The Senate has passed a bill to establish the real estate regulatory council of Nigeria.

The bill is tagged: The Real Estate Regulatory Council of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill, 2021.

The passage of the bill followed the consideration of a report by the Committee on Establishment and Public Service.

The report was laid during plenary by the Deputy Chief Whip, Senator Sabi Abdullahi.

Senator Nicholas Tofowomo,  presented the report on behalf of the Committee Chairman, Ibrahim Shekarau.

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The lawmaker said the council would be responsible for prescribing minimum standards for the conduct of the businesses of real estate development across the country.

If assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari, the establishment of the Real Estate Council of Nigeria is expected to provide efficient, effective, and transparent administration of the business of real estate development in Nigeria.

The Council when established would, amongst others, curb fraudulent practices to ensure that the real estate business confirms with the National Building Code in Nigeria.It would also be responsible for prescribing minimum standards for the conduct of the businesses of real estate development across the country.

The bill sponsored by Aliyu Wamakko (APC, Kebbi) was read for the first time on April 28, 2021, and a scaled second reading on June 22, 2021.

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Senate Passes Real Estate Regulatory Council Bill

The Peoples Democratic Party has stated that the sale of forms for the 2022 Osun State governorship election will begin on November 22, 2021.

The party stated that the deadline for the sale of the forms for the election slated for July 16, 2022, will end on December 10, 2021.

The PDP National Organising Secretary, Austin Akobundu disclosed this in a statement titled ‘Osun Governorship Election: PDP To Commence Sale Of Forms November 22.’

It read in part, “Under the revised timetable for activities leading to the primary election as approved by the National Working Committee (NWC), the last day for submission of forms has been fixed for Friday, December 17, 2021.

“Screening of Aspirants is scheduled for Tuesday, January 11, 2022, at the National Secretariat, while appeals on screening have been slated for Wednesday, January 26, 2022.

“Ward congresses to elect 3-man ad-hoc delegates have been fixed for Wednesday, February 16 to Thursday, February 17, 2022, while Local Government Congress for election of one National Delegate and one person living with disability per Local Government has been scheduled for Saturday, February 26, 2022."

“The publication of delegates’ list has been scheduled for Saturday, March 5, 2022, while the Governorship Primary for the election is scheduled for Monday, March 7, 2022. Appeals on the governorship primary will be taken on Thursday, March 10, 2022.

“All critical stakeholders, intending aspirants, leaders and members of our party in Osun State are to note and be guided accordingly.”

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the Osun state section of a national political party 

PDP to begin sale of forms for Osun gov election Nov 22

Crippling fear gripped residents of Takum Local Government Area of Taraba State when some suspected Ambazonian soldiers from the Republic of Cameroon stormed their community.

Channels Television gathered that 11 persons including a traditional ruler were killed in the incident that took place in the early hours of Wednesday at Manga village.

Takum local government area is a border community between Taraba State and the Republic of Cameroon.

Joseph Manga, the brother of the slain traditional ruler and the Senior Special Assistant to the Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku, confirmed the incident to Channels Television via a telephone interview.

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He disclosed that the Ambazonian soldiers first attacked the border community in Cameroon republic before crossing over to Nigeria to unleash mayhem.

“The Ambazonian separatist soldiers attacked my village Manga which is a border community between Taraba State and Republic of Cameroon in Takum LGA,” he said.

“They, first of all, attacked a village on the other side of the divide and killed people before crossing over to do the same here.

“My elder brother is the traditional ruler there; they laid ambush and killed him in his palace before proceeding to kill others.

“The death toll at the moment is 11 including my brother the traditional ruler, we are still combing the bush to recover more bodies or possibly those hiding.”

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Other residents of the community are said to still be missing as they are suspected to have fled to other communities for safety.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Local Government Area, Shiban Tikari disclosed that as at when he visited the scene in the early hours of today after receiving the distress call, only five dead bodies were recovered.

He said, “I can confirm to you that we have so far recovered 5 bodies from the scene and others are still been sort for in nearby bush.

“My team alongside the military visited to restore normalcy and ensure that such thing does not repeat itself.

“For now we do not know those that came to attack but news filtered in saying that they are Ambazonian separatist soldiers from the Republic of Cameroon.”

Ambazonian soldiers from the Republic of Cameroon 

Suspected Ambazonian Soldiers From Cameroon Kill 11 In Taraba

Manchester City and French international defender Benjamin Mendy has been charged with two additional counts of rape, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

He now faces six counts of rape and one of sexual assault relating to four complainants aged over 16, with all the alleged offences relating to the period between October 2020 and August this year.

