The claim that President Bola Tinubu was convicted in the United States of America, USA, on a charge linked to drug trafficking has been rejected by the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, located in Abuja.

It was decided that Tibubu could not be disqualified from running in the February 25 presidential election since such a punishment did not equate to a criminal conviction.

The case that resulted in the fine being imposed against President Tinubu, according to Justice Haruna Tsammani, who presided over the five-member panel, “was in the civil docket” of the court in the US, according to a meticulous examination of the materials that were brought before the court.

He held that contrary to the contention of the Petitioners, the case, was a civil forfeiture proceeding against funds that were in the bank and not an action that was against Tinubu as a person.

He described such civil forfeiture proceeding as a unique remedy that is targeted at a property and not the owner.

More so, the court held that Obi and the LP failed to show that Tinubu was indicted, arraigned, tried or convicted for any criminal offence in the USA.

The court further noted that following a letter the Inspector General of Police wrote in 2003, the American Embassy, confirmed that there was no criminal record against Tinubu in its centralized information center.

It held that both the letter from the IGP and the response from the US Embassy, were public documents that are admissible in evidence.

The court maintained that the Petitioners did not produce any evidence to establish that Tinubu was tried and convicted for an offence involving of dishonesty.

Besides, the court held that a period of 10 years had elapsed since the said fine was imposed against Tinubu, saying it, therefore, could not be a valid ground to seek his disqualification.

It accordingly dismissed that leg of the petition the LP and Obi filed to nullify President Tinubu’s election.

The Petitioners had among other things, challenged Tinubu’s eligibility to contest the presidential election, alleging that he was previously indicted and fined the sum of $460,000.00 by the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, in Case No: 93C 4483, for an offence involving dishonesty and drug trafficking.

They contended that such indictment, constituted a ground for disqualification under section 137 (1) (d) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

Tembu Ebere, a Nigerian, has reported that during his attempt to beat the Guinness World Record (GWR) “Cry-a-thon,” he was “partially blind” for 45 minutes.

Ebere said he was partially blind in an interview with the BBC after complaining of “headaches, puffy eyes, and a swollen face.”

He admitted that in order to beat the record, he had to make himself cry.

“I had to re-strategise and reduce my wailing” he said while adding that he was determined to cry for one week as he planned despite the difficulties encountered.

Ebere added that his attempt would not be legitimate and that he had not submitted an application to GWR.

Following Hilda Bassey’s cook-a-thon record, where she first claimed to have cooked for 100 hours but was actually recorded as having done so for 93 hours and 11 minutes by the body, Ebere was one of the “many” Nigerians to catch the GWR fever.

Following Hilda’s record, numerous Nigerians have attempted to break the world record for cooking. One such attempt was made by Damilola Adeparusi, a chef from the Ekiti region who goes by the moniker “Chef Dammy.”

The body tweeted in response to the sharp increase in attempts, requesting that people apply first and have it approved by its personnel before setting a record.

Mmesoma Ejikeme, a relentless Anambra candidate, has at last admitted to forging her results for the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination to a panel of independent investigators appointed by the Anambra State Government.

The panel noted that Mmesoma did not provide any justification for the fabrication in the report that was made accessible to journalists in Abuja by the spokesperson for the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Dr. Fabian Benjamin.

“In Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma’s submission, she owned up in the presence of her principal, and the Education Secretary that the narration by the JAMB officials was a true and correct description of what transpired. She also admitted to have given a manipulated result by herself unaided, using the same phone Artel Number.

“According to her, she proceeded to the cybercafé (Prisca Global Computers, Uruagu, Nnewi) where she printed the results she had manipulated. The Committee tried to find out the motive behind her action, but Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma said NOTHING.

“In their own submissions, the Principal Anglican Girls’Secondary school, Uruagu Nnewi, and the Education Secretary – Diocese of Nnewi (Anglican Communion) expressed shock at what transpired where in their presence, Mmesoma admitted having manipulated her UTME results, deceiving the school, her immediate family and the State Government.”

According to news report JAMB accused Mmesoma of deliberately inflating her UTME score from 249 to 362 on Sunday. The candidate later presented herself as the top performer in the 2023 UTME, and Innoson Motors awarded her a N3 million scholarship.

Mmesoma argued that her result was not falsified despite repeated requests from the Board and mentioned that she printed her result from the JAMB website.

The Board imposed a three-year ban on her despite her protests, and the House of Representatives requested a stay of the decision.

