Author: Jide Ige

The head of military junta in Niger Republic, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, has vowed that none of the three Sahel countries would rejoin the regional bloc, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Gen. Tchiani made the vow in an interview he granted to RTN news channel in the capital, Niamey Monday. The military regimes in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger January 28, announced their immediate withdrawal from the West African bloc ECOWAS. The leaders of the three Sahel nations issued a statement, saying it was a “sovereign decision” to leave…

Brigadier Grn. Seinde Jones Arogbofa (rtd), who served as Chief of Staff to former President Goodluck Jonathan, is dead. Arogbofa, who was military Assistant to a former military governor of Lagos State, then Col. Raji Rasaki, slumped and died on Saturday morning in Abuja. He was aged 71 . Born on 10 November 1952 in Oka-Akoko, Ondo State, Arogbofa was commissioned into the Nigerian Army in 1973. Jonathan appointed him Chief of Staff from February 10, 2014 to May 29, 2015. Arogbofa attended Obafemi Awolowo University, Rochester Institute of Technology,…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested the General Overseer of Faith On The Rock Ministry International, Apostle Theophilus Oloche Ebonyi, for defrauding church members and other Nigerians using fake grants from the Ford Foundation to the tune of N1, 319,040,274.31(One Billion Three Hundred and Nineteen Million, Forty Thousand, Two hundred and seventy-four naira, and Thirty-One Kobo). Ebonyi was arrested for defrauding his victims, comprising non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and individuals, by advertising an intervention project through his NGO (Theobarth Global Foundation) claiming that the Ford Foundation was offering…

The Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has named Kayode Ajulo, SAN, and five others as commissioner-nominees. The names of the nominees have therefore been sent to the House of Assembly for screening and confirmation. The governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Ebenezer Adeniyan, disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists on Friday. The governor had earlier picked a former Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr Olaide Adelami, as the deputy governor of the state. This came a few hours after the governor sacked all the commissioners and special advisers…

Still on the subject of Mambilla Power Project, our intervention this time is triggered by an EFCC leaflet circulating on social media declaring that Dr Agunloye is being “investigated for $6 billion fraud”. We are not sure whether his inclusion on that list with 14 others was deliberate or if it is an error of judgement. What we know and which is clear from the project concept and related documents is that any narrative suggesting malfeseance on his part is false. In office, as a true patriot and Honourable Minister…

Former Governor of Kano State and the leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has said that the issue of Kano emirates will definitely be revisited. Former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje had split the Kano emirate into five and dethroned the then Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi. Following the victory of the New Nigerian Peoples Party in last year’s election, Kwankwaso had said the government of Engr Abba Kabir Yusuf would review the dethronement and balkanisation of the emirate. Speaking in an interview granted to select radio stations in…

The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Wednesday, said preliminary investigations by security agencies revealed that the explosion that rocked the Bodija Area of Ibadan, the state capital on Tuesday was caused by explosive devices stored by illegal miners. No fewer than 10 persons were feared killed and 15 others hospitalised following the explosion that also affected a section of the Governor’s Office, Secretariat, Oyo State House of Assembly, the residence of the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, some buildings at Ologuneru, Apete, New Garage,…

The seemingly unending crises between the Oyo State government and the embattled ex-local government council chairmen under late Governor Abiola Ajimobi over their unpaid salaries following their sack from office by Governor Seyi Makinde, may soon be a thing of the past. The development came following the intervention of the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu when he paid a working visit to the governor in his office on Monday. The ex-ALGON chairman, Prince Ayodeji Abass-Aleshinloye, was in the entourage of the minister on the visit to the governor. A source…

Ibrahim Babangida, Nigeria’s former Head of State and Commander-in-Chief, has said the late civil rights lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), never wanted to be seen with him because he was perceived as an “evil genius.” Babangida, Nigeria’s only military President, said he employed all possible means to make Fawehinmi his friend while in power but failed. Describing the late activist as a good man, IBB said a member of his cabinet, the late Alex Akinyele, also tried in vain to spark a friendship between them. Featuring on Channels Television, IBB…

President Bola Tinubu, has suspended all administered programmes by the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), being run by the immediate past government. The programmes put under hold for the next six weeks include N- Power Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme and Home Grown School Feeding Programme (the “Programs”). Announcing the suspension in a statement on Friday, the Director Information, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Segun Imohiosen, said the president’s decision was in view of the ongoing investigation of alleged malfeasance in the…

Eleven decomposing corpses of Fulani from Tulde Fulbe, Ladduga Grazing Reserve in Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State, were on Monday discovered in a forest located near an area called “Crossing” within the local government area. The bodies, Daily Trust gathered, were identified by relatives and community members as those of the Fulani allegedly arrested by soldiers in the area at different times. Relatives and other members of the community, who could not hold back tears, took the pains of putting their loved ones in sacks after driving for…

This video of suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Betta Edu and the lady mentioned in the N585m scam, Bridget Oniyelu joyously walking out of the villa has hit the internet. Watch the video below.