Friday 22 May 2015

Billboard Music Awards 2015 Winners List


Who doesn't love an award show? Especially an award show celebrating achievements in music, since it means watching three hours of performances rather than enduring ho-hum acceptances speeches.
Sunday's 2015 Billboard Music Award hopefully will not disappoint with performances from Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea and more. And with Ludacris and Chrissy Teigen hosting, it's sure to be an interesting night.
The Billboard Music Awards finalists are "based on album and digital song sales, radio airplay, streaming, touring and social-media interactions," and it could be Taylor Swift's night as she leads with an impressive 14 nominations, followed by Sam Smith at 13, Iggy Azalea with 12 and Meghan Trainor with nine nominations.
Check back for the full list of the 2015 Billboard Music Awards winners, which will be updated throughout the night:
TOP DUO/GROUP
5 Seconds of Summer
Florida Georgia Line
MAGIC!
Maroon 5
One Direction
TOP BILLBOARD 200 ALBUM
Maroon 5, V
Pentatonix, That's Christmas to Me
Ed Sheeran, x
Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour
Taylor Swift, 1989
TOP BILLBOARD 200 ARTIST
One Direction
Pentatonix
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift
TOP ARTIST
Ariana Grande
One Direction
Katy Perry
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift
TOP NEW ARTIST
5 Seconds of Summer
Iggy Azalea
Hozier
Sam Smith
Meghan Trainor
TOP MALE ARTIST
Drake
Pharrell Williams
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith
Justin Timberlake
TOP FEMALE ARTIST
Iggy Azalea
Ariana Grande
Katy Perry
Taylor Swift
Meghan Trainor
TOP HOT 100 ARTIST
Iggy Azalea
Ariana Grande
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift
Meghan Trainor
TOP DIGITAL SONGS ARTIST
Iggy Azalea
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift
Meghan Trainor
TOP RADIO SONGS ARTIST
John Legend
Maroon 5
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift
TOP TOURING ARTIST
Lady Gaga
One Direction
Katy Perry
The Rolling Stones
Justin Timberlake
TOP SOCIAL ARTIST
Justin Bieber
Miley Cyrus
Selena Gomez
Ariana Grande
Taylor Swift
TOP STREAMING ARTIST
Iggy Azalea
Ariana Grande
Nicki Minaj
Taylor Swift
Meghan Trainor
TOP R&B ARTIST
Beyoncé
Chris Brown
John Legend
Trey Songz
Pharrell Williams
TOP RAP ARTIST
Iggy Azalea
J. Cole
Drake
Nicki Minaj
Rae Sremmurd
TOP COUNTRY ARTIST
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Florida Georgia Line
Brantley Gilbert
Blake Shelton
TOP ROCK ARTIST
Bastille
Coldplay
Fall Out Boy
Hozier
Lorde
TOP LATIN ARTIST
J Balvin
Juan Gabriel
Enrique Iglesias
Prince Royce
Romeo Santos
TOP DANCE/ELECTRONIC ARTIST
Avicii
Clean Bandit
Disclosure
Calvin Harris
Lindsey Stirling
TOP CHRISTIAN ARTIST
Casting Crowns
Hillsong United
Lecrae
MercyMe
Newsboys
TOP SOUNDTRACK
The Fault in Our Stars
Fifty Shades of Grey
Frozen
Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix: Vol. 1
Into the Woods
TOP R&B ALBUM
Beyoncé, Beyoncé
Chris Brown, X
Michael Jackson, Xscape
John Legend, Love in the Future
Pharrell Williams, G I R L
TOP RAP ALBUM
J. Cole, 2014 Forest Hills Drive
Drake, If You're Reading This It's Too Late
Nicki Minaj, The Pinkprint
Iggy Azalea, The New Classic
Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP 2
TOP COUNTRY ALBUM
Jason Aldean, Old Boots, New Dirt
Garth Brooks, Man Against Machine
Luke Bryan, Crash My Party
Brantley Gilbert, Just As I Am
Miranda Lambert, Platinum
TOP ROCK ALBUM
AC/DC, Rock or Bust
The Black Keys, Turn Blue
Coldplay, Ghost Stories
Hozier, Hozier
Lorde, Pure Heroine
TOP LATIN ALBUM
Juan Gabriel, Los Dúo
Enrique Iglesias, Sex and Love
Romeo Santos, Formula: Vol. 2
Santana, Corazon
Marc Anthony, 3.0

