NOT being a lawyer, I am leaving the legalisms of this matter to lawyers and judges. But as a private citizen with a strong viewpoint, I am saying NO to the verdict of Justice Adamu Bello of the Federal High Court of Abuja, which on February 23, 2011, ruled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should not conduct governorship elections in five states because the tenures of their incumbent governors had not expired.

Super Eagles head coach, Samson Siasia and his U-23 counterpart, Austin Eguavoen are on a collision course over some of the players invited for their continental assignments against Ethiopia and Equatorial Guinea, respectively.

Perhaps the most optimistic of recent signs have been observed in the non-oil sector, which doubled since 2001 and currently accounts for 7% of GDP.

I didn’t know whether to be pleased or annoyed that Seyi turned up at the airport to see off Milwan. We had sat around waiting for him and the others to check-in, when I noticed that there was a young lady, moving around from point to point with him. At first, I had thought that she was another passenger, but on closer observation, I discovered that it was Seyi. I was about to draw Tayo’s attention to it, when she nudged me and nodded in her direction.

The AIT Football Awards has come and gone. The memory is expected to linger till the next Award comes round.

As Chairman of the Award Panel, I did say as part of my vote of thanks that everything will be done to host the 2011 event at the end of this year. I have already read that it is going to be Lagos, while a call has come from Uyo showing interest. That, is for the Marketing Consultant to deal with.

Just when everybody thought that ethno-religious crisis in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State had become a thing of the past, the sleeping dog in the area was once again roused when persons suspected to be Fulani herds men launched an attack in the early hours of Thursday morning last week. The attackers were said to be on a revenge mission.

FOR some obvious reasons, I decided not to write for sometime now. The main reason is the fact that there have been no positive changes in the country. In one of my previous write-ups, I wondered why Nigeria , regarded as the sixth largest oil producing country in the world, cannot make kerosene available to its citizens, especially the common man.

Appalled that the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu and the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami, allowed their personal differences to attract scorn for the entire judicial system in the country, a member of Nigerian Inner Bar and Senior Advocate, Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama, SAN, weekend, urged the National Judicial Council, NJC, to impose stiff sanction on any of them found guilty of official misconduct, stressing that it was the only way to restore confidence of Nigerians on the sanctity of the judiciary.

THE Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s has introduced some security features in the ballot papers to be used for the April 2011 general elections Vanguard can reveal.

The Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Mr Mohammed Adoke (SAN) and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, have asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to reject the Okigbo panel report as “the report is not admissible in law because it has not yet been published in a gazette and no white paper has been issued on the report.”

President Goodluck Jonathan has shown greater commitment and concern towards the plights of distressed Nigerians in crisis-ridden countries, including Libya and Cote’ d’ Ivoire, and would ensure their safety and protection.

The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA and the internatianoal human rights organisation, Human Rights Watch, HRW, yesterday called on the National Assembly to pass legislation establishing a special Electoral Offences Commission to investigate and prosecute election-related abuses, to arrest immunity in the system

Cameroon and Nigeria agreed late on Friday to jointly exploit any oil and other cross-border reserves found in the Bakassi peninsula, with Nigeria proposing Chinese-owned explorer, Addax Petroleum, to handle the work.

Minister of Finance, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, raised hopes on the Jonathan administration’s one million jobs per year and a better economy in the months ahead as he revealed that foreign investors had commenced talks with the Federal Government with a view to establishing refineries, petrochemical companies and fertilizer plants in country

AS Nigerian workers await the Presidential assent to the N18,000 new minimum wage following its passage into law by both Houses of the National Assembly, organised labour has warned that only governors who do not want to remain in office will refuse to implement the new wage.