Author: Tunde Akingbondere

The Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has on Monday criticized state governors for the rising cases of killings nationwide, especially the recent incidents in Plateau, Benue and Enugu states. He traced the security situation to governors’ poor funding of security outfits in their states despite receiving humongous security votes. Bwala stated this when he appeared on TVC’s Beyond the Headlines show with Nifemi Oguntoye on Monday. He said, “What we are finding, very sadly, is that there are some states where the governors give N20m to the SSS, N20m to the police, and N20m to…

In a bid to defend self against the claim that he has never handled a case as a Life Bencher, Wike has reacted angrily by referring to prominent human rights lawyer, Femi Falana SAN as “arrangee & errand lawyer.” The ongoing public feud between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and prominent human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, came to a head on Monday with the minister’s aide coming for Mr. Falana’s legal credentials all in a bid to retaliate. Olayinka’s recent statements contradict Wike’s earlier aknowledgement of Falana’s towering legal status by the use of words…

The departure of Pope Francis early Easter Monday, April 21, has left a huge gap in the position he has occupied over the last decade since his election in 2013. Following his passing, a conclave— an assembly of cardinals for the election of a pope— is expected to convene in the next 15 to 20 days to choose his replacement. This period will allow for the funeral rites, a nine-day mourning period known as the novemdiales, and provide time for cardinals worldwide to travel to Vatican City. The election will be conducted behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel…

An old Italian saying warns against putting faith, or money, in any presumed front-runner ahead of the conclave, the closed-door gathering of cardinals that picks the pontiff. It cautions: “He who enters a conclave as a pope, leaves it as a cardinal”.  But here are some cardinals who are being talked about as “papabili” to succeed Pope Francis, whose death at the age of 88 was announced by the Vatican on Monday. They are listed in alphabetical order. Jean-Marc Aveline, archbishop of Marseille, French, aged 66. According to the French press, he is known in some domestic Catholic circles as…

Several governors elected under the aegis of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are increasingly drifting away from the party’s expected trajectory ahead of the 2027 presidential election, thereby opening grounds for a repeat of the internal divisions that frustrated the party’s chances in the 2023 polls. While some shy opposition governors are believed to be secretly forging quiet alliances with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has thrown caution to the winds by openly declaring his support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s second-term bid. Speaking during the flag-off of the Akwa Ibom–Cross River…

Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope whose leadership drew the modern Catholic Church with a message of humility, inclusion, and radical reform, gave up the ghost on Monday morning at the age of 88. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vatican’s camerlengo, disclosed his painful passing from the chapel of Domus Santa Marta, his residence. “At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father,” Farrell said solemnly, as church bells tolled across Rome in mourning. The Argentine-born pontiff, whose birth name was Jorge Mario Bergoglio, had long wrestled with respiratory illness and was recently…

The presiding overseer of the Global Community Citadel Church, Tunde Bakare, has raised a serious alarm, claiming that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu practices the motorpark brand of politics which has turned the legislature to an extension of the executive. According to him, Nigeria is spiralling into tyranny and suffering from a brazen abuse of power. Speaking during his state of the nation address marking the Easter celebrations, Bakare expressed his deep concern over the direction of the country under the current administration. He highlighted the apparent erosion of democracy, particularly criticising the collapse of the legislature, which he called a…

Popular Senior Advocate of Nigeria and human rights lawyer, Femi Falana SAN, has denounced claims by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, accusing him of lying against the Supreme Court of Nigeria over the defection of lawmakers in Rivers State. In his reply to Wike, Falana described the F.C.T Minister as a Life Bencher without a single case to his credit. According to a statement issued on Sunday, Falana described Wike’s allegations as “spurious and tendentious,” insisting that his recent comments about the apex court were rooted in law and facts. The face-off is unconnected with…

Auwal Mohammed Jatau, the Deputy Governor of Bauchi State, has described the allegation of slapping the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar as scandalous, untrue. He said this while speaking to unconfirmed reports that he attacked the minister on the way to the palace of Emir of Bauchi for the turbaning of former Governor Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar, SAN, as Makama Babba 1 of Bauchi Emirate, and the wedding Fatiha of his daughter, Khadija Muhammad. Addressing journalists through Muslim Lawal, his media aide, Bauchi’s number two citizen said, “No, no, how can a deputy governor slap a minister? I don’t…

Nigerian Afrobeats star, Davido, has stated that he began life in a one-room apartment within a public housing compound, popularly known as face-me-I-face-you. The singer shared this personal story in “CFMF,” a track off his fifth studio album, 5ive, released on Friday. Davido revealed how his rise to fame and wealth is a result of divine intervention. “Take a step and walk into my life… Started all the way from face me I face you Face me I face you And now, I am living real large, all thanks to Jesu All thanks to Jesu oh,” he sings. This claim…