Sen. Mohammed Sani-Sale said on Sunday that the just concluded by-election into the House of Representatives in Soba Local Government Area of Kaduna State was marked with intimidation.

He told Journalists in Zaria that the by-election was not conducted freely and fairly considering the illegality surrounding it.

Sani-Sale, an ex-army general, who represents Kaduna Central on the platform of CPC said,” I want to press my utmost disappointment over what happened during the by-election. I thought we are matured enough to conduct ourselves well, what I saw we had not learnt any lesson from the past.

“The mass disorderliness among the electorate and the inability of INEC to fully prepare for the election has shown that we still have a long way to go. I therefore call for outright cancelation of the election,” he added.

On action to be taken, the Senator said it would be the decision of the party not him as an individual, “The party had already written a letter of complaints to the INEC.”

According to him, CPC will decide the next line of action after its meeting and “as loyal members of the party, we shall abide by any decision taken by the party.”

He told Journalists in Zaria that the by-election was not conducted freely and fairly considering the illegality surrounding it.

Sani-Sale, an ex-army general, who represents Kaduna Central on the platform of CPC said,” I want to press my utmost disappointment over what happened during the by-election. I thought we are matured enough to conduct ourselves well, what I saw we had not learnt any lesson from the past.

“The mass disorderliness among the electorate and the inability of INEC to fully prepare for the election has shown that we still have a long way to go. I therefore call for outright cancelation of the election,” he added.

On action to be taken, the Senator said it would be the decision of the party not him as an individual, “The party had already written a letter of complaints to the INEC.”

According to him, CPC will decide the next line of action after its meeting and “as loyal members of the party, we shall abide by any decision taken by the party.”

Sani-Sale, an ex-army general, who represents Kaduna Central on the platform of CPC said,” I want to press my utmost disappointment over what happened during the by-election. I thought we are matured enough to conduct ourselves well, what I saw we had not learnt any lesson from the past.

“The mass disorderliness among the electorate and the inability of INEC to fully prepare for the election has shown that we still have a long way to go. I therefore call for outright cancelation of the election,” he added.

On action to be taken, the Senator said it would be the decision of the party not him as an individual, “The party had already written a letter of complaints to the INEC.”

According to him, CPC will decide the next line of action after its meeting and “as loyal members of the party, we shall abide by any decision taken by the party.”

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Alhaji Musa Dantakarda, a PDP stalwart in Mubi, Adamawa, on Sunday called on opposition parties to support the new Murtala Nyako administration to enable it transform the state.

Reacting to Nyako’s victory at the Feb.4, governorship election, Dantakarda said that would also enable the governor continue with the sound programmes initiated in the last four years.

Dantakarda, who was the Chairman of the Nyako campaign organisation, said in Mubi that such cooperation would assist in building a new Adamawa.

“The parties and their candidates should support the PDP administration to work for the progress of our people.

“Adamawa should be our first priority and we must work together as one for the common good of the state,” Dantakarda said.

?? ? ? ? He also urged the people to pray for peace, unity and prosperity in the country.

According to him, the PDP’s victory at the polls has shown the confidence the electorate reposed in its ability to transform the socio-economic condition of the state.

“The outcome of the election is a clear manifestation of the wishes of Adamawa people, and INEC has been fair to all parties,” he added.

However, Sani Hamma, a chieftain of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the state, attributed Nyako’s victory to the “apathy demonstrated by the electorate across the state.”

?? ? ? ?“The electorate gave the PDP the chance to win the election by not coming out enmasse to vote.

“We only pray God to give the PDP administration the wisdom to put up effective leadership in the state,” Hamma said,

However, dozens of PDP supporters rode on motorcycles in the streets of Mubi, celebrating the election victory.

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The Adamawa Police Command has arrested two suspects in connection with election violence during the state's governorship poll held on Saturday.

The Spokesman of the command, Altine Daniel, said on Sunday in Yola that the suspects were arrested in Madagali Local Government Area.

“So far, two people have been arrested in Madagali Local Government Area in connection with election violence.

