Anti-impeachment protest rocks Ekiti

                                                                 Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose

UPDATED at 11:50am:

A huge protest is currently ongoing in Ado Ekiti, capital of Ekiti State, against the move of Ekiti State House of Assembly to impeach the state Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, over alleged constitutional breaches.

Heavy security has been put in place in strategic locations in Ado Ekiti, while entry routes have been blocked and taken over by security operatives.

Details later. . .

Hackers hit bank ATMs in Lagos

A large number of Automated Teller Machines located in some posh areas of Lagos like Victoria Island, Lekki Peninsula Phase I and II, and Ikoyi have been attacked by hackers and electronic fraudsters, it has been learnt.

The hackers are said to be fixing small fraud tools on the ATMs in order to harvest the passwords of cardholders who come to collect cash or do some other transactions on the machines.

Top bank officials privy to the development said a number of banks had deployed detectives to monitor their ATMs in those locations, especially in the Victoria Island and Lekki axis.

A banker told our correspondent, “A number of the ATMs in Victoria Island and Lekki axis have been compromised by hackers. Some of these fraudsters visit those ATMs very late in the night or very early in the morning to fix some fraud devices on them, which are capable of collecting cardholders’ information, including their passwords.

Speakership: Gbajabiamila, Ogor, Dogara top list of aspirants

                                                           Leo Ogor, Yakubu Dogara and Femi Gbajabiamila

The tussle for the Speaker of the 8th House of Representatives has thrown up three notable lawmakers for the post that will be vacated in June by Aminu Tambuwal.

The lawmakers are a three-time returnee and former Chairman, House Committee on Customs,   Yakubu Dogara; incumbent Minority Leader,   Femi Gbajabiamila,   and the current Deputy House Leader,   Leo Ogor.

While Dogara (Bauchi State) and Gbajabiamila (Lagos State) are members of the All Progressives Congress, Ogor (Delta State) is of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Gbajabiamila, a four-time returnee lawmaker , was the deputy House minority leader till the end of the 2007-2011 term. He emerged as minority leader in 2011.

Impeachment: Deputy gov, others block Ekiti Assembly entrances

                  PDP supporters blocking an entrance to the Ekiti State House of Assembly in Ado Ekiti ... on Monday

Members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State   on Monday blocked the two major roads leading to the   state House of Assembly following   rumours that 19 All Progressives Congress lawmakers were planning to hold a sitting to impeach Governor Ayodele Fayose.

The party loyalists were led by the Deputy Governor,   Kolapo Olusola; a former Speaker,   Tunji Odeyemi; the Special Assistant to the governor on Information,   Lanre Ogunsuyi, and   Fayose’s Public Communications and New Media aide, Lere Olayinka.

Although nine Toyota Hilux vans carrying men and officers of the Police and the Department of State Services manned the main entrances to the Assembly, the PDP members erected canopies about 200 metres away from the Assemby’s premises.

Jigawa dep gov defects to APC

                                                Deputy Governor of Jigawa, Alhaji Ahmad Mahmud

The Deputy Governor of Jigawa, Alhaji Ahmad Mahmud, has defected to the All Progressives Congress. But the state Peoples Democratic Party stated that he was expelled for alleged anti-party activities.

This was contained in a statement by the PDP chairman of Galagamma ward in Gumel, Jigawa, Alhaji Ibrahim Kafinta, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Dutse.

The chairman said the decision to expel Mahmud was taken during a stakeholders meeting held in his ward.

Reports had earlier indicated that Mahmud had dumped the PDP for the All Progressives Congress, which won the March 28 election in the state.