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No Amount Of Blackmail Will Stop OPC From Resuscitating UPN – Fasehun

The President, Oodua Peoples’ Congress (OPC), Dr Frederick Fasehun, says no amount of blackmail will stop the congress from resuscitating the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).

Fasehun said this on Monday in a statement made available to newsmen in Lagos.
He also urged politicians not to make comments which are capable of heating up the South-West geo-political zone.
Fasehun lamented the recent comments credited to a political party on the resuscitation of UPN founded by late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
 
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Fasehun was the Chairman of the Committee for the Resuscitation of UPN.
 
In his statement however, Fasehun said the ``UPN is an idea whose time has come. And no amount of blackmail will stop it.
“Those resuscitating UPN are committed to the legendary ideals of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, which always made the human person the centre piece of government policy. Like Awo, they are committed to the delivery of free, qualitative and affordable education and healthcare. We know how far they can go.''
 
Fasehun debunked insinuations that OPC had bagged a monthly N2.4 billion pipeline protection contract.
He said he had earlier addressed the press on the intention of OPC to stem pipeline vandalisation in the South West.
“OPC was only toeing the line of private security agencies formed by militants in the Niger-Delta who secured pipeline-protection contracts in their area. Equity and Federal Character dictate we should get a similar contract.
 
“And unlike the billions of Naira rampantly stolen from state allocations by politicians in authority in this part of the world, the pipeline contract will feed tens of thousands of families.
“Unfortunately, the Federal Government is yet to reply to our proposal, although we have been to Abuja to defend our proposal at several interviews,’’ Fasehun explained.
 
He said the congress had in October 2010 furnished the Federal Government with a comprehensive proposal to provide security for petroleum pipelines in the South-West.
 
The OPC president said this was in the wake of various incidents of pipeline vandalisation and oil theft.
“Nigeria loses a significant chunk of its revenue to pipeline vandals, apart from the social dislocation and loss of lives and properties resulting from vandalised pipelines. Everyone knows that OPC has the network, commitment and discipline to render this legitimate and patriotic service to protect pipelines.
 
“Not only will it provide jobs for about 30,000 Nigerians, it will satisfy the yearnings of Nigerians that oil be produced and pumped through local refineries and pipelines in order to guarantee a reasonable pump price,’’ he said.(NAN)
 

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Fashola Hinges Economic Performance On Quality Of Leaders’ Education

Gov. Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State on Monday said that the performance of the nation’s economy was a function of the quality of education its managers received in various institutions in the country. Fashola said this on Monday while receiving...

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Market Capitalisation Grows By N163bn – NSE

Activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) opened for the week on Monday on a positive note with market capitalisation appreciating by N163 billion due to gains by major equities.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that market capitalisation rose by N163 billion to close at N11.14 trillion, up from the N10.99 trillion posted on Friday, an increase of 1.48 per cent.

Also, the All-Share Index, which opened at 34,301.37, grew by 508.88 basis points or 1.48 per cent to close at 34,810.25.

Nestle recorded the highest price gain to lead the gainers' chart with N9.50 to close at N970 per share.

Dangote Cement came second on the gainers' table, gaining N9 to close at N165 while Nigerian Breweries increased by N3.49 to close at N164.99 per share.

CAP rose by N2.90 to close at N40 while Okomu Oil Palm improved by N2 to close at N97 per share.

Conversely, Mobil Oil and PZ Cussons topped the losers' chart with a loss of N1 each to close at N123 and N35 per share respectively.

Access Bank lost 59k to close at N9.91, Air Services decreased by 47k to close at N4.28 while GTBank dipped by 44k to close at N25.50 per share.

Also, the volume of shares traded appreciated by 30.40 per cent as investors staked N5.19 billion on 492.81 million shares transacted in 6,383 deals.

This was in contrast to the 377.91 million shares worth N4.19 billion traded in 6,185 deals on Friday.

NAN reports that IHS was the toast of investors, accounting for 166.76 million shares valued at N353.53 million.

FBN Holdings followed on the activity chart with an exchange of 32.64 million shares worth N689.21 million while Access Bank sold 32.22 million shares valued at N322.46 million.

 

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JTF Repels Insurgents’ Attack In Yobe

The Joint Task Force (JTF) in Yobe on Monday said it repelled an intended attack by insurgents near Giedam on Sunday.

Lt. Lazarus Eli, the spokesman of the task force, confirmed this to newsmen in Damaturu .

``Suspected terrorists heading towards Geidam town to carry out attacks had an encounter with JTF troops close to Tumbulgi, 11 kilometres north of Geidam, and were successfully repelled."

Lazarus said that details, including casualties, were not readily available.

``We are still working on the details. We will provide you with the details when available,'' he said.

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Oshiomhole Lie To Nigerians Over Date Of Birth – Edo PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo has accused Gov. Adams Oshiomhole of lying over his actual date of birth.

Chief Dan Orbih, State Chairman of PDP, made the accusation at a press briefing on Monday in Benin.

Orbih was reacting to the recent celebration of the governor's 60th birthday, which Orbih said should have been 61th birthday as the governor's official birthday was April 4, 1952.

According to Orbih, Oshiomhole has consistently claimed 1953 as the year of his birth

“But sometimes in May, 2012, Oshiomhole deposed to an affidavit in an Edo High Court that he was born on April 4, 1952.

"In the history of the world, no one was born two times. But this is happening in Edo State.

``This, to us is perjury. This to us is unacceptable. This to us is labour rascality. You can never deepen democracy on falsehood or by telling lies to the people,'' he said.

Orbih stressed the need for Bishop Matthew Kukah  to conduct a confession mass for Oshiomhole.

``The documents we have in our possession are enough to send Oshiomhole to prison," Orbih said.

According to him, former Speaker of House of Representatives, Alhaji Salisu Buhari and late Senate President, Chief Evans Enwerem were duly sanctioned for  a similar offence.

The PDP chairman called on Oshiomhole to resign in honour and hand over to the Deputy Governor in light of the alleged inconsistencies in his year of birth.

Orbih further said that in view of this alleged deceit, Oshiomhole could never be seen as deepening democracy for public welfare.

Reacting to the allegation, the Special Adviser on Media to the governor, Mr Kassim Afegbua, said that this is the first time Oshiomhole was marking his birthday.

“Actually when Oshiomhole saw 60 years celebration on printed documents, he was disappointed saying he was 61 not 60 years.

``The error was from the printers. Governor Oshiomhole is 61 years old. It is difficult to amend the invitation cards and other documents which were already distributed.

``He had never claimed 60 years, he corrected the mistakes in some of the daily newspapers like The Sun,'' Afegbua said.

He said the PDP in Edo was capitalising on the error to seek public attention.

 

 

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