Immediate past governor of Rivers state, Rotimi Amaechi says contrary to what is being said by Governor Nyesom Wike and his aides, he did not leave the state treasury empty. He said he left behind the sum of N10 billion for the present administration. Amaechi stated this in a statement he released today August 20th

"A total of N7.5 billion cash were left behind as balances in the State Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) account with Skye Bank, FAAC account with Zenith Bank, balances with Access Bank and funds in the State reserve fund account in First Bank.
This is besides other balances in the state Government House account with Zenith Bank and other government MDA accounts, like the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP). By the time you pull all these together, we are looking at readily available cash in the region of eight to ten billion naira left for the Wike administration.”he said

Controversy is currently trailing the death of a 22-year-old man, who was allegedly set ablaze by his landlady and her children in the densely-populated Ajegunle area of Lagos.

The deceased, simply identified as Emmanuel, reportedly went to ease himself in the early hours of Tuesday, leaving his father and sister inside their one-room apartment. His sister, who had waited endlessly for his return, went to check on him in the toilet situated at the boys quarters of the building on Alafia Street.

She reportedly found her brother on the ground with his body on fire. She raised an alarm, which
attracted tenants. Two hospitals were said to have rejected Emmanuel. He reportedly breathed his last after writhing in pains.

While the deceased’s family alleged that Emmanuel was set ablaze by the landlady and her children, the latter, who is on the run, alleged that the former intended to set the building ablaze but was caught in his own web.

• Feud

Investigation by Vanguard revealed that there had been a lingering quarrel between Emmanuel’s family and the landlady. It was gathered that both parties had been to the Ajeromi Police Station several times to settle quarrels.

A resident, who spoke on strict condition of anonymity when Vanguard visited, blamed policemen at Ajeromi for not nipping the situation in the bud until it led to Emmanuel’s death.
According to the resident,

“I blame policemen at Ajeromi for the death of this young man. Emmanuel’s father and the landlady have reported their misunderstandings to the police several times. Nothing was done to bring a lasting solution to the quarrel. Had they acted when they were supposed to, this would not have happened.”

Although the resident could not tell exactly what happened that fateful night, he said:

“I woke up with the alarm raised by some tenants that night. We were told that it was the deceased that lit the fire.
“However, the question is how is it possible judging from the distance between his apartment and where the fire was said to have been lit? This is what the Police should look into.”

Another resident, who also spoke with Vanguard, said:

“How come he sustained fire burns if he was in his room? How come only the window of the affected room was gutted by fire if he did not intend to set the building ablaze?
“Many are of the view that the petrol could have spilled on him as he struck the match. Besides, he was alone at the scene of the fire.”

Police sources hinted that the landlady, whose identity could not be immediately ascertained, had bolted, adding that effort was on to apprehend her with a view to commencing investigation into the matter.

At press time yesterday, operatives at the homicide section of the State Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Department, SCIID, Yaba, had taken over the investigation

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Alhaji Garba Shehu, on Wednesday revealed that preliminary investigations indicate that wanted radical preacher Ahmed al-Assir got his Nigerian visa through a normal application.

The fugitive radical Sunni preacher who is linked with the terrorist group ISIS was arrested at the Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport while trying to leave Lebanon to Nigerian through Cairo using fake Palestinian travel documents. Read here

 

In a statement made to the Daily Times, Shehu Garba said,

 "Any claim linking the man to the Nigerian government must be regarded as born out of mischief. Our missions attend to all applications. Once an application meets the basic conditions, there is very little that the visa issuing officials can do, especially since he was using a false identity."

"The government is awaiting the report of the investigation, but preliminary reports show that the applicant’s manifest documents raised no suspicion. There was nothing extra-ordinary about the application. If he had applied as a tourist or as an investor, there would be little for the visa officials to suspect that the applicant was a terrorist." he said

World Football governing body, FIFA has appointed the president of the Nigerian Football Federation NFF, Amaju Pinnick as a member of the FIFA U-20 World Cup Organizing Committee. In a letter dated 14th August 2015 and signed by FIFA Secretary General, Jerome Valcke, the world body wrote

“We are very pleased to inform you that you have been appointed as a member of the Organizing Committee for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. Please accept our sincere congratulations on this nomination. We wish you success and enjoyment in this role at FIFA and look forward to welcoming you soon in Zurich.” Congratulations to him.