US SHUNS NIGERIA, GIVES $35M TO FRENCH-SPEAKING NEIGHBOURS TO FIGHT BOKO HARAM

The United States seems to have again shunned Nigeria as it said it would provide $35 million in military and defence support services to France as part of America’s investment in the war against Islamist terrorist group, Boko Haram.
The countries that are fighting the Boko Haram and which are Nigeria's neighbour---Chad, Niger and Cameroon--are French speaking countries and have close relations with France. Cameroon was, however, not part of the deal.
The American support, contained in a press statement issued by the White House, is to provide assistance to France which has been actively supporting Nigeria's French speaking neighbours as well as Mali, which is battling Islamist extremism.

BUHARI UNDER PRESSURE OVER MINISTERIAL NOMINATIONS …

The heat of leadership is already being felt by the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari as pressure mounts over ministerial nominations from party leaders and state governors from across the 36 states of the federation.
Prior to his election, Buhari had vowed to prune the cabinet, insisting that 42 man cabinet as operated by the Goodluck Jonathan administration is not to the best interest of the nation.
Buhari also said his cabinet will not be for patronage, as only people of integrity and with professional backgrounds will be considered.
But barely a month to the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress, APC, government on May 29, Buhari is now being inundated with pressure by notable political leaders, who aided his victory and are now hoping to reap where they sown.
The party had requested three nominees per each state for Buhari to make final choice but it appears that the request is being spurned by some of the leaders who are insisting on hand picking their nominees.
Among these leaders, Sunday Mirror learnt include the APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, some oil moguls and APC state governors, among others.

FULL PHOTOS FROM THE FLOYD MAYWEATHER VS MANNY PACQUAIO EPIC FIGHT

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The richest fight of the decade between America's Floyd Mayweather and Philippine's Manny Pacquaio took place at the MGM Grand last night May 2nd 2015 
The purse for the fight is set at $300million (£194,502,705), which will be split 60/40 in the American's favour.
Assuming the fight lasts the full 12 rounds, Mayweather will be earning $4,994,681 per minute of action, with Pacquiao earning $3,329,787 per minute.
That means that by the end of the first round, Mayweather will have earned $14,984,043 and Pacquiao will have earned $9,989,362.
In total, Mayweather will collect $179,808,511 (£116,554,424) while Pacquiao will get $119,872,340 (£77,702,949).

For those who didn't watch live, here are some photos from the fight

Adeboye Prophecy My Victory ---APC Vice President Elect

The Vice president-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has attributed t the March 28 presidential poll victory to the fulfillment of the prophecy earlier given by the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor E.A.Adeboye,that pastors, presidents and vice presidents shall emerge from among members of the church. 
Professor Osinbajo disclosed this on Friday night at the May National Holy Ghost Service of RCCG at the Redemption Camp at Kilometre 46, Lagos - Ibadan Expressway, Ogun State.
While it was his turn to testify about God's goodness, the Professor of Law, who is also the pastor-in-charge of Lagos Province 48, said: "My name is Yemi Osinbajo and I'm here to testify to God's goodness. For the past four months, we have been campaigning all around the country by sea, air, road and God has kept us and by March 28, He gave us victory at the poll."
Amid cheers from the mammoth gathering at the Arena Ground of the camp, the president-elect under the All Progressives Congress (APC) revealed that: "God marked me out for the position of the vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria."

PARALLEL GOVT ALLEGATION: AREWA CHAIR COOMASSIE, ANGO ABDULLAHI TACKLE JONATHAN

Prominent northerners yesterday lashed out at President Goodluck Jonathan for accusing President-elect Muhammadu Buhari of running a parallel government following the outcome of the March 28 election.
The Federal Executive Council,rising from its meeting on Wednesday, had said the Jonathan Administration was not comfortable with some terms of reference of the incoming government’s transition committee which tend to create a parallel government.
National Planning Minister Suleiman Abubakar said government took exception to “some utterances, to some of the terms of reference that look as if the current government is being stampeded or intimidated.”
But reacting to the government’s position yesterday, the Chairman of the apex northern socio-cultural organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie, said there was nothing wrong in Buhari’s approach and that the government itself had been making some questionable appointments at the twilight of its tenure.
He said: “They are sacking incumbents and making new appointments at this period of transition.That is very wrong too.”