TOP DANCE/ELECTRONIC ALBUM
Avicii, True
Disclosure, Settle
Calvin Harris, Motion
Skrillex, Recess
Lindsey Stirling, Shatter Me
TOP CHRISTIAN ALBUM
Lecrae, Anomaly
Casting Crowns, Thrive
MercyMe, Welcome to the New
NEEDTOBREATHE, Rivers in the Wasteland
Chris Tomlin, Love Ran Red
TOP HOT 100 SONG
Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX, "Fancy"
John Legend, "All of Me"
Sam Smith, "Stay With Me"
Taylor Swift, "Shake It Off"
Meghan Trainor, "All About That Bass"
TOP DIGITAL SONG
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, "Uptown Funk!"
Sam Smith, "Stay With Me"
Taylor Swift, "Shake It Off"
Meghan Trainor, "All About That Bass"
Pharrell Williams, "Happy
TOP RADIO SONG
John Legend, "All of Me"
MAGIC!, "Rude"
Nico & Vinz, "Am I Wrong"
Sam Smith, "Stay With Me"
Pharrell Williams, "Happy
TOP STREAMING SONG (AUDIO)
Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX, "Fancy"
Hozier, "Take Me to Church"
John Legend, "All of Me"
Sam Smith, "Stay With Me"
Tove Lo, "Habits (Stay High)"
TOP STREAMING SONG (VIDEO)
Idina Menzel, "Let It Go"
Bobby Shmurda, "Hot Boy"
Taylor Swift, "Blank Space"
Taylor Swift, "Shake It Off"
Meghan Trainor, "All About That Bass"
TOP R&B SONG
Chris Brown feat. Lil Wayne, French Montana, Too $hort & Tyga, "Loyal"
Jason Derulo feat. 2 Chainz, "Talk Dirty"
Jeremih feat. YG, "Don't Tell 'Em"
John Legend, "All of Me"
Pharrell Williams, "Happy"
TOP RAP SONG
Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX, "Fancy"
Iggy Azalea feat. Rita Ora, "Black Widow"
Big Sean feat. E-40, "I Don't F--- With You"
Nicki Minaj, "Anaconda"
Bobby Shmurda, "Hot Boy"
TOP COUNTRY SONG
Jason Aldean, "Burnin' It Down"
Luke Bryan, "Play It Again"
Sam Hunt, "Leave the Night On"
Florida Georgia Line feat. Luke Bryan, "This Is How We Roll"
Florida Georgia Line, "Dirt"
TOP ROCK SONG
Bastille, "Pompeii"
Coldplay, "A Sky Full of Stars"
Fall Out Boy, "Centuries"
Hozier, "Take Me to Church"
Paramore, "Ain't It Fun"
TOP LATIN SONG
J Balvin feat. Farruko, "6 AM"
Enrique Iglesias feat. Descemer Bueno & Gente de Zona, "Bailando"
Romeo Santos, "Eres Mía"
Romeo Santos feat. Drake, "Odio"
Romeo Santos, "Propuesta Indecente"
TOP DANCE/ELECTRONIC SONG
Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne, "Rather Be"
Disclosure feat. Sam Smith, "Latch"
DJ Snake & Lil Jon, "Turn Down For What"
Ariana Grande feat. Zedd, "Break Free"
Calvin Harris, "Summer"
TOP CHRISTIAN SONG
Francesca Battistelli, "He Knows My Name"
Hillsong United, "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)"
MercyMe, "Greater"
Newsboys, "We Believe"
Carrie Underwood, "Something in the Water"
BILLBOARD CHART ACHIEVEMENT AWARD PRESENTED BY SAMSUNG GALAXY (FAN-VOTED)
Iggy Azalea
Taylor Swift
Meghan Trainor
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Nigerian teenager bags UK Imperial College Scholarship for Ph.D

