Ikpeazu, Deputy, Others Finally Submit Samples For Testing

By

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June 2, 2020

As fear increases that the late Commissioner for Environment in Abia State, Dr Solomon Ogunji may have died of COVID-19 complications, the state governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, his deputy, Ude Oko-Chukwu and members of the state executive council have submitted their samples to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control for COVID-19 test.

This is in line with the earlier directive issued by the governor earlier.

This was made known to ABN TV on Monday in a release signed by the state Commissioner for Information, Chief John Okiyi-Kalu, stated this on Monday.

He reiterated that the decision became imperative after it was discovered that the late exco and member of the Inter-ministerial Committee on COVID-19, Chief Solomon Ogunji, who died on Saturday, May 23, 2020, contracted the disease before he passed on.

Okiyi-Kalu said, “Following the outcome of tests conducted on close family members of the late member of the state executive council and member of the Inter-ministerial Committee on COVID-19, Abia State Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, directed members of the committee and the exco who might have recently come in contact with the late commissioner to immediately Submit Samples and undergo COVID-19 tests and isolate themselves thereafter pending the outcome of the tests.”

About 33 members of the state executive council on Monday volunteered themselves for sample collection, which a source said was done at the state Commissioners Quarters, Umuahia.

Apart from the Commissioner’s death, no casualty has been recorded from the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.

He, however, did not test positive before passing on.

Floyd Mayweather Jnr Rated Greatest Boxer Of All Time

By

Alex Enemanna

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June 2, 2020

1

Unbeaten American boxer, Floyd Mayweather Jnr has been ranked the greatest boxer of all time while former undisputed world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson did not make the cut.

The top 10 list, compiled by respected boxing outlet BoxRec, sees Mayweather Jnr come out comfortably on top, having never tasted defeat during 21 years as a professional.

Philipino great Manny Pacquiao ranks second, Argentine great Carlos Monzon has ranked third ahead of legendary fighter Muhammad Ali who is in fourth.

Aside Tyson – who is plotting a comeback to the ring this year at the age of 53 – other notable absentees are Evander Holyfield, Rocky Marciano and Roberto Duran.

Tyson, who retired in 2005, holds the record for being the youngest heavyweight champion of the world at the age of 20, and finished his career in 2005 with a record of 50 wins, 6 losses and 2 no contest verdicts.

But it is Floyd Mayweather, who has an imperious 50-0 record, who tops the ranking having won multiple world titles in five different weight classes.

Known for his speed and accuracy as opposed to his knockout ability, Mayweather was also the highest-earning athlete in the world from 2012-2015, according to Forbes.

His long-awaited fight against Pacquiao took place in 2015 in Las Vegas, with the American coming out on top in the richest bout of all time.

Pacquiao, who has served as a senator in his native Philippines since 2016, has a record of 62 wins, 7 losses and 2 draws and is the only eight-division world champion in the history of boxing.

Finishing off the top three is Monzon, who held the undisputed world middleweight championship for seven years as he dominated opponents in the 1960s and 1970s.

Other famous names in the Top 10 list are Sugar Ray Robinson in fifth, Bernard Hopkins in sixth and Oscar De La Hoya, in ninth.

Budget Deficit May Trigger Fresh Recession – Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed

By

Alex Enemanna

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June 2, 2020

1

With the deficit financing of the revised N10.509 trillion 2020 budget rising from N1.847 trillion to N4.563 trillion, the economy might be heading for another recession, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has warned.

She expressed the fear yesterday in Abuja during a session with the Senate Committee on Finance where heads of revenue-generating agencies made presentations on the revised 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).

The finance minister noted that projected revenues from the agencies had been drastically slashed.

According to her, 77 per cent of the new financial expectations from sources like the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) would go for debt servicing.

Fielding question on the possibility of a fresh downturn,Zainab Ahmed asserted: “Very clearly, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been reduced because of the economic crisis that we found ourselves in. But Nigeria is not alone in this.

“The global economy is predicted to also be slipping into recession. What we are hoping to do by our own collective efforts – the executive and the National Assembly – is to minimise the impact.”

She went on: “The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has made an assessment that we will go into recession to the level of four per cent.

“So some of the work that the executive is doing is to prepare a stimulus package as a remedy.

“That is the unfortunate reality and the reality of the global economy.”

Recall that the projected revenue for the Nigeria Customs Service was pruned from N1.5 trillion to N950 billion, FIRS’ stamp duty income of N463 billion went down to N200 billion, while the N1.222 trillion earmarked for NNPC’s federally funded projects was cut to N484 billion.

