Pesticide responsible for Ondo deaths, says WHO

                                                                                   Dr. Margaret Chan

The World Health Organisation says pesticide poisoning is the probable cause of mysterious deaths of over 18 people in Ode Irele, in Irele Local Government Area of Ondo State.

Those who died suffered from blurred vision and headaches, and then lost consciousness before dying within 24 hours.

The “current hypothesis is cause of the event is herbicides,” WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl, said in a tweet.

“Tests done so far are negative for viral and bacterial infection,” he added.

The WHO spokesman said the current theory was that the deaths were caused by weedkiller.

All of those affected started showing symptoms between April 13 and 15.

My plea for forgiveness not cowardice –Fayose

                                                        Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose

The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has said his asking for forgiveness should not be taken for cowardice by his opponents, saying his tenure in office will be determined by God.

He said he took the step to seek a genuine reconciliation with the All Progressives Congress, whose 19 lawmakers in the state House of Assembly were plotting his impeachment.

The governor spoke on Sunday at the thanksgiving service organised for him at the Cathedral Church of Emmanuel, Anglican Communion, Ado Ekiti, to celebrate his electoral victory at the Supreme Court.

Fayose said, “I asked for forgiveness for reconciliation and to pursue genuine peace. Waiving the olive branch does not mean cowardice, it is for peace.

I didn’t spend N2tn on elections –Jonathan

                                                                               President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday said there was no truth in a report that he and the Peoples Democratic Party spent N2tn for campaigns ahead of the just-concluded general elections.

He also denied setting up a committee to conduct an audit of how the elections funds were disbursed by party members and state officials.

Jonathan made the clarification in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati.

S’Africa attacks: Nigerians lose N21m, says envoy

Zimbabweans moving their belongings from a temporary refugee camp in Chatsworth, South of Durban in South Africa before boarding a bus back to their country... on Sunday

Nigerian Consul-General in South Africa, Amb. Uche Ajulu-Okeke, said on Sunday that Nigerians lost more than N21m Rand (1.2m) in the on-going xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

Ajulu-Okeke told the News Agency of Nigeria by phone from Johannesburg, South Africa, that the loss included looted shops, burnt shops, two burnt mechanic workshops, 11 burnt cars and two stolen cars, among others.

“Nigerians have compiled the cost of the damage to their property and it is totalling about 1.2m Rand or N21m, which will be sent to the Federal Government for further action,” the ambassador said.

She said that two of the three Nigerians who were wounded during the attacks in Durban had been treated and discharged from the hospital.

Jonathan demands N2tr election funds refund, audit

                                                                      President Goodluck Jonathan

Following the defeat suffered by President Goodluck Jonathan and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, during the March 28 and April 11 elections, the President has asked the party and government officials, who handled campaign funds, to refund unspent monies, or those not judiciously expended, SUNDAY PUNCH can authoritatively report.

Jonathan, credible sources said, has also set up a committee of five to get those with the funds to return them.

Sources within the party and the government told our correspondents that Jonathan was disturbed that despite giving campaign coordinators, ministers, special advisers, close aides and friends, support groups and traditional rulers over N2tr in cash, most of them could not deliver their polling booths and local governments.

Handover: Buhari may write Jonathan over May 28 date

                                            President-elect, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari

President-elect, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) may write President Goodluck Jonathan to seek clarification on the May 28 handover date.

Sunday PUNCH reliably gathered on Saturday that to avoid dispute between the incoming and outgoing administrations, Buhari would ask for explanation on a statement by the Minister of Information, Mrs. Patricia Akwashiki, on Wednesday.

The minister had, after the Federal Executive Council meeting, told journalists that Jonathan would hand over to Buhari at a dinner in Abuja on May 28.

She had said, “By May 28, the President intends to have the formal handover done at a dinner so that we can reserve May 29 for the incoming government.

CBN to prosecute proprietors, others demanding foreign currencies

                                                                       The Naira and dollar

The Central Bank of Nigeria says it will not hesitate to prosecute persons, including school managers, who demand and accept tuition in foreign currencies.

A statement by the bank’s Director Corporate Communications, Ibrahim Mu’azu, noted that the CBN Act of 2007 criminalised the usage of other foreign denominations over naira.

