before his sack, Ichegbo was in charge of the Rumuogba (Artillery)/Rumukwurushi (Oil Mills ) zone of the State. According to the statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, Governor Wike will not spare any official of the Anti-street Trading Taskforce who do not abide by the rules and regulations establishing the task force. He recalls that Governor Wike had earlier warned the task force officials to focus on their legal business or risk being sacked. Juliana Masi.

     Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Thursday, disclosed the plan by his Government to expand the capacity of the State-owned Independent Power Plant (IPP). Sanwo-Olu said his administration would be harnessing private investment to boost the output of the IPP in response to the growing need to sustain the “Light-Up Lagos” project of his predecessor and also to absorb more public offices in the St ate-owned power grid. The Governor made this known during a facility inspection of the IPP in Alausa, which is currently being managed on behalf of the Government by Alausa Power Limited. Sanwo-Olu was accompanied on the inspection by the Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Olalere Odusote and General Manager, Lagos State Electricity Board, Mr. Mukhtar Tijani. This effort by the Sanwo-Olu administration to upscale the output of the IPP is seen as major move by the State Government to optimise the capa...

      Justice A.O. Musa of Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, on Thursday, January 2, 2020 granted the application of the EFCC to keep the former attorney general and minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke in its custody for additional 14 days preparatory to his arraignment. In granting the application, the judge stated that “the extension of the remand of the respondent for another 14 days for the purpose of his arraignment in court is necessary and granted as prayed." The Commission took custody of Adoke on December 19, 2019, upon his arrival from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.