For emerging the best graduating student in her Masters programme in Advanced Chemical Engineering in the latest 2014/2015 convocation ceremony of the Imperial College, London, United Kingdom, Miss Christiana Esio Okwong Udoh has been offered a Doctorate scholarship by the school.
The teenage girl was appreciated for making her marks academically since she arrived the institution on the platform of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) scholarship for her Master’s programme.
With the students’ population of over 14,000 drawn from at least, 100 countries in the world, Miss Udoh, according to source was able to weather the storm to make Akwa-Ibom and Nigeria proud. According to her father, Hon. Esio Okwong Udoh, in an interview soon after the convocation, her daughter’s unassailable academic brilliance has been standing her out as the best in academic excellence since 2006 at the Air Force Secondary School in the State.
Hon. Udoh, a former member of the House of Representatives exuding joy, said her “daughter is only repeating what she had done in 2012” recalling that as a student of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana, in 2012, her daughter had dwarfed others to emerge one of the best in her department.
“She polled the best result ever scored by a female student since the institution was established in 1959”, Hon. Udoh noted.
Udoh recalled the feats recorded by her daughter since 2006 to include carting 15 out of 21 prizes up for grab by outstanding students of the Air force Secondary School; NNPC Science Quiz Competition and other academic laurels from the State government.
The former lawmaker therefore thanked God for her daughter’s feat and the NDDC for granting her partial scholarship for Master’s programme at the Imperial College of London and urged the Commission to extend similar gestures to other academically proficient students from the Niger Delta region.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/05/nigerian-teenager-bags-uk-imperial-college-scholarship-for-ph-d/#sthash.D3VTaclf.dpuf
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Nigerians cry under biting petrol scarcity

Nigeria, Africa’s leading oil producer, on Thursday warned that jobs could be at risk, as a weeks-long fuel crisis showed no signs of easing.
Long queues have been seen for days outside filling stations, flights have been grounded and generators that kick in when the country’s patchy public electricity supply goes off have run silent, leaving many without power.
A man carries jerrycans to search for fuel in Lagos, on May 21, 2015. Long queues formed at petrol stations across oil-rich Nigeria on May 21 following a row over subsidy payment to petrol importers as well as sale of government oil blocks to private investors, union officials said. AFP PHOTO
A man carries jerrycans to search for fuel in Lagos, on May 21, 2015. Long queues formed at petrol stations across oil-rich Nigeria on May 21 following a row over subsidy payment to petrol importers as well as sale of government oil blocks to private investors, union officials said. AFP PHOTO
“Many companies have shut down because they cannot get diesel to fuel their plants,” Musa Yusuf, of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told AFP.
“Unless the situation is redressed, companies may be forced to lay off (staff).”
Addressing the crisis looks likely to be the first major task for incoming president Muhammadu Buhari, who takes office next Friday.
Read more »
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Monday 18 May 2015

The lasting mystery of the Tsarnaev brothers


According to Tsarnaev's own writing as the police closed in on his final hiding place, a boat dry-docked in a backyard in the Boston suburb of Watertown, it was about U.S. foreign policy in the Muslim world.
Losing blood rapidly as he lay wounded from multiple police bullets, Dzhokhar wrote on the inside of the boat with a pen: "The U.S. government is killing our innocent civilians, but most of you already know that. As a M[uslim] I can't stand to see such evil go unpunished. We Muslims are one body, you hurt one you hurt us all...Know you are fighting men who look into the barrel of your gun and see heaven. Now how can you compete with that? We are promised victory and we will surely get it."
This was an efficient rendering of Osama bin Laden's essential message that Islam is under attack by the United States and true Muslim believers who "love death" must take revenge.
So part of the "why" for Tsarnaev was the ideology of "Binladenism" that has been widely disseminated around the globe since the 9/11 attacks.
What's puzzling is that Tsarnaev was hardly an observant Muslim. As a sophomore at UMass-Dartmouth he was an easygoing, skateboarder dude, and had a reputation for partying. Twitter and Facebook accounts document Dzhokhar hanging out at a wide range of parties.
Read more »
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Pluto's tiny moons spotted


