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US President Donald Trump's one-time campaign chairman secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to assist President Vladimir Putin, the Associated Press (AP) news agency reports. Paul Manafort is said to have proposed a strategy to nullify anti-Russian opposition across former Soviet republics a decade ago. AP says documents and interviews support its claims about Mr Manafort. Mr Manafort has insisted that he never worked for Russian interests. He worked as Mr Trump's unpaid campaign chairman from March until August last year, including the period during which the flamboyant New York billionaire clinched the Republican nomination. He resigned after AP revealed that he had co-ordinated a secret Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Ukraine's ruling pro-Russian political party until 2014. Newly obtained business records link Mr Manafort more directly to Mr Putin's interests in the region, AP says. Donald Trump unpaid Campaign Chairman It ...

Tola Akinmutimi The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has decried the slow pace of implementation of the Federal Government’s Short and Medium Term Priorities to grow Nigeria’s Oil & Gas Industry 2015–2019, labelled the “7 Big Wins”. In a statement issued on Monday by the CSO's Executive Director,Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani) the group recalled that in October 2016, the document was released by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and launched by the President with much fanfare and media hype. Musa stated the civil society group had then commended the government while also cautioning it on the need to ensure that it does not become another beautiful document that would not be implemented. He pointed out that CISLAC had observed now that already there were indications of a lag in implementation. Specifically, the group stated that for instance, under the first Big Win, Policy and Regulation, the section on Fiscal Reform Policy proposes to collab...

An aircraft cabin ban on large electronic devices was prompted by intelligence suggesting a terror threat to US-bound flights, say US media. The US and UK have announced new carry-on restrictions banning laptops on certain passenger flights. The so-called Islamic State group (IS) has been working on ways to smuggle explosives on to planes by hiding them in electronics, US sources tell ABC. The tip-off was judged by the US to be "substantiated" and "credible". Inbound flights on nine airlines operating out of 10 airports in eight countries are subject to the US Department of Homeland Security ban. Phones and medical devices are not affected. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is hosting a two-day meeting of ministers and senior officials from 68 nations to discuss the threat from IS. The Washington talks will be the first full meeting of the coalition since December 2014. What is the meeting about? By Barbara Plett-Usher, US State D...

The International Monetary Fund board is expected to meet shortly to discuss the implications of the guilty verdict against IMF chief Christine Lagarde in a French court, a spokesman for the organisation said Monday. “The Executive Board has met on previous occasions to consider developments related to the legal proceedings in France. It is expected that the Board will meet again shortly to consider the most recent developments,” fund spokesman Gerry Rice said in a statement. A source confirmed to AFP the board meeting will take place on Monday, after a French court found Lagarde guilty of negligence over a massive payout to a tycoon while she was finance minister, but she will not be fined or face prison. Lagarde was put on trial over her 2007 decision to allow a dispute over sale of the Adidas sports brand to the state-owned Credit Lyonnais bank to be resolved by a private arbitration panel, and then failing to challenge the result. The court cleared her of negligence over her d...

Two female suicide bombers died in a failed attempt to invade Maiduguri. According to the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Borno Police Command, Victor Isuku, the suicide bombers were halted at the outskirt of Maiduguri. Isuku, in a text message, stated that: “At About 2030hrs yesterday (Sunday), two female suicide bombers were halted to stop for routine check at Geleri village which is about 5km to Muna Garage, an outskirt of Maiduguri. “One of the suicide bombers detonated the IED strapped to her body killing her and her accomplice whose IED vest did not explode. Three residents of the area were however injured. “The command’s EOD unit rushed to the scene to render the unexploded IED safe. The area has been secured and normalcy restored.”

The acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, has said appointing more judges or increasing the number of courtrooms are not the solutions to the problem of delayed justice dispensation in the country. The acting CJN said the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court would  remain congested so long as the number of appeals proceeding there from the high courts was not regulated. Justice Onnoghen also argued that it was erroneous to believe that delay at the Supreme Court was as a result of not having up to 21 Justices prescribed by the constitution. He noted hat even the United States of America, with a higher population, had only nine Supreme Court Justices. He argued that the current 17 Justices on the Supreme Court bench were just enough for the country, if the number of appeals proceeding to the appellate and apex courts was regulated. Justice Onnoghen made this argument on Monday in Lagos while inaugurating the newly refurbished building of the Lagos Division o...

The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, has said the congress would do all things to preserve the unity of the Labour movement in the country. He also said the NLC was sticking to a proposal of N56,000 minimum wage it made to the Federal Government. NLC President, Mr. Ayuba Wabba made the comment while reacting to the formation of a new Labour centre known as the United Labour Congress by some top Labour leaders in Lagos on Saturday. Those behind the formation of the new centre unanimously elected the General Secretary of the National Union of Electricity Employees, Mr. Joe Ajaero and the President of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Achese Igwe as President and Deputy President respectively. Listed among the breakaway affiliates of the NLC and the Trade Union Congress are NUPENG, NUEE, Nigeria Union of Mine Workers, National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Employees, Nigeria Union of Rail Workers, National Union of Lottery Agents...