The Nigerian Medical Association, Lagos State chapter, has directed all the doctors working in the three government hospitals on the Lagos Island to begin an indefinite strike over the death of its colleague, Dr Vwaere Diaso.

The NMA also declared a five-day mourning period in the state and asked doctors in the other government-owned hospitals to scale down activities as a mark of respect for the dead colleague.

The hospitals to embark on the indefinite strike are the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos; Lagos Island Maternity Hospital, Lagos, and the Massey Street Children’s Hospital, Lagos.

The association said Diaso died on Tuesday at the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos, after she was trapped in the elevator for more than 40 minutes before she was rescued, and there was no blood available to resuscitate her.

The NMA made this known in a press statement signed by its state Chairman, Dr Benjamin Olowojebutu, and Secretary, Ismail Ajibowo, on Wednesday.

“The NMA Lagos State received with rude shock the death of one of our members, Dr Vwaere Diaso, a medical house officer, whose death occurred as a result of injuries sustained when the elevator she was in crashed. This is heartbreaking, heart-wrenching, and quite unfortunate. We commiserate with her immediate family, her colleagues on the Island, the Medical Guild, and all body of doctors in Lagos State. The information we got was that she was trapped in the elevator for more than 40 minutes before she was rescued.

“We were also reliably informed that there was no blood available for resuscitation, and this has become a recurring issue as a result of the review made by the government on the previous policy on blood donation.

“To us, this was an avoidable death and it’s unfortunate that it was allowed to happen. We are pained and we are mourning. We are well aware that this same elevator has been a source of problem for many years during which several complaints have been made to all relevant agencies with no respite, the statement read in part.

The association, however, demanded an immediate and unbiased investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Earlier, the Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, had extolled the former governor stating that he was thrilled by the work he did in Rivers State.

Barau said, “The first time, I got to River State; I was shocked because of the impact of the work that you did in the state.

“In fact, I thought I was abroad and not in Nigeria. Will you be able to replicate the same work if you were confirmed as a Minister?”

The PDP chieftain who was seen in a video shared by a tweep, Imran Muhammad arrived at the National Assembly complex with his wife on Monday.

“Distinguished senators, we employ that you should let him just take a bow and go.

“His resume is insufficient to enumerate the works that he has done.”

The Senate President, GodsWill Akpabio, thereafter, told him to take a bow and leave.

A forensic examiner and retired Deputy Superintendent of Police, Reginald Nwoze, on Thursday, tendered 150,656 ballot papers used for the conduct of the March 18 governorship election in the state before the Ogun State Election Petition Tribunal.During his cross-examination by counsel to respondents, Nwoze told the tribunal that he examined and analysed the ballot papers from 12 local government areas of the state.The Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate in the state, Ladi Adebutu, in the petition marked, EPT/OG/GOV/03/2023 are challenging the victory of the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, who was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission in the March 18 governorship election.He told the tribunal that the ballot papers tendered were sourced from the INEC.

While breaking down the ballot papers, Nwoze said, 37,401 were with multiple thumbprints, 3,470 were smushed and smeared, and 109,785 were with regular thumbprints.

Showing the court his findings, Nwoze alleged that some of the ballot papers whose votes were cast in favour of APC were marked with markers instead of being thumb printed.

The tribunal admitted in evidence 150,656 ballot papers used for the election in the state. They also admitted a piece of video evidence tendered by a star witness for the PDP, Sunkanmi Oyejide. The documents were admitted in evidence to support the petition filed by the PDP and Adebutu.

Counsel to INEC, Remi Olatubora; counsel to Abiodun and Onyechi Ikpeazu of the APC, Prof. Taiwo Osipitan, in their separate submissions had kicked against the video evidence, asking the tribunal not to admit same.

Olatubora described the video recording as “absolutely inadmissible.”

Osipitan and Ikpeazu in their various submissions also rejected the admissibility of the clip, which they described as “hearsay.”

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the ministerial list was submitted to the National Assembly today by Gbajabiamila and was read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

‘’Mr President intends to separate portfolios or restructure the ministries in such a way you might be hearing of new ministries that were not standalone ministries before. So the process continues.’’

