IMO BREAKING NEWS BLOG

Hon. Ugochi Nnanna-Okoro joins APGA, emerges APGA Senatorial Candidate for Owerri Zone .

Hon. Ugochi Nnanna-Okoro becomes the only Woman running for the Position in Imo State, thus calling for support even on the ground of gender Sensitivity.

Recall that Hon. Barr. Mrs Ugochi  Nnanna Okoro served in various capacities in the Rescue Mission Government of His Excellency Distinguished Senator Owelle Anayo Rochas Okorocha.

Congratulations to her.

The Supreme Court has affirmed Daniel Nwafor as the authentic Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Imo State.

A five-man panel of justices of the apex court led by Justice Kayode Ariwola, delivered the judgement on the merit of a suit that was seeking to set aside the judgement of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, which sacked Mr Nwafor as the Chairman of the APC in Imo state.

The ruling APC had through its lawyer, Robert Emukpoeruo, SAN, contended that the appellate court erred in law when it okayed Nwafor’s removal, based on a pre-election matter that was lodged before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, by one of its chieftains in the state.

Earlier, an Abuja High Court had in a ruling by Justice Othman Musa delivered on July 20, 2020, ordered Nwafor not to enforce or give effect to a 2018 judgement of the court that recognised him as Chairman of APC in Imo state, pending the determination of the appeal that was filed by the party.

Justice Musa had stated that the crux of the appeal by the APC was that at the time the court entertained the suit that led to the judgement that recognized Nwafor as its Chairman in Imo, it was more than 14 days from the date it held congresses in the state.

Consequently, while granting an order to set aside the judgement, Justice Musa issued an injunctive order that restrained Nwafor from functioning as chairman, pending the determination of the case, an order that now has been superseded by the Supreme Court’s judgment.

Following the victory at the apex court today, Mr Daniel Nwafor addressed the media declaring that his faction is the only one recognized by law and as such, all the activities carried out by the caretaker committee including especially the election of delegates for all positions in the current party primaries process are null and void.

He advice the party to immediately recognize his chairmanship and authority within his purview, lest the party risks not having any National and State Assembly members come 2023.

Ebonyi State Police Command, Thursday arrested two sons of the foremost founding father of Ebonyi state, Late Senator Office Nwali over their alleged refusal to step down for another aspirant in the just concluded APC primaries in the State.

It was gathered that the duo, Barr. Rollins Offia Nwali and his brother Engr Alfred Offia Nwali were arrested on Thursday at Onueke in Ezza South Local Government Area of the State.

Rollins Offia Nwali, is an aspirant in the APC House of Assembly primary election.

He was contesting for Ezza South State Constituency seat before his arrest. A source alleged that Mr Offia Nwali was arrested for refusing to step down for his opponent in the election.

“He was called severally from Government House to step down but he told them that as the son of one of the founding fathers of the State, the opponent should be the one to step down for him.

Elder Brother of the two brothers, Oguzor Offia Nwali confirmed the arrests of the brothers. He also alleged that the arrest was instigated by the “powers that be” in the state who wanted him out of the way to pave the way for their preferred candidate to win.

“He had received so many threats over the election but he refused to step down preferring to go to the field. They arrested him because they saw that he was going to win as he had a large number following him in the constituency”, the source said

The source further alleged that his supporters, including some of the delegates were chased out of the election venue.

“Yes, my two brothers were arrested and we heard they have been taken to the Police Headquarters in Abakaliki”, he said.

The Police spokesperson in the state, Chris Anyanwu could not be reached for comments as his phone lines were switched off at the time of filling this report.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has voted unanimously to raise the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to 13 per cent.

CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, announced this on Tuesday while briefing reporters at the end committee’s meeting at the apex bank’s headquarters in Abuja.

It is the first time in two and a half years that the policy-setting committee of the nation’s financial regulator would increase the MPR, which measures the interest rate.

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has decried the inadequacy within its workforce which it is said has prevented the service from properly manning the nation’s borderlines. Acting Controller-General of Immigration (CGI), Isah Idris, stated this during a virtual media interaction where he said the major responsibility of the service was border security, without overlooking the importance of passport issuance as another mandate.

According to him, the entire workforce of NIS is not more than 25,000 while Nigeria’s borders are massive, covering 5,330 kilometres with an estimated 1,490 illegal entry points into the country. “So, it is increasingly difficult for us to adequately man the borderlines,” the NIS boss admitted. “That is why we have continued to appeal to the government to increase our budgetary allocations and also grant us approval for recruitments to reinforce the workforce.

“We thank the President and the team for the approval and the recruitment we carried out in 2021, but the reality is that we need more personnel to achieve effective border management and control.” Idris said the NIS has taken some measures to improve border security and tackle the influx of illegal migrants in the country. For him, the best way to man the vast border points in Nigeria is the deployment of technology and with NIS technology building already in place, efforts have reached an advanced stage to launch electronic border management systems across 84 border locations.

The NIS chief added that the border patrol system was also being enhanced to ensure close and improved monitoring with the available personnel.

West Ham United defender Kurt Zouma has pleaded guilty to kicking and slapping his pet cat in a video that also showed him saying "I swear I'll kill it". The 27-year-old admitted two offences under the Animal Welfare Act at a hearing at Thames Magistrates' Court.

Zouma's brother Yoan, who plays for Dagenham and Redbridge, admitted one offence after an RSPCA investigation. Yoan, 24, filmed the incident, which was posted on social media. Sentencing has been adjourned to 1 June. The brothers' addresses were withheld following a court order.

The court was told about disturbing footage of the incident, which was filmed at the West Ham player's home and posted on Snapchat with 'laughing' emojis by his brother on 6 February. It was later seen by a woman who had been messaging Yoan, and she raised concern.

Zouma could be seen volleying the Bengal cat across his kitchen, before throwing a pair of shoes at it and slapping its head.