In his closing remarks, the panel chairman, Senator Solomon Adeola (APC: Lagos West), said some of the proposals might be tinkered with.

He submitted: “Having listened with rapt attention to all presentations made by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning and the questions asked regarding the MTEF and FSP, I believe that members of the committee are satisfied with the reasons offered by the minister on why we have to go this direction at this point in time.

“But honourable minister, we are still waiting for that economic stimulus document by the committee headed by the Vice President because what that document intends to do, is to keep the economy going in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

BREAKING: Senator Munir Muse Is Dead

By

ABN TV EDITOR

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June 2, 2020

0

Senator Munir Adekunle Muse, a former Senator, former Apapa Port Manager, and former Chairman of Apapa Local Government is dead. He died at the age of 81

His death was announced by his son, Sulaimon Muse, on Tuesday.

Born on 17 May 1939 in Olowogbowo, Central Lagos, the late politician joined Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in 1961 as a clerk, and was appointed to progressively more senior positions over the next 20 years.

From 1980 to 1984, he served as NPA’s Representative in London.
In 1990, he was appointed Traffic Manager of roll-on roll-off (roro) operations at the then RORO Port in present-day Tin Can Island Port Complex, holding this post until 1993 when he was appointed to head the Lilypond Container Terminal, Ijora.

He joined politics in 1998 and won the election as Executive Chairman of Apapa Local Government Area on the platform of Action for Democracy (AD) from 1999 to 2002.

In 2002, he was appointed Executive Secretary of the Apapa LGA. In February 2004 he ran again for office and was re-elected Executive Chairman of the Apapa Local Government.

In April 2007, the late Muse ran for the Senate on the ticket of Action Congress (AC) and was elected as the Senator representing Lagos Central.

In the Senate, he has was appointed to committees on state & Local Government, Solid Minerals, Police Affairs, National Planning, Marine Transport, Interior Affairs, and Air Force.

He lost the Senate ticket to Oluremi Tinubu – wife of All Progressives Congress (APC) leader Bola Tinubu in 2011.

Nigeria Yet To Reach ‘Peak’ Of COVID-19 Cases – Boss Mustapha

By

Alex Enemanna

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June 2, 2020

3

The chairmen of PTF and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Mr Boss Mustapha, disclosed this at the COVID-19 daily news conference on Monday in Abuja.

He said it was necessary to restate to the citizenry, that Nigeria had not reached the peak of confirmed cases, adding that the battle against COVID-19 was a long term battle.l

ABN TV reports that Boss Mustapha urged Nigerian to pursue a strategy that would aid the sustainable control of the spread of the disease, stressing that risk communications and community engagement should remain a top priority.

He added that precision approached containment and management should be adopted based on the overall assessment, including available data on the public health considerations and resultant economic impacts.

According to Boss Mustapha, the PTF is of the opinion that Nigeria is ready to allow science and data to determine her cautious advancement into the second phase of the eased lockdown for a period of four weeks.

“It is the consideration of the PTF that while Nigeria’s confirmed cases have increased in the period under review, the following factors should inspire confidence in the response

“Majority of the confirmed cases are in a handful of local government areas in the country as 20 out of the 774 LGAs nationwide account for 60 per cent of the cases,” he said.

He said there was an opportunity to concentrate efforts in the high-burden areas, adding that the federal agencies and state governments were working together on the promotion and utilisation of guidelines on case management.

George Floyd’s Funeral To Hold On June 9

By

Alex Enemanna

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June 2, 2020

1

A funeral for George Floyd, the black man who died in US police custody after a Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck, will be held June 9 in Houston, the family’s lawyer said Monday.

“In Minneapolis, there will be a memorial here Thursday, at 1:00 to 3:00,” said attorney Ben Crump, speaking at a press conference in Minneapolis to report the findings of an independent autopsy.

“On Saturday, there will be a memorial service in North Carolina, where he was born, at 1:00 to 3:00. And then on Tuesday, June the ninth, the funeral will take place in Houston, Texas at 11:00 am,” said Crump, who is representing the Floyd family.

ABN TV reports that George Floyd died on May 27 after a policeman knelt on the 46-year-old man’s neck for almost nine minutes. Floyd became unresponsive after almost three minutes.

