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http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The House of Representatives Committee on Public Procurement on Thursday, summoned the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, over alleged payment of N17 billion for procurement of office equipment. It also summoned the Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Ahmed Idris, and former Accountant-General of the Federation Mr Jonah Otunla, over the transaction. The three top government officials are to appear before the committee members on Tuesday. Their invitation was sequel to their failure to appear at the public hearing on the allegation organised by the committee on Thursday. The minister sent the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr Isa Dutse, to represent her, but the lawmakers flayed it and refused to accept any excuse for her absence at the investigative hearing. Before issuing the summons, Chairman of the committee, Rep. Oluwole Oke, said that the three officials had violated the provisions of section 15 of the Public Procurement Act 2007 as it ...

http://ift.tt/2q84r1K Mrs. Fatou Bensouda The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor on Tuesday called for an immediate halt to the renewed sectarian bloodshed in the Central African Republic, warning that war crimes will be punished. Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s call comes amid an upsurge of attacks on civilians and UN peacekeepers, as well as renewed fighting between factions of the Christian anti-Balaka coalition and the mainly Muslim ex-Seleka rebels. “Violence and clashes between armed groups in several parts of the Central African Republic (CAR) have increased in the last months,” Bensouda said in a statement. “These reported crimes may fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and must immediately stop,” she said from the ICC’s Hague-based headquarters. A UN official said fighters used mortars and grenade launchers 10 days previously in an assault in Bangassou near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. The southeast town had...

http://ift.tt/2oUAYaI Eight Malian soldiers were killed Tuesday by armed assailants in a central area of the country that is regularly targeted by jihadist groups, a Malian military. Eight Malian soldiers were killed Tuesday by armed assailants in a central area of the country that is regularly targeted by jihadist groups, a Malian military source told AFP. “We lost eight troops on Tuesday during a complex attack mounted by terrorists, between the localities of Nampala and Diabali,” the source told AFP, adding that four other soldiers were injured. Their vehicle hit a mine and the soldiers were then ambushed by the group, another Malian security source told AFP, a familiar tactic used by jihadist groups in the region. Last July, 17 soldiers were killed in an attack on a military base in Nampala, which sits close to the Mauritanian border, claimed by the Islamist organisation Ansar Dine. A similar attack on the garrison town in January 2015 claimed the lives of 11 Malian so...