Access Bank Graduate Recruitment Programme 2015 - Nigeria & Ghana

Access Bank Graduate Recruitment Programme 2015 - Nigeria & Ghana

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Job no: 970731
Work type:
Location: Nigeria, Ghana



Access Bank Graduate Recruitment Programme

Industry: Banking and Finance

Location: Nigeria & Ghana

Are you energetic, highly intelligent and results oriented?

Are you passionate about Africa?

Are you willing to join us in our transformation to a world-class financial institution? If yes, we are interested in you

Access Bank Plc is a full service commercial Bank operating through a network of about 366 branches and service outlets located in major centres across Nigeria, Sub Saharan Africa and the United Kingdom. Listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1998, the Bank serves its various markets through 4 business segments: Personal, Business, Commercial and Corporate & Investment banking.

As part of its continued growth strategy, Access Bank is focused on mainstreaming sustainable business practices into its operations. The Bank strives to deliver sustainable economic growth that is profitable, environmentally responsible and socially relevant.

Having the right people is one of the Bank's competitive advantage and we constantly seek to recruit high performing talents who are passionate about working for Access Bank.

Role Description:

Access bank is looking for graduates who want to work as part of a growing professional services company within the field of Banking and Finance. At Access Bank, the people make the place. The place where everyone feels valued and hard work is recognised and rewarded.

The graduate programme is a great way to gain exposure and get an insider's view of the career opportunities on offer at a leading banking company. You will enjoy working as part of a team initially and later in your career as an individual dealing directly with clients and stakeholders.

Opportunities offered will provide the platform for a rewarding and professional banking career. Your career journey will start with a 4-month intensive training program at the Banking School of Excellence, giving you the opportunity to be trained.

Person Specifications:

Qualifications Skills & Experience

• Bachelor's Degree with minimum of 2nd class upper division from top UK universities.

• 1st Degree with minimum of 2nd class lower divisions at Bachelor level in other universities & Master degrees from top UK universities.

• A genuine passion for customer satisfaction

• Excellent communication skill

• Entrepreneurial spirit and drive to succeed

• University degree, in any of the listed course of study :

o Art and Humanities

o Life Sciences

o Physical Sciences

o Social Science



Advertised: 08 Jun 2015 W. Central Africa Standard Time
Applications close: 22 Jun 2015 W. Central Africa Standard Time


http://careers.pageuppeople.com/455/africa/en/job/970731?lApplicationSubSourceID&utm_source=Key+Candidates+List&utm_campaign=2ba29e1bb4-can_gen_access_ngr&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0135ecb09c-2ba29e1bb4-92834693

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

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

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

“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.

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.

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.

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.

Anatomy of a raid: How it went down

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.

Carter: ISIS raid a 'significant blow' to terror group

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."

The anatomy of ISIS: How the 'Islamic State' is run

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

Jail break: Egypt’s Morsi sentenced to death

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Jonathan shuns Workers’ Day rally

… 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.”

Patience Jonathan’s attitude cost us defeat — PDP chief

Mrs. Patience Jonathan

Bayelsa State Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Osom Makbere, has said President Goodluck Jonathan lost the March 28 presidential election due to international and domestic conspiracies.

Makbere, who is also a lawyer, stated this in an exclusive interview in Yenagoa on Friday.

He said the division in the PDP fold and the overbearing attitude of the President’s wife, Dame Patience, also contributed to the president’s loss.

Giving insight into the failure of the President at the poll, Makbere said, “History has stated that no failure, defeat or loss is a product of a single factor. Jonathan’s loss could be blamed on a multiplicity of interwoven causes.

“Jonathan was a victim and target of international cum domestic esoteric codes and conspiracies. On the international level, the passage of the anti-gay legislation led to criticisms and face-off with the US, and the West.

“The strides made in the economic sphere, especially domestic rice promotion, calculated by the Jonathan administration to flip economic growth, and boost import substitution, also negatively alerted the West. The shift to China for our railway transformation, and recently, the migration to Russia for arms and ammunition to quelling the insurgency also signalled to the West that Jonathan had started constituting a self-reliant and dependent nation-state, a feat seen too tall by the US and their allies in the West.

“The aforesaid international factors found room to flourish given the obstinacy and impudence on the part of Mrs. Jonathan. The end result of her personal ambition to plant ‘self-made’ governors triggered face-offs with some governors.”