His death, captured on mobile phone footage, reignited long-felt anger over police killings of African-Americans and echoed high-profile cases that spurred the Black Lives Matter movement such as the August 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the July 2014 choking of Eric Garner in New York.

Nationwide uproar sparked over police brutality, and protests and rioting — many that turned violent — erupted in more than 140 cities over the weekend.

Crump announced the results of an autopsy arranged by Floyd’s family that shows he was suffocated by a Minneapolis police officer rather than dying from pre-existing heart problems as claimed by the official ruling.

Mother Of Missing 10-month-old Baby Gradually Develops Mental Illness

By

Alex Enemanna

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June 2, 2020

1

As families in the country make efforts to overcome the impact of COVID-19, Mr and Mrs Harrison Nwachukwu of Ekwuruke Street by Okigwe Road, Umuahia Abia State are currently nursing their grief after the disappearance of their baby boy.

The 10-month old boy is alleged to have been stolen by a strange couple on Friday last week.

ABN TV correspondent gathered that the mother of the missing baby boy since the incident happened has been acting strangely.

Father of the 10-month old boy who gave his name as Harrison while narrating how the incident took place called on those in the custody of the missing boy to return him.

Mr Harrison, an official of FRSC explained that while at his duty post on a fateful day, he got an urgent call to come home.

On arrival at a hairdressing shop belonging to his wife situated at Ekwuruke Street by Okigwe Road, he was told how a man and lady deceived his wife, Charity, and stole the baby.

He said “Three weeks ago, this couple came to the saloon and the lady told my wife that she was looking for a good salon to make her hair.

“She said that they moved into the neighbourhood a few weeks ago from Port Harcourt and had been searching for a good salon to make her hair.

“My wife welcomed them, thinking that they were genuine, not knowing that they had another thing in mind.

“From that day, the ‘couple’ started visiting the saloon on a regular basis and were admiring my children, especially the 10 months old Emmanuel.

“The lady told my wife that they have been married for two years without a child and have been praying for a child like my baby son.

“They come around every day to greet my wife, thereby creating a kind of familiarity.

“On Friday, the couple came to inform my wife that the wife would be making her hair on Saturday, but my wife told them that since Saturday was clean-up day, they should come in the afternoon.

“They returned later on Friday with the excuse that they would not be chanced on Saturday afternoon. The man even bought roasted yam and ate it while my wife was preparing the attachment to make the wife’s hair.

“While my wife was working on the attachment the lady gave my wife a padlocked bag and told her not to let her husband get hold of the bag because it contained money, which she didn’t want her husband to see.

“It was while the stylist was busy preparing the attachment that the woman left while her husband took away the child, telling neighbours that she was taking the child to Shoprite to shop for him.

“On realising that both husband and wife were nowhere to be found, my wife raised the alarm. On opening the bag, they discovered that it contained only serviettes.

“The matter was reported to Central Police Station, Umuahia.

“Now, it is like my wife is developing mental issues. She has not eaten since then and would say that her son is crying and needs her.”

Ikpeazu, Deputy, Others Finally Submit Samples For Testing

By

Alex Enemanna

-

June 2, 2020

1

As fear increases that the late Commissioner for Environment in Abia State, Dr Solomon Ogunji may have died of COVID-19 complications, the state governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, his deputy, Ude Oko-Chukwu and members of the state executive council have submitted their samples to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control for COVID-19 test.

This is in line with the earlier directive issued by the governor earlier.

This was made known to ABN TV on Monday in a release signed by the state Commissioner for Information, Chief John Okiyi-Kalu, stated this on Monday.

He reiterated that the decision became imperative after it was discovered that the late exco and member of the Inter-ministerial Committee on COVID-19, Chief Solomon Ogunji, who died on Saturday, May 23, 2020, contracted the disease before he passed on.

Okiyi-Kalu said, “Following the outcome of tests conducted on close family members of the late member of the state executive council and member of the Inter-ministerial Committee on COVID-19, Abia State Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, directed members of the committee and the exco who might have recently come in contact with the late commissioner to immediately Submit Samples and undergo COVID-19 tests and isolate themselves thereafter pending the outcome of the tests.”

About 33 members of the state executive council on Monday volunteered themselves for sample collection, which a source said was done at the state Commissioners Quarters, Umuahia.

Apart from the Commissioner’s death, no casualty has been recorded from the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.

He, however, did not test positive before passing on.

Floyd Mayweather Jnr Rated Greatest Boxer Of All Time

By

Alex Enemanna

-

June 2, 2020

1