Liverpool winger Oussama Assaidi ends a disappointing spell at Anfield and joins Al Ahli Club in Dubai. …read more      

Lord’s Resistance Army commander Dominic Ongwen to be sent to International Criminal Court for trial, Uganda says. …read more      

A development economist and a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Tunde Akanni, on Tuesday supported the decision of the presidential candidate of the party, General Muhammadu Buhari, to ignore the persons insisting that he is not qualified to contest in the election over issue of credential.

Mr Akanni asked the persons insisting that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should request for the certificate from the former military Head of State to leave the INEC to do its job.

The spokesman for the presidential campaign organisation of President Goodluck Jonathan, Femi Fani-Kayode, had said General Buhari was not qualified to contest in the presidential election, insisting that he had no credential required to vie in that election.

Mr Fani-Kayode insisted that General Buhari had not submitted his primary school leaving certificate to the electoral body.

But Mr Akanni feels otherwise.

He said: “I’m not bothered that the APC presidential candidate hasn’t submitted his qualifications to INEC because here’s a man that once served in the highest capacity in the country as the military Head of State. When this dust about Buhari not having any qualification was started by the PDP, it wasn’t long after that the war college in the United States volunteered the information that as a matter of fact, Buhari is one of their celebrated Alumni. Even INEC recently suggested to PDP to go to court.

“If Buhari has chosen to ignore all the allegations about him not submitting any qualification, he knows why he’s doing it. INEC constitutionally is entrusted with the responsibility to screen the qualifications of anyone bidding for any elective post in the country. So, INEC should be left alone with the responsibility. If INEC’s duty isn’t to screen the qualifications, but to publish, has INEC found Buhari qualified to bid for this office? If there are …read more      

Members of parliament in Burkina Faso decide to cut their salaries by half following a public outcry, as the country continues a transition to elections. …read more      

At least 143 Boko Haram fighters were killed in an attack on a military camp in Cameroon on Monday, a minister said, adding that it was the heaviest loss sustained by the Nigerian Islamist group in the country.

In a statement, the Minister of Communications, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, said: “The terrorists … lost 143 lives and important warfare equipment made up of assault rifles of various brands, heavy weapons and bullets of all calibres”.

“On the Cameroon side, we lost one life, the Corporal-Chef Bela Onana, as well as four wounded.”

It was not immediately possible to independently verify the toll from the fighting near the northern town of Kolofata, Reuters reported.

Cameroon’s army determines death tolls either visually, or by counting the number of vehicles it destroys and estimating how many militants each vehicle carried, a senior official in Cameroon’s Far North region told Reuters last month.

Boko Haram, which has killed thousands in its attempt to set up an Islamic State and bring an end to western education in north-east Nigeria, had also targeted Cameroon over the past year.

Earlier this month, a man claiming to be the leader of the group threatened to step up violence in Cameroon unless it scraps its constitution and embraces Islam.

The post Boko Haram Loses 143 Fighters In Cameroon Clashes appeared first on Channels Television.

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The Governor of Yobe State, Mr Ibrahim Gaidam, has proposed the establishment of an Emergency Response Centre at the General Hospital in Potiskum, the commercial centre of the state, where a twin-bomb blast occurred over the weekend.

Governor Gaidam made the proposal shortly after sympathising and condoling with the families and victims of the blasts which killed five people and injured 48 others in the volatile north-east state.

He said that the centre would look into emergencies at the appropriate time with a view to giving the desired response to emergency cases.

He then directed the acting Principal Medical Officer at the Potiskum General Hospital, Dr Musa Sarki, to immediately discuss with the Commissioner of Health and present a memo for the establishment of an Emergency Response Centre at the Hospital.

The Governor assured the medical official that he would study the memo as soon as it reached his office, with a view to giving it speedy approval.

Governor Gaidam while sympathising with the injured persons currently receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Potiskum also prayed for their quick recovery and for the souls of those killed in the attack.

He said the State Government would take care of all medical bills of those receiving treatment, including the 11 who have been referred to the Federal Medical Centres in Nguru, Yobe State and Birnin Kudu in Jigawa State.

“I assure you that we will provide every support to those injured to ensure they recover fully. We will pay all the medical bills, even if it means sending those who have been referred to other hospitals outside the country,” Governor Gaidam said.

Dr Sarki, had earlier informed the Governor that nine of those injured in the attack were referred to FMC Nguru, two others to FMC Birnin Kudu while the rest were being treated in the Potiskum Hospital.

The …read more      

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says Pakistan must fight militant groups that threaten Afghan, Indian and U.S. interests. Rough cut (no reporter narration).

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Indonesian officials say search teams have retrieved the cockpit voice recorder from the crashed AirAsia plane, as divers now focus on bringing back more bodies of passengers. Yiming Woo reports.

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A Nigerian lawyer has attributed some challenges that the nation is facing to selective application of the rule of law.

Giving his opinion on Tuesday on the controversy surrounding the claims that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari, is not qualified to contest in the February 14 election, Mr Kenneth Odidika, said that the ‘big man syndrome’ had led to the likely refusal of General Buhari to submit his credentials.

“We do not stick to rules in Nigeria and that is what is happening as regards the certificate controversy.

“We have a constitution and other laws with the constitution being supreme.

“The constitution has specified the needed qualification from every political party’s candidate but the APC has refused to give the leaving school certificate of his presidential candidate to the electoral body,” he said.

The certificate controversy had peaked when a spokesman of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign team, Femi fani-Kayode, insisted that General Buhari was not qualified to contest, demanding that the APC’s presidential candidates should present his credentials to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The APC had, in response, insisted that its candidate had the certificate, describing the fani-Kayode’s claims as ‘preposterous’ and capable of destroying the image of the Nigerian Army.

‘Big man syndrome’

But Mr Odidika said that the refusal to submit the certificate was outright disobedience.

“Selective application of the law is what Nigeria is facing. Big men refuse to subject themselves to the law.

“Big man syndrome is what Nigeria is suffering from.”

He also insisted that the INEC was culpable, accepting the forms without the certificate attached as stipulated by the law.

“They are supposed to submit the personal particulars of the person before they publish his name.

“If he had the certifications, he should have submitted them,” he said.

On Monday, General Buhari urged party members not to be …read more      

A court in Egypt overturns former President Hosni Mubarak’s embezzlement conviction and orders a retrial, paving the way for his release. …read more