“One of the suspects was arrested while carrying a dangerous weapon to a polling unit while voting was in process.

“And the other was arrested while trying to snatch a ballot box,” Daniel alleged.

According to the spokesman, the suspects will soon be charged to court based on the laws on electoral offences.

She said that, report from 21 divisional headquarters across the state showed that the conduct of the election was hitch-free and successful.

On cases of accident recorded during the poll, the PPRO said so far the command had yet to receive any report from its Motor Traffic? Division.

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The Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), on Sunday advised the Federal Government to seek ways of wiping out the Boko Haram sect, using security operatives.

The Lagos State Chairman of the CLO, Mr Ehi Omokhuale, said in an interview with newsmen in Lagos that the group seemed bent on committing more havoc in the nation and should be stopped.

He said that the sect was operating as a terrorist group and it could be futile to explore dialogue in dealing with it.

“Terrorists do not dialogue because of their extreme views. The Boko Haram sect has clearly stated their demands.

“These demands cannot work because the sect is not willing to shift ground on them and no dialogue can change that. No government anywhere in the world can accede to such,” he said.

Omokhuale said that there was no need to beg the sect to dialogue, especially with the extent of terror it had unleashed on Nigerians.

He said that the only dialogue would be for the sect to immediately lay down their arms and take responsibility for their actions.

The CLO chairman also urged the government to seek foreign aid in tackling the sect, and intensify the ongoing orientation on security awareness among Nigerians.

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The new season is finally here, and the question everybody is asking, again, is if Tiger Woods is really back?

Who wouldn’t love to see Eldrick succeed the way he did from 1996 to 2009, before we all got to know his dirty little secret(s)?

Woods finished third at his last official 2011 tournament, the Emirates Australian Open, before playing the Presidents Cup, which the U.S. team won and where he showed a glimpse of what his short game used to be and hoisted the Chevron World Challenge trophy.

Woods may never be the golfer he used to be, he’s not a youngster anymore, but at age 36, he still has a lot of years ahead of him, so don’t count him out just yet.

After his performance at last week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, Woods proved that the good pace he showed at the end of last season was not just a stroke of luck; he’s actually getting consistency back.

He decided to take a couple of weeks off after the Chevron and went back to work “from the green back,” he said prior to the first round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

After four rounds of good golf in the desert, Wood’s improvement is evident.
He shot two bogey-free rounds. On Thursday, he had two birdies and 16 pars; on Saturday, six birdies and 12 pars. Woods hadn’t done that since the 2008 Buick Invitational when he birdied seven holes of the second round and six of the third.

It was also in 2008 when Woods won his last major—the U.S. Open after birding the 72nd hole and forcing an 18-hole playoff against Rocco Mediate.

It’s true that he entered Abu Dhabi’s final round co-leading with Rory McIlroy, and it was Robert Rock who sealed the deal. Eldrick, however, managed to get into the Official World Golf Ranking’s Top 20, which he left for the first time in 14 years, last July.

All of this, plus Woods’ desire to post good results in major championships, can lead us to think that he will finally end the two-year-drought in the Grand Slam department.

During his pre-tournament interview, he was questioned about winning majors, to which he responded: “I’m looking forward to it”.

If Woods keeps it up, the Masters seems like a good fit for him, he’s always done better in that major than in the other three championships.

He has played every single Masters since 1995. The only time he missed the cut was in 1996—the first time he played it as a professional golfer.

He recovered fast, though, and a year later, he captured his first major victory at Augusta, and he did it in style. He set the widest winning margin (12 strokes) and the lowest winning score (18-under) records, which still stand.
Also in 1997, he became the youngest green jacket recipient.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Murtala Nyako of the Peoples Democratic Party winner of the Adamawa gubernatorial polls.

Nyako polled 302, 953 votes to beat the Action? Congress of Nigeria ( ACN) candidate, Markus Gindir, who recorded 260, 023 votes.

The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) candidate, Buba Marwa, scored 107, 564 votes.

Nyako won 13 out of the 21 local government areas in the state, while the ACN candidate won eight.

