Akande Recommends Merger Of States To Address Workers’ Salaries Issue

In the wake of the current economic challenges and the inability of some state governors to meet their statutory obligation to the workers, a former Acting National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bisi Akande, has recommended merger of states as to address the issue.

Akande made the recommendation during an interactive session with journalists in his Ila country home as part of activities marking his 77th birthday anniversary.

The APC chieftain said since more than half of states in Nigeria are still owing workers’ salaries, a way out will be that they either cease to be states or merge with viable ones.

He reiterated his belief in fiscal federalism, where resources are shared according to derivation and states live within their means.

To the APC chieftain, Nigeria should not have more than 18 states to allow for every federating unit to be self-sustaining. ‎

On the Biafra agitation, he advised that secession should be pursued with negotiations not war.

Taiwan elects first female president Tsai Ing-wen

Pro-independence opposition leader Tsai wins after ruling KMT party candidate concedes defeat in historic elections.

Pro-independence candidate Tsai said she wanted to maintain the status quo with China [Olivia Harris/Reuters]

Pro-independence candidate Tsai Ing-wen has effectively won Taiwan's presidential elections after Eric Chu, the candidate and chairman of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), conceded defeat.

Tsai of Taiwan's main opposition party was on course for a landslide election victory on Saturday, polls showed, as voters turn their backs on closer ties with China.

With more than half the votes counted, Tsai of the Beijing-wary Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was ahead with 58.1 percent, according to a live count from polling stations by Taiwan's FTV.

Eric Chu was trailing in second on 32.5 percent. Veteran conservative candidate James Soong of the People First Party was third with 9.4 percent.

The China-friendly KMT had been ruling the island for eight years.

Parliamentary polls were also held, and if the DPP wins those too, Tsai will get an even stronger mandate. 

Tsai has walked a careful path on her China strategy, saying she wants to maintain the "status quo" with Beijing.

However, the DPP is traditionally a pro-independence party and opponents say Tsai will destabilise relations.

After decades of enmity, current KMT President Ma Ying-jeou has overseen a dramatic rapprochement with China since coming to power in 2008.

Although Taiwan is self-ruling after it split with China following a civil war in 1949, it has never formally declared independence, and Beijing still sees it as part of its territory awaiting reunification - by force if necessary.

The thaw culminated in a summit between Ma and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November.

Yet, despite more than 20 deals and a tourist boom, closer ties have exacerbated fears that China is eroding Taiwan's sovereignty by making it economically dependent.

In 2014, the government was forced to shelve a trade pact after student-led protesters occupied parliament.

Beijing has warned it will not deal with any leader who does not recognise the "one China" principle, part of a tacit agreement between Beijing and the KMT known as the "1992 Consensus". The DPP has never recognised the consensus.

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Georgia doctor arrested after 36 patients die

A Georgia doctor has been arrested after 36 of his patients died, with at least 12 killed by overdose on prescription medication.

Psychiatrist Narendra Nagareddy was held at his office Thursday following a raid by DEA agents.

Nearly 40 federal and local agents raided the offices in Jonesboro, before they moved seized more assets at Nagareddy’s house.

“He’s a psychiatrist in Jonesboro who has been overprescribing opiates and benzodiazepine and the last several years has had a multitude of overdoses and overdose deaths,” Clayton County Police Chief Mike Register told WSB-TV Channel 2 News.

“People come to this person for help, and instead of getting help, they’re met with deadly consequences,” Register added.

“If the allegations are true, he is Dr. Death, no doubt about it.”

Nagareddy is accused of violating Georgia's Controlled Substance Act.

One patient of Nagareddy’s has been identified as Audrey Austin, a 29-year-old mother of two.

She died of a fatal prescription drug overdose just days after she visited Nagareddy.

“She was an addict and he made it very easy for her,” her mother Ruth Carr said.

Nagareddy’s license was issued in 1999 and complaints dating back several years have been found online referencing his prescription methods.

Aside from the criminal charges, the Clayton County District Attorney's Office has also filed a RICO civil action to seize Nagareddy's assets.

“He’s charged with prescribing pain medication which is outside his profession as a psychiatrist and not for a legitimate purpose for the patient,” said Clayton County District Attorney Tracy Graham Lawson. 



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Ministry of Solid Minerals Development clarifies N795Million "Website Update' Budget Controversy.

A Statement released and signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Mr. M.F. Istifanus said, "the attention of the Ministry has been drawn to social media reports concerning an aspect of the proposed 2016 budget line item of the Ministry with the description Website Update”.

