GOVERNOR Olugbenga Daniel of Ogun State yesterday said although he has no specific candidate in mind to hand over to in 2011, he would however, ensure that the next Governor of the state would not be a “rogue”.

The Action Congress, AC, in Osun State has called on the Federal Government to constitute, as a matter of urgency, a Judicial Commission of Enquiry to probe series of political killings in the state.

Going through the Vanguard publication of Friday the 18th of December I came across a piece credited to one Jimmy Elekuku dedicated to Chief Tom Ikimi.

Chairman of the Election Observation and Monitoring Board on Anambra 2010, Mr. Ikeazor Akariwe, has warned the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and stakeholders that the board will not compromise its terms of reference before and after the February 6 gubernatorial election.

WORKERS in the nation’s petroleum industry have warned that the prolonged absence of President Umaru Yar’ Adua from office is not only inimical to the relative peace in the oil-producing areas, but also a threat to the industry.

Edo State government yesterday raised an alarm alleging plans by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state to use the forthcoming Etsako Central House of Assembly re-run election to cause crisis in the state.

A 35-year-old woman, Mrs Juliet Peters Ewinramwen, has been sentenced by a Benin High Court to 15-year imprisonment without an option of fine for human trafficking.

TUESDAY’S ruling of the Federal High Court, Abuja which held that the Vice President Goodluck Jonathan can go ahead to exercise the powers of the ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua pending his recovery and return to office has continued to attract mixed reactions.

Is football failing to be a unifying factor in Nigeria?
Since I started following football in Nigeria, never had I experienced the mixed reactions that followed the defeat of Eagles by Egypt last Tuesday. There were those who felt extremely sad and those who felt happy. There were those who were simply indifferent. They never cared for they have since lost hope in the national team.

LEON PANETTA, the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director had the painful duty of defending the professional conduct of his agents cut by a suicide bomber in Khost, Afghanistan. Humam Khalil Abu-Mulai al-Balawi was a 36-year old Jordanian doctor who was providing the CIA a stream of useful intelligence information. He was being jointly run by the CIA and the Jordanian intelligence.

LAST week, I wrote that I’d heard that a significant percentage of Northerners are bitterly opposed to the idea of Dr Goodluck Jonathan becoming Head of State if Yar’Adua cannot continue. I described such elements as shameless tribalists.

AGITATIONS raged in the Senate, yesterday, over the continued absence of President Umaru Yar’Adua, with a group of senators poised for a showdown with its leadership and President Yar’Adua.

THE Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Dan Abutu, and a radical human rights activist, Mr. Bamidele Aturu, yesterday, exchanged words in open court over the handling, by Abutu, of a constitutional suit by one Christopher Onwuekwe which arguably rested the legal battle ignited by President Umaru Yar’Adua’s absence from his duty post for over 52 days now.

Igbinedion University Okada will, tomorrow, hold its 11th matriculation. About 1,400 new students are expected to participate.

STEPHEN Okechukwu Keshi requires little introduction. I suppose the authorities of Nigerian football need to know him, if they were serious about the things they should do. If not for few hitches that attended his efforts in Togo, he would have taken Togo to the 2006 World Cup as the coach. He qualified Togo for the World Cup then the troubles followed.