A second man, Louis Saha Matturie, has been charged with two more counts of rape and one of sexual assault, the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement.

Mendy, 27, from Prestbury, and Matturie, 40, from Eccles, both in northwest England, are due to appear before magistrates in Stockport, near Manchester, on Wednesday.

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Court proceedings in Britain are subject to strict reporting restrictions before any trial, to avoid the risk of prejudicing a jury in their deliberations.

Both men previously appeared at Chester Crown Court on September 10 and were told they would stand trial on January 24 next year. The pair were remanded in custody.

Mendy, a £52 million ($70 million) signing from Monaco in 2017, has played 75 times for City, winning three Premier League titles, but his playing time has been limited by injuries and a loss of form.

He has just under two years left to run on a six-year contract.

The last of his 10 caps for France came in November 2019.

The left-back, who won the World Cup in 2018, has been suspended by the Premier League champions pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings.

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Man City Defender Mendy Charged With Two New Rape Counts

Three people have been confirmed killed in a gas explosion at Ojekunle Street, Papa Ajao, along the Mushin axis, Lagos.

The gas explosion which happened at 8:42 a.m. on Tuesday left several people injured..

Emergency responders have not reported the cause of the fire incident and the total number of casualty at the site.

The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency confirmed three male adults died in the gas explosion. 

The agency also said the fire broke out from a gas shop close to the shanties. 

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“The Agency’s Response Team, Eagle Squad at Cappa, have been deployed to a fire outbreak at Ojekunke Street, Ladipo Mushin today, Tuesday, 16th 2021. On getting to the scene, the Response Team discovered an open land with shanties and shops where gas cylinders are stacked. Further investigation revealed that the gas ignited and exploded,” disclosed the agency in a statement on Tuesday. “However, the agency’s team and its fire unit and Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service and Lagos Neighborhood Safety Corps, LNSC, have been able to put the fire under control, and the firemen are blanketing the affected area.”

It added, “Unfortunately, three male adults have lost their lives to the incident.”

Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, the director of the emergency agency, appealed to the residents in the area to remain calm and be cautious of their surroundings as the emergency responders were working to subdue the fire.

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Meanwhile, the director of Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, said the bodies of the deceased had been recovered.

The agency disclosed that on their arrival to the scene, it was discovered that it is an open space used for several activities, including a beer parlour, mechanic workshop, spare parts sale, and gas shop while housing a makeshift structure.

The agency said investigations would be conducted to establish the cause of the fire.

Gas explosion kills three in Mushin Area of Lagos

Britain’s booster program for COVID-19 vaccinations is to be expanded to younger people after scientists gave the green light on Monday.

The UK government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) said all healthy adults aged 40-49 should be offered a booster, six months after their second dose.

Previously, the booster program was limited to those aged 50 and over, and the clinically vulnerable. Some 12.6 million Britons have received the third jab.

The JCVI also said that 16 and 17-year-olds should now be offered a second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.

That age group had previously been offered only one dose in Britain, pending more data on the jab’s safety in under-18s.

The expanded age groups covered by the new advice will “help extend our protection into 2022”, professor Wei Shen Lim of the JCVI said in a statement.

The UK launched the Western world’s first mass vaccination campaign against Covid-19 in December 2020, about a year after the disease emerged in China.

But Britain’s government has been repeatedly critizised for its response to the pandemic more generally.

So far, nearly 143,000 people have died in Britain within 28 days of a positive test for Covid, the second-worst toll in Europe behind Russia.

But senior Conservative politician Oliver Dowden said the public could be confident of a more normal Christmas than last year when the inoculation drive was still in an early stage.

“There are no plans to stop Christmas happening. The huge difference this time is the vaccine,” the co-chairman of Britain’s ruling party told Sky News earlier Monday.

“It is in our hands. If you get the booster when the call comes, that is the biggest wall of defence that we have against Covid.”

UK To Expand COVID-19 Booster Shots To Younger People

The Trump Organization has reached a deal to sell its Washington hotel lease for $375 million to CGI Merchant Group, which plans to remove ex-president Donald Trump’s name from the luxury property’s facade, US media reported on Sunday.

The Miami-based investment fund has struck a separate agreement with Hilton Worldwide Holdings to rebrand the Trump International Hotel as a Waldorf Astoria, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Contacted by AFP, CGI declined to comment. The Trump Organization and Hilton group also did not immediately return requests.

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The historic building just a short walk from the White House and down Pennsylvania Avenue from the US Capitol is not owned by the Trump Organization.