He said, "concerned Nigerians have taken to the social media to lament on the alleged ill-prepared 2016 national budget of the All Progressives Congress-led administration of President Muhammadu Buhari".
 
"Attention seems to have been shifted from the missing budget from the coffers of the senate as well as the duplication of the said budget with conflicting details. It has moved to the recent discovery that the Ministry of Solid Minerals under the leadership of the former governor of Ekiti state, Kayode Fayemi will be spending a whooping sum of N795, 234.275 million on the upgrade of the ministry’s official website".
 
"Social media influencer and journalist, Kayode Ogundamisi who is based in the United Kingdom took to Twitter to publicize the anomalies in the national budget and slammed the Federal Government for allocating such an amount to a trivial operation that may not cost up to N2 million in the hands of innovative Nigerian youths who are Information Technology experts".
 
"The issue of over allocation and wastage of government is not new to the political actors of this current administration. Former Governor of Lagos state, Babatunde Raji Fashola who is currently the Minister of Power, Works and Housing during his tenure in the commercial capital of Nigeria, built a personal website for N78m and also two boreholes for a sum of N139 million which all went unquestioned".
 
"The former Gov. Fayemi during his tenure in Ekiti also allegedly built a government house for N3.3 billion which is today not a tourist centre. Strong reports also had it that he purchased two beds in the edifice for N50 million".


"The Ministry has been inundated with requests from well-meaning Nigerians seeking clarifications on the N795,234,275.00 purportedly budgeted for the website update".
"In preparation for the 2016 budget, a clear gap highlighted in the work of the Ministry was the need to improve the IT infrastructure and adopt appropriate technology to automate the operations of the Ministry and its agencies".
He further said, "a number of activities were conceived by the Ministry to address these gaps. These include the acquisition of adequate ICT infrastructure to ensure all required data and business processes are efficiently, effectively and transparently handled. It also involves automation and management of the mining rights/titles with on-line application processing, status tracking and open section for verification of valid mining licenses".
"This is to be done through the deployment of an Enterprise Resource Planning Solution across the 10 agencies and 12 departments under the Ministry".
"These were submitted to the Budget Office, which summarized it as “WEBSITE UPDATE” which is only a tiny component of the project. This is an error of description. The budget line was intended to address the overall ICT infrastructure improvement in the Ministry and its agencies".

Burkina Faso attack: Operation to end siege under way

Over 20 people are killed and an unknown number of hostages taken in an attack on a restaurant and hotel in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.

Security forces in the early hours of Saturday began an assault to reclaim the Splendid Hotel and entered its lobby, part of which was on fire, witnesses said.

At least 33 hostages, including a government minister, were freed from the besieged hotel, the country's communications minister told Reuters news agency, but other sources said at least 63 hostages have been rescued.

Diallo Ismael, a human rights activist, said that about 300 people could be inside the hotel popular with foreigners.

"The security forces are close to storming the building," Ismael told Al Jazeera from Ouagadougou.

The interior ministry said that fire brigade has found around 10 bodies on terrace of restaurant opposite the hotel.

French forces also arrived in Ouagadougou from neighbouring Mali to aid the effort, Associated Press news agency reported.

The director of the capital city's university hospital said they were treating 15 people, some with bullet wounds.

Earlier, Olympia de Maismont, a local reporter, told Al Jazeera that police confirmed that there were hostages in the Splendid Hotel, and she said the military had surrounded the building following reports of gunfire and explosions.

The attack, she added, happened around 8pm local time on Friday.

Reuters reported that gunmen stormed the hotel, burning cars outside and firing in the air to drive back crowds before security forces arrived, prompting an intense exchange of gunfire.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attack, SITE Intelligence Group, a monitoring organisation, reported.

Splendid Hotel, a four-star residence which is near the airport, is known to be popular with foreigners, including UN staff.

This is the first time gunmen have carried out an assault in the capital of Burkina Faso.

In November, gunmen stormed the Radisson Blu hotel in the Malian capital, Bamako, and took at least 170 people hostage. 

After a nine-hour standoff with Malian and UN soldiers, most of the hostages were released - but 19 were killed. Two attackers were also killed.

Burkina Faso elected Roch Marc Christian Kabore as its new president in a historic vote in November, becoming the West African country's first new leader in decades.

Kabore's win marked the end of a transitional period after the overthrow of the country's longtime ruler, Blaise Compaore, in 2014 and a failed coup attempt in September.

With Alja