Makbere also opined that the All Progressives Congress will perform worse than the PDP at the centre.

He said, “I can tell you that this APC will be worse than the PDP as there is already imminent fear of implosion.

“In Kano, for instance, the APC got all 40 constituencies. This meant that none of the PDP candidates were popular enough to emerge but, the PDP maintained their calm and stoicism.

“We do not know what the APC wants. Whenever they win, the PDP congratulates them, but whenever the PDP wins, the APC would induce the election observers and the electoral officers to call for a re-run or cancellation. That is the zenith of desperation.”

But Secretary, Bayelsa APC, Mr. Marlin Daniel, said the statement that APC would perform worse than the PDP was misinformed and unfortunate.

He said that APC parades men and women of proven integrity and impeccable track records of performance.

He said, “It is obvious Nigerians have seen the people in the APC. The international community knows the pedigree of people in APC leadership. When you go to states controlled by the APC you will see what is on ground.

“The President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, is an incorruptible man. So, for anybody to say that APC will perform worse than the PDP is a child’s talk, mere campaign of calumny and propaganda.

“APC is a revolution and nobody can stop it. God’s hand is in this revolution that is why the PDP lost despite all the money they spent to remain in power.”

Taraba: INEC declares PDP’s Ishaku winner

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Darius Dickson Ishaku has won the governorship election in Taraba state.

Ishaku won 10 local government areas with accumulated votes of 369,318 at the end of the supplementary election on Saturday.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer for Taraba State Prof. Ahmed Kyari declared him as governor-elect at the commission’s office in Jalingo on Sunday.

Aisha Jummai Alhassan of the All Progressives Congress (APC) got 275,984 votes.

Ishaku won with a difference of 93,334 votes.

Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) came a distant third with 29,985 votes.

I’m ready to step into Gowon’s, Shonekan’s shoes, says Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan is keen on playing the role of a statesman once his tenure is over on May 29.

He said yesterday in Abuja that he is already warming up to join the likes of former military Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Head of the defunct Interim National Government (ING),Chief  Ernest Shonekan, in serving the country and the international community in whatever capacity  he is assigned.

Jonathan who spoke during the fifth Presidential Prayer Breakfast at the State House, Abuja, also harped on the need for sacrifice at the different levels of governance with a view to turning around the nation’s fortune.

He said: “I will continue to do my best as I’m gradually joining Gowon and Shonekan to serve our country in different capacities.

“For the eight years I have been here as vice president and president, whenever we called upon them wherever they were in this world, they would try to come. I have seen that they are extremely patriotic and they believe in this country.”

Nigeria, according to him, would achieve its potential easily if all leaders could show that level of commitment and patriotism.

He added: “Everything about human life as an individual, a child, if you don’t make the required sacrifice you can’t get to where you want to go.

“If you don’t sacrifice your pleasure, of course you will know where you’ll end. As parents we know the kind of sacrifice we make for our children to go to school, to feed.

“To build a family you need sacrifice. So for those who have the privilege of leading at local, state and national, at all times we should be ready to make sacrifice for our nation to grow.

“Ministers must make the required sacrifice, our lawmakers because they look at all our laws, they can create crisis in the country if they are not ready to do things the right way.

So all of us in leadership position must be ready to make sacrifice and with our prayers and with our commitment Nigeria will surely get to where it wants to go.”

He said Nigerians must not stop praying for the country to overcome its challenges.

“At times, you are forced to think that the nation is ending. Definitely this country will overcome these challenges. That is the reason for this prayer. Just like prayer helped Nehemiah to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, our constant prayers will help us rebuild this nation,” he said.

He thanked God for giving him the privilege to serve Nigeria as deputy governor, governor, vice president and president for over 16 years.

“That is a reasonable length of time and so I have to thank God, first because if God did not will it, it won’t have happened,” he said.

In a short exhortation entitled ‘Destiny and Decision’, Pastor Paul Enenche maintained that the choices we make in life determine our destiny.

Quoting Joshua 24:15, he said that Adam, Esau, Samson and Ruth in the Holy Bible had to make choices that affected their lives.

Also speaking, the Aso Villa Chaplain, Ven. Obioma Onwuzurumba, described the session as the last presidential prayer breakfast under President Jonathan and that the country owes God immense gratitude for averting bloodshed during the last elections.