Once the capital city’s main post office, the structure is owned by the US government which in 2013 leased it to Trump’s real estate company for 60 years, with an option to extend for another 40 years.

The Trump Organization invested some $200 million in the renovation of the building, which was constructed in the late 19th century and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

According to a report by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the company created to manage the hotel, Trump Old Post Office LLC, incurred more than $71 million in losses between the hotel’s opening in 2016 and August 2020. It has never turned a profit.

During Trump’s presidency, the establishment — known for its massive atrium and soaring clock tower — served as a meeting place for Republican officials, donors, and lobbyists.

At the time several lawmakers and other figures expressed concern that the 263-room hotel was accommodating foreign dignitaries visiting Washington.

They pointed to a potential conflict of interest for Trump, who was both president of the United States and still a key shareholder in the Trump Organization.

A congressional investigation into the matter is ongoing.

Trump Organization To Sell Washington Hotel For $375m

A Tunisian member of parliament was sentenced Friday to a year in prison for sexually harassing a schoolgirl, the victim’s lawyer said, in a case that sparked a nationwide #Metoo movement.

Zouhair Makhlouf, an independent member of the suspended assembly, was photographed in October 2019 apparently masturbating in his car in the coastal city of Nabeul.

The high school student who took the photos and published them on social media, who was a minor at the time, said he had followed her to school and pressed charges of sexual harassment and indecent assault.

Makhlouf, who was wearing a T-shirt of the Qalb Tounes party of which he was a member at the time, had his trousers down and was looking at the camera.

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He argued throughout the trial that he is diabetic and had needed to urgently urinate in a bottle.

The victim’s lawyer, Naima Chabbouh, said Makhlouf had been found guilty of indecent assault after a court session that went late into Thursday evening.

The images of Makhlouf, which went viral on social media, sparked an unprecedented outpouring of testimonies of sexual harassment.

Many women used the hashtag #EnaZeda — Tunisian Arabic for “me too” — an echo of the #MeToo movement sparked by the Harvey Weinstein affair in the United States in 2017.

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Makhlouf was originally charged with sexual harassment before the indictment was reduced to indecent exposure, before it was bumped up again under public pressure.

In 2020, a group of Tunisian NGOs wrote to the country’s High Council of Magistrates alleging a string of procedural violations they said aimed to protect Makhlouf.

They said the inquiry had gone far beyond the normal nine months despite the presence of “solid proof”.

When the trial opened on November 1, dozens of women demonstrated outside the court in Nabeul, 70 kilometres (45 miles) south of Tunis, chanting “my body is not a public space!”

Reacting to Friday’s ruling, women’s rights group Aswat Nissa said it was “pleased with this historic judgement”.

“This sentencing represents a triumph for the feminist movement in Tunisia and for all survivors of gender-based violence, as it puts an end to the culture of impunity,” it said in a statement.

Tunisia is seen as a pioneer in the Arab world in terms of women’s rights, and in July 2017 made sexual harassment in a public space punishable by a jail sentence of up to a year.

Tunisian Lawmaker Jailed For Sexual Harassment Of Minor

A Rwandan nonconformist who used his YouTube channel to criticize the government has been sentenced to seven years in prison by a court in Kigali.

Dieudonne Niyonsenga is just the latest government critic with a YouTube audience to be jailed in the tightly controlled East African nation, ruled by the same leader for nearly three decades.

“We are appealing this verdict against Niyonsenga with immediate effect. It is simply not right,” his lawyer Gatera Gashabana said on Friday.

Niyonsenga, whose YouTube channel Ishema TV had amassed more than 15 million views, was found guilty on Thursday on four charges including forgery, impersonation, and “humiliating” state officials.

“The court finds that the crimes Niyonsenga is accused of were committed intentionally,” the judge said in delivering the verdict and a fine of five million Rwandan francs ($4,900).

“Due to the adverse consequences that his crimes have had on Rwandan society, the court orders that Dieudonne Niyonsenga be immediately arrested and taken to serve his jail sentence.”

Niyonsenga was not present in court and shortly after the verdict, the YouTube star was arrested.

“It is true that Dieudonne Niyonsenga was arrested yesterday in execution of the court judgment. He is in the process of being transferred” to prison, Thierry Murangira, spokesman for the Rwanda Investigation Bureau, told AFP.

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Niyonsenga, better known by his YouTube persona Cyuma, which means “Iron”, was known for discussing human rights abuses on his channel.

In April 2020 he broadcast a series of videos accusing soldiers of serious abuses against slum dwellers during the enforcement of a strict coronavirus lockdown.

