JAMB: USING OF AWAITING RESULT WILL NO LONGER VALID

With effect from this year (2017), candidates awaiting results would no longer be eligible to apply for the Universities Tertiary Matriculation Examination, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, said in Abuja on Tuesday.

The organization also said it had concluded all restructuring and reforms and is now set to commence the sale of its application document in March.

The restructuring exercise will now allow for only one choice of public university in which new registration platform will now be first choice, second choice, third choice and fourth choice and not most preferred, preferred choice.
A statement by the spokesperson of JAMB, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, said the agency had taken the time to add value to the services it has been offering to Nigerians for over three decades.

According to him, the restructuring was aimed at expanding the opportunities available to candidates since almost all the public universities do not consider candidates on the second choice list because they hardly exhaust their first choice.

He said; “

We have designed a Central Admissions Processing System where the Board will interface with the institutions and ensure the compliance of this reform. The summary is that no candidate will be admitted with awaiting result.

Candidates and their parents are also to note that JAMB has restructured the registration platform to allow for only one choice of public university. The new registration platform will now be first choice, second choice, third choice and fourth choice and not most preferred, preferred etc as it was.

“Candidates’ first choice can be a College, University, Innovative Enterprises Institutions or Polytechnic/Monotechnic. However, if a candidate makes a Public University his first choice, he will not have any public University to choose for second, third and fourth choice.

He will have on the remaining three choices, a College, Polytechnic, Private University and IEI’S. However, candidates for the 2017 UTME can now select National Certificate in Education (College) or National Diploma (Polytechnic/Monotechnic) as their first choice up to third choice and the fourth IEI. They can select the IEI (Innovative Enterprise Institution, ND) as their first choice up to the fourth choice, but can only pick a public university once.”

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Floyd Mayweather’s Vegas Mansion Robbed By Thieves, Stole $150K Worth Of His Stuff

Just days after he celebrated his 40th birthday, new reports have confirmed that the Vegas mansion belonging to Floyd Mayweather was burglarised while in  party in Los Angeles.

According to TMZ, the retired boxer’s home was broken into over the weekend, aBnd like it was for Nicki Minaj whose home was also broken into, Mayweather lost valuable items estimated to be worth around $150,000.

The crazy spender who is famous for throwing cash around, has the Vegas mansion set in a gated community, close to a golf course. Law enforcement hint that his door was forced open, allowing the burglars access into the home office at the back of the house.

Floyd Mayweather, who is set to open a strip club to suit his lavish lifestyle, is yet to speak up since the news surfaced.

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SIX HOSPITALIZED AS POLICE, DSS RAID CAMP

At least six officers of the Nigerian Peace Corps were seriously injured, with three lying unconscious at the National Hospital, Abuja, after the men of the Nigeria Police and the Department of State Services (DSS) raided the National Headquarters of the Peace Corps.

The National Commandant of the Corps, Amb. (Dr.) Dickson Akoh and 45 other National Officers were also taken into the custody of the DSS.

Also, the National Office of the Corps, which was open yesterday, has been cordoned off by stern looking security officers.

No reason has been given by the DSS and the police, for the raid.

Officers and men of the Peace Corps had barely rounded off the celebration for the official opening of their new National Headquarters, Jabi, Abuja, when the security personnel invaded the arena, around 11.30pm on Tuesday.

The epoch making event, which was broadcasted live on National Television stations, also witnessed the presence of Minister of Sports and Youths Development, Solomon Dalung, members of National Assembly, the Nigerian Police, Customs and other agencies, as well as traditional and religious leaders across the country.

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OSINBAJO INTERVENES IN STATE BOUNDARY DISPUTE

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday waded into the boundary demarcation dispute among Ebonyi, Cross River and Akwa Ibom States.
Although the outcome of the mediation was not made public, the stakeholders in the states attended a meeting presided over by Osinbajo at the State House, Abuja.The spokesman to the acting President, Mr. Laolu Akande, said the meeting was “to review updates on boundary and boundary demarcation issues.”The governors of the states – Prof. Ben Ayade (Cross River), Mr. Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom) and Mr. Dave Umahi (Ebonyi) attended the meeting alongside their deputies.                                                                                                                                     Also in attendance were officials of the National Boundary Commission led by the Director-General, Dr. Muhammad Ahmad, the clan head of Ipollo community in Cross River, Chief Stephen Odom, and senators from the states.

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I’m not getting set to run for president - Tinubu