While some people rush into marriage, others rush out of it.

Okunola, a 19-year-old pastry designer, announced on TikTok that he had proposed to his 17-year-old fiancée. The pair’s photoshoot was eagerly posted on the site by Okunola, a model who is also a member of the duo. They identified themselves as the youngest couple ever.

Although there are numerous opponents, Okunola declared, “We are ready.”

Nollywood actress Iniobong Edo claimed that being married in the first place was her biggest life regret. 

Ini Edo spoke candidly with media personality Chude Jideonwo about her failing marriage.

The actress claimed that she had second thoughts about really getting married.

Ini Edo wed American-based businessman Philip Ehiagwina on November 29, 2008, but their union lasted only five years before they got divorced in 2013.

The Nollywood actress admitted that her family pressured her into the marriage but added that she would only consider getting married to the right person.

She said, “I regretted my decision to get married because it wasn’t just the right move to make.”

The actress welcomed a child via surrogacy in 2021 and disclosed that she did it as a result of miscarriages.

“I decided on surrogacy because I’ve experienced a few miscarriages. I gave up trying because I don’t have a husband. So, whether or not I have a husband, I’m like, I want a kid for me. What additional choices would I then have? And I wanted that child to be my own. my hens. Fortunately, my eggs are fresh. That’s what I did.

Afrobeats superstar, David Adeleke popularly known as Davido has said that this year’s Father’s Day is a difficult one for him.

In a series of emotion-laden posts via his verified Instagram story, the singer noted that he has tears in his eyes today while the rest of the world marks Father’s Day.

Recall the singer, last yea, lost his first son, Ifeanyi, who drowned in their home’s swimming pool.

The three-year-old toddler was said to have drowned at the Unavailable crooner’s Banana Island home while he was away with his wife and the mother of the child, Chioma.

The toddler who died on October 31, 2022, drowned about two weeks after celebrating his birthday.

The singer wrote, “Difficult Father’s Day for me… But thank God for strength. Some days will be like this. Water full my eyes but I’ll be alright! Forever!”

Ed Sheeran arrived at US federal court Tuesday for a trial over whether the British pop star plagiarised American music icon Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” in his own 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud.”

Industry members are closely following the copyright lawsuit as it could set a precedent for protections on songwriters’ creations and open the door to legal challenges elsewhere.

It’s the second trial in a year for Sheeran, who successfully testified at a London court last April in a case centred around his song “Shape Of You,” saying that lawsuit was emblematic of copyright litigation going too far. The judge ruled in his favour.

He arrived Tuesday at the courthouse in Manhattan silently and with his head lowered, wading past the throng of cameras and journalists stationed outside.

At issue in the New York case are alleged “striking similarities and overt common elements” between Gaye and Sheeran’s songs.

During the trial, Sheeran told the court “Yes, Amy Wadge and I wrote the song ‘Thinking Out Loud,’” referring to the ballad’s co-author, said The New York Times, which had access to the room.

The plaintiffs are the heirs of Ed Townsend, a musician and producer who co-wrote Gaye’s 1973 soul classic, who was also in court Tuesday.

“I am here for justice, protecting my father’s intellectual properties,” Townsend’s daughter Kathryn Townsend Griffin told journalists outside the courthouse.

“As Marvin Gaye would say, ‘Let’s get it on,’” quipped Ben Crump, lawyer for the plaintiffs.

– ‘Coincidence’ –

Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” shot up America’s Billboard Hot 100 charts when it was released, and won Sheeran a Song of the Year prize at the Grammys in 2016.

Townsend’s family has pointed out that the group Boyz II Men has performed mash-ups of the two songs, and that Sheeran has blended the songs together on stage as well.

Crump pointed to a 2014 fan video showing Sheeran performing a mash-up of his song and Gaye’s at a concert, which the lawyer said amounted to a “confession” and a “smoking gun,” according to the Times.

The lawsuit, filed in 2016 — and refiled in 2017 after being rejected on procedural grounds — also names Sony.

Sheeran’s team contests the allegations, saying “there are dozens if not hundreds of songs that predate and postdate” Gaye’s song, “utilising the same or similar chord progression.”

“These medleys are irrelevant to any issue in the case and would be misleading [and] confuse the jury.”

