Author: Tunde Akingbondere
Former Jigawa State Governor and Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has shown willingness to throw his weight behind Mr. Peter Obi in the 2027 Presidential election should he emerge as the standard bearer of the coalition. This is as the Middle Belt Forum said many have no choice than to stick with Peter Obi, noting that the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election has a track record of keeping to promise. Lamido, who was responding to a question as to whether he would support Obi, who has offered to spend a single term of…
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has implored President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reveal the forensic audit report of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC. Speaking during Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Friday, Wike alleged that former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, siphoned approximately N4 billion monthly from the NDDC during his tenure for the training of Rivers women. According to Wike, the transactions were carried out through a company allegedly linked to Amaechi’s wife. Wike made the remarks in response to Amaechi’s recent statement describing his wife as a successful businesswoman and “almost an industrialist.”…
The Senate has vowed not to reinstate suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan unless some conditions are fulfilled. This is following a Federal High Court ruling in Abuja which nullified the six-month suspension handed down on her by the Senate. Justice Binta Nyako, in her judgment on Friday, ordered the Senate to reinstate the Kogi Central senator, describing her suspension as excessive. In March, Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended by the Red Chamber for six months for alleged gross misconduct, following her face-off with the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, over the sitting arrangement. Tensions intensified when Akpoti-Uduaghan, on national television, accused Akpabio of punishing…
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has warned African leaders to be more careful about signing international agreements, so as not to mortgage the future of the continent. He said many international agreements imposed on Africa undermined the continent’s interests. The legal luminary spoke on Friday at the International Conference on Law and Career, organised by Law Students Society of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-ife, Osun State. He said, “Many of the deals perpetuate neocolonialism,” calling on African legal practitioners to scrutinise them thoroughly. In his remarks, Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, who was represented by his deputy, Kola Adewusi, lauded…
The Federal Government has negotiated the cost of the Iddo Bridge rehabilitation from an initial N27bn to N17bn. The Minister of Works, Sen. Dave Umahi, made this known to journalists during an inspection of the bridge on Friday in Lagos. He said, “Julius Berger quoted, I think, N27 billion or thereabout, but after much negotiation and discussion, we now arrived at N17 billion.” Umahi commended Julius Berger Nig. Plc. for demonstrating a sense of cooperation under its new leadership. He described the company as a “born-again Berger”, attributing the breakthrough in negotiation to the understanding and openness of its new…
Tuesday, July 29,2025 will be the 50th anniversary of the overthrow of General Yakubu Gowon GCFR. He was overthrown in a bloodless military coup on the same Tuesday, July 29, 1975. Most of us remember where we were at 6.00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 29, 1975, when the Commander of the Brigade of Guards made the following announcement. “Fellow countrymen and women, I, Colonel Joseph Nanven Garba, in consultation with my colleagues, do hereby declare that in view of what has been happening in our country in the past few months, the Nigerian Armed Forces decided to effect a change…
Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered that the Senate recall the suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. While delivering its judgement, Justice Nyako described as excessive the six-month suspension imposed on the lawmaker by the Senate. The judge also faulted the provision in Chapter 8 of the Senate Standing Rules, as well as Section 14 of the Legislative Houses, Powers, and Privileges Act, declaring both to be overreaching. The court also held that Senate President Godswill Akpabio has not erred by refusing to observe Senator Natasha, who had vacated the official seat allotted her…
INTRODUCTION WHEN THE FOREST HIDES MORE THAN TREES To paraphrase an old African proverb, “when the forest is silent, beware, it may be plotting”. Nigeria’s forests are no longer just a canopy of trees sheltering wildlife and whispering winds; they have become a theatre of terror. Armed bandits, kidnappers and insurgents have “discovered” what ancient wisdom already knew: that the forest is the perfect hideout. In response, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has proposed a bold and ostensibly visionary plan, the deployment of a national forest guard corps. This move has since sparked hope, skepticism, and fierce federalism-versus-unitarism debates. At the…
The Federal High Court in Abuja has on Friday declared the senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, guilty of contempt. The court ruled Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s liability is unconnected to a satirical apology she posted on her Facebook page on April 27. Justice Binta Nyako delivered the ruling in the case filed by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, who challenged her suspension. The proceedings began with a contempt application filed by Senate President Godswill Akpabio. In his application, Akpabio argued that a social media post made by the senator violated a previous court order that prohibited all parties from commenting to the…
In a shocking case that has rocked Lagos, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has dragged Adekemi Folorunsho, a prominent businesswoman, before the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, accusing her of masterminding a staggering $700,000 fraud and siphoning off N190 million. The high-profile case, which unfolded in a packed courtroom, alleges Folorunsho posed as a trusted bureau de change operator to deceive her victim. Folorunsho, alongside three accomplices who remain on the run, faces a three-count charge sheet, including obtaining money under false pretenses, conspiracy, and theft. EFCC prosecutor Nanbam Mutfwang told the court that in 2023, Folorunsho allegedly…