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ABUJA—For the second time this week, pandemonium reigned in the House of Representatives, yesterday, following allegations of a $50,000 bribe to members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to suppress a house inquest into the alleged $9.3 million cash seized by the South African Government. *House of Representatives members in session The House went into a near riot following the admission by a member of the House, Rep. Ali Madaki, APC, Kano to the leakage of the story of the alleged bribe to the PDP members. Madaki, however, confessed that the bribe amount was $20,000.00 and not the $50,000 as reported by a national newspaper, yesterday. The PDP deputy leader in the House, Rep. Leo Ogor, however,  yesterday, described the allegation as an embarrassment, unparliamentary and an act of blackmail. The House nevertheless directed its committee to investigate the fresh scam allegation and report within two weeks. The controversy Controversy started at the resumed p...

•Joe Odumodu, SON director-general In the last few months, there has been another brewing war over cement in the country. This time around, the issue has to do with the 32.5mpa grade which a few stakeholders claim is responsible for the frequent building collapse in Nigeria. Curiously, it is the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), which had consistently maintained that all the cement produced in or imported into the country, met international standards that prescribed the reviewed standards of cement. Quite interestingly, only Dangote Cement, the dominant cement manufacturer in Nigeria, supports the SON’s review because it already has a headstart as it produces mainly the 42.5mpa cement. Others can hardly catch up. Cement comes in three grades, 32.5mpa, 42.5mpa and recently, 52.5mpa.. The new policy prescribes the use of the 52.5mpa for the construction of bridges; 42.5mpa for the casting of columns, slabs and moulding of blocks and the 32.5mpa for plastering only. Hitherto...

#1 Roger Federer Total earnings: $56.2 million Prize money: $4.2 million Endorsements: $52 million Federer holds the records for most singles Grand Slam wins (17) and career prize money ($84 million). His endorsement portfolio is filled with long-term deals with blue-chip companies like Nike, Rolex and Credit Suisse, who collectively pay him more than $40 million annually. Worldwide tennis sponsorship spending is expected to hit $739 million in 2014, according to IEG, and no player secures a bigger piece of the pie than Federer. His loaded endorsement portfolio includes 10 brands like Nike, Wilson, Credit Suisse, Mercedes-Benz, Gillette and Moet & Chandon. They collectively pay him more than $40 million annually to pitch their wares. Federer’s strong performance and good health has kept him playing deep into tournaments almost year-round for more than 10 years. He is as reliable as the watches of his sponsor Rolex and provides great value for his partners. The wo...

Danny Welbeck joined his Arsenal team-mates on Thursday for the first time since his £16million move from Manchester United as Arsene Wenger’s side trained at London Colney. Arsenal face Manchester City on Saturday afternoon at the Emirates after an international break that saw Welbeck take the plaudits for England’s 2-0 win in Switzerland. Welbeck scored twice for Roy Hodgson’s side in the Euro 2016 qualifier in Basle, giving hope to Gunners fans that he will be the man to lead the line with Olivier Giroud out injured. Wenger confirmed his initial priority was to secure a season-long loan with an agreement to buy next summer. That position is understood to have shifted when United insisted on a permanent transfer, with Tottenham also in discussions to sign the England striker.

Apple's website collapsed under increased traffic early Friday morning after eager customers waited until midnight to order the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Users logging onto the online Apple Store at midnight — when the new iPhones were scheduled to go on sale — reported slow load times and a long delay in the devices becoming available to purchase.  Some service appears to have been restored after about 30 minutes. But later Friday morning, the store was down for some users. Its availability appeared to be intermittent. Some customers reported that the iPhone was available on carrier websites and the Apple Store app but not the desktop site. There were reports that the iPhone 6 had sold out through some carriers, though when we checked on Apple.com, the iPhone 6 was available. The iPhone 6 Plus is not shipping for seven to 10 business days, or longer depending on the model you want.

According to the POLL conducted by Sky Sport on their twitter page, Danny Welbeck  is likely to score more goals this season.He was chosen among Radamel Falcao,Wayne Rooney, Robin Van Persie.

Oscar Pistorius’s former girlfriend has spoken of her ­terrifying ­relationship with the 'angry and possessive' Paralympian.20 year old Samantha Taylor (pictured above) said she feared he would kill her and revealed she once hid his gun after he flew into a rage at her.Oscar was cleared of killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp yesterday, but Samantha said: “It could have been me.” Samantha said she was left with bruises and scars after the Blade Runner bit and pinched her, but she was also tortured mentally by him during the 18-month relationship. Continue to see more picture...

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has announced it will be donating $50million (N8billion) to support the efforts of Nigeria and other West African countries hit by the Ebola Virus outbreak in containing the spread of the deadly virus. Announcing this in a statement issued today September 10th, the foundation said the money will be immediately released to the United Nations agencies and international organizations that are involved in the Ebola fight to enable them and national governments purchase needed supplies and scale up emergency operations. Continue...