?The only female candidate in the race, Hajiya Zainab Kwonchi, secured 2,846 votes, to place fifth.

Read more later

Many Camera Owners Are Content To Shout “Cheese” And Push The Shutter Button To Get An Image, But We Go Under The Hood To Find Out How It Happens

There’s no doubt that the digital format has revolutionised the imaging industry and in turn the way we work our cameras. Furthermore the internal DNA of the camera has been entirely restructured to make way for the new electrical system … or has it?

In fact film and digital cameras operate in a similar manner. Varying the size of the lens’s diaphragm (aperture) in tandem with the amount of time the shutter is open, focusing light onto the image detection material… the? only difference is that now received in an electrical rather than chemical form.

A DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera employs a mechanical mirror system that directs the light travelling through the attached lens upwards at a 90-degree angle allowing the photographer to compose the shot through the viewfinder. As the shutter button is pressed the exposure takes place: the mirror swings out of the way and the shutter opens allowing the lens to project the light onto the image sensor. In low light scenarios the shutter will need to stay open for a longer period of time for the image to be recorded, which is why photographers support their cameras with tripods as the smallest degree of camera shake will disturb the quality.

The sensor is formed of millions of pixels laid out in thousands of rows and columns: the more pixels or dots of light, the higher the megapixel count and in theory the higher the resolution. The light travels through a colour filter above the sensors and is converted from light waves into an analogue signal which is then processed through a digital convertor.

Next the conversion is fine tuned through a series of filters that adjust aspects such as white balance and colour. The resulting image can be made into a JPEG by compressing the file size and discarding unnecessary pixels. The final image is shown on the LCD.

Culled from How It Works Magazine

Former Military Governor of Kaduna State, Col Abubakar Dangiwa Umar (rtd) yesterday urged religious and Traditional Leaders to consciously ponder on the role they have played in the successes Boko Haram has recorded in it’s bloody campaign to destabilize Nigeria.

The Former Military Governor stated this in a statement made available to LEADERSHIP SUNDAY in Kaduna said “Religious leaders, leaders of ethnic or regional groups and politicians at all levels should step back and ponder the role they wittingly or unwittingly have played in the successes Boko Haram has recorded in it’s bloody campaign to destabilize Nigeria.

He said “Boko Haram’s ambition of creating a climate of fear, terror and panic ahead of their plan to re-invent Nigeria, seem close to reality.”

“A visitor to some of the major cities in northern Nigeria – Kano, Bauchi, Maiduguri, Kaduna etc – will be forgiven to conclude that Nigeria is at war. Indeed, every passing day brings heart rending stories of cruel killings from Boko Haram’s bombs and explosions with panic stricken citizens running from pillar to post. And with police and military check-points conducting widespread stop and search everywhere, the scenario of a nation at war is hardly disputable.??

Meanwhile, two persons including a past council boss were shot dead by suspected Boko Haram members during a condolence visit in Damboa town, in the? south of Borno State.

It was learnt that the former council boss of Damboa local government area, Lawan Kagu who just buried his father on Friday evening was receiving visitors who came to pay a condolence visit on him when he was gunned down by the suspected fundamentalists.

Witnesses disclosed that the gunmen who pretended to be sympathizers were able to get close to their victims and even sat on the mat with them for some minutes before drawing out their guns from their flowing gowns and shooting at close range.

Immediately they drew the gun out everyone took to their heels leaving the council boss at their mercy. They rained gunshots on him and immediately took to their heels.
The other victim was shot dead to make way for their escape as they shot sporadically to spare the people of the area off.

The Commissioner of Police, Simeon Midenda could not be reached as at the time of filing the report last night for confirmation.

But the Information Officer of the council, Sheriff Ajigil however confirmed the incident on phone from the town.

He said: “Lawan Kagu, our former council chairman and one other person were shot dead last night (Friday) in Damboa while the former council chairman was receiving condolences from sympathizers over the death of his father.”

He revealed that the gunmen had disguised as sympathizers before removing their guns from their flowing gowns and shot the two dead.