Gbajabiamila said that the nominees were chosen after undergoing strict personal screening by the President.

‘’As you know he had 60 days from the time of inauguration, as stipulated in the constitution. He has fulfilled that requirement of the constitution by submitting 28 names today.

‘’As his letter stated, and was read on the floor of the Senate, the remaining names, not sure how many, probably about 12, maybe 13, will be forwarded to the Senate in the coming days.

‘’As far as the nominees themselves are concerned, and like I said, Mr President took his time to sift through those names,’’ he said.

The Chief of Staff said that the president decided to toe the line of tradition by not attaching portfolios of the nominees in the letter to the Senate in order to give room for reviews.

‘’As good as that sounds, it straitjackets the president to pigeonhole one person in an office or the other. What happens then if you change your mind, do you then bring the person back for screening again, because the president is at liberty to change your mind?

‘’For instance, if I decide I want somebody as Minister of Labour, and then after sending the name, later on, I decide that this person would actually be better with another portfolio. And meanwhile, the Senate has screened that person for that particular initial portfolio.

A 19-year-old woman of Ishehi Hamlet in Misau Local Government Area of Bauchi State has been arrested by the police for allegedly stealing a newborn baby.

The suspect, Hajara Usman, was said to have stolen the infant after conspiring with an 18-year-old man, Ibrahim Usman, of Dugurgama Hamlet.

The Bauchi State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, Ahmed Wakil, stated this in a statement made available to journalists in the state on Thursday.

He said that a resident of the Galawa Area of Akuyam District in the Misau LGA reported the incident at Akuyam Police Outstation that his daughter’s newborn baby was stolen at about 4: 30 am.

“Upon receiving the report, a team of detectives was immediately mobilized and earnestly swung into action and eventually arrested the hoodlums.

“The stolen baby was recovered from one Hajara Usman, female (19) of Ishehi Hamlet who conspired with one Ibrahim Usman, male (18) of Dugurgama Hamlet to steal the baby.”

The immediate past Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, and his colleague from Kaduna, Nasir El-Rufai, have made the list of ministerial nominee President Bola Tinubu forwarded the ministerial list to the Senate in the wee hours of Thursday.

The list is coming two days before the President’s deadline as stipulated by the constitution as amended by the ninth Assembly.

Tinubu, according to the 1999 constitution as amended by the Ninth Senate, has barely two days left out of the 60 days deadline stipulated for the President to unveil his cabinet members.

 “We have come to tell the President that we don’t need the N8,000 palliatives. He should keep it to himself. It is another way of stealing Nigerians’ money. How do you get the statistics of 12 million Nigerians that you want to pay N996bn to as palliatives? Meanwhile, you want to spend N70bn on the National Assembly, which has just 469 members.’’

“Is that not stealing? Is that not calling Nigerians fools? We want to let President Bola Tinubu know that we are not fools and that enough is enough,” Enabulele added.

Speaking also, the President of Talakawa’s Parliament, Kola Edokpayi, said, “It is no longer news that the poverty rate has increased under the watch of our president. It is sad we are where we are today. We cannot continue like this. Imagine lawmakers proposing N70bn payment when the masses are suffering.”

Responding to the demands of the protesters, the Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media Projects, Crusoe Osagie, said that the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, could not determine the fuel pump price in the state and urged the citizens to hold the Federal Government responsible for the hardship faced by the people.

But expressing concern over the planned rollout of palliatives by the states to cushion the subsidy removal, the Trade Union Congress said it did trust state governors to manage the process well.

The suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, was on Tuesday granted bail in the sum of N20 million with one surety in like sum by the Federal High Court in Lagos State.

He was granted bail after pleading not guilty to the two counts bordering on the alleged illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

Emefiele is facing two counts of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition preferred against him by the Federal Ministry of Justice before the vacation judge, Justice Nicholas Oweibo.

The ministry of justice is prosecuting him on charges of possessing a single-barrelled shotgun (JOJEFF MAGNUM 8371) without a licence.

He is also accused of illegally being in possession of 23 rounds of live ammunition (cartridges) without a licence.

The defendant committed the offences on June 15, 2023, at No. 3b Iru Close, Ikoyi area of Lagos.