                      Man Utd v QPR, 3.30pm, Sunday If you’re a neutral then Man United are the team to watch this season. They will let in goals because they’re nowhere near good enough at the back, but they could be as good as anybody going forward if all the players click. Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao are both out-and-out centre-forwards and like playing up front on their own, so if he plays them both you might see them running into each other. Then you’ve got Wayne Rooney, Angel di Maria and Juan Mata – can you play all three of them? Louis van Gaal is getting paid a lot of money to make those decisions, but I do wonder why they sold Danny Welbeck for £16m when they’re buying wing-backs for £30m?

Singer 9ice is dead serious about his political career. He was at his state of origin, Ogbomosho, Oyo state Tuesday September 10 for awareness campaign and to identify with the electorate. Making a powerful speech to the crowd at the Town hall in Oja Igbo, the singer promised his people that if elected to represent Ogbomoso Federal constituency 1, he will use his salary to do developmental projects in the constituency. We earlier reported that 9ice declared his intentions to go into politics back in August. He plans to contest for House of Reps in 2015. by Joan Ngomba

Records are there to be broken, or so they say, but the current Nigeria squad will surely be devastated that the Super Eagles’ proud history of resilience at home fell on their watch. For 33 long years the West African giants hadn’t lost a competitive match on their own patch. 1981 was the last home defeat, invincibility ever since….few of the continent’s nations could have made claims greater than that…until now. The Republic of Congo strode into town behind Claude Le Roy, a wily, savvy veteran who knows how to forge resilient, yet offensive-minded teams. He hasn’t always succeeded, but he did on Saturday, dethroning the African champions with unforgettable aplomb. Historically, statistically, few can argue that it was not a shock to see Nigeria not only beaten at home by one of the continent’s mid-ranked sides, but also concede three (the defence, after all, was the last to be breached at the recent World Cup.)

Serena Williams allowed herself a moment to savour a third straight US Open win on Sunday, but only a moment,  Reuters reports. Just three hours after securing her 18th Grand Slam title with a dominating 6-3 6-3 win over Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, the world number one soaked up the accolades and applause and then admitted that she was already thinking about number 19 and third spot on the all-time list now held by Helen Wills Moody. “I am thinking 19,” said Williams, who shares fourth on the list with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. “Hasn’t even been three hours and I have already mentioned 19. Oh, gosh, but not 22. “I’m taking it one at a time.” Williams will celebrate her 33rd birthday later this month and clearly has plans to celebrate many more grand slam titles as she climbs further-and-further up the rankings. Moody, at number 19, is the next target but just ahead sits Steffi Graf on 22 and just ahead her is the great Margaret Cour...

The recently released video of Baltimore Ravens player Ray Rice punching his then fiancée and current wife Janay in an Atlantic City elevator, then dragging her out unconscious, prompted many red flags — about the NFL’s handling of the incident, about the Ravens’ ill-advised defense of their player and about how domestic violence is handled in general. But one of the main questions doing the rounds was directed at Janay Rice (formerly Janay Palmer) was why she married him in spite of the abusive relationship. Well, Twitter provided the answer, with the hashtag #WhyIStayed. by Rishi Iyengar

The 2014 Aquafina Elite Model Look Nigeria competition which took place on Saturday 6th September 2014 was one of the most glamorous events on the Lagos scene this year. We cannot wait to bring you all the juicy red carpet action. The focus of the day was the female and male model competition. It was a fierce battle but in the end, Mayowa Nicholas was chosen as the 2014 Elite Model Look winner for Nigeria (Female) while Victor Nwigwe was the top male model. by bellanaija.com

Those who are hoping that Christ Embassy Head Pastor Chris Oyakhilome and his estranged wife Anita Oyakhilome will resolve their issues and get back together, shouldn't hold their breath as the woman is said to have vowed to divorce the pastor Chris.. Speaking with Premium Times through her lawyers, Mrs Oyakhilome said her relationship with her husband had terribly degenerated that there is no room for any reconciliation or out-of-court settlement. Find the full report after the cut... Premium Times had contacted Mrs. Oyakhilome through her lawyers, Attwaters Jameson Hill Solicitors, after news broke that she had filed for divorce, to enquire whether any out-of-court settlement option was being explored.

Yara International ASA (YAR), the largest publicly traded nitrogen-fertilizer seller, said it plans to build a $2.5 billion plant in west or east Africa once gas projects come on-stream toward the end of the decade. Yara has held initial talks with governments in countries such as Tanzania, Angola, Ghana, Nigeria and Mozambique about building a “considerable and world-class” urea factory to produce for African and foreign markets, Chief Executive Officer Joergen Ole Haslestad said in an interview yesterday in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. “We would very much like to participate in greenfield fertilizer production developments,” he said. “This is probably three to four years down the road before it will materialize.”