He said:”We are aware of the fears in the land before, during and after the general elections, but the President’s decision has ensured peace.

“There were predictions that either the president or his wife would die in office. But we thank God they will walk out of office alive.”

At the service were Gen. Gowon who read a passage from Philippians 2: 1-11, President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, Chief of Staff to the President, Gen. Jones Arogbofa (rtd) and members of the diplomatic corps.

Ekiti lawmakers to Fayose: Impunity can’t save you

Fayose

The 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly yesterday  alleged misrepresentation of the  proceeding in the  ex-parte motion  filed by their  seven Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) colleagues at the  Federal High Court, Abuja.

But they vowed that the “impunity and manipulation of facts of his impeachment case in the media” cannot save Governor Ayo Fayose from impeachment.

Media reports yesterday suggested that the court restrained the 19 legislators from impeaching Fayose.

However, Speaker Adewale Omirin in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Wole Olujobi, said there was no such pronouncement from the court.

He said : “While the judge clearly ruled that it (court) could not stop Fayose’s impeachment without hearing from the APC lawmakers, the governor’s storm troopers went to town in a contempt of court to turn full circle the ruling by the judge.”

The lawmakers expressed dismay over the ease with which Fayose is trampling on democratic institutions.

Omirin said:”He first raided the courts and chased the judges under their tables and subsequently closed the courts. After that, he closed the House of Assembly and chased the lawmakers out of town.

“Then it is the turn of the Fourth Estate of the Realm, the media, in a mindless fraud and manipulation of the press to have an upper hand in the face of flagrant trampling on the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Just  a few days ago, the governor’s agents hacked into Channels Television’s website to plant a story implicating Speaker Adewale Omirin and Senator Babafemi Ojuduý as engaging in impeachment funding fraud totalling N250 million.”

Fayose, according to him, is now creating for himself a reputation as an enemy of the state by killing all democratic institutions and their supporting structures in a mindless pursuit of power.

PDP crisis: S/South Gov to replace Muazu

• Muazu

•Govs, Clark, Anyim fingered in plot

An outgoing governor from the Southsouth is being tipped to take over as national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the plot to unseat the incumbent, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, thickens.

Mu’azu is being targeted by many party faithful for the party’s disastrous outing in the recent elections, its worst since it swept into power in 1999.

The ‘Mu’azu must- go’  campaign is being spearheaded  by chieftains  of the party including governors in the Southsouth and Southeast who  see the two zones as the new power base of the party and which must now be in the PDP’s driver’s seat with a view to  repositioning the party ahead of the 2019 elections.

More party members are being recruited to join the campaign which sources said may terminate Mu’azu’s leadership as early as May 29, the same day President Goodluck Jonathan will be handing over power to General Muhammadu Buhari.

The PDP chairman is from Bauchi in the Northeast geo-political zone.

Okorocha wins re-election as PDP’s Ikpeazu leads in Abia

•Early returns favour Darius Ishaku in Taraba
• PDP Senator Uzodinma, INEC officials arrested for thumb-printing

voters  in Imo state yesterday  re-elected    Governor Rochas Okorocha for a second term in office, endorsing him ahead of his closest opponent, Honourable Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Okorocha who accumulated 385,671 votes  as against   Ihedioha’s 306,142 , a difference of  79529, at the close of voting on April 11,got an additional 31,326 votes yesterday leaving 13,624 for Ihedioha in yesterday’s supplementary election.

The election took place in 200 Polling Units across 23 local government areas.

Of this number of LGAs,Okorocha won in 21.

His  performance defied efforts of the PDP to manipulate  the process through rigging .

Poll returns  announced last night  are as follows:

Nkwerre Local Government. Re-run held in two wards.

Polls: PDP chieftains demand Mu’azu’s resignation

As part of the fallout of the Peoples Democratic Party’s failure at the last general elections, top party men are calling for the resignation or removal of the party’s National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu.

PDP stalwarts who spoke with SUNDAY PUNCH said it behoves on Mua’zu to turn in his resignation letter even without since he had been unable to take the party to victory.

The PDP not only lost the presidential election to the opposition, All Progressives Congress, it also lost its National Assembly majority status and governorship seats including state Houses of assembly.