Heavy rains left thousands stranded in eastern Australia on Saturday as authorities warned of more flooding and urged several communities to flee to higher ground.
CNN reported that about 16,500 people are isolated because of flooding in New South Wales, with evacuation orders in place for several communities, the New South Wales Emergency Services said.

In the neighbouring state of Queensland, authorities issued flood warnings for three towns, Surat, Roma and Mitchell, and warned residents living downstream of rivers to move to higher ground.

Residents of the southwestern Queensland town of Charleville are hoping that its protective levees will hold back the rising waters.

Emergency officials ordered evacuations early Saturday as they warned that the river was expected to top the levee banks within 12 hours.

Food and medical supplies have been flown to isolated communities elsewhere in Queensland.

In New South Wales, officials issued natural disaster declarations for several areas.
Flood waters have started to recede around North Moree after five days of major flooding, the New South Wales Emergency Services said, but many of the town’s streets remain closed.

Aerial assessments show some 300 homes and businesses have been inundated — making it the worst flooding in nearly 60 years, CNN affiliate Seven Network reported.
The State Emergency Service carried out 18 flood rescues from Friday to Saturday, Seven Network reported, including half a dozen people stuck on a shed roof near Moree with snakes swimming underneath them.

The airline Qantas put on a special flight to Moree on Saturday with supplies of fresh food and milk, the network added.

Major flooding has also affected communities along the Namoi River, leading to the rescue of at least one person trapped in a vehicle on a flooded bridge.

The town of Wee Waa is cut off, with all roads made impassable by flood water and the local??? airport also out of action, the New South Wales Emergency Services said.
Major flooding is expected to continue there until the middle of next week.

Other communities affected by the Namoi River include Boggoabri, Narrabri Bugilbone and Goangra, with flood waters closing roads and inundating some rural properties..
Emergency officials urged people not to walk, ride or drive through flood waters, as this is the main cause of death and injury during floods.

Hafsat Al-Mustapha is the wife of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha sentenced to death recently, after a marathon 14-year trial, by a Lagos High Court over his involvement in the killing of Kudirat Abiola, wife of late Moshood Abiola. In this interview with SALISU IBRAHIM, Hafsat expresses shock and alleges the judgment was political and a game-plan just to get rid of him. She also spoke on other related issues. Excerpts:

Please what’s your name and what’s your relationship with Major Hamza Al-Mustapha?
I’m Hafsat Hamza Al-Mustapha, wife of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha.?

Some days ago, a court in Lagos delivered a judgment which sentenced Major Hamza Al-Mustapha to death by hanging. What was your immediate reaction to this verdict?
I received it with shock and disbelief. One, because this man had already spent at least 14 years incarceration and secondly there was no tangible evidence to warrant this kind of judgment. All the accusations making the rounds were not sufficient enough and tangible to nail him. First of all, he was arrested for alleged coup plotting during Abdussalami Abubakar’s regime but he was cleared. They detained him with the police, the army handed him over to the police and then they brought up this charges of killing Kudirat and the rest. He was taken to Kirikiri prison. Inside Kirikiri Prison, the nation’s maximum prison, he was re-arrested there for coup plotting against Obasanjo. The case lingered and lingered and the case against Obasanjo was dismissed. He was discharged and acquitted so they have nothing to hold onto and nail him, except the alleged killing of Kudirat Abiola. This is what they relied upon to pass the judgment. But to me, the conviction is nothing but political. It is conviction at all cost.?
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Are you convinced with the court’s procedure that found him guilty which led to his sentencing to death by hanging?
Never at all, the judgment is never close to my acceptance, because throughout the case, Al-Mustapha never accepted that he did what they are accusing him with. To crown it all even the government witnesses at a time came to the court and confessed openly that they have been given houses, money and were promised some juicy appointments abroad and the rest of it, just to nail him. In a civilized and very good country I think that case would have come to a close that day but in-spite of all these confessions, they continued with it. That is why I said, the judgment was nothing but conviction at all cost.

