'Walter Onnoghen's retirement is in Nigeria's best interest' - National Judicial Council

The National Judicial Council (NJC) on Monday confirmed President Buhari’s acceptance of voluntary retirement of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, saying it is in the country's best interest.

Soji Oye, the council’s Director of Information disclosed this in a statement.  “Council held an Emergency Meeting today to take formal note of the acceptance of the voluntary retirement of Hon. Mr. Justice Walter Onnoghen, GCON, as Chief Justice of Nigeria by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR.  

“The President’s acceptance of the retirement is in line with Council’s recommendation to the President on 3rd April, 2019. Council at the end of its deliberations thanked the President for the acceptance which was in the best interest of Nigeria,’’ Oye said.

The president had suspended Onnoghen on allegation of complexities surrounding his false and non- asset declarations while the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) convicted him of the offences.  

Justice Tanko Muhammad was eventually appointed as Acting CJN to fill in the gap created.

UCH Ibadan is overcrowded and overwhelmed - Chief Medical Director, Jesse Otegbayo cries out

The University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, has cried out over the influx of patients into the hospital due to the inability of other primary and secondary healthcare facilities to meet up with the required standards.  

The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof. Jesse Otegbayo, made this known while speaking with journalists in Ibadan to begin the celebration of his first 100 days in office.  

Otegbayo said the burden of healthcare delivery needed to be taken away from tertiary hospitals to primary and secondary healthcare facilities so as to allow doctors focus on their area of specialisation.

He said:  ”UCH is oversubscribed and overwhelmed. Most of the state governments have neglected the secondary tier of healthcare such that these hospitals have no accreditation needed to train even the lowest cadre of doctors, which are the house officers.

Low confidence in the quality of care provided by primary and secondary healthcare facilities, have pushed patients to seek general outpatient services from tertiary hospitals.

This has effectively overcrowded the hospital and overburdened our workers. We are calling on state governments to strengthen the general hospitals which form the larger part of the secondary tier of healthcare delivery.”

Real Madrid 'agree to double Eden Hazard's Chelsea salary' from £200,000 to staggering £400,000 per week

Real Madrid has reportedly agreed to double Eden Hazard's Chelsea salary' to a staggering £400,000 per week when he finalises his £130million move.

According to the Evening Standard, Madrid have agreed on terms with Hazard to double his current wages from £200,000 to £400,000 per week.

His imminent big-money transfer to the Bernabeu is expected to be announced within the next 24 hours after an agreement was reached this week between the two clubs, with Madrid agreeing to pay an initial £88m, which will still rise to £130m dependent on various bonuses and incentives for the former Lille player.

The deal will make Hazard is the most expensive signing in their history, ahead of both Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. It will also be the second-largest Premier League transfer ever, after Philippe Coutinho's £145m move from Liverpool to Real's arch-rivals Barcelona in January 2018.  

Liberian government blocks access to social media following protests against President George Weah and the missing $100 million

The Liberian government has shut down the use of social media in the country after thousands of Liberians descended on the capital Monrovia on Friday to protest the corruption that has bedeviled president George Weah’s administration.

The internet monitoring organization NetBlocks said platforms including WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook were blocked to subdue the protests. While the cut-off didn’t impact all providers, restrictions affected mobile internet provider Orange Liberia and internet service provider Lonestar.

The social media shutdown was confirmed by assessing user measurements in the Liberian capital and in collaboration with the digital advocacy Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa.

Themed  “Save The State,” the anti-government protests come just over a year after former soccer star George Weah was inaugurated into office. As an outsider, Weah campaigned to tackle corruption, and improving the provision of crucial services like education, health, and infrastructure.  

A few months into office, the government, however, admitted that $104 million of freshly-minted currency had gone missing in a shipping container at the Monrovia port. After an uproar, officials retreated insisting the money was never lost. An additional $25 million, withdrawn from the country’s reserves and meant to be injected into the economy, was also lost. Besides calling for the return of the missing millions, demonstrators are also demanding for the establishment of a war crimes court to institute legal proceedings against those who bear the greatest responsibility for atrocities committed during Liberia’s civil war.