“The attention of the bank has been drawn to the increasing usage of foreign currencies in the domestic economy as a medium of payment for goods and services by individuals and corporate bodies.

“It has also been observed that some institutions price their goods and services in foreign currencies and demand payments in foreign currencies rather than the domestic currency (the Naira), which is the legal tender in Nigeria.

IOC President invites Buhari to Lausanne

                                                                  Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd)

President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, has congratulated the President-elect, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) on his victory at the polls and also extended an invitation to him to visit the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

In a congratulatory message sent to Buhari and copied to the President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Mr. Habu Gumel, the IOC President told Buhari that, “the election demonstrates the great confidence the people of Nigeria have in you. For your team, I wish you all the very best and a great success.”

Buhari, who will also become the Grand Patron of the NOC from May 29, was invited to the IOC headquarters by Bach.

Revealed: Plot to abduct Jega during presidential poll

                                                                   INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega

Fresh facts have emerged on the March 31 attempt by a former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, to scuttle the announcement of the March 28 presidential election results.

The main part of Orubebe’s action, according to Reuters on Thursday, was a plot to use hired thugs     to kidnap the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, and consequently stall the electoral process.

The news agency quoted unnamed pro-democracy advocates and a Nigeria-based diplomat as saying that one of Jega’s aides unearthed the plot.

It said that the aide had sent a text message to an independent voting monitor, “warning of an imminent threat to the electoral process.”

Former President Olusegun ObasaBuhari, Ezekwesili, Shekau among TIME’s 100 most influential persons

                                                                 Buhari, Ezekwesili, Adichie, Shekau

President-elect Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has made the TIME’s list of 100 most influential people in the world.

Also included in the 2015 list are a former Minister of Education and an advocate of the BringBackOurGirlsGroup, Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili; award-winning novelist, Chimamanda Adichie, and leader of the Boko Haram terrorist group, Abubakar Shekau.

The TIME 100 is an annual list of 100 most influential people in the world whose works are changing the world, regardless of the consequences of their actions.

Described as “a new choice for Nigeria,” TIME’s Africa Bureau Chief, Aryn Baker, said Buhari made history in March by becoming the first candidate to oust a sitting Nigerian President through the ballot box.

Customs release Obasanjo’s My Watch

                                                                       Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

The Nigeria Customs Service on Thursday said that it had released former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s autobiography titled, My Watch.

The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the NCS Comptroller-General, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi, made the disclosure to newsmen when he inaugurated two new patrol boats of the service in Lagos.

Abdullahi said that the container was released following the vacation of an FCT High Court order restraining the former President from publishing, printing or offering for sale, his autobiography titled, “My Watch’’ on Tuesday.

“Customs got the initial order of the court to stop the container and now that the court asks us to release the container, so be it,” he said.

I’ll restore military ties with US –Buhari

                                              President-elect, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)

The President-elect, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Tuesday said his administration would restore military cooperation with the United States of America.

In an article published by the New York Times in its Tuesday edition, Buhari promised to among other things reformed the military.

The outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration had cancelled the training component of its military cooperation with the US citing a lack of sincerity on the part of the Americans for its decision.

But Buhari said, “My administration would welcome the resumption of a military training agreement with the United States, which was halted during the previous administration. We must, of course, have better coordination with the military campaigns our African allies, like Chad and Niger, are waging in the struggle against Boko Haram. But, in the end, the answer to this threat must come from within Nigeria.”

Jonathan rejects amended constitution

                                                                             President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has rejected the amendments made to the 1999 Constitution by the National Assembly, The PUNCH has learnt.

A top government official who pleaded anonymity told our correspondent on Tuesday that Jonathan vetoed the amendment on Monday.

The official said the decision of the President not to sign the document was because the amendment did not meet the provisions of Section 9 (3) of the 1999 Constitution.

The source explained that with the return of the document by the President, the letter accompanying it might be read on the floors of the two chambers of the National Assembly any time from Wednesday (today).

Nanny demands N15m for kidnapped Lagos children

A nanny, Mary Akinloye, who allegedly kidnapped three kids in the Surulere area of Lagos State has demanded N15m from the victim’s parents, PUNCH Metro has learnt.

Our correspondent learnt that the family was contacted on Thursday by the suspect and others, who were suspected to be members of her group. They were said to have demanded the N15m as ransom.