Yesterday
Pluto on the horizon 12 photos
The image above is an artist's concept of what NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will look like flying past Pluto. The mission is the first to explore Pluto and its moons. New Horizons is scheduled to make its closest approach to Pluto on July 14. The images in this gallery take you from liftoff to the latest photos sent back to Earth by the probe.
Pluto on the horizon 12 photos
New Horizons launched from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on January 19, 2006, beginning a 3 billion-mile journey to Pluto. The probe, about the size of a piano, weighed nearly 1,054 pounds at launch. It has seven instruments on board to take images and sample Pluto's atmosphere. After it completes its five-month study of Pluto, the spacecraft will keep going deeper into the Kuiper Belt.
Pluto on the horizon 12 photos
Since Pluto was discovered in 1930, it has only been a speck of light in the best telescopes on Earth. That all changed in February 2010, when NASA released this photo. It was created by combining several images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope -- each only a few pixels wide -- through a technique called dithering. NASA says it took four years and 20 computers operating continuously to create the image.
Pluto on the horizon 12 photos
This was one of the best views we had of Pluto and its moon Charon before the New Horizons mission. The image was taken by the European Space Agency's Faint Object Camera on the Hubble Space Telescope on February 21, 1994.
Pluto on the horizon 12 photos
A Hubble Space Telescope image of Pluto and its moons. Charon is the largest moon close to Pluto. The other four bright dots are smaller moons discovered in 2005, 2011 and 2012: Nix, Hydra, Kerberos and Styx.
Pluto on the horizon 12 photos
A white arrow points to Pluto in this photo taken in September 2006 from New Horizons. The spacecraft was still about 2.6 billion miles from Pluto.
Pluto on the horizon 12 photos
On its way to Pluto, New Horizons snapped these photos of Jupiter's four large "Galilean" moons. From left is Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
Pluto on the horizon 12 photos
New Horizons captured this image of Jupiter and its volcanic moon Io in early 2007.
Pluto on the horizon 12 photos
In August, New Horizons crossed the orbit of Neptune, the last planet on its journey to Pluto. New Horizons took this photo of Neptune and its large moon Triton when it was about 2.45 billion miles from the planet -- more than 26 times the distance between the Earth and our sun.
Pluto on the horizon 12 photos
New Horizons used its color imager called Ralph to capture this image of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, on April 9. It's the first color image taken by a spacecraft approaching Pluto and Charon, according to NASA. The spacecraft was about 71 million miles away from Pluto when the photo was taken.
Pluto on the horizon 12 photos
New Horizons took a series of 13 images of Charon circling Pluto over the span of 6.5 days in April. As the images were being taken, the spacecraft moved from about 69 million miles from Pluto to 64 million miles.
Pluto on the horizon 12 photos
Look carefully at the images above: They mark the first time New Horizons has photographed Pluto's smallest and faintest moons, Kerberos and Styx. The images were taken between April 25 to May 1. New Horizons is now within sight of all five of Pluto's known moons. The probe is set to make its closest approach to Pluto on July 14.
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Key ISIS figure dies in U.S. raid