While the government denies any wrongdoing, the alleged financial mismanagement is worrying many Liberians who feel the country is heading into an ominous future. The Liberian dollar has dropped by a third against the US dollar since Weah took office with inflation soaring as high as 28%. The high-level embezzlement cases and the ensuing protests are vexing for Weah, whose election heralded the first peaceful transfer of power in Liberia in 73 years.

Real Madrid agrees to pay £130m to sign Eden Hazard from Chelsea

Spanish club, Real Madrid has agreed to sign Eden Hazard from Chelsea in a club record deal worth £130million.

The 28-year-old Belgian will leave Stamford Bridge after seven hugely successful years at the club, winning the Premier League twice, one FA Cup and two Europa League titles.

This comes after negotiations between the clubs took place this week before a breakthrough was reached over the fee with the contract now ready to be signed.

According to Standard, Real Madrid will pay an initial fee of £88m but there are a number of add-ons included in the transfer which could see the Blues net another £42m.

Hazard, who is regarded as one of the best players in the world and has only 12 months left on his contract scored, 110 goals for the Blues and made 81 assists.

PDP condemns closure of AIT and Ray Power, says its an attempt to gag the media

Press statement from the PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemns, in its totality, the unrelenting attempt by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-controlled federal government to cage the media as being witnessed in the ferocious attacks on Africa Independent Television (AIT) by government agencies, particularly the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

The party says it is evident that the attack on AIT is targeted at intimidating and gaging the media, repress constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and stifle public opinion, particularly as related to the determination by Nigerians to retrieve the stolen Presidential mandate at the tribunal.

This clamp down on AIT as well as earlier siege on other media houses and journalists under the APC administration, ostensibly point to a plot to frighten and asphyxiate the media, shut down outlets perceived to hold dissenting views and ultimately foist a siege mentality on our citizenry to restrain their demand for fairness and justice in the polity.

The APC is mortally afraid that a free press will raise the red flag and expose its manipulations and any attempt to subvert the course of justice, especially in the Presidential petition, hence this desperation to strangulate the media and cow Nigerians from freely expressing themselves.

Moreover, the PDP invites Nigerians to note that the Director-General of the NBC, Ishaq Modibbo Kawu, is a card carrying member and frontline leader in the APC who was also an aspirant on the platform of the party for the governorship of Kwara state.

The PDP notes that there can be no democracy without a free press. To stifle the media is an invitation to fascism and a return to the era of obnoxious military Decrees 2 and 4, which must be resisted by all.

Our party therefore calls on Nigerians and the International community to unite in condemning this desperation to gag the media and repress free speech in Nigeria.

The PDP also charges the media to remain professional and steadfast in their constitutional role of holding government and its institutions accountable and not be intimidated by oppressive forces that seek to subjugate Nigerians.

Real Madrid 'complete signing of Eintracht Frankfurt striker Luka Jovic in £52.4million deal'

Spanish club, Real Madrid have reportedly completed the signing of Serbian and Eintracht Frankfurt striker, Luka Jovic for £52.4million.

According to Sky in Germany, the 21-year-old signed a five-year contract with the Spanish giants, which will earn him £43.7m (€50m) in total a year.

Frankfurt will pay Jovic's former club Benfica around £10.5m of the transfer fee.

The striker joined Frankfurt on loan from Benfica in the summer and last month the Bundesliga club exercised their option to make the move permanent.

Jovic has scored 17 goals in 31 Bundesliga appearances this season and 10 more in the Europa League.

The signing of Jovic would bring the number of new additions to Zinedine Zidane's squad for the 2019/20 season to three. Porto's Brazilian defender Eder Militao agreed to a move to Bernabeu in March, while Santos forward Rodrygo Goes will join up with the squad after agreeing his move last year.