Catch up with all the most important highlights that happened during the week on Weekend Rendezvous. The show is exciting and interesting
Jay Israel breaks ties with Pastor Alph Lukau, says he’s done with gimmicks
Jay Israel is also known as Prophet Jay Israel snr, he is a South Africa based pastor who was mentored by controversial pastor Alph Lukau.
In 2018, Jay Israel featured on viral video where we were made to believe that had received a prophetic impartation from pastor Alph Lukau of Alleluia Ministries.
In the video, Alph Lukau asked Jay to walk with him and laid hands on him throwing him twice to the ground. He called him a son and said that there is fire in his tongue and also that he has an anointing that stirs the devil, Lukau said.
Today Jay Israel says that he never received prophetic insight on that day because he was already ordained from God as a prophet.
Jay Israel could barely speak and started to sing a song during the segment of the prayer and the crowd cheered him up as a result.
In the same video, Jay Israel went to prophesy and was giving words of knowledge to people with such authority that you begin to question if all these were also part of the gimmicks many pastors use to control people.
In 2019, Jay Israel came out on social media exposing wrong doctrines in Christianity and many thought it was just show, the video is here
More frequently Jay Israel started to expose more erroneous practices about how pastors manipulate churchgoers for financial gain.
In 2018 a video surfaced on the internet where the same Jay Israel was making money to appear from the Bible in one church gathering and stirred criticism, people said it was more or less a magic trick.
Two years later, Jay Israel confessed that he was convicted to preach the true gospel and announced during a live broadcast that was shared on his Facebook page on 20th February 2020 that he is no longer a spiritual son to Alph Lukau.
Preachers like Benny Hinn also made the headlines stating the gospel is not for sale but has ever since returned to preach the same gospel of prosperity a few months later.
Jay Israel’s new conversion confirms that prosperity gospel is a man-made doctrine that crept into Christianity, whereas the teachings of Jesus were only about redemption, grace, and salvation.
Chloroquine not yet confirmed treatment for coronavirus – FG
The Federal Government, on Friday, said that Chloroquine Phosphate has not been confirmed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the treatment of Coronavirus.
According to the government, preliminary phased clinical trials using Chloroquine and Hydroxyl-Chloroquine were still ongoing and the early findings needed to be validated with more trials before Chloroquine could be considered a treatment of choice.
It, however, urged Nigerians to be careful in pushing out information, lest people start pilling up Chloroquine or start taking it without prescription.
Minister of State for Health, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, who disclosed this while fielding questions from journalists in Abuja, said: “We also have our own protocol, in terms of management, it is one of the drugs being considered of being effective for possibly fighting the coronavirus, but we have to wait for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), which is our primary contact with the WHO. It is better to wait”.
Corroborating the minister’s stance, the Director Research and Planning at the NCDC, Dr. Chinwe Lucia, said: “For Chloroquine, it is still work in progress, as a lot of research is going on. “In China, they are having preliminary phased clinical trials using Chloroquine and Hydroxyl-Chloroquine. They have enrolled about 100 patients and have administered Chloroquine to them. It was found that the Chloroquine Phosphate was superior to the controlled treatment in inhibiting the interpretation of pneumonia that the patients had and improving lung imaging.
“By the time they did X-ray, they discovered that those on Chloroquine had better lung imaging with findings than those on the controlled therapy and that there was the promotion of the virus-negative conversion rate. “These are still early findings that need to be validated with more trials before we can say Chloroquine is the treatment of choice. There are other treatment regimens that are being considered.”
Mamora said Nigeria was developing a stockpile of medical supplies to be used in the event of any outbreak COVID-19, which is a serious public health emergency of international concern, adding that the country’s capacity for testing has been enhanced with three laboratories- National Reference Laboratory in Abuja, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital in Edo state.
Court orders DSS to probe Diri’s deputy over certificate forgery
By Toby Prince
An Abuja Area Court has ordered the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate the allegation of forgery of certificate against the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo.
Duoye Diri was sworn in on February 14 as Bayelsa governor alongside Mr Ewhrudjakpo as his deputy.
They were sworn in following the February 14, 2020 judgment of the Supreme Court nullifying the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidates in the governorship election held last November.
A highly-placed member of the APC from Bayelsa, Benjamin Youdiowei, had approached the court in Lugbe, Abuja, alleging that Ewhrudjakpo presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) a forged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) exemption certificate.
Mr Youdowei alleged that Ewhrudjakpo had been using the allegedly forged document dated February 2, 1998, with number 139708 as part of his credentials.
Justice Abubakar Sadiq had on November 27, 2019, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Ewhrudjakpo following his absence from the court for the day’s proceedings.
He had also ordered the police to investigate the deputy governor before issuing a fresh order directing the DSS to take over the investigation.