Yesterday
The ISIS commander, identified by his nom de guerre Abu Sayyaf, was killed in a heavy firefight after he resisted capture in the raid at al-Omar, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in a statement.
The officials identified Sayyaf's captured wife as Umm Sayyaf, an Iraqi. She is now being held in Iraq.
The U.S. government did not release Sayyaf's real name, but Hisham Alhashimi, an Iraqi writer and researcher specializing in ISIS and other security threats, identified one possibility as Nabil Saddiq Abu Saleh al-Jabouri, a close associate of chief ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani. Iraqi officials could not be immediately reached to confirm or deny Alhashimi's claim.
The ground operation was led by the Army's Delta Force, sources familiar with the mission told CNN. There were about two dozen members of Delta Force involved, sources said.
Delta Force entered the target area on Black Hawk helicopters and V-22 aircraft, a U.S. official familiar with the operation said. ISIS fighters defended the multistory building from inside and outside positions.
Abu Sayyaf was killed as he "tried to engage" U.S. troops, the official said.
Carter said he had ordered the raid at the direction of President Barack Obama. All the U.S. troops involved returned safely.
National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said Obama had authorized the raid "upon the unanimous recommendation of his national security team" and as soon as the United States was confident all the pieces were in place for the operation to succeed.
"Abu Sayyaf was a senior ISIL leader who, among other things, had a senior role in overseeing ISIL's illicit oil and gas operations -- a key source of revenue that enables the terrorist organization to carry out their brutal tactics and oppress thousands of innocent civilians," she said in a statement. "He was also involved with the group's military operations."
(ISIL, or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, is an alternative acronym for ISIS. The Levant is a region west of Iraq that includes Syria.)
Abu Sayyaf was a Tunisian citizen, a senior administration official said.
A U.S. official with direct knowledge of the intelligence and the ground operation said Sayyaf had expertise in oil and gas and had taken an increased role in ISIS operations, planning and communications.
"We now have reams of data on how ISIS operates, communicates and earns its money," the official told CNN, referring to some of the communications elements, such as computers, seized in the raid.
A young woman from the Yazidi religious minority was rescued.
"We suspect that Umm Sayyaf is a member of ISIL, played an important role in ISIL's terrorist activities, and may have been complicit in the enslavement of the young woman rescued last night," said Meehan.
Meehan said Umm Sayyaf was being debriefed about ISIS operations, including any information she may have on hostages held by the terror group.
Abu Sayyaf and his wife were suspected to be involved in or have deep knowledge of ISIS hostage operations, a U.S. official with knowledge of the operation told CNN. A team from the FBI-led High Value Interrogation Group is expected to interrogate the wife, the source said. They will seek to find out what she may know about the capture, movement and treatment of hostages.
But Michael Weiss, author of "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror," said Abu Sayyaf was largely unknown to close observers of the organization.
Weiss said he's skeptical the United States would risk lives to capture the head of ISIS' oil operations. ISIS hasn't made significant money from captured oil fields since U.S. bombers began striking its infrastructure, he said.
A Pentagon spokesman confirmed in February that oil is no longer a main source of revenue for ISIS.
But risking American lives to capture Abu Sayyaf makes sense to Derek Harvey, a former U.S. Army colonel, intelligence officer and the director of the University of South Florida's Global Initiative for Civil Society and Conflict.
"The most important thing about the raid is not getting Abu Sayyaf; it's getting his records," Harvey said.
Harvey said Sayyaf was one of ISIS' top financiers, with likely access to the group's contacts with banks, donors, and Turkish and Lebanese business interests, and links to criminal and smuggling networks.
Harvey said Sayyaf had undeniable value as a target because ISIS is also a business.
"They're meticulous record-keepers," he said.
Meehan's statement added that Obama is "grateful to the brave U.S. personnel who carried out this complex mission as well as the Iraqi authorities for their support of the operation and for the use of their facilities, which contributed to its success."
Meehan said the U.S. did not coordinate with nor advise Syria in advance of the operation.
"We have warned the Assad regime not to interfere with our ongoing efforts against ISIL inside of Syria," she said, adding that the "brutal actions of the regime have aided and abetted the rise of ISIL and other extremists in Syria."
ISIS controls a huge swath of territory across Iraq and Syria, where it is chief among the opposition groups fighting to unseat long embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, Evan Perez, John Blake, Jim Sciutto, Jamie Crawford, Jim Acosta, Sunlen Serfaty, Hamdi Alkhshali and Jason Hanna contributed to this report
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Sunday 17 May 2015

Jail break: Egypt’s Morsi sentenced to death

MORSI

An Egyptian court has sentenced ousted president Mohammed Morsi to death over a mass prison break in 2011, the BBC reports.
The former leader has already been sentenced to 20 years in jail for ordering the arrest and torture of protesters during his time in power.
The country’s religious authorities will now have to give their opinion before the sentence can be carried out.
Morsi was deposed by the military in July 2013 following mass street protests against his rule.
Since then, the authorities have banned his Muslim Brotherhood movement and arrested thousands of his supporters.
Morsi was among more than 100 other defendants sentenced to death for their involvement in mass jail breaks during the 2011 uprising against Egypt’s then-president, Hosni Mubarak.
All death sentences must first be sent to the Grand Mufti, Egypt’s highest religious authority, for his opinion on whether they should stand.
Convictions are still open to appeal, even if the Grand Mufti gives his approval.
Morsi’s supporters have said tthe cases against him are politically motivated and attempts to give legal cover to a coup, while Morsi has rejected the authority of the courts.

