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Blues Lead At Halftime Despite Poor Defence
Entertainment News
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The Blues were terrific with ball in hand once more as they notched up three early tries, but a tawdry defensive effort saw the Rebels wade back into the game, as the teams went to halftime 23-17 at North Harbour stadium.
A ravishing Rene Ranger double inside the first fifteen minutes set the Blues ablaze, as the typically scintillating Auckland backline took advantage of some woeful Rebels defence to take a ten-point lead.
Ranger surged nonchalantly through three sideline tackles on his way to his first try, before chasing down a superbly weighted Isaia Toe'ava grubber to slide in his second.
Joe Rokocoko wanted a piece of the action on the opposite wing, and he combined brilliantly with Jared Payne to rip the Rebels defence to ribbons for a third time, thanks largely to a defensive error by Rebels first five-eighth, Jonathan Cipriani.
The Blues defence though, wasn't much better as the Rebels ran in two tries of their own to reel in what at one stage was a 17-point lead.
Cooper Vuna shot through a gaping hole to score a try against the run of play, before his opposite wing Lachlan Mitchell closed the lead to three points after clinging to a miracle offload from Gareth Delve, who was being hustled over the sideline when he got his pass away.
Poor defence has ailed the Blues in patches throughout their Super Rugby campaign, but both sides will be looking to unearth some mettle as well as retain their attacking flair, in the second half.
Waziri Gives Reasons Dropping Charges Against ex-US VP
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Nigeria has said it dropped criminal conspiracy charges against former US Vice President Dick Cheney and opted for plea bargaining, over the bribery case involving US oil services firm Halliburton which he once headed, because the African nation may not be able to sustain the charges. Mrs. Farida Waziri, who heads Nigeria's anti-corruption Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), told journalists Saturday in the capital city of Abuja that the decision was also influenced by the country's 'slow' judicial system, as well as the fact that the plea bargaining was cost effective. 'We decided to take this option for variety of reasons. One, the plea bargaining is the latest and best world practice that is being done outside of Nigeria. The US and the UK governments are practicing it. Where you cannot successfully sustain a charge in court and you want to recover, then instead of losing the case, losing the money, then you opt for plea bargaining,' she said.
Mrs Waziri added: “We did this because of our nature of judicial system, it’s very slow and you know, it is said that justice delayed is justice denied and so we opted for this.” Nigeria dropped the charges earlier this month, under a deal that enabled it to recover a total of US$168 million from Halliburton and several other multinationals that have been involved in bribing Nigerian officials to secure lucrative contracts.The companies include Siemens, Shell and Julius Berger. Nigeria had slammed the charges on Cheney at an Abuja court and also filed an application before the Court for a bench warrant for Cheney's arrest. The charges relate to a case involving engineering company Kellogg Brown Root (KBR), which last year admitted bribing Nigerian officials to win the contract for the construction of natural gas plant in Nigeria's Niger Delta. KBR was a subsidiary of Halliburton, but the two companies have now split. Last year, KBR pleaded guilty to paying US$180m in bribes prior to 2007, when the two companies were still together, and agreed to pay US$579 million in fines in relation to the case in the US.
Arewa Lashes PDP Governors Over Jonathan
Transatlantic Times News
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The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has criticized Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors for endorsing President Goodluck Jonathan as the party’s presidential candidate next year.
A statement by ACF National Publicity Secretary Anthony Sani Monday said the question of constitutional rights of individuals to contest elections cannot arise now.
It said: “If the PDP governors believe that individual constitutional right to contest elections is sacrosanct, they should not have limited Jonathan’s ambition to a single tenure.
“The party has completely ignored the ruling of the Supreme Court in the case of Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, which based its ruling on Section 21 of the 1999 constitution.
“It stated that the contests of elections are between political parties and not individuals. Amaechi was sworn in as governor on the basis of an election won by his party in which he was not a participant.”
The Forum insisted that rotation and zoning would not jeopardise democratic tenets and faulted the issue of incumbency of elective officers.
ACN: Ruling Party Wants to Sink Nigeria
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THE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has raised the alarm over what it called the worsening campaign for the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It said the unprecedented intra-party acrimony was threatening the nation’s existence, which the "clueless" party and its candidates are trying to keep in their stranglehold.
In a statement in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said never in the nation’s history has there been such a bitter contest for a ticket, as the nation is now witnessing between President Goodluck Jonathan and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
It said a fallout of the dirty and bitter campaign is the endless manipulation of the electoral law, to such an extent that no one yet knows the position of the law, a few months to the general elections.
"Threats and counter-threats are flying around. Words like violent change, treason and destabilisation are being used freely,when all that Nigerians would like to hear are how each candidate will help turn around the fortunes of the country, if elected,’’the party said.
