Jeff Bezos settles his divorce with wife MacKenzie, giving her $32billion of his Amazon shares

World's richest man, Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie have officially ended their 25 years marriage after settling their divorce. 

Jeff, 55, will keep 75 percent of their Amazon stocks, leaving MacKenzie, 48, with just a quarter which represents a four percent stake in the company worth around $32billion at current value. 

According to Daily Mail, Jeff's 12 percent stake is now worth around $100billion which allows him to retain his title as the richest man in the world because he still has $4billion more than Bill Gates. He will also take voting control of her remaining quarter and has been given her stock in The Washington Post and Blue Origin. 

The pair announced the details in tweets on Thursday afternoon. But there was no mention of how they will divide their sprawling property portfolio or other investments and why they did not divide them equally.

In their tweets, the estranged partners said they were 'grateful'  after finishing the process of their divorce.

Back in January, it was claimed Jeff Bezos' affair with TV host Lauren Sanchez led to his divorce from wife of 25 years. Lauren is also in the process of divorcing her Hollywood agent husband Patrick Whitesell.

Brazilian football legend Pele admitted to hospital in Paris

Brazilian football Pele was last night admitted to a hospital in Paris after he attended a promotional event with Kylian Mbappe.

According to RMC Sport, the 78-year-old was taken to hospital with a strong fever "as a precaution", but his condition is not believed to be life-threatening.

The 78-year-old was in Paris for a sponsor event organized by Swiss watchmaker Hublot, where he met Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe and his family.

It's unclear if he has been discharged from the hospital.

UAE cancels Three months tourist visa for Nigerian passport holders until further notice

The United Arab Emirates has cancelled Three months tourist visa for Nigerian passport holders following the arrest of five Nigerians for robbery in Dubai.

According to Africholiday, Nigeria passport holders are no eligible to three months UAE tourist visa. They are now restricted to 1 month, 96 hours and 48 hours UAE tourist Visa till further notice.

High court nullifies Senator Adeleke’s nomination for Osun State governorship election over 'certificate forgery'

Justice Oathman Musa of an Abuja High Court sitting in Bwari Area Council of Abuja on Tuesday nullified the nomination of Senator Ademola Adeleke as candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the September 2018 Governorship Election in Osun State.    

Adeleke, who represents Osun West Senatorial District at the National Assembly was the PDP’s candidate in the 2018 governorship election in Osun state. Two Chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Wahab Raheem and Adam Habeeb, had in 2018 barely few days to the governorship election in Osun State had dragged Adeleke to court, accusing him of not possessing the requisite educational qualification (secondary school certificate) to contest for the office of governor.  

They prayed the court for an order to disqualify Adeleke from participating in the Sept 22 governorship election in the state on the grounds that he does not possess the requisite educational qualification.  

Delivering judgment in the suit Tuesday, Justice Musa annulled Adeleke’s nomination on the grounds that Adeleke offended section 177 of the 1999 constitution as amended. The section stipulated that candidates for the position of governor must be educated up to secondary school level.  

According to Justice Musa, while the court’s findings showed that Adeleke entered secondary school in 1976, there was no record to show that he actually graduated as his name was no longer seen in the school’s register from 1980. Justice Musa further stated that the result Adeleke attached to his form CF001 which he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was fake, as it was found to be different from the one presented to the court by the principal of Ede Muslim High School, Ede, Osun State.  

Meanwhile, Adeleke’s lawyer Nathaniel Oke SAN has faulted the judgment of Justice Musa on the grounds that the judge erred in law by going out of hiy way to source for evidence to arrive at his “unjust conclusion”. He submitted that the court erred particularly when it ignored WAEC evidence that Adeleke was educated up to Secondary School level as required by law.  

While he disclosed that they will immediately commence filing of their appeal against the Judgment, the senior lawyer expressed confidence that the judgment cannot stand at Appeal Court.  It would be recalled that the West African Examination Council (WAEC) during the court’s proceedings confirmed that Adeleke sat for the May/June examination of the council in 1981.  

The council in an affidavit deposed to by one Osindeinde Adewunmi and filed at the registry of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court confirmed that Adeleke sat for the Senior Secondary School exams in May/ June 1981. The confirmation was contained in a four paragraph affidavit filed in compliance with the order of Justice Oathman Musa requesting the examination body to confirm whether the governorship candidate sat for the 1981 exams.  

Justice Musa, had in a ruling delivered on September 11 directed that WAEC should depose an affidavit, to either deny or confirm that Adeleke sat for the Exams the Council conducted at Ede Muslim High School in Ede, Osun State, in 1981. It equally said the examination body should file the ledger containing results of Ademola and his mates with whom he sat for the examinations, as well the verifying affidavit, within five days of being served with the enrolled order dated September 11.  

WAEC however in the sworn affidavit confirmed that, Adeleke with center number 19645 and candidate number 149 indeed sat for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination in May/June 1981 conducted by the council at Ede Muslim School situate at P.O. Box 6 Yidi Road, Ede, State of Osun.  

