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Okonjo-Iweala | credits: File copy RIVERS  State Governor and the Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, declared on Thursday that the Nigerian economy had gone comatose. Amaechi explained that contrary to the rosy picture painted on Wednesday by the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating  minister for the Economy,  Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, about the nation’s economy, Nigeria was battling to survive economically. Okonjo-Iweala  had while responding to  a call for her resignation by the Amaechi-led NGF told journalists in Abuja,   that in spite  of the revenue challenges facing the country, all macro-economic indicators showed that the economy  was performing “reasonably well.”

President of the senate, David Mark THE  faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, known as the  New PDP,  has accused the Presidency of plotting to remove   Senate President David Mark  and  the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal. The allegation, which was dismissed by the Presidency as a product of mischief makers, was made hours after  The PUNCH had   gathered   that PDP members in the House loyal to the Bamanga Tukur faction had  set up a “strategy group” to watch Tambuwal. The  New PDP  claimed that the plot to sack Mark and the Speaker  was over the visit of its National Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje and  seven aggrieved PDP  governors   to the National Assembly on Tuesday. It said in a statement  by  its  National Publicity Secretary , Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, on Thursday, that  those behind the scheme must have a rethink. The statement reads in part, “To us, this plot by the hawks in the Presidency is politics taken too far and it  illustrat

| credits: File copy A gun attack on Washington’s naval yard has left 13 people dead sparking a massive lockdown in the nation’s capital. The violence started unfolding at 8.20am on Monday, when several shots were fired inside the southeast Washington facility. Police spokesman Chris Kelly earlier described a suspect as an adult male, about 6 feet tall with a bald head and medium complexion, dressed in a black top and black jeans. Two witnesses told Cable News Networks affiliate WJLA-TV that they heard a fire alarm go off in the building where they worked, then saw a man with a rifle down the hallway as they exited the building. “He aimed the gun and fired our way,” a man who identified himself as Todd Brundidge told WJLA, adding, “I couldn’t believe it.”

Samuel, Friday and Mahmoud | credits: File copy The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested two young men who claimed to be undergraduates of the University of Jos, Isaiah Friday and Azzaior Samuel, for an alleged N2.05bn fraud. Two bureau de change operators, Salihu Mahmoud and Dan Ibrahim, were also arrested in connection with the alleged crime. The suspects were also accused of being members of a syndicate that specialised in breaking into the computer data base of financial institutions to carry out dry posting of funds.

There are indications that President Goodluck Jonathan  had directed  the  Bamanga Tukur  faction of the Peoples Democratic Party to compile  names of its members for ministerial positions. A member of the National Working Committee of the faction, who made this known to The PUNCH in Abuja on Sunday, said the directive was already being complied with.  Jonathan, in his first major cabinet shake-up since his inauguration on May 29, 2011, had on Wednesday sacked nine ministers.  The  sacked ministers  were  Prof.  Ruqayyatu Rufai (Education),    Okon Ewa-Bassey (Science and Technology),  Olugbenga Ashiru (Foreign Affairs),  Hadiza Mailafia (Environment),  Shamsudeen Usman  (National Planning),and  Ama  Pepple (Housing, Lands and Urban Development). Also affected were   Olusola Obada(Defence), and  her counterparts in the Agriculture Ministry,  Alhaji Bukar Tijani, and  Power,  Zainab Kuchi.

Mikel | credits: File copy Former referee Mark Halsey has lifted the lid on Mikel Obi infamous race row by claiming the Chelsea midfielder yelled ‘I’m going to break your legs’ at Mark Clattenburg. In his autobiography ‘Added time: Surviving cancer, death threats and the Premier League’, serialised in The Sun on Sunday, Halsey also backed up Neil Ashton’s story that Mikel had to be restrained by the then Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo.

Nigeria and some other countries will no longer be eligible to participate in the America Diversity Visa lottery programme. Information from the United States Department of State sighted on Sunday said Nigerians and citizens from few other countries were not eligible for DV-2015 The department said Nigeria was excluded since over 50,000 Nigerians had immigrated into the United States in the last five years. The department listed other countries not eligible as Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador and Haiti.