PUNCH Metro had reported on Wednesday that the Orekoya family had posted information on OLX, an online sales portal, seeking the service of a nanny.

Our correspondent reported that Akinloye indicated interest and gave the Orekoyas the contacts of two people who she said were her relatives.

CBN to publish names of ‘chronic’ bank debtors …to slash debit cardholders’ spending overseas

                                                                      CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Thursday expressed deep concerns about the growing amount of Non-Performing Loans in the books of Deposit Money Banks and said it would publish the names of chronic debtors.

The Director, Banking Supervision, CBN, Mrs. Tokunbo Martins, who stated this at a press briefing after the 321st meeting of the Bankers’ Committee in Lagos, said the central bank, in collaboration with the committee, had also decided to stop the serial debtors from buying foreign currencies at the official interbank foreign exchange market.

Also to be stopped from buying foreign currencies, according to her, are members of the board of directors of debtor companies as well as their subsidiary firms.

Jonathan’s wife wants INEC to rig Rivers’ poll –Amaechi

                                                                        Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi

AHEAD of the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections, the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has accused the wife of the President, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, of pressurising the Independent National Electoral Commission and security agencies to rig the governorship election in the state.

Amaechi, who observed that President Goodluck Jonathan’s wife was in Okrika, her hometown, for the governorship election, hoped that there would not be a repeat of alleged electoral malpractices that happened on March 28 in the state.

The governor, who spoke during a stakeholders’ meeting on Thursday in Port Harcourt, said the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Mrs. Gesila Khan, already had a mindset of delivering the state to the Peoples Democratic Party.

Ekiti APC lawmakers to CJ: Raise panel to probe Fayose

                                                                        Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose

The 19 All Progressives Congress members of   the Ekiti State House of Assembly have written to the state Chief Judge, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, asking him to set up a panel to investigate the allegations contained in their impeachment notice to Governor Ayodele Fayose.

The seven-member panel which should be constituted   within seven days of the receipt of the letter is to investigate allegations of impunity, violence, stalking and other constitutional breaches the lawmakers levelled against Fayose and his deputy,   Kolapo Olusola.

The legislators reached the resolution at a special sitting presided over by their   Speaker,   Adewale Omirin, at the Mary Hills Boys’ High School, Ado Ekiti.

According to a statement by Omirin’s media aide,   Wole Olujobi, the lawmakers, in a unanimous vote, supported the motion directing the chief judge to set up the panel.

Jonathan fires Agwai as SURE-P chairman

                                                                  Lt. Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (retd.)

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday sacked Lt. Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (retd.) as the Chairman of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, five days after the former Chief of Army Staff delivered the former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s 78th birthday lecture.

The President has named Mr. Ishaya Dare Akau as Agwai’s replacement.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the President attributed Agwai’s sacking to the continuation of government’s efforts to continuously reposition Federal Government’s agencies for optimal delivery.

Agwai had, while delivering the Obasanjo lecture last Thursday, said change in the national leadership was inevitable and that the country’s leaders must accept it and move with it.

Kaduna denies Buhari access to rally venue – APC

                                                              Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)

The All Progressives Congress in Kaduna State on Tuesday said the Kaduna State government denied the party’s presidential candidate, Maj. Gen Muhammmadu Buhari (retd.), access to the Murtala Mohammed Square, Kaduna, for his North-West zonal rally ahead of the rescheduled March 28 and April 11 general elections.

Our correspondent learnt that preparation for the rally, which is expected hold today (Wednesday), had reached an advanced stage when the zonal office of the party was informed that the state had refused the party the permit to use the facility.

“The PDP is jittery already. They are simply afraid of the popularity strength of the APC in the state and indeed the northern part of the state,” a party official, who asked not to be named, said.

Champions League: Out-of-form Real face Schalke

                                                                                 Cristiano Ronaldo

European champions Real Madrid will expect to take another step closer to becoming the first team in 25 years to retain the Champions League when they host Schalke on Tuesday holding a 2-0 lead from the first leg of their last 16 tie, AFP reports.

Real have strung together 10 consecutive victories in Europe stretching back to their successful run to their 10th European Cup last season, but have found the going a lot tougher domestically in 2015.

Los Blancos surrendered their lead at the top of La Liga at the weekend as they were beaten 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao, whilst Barcelona thrashed Rayo Vallecano 6-1.