THE selection of Barrister Nyesom Wike as the PDP’s ticket bearer for the 2015 gubernatorial contest was, without a doubt, one of the most bitterly contested decisions to have been taken by the party in Rivers State since the return to civilian rule in 1999. Apart from the fact that this choice went against conventional presumptions of regional power-sharing between the riverine and upland communities in the state, a substantial proportion of local political champions regarded it as having been imposed on the elite traditional structure of the state’s polity by a new generation of activists.

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has said the alleged plot by the Federal Government to prevent him from travelling abroad was inherently unconstitutional and dictatorial.

No fewer than seven persons have been confirmed dead following protest by members of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), in Asaba on Monday. The Acting Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), in Delta, SP Charles Muka, who confirmed this in a statement, added that the police recorded two casualties.

No fewer than 13 suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) were on Monday arrested by the Police for alleged unlawful protest in Enugu. The Enugu Police spokesman, Mr Ebere Amaraizu told newsmen that the suspects were arrested on Obiagu Road in the Coal City, while commemorating `Biafran fallen heroes and heroines of the 1967 -1970 civil war’.

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, on Monday, dared the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to carry out the alleged plot of preventing him from travelling out of the country , saying, “under the federal system of government, State governors are not appendages of the President and as a leading opposition figure in Nigeria, I can’t be cowed by President Muhammadu Buhari and his agents.”

The Deputy National Missioner of NASFAT, Alhaji Abdulazeez Onike, has advised traders against unnecessary and unjust inflation of prices of food stuffs during the Ramadan.

Victor Sanchez del Amo has been fired as coach of Deportivo la Coruna, the Spanish club announced on Monday.

FORMER Governor of Edo State, Senator Oserheimen Osunbor has said he would continue with the achievements of Governor Adams Oshiomhole if elected as governor.

Former Chief Security Officer, CSO to the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, has reiterated his call for a public debate, where former President Olusegun Obasanjo would come to substantiate claims in his infamous 18-page letter that he (Al-Mustapha) was contracted to head a killer squad of 1, 000 snipers for President Goodluck Jonathan, ahead of the 2015 general elections.

Teenage breakthrough star Marcus Rashford has signed a new contract committing him to Manchester United until 2020 with an option for a further year, the club announced on Monday.

Ebonyi State has won the 2016 Democracy School Debate.

The announcement of Pep Guardiola’s appointment by Manchester City had a negative impact on the team’s performances, outgoing manager Manuel Pellegrini said in an interview published on Monday.

A desert warfare specialist, Chad’s Hissene Habre seized power in 1982 and quickly embraced the role of ruthless dictator, with brutal atrocities the hallmark of his eight-year reign of terror.

A fight broke out between policemen and some people suspected to be members of the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) in Asaba on Monday, eyewitnesses said.

Buhari to launch Ogoni land clean-up June 2