Governor Idris Wada wins Kogi PDP primary

Governor Idris Wada of Kogi state has emerged the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the forthcoming governorship election in the state slated for November 21.

Mr. Wada scrored 709 votes to beat his closest challenger, Isa Echoho, who got 139 votes in the primary election, which took place at the Lokoja stadium Monday.

The election was supervised by the governor of Enugu state, Ifeanyi Uguawanyi, who announced the result of the primary at about 9:42pm Monday evening.

Mr. Wada will face the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Abubakar Audu, who had earlier won the primary election of his party, in the November 21 election.

US Open: Serena Williams beats Sister Venus to reach semi-finals

Serena Williams overcame her sister Venus at the US Open to move within two victories of her first calendar Grand Slam.
The world number one held her nerve to win 6-2 1-6 6-3 and reach the semi-finals in New York.
Serena, 33, will play unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci in the last four on Thursday.

President Buhari Vows to Strengthen EFCC, ICPC

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday vowed to strengthen his anti-corruption campaign, noting that his administration would not spare anyone found guilty of corrupt practices.

He also vowed to reinvigorate all anti-corruption agencies in the country such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.

Buhari said this at the opening session of the 45th Annual Accountants Conference and 50th Anniversary celebration of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.

The conference with the theme “ICAN: Building on a legacy of service” is the single largest gathering of chartered accountants in the country.

The President in his address delivered by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Anastasia Nwaobia, stated that the lack of prudence, transparency and honesty in the management of public resources had left Nigerians in poverty.

He called on ICAN to assist his administration in reversing the trend by ensuring that the resources of government were duly accounted for with all sense of transparency.

He said, “We are at the threshold of history where we must collectively take the destiny of the nation in our hands. As Nigerians, no one can love Nigeria like you and I. On our part, we will continue to lead by example making efforts to live above board.

Pope Francis changes Catholic rule on abortion

Pope Francis on Tuesday directed priests across the world to grant forgiveness to women who have had abortions.

The pontiff said the women should be granted absolution during the Jubilee year of Mercy which starts on December, 8, 2015.

The gravity of abortion, according to the church, is likened to attacking a bishop or desecrating the Eucharist. Tuesday’s announcement, however, did not change the belief but sought to relieve affected women of the burden for the specific period of the Jubilee year – December 8, 2015, to November 20, 2016.

According to CBS News, the decree was contained in a letter Pope sent to the head of Jubilee initiatives, Archibishop Rino Fisichella.

It read, “I think in particular of all the women who have resorted to abortion. I am well aware of the pressure that has led them to this decision. I know that it is an existential and moral ordeal.

“I have met so many women who bear in their heart the scar of this agonising and painful decision.”

The President of the Patristic Institute Augustinianum in Rome, Fr. Robert Dodaro, commended the development, describing Francis as being compassionate.

Nigeria: NUC releases list of illegal tertiary institutions

The National Universities Commission has released a list of illegal degree awarding institutions operating in Nigeria.
The schools were published in the NUC’s weekly bulletin dated August 24.
According to the bulletin, the NUC Executive secretary, Julius Okojie, warned that those who patronise the schools, do so at their own risk.
“Certificates obtained from these sources will not be recognized for the purpose of NYSC, employment and further studies,” the NUC said.
Below is the full list of illegal Universities:

I’m not fighting Fashola, says Tinubu

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has distanced himself from the recent attacks against former Governor of Lagos State Babatunde Fashola.

Tinubu added that the attacks were being sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party.

Tinubu, who is a former governor of Lagos State, said this in a statement issued by his media office on Wednesday.

Fashola, according to a report on the state government’s website, spent about N78.3m on his personal website, www.tundefashola.com and N139m to construct two boreholes at the Lagos House, Ikeja, when he was governor of the state.

There had been speculations that the reports were being sponsored by Tinubu as part of efforts to discredit him and deny him the opportunity of being appointed a minister by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Some 50 Migrants Found Dead in Boat off Libya

Rescuers have saved about 3,000 refugees but found more than 50 dead on boats near the coast of Libya, according to the Italian coastguard.

At least 55 bodies were discovered on Wednesday on three overcrowded boats in the Mediterranean Sea, the coastguard said.

Of them, 51 were found in the hold of a wooden boat found drifting precariously off the Libyan coast by the Poseidon, a Swedish ship mobilised under the European Union’s rescue mission Triton.

Tens of thousands of people, mainly from Africa and the Middle East, have put to sea this year in the hope of reaching Europe, often dangerously packed into small vessels that were never designed to cross the Mediterranean.

The boat on which rescuers on the Poseidon found the 51 corpses was carrying 439 survivors, Reuters news agency reported.

Three women were found dead on a rubber boat carrying a further 120 people.

One person rescued along with more than 100 others on another boat died shortly afterwards.

President Buhari Orders Probe of Weapons Procurement Since 2007

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the National Security Adviser to convene an investigative committee on the procurement of hardware and munitions in the Armed Forces from 2007 till now. The investigative committee's mandate is to identify irregularities and make recommendations for streamlining the procurement process in the Armed Forces.

Accordingly, the National Security Adviser has constituted the Investigative Committee as follows: