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 Reports reaching us says Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, is dead. The governor, aged 67, died on Wednesday morning in Lagos after a prolonged health battle. A top government source confirmed the unfortunate development. Akeredolu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), was a second-term governor before his death. The governor had to be flown abroad for treatment for his medical condition in June. He had returned to Nigeria in September after months overseas but stayed in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. As his health worsened, Akeredolu was under intense pressure from opposition parties and activists to resign or hand over power to his deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, in line with the 1999 constitution. Also, the governor’s loyalists in the state House of Assembly were at loggerheads with Aiyedatiwa attracting President Bola Tinubu’s intervention. Eventually, the governor transmitted power to Aiyedatiwa early ...

  Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na’Abba, breathed his last in the early hours of Wednesday in Abuja, according to family sources. Born on September 27, 1958, Na’Abba, aged 65, battled a prolonged illness before succumbing to it. Na’Abba, a prominent figure in Nigerian politics, notably served as the Speaker of the House between 1999 and 2003. His health struggles had previously prompted his medical evacuation abroad for treatment, leading to an extended period away from Nigeria. However, he successfully recuperated and returned to his home country. Initially affiliated with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Na’Abba represented the Kano Municipal Federal Constituency, securing victory during the April 1999 general elections. The late Ghali Na’Abba’s funeral arrangements are set to adhere to Islamic rites, with plans for his interment in Abuja.    

  Cultists on Christmas Eve killed a broadcaster in Edo State, Hillary Odia. Odia, a staff of In-de-pen-dent Television and Radio, was murdered on Sunday night around 2nd East Circular, in Benin City, the state capital. A spokesperson for the Edo State Police Command, Chidi Nwabuzor, confirmed the incident, disclosing that “a sizeable number of arrests of the secret cult members of various cult groups has been made in different locations in the state and the suspects would soon be charged for prosecution”. Meanwhile, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state has charged security agencies, especially the Nigeria Police Force to unravel the cir-cum-stances surrounding the murder of the broadcaster. The union prayed for the repose of the soul of its fallen soldier and urged his family to take solace in the fact that Odia would be remembered on the positive side of history.

    Nigeria's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, has issued a heartfelt call to all Nigerians and citizens all over the world urging them to rekindle their commitment to nurturing peaceful relationships, showing respect for one another's differences, and collaborating to tackle global challenges that affect s everyone.   In his Christmas message delivered on Sunday, by the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Alkasim Abdulkadir, the Minister expressed his unwavering dedication to advancing diplomacy and cooperation for the betterment of our shared future.  He encouraged all to use this Christmas season as an opportunity to renew their commitment to promoting peaceful coexistence, appreciating diversity, and collectively addressing the pressing global issues that impact us all.   During this festive period of joyous celebrations, Tuggar extended warm Christmas greetings to all, hoping that this time of togetherness and happiness w...

  A call for allocated budget release and utilization for nutrition programming at Federal level, and in Enugu State to be increased from 2 million to 3 million USD by Oct 2024 has been emphasized.   More so, the need for an extension of Maternity Leave to six months from the current four months in Enugu State to further boost Maternity and Exclusive Breast Feeding was not left out.   It was established that the media has a huge role to play by providing increased coverage and visibility for nutrition related issues in Nigeria.   These were some of the highlights during a one day media round table on increased investment in nutrition to scale up quality nutrition services in Enugu State, organized by Civil Society Scaling-Up Nutrition in Nigeria, CS-SUNN in partnership with UNICEF.   In a press statement issued at the end of the event, which held in Enugu on Thursday, CS-SUNN state Coordinator, Finian Ali noted that the private s ector is not ...

The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the election of Peter Mbah as our governor of Enugu State. The apex court resolved all the issues in favour of the first respondent (Governor Peter Mbah). A five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba held that the Labour Party and its candidate, Chijioke Edeoga, failed to prove the allegations of substantial non-compliance with the electoral law. The court also dismisses the allegation of NYSC certificate forgery, one of the  basis for which the Labour Party governorship candidate wanted the court to disqualify Governor Peter Mbah. Mbah was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the March 18 governorship election. On November 10, the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos upheld the judgment of the State Election Petitions Tribunal, which affirmed the Independent National Electoral Commission’s declaration that Mbah won the election. The three-member panel, headed by Justice Tani Yusuf-Hassan, dismissed the three grounds of the appeal fi...

  President Bola Tinubu has directed a 50 percent cut in land transportation fares from today to January 4, 2024, across the country. The President also approved zero fare for train transportation in all the states of the federation within the same period. Reacting to the development, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, dismissed the announcement as unworkable, saying government cannot decree low fares by fiat.  Minister of Solid Minerals Development and Chairman of Inter-Ministerial Committee on Presidential Intervention, Mr. Dele Alake, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Alake flanked by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris,  Minister of Transportation, Saidu Alkali  and the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Alake, said all the logistics on the implementation had been worked out with the Minister of Transportation, the transport unions and luxury bus owne...

Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago has denied reports of him giving dress code to civil servants in the state. Recall that Governor Bago, in a viral video where he spoke in Hausa, purportedly asked civil servants not to be wearing “Baba Riga and Kaftan” and that they should brace up and start going to farm. However, in a statement on Tuesday, the governor’s spokesman, Bologi Ibrahim, said the governor was quoted out of context and did not capture his statement in its original context. He said the governor did not announce or mandate any dress code for the civil servants, rather he meant every professional should be dressed based on the demands of his or her job. Ibrahim claimed that the viral video was curiously and mischievously edited to malign the governor, stressing that the general public must disregard the clip because the full video clearly defines what he meant. He, therefore, advised social media influencers to be mindful and sure of the contents and context of the info...

  Chief of Defence Staff General Christopher Musa The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Christopher Musa says the investigation over the Kaduna accidental military airstrike is ongoing, assuring that culprits will be punished.  Eighty-five people were confirmed dead in the accidental air strike in the Igabi council area of the North-West state some weeks back with scores injured. In the wake of the incident, President Bola Tinubu ordered a probe into the matter with the CDS assuring that anyone found culpable in the mishap will face the law. “The Armed Forces of Nigeria is solidly behind the government and Nigeria. Our mandate is to defend democracy and we will continue to do that. So, nobody should have any fear. We would make amends after the committee [to probe the matter] has come up [with its report]. Anybody who is found culpable will face the music,” he said on Tuesday’s edition of Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.  According to him, once th...

  Anambra State Commissioner of Police, CP Aderemi Adeoye The Anambra State Police Command said it has arrested a couple trafficking a one-month-old baby from Lagos. According to a statement issued on Tuesday by the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, the interception was made at the River Niger Bridgehead in Onitsha on December 17, 2023. Although the couple’s identity was not revealed, Ikenga said they were traveling in a luxury bus belonging to a popular transport company. The statement read, “The couple were traveling in a luxury bus belonging to a popular transport company with the baby when a co-passenger observed that the mother could not breastfeed the baby despite its cry for food in the course of the journey. “The good Samaritan put a call through to Anambra Police on its control room hotline in Awka which then relayed the information to the police at Bridgehead in Onitsha.   “The police laid in wait for the luxury bus described a...

  The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria, SMEDAN, have brokered new collaboration to enhance growth and survival of businesses across the country    The parley took place on Monday, December 18, 2023 in Abuja when a delegation of SMEDAN, led by its Director- General, Charles Odii, paid a courtesy visit to the Commission’s headquarters in Jabi   EFCC’s Chairman, Ola  Olukoyede,  while receiving the delegation , says that the EFCC will partner with SMEDAN and agencies that are pivotal to the development of the economy.  “If any nation is going to grow economically, you must place your small and medium scale enterprises where they belong, support them, create an enabling environment for them to thrive and that is exactly what we are going to do with our partnership with you,” he said.    He  pointed out that the era of placing Post No Debit, PND...

  Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar has warned against describing the unconstitutional change in government in West Africa as solely a regional problem, insisting that it could snowball into engulfing the entire African continent and add to the challenges of terrorism and other cross-border criminalities. The Minister gave the warning during a panel discussion: “Resurgence of Unconstitutional Changes of Government in Africa: Global Outlook, Response and Implications for the A3”, at the 10th Annual High-level Seminar on the Promotion of Peace and Security in Africa: Assisting African Members of the UN Security Council in Preparing to Address Peace and Security Issues on the Continent. At the Seminar which ended on December 18th at Oran, Algeria, the Minister said it is easy to describe the military take over in some West African countries as a problem of the region not looking at the root causes which include the proliferation of arms as a result of the ...

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has announced a tentative date to conduct re-run and bye- elections to fill the vacant positions in both the national assembly and the state houses of Assembly. The chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu in a consultative meeting with leaders of political parties on Monday, said elections will hold in the first week of February 2024. The INEC Boss while providing further details of the Elections, said the rerun elections is in compliance with the ruling of the various tribunals that mandated them to conduct the elections within 90 days while the bye-election is as result of death or resignation, adding that the two types of elections will be held on the same day. “First, as the Election Petition Appeal Tribunals set up in the aftermath of the 2023 General Election gradually wind up their proceedings, the Commission is required to conduct re-run elections in some constituencies by court order. Secondly, the Commission is also requi...

  The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar would be leading a high level delegation from the country to the forthcoming 10th High-Level Seminar (HLS) on Peace and Security in Africa. In a Press statement issued by the Minister's Special Assistant Media and Communications Strategy, Alkasim Abdulkadir, the meeting is  scheduled to hold from 17th - l8th December 2023, in Oran, Algeria. In Iine with the established practice, this year's High-level seminar on Peace and Security in Africa (the Oran Ministerial Process) will be chaired by H.E. Dr. Mamadou TANGARA, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad of the Republic of The Gambia, in his capacity as the Chair of the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) for the month of December 2023.  As is customary, it is expected that this year's Seminar would be attended by Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the 15 Member States of the AUPSC, as well as Ministers of the current, ...

By Jide Ojo Stand up for the African champions! What a befitting Christmas and End-of-the-Year gifts to Nigerians! Last Monday, December 11, 2023, I felt proud to be a Nigerian. My compatriots have once again risen to the occasion to burnish the dented image of the country by winning big at the just concluded Confederation of African Football Award Night for 2023. Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen, broke a 24-year-old jinx to win the 2023 Men’s Player of the Year. Osimhen triumphed over Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah to win the coveted trophy during the CAF 2023 Awards held in Marrakech, Morocco. Others include: CAF Goal of the Year – Mahmoud Kahraba (Al Ahly vs Al Hilal); Goalkeeper of the Year (Men) – Yassine Bounou (Morocco/Al Hilal Saudi); Coach of the Year (Women) – Desiree Ellis and Coach of the Year (Men) – Walid Regragui. CAF is the governing body of African football and was founded in 1957. The founding members are Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and Sout...

President Bola Tinubu says he will continue to work assiduously and provide the military with the necessary support to keep the troublers of the nation at bay.  Speaking at the Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference 2023 in Maiduguri, Borno State, on Monday, the President said he has no intention of relenting or resting on his laurels in securing Nigeria, declaring that he will win the battle to keep Nigeria safe.  President Tinubu, who acknowledged the Nigerian Army’s commitment to national security, asked the army to remain non-partisan but vigilant in upholding democratic principles, emphasizing their role as a guardian of constitutional order during elections. “The professional conduct of the Armed Forces during the elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States underscores your role as a guardian of our constitutional order and democracy precepts. In this regard, the Nigerian Army must remain completely non-partisan but vigilantly pro-democracy.   “We also note with g...