Do you read any political undertones in the judgement?
Very well; the judgment is full of politics, even a layman can tell you the judgment is political. One thing is that they have done their judgment but we have to await the judgment of Allah because this one is a political judgment. Even a lay man will know that what they did is political. Look at it this way – whereby somebody will come and say it is not true what I told the court, so so persons told me to come and say this yet you went ahead and nailed them. That is why I said it is political, nothing else because he was not the only person that was arrested? in the case of Kudirat. So many people were arrested, even in the coup plotting it is a drama; it is just a play and? a drama to show that we have arrested so and so but they were released and allowed to go. The only thing they insisted on is that they want to get at Mustapha.

Why do you think they want to get at him?
I really don’t know. They have their own reasons, but certainly, I don’t know.

Did you ever suspect any reason why they wanted to get at him as you‘ve alleged?
I really don’t know why they want to get at him.

Did you suspect any kind of interference particularly from those that have worked along with him while he was in active service?
Well, I don’t want to call names or point at anybody but from recent events where a judgment was passed, Rabo Lawal was discharged and acquitted and that Al- Mustapha had some questions to answer. He made mention of why they are still holding him that money has changed hands and that is why they don’t want anybody to know, so let them nail him.

Were you able to see him or have a chat with him after the judgment was made?
No, I did not. I did not.??

Have you been given opportunity to see him where he was awaiting trial?
Well yes. I have been going there from time to time. To go there however, is not too often, because of the expenses involved. I go there when there is chance to do that. In fact, the rigour one encounters whenever I have to go there; you take a paper, you apply, you go with passport photograph, you have to wait, before they approve for you to see him. And when you see him you have at least one hour or two hours maximum and then you come back. The taxi, the accommodation in Lagos, flight ticket and all these for a single mother like me is not easy. You see I have to refer myself as a single mother, because it is not easy, so I go when I have the chance.

Will the family appeal the Judgment?
Of course yes. Immediately they passed the judgment we have already appealed.

Do you ever have the feeling that Al-Mustapha knows very much about the government? Would that be reason for his incarceration for so long?????
Of course, we are all Nigerians. When he mentioned that this is what? happened, a video was played in the court, an audio visual was shown and everybody have seen some of the people that went and collected money from the government that they should keep quiet over the killing of Abiola and all that. I’m sorry to say, some section of the media have tried to play it down that the video was not even audible, that Al-Mustapha was talking about dead people. But there are people who are still living and they went to the Villa and we all know them. So, if you are a security officer of course you will know top secrets of the government, and if you work diligently you will know very much. But he kept quiet all these years without saying anything.

Fourteen years he did not say anything, but when they insisted that they wanted to get at him and kill him, he has to talk. He is a human being; otherwise if they had released him? with Rabo Lawal, I believe Mustapha would not have said anything. Some people have even approached me and proposed that if he will say bad things against the Abacha’s he will be released. I said, if it is me I will do it but Al-Mustapha will never do it. You don’t know this man; he will never get anybody implicated because he wants to be free.

How did your family members receive the news of the death sentence passed on him by the court?
We received it with real shock and dismay and disbelief. We really received it with shock, if somebody spent these many years awaiting trial, in prison terms he has spent 20 years lingering everyday going to court; one will not expect this type of judgment. If they insisted that they must jail him at all cost, in fact, we did not expect death by hanging.

Afterall, Sergeant Rogers is walking free. He is the one that admitted he pulled the trigger against this woman Kudirat and today he is walking a free man. He has never been called for anything; he is enjoying the money he was paid. So somebody who admitted that I did it, is now free, and somebody who insisted that I did not do it – that is Mustapha – they still want to hang him. So there must be a reason. But even if he knows too much, he did not say it until when he was pushed to the wall. But did he say anything at all?
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How have you been coping all this while without a bread winner for the family?
Al-hamdulillah, I believe in Allah. There is a proverb in Hausa that says ‘bakin da Allah ya tsaga ba zai hana shi abinci ba’, meaning (God does not deny His creatures. He always provides sustainability for all His creatures). And most importantly, I’m not a lazy woman. I look for my daily bread. I sweat to make ends meet. I do a lot of businesses; I buy I sell, so I’m not a lazy woman at all. That’s how I’m surviving.