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Saturday 2 May 2015

Jonathan to workers: Get ready for hard times, be realistic with your demands

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday urged Nigerians to brace up for the harsh economic realities in the country occasioned by the recent fall in the price of oil at the international market, saying that industrial relationship can only be more cordial, if democracy was nurtured to grow.
People hold a banner as they march to celebrate Labour Day during a rally in Lagos on May 1, 2015. Tens of thousands of people across the globe were hitting the streets on May 1 for mass rallies marking International Labour Day. AFP PHOTO
People hold a banner as they march to celebrate Labour Day during a rally in Lagos on May 1, 2015. Tens of thousands of people across the globe were hitting the streets on May 1 for mass rallies marking International Labour Day. AFP PHOTO
The President, represented by the Minister of labour, Sen. Joel Danlamilkenya, spoke while addressing workers during yesterday’s May Day celebrations.
Jonathan pointed out that the present harsh economic realities were so glaring that the workers cannot afford to ignore them in their engagements with government and advised them to be realistic with their demands.
“It is in this circumstance that the theme of this year’s Workers’ Day becomes more germane for positive engagement between government and labour. It is therefore proper to celebrate workers because of the critical role they play in the society. May Day confers us the opportunity to reflect on the inherent reality we are being confronted with due to scarce resources.
“The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and Trade Union Congress, TUC, have a duty to play, charting a way forward for continued development and growth of Nigeria.’’
Jonathan then commended both the NLC and the TUC, for their various contributions in the sustenance of the nation’s development and democracy, describing them as the gateway to the nation development.
The workers, apart from their immense contributions, have in no small ways, made contributions towards the achievement of democracy through the enhancement of the processes and participation. Over these years, the workers have deepened their voice and government had attended to them. There is a new initiative being championed by the Ministry of Labour and Productivity aimed at broadening industrial and labour harmony and trade unionism. This development will no doubt engender the spirit of patriotism, national consciousness, occasioned by natural justice and reasoning.
“For us, the labour movement is central to national productivity and development, and as such have a critical role to play in chatting a way forward for continued development and productivity and in settling labour disputes.
“I have set a mechanism in place to further deepen government and labour relations. Let us use this opportunity to make a commitment for national development and rebirth. Attainment of national vision will not be possible without the commitment, work and participation of Nigerian workers. It is a joint effort. I look forward to seeing a strong and vibrant federation under the new leadership of labour. I urge them to ensure workers welfare and also, working constructively for the transformation of Nigeria.”
FCT allocates over 300 plots of land to workers – FCT Minister
In his valedictory address, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Sen. Bala Mohammed, said that in keeping with the obligation of the commitment FCT to workers, the authority had in the course of his tenure allocated over 300 plots of land to long service award and deserving officers in the FCT and had gone ahead to institutionalise the award as overall incentive to deserving officers who have served the nation meritoriously.
According to him, the gesture was also in acknowledgment of the commitment of the President Jonathan’s administration for workers welfare under the transformation agenda.
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Ahmad Lawan not our candidate , We’re still consulting – North-East Senators

SENATORS from North East, yesterday, dissociated themselves from the purported endorsement of Senator Ahmad Lawan, APC, Yobe North, as their candidate for the position of Senate President in the 8th Senate, vowing that they will frustrate any attempt by any zone to foist a candidate on them.
The 10 out of the 13 senators elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, from the zone, at a press conference, in Abuja, disowned Senator Ahmad Lawan, insisting that he was never at any point endorsed by them as their consensus candidate as had reported by some media.But the 20 APC senators from the North West, at a caucus meeting held Thursday night at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja, endorsed the candidature of Ahmad Lawan for the position.
The North East senators, who were led by Senator Danjuma Goje, APC, Gombe Central, at the briefing, vowed that they would not allow a candidate that is not their choice to be imposed on them. Goje, a former two-term governor of Gombe State, who read a prepared text containing their position, said senators from the zone will decide the senator to be supported for the position, after the zone was given such privilege by the leadership of the APC, disclosing that at the moment, they were still pleading with party leadership to officially zone the position to them.
Goje hinted that the North East senators had held a caucus meeting Thursday night at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, with Senator Lawan in attendance, where they had resolved that the caucus should go ito consultation with the party’s leadership to nominate a preferred candidate for the position.
“On Thursday night at the Kaduna room of Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, 12 out of the 13 APC Senators – elect from the North East, met and resolved as follows- (1), that North East APC senators’ caucus for the 8th Senate have been put on ground, ( ii) that the zone is appealing to the APC highest hierarchy to zone the highest position in the National Assembly, that is, the position of Senate President to the zone in view of its peculiar circumstances and (ii), that the caucus should be allowed in consultation with the party leadership to nominate whoever we want for the position.
“Therefore, in the light of the above resolutions, we call on all Nigerians to completely disregard any purported endorsement of any Senator from the North East by any zone for the position yet because any post zoned to us, must have our input.
‘’We don’t know anything about any endorsement of anybody from the North East being touted around through the pages of newspapers . We disassociate ourselves from any endorsements from other zones because the party has not zoned any position to us yet and we don’t want to jump the gun”, he said.
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Senate Presidency: Northern Govs, Senators-elect meet in Kaduna today

