Category: Politics

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…

There seems to be no end to the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State as the Chairman of the three-man committee, Governor Seyi Makinde, who conducted the party’s state delegate election resigned from the position. Also, nine aspirants out of the 11 that would participate in the February 22 primary election were said to have boycotted the election which took place all over the state on Sunday. The nine aspirants in their letter to the acting National Chairman, Umar Illiya, and copied to the National Vice Chairman…

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…

The Presidency on Tuesday night described the statement of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar berating President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the failure to resolve the security crisis in the country as “reckless”. Mr Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, in a reaction to Wazirin Adamawa, said the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections was latching on any issue to attack President Tinubu because he was nursing hangover of his electoral defeat. The former Vice President has berated President…

Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, on Tuesday, received members of the House of Assembly led by the newly inaugurated Speaker, Oludaisi Elemide. With 22 out 26 members in attendance, the Assembly earlier on Tuesday inaugurated Elemide representing the Odeda constituency, as the new Speaker of the assembly. The assembly also ratified the impeachment of Olakunle Oluomo who was removed last week Tuesday. The lawmakers took the decision at the plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Bolanle Ajayi. Shortly after the inauguration, Elemide led members of the House to…

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…

A former top aide of ex Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Daniel Bwala, has met with President Bola Tinubu in Paris, France. Bwala, a lawyer, was a former spokesperson to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Atiku Abubakar, stated that he met with President Tinubu in Paris on Monday, January 29, 2024. He made the disclosure in a post on his official X page. Bwala wrote: “It was a pleasure to meet with the father of the nation @officialABAT President Bola Tinubu in Paris today.…

Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, has denied entering into any agreement with the Presidency before the January 12, 2024 Supreme Court judgment on the state governorship election petition where he emerged victorious. On September 20, the Kano State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sacked Yusuf, of the New Nigeria People’s Party. Subsequently, on November 17, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja affirmed the tribunal judgment which declared the All Progressives Congress candidate, Nasiru Gawuna, winner of the governorship election. However, the Supreme Court on January 12 set aside the lower…

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Monday, lamented that out of the three major candidates who contested the 2023 presidential election, only the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has not called or sent a message to him to commiserate with the people of the state over the recent explosion in Ibadan, the state capital. Five people were confirmed dead while 77 sustained varying degrees of injuries and 58 houses were damaged during the explosion that rocked Adeji, Old Bodija in Ibadan. Makinde made his position known in Ibadan while…

Catholic pontiff, Pope Francis has expressed confidence that those who criticise his decision to allow blessings for same-sex couples will come to understand it over time, except for Africans, whom he referred to as a “special case.” According to Reuters, the Pope, who is the head of the world’s catholic mission, stated that Africans perceive homosexuality negatively from a cultural perspective in an interview with Italian newspaper, La Stampa, that was published on Monday. “Those who protest vehemently belong to small ideological groups. A special case is Africans: for them,…

Immediate past Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, has revealed how he was frustrated while serving President Muhammadu Buhari. Adesina revealed that Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, made life difficult for him in discharging his responsibilities. The funds needed to manage the office, Adesina stated, were denied by the late all-powerful Abba Kyari. The CoS, he said, deliberately prevented him from recruiting media personnel to work with and also denied him access to the needed funds. The revelations were contained in Adesina’s book,…

Banajide Sanwo-olu, the Governor of Lagos State, on Thursday, revealed that the construction of the long-awaited Fourth Mainland Bridge would commence in the first quarter of this year, “by the end of March or April.” The governor disclosed this in his keynote address during the Lagos West Senatorial District Town Hall Meeting held at the Balmoral Convention Centre, Sheraton, Ikeja. Sanwo-Olu noted that the bridge will be constructed in phases while promising that landlords and tenants of structures demolished during the construction will be duly compensated. We’ve done extensive work…

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 Federal Capital Territory High Court has granted the request of a former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, to travel out of Abuja. Emefiele, through his lawyer, Mathew Bukka, SAN had requested for a variation of the terms in his bail conditions. On November 22, 2023, Justice Hamza Muazu of the FCT High Court granted Emefiele bail in the sum of N300m with two sureties in like sum. Justice Muazu added that the sureties must have landed property in the Maitama District of the FCT. The judge…

The political ambition of the Ogun State governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the 2023 general election, Ladi Adebutu came to a close as the Supreme Court this morning affirmed the election of Prince Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress as the governor of Ogun State. The Supreme Court judgment has drawn the curtain on the ambition of Adebutu, son of popular betting magnate, Baba Ijebu, to rule Ogun State as the governorship will be zoned out from his Ogun East Senatorial district that produced the incumbent…

The Central Bank of Nigeria has said it is set to prosecute forex defaulters in the country. The CBN Acting Director of Communication, Mrs. Sidi Ali, disclosed in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday. Nigeria has nearly $7 billion in forex forwards that have matured which is a major concern for investors, but the CBN promised to pay up to boost confidence in the foreign exchange markets. Sidi explained that the apex bank commissioned an independent forensic review by a reputable firm to look into the forex exchange issues in…

A female soldier in the Nigerian Army who recently complained in the viral video about sexual harassment in the military has been arrested and moved to Abuja. SaharaReporters learnt that the soldier was flown to Abuja from Lagos on Tuesday morning. “The lady who complained in the viral video about sexual harassment in the military has been arrested and moved to Abuja by air this morning. She was flown out accompanied by military police in mufti from Lagos to Abuja,” a top military source told SaharaReporters. The soldier serving 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,…

Seyi Makinde, the Oyo state governor has assured the residents of safety as Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, is currently embroiled in panic and confusion following an explosion that occurred on Tuesday evening at about 7:45 pm. The incident has sparked uncertainty throughout the city as residents grapple with the aftermath of the sudden blast. According to the Guardian, an eyewitness known as Olanipekun described the explosion as a deafening sound that was accompanied by a sudden cloudiness in the surroundings. The explosion occurred around the Bodija area and…