All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will never stand in any contest against President Muhammadu Buhari or support anyone against him, his Media Office said yesterday.
Tinubu pledged his continued loyalty to the president and the APC in a statement to debunk Thisday’s story published yesterday.
The statement titled: “Response to Thisday false news report” added that the former Lagos State governor was neither planning a team nor holding consultations with the intention of planning any presidential campaign.
It also said Tinubu would never join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or any mega party, having laboured hard to bring the APC to life and power.
The statement said: “The front page story of the February 28 Thisday newspaper alleging that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is actively planning a presidential run is an example of bad fiction masquerading as professional journalism.
“The story is a manufactured tale weaved by its authors to try to create division where there is none.
“Those who wrote this fantasy seek to place Asiwaju Tinubu at odds with President Buhari. Writing such a baseless report is a very foul and wrong thing to do.
“The story carried the headline ‘Tinubu Prepares for Presidential Run, Dumps PDP, Mega Party Alliance’. The headline is remarkable in the fact that every bit of it is utterly wrong.
“First, Asiwaju Tinubu is not gearing up for a presidential run. So there will not be any doubt about this core matter; we shall state Tinubu’s position clearly and unequivocally so that even Thisday reporters cannot misinterpret his position.
“As long as that patriotic and committed man named Muhammadu Buhari holds and seeks to hold the mantle as our president, then Asiwaju Tinubu stands behind him in unwavering support and confidence.
“Asiwaju Tinubu remains faithful to the mission of progressive reform and change that President Buhari, he and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have started.
“Tinubu was instrumental in the formation and success of the APC. His toil and efforts helped establish this government.  He is not one to tear down something he laboured so dutifully to build.
“Instead of trying to convey the truth, the THISDAY report opted to gain false sensation by completely mocking the tenor of the brief banter Asiwaju Tinubu had with journalists at the inauguration of Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu. When asked about future political office, Asiwaju said he could not discount that possibility if the nation called upon him for such service, provided, he emphasised, that all political conditions were appropriate; particularly the office in question would have to be vacant, even if it’s local government chairmanship. In our political lexicon, this means the office is not held by a member of the APC in good standing.  We all know this.
“Moreover, if you really listen to his words, Asiwaju did not mention any office or any time-frame.  The conditions he mentioned may not become ripe for years to come and they might not pertain to the presidency. In effect, all Asiwaju said was the position that any political figure would hold.
“As a politician, he cannot preclude the possibility of running for office in the future because no man knows what the future will hold. To translate this general statement of political reality into a tale that he is actively preparing for a 2019 presidential run is reckless in the extreme.
“For that newspaper’s reporters to have engaged in this great leap of counterfeit logic means they purposefully bowed to the pressure to create false headlines instead of following the ethics of their craft to follow the truth even if the truth is more pedestrian and less volatile than what the reporters would have liked to hear. “They have turned themselves into newsmakers instead of remaining true to their calling of being neutral conveyors of events.
“Asiwaju Tinubu has not held any planning meetings for any such presidential campaign and is not contemplating any such meetings. He has no present list of possible running mates because he has no present intention of running.
“The headline also libels Asiwaju by asserting he was going to join the PDP.  This is as shameless as a lie can be. Asiwaju is acknowledged to be the intellectual father and the driving force behind the APC.
“It makes no sense that he would abandon the party that he worked hard to build in order to enter the dilapidated building the PDP has become. Asiwaju worked for over 16 years to break the PDP yoke on the nation.
“After breaking that yoke, it is not in his nature to voluntarily place it back on our necks. Anyone who has followed his career, even his staunchest critics, knows Asiwaju for his partisan consistency. He is not a party hopper. He is loyal and sticks with the party to which he belongs.
“After fighting for so many years to elevate his party to the position of national leadership, he would not give that away in order to join with those who blame him for their currently bleak political circumstance.
“We understand all too well the genesis of this false news report. For their own reasons, THISDAY has joined with those who seek to put Asiwaju Tinubu at odds with our President.
“This scam will fail. Asiwaju supports and stands behind   President Buhari. He wishes the president well and that he returns soon. Whether the president is here or away, he has the full loyalty of Asiwaju Tinubu.
“President Buhari can rest assured on this point: Asiwaju Tinubu will never contest against him nor will he support anyone who does.”

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CCTV BUS TO REPLACE DANFO

The popular commercial bus, Danfo, will be replaced with Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) buses, Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation Prince Anofiu Elegushi said yesterday.At a Stakeholder’s meeting on the upgrading/utilisation of the Tafawa Balewa Square, TBS, Bus Terminal on Lagos Island, he said the government planned to build several bus terminals across the state to meet commuters’ demand.He said there was need for new buses as most of the yellow commercial buses were not roadworthy having been in use for the past 20 years.The Commissioner said: “So, it is not convenient anymore for passengers. What we are trying to do is to take them up and bring other new buses that will have CCTV, charging points to charge phones and a lot of facilities and many other facilities. So, they are still going to be the drivers.“The essence of re-fleeting it is to get it right. We are working on the programme most especially on the financial model that we will use in transferring those vehicles to the operators. That is just what we are doing.”On the upgraded TBS Bus Terminal, Elegushi called for stakeholders’ collaboration on its maintenance, as government planned to replicate it in other parts of the state.The project, he said, was to mark excellence, as the state prepares to mark its 50th anniversary.Elegushi said government was keen about upgrading transport facilities.The terminal, he said, would accommodate its original operators, taxis, yellow buses, tricycles, as well as Bus Rapid Transport (BRT), and LAGBUS buses, with designated lanes, ticketing points, Intelligence Transport System guide for passengers, mini shops, and stickers for identification, among others.He appealed to transport unions and others to take care of the terminal, saying: “it is a kind of responsibility expected from the transport stakeholders especially transport unions. We have delivered as promised but what we expect from them is to see a project well maintained so that there will be justification for what we spent.“We are working on other terminals like Oyingbo, the drawing is almost ready; Yaba Terminal, the drawing of that is almost ready. We are also working on Anthony, the VIS garden; we are turning it to a bus terminal. The two petrol stations at Maryland, we are turning them to bus terminal very soon; those are parts of what we have in the pipeline. Very soon we will hit the ground running.”House of Assembly Committee on Transportation Chairman Fatai Adebola praised Governor Akinwumi Ambode for the initiative and urged the people to take ownership of the project.

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Beach Soccer World Cup: Nigeria face Italy, Mexico

Nigeria has been drawn in Group B of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

The draw took place Wednesday morning at the Hotel Atlantis in Nassau.The Super Sand Eagles will slug it out with Italy, Mexico and a yet to be determined AFC opponent.Hosts Bahamas will face Switzerland, Ecuador and Senegal in Group A.

The Beach Soccer World Cup will take place in Nassau, the capital city of Bahamas, between April 27 and May 7.

Group A
Bahamas
Switzerland
Ecuador
Senegal

Group B
Nigeria
Italy
AFC 1
Mexico

Group C
AFC 2
Paraguay
Portugal
Panama

Group D
Brazil
Tahiti
AFC 3
Polan

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