AHEAD of the inauguration of the 8th Senate and as fight for the senate presidency heightens, strong indications emerged yesterday that governors- elect and senators- elect from the north will meet today in Kaduna to forge a common purpose for who becomes the next number three from the north.
Baring any last minute change, the governors – elect and Senators for the meeting will be drawn from the North East, North West and North East.
It was gathered that the arrow head of the meeting is a governor-elect from North West who is close friend of General Mohammadu Buhari, the president-elect.
The meeting, a source said was initially slated for Wednesday but was shifted for this weekend because of the just concluded induction course for newly elected Senators and members of House of Representatives in Abuja.
Speaking to a select team of Journalists in confidence, an aide to the governor- elect disclosed that the meeting became imperative in view of the various dimensions the contest has taken in the last five days.
It would be recalled that with the All Progressives Congress, APC forming the majority in the National Assembly and since the party zoned the National Assembly leadership positions two weeks ago, the race for the senate presidency has been enveloped in intrigues and power play.
The party zoned the senate presidency to the North central and speaker to the south west. But there were disagreements and their actions were deadlocked.
But forceful representations from the north east were said to have created a situation of uncertainty on the zoning just as the party recounted, saying no zoning formula has been agreed upon.
Senator Ahmad Lawan’s desire for the job was said to have been informed by the u-turn made by the APC even as other contestants, Senators Bukola Saraki and George Akume, all from the North central have remained strong in contention.
Speaking on the development, an APC chieftain who noted that the leadership of the party has subtly conceded to the request of a governor elect that the North should meet to decide on one of the contenders against the backdrop that it has been agreed that it should come from there, said, “I think the issue of the senate presidency is merely being over flogged, there is nothing to worry about the matter any more because I can assure you that the three zones from the region will meet in Kaduna either today or tomorrow to take a stand on the issue.
“We know that some interest have clashed but we need to tell ourselves the truth especially now that we are just about starting a new era on a new platform; these things are bound to happen but the position some of us have taken will be strongly canvassed at the meeting.
“It is not as if none of the contenders is qualified, they are all eminently qualified but we have to look at issues. Which zones produced the second highest votes for the party? Which zone has produced the senate president consistently? Can there be a situation whereby we have a vice president and senate president of the same ethnic stock? Who has more legislative experience among the three? We shall meet to canvass these arguments in favour of Senator Lawan.
According to him, insinuation in certain quarters that the APC national leader, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu was pushing for Lawan was misplaced. “That argument is misplaced; if Tinubu is backing him, does that disqualify him? It is only when Tinubu is backing a fellow Yoruba man for the senate presidency that we can complain, so the North will decide and go for Lawan, thank Allah the Northwest has kickstarted the move; we will seal it tomorrow(today).”
It was also gathered that outside Kwara’s three and Kogi’s two and Benue’s three senators, Lawan has the support of ten of the north central’s eighteen senators.
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Jonathan shuns Workers’ Day rally

Jonathan

… President had emergency assignments – Sources
President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday stayed away from this year’s celebration of the International Workers’ Day popularly known as May Day organised jointly by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) at the Eagle Square, Abuja.
Security sources within the Presidency told our correspondent that the less than five-minute journey to the venue of the rally was cancelled because the President had emergency assignments to attend.
Although the nature of the emergency assignments was not disclosed, our correspondents gathered that the advance team was withdrawn from the venue because of the President’s absence from the rally.
The source dismissed claims that President Jonathan cancelled his participation in the event because he was afraid of being booed by workers saying, “the President has never been afraid of such thing. The workers have no reason to do that anyway.
“He had emergency engagements and so had to call off his labour event because it would take the whole day and if he attends, he would be unable to attend to other engagements.”

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