There have been a flood of such copyright trials in recent years, notably in 2016 when Gaye’s family — who is not part of the New York lawsuit against Sheeran — successfully sued the artists Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams, and T.I. over similarities between the song “Blurred Lines” and Gaye’s “Got to Give it Up.”

They were ordered to pay some $5 million in damages, in a result that surprised many in the industry including legal experts who saw many of the musical components cited as foundational musical elements largely in the public domain.

Five years later an appeals court decision confirmed Led Zeppelin’s victory over a similar case with the classic “Stairway to Heaven” at issue.

But jury trials over music copyright could go any which way, and in this case likely will ultimately come down to the arrangement of a single chord progression.

A musicologist retained by the defence says in court documents that the four-chord sequence was used in a number of songs before Gaye’s hit came out in 1973.

“There are only so many notes and very few chords used in pop music,” Sheeran said in an Instagram video last April.

“Coincidence is bound to happen if 60,000 are being released every day on Spotify.”

AFP

According to Gogan Tv report yesterday, Nollywood actor, Yul Edochie, lost his first son, Kambilichukwu Edochie.

Confirming the sad news to Vanguard, yesterday, Pete Edochie said his son, Yul, called him on the telephone, Wednesday, informing him that Kambilichukwu fell down while playing football with his school mates and developed a seizure. 

According to him, the deceased was rushed to the Mother and Child Hospital, Lagos, where he died hours later. 

The legendary actor said his family started praying for the child immediately Yul called him on the telephone about the sad incident. 

Edochie said: “Kambilinachukwu is a very quiet, brilliant and talented child. He’s not somebody you can ride easily. He doesn’t get angry no matter the situation.

He may change his composure, but he was definitely a very unusual person in so many respects. 

“He was so accomplished. I always tell my son that I don’t like people excelling like this in any thing they are involved in. Experience has taught me that such people don’t last long.” 

Edochie expressed regret that his grandchild passed away when he had so much promise.

But, since the occurrence, neither Yul nor his first wife, May, have spoken out.

Popular Nollywood actor John Okafor, also known as Mr. Ibu, has dismissed his wife Stella’s accusations that he is dating his adopted daughter Jasmine.

In a conversation with a blogger, Stella made the accusation that Mr. Ibu was having an affair with Jasmine. She also claimed that Jasmine had taken control of her husband’s Instagram account in an effort to deceive him because he has dementia.

Mr. Ibu refuted the assertion during an Instagram live session with Daddy Freeze, stating that Stella was his second wife and that she was aware of Jasmine’s adoption status prior to their marriage.

Mr Ibu’s second son, Daniel Okafor,  who also joined the live session too corroborated his father’s claim that Jasmine has been adopted since childhoodThe actor went on to say that he has been taking care of his wife and children and that he has even bought her cars, which she has sold without giving him a dime.

His son also stated that Jasmine took care of their father when Stella refused to stay with him in the hospital and paid N500,000 to retrieve and verify his father’s Instagram account.

“Jasmine was in Cyprus then. When she heard the news, she came to Abuja to take care of my dad, paying the bills while he was in the hospital,” he added.

Nasir El-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna State, disclosed on Wednesday that some individuals in Aso Rock Villa are attempting to thwart Bola Tinubu, the APC’s presidential candidate, from winning this month’s poll.

I think there are Villa factions that want us to lose the election because they weren’t able to have their candidate, he added. During an appearance on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily, El-Rufai said that their candidate had lost the primary.

The governor clarified that those opposed to Tinubu’s victory were those whose candidates were beaten by the APC presidential flagbearer in the party’s presidential primaries.

“They are trying to get us to lose the election, and they are hiding behind the president’s desire to do what he thinks is right. I will give two examples: this petroleum subsidy, which is costing the country trillions of Naira, was something that we all agreed would be removed.

“In fact, I had a discussion with the president and showed him why it had to go. Because how can you have a capital budget of N200b for federal roads and then spend N2 Trillion on petroleum subsidy? This was a conversation I had with the president in 2021 when the subsidy thing started rising. He was convinced. We left. It changed. Everyone in the government agreed, and it changed.

“The second example I will give is this currency redesign. You have to understand the president. People are blaming the Governor of the Central Bank for the currency redesign, but No. You have to go back and look at the first outing of Buhari as president. He did this; the Buhari, Idiagbon regime changed our currency and did it in secrecy with a view to catching those that are stashing away illicit funds. It is a very good intention. The president has his right. But doing it at this time within the allotted time does not make any political or economic sense.”