Ewhrudjakpo, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was until his inauguration a senator representing Bayelsa West Senatorial District.
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BREAKING: Fire guts Jabi motor park in Abuja
By Sylvanus Okpe
An early morning fire, on Friday, gutted the popular Jabi Motor Park in Abuja, destroying several shops and valuables in the vicinity.
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The incident led to pandemonium in the park, as motorists were seen driving desperately to move their vehicles away from the scene.
Meanwhile, FCT firefighters are currently at the scene in an attempt to contain the situation.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained yet.
US opposes Nigeria’s plan to hand Abacha loot to Bagudu
All copyrights for this article are reserved to TheNigerian News
Senate declares Bayelsa governor, deputy’s seat vacant
By Sylvanus Okpe
Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has declared the seats of Bayelsa Central and Bayelsa West Senatorial districts vacant, following the election of their occupants as governor and deputy governor of Bayelsa state.
The governor, Sen. Diri Douye represented Bayelsa Central while his deputy, Sen. Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo represented Bayelsa West.
Speaking at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners RECs on Friday in Abuja, Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu revealed that the electoral umpire would soon come up with dates for the conduct of a by-election to fill the two seats.
“In compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court, the Commission has presented Certificates of Return in respect of the Governorship elections in Imo and Bayelsa States. In the case of Bayelsa State, both the Governor and Deputy Governor were serving Senators. Consequently, the Commission yesterday Thursday 20th February 2020 received two communications from the Senate President declaring the seats for Bayelsa Central and Bayelsa West Senatorial Districts vacant. The Commission will soon meet to determine the dates for by-elections in the two Senatorial Districts”, said Yakubu.
Yakubu equally spoke on the forthcoming Governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states, warning political parties to strictly adhere to its timetable and schedule of activities as of the late nomination of candidates after the deadline would not be accepted.
“As stated earlier, the end of tenure Governorship elections in Edo and Ondo are holding later in the year. Given recent experience with some Governorship elections, political parties need to do more to avoid the conduct of acrimonious primaries or failure to observe due diligence in the screening of their candidates, resulting in protracted litigations and eventual determination of the outcome of elections by orders of the court. I wish to draw the attention of political parties to two critical dates in the timetable released by the Commission a few weeks ago. Party primaries for the democratic election and nomination of candidates for the Governorship election in Edo State must be held from 2nd to 27th June 2020. The date for Ondo State is 2nd to 25th July 2020. The Commission will not extend the dates. We will also rigorously monitor the primaries and where necessary, apply sanctions as provided by law.
“At the same time, the personal particulars of all the candidates nominated by political parties for the Edo and Ondo governorship elections, including their academic qualifications, will be displayed in our offices in the two States as required by law. This will enable citizens to scrutinise them and take legal action against any candidate who provides false information to the Commission. The personal particulars of candidates will be displayed on 6th July 2020 in Edo State and on 4th August 2020 in Ondo State. I wish to appeal to citizens to note the dates and to seize the opportunity to scrutinise the information provided on oath by the candidates in the interest of our democracy and good governance.
“Ahead of the Edo and Ondo governorship elections, critical changes will be introduced to strengthen our processes and procedures. Similarly, the Commission, jointly with the security agencies, is reviewing deployment during elections. Already, the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) has set up a Committee in this respect. The inaugural meeting of the Committee is holding on Wednesday next week.
“As you are aware, the Commission has released the timetable and schedule of activities for the Edo and Ondo Governorship elections to be held on 19th September 2020 and 10th October 2020 respectively. Furthermore, the Commission has released the timetable and schedule of activities for bye-elections to fill vacancies in Magama/Rijau Federal Constituency in Niger State, Babura/Garki Federal Constituency in Jigawa State, Patigi State Constituency in Kwara State and Kebbe State Constituency in Sokoto State. Going by the timetable, the period for the conduct of party primaries and nomination of candidates has lapsed. Four political parties have nominated candidates for the Magama/Rijau Federal Constituency, three parties for Babura/Garki Federal Constituency, six parties for Patigi State Constituency and seven parties for Kebbe State Constituency. The elections are scheduled to hold simultaneously in the four states on Saturday 14th March 2020.
“For our part, the Commission has been studying the judgements of courts arising from the conduct of recent elections. We have also been reviewing the reports from accredited observers as well as internal reports from our State Offices. We will continue to keep an eye on the conduct of our officials and apply appropriate sanctions on erring staff, both regular and ad-hoc”, he added.
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Yahaya Bello blames ‘neighbours’ for insecurity in Kogi
Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has blamed his immediate neighbours for the insecurity in the state.
In a statement on Friday, Kingsley Fanwo, commissioner for information and communication, said the recent security concerns spilled into Kogi from states next to them.
The commissioner said the governor is putting measures in place to rid the state of criminals.