Al-Mustapha was reported to have said that he was not bothered with the judgment. How do you react to this?
You see, the whole thing is political; it is a game being played with his life. There is nowhere in the whole world that you can put this case of Al-Mustapha that everybody will not believe that it is just a game plan by some people to get rid of him. It is really political.

Are you confident after this judgment, he will come out free following your appeal?
Insha Allah, with Allah there is nothing impossible. This is a judgment of people, judgment of just few people that have their own agenda but Allah’s judgment is the ultimate.
Do you have children with him?
I do.

How many are they?
I want to leave that to myself.??
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Accreditation of voters in yesterday’s governorship election in Adamawa commenced on schedule at most polling units in Yola, the state capital and many local government areas.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in Yola, the exercise started at 8 a.m. as scheduled with the exception of a few units that experienced about 30 minutes delay.

The delay was due to late arrival of election materials.
At the Manu-Gamji, Lugere Primary School, Yahaya Tela, Yelwa 007, accreditation started at exactly 8a.m.

Presiding Officers in-charge of the units, Olusegun Abayomi, Omotaaro Ahmed, Chinedu Ogbuamalam and Oruka Alloysius respectively confirmed the commencement of the exercise on schedule.

They said the exercise was hitch-free as at that time and expressed the hope that voting would also take the same pattern.

At Ajiya ward, accreditation, however, started about an hour behind schedule at most of the polling units due to the late arrival of materials.

NAN, however, reports that there was a low turnout of women at some of the units in the ward.

Hajiya Mairo Ibrahim, a voter, said they were still expecting more turnout of women as the day was still young.

The Chairman, African Business Roundtable, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, was accredited around 10.15 a.m. at the unit which is under Yola-North LGA.

Tukur is also aspiring for the PDP national chairmanship.
Ahmed Abdullahi, a staff of INEC, explained that the delay was caused by the long distance between polling units in the ward.

Malam Musa Abubakar, a voter, decried the delay in the arrival of? materials and called on INEC to create additional polling units in the ward to reduce the distance.

At the state polytechnic’s 11 polling units, accreditation started in earnest but had to be suspended due to shortage of indelible ink.

Presiding officer in-charge of the unit, Yakubu Sufyan, said he was forced to improvise, using biro ink, “but it did not work out well,” he stated.

In Mubi and Michika LGAs accreditation also started on schedule with the two areas recording large turnout of women.

Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta has urged Muslim faithful to spread the virtues of peace, love and charity as they mark the birth of Prophet Muhammad.

The governor in his message made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Asaba, felicitated with Muslims nationwide as they celebrate Eid el Maloud.

“As the Muslim world celebrates Eid-el-Maloud, the birth of Prophet Muhammed, I call on all Muslims and indeed, all Deltans to share with one another and spread the virtues of peace, love and charity.

“I enjoin all Nigerians, especially Muslims to use the festival as a period of sober reflection on the numerous challenges facing the country.

“I sincerely hope that all Deltans will regard the festive season as a period of renewal of faith and hope for a better future,’’? he said.

Uduaghan urged all Muslims to continue to follow the exemplary leadership of Muhammed for a peaceful and egalitarian society.

“Prophet Muhammed lived a complete life worthy of emulation by all, anybody who imbibes such exemplary leadership style will enjoy the essence of life.

“I, therefore, call on all Deltans and residents of the state to live in peace and harmony.’’
The governor pledged the administration’s commitment to promoting the welfare of all citizens while ensuring the protection of lives and property in the state.

“We remain fully committed to delivering on our promise of a prosperous Delta State beyond oil.???

“I assure all Deltans of better years ahead as we work tirelessly to bring the desired change for a better and more developed Delta State.

“I wish all Deltans, particularly our Muslem brothers and sisters, joyful celebrations during the holiday as I also pray for the warmth of Allah’s love to fill every home.’’ (NAN)