Accompanying the affidavit was a ledger containing the result of all candidates (001-221) who sat for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination in the said school.  The certified true copy of the ledger which is marked as exhibit WA1, however showed that Senator Adeleke, sat for only English Language in the examination. In arguing their case the plaintiffs in through their counsel, Bankole Akomolafe, on Sept 11 claimed that the PDP candidate did not sit for the WAEC examination in 1981 because the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination had not been introduced in the country as at then.  

They further alleged that the NECO examination he claimed to have sat for could not be genuine because National Examination Council (NECO) had not been established at the time Adeleke claimed to have sat for the examination.

Nigeria ranked sixth most miserable country in the world - Forbes

An economist from John Hopkins University in Baltimore, US, Steve Hanke, has ranked Nigeria as the sixth most miserable country in the world.  The ranking is titled, Hanke’s Annual Misery Index 2018: The World’s Saddest (And Happiest) Countries.  

Writing in the Forbes magazine of March 28, the economist notes that Misery Index is calculated using economic indices such as unemployment, inflation and the rates banks charge on loans.

“In the sphere of economics, misery tends to flow from high inflation, steep borrowing costs and unemployment,” Hanke warns.  The Index notes that the high rate of unemployment in Nigeria contributes largely to its unflattering rating on the Misery Index.

Hanke, in his explanatory note wrote, “The original Misery Index was just a simple sum of a nation’s annual inflation rate and its unemployment rate. The Index has been modified several times, first by Robert Barro of Harvard and then by myself.  

“My modified Misery Index is the sum of the unemployment, inflation and bank lending rates, minus the percentage change in real GDP per capita.  “Higher readings on the first three elements are ‘bad’ and make people more miserable. These are offset by a ‘good’ (GDP per capita growth), which is subtracted from the sum of the ‘bads.’  

“A higher Misery Index score reflects a higher level of ‘misery,’ and it’s a simple enough metric that a busy president, without time for extensive economic briefings, can understand at a glance.”  

Thailand and Hungary rank as the least miserable countries in the world on the 2018 Misery Index, having ranked 95th and 94th respectively of the 95 countries ranked by Hanke.     Venezuela, Argentina, Iran, Brazil and Turkey lead in that order, while Nigeria is sixth.

NDLEA arrests 280 suspected drug peddlers in Kano State

The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency in Kano State has arrested 280 suspected drug peddlers across the state with different types of exhibits.  

According to the NDLEA Commander in the state, Ibrahim Abdul disclosed this on Monday in Kano State while briefing newsmen on the activities of the agency in the Month of March.  According to him, the arrest was recorded following the inauguration of an operation tagged ‘Operation Sharar Miyagu’ aimed at checking drug abuse in Kano State.

He explained that the agency had during the operation seized 1,248.755 kg, of the hard drugs which include; Cannabis 676.024 kg and Psychotropic 56.679 kg.  The commander also said the command seized 52 grams of cocaine and 12 kg of a foreign hard drug called khat.

Abdul said that during the period under review, 89 hot spots were dislodged within and outside the metropolis, adding that the areas were Tudun Wada mini stadium, Gandun Albasa, Kofar Nassarawa and Rumfa College among others. He said the command was working tirelessly in ensuring that the menace of drug abuse was curtailed in the state.  

“For the past four months, there was no single month that our command did not apprehend more than a tone of illicit drugs in Kano. This is happening due to our efforts and commitment toward achieving the purpose of our existence”.  

Abdul pointed out that in the month under review eight clients were counselled and rehabilitated while 269 drug users were referred for brief intervention for counselling. He added that a plantation of Cannabis Sativa was discovered at Wailari village along Na’ibawa flyover Zaria road, in Kumbotso Local Government Area.

He explained that the investigation was ongoing in order to bring the culprit to book. “Also, a Psychotropic substance consignment of 10 cartons of promithazine theoclat tablet was intercepted.  “A preliminary investigation conducted proved that the tablet is positive for hard drugs.  “Therefore, that prompted the subjection of the drug for further forensic analysis,” the NDLEA Commander said.  

Abdul added that the command was able to secure the conviction of 11 drug peddlers within the month under review, while 87 cases were still pending at the court.  He said that the agency had recorded two cases of impersonation during the period, adding that the operations impacted on the peaceful conduct of the recent elections in the state.

EFCC debunks raising team to quiz out-going governors

Press statement from the EFCC. Read below.

The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has been drawn to a lead story of Sunday Punch Newspaper of March 31, 2019, titled: "EFCC raises teams to quiz Amosun, Okocha, Yari as immunity ends".

The newspapers had claimed that ahead of May 29, 2019, handover date to newly elected states helmsmen, the Commission has set up teams to probe some governors accused of perpetuating acts of corruption.

It is instructive to note that the reporter did not give the composition and terms of reference of the purported teams set up by the EFCC.

The report is a figment of the imagination of the reporter as everything about the setting of the teams ended with the first paragraph without details of such teams being set up.

Again, the story is not true, as the EFCC does not go after anybody, including ex-governors on speculative ground.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Commission only act after the investigators have done a thorough job on any individual or firm involved in corruption related cases.

The Commission wants to advise our stakeholders, including our friends in the media to be circumspect and verify their stories before going to press.

Members of the public are therefore advise to disregard the story as no team has been set up agains