“We want to commend security agencies in the State for their doggedness and determination to restore Kogi’s heroics in the area of maintaining the security of lives and property across the State. As a responsible Government, we see this as our number one mandate,” Fanwo said.
“In the last four years, the governor has made award-winning moves to curb insecurity and criminality such as the setting up of a joint force known as OPERATION TOTAL FREEDOM as well as the establishment of the Kogi State Vigilante Service; culminating in the drastic reduction in crime rate.
“In the last four years, there was only one attempted bank robbery which was foiled by our gallant security operatives.
“Government is not oblivious of the fact that recent security concerns are as a result of negative reactions and spills from our immediate neighbours. We, however, remain confident that our security architecture can effectively deal with the situation.
“At the State Executive Council Meeting of Wednesday 19th February 2020; security issues topped the Agenda. To this end, the Council has taken far-reaching decisions that will ensure the security of our people.”
No fewer than 12 passengers of a commercial bus were reportedly kidnapped on Sunday in the Itobe area of the state.
EU donates N32m to Nigeria to fight Lassa fever
The European Commission said on Thursday it had allocated €80,000 (about N32m) to assist Nigeria to fight Lassa fever and cater to the families affected by the outbreak.
The EU said the funds would go towards “supporting the Nigerian Red Cross in promoting hygiene practices and disease transmission control” as well as helping to identify suspected cases.
A statement on Thursday by the union quoted the EU as saying, “The funding forms part of the EU’s overall contribution to the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. In the two most affected states, Ondo and Edo, the main actions will focus on health education on signs and symptoms, prevention measure and behavioural change in food storage and handling; and pest control activities.
“In four states of Bauchi, Ebonyi, Taraba and Kano, awareness-raising initiatives will be launched for the general public, including the distribution of educational materials and informative radio messages.”
The EU recalled that since the first week of January 2020, more than “680 suspected cases have been reported by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, of which over 250 were confirmed as positive.”
The Union noted, “While Nigeria is prone to Lassa fever outbreaks during the dry season of November to April, the number of affected people, both suspected and confirmed, this year is higher than in previous years.”
Court dismisses corruption report against Emir Sanusi
A Federal High Court sitting in Kano on Friday dismissed the preliminary report of the Kano Anti-graft Commission, which recommended the suspension of Emir Muhammad Sanusi II over alleged misappropriation of the Emirate Council’s N3.5 billion.
Delivering his ruling, Justice O.A. Egwuata, contended that the anti-graft commission erred for denying Emir Sanusi the opportunity to be heard before releasing the said report on him, stressing that such an omission was against the principle of fair hearing.
Emir Sanusi had sued Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, alongside the State Attorney-General, Ibrahim Mukhtar, seeking a declaration that the findings contained in the anti-graft commission’s preliminary report, issued on June 6, 2019, was in breach of his fundamental human right to a fair hearing and contrary to the rules of natural justice.
To this extent, Emir Sanusi sought an order from the court to set aside the preliminary report, as it relates to his indictment for fraud, misappropriation, as well as the recommendation for suspension by the Commission.
In addition to the Emir’s prayers, the court also awarded him N200,000 as damages.
This is coming after the Kano State High Court presided over by Justice Suleiman Na’Mallam also restrained the anti-graft commission from continuing with its probe against Emir Sanusi.
Buratai calls on relief agencies to maintain neutrality, abide by set protocols
Supranational organisations and humanitarian agencies working in Nigeria’s troubled northeast region have been called upon to maintain neutrality and impartiality in the discharge of their humanitarian functions while assisting in the fight against insurgency.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai said this when the new President of Medecins Sans Frontiers MSF, Dr Christos Christou paid him a courtesy call at the Army Headquarters in Abuja.
Represented by the Chief of Policy and Plans Lieutenant General Lamidi Adeosun, General Buratai acknowledge the contributions of MSF at alleviating the sufferings of the victims of conflicts anround the world and particularly in Nigeria but cautioned that they must operate within the principle of neutrality and impartiality while providing humanitarian assistance.
“In a conflict zone, we have conflict of interests. As you know, not only the MSF is involved in providing assistance to victims in Nigeria and of course you know what the security dilemma is in a conflict zone.
“MSF like every other organisation must continue to operate with the principle of neutrality and impartiality because you must also realize that Nigeria remains a functional state that is why the government set protocols for supranational agencies to function” he added.
Earlier in his remarks the President of MSF Dr Christou noted that his organisation is mainly concerned with alleviating the sufferings of the most vulnerable people in a conflict society.
While thanking the Nigerian Army for the support his organisation has received since it began operations in Nigeria, Dr Christou solicited the support of the Army to help improve its responses whenever the need arises.
Medecins Sans Frontiers is an international, independent humanitarian organisation founded by a group of journalists and doctors to provide medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics disasters or exclusion of healthcare.