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http://ift.tt/2rvOUWN AFP Photo/Gwenn Dubourthoumieu Congolese President Joseph Kabila on Saturday said he had never “promised anything” about whether to hold elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, seeming to back away from a deal to hold a vote this year. “I have not promised anything at all,” Kabila told the German weekly Der Spiegel in a rare media interview. “I wish to organise elections as soon as possible”. “We want perfect elections, not just elections,” he said, adding that the government was in the process of registering voters and that it was “going well”. Under a power-sharing agreement brokered by the influential Catholic Church on New Year’s Eve, Kabila, 45, is due to remain in office until elections at the end of 2017, after he refused to step down at the end of his final two-term mandate last December. But the issue has sparked tensions across the vast mineral-rich nation of 71 million people, where social and economic crises have all but rendered el...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The numerical strength of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Representatives was depleted on Wednesday as a member, Rep. Edward Pwajok, defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). In his defection letter read by the Speaker of the house, Mr Yakubu Dogara, during plenary, Pwajok said he was leaving the PDP due to the crisis in the party. According to him, there are many divisions in PDP, from national level between Sheriff and Makarfi factions to Plateau, between Badung and Sango factions. In a swift reaction, the Minority Leader of the House, Mr Leo Ogor (Delta-PDP), raised a point of order to fault Pwajok’s claim that the PDP was factionalised. He said that going by the Appeal Court’s judgment, Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff is the National Chairman of the PDP. Ogor, therefore, urged Pwajok to vacate his seat. “We are presently in court and you are aware that Sheriff is the chairman of the party. “I find it totally unacceptable and we demand that P...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The Senate, Tuesday,  said it would decline to consider and approve the $5.8 billion loan request from the China Exim Bank by the Federal Government over the exclusion of the South-East from the beneficiaries of the loan. The Federal Government had requested the approval of the Senate foe it to borrow the sum for the construction of Standard Guage lines from Lagos-Kano, Kano-Kaduna, Lagos-Ibadan, and Lagos Calabar. While considering a motion moved by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, (PDP Abia South), the senate resolved that the loan would not be considered except all regions were carried along in the utilisation of the loan. The Senate upheld the argument of Senator Abaribe that there was no reason why the South East should be excluded from the rail project for which the loan was sought. Abaribe in his motion requested the Senate to suspend consideration of the loan request until the Federal Government included the South East as beneficiaries in the project. ...

http://ift.tt/2o4OR62 The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has said it will present candidates in the July 22 local government elections only in 15 of the 57 council areas of the state. The state chairman of the party, Malam Shakirudeen Olofin, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Sunday. Lagos State has 20 Local Government Areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs). Olofin said the party would present candidates in Ayobo/Ipaja LCDA, Agbado-Oke Odo LCDA, Mosan-Okunola LCDA, Oshodi/Isolo LGA, Oriade LCDA, Eredo LCDA, and Ikotun-Igando LCDA. He listed other areas as Badagry LGA, Somolu LGA, Kosofe LGA, Ikeja LGA, Epe LGA, Apapa LGA ,Apapa LGA and Ajeromi Ifelodun LGA. The chairman said the decision of the party to contest only in these council areas was a deliberate strategy to focus on its areas of strength and manage resources. “You know elections are capital intensive. But we do not have enough resources to cover...

http://ift.tt/2o4OR62 Mr Taofik Gani, Publicity Secretary of the PDP in Lagos State, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday that the party, despite some internal problems, would put up a good show in the elections. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the belief of the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Chief Bola Tinubu, that it will win nothing in the forthcoming council polls in Lagos is unfortunate. Mr Taofik Gani, Publicity Secretary of the PDP in Lagos State, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday that the party, despite some internal problems, would put up a good show in the elections. He said that the electorate, and not the APC chieftain, would decide the outcome of the elections, and the PDP still had its following in the state. Gani said that the PDP would continue to insist on free and fair elections. “PDP is a party to reckon with in the state, we are watching them and we will not allow them (APC) to have their wa...

http://ift.tt/2qdy2nk Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola gestures on the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on December 18, 2016.<br />Paul ELLIS / AFP Pep Guardiola says he has made his mind up on the futures of Manchester City’s seven out-of-contract players, but added that they will have to wait until the end of the season to find out. Yaya Toure, Gael Clichy, Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna, Willy Caballero, Jesus Navas and Tosin Adarabioyo have yet to discover if Guardiola will keep them on for next season. However, City’s manager has made clear that he only wants focus on the final three matches of the season, starting with Saturday’s home game against Leicester, as his side try to secure Champions League qualification. Asked if he had spoken to any of the seven players about their futures, Guardiola said: “No.” He did, however, mak...

http://ift.tt/2pBSw7e European Commission (EC) member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, Michel Barnier, delivers his address to joint committee of the upper and lower houses if the Irish parliament, at Leinster House, the seat of the Irish parliament (Dail), in Dublin, Ireland on May 11, 2017. The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, sought Thursday to ease tensions between the bloc and Britain, saying a deal was possible if the talks were conducted without "aggressivity". But in a speech to the Irish parliament, he warned Britain's departure from the EU would have "consequences", in particular for Ireland, raising the possibility of customs checks on the border with Northern Ireland. / AFP PHOTO / MAXWELLS – Irish Governement Pool / MAXWELLS The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator sought Thursday to ease tensions between the bloc and Britain, saying a deal was possible if the talks were conducted without “aggressiv...