Author: Tunde Akingbondere

I am sure a few people would be surprised when Lérè Olayinka, SSA media to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, said Chief Dele Momodu is not a journalist on ARISE TV yesterday. He went further that Chief Dele Momodu studied Yoruba and not journalism. As such, he can’t claim to be a journalist. When reminded that Chief Momodu has been publishing Ovation International for decades, he said what Chief Dele Momodu publishes is a “photo book” after interviewing “military heads of states” and not journalism. For him, publishing a “photo book” does not make him a journalist. At the right…

While shoving aside a “walkout” staged by Rivers women at the empowerment scheme for 500 underprivileged women in Rivers State, the State Government has created the false impression that the event still held. A statement by the Senior Special Adviser on Media to the Rivers State Government, Hector Igbikiowubo, said the empowerment event, held at the EUI Event Centre in Port Harcourt on Friday, saw beneficiaries receive deep freezers, gas cookers with ovens, grinding machines, and generators. The statement said the wife of the President, Senator Tinubu, represented by the wife of the Rivers State Administrator, Dr. Theresa Ibas, addressed…

The National Judicial Council (NJC), under the distinguished leadership of the Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Kudirat Motonmori Kekere-Ekun, GCON, has once again demonstrated unwavering commitment to upholding the independence, integrity, and constitutional order of the Nigerian judiciary. At its 108th Meeting held on the 29th and 30th of April 2025, the NJC took a bold and principled stance on a number of critical issues affecting the administration of justice in Nigeria. Most notably, the Council directed the Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma, to comply with Section 271(4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) by appointing…

Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu, has described the allegations made by the President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Atiku Abubakar Isah, claiming he sponsored a violent attack during the students’ inauguration event in Abuja as false.  Isah had alleged that thugs loyal to Seyi Tinubu stormed the Wells Carlton Hotel in Asokoro, disrupting the ceremony with cutlasses and firearms. The student leader claimed the attackers stabbed attendees, looted property, and forced dignitaries such as Senator Ibrahim Shekarau and former Governor Idris Wada to flee. He described the attack as “politically motivated” and linked it…

The Nigerian Police Force has apprehended popular Nigerian social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, widely known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), in Abuja. His lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, confirmed the arrest on his X account on Friday. The arrest took place in a Nigerian bank in Abuja. Adeyanju wrote. “JUST IN: VDM arrested by the police at GTB. Spoke to them before he was arrested. This is absolutely unacceptable. Demanding accountability is not a crime.” In a follow-up message, he added, “A team of policemen arrested VDM at GTB. He was arrested with his friend C Park, but they left his mum alone.”…

The Lagos High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square has convicted and sentenced to death, a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) driver, Andrew Ominikoron, for the murder of a 22-year-old fashion designer, Bamise Ayanwola. In a judgment that lasted over two and half hours, Justice Serifat Sonaike held that the prosecution, the Lagos State Government, successfully proved beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the offence. The judge held, “that for the death of Oluwabamise Ayanwola, you will be hanged by the neck until you are dead. May God have mercy upon you.” More to follow…

When Senate President Godswill Akpabio returned from Rome, where he attended the burial of Pope Francis, he brought back more than solemn reflections, he ignited a firestorm. He grant an interview and declared that “poverty is not a crime but a virtue” landed like a grenade in Nigeria’s volatile political sphere. For a man who has spent 25 years in public office as commissioner, governor, senator, minister, and now Senate President this moral sermon on poverty rings hollow, revealing the chasm between Nigeria’s political elite and the citizens they claim to serve. Akpabio’s invocation of Pope Francis’s legacy – a…

The Federal Ministry of Education has said it has opened a discreet investigation into alleged illegal deductions from students loan by some tertiary institutions. The report comes two days after the April 29 report of The Guardian alleging unauthorised deductions from student loans, double institutional fees collection from NELFUND and students and refusal by the institutions to refund to students. The spokesperson of the Ministry, Boriowo Folasade, in a statement, revealed that the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa has expressed concern over The Guardian report. He disclosed that the Minister summoned a meeting with the affected Vice-Chancellors and the…

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have both jointly sought a 90-day extension to finalize their search for investigative records relating to Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The U.S. law enforcement agencies say they expect to submit their findings by July 31, despite a previous court-ordered deadline of May 2. The request follows a Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) lawsuit filed by U.S. citizen and transparency advocate Aaron Greenspan. He is seeking documents connected to an alleged 1990s drug investigation in which President Tinubu was reportedly implicated. In a ruling on April 8, Judge…

I have read and listened to groundswell of dissent or opinion on the age long controversy over supremacy between Ooni and Alaafin which recently became a topical issue when the newly installed Alaafin Owoade refused to be on his feet while exchanging pleasantries with Ooni Ogunwusi in an event but the fact remains both traditional rulers are not on the same pedestal judging by the historical antecedents and antiquity of the throne they occupy. If the contention of Alaafin and Oyo people is predicated on the status of Alaafin during the colonial era, definitely, Alaafin must be wrong to assert…