A combined team of Federal Fire Service and FCT Fire Service, on Thursday put out a fire which engulfed part of the Federal Secretariat in Abuja.

Moses Essien, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the 2015 Diplomatic Sports, on Thursday said more than 700 participants registered for the maiden edition of the ongoing competition.

Concerned by the failure of DSTv, a South African satellite television service provider to restrain from carrying out increment in their tariff, The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, Thursday, threatened to clamp down on the company.

– Enyimba FC of Aba would lock horns with Dolphins FC of Port Harcourt in a week nine tie of the 2014/2015 Globacom Premier League.

The Nigeria Football Association (NFA) on Thursday said that the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna, would play host to the Nigeria/Chad Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

An All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain in Nasarawa State, Mr. Ibrahim Azara, has called on President-elect Muhammadu Buhari and Gov. Tanko Al-Makura to reduce the cost of governance in the country. Azara, who is a legal practitioner, told newsmen on Wednesday in Lafia that the call was imperative in order to fight poverty, unemployment and other social vices.

President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the appointment of Al-Hassan Yakmut as the substantive Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), the commission said on Thursday in Abuja. Patrick Omorodion, the Special Assistant (Media) to NSC Chairman Tammy Danagogo, said in a statement that the confirmation was conveyed to Danagogo through a letter dated May 12, 2015.

ABUJA-MEMBERS of the House of Representatives of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP extraction Tuesday said the party has not endorsed any candidate for the position of House Speaker. Also, more than 80 youths from the North East on Tuesday stormed the National Assembly demanding that Rep Yakub Bawa must be made the speaker of the eighth House.

The Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly, Mr Eugene Odo, on Thursday alleged that the police want to detain him over a purported forgery of N12 billion naira. Odo, who briefed newsmen in Enugu on Thursday over the impasse between the lawmakers and Gov. Sullivan Chime, called on the Inspector-General of Police to intervene. He noted that in spite of the court order by the Federal High Court sitting in Enugu which restrain the police from curtailing his liberty, granted him and other lawmakers’ unfettered access to the assembly complex.

Wife of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs Abimbola Fashola, has urged women to adopt proper child birth spacing to ensure survival and successful future of a child. Fashola made the call in Lagos at the 12th Babies and Moms Expo on Wednesday organised by Afribaby Initiative and entitled “Great Mothers, Happy Babies’’. She said that inadequate child spacing could affect not only the health of children and mothers but also a child’s future successes.

The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) has appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to sign the Violence against Persons Prohibition Bill (VAPP Bill) into law before leaving office. Mrs Chioma Onyenucheya-Uko, Assistant Public Relations Officer, FIDA, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja. Onyenucheya-Uko commended the National Assembly on the recent passage of the bill, adding that it was a great achievement to national development.
“We are asking for concerted effort to clamour for its assent by the President before he leaves the office.

Korodo told newsmen in Lagos on Thursday that only three depots out of over 50 in Lagos had petroleum products to dispense. The development had compelled hundreds of trucks to head for the three depots to lift oil. He said that the development was the key reason for the unprecedented traffic jam that had locked down Lagos in recent days. The Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, had on Wednesday chaired a meeting with the stakeholders in the oil industry where the government directed the tankers and trucks to vacate the bridges and roads.

Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, has sent a special message to Nigeria’s President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, assuring him of his country’s strong support to the Nigerian government under his leadership.

A 56-year-old man, Patrick Amam, who allegedly hit one Nanya Dutse with a hammer on her forehead, on Thursday appeared before an Apapa Magistrates’ Court, Lagos. Amam, a resident of No.99, Orodu St., Ajegunle, Apapa in Lagos, is standing trial on a charge of assault. The Prosecutor, Cpl. John Iberedem, told the court that the accused committed the offence on May 6 at his residence.

The United States Consulate-General in Lagos on Thursday trained about 85 Nigerian women on how to be financially independent in their homes and other socio-economic engagements. The One-Day Seminar tagged “ Take Charge of Your Financial Future” was specifically organised by the Consulate to expose young and middle aged to the processes of becoming financially independent.