2015: HOW IMAMS, NORTHERN INTELLECTUALS, INCITED THE NORTH AGAINST JONATHAN – TANKO YAKASSAI

Frontline nationalist, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai is not exactly comfortable with the dynamics of the just con¬cluded general elections. The elder statesman, in his characteristic bluntness, laments on the role of religion and ethnicity in the defeat of President Goodluck Jona¬than. He is deeply worried that the fallout of the 2015 presidential election might result in negative consequences for the unity of Nige¬ria. In this interview with DESMOND MG¬BOH in Kano, he also spoke on the expecta¬tions of Nigerians from the in-coming administration of General Muhammadu Buhari and the place of President Jonathan in the nation’s history books. Excerpts:
In less than a month from now, Nigerians will usher in a new government. As an elder states¬man, what is your advice to the incoming admin¬istration?
As everybody knows, the main agenda of the new admin¬istration is to fight corruption, to deal with the security sit-uation, particularly the Boko Haram insurgency, rescue the Chibok girls and deal with unemployment. These are the priority areas in terms of their policy objectives. It is, there¬fore, the expectation of every Nigerian that these three issues would be the main areas of their attention. I think that after taking over power, these areas would be the yardstick by which the people would pass judgment on them. I think that after the first six months or thereabouts, Nigerians would be in a position to judge whether the new administration would be in a position to fulfill the promises they made to the public or not.

I’M NOT INTERESTED IN SENATE PRESIDENCY, SAYS AKUME

George Akume, Senate Minority Leader has stated that he is not interested in succeeding David Mark as Senate President of the 8th Assembly.
Akume has also denied having a meeting with a national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, over his purported ambition.
He stated that he never had is eyes on the senate presidency or any position at the moment, as he was busy attending to pressing national issues.
In a statement by his media aide, Beckie Orpin, the former governor of Benue state said there was no meeting between himself and Tinubu on Tuesday, rather he attended the 8th National Assembly retreat and later held meetings with his colleagues in Abuja.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Senator Akume along with other senators-elect received the president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, at the ongoing 8th National Assembly retreat at the International Conference Centre, Abuja in the morning of April 29.

WHY IGBO LEADERS VISITED BUHARI – IKEDIFE

Some Igbo leaders including retired Army Generals and the former President General of Ohane¬ze Ndigbo, Dr Dozie Ikedife have paid a private visit to the President-elect, Gen¬eral Muhammadu Buhari to make a case for the Igbo in the incoming APC-led feder¬al government so that the re¬gion will not be abandoned for not giving massive sup¬port to the victorious party like the South West during the just concluded presiden¬tial election.
Dr Ikedife who disclosed this at his Nnewi residence, yesterday, said the purpose of the visit was to appeal to General Buhari not to leave the Igbo in the cold in his ap¬pointments and infrastructural development because of the low support he received from the South East geo-political zone during the presidential election.
“You know people of the South East voted heavily for the PDP and not very much for the APC. And I had always warned during the campaigns that the Igbo should not put all their eggs in one basket. And the impression will be that the President-elect was not sup¬ported by the people of the South East. Our visit is to let the President-elect know that he is the President for all and that he has to accommodate people from the South East in his administration.

Enugu : APC Guber Candidate Slapped by Party Chieftain

A major crisis has hit the All Progressives Congress in Enugu State after report emerged on Friday that the APC National Vice-Chairman, South-East, Mr. Emma Eneukwu, allegedly slapped the party’s governorship candidate, Mr. Okey Ezea, following an argument over ministerial slot in the forthcoming Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.The alleged incident happened on Thursday during a meeting of South-East APC leaders at the Imo State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja.
It was gathered that the closed-door meeting was chaired by Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, and had Senator Chris Ngige, Senator Osita Izunaso, Gen. J. O. J. Okoloagu (retd.), and others in attendance.
Ezea disclosed the development in a text message that was forwarded to journalists in Enugu on Friday.

USE AND DUMP MUST END IN PDP – MUA’ZU

Embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, has said the culture of use and dump must stop in the party.
He said rather than trade blame among party members over the result of the 2015 presidential election, the party should see the outcome as an opportunity to reinvent itself and retake power in 2019.
Mu’azu stated this in a statement in Abuja on Saturday.
The PDP chairman has come under intense pressure to resign following the disastrous outing of the party in the last general elections.
Governors of the party at their meeting, which was also attended by Mu’azu and two other members of the National Working Committee in Abuja on Wednesday, demanded the resignation of the NWC members.
The governors were said to have argued that it was better for the NWC members to leave and allow fresh hands run the affairs of the party.
Mu’azu, however, said instead of wasting time, energy and resort to blame game over the party’s failed bid to win the presidential election, the party must move ahead.
He said, “The result of the 2015 presidential election is the elixir the PDP needs to reinvent itself and retake power in 2019 instead of wasting time, energy and resorting to mudslinging and blame game over the party’s failed bid to win a fourth consecutive presidential election victory.
“Stories spreading like wild fire in the social media about schisms in our party can only energise the incoming administration of the All Progressives Congress and their wish list that include the burial of the PDP.