Shortly afterward, he was arrested and charged with violating the lockdown and impersonating a journalist and sent to prison.

He was acquitted and released 11 months later but prosecutors appealed to a higher court.

His jailing comes weeks after another high-profile critic with a YouTube following was sent to prison.

Yvonne Idamange, a mother of four, was jailed for 15 years in October for inciting violence online.

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Aimable Karasira, a university lecturer with a YouTube channel, was arrested in June and charged with genocide denial, a serious crime in Rwanda.

He had accused the Rwandan Patriotic Front, which has ruled the country since 1994 under its leader Paul Kagame, of trampling on human rights.

The crackdown on YouTube creators has had a chilling effect in Rwanda, where independent media has been quashed and other forms of free expression are strictly monitored by the government.

Another YouTuber with a popular following told AFP a government official warned them to stop “this YouTube nonsense or face the consequences”.

Rwandan YouTuber And Govt Critic Jailed For Seven Years

Aston Villa on Thursday announced Steven Gerrard as their new manager to replace the sacked Dean Smith.

The former Liverpool captain has left his role as Rangers boss to take the reins at the club, who have lost five straight Premier League matches.

Gerrard guided Rangers to a first Scottish Premiership title in 10 years last season, finishing the campaign undefeated in the league.

“The board of Aston Villa are delighted to appoint Steven as our new head coach,” said CEO Christian Purslow.

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“He then took the brave decision to test himself in the intense and high pressured environment of the Scottish Old Firm. His subsequent achievement in winning the Premiership title with Glasgow Rangers really caught our eye as did his experience in Europe.”

Gerrard is considered one of the greatest players in Premier League history, scoring 186 goals in 710 appearances for Liverpool.

However, this will be his first taste of management in the English top-flight.

“Aston Villa is a club with a rich history and tradition in English football and I am immensely proud to become its new head coach,” said Gerrard.

“It was apparent how ambitious their plans are for the club and I am looking forward to helping them achieve their aims.”

Villa are 16th in the Premier League after picking up 10 points in their first 11 games.

Steven Gerrard Becomes Aston Villa’s New Manager

The Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has sent a congratulatory message to the governor-elect of Anambra State, Professor Chukwuma Soludo on his victory at the just concluded governorship election in the State.

Governor Ikpeazu in a statement by his spokesperson, Onyebuchi Ememanka, noted that with the pedigree of Professor Soludo, the governor-elect has all it takes to provide effective and strong leadership to the people of Anambra State and urged him to give his best in this service.

The governor was particularly impressed with the magnanimous approach by the governor-elect, especially to his opponents at the last election, and urged them to work together for the good of the people of Anambra State.

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Governor Ikpeazu, who is the Deputy Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum and Chairman of the PDP National Campaign Council for the Anambra State elections also commended the maturity and tenacity of the PDP candidate in the election, Mr. Valentine Ozigbo, describing him as a cerebral young man whose conduct and performance in the election are exemplary.

Ikpeazu assured Ozigbo that in the nearest future, the seeds he has planted in the hearts of the people of Anambra State will “bear big fruits”.

The governor was of the firm belief that the place of Mr Ozigbo in the future leadership of Anambra State is assured and is only a matter of time.

Governor Ikpeazu said that he is proud to have led the campaign of the PDP in the last election and is even more proud of the performance of the party and their candidate in the election.

He commended all members of the PDP in the state for their cooperation, especially former Governor Peter Obi, the Chair of the State Campaign Council, Senator Uche Ekwunife, and all who worked tirelessly in the campaigns.

Ikpeazu was particularly grateful to the Deputy Chairman of the PDP National Campaign Council, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State for his wholehearted support as well as other PDP Governors.

The Abia governor also thanked INEC and the various security agencies for the great work they did and charged them to build on the Anambra election and seek ways of consistently improving the quality of our elections across the country.

Ikpeazu Congratulates Soludo, Commends Ozigbo

Three people were killed and two children injured in a building collapse in Algeria following heavy rainfall, rescue services said Wednesday.

The building collapsed in the Algiers suburb of Bologhine on Tuesday, following a landslide caused by torrential rain that hit the capital and several other Algerian cities.

Three bodies, two men and a woman, were recovered from the rubble, civil protection services said in a statement, adding that two children were found injured.

In March, flooding due to torrential rains in the northwest of the country resulted in six deaths, five of them children.

In May, seven people were killed in various provinces during flooding after heavy downpours.

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Three Persons Killed In Algeria Building Collapse

Nigerian newspapers,on one page.