ACN said both sides have crossed the line of decency in trying to outwit each other, with various nebulous groups using newspaper advertisements to splash mud and more mud on the opposing candidate.
I’ll Spend Only Four Years -Jonathan Assures North
Transatlantic Times News
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President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has said in Kaduna on Saturday, that if the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) delegates from the North West zone supported him and Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo to emerge victorious during the 2011 Presidential election, he would never disappoint the North.
He said already, his administration had given priority attention to the region as of recent, Vice President Sambo reopened one of the largest textiles in the region which had remained closed for many years, the United Nigerian Textiles Limited (UNTL) and had not relented in its effort to transform the Almajiri system of education among others.
The delegates from the states of Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Sokoto and Zamfara who were supported by their state governors and former governor of Kano state, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, unanimously endorsed the Goodluck/Sambo ticket for 2011 and declared their unflinching support for PDP.
According to Jonathan who was on a working visit to Kaduna State with the Vice President, he would only spend 4 years if voted into power in 2011 within which he would ensure that young men and women were engaged in various sectors of the economy so that they would be productive and things would improve generally in the country.
He said since commercial banks in the country were afraid of taking risks, the Federal Government would provide loans at low interest rate for the development of the Agric sector which contributes to our GDP, and for the revival of industries especially the ones in Kano and Kaduna.
He said Nigeria has one destiny and Nigerians would have to work together to develop the nation as a problem in one part of the country, affects other parts also.
Jonathan Warns IBB, Atiku Against “Careless Utterances”
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President Goodluck Jonathan has declared in strong terms that he will no longer tolerate careless utterances that can threaten the sovereignty of Nigeria.
He stated this during the decoration of the newly promoted naval officers which held at the Nigerian Army Headquarters Officers Mess in Asokoro, Abuja.
The president who was obviously refering to the threat of former military leader Ibrahim Babangida and former vice president Atiku Abubakar that Nigeria risked disintegration if the PDP dumps the zoning arrangement.
Jonathan said he “frowns at people, especially politicians who make statements challenging the sovereignty of this nation. Government will not take this lightly. We will no longer allow that kind of culture. We will not allow anybody to take this country for a ride.”
The president said Nigeria’s high rating in the international community should not be sabotaged at this time, when the nation is consolidating its leadership role in the African continent and the globe, pointing out that it is the military and the police that bear the brunt in a crisis.
“I have been receiving calls from presidents all over the world because they believe that Nigeria can salvage the situation in Cote d’ivoire. That tells you how other countries rate Nigeria.”
Recurrent Expenditure Gulps 59% of 2011 Budget
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The trend of disproportionately high rate of recurrent expenditure that has characterised Nigeria's annual budget estimates has persisted, as it will gulp 59 percent of the 2011 budget.
Figure from the N4.226 trillion budget that was presented to the National Assembly by President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday proposes N2.481 trillion for recurrent expenditures. This is contrary to government's earlier plan to cut recurrent expenses.
The Finance Minister,Olusegun Aganga, had the penultimate week, in a public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Finance and Aids, Loans and Debt management in Abuja said that he was working on changing the trend in the country's supplementary expenditure which was suffocating capital expenditure.
Mr. Aganga's view was corroborated by the Senate President, David Mark who told Mr Jonathan on Wednesday, during the budget presentation ceremony in the National Assembly, that disproportionate ratio of recurrent and overhead expenditure to capital expenditure is unacceptable and unsustainable.
"No nation desirous of meaningful development can afford such a disproportionate allocation of its financial resources between consumption and investment towards its own future development," the Senate President told the President. "This means that the cost of running government has been increasing at an unsustainable rate. We must all rise together and address it."
Cutting it
He added that the National Assembly will henceforth re-evaluate budget aggregates and other major macroeconomic variables across the board for all Government(Ministries Departments and Agencies) MDAs and other arms of government to lower the personnel and overhead expenditures, and improve the level of appropriations for capital expenditures." we must drastically cut down the cost of running government vertically and horizontally in the three arms of government as well as the three tiers of our federating unit," the Senate President said. "In this regard, the National Assembly will lead the crusade. We will make the required sacrifice and review our recurrent expenditure. We expect others to make similar sacrifice."
Mr Jonathan, however, said the government is mindful of the unsustainable trend in recurrent expenditures and is implementing a wide range public financial management reforms which will boost fiscal prudence and increase quality and efficiency of spending.
"To ensure that this trend does not result in the crowding out of the critical capital investments required to achieve our development goals, a high powered Expenditure Review Committee was established to suggest practical measures to rationalise recurrent expenditure without compromising the quality of service delivery," the president said.
He added that the government has already saved N12 billion in personnel cost by introducing an integrated payroll and personnel information system in 16 MDAs.