But the embattled national chairman, Mu’azu, has said he would not resign despite the loss of the party he leads.

Mu’azu said it was also wrong for anyone to call for the sacking of any member of the party’s National Working Committee because of what happened to the ruling party during the elections.

PDP chieftains including a former National Vice-Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Edet Nkpubre, former Senior Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Affairs, Mr. Ahmed Gulak, state chairmen and stakeholders who spoke with SUNDAY PUNCH, have demanded for the ouster of Mu’azu.

Nkpubre, who said this in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja on Saturday, said Mu’azu should resign as the party chairman.

The former national vice-chairman, who is from Akwa Ibom State, said, “If you led a nation to a war, and you failed, you should resign. Mu’azu should resign. He allowed the PDP Governors’ Forum to take over the party. The chairman of that forum was virtually directing the party and imposing his will and the will of the so-called governors on the President through the party.”

Nkpubre the PDP governors’ forum should be disbanded, adding that unpopular candidates were imposed on the party

He stated, “The PDP should be reorganised and you cannot reorganise that party with Mua’zu still there. I predicted that there would be protest votes and that is what is happening today. Jonathan lost because many people were aggrieved. Governors were given unlimited powers and they trample on everybody.

“They imposed candidates from state house to the House of Representatives and the Senate as well as their successors.”

Gulak also told SUNDAY PUNCH in an interview: “There is no party chairman of the PDP since 1998 that has led the party to such a disastrous outing. As a result, the national chairman should consider himself one of those that have to give way for the new party to come up. In fact, he doesn’t need to be told to turn in his resignation.”

A chieftain of the party and governorship aspirant in Ogun State, Mr. Kayode Amusan, also added his voice to the removal of Mua’zu.

Amusan, a former member of the House of Representatives, said with the poor performance of the PDP in the last general elections, the most honourable thing for Muazu to do is to resgin.

He said, “Look at performance of the party in the whole of the North. He is a chairman that cannot deliver his state. He should cover his face with his hands and resign.”

Similarly, the Ogun State PDP chairman, Mr. Adebayo Dayo, said in some other climes when a political party suffered such a defeat that PDP suffered in the recent general elections, the leadership of the party should be considering the option of resigning.

Dayo, did not exonerate himself, but said at the state level, the executive council tried its best for the party.

He said, “I am not aware of the call for he resignation of the national chairman of the party, Adamu Mu’azu, but it must noted that in any good clime where a political party suffered such a defeat as we witnessed in our party, the leadership should think about resigning. Even including myself.”

But Mua’zu, speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Tony Amadi in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja on Saturday, said rather than quit, he was going to stay behind and reform the troubled party.

He accused those who had defected from the PDP to the APC of being impatient, wondering where they were when members of the opposition were building the party.

Amadi said, “Those who are asking him to resign, why are they not asking the President to resign immediately he lost election? The chairman will stay back, serve his tern and rebuild the party.”

He denied the allegation of imposition in the party, saying many of those making the allegation were not popular in their wards.

He vowed that the PDP would remain a formidable opposition “but will not fight dirty.”

But one of the founders and PDP chieftain in Oro Federal Constituency, Akwa Ibom State, Sylvester Akaiso, said Muazu has failed the party.

According to him, prior to elections, there had been complaints about imposition. He added that instead of Mu’azu addressing the issue, he waved it aside as the party’s affairs.

He said it was the imposition that gave birth to people defecting from the party which ultimately resulted in the PDP’s misfortune in the last elections.

A former governorship aspirant of the party in Kwara State during the just concluded governorship elections, Mr. John Dara also said Mu’azu should resign owing to the poor performance of the PDP at the just concluded polls.

Dara said Mu’azu should resign as he presided over the party’s conduct in an election in which a sitting President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was defeated.

He also said Mu’azu should not be the only PDP leader to resign or leave his office, he added that the Board of Trustees and the National Executive Committee of the party should be dissolved while the party should be reorganised.

Dara described Mu’azu’ tenure as disastrous.

Dara said, “I believe that reasonable thing for Mu’azu to do is to resign. When you preside over a project and it turns into this kind of calamity, it will be honourable to resign. If he does not want history to judge him as someone who killed or contributed to the destruction of the PDP, I think he should just go and show that he accepts responsibility for what has happened.”