Author: David Great

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has approved the commencement of registration for the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) from Jan. 24 to Feb. 14, 2023. The Board also fixed March 16, 2023, for the conduct of its optional mock-UTME, a statement by the board’s Head of Public Affairs and Protocol, Dr Fabian Benjamin, in Abuja on Tuesday. Benjamin said that the board, however, does not include registration for Direct Entry (DE) application documents as the DE registration would commence from Feb. 20 to April 20, 2023. Also, he said the board, after considering its other commitments, fixed…

President Muhammadu Buhari has lost 91,000 members of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in his home state of Katsina. The defectors on Tuesday were received by the PDP during a campaign rally at the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium attended by Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate on Tuesday. They were led the former Secretary to the Katsina State Government, Dr Mustapha Muhammad Inuwa, and Alhaji Aminu Lawal Maye. PDP presidential campaign spokesperson, Senator Dino Melaye said the former APC members are from the three senatorial districts of Katsina. Of the 91,000 defectors,…

Doyin Okupe, a former Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan has stepped down as the director general of the Labour Party presidential campaign council. In his resignation letter on Tuesday, he urged the party to appoint a replacement that will focus on ensuring that the presidential candidate emerges winner in the 2023 election. In a letter addressed to Labour Party presidential candidate, Okupe said that he said, “You will recall that I briefed you yesterday about my personal travails in seeking justice and clearing my name using the Nigerian legal system to pursue same. “I have…

Bola Tinubu, the APC presidential candidate on Tuesday adopted the ‘Build Back Better’ slogan of President Joe Biden of the US at his party’s stakeholder meeting in Cross River. Tinubu who said he would build in ‘difficult times’ cited how the United States developed its infrastructure during the civil war. Speaking through his media aide, Tunde Rahman, after the townhall meeting at the Cultural Centre in Calabar, Cross River capital, he stressed that Nigeria’s economy is on an incomplete foundation and that he had what it takes to fix it. He assured Nigerians and stakeholders of the party from South-South…

Manchester United have triggered one-year contract extensions for a quartet of first-team stars, including England’s Marcus Rashford. Negotiations continue with goalkeeper David de Gea, whose deal is due to expire at the end of the season. Last week, manager Erik ten Hag said United would be triggering options for Rashford, England’s Luke Shaw, Portugal defender Diogo Dalot and Brazil’s Fred. All four players would have been free to leave Old Trafford in June. However, De Gea’s case is different. If United triggered an extension, it would be on the £375,000-a-week salary the club committed to when they last extended De…

Elon Musk has said Twitter will only allow accounts with a blue tick to vote on changes to policy after a majority of users voted for him to quit. Musk launched a Twitter poll asking if he should step down as chief executive – 57.5% of users voted “yes”. Since then, he has not commented directly on the result of the poll. But he has said that Twitter will alter its rules so that only people who pay for a subscription can vote on company policy. One user claimed that so-called bots appeared to have voted heavily in the poll…

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Lauretta Onochie, special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Social Media as the substantive chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Buhari had forwarded her nomination to the Senate, asking it to confirm her as the chairman. This was the President’s second attempt to appoint Lauretta Onochie after she failed to pass the hurdle as INEC commissioner. At Tuesday’s plenary, the Senate a report of the Committee on Niger Delta Confirmation on the nomination of Lauretta Onochie for appointment as chairman and that of members of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was presented…

The Department of State Services (DSS) on Monday said it would not succumb to propaganda and pressure from pro-Emefiele protesters who stormed Abuja to kick against his planned arrest. The DSS has approached the court to grant it an order to arrest Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria on charges that he was sponsoring terrorism. This sparked protests from a group of Nigerians under the aegis of the Coalition of National Interest Defenders, who alleged that the secret service was attempting to frame Emefiele. Reacting to the protest, DSS public relations officer, Peter Afunaya, in a…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is reprinting burnt Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) that were burnt in attacks on some of its offices across Nigeria. The electoral body also warned that if attacks on its facilities persist into January 2023, it could affect the conduct of the general elections. National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, INEC, Festus Okoye, said this at a workshop on Political Violence and Election Security organised by the National Defence College on Monday in Abuja. Okoye said the commission had recorded some reverses in states where the attacks took place, including…

The US House of Representatives panel probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol asked federal prosecutors on Monday to charge Donald Trump with four crimes, including obstruction and insurrection, for his role in sparking the deadly riot. The Democratic-led select committee’s request to the Justice Department – after more than 1,000 witness interviews and the collection of hundreds of thousands of documents – marked the first time in history that Congress has referred a former president for criminal prosecution. The request does not compel federal prosecutors to act, but comes as a special counsel is overseeing two other…