Auditing NNPC
The president also added that the government intends to block all revenue leakages in the system by conducting audits for all revenue generating agencies including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
He also said the government will strengthen the pre-shipment inspection for crude oil and gases, fast track the implementation of key reforms by the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Nigerian Custom Service.
Senate Dumps Controversial Clause In Electoral Act
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The Senate yesterday bowed to public pressure and dropped the controversial section of the 2010 Electoral Act amendment bill which sought to make all federal lawmakers members of their parties’ executive council.
The Senate withdrew section 87 (11) which has caused a lot of uproar and charges that National assembly members plan to hijack the parties and make themselves the most powerful block in Nigerian politics.
The senators swiftly passed the remaining 47 clauses in the amendment after agreeing to reject the thorny section during a closed door meeting that lasted 90 minutes. Yesterday’s meeting was the last in a series of closed door meetings which the Senate has had on the matter.
The section was withdrawn by Deputy Minority Whip, Maina Maji Lawal who led the debate on the bill in the absence of Isiaka Adeleke, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“There has been a lot of heat in respect to this amendment,” the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu who presided at the plenary said. “The passage today I believe will finally settle the issue. We felt that the issue of the national executive council of political parties needs to be settled once and for all.”
Group to Pick Nigeria’s Homeless World Cup Team
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Search and Groom Youth For Development Centre,a Lagos-Based NGO,has been mandated by the organizers of the Homeless World Cup to select Nigeria’s team for the next edition of the tournament billed for 2011 in France. Mel Young,
president of the Homeless World Cup, in an official letter addressed to Yomi Kuku, the executive director of Search and Groom, stated that: “The Homeless World Cup is delighted to inform and confirm Search And Groom Youth for Development Centre as the official organizer of the Nigerian National Street Soccer Team and all surrounding selection activities for the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup.”
Mr. Young further praised the global partnership saying: “Over 70 percent of players experience a significant life change — they come off drugs, alcohol, get jobs, homes, education, and training, and become football players, coaches and social entrepreneurs. This radical and significant change happens through collaboration with you, our partners based all over the world. We wish you the greatest success on your journey to Paris.”
Nigeria has played at the Homeless World Cup four times following her debut appearance at the 2006 tournament in Cape Town, South Africa. Nigeria was also present at the 2007 tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark; in Melbourne, Australia in 2008, as well as at the 2009 edition which took place in Milan, Italy where the country’s team went as far as the semi finals.
Forty-seven teams to attend
Next year’s tournament will be the ninth edition of the Homeless World Cup, and it will come up in the French capital city, Paris between August 21-28 with 47 countries, including Nigeria, expected. Teams heading to Paris include last year’s winners Brazil, host France, Germany, England, Sweden, Ghana, South Africa, India, Kenya, Cambodia and Indonesia, who will be attending the event for the first time.
Over 500 players are expected to converge on the Champs-de-Mars, in the shadow of the Eiffel tower, for the week long tournament which uses football to energize homeless people living in poverty, into changing their own lives.
During the tournament, the players will be demonstrating their football skills in front of an estimated 50,000 strong crowd on specially designed pitches at one of France’s most iconic landmarks. The Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup is supported nationally by Collectif ‘Remise en Jeu’, and Arsene Wenger, Manager of Arsenal Football Club, who is President of the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup Local Organising Committee.
He joins former international professional footballers Emmanuel Petit and Lilian Thuram, as ambassadors of the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup. The Homeless World Cup promotes social integration through football and creates fresh, inventive solutions to end homelessness and poverty worldwide.
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Jonathan, Atiku in Photo Finish Race in C’River
President Goodluck Jonathan And Former Vice-President Abubakar Atiku Have Literally Lit up Cross River State in Their Presidential Campaigns For The 2011 Elections.
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Cross River State can be described as a one-party state as demonstrated in the last local government elections in which the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) swept the polls with opposition parties trailing behind with just five councillorship seats out of 196 wards.
Besides, Governor Liyel Imoke’s politics of accommodation and humility in service have weakened the hitherto political bigwigs who were poised to oppose PDP and his administration. This, of course, has made it virtually impossible to have dissenting voices and has brought all shades of opinion into the ruling party. The fight now is within the party.
With this development, the race for the 2011 presidential election in Cross River state seems a one-way win-win for President Goodluck Jonathan. The political class and major power blocs in the state have all collapsed for the emergence of the incumbent in the forthcoming PDP primaries.
Investigations by Daily Sun reveal that all the political heavy weights in the state are either directly or indirectly involved in the Jonanthan/Sambo 2011 project. For instance, there are three major groups including Goodluck Support Group (GSG), South-South Democratic Voice (SOSODEV) and Jonathan Consolidation 2011. They have spread their tentacles in all nooks and crannies of the state drumming support for Jonathan.
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