Author: Amina Mohammed

The African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD) and Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) have demanded a stop to the practice whereby an incumbent president appoints the chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its national commissioners. This was made known at the presentation of a policy brief and memoranda sent to the National Assembly in Abuja. Centre LSD and WRAPA suggested the composition of an independent panel membership of eight institutions to screen and nominate three persons for the selection and approval of one person by the president and National Assembly. They recommended that…

Akwa Ibom State governor, Pastor Umo Eno, on Friday, defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). However, three commissioners refused to follow their principal to the APC and subsequently resigned. They are Eno Ibanga (Works), Ini Ememobong, (Special Duties and Ibom Deep Sea) and Emem Almond Bob (Finance). Out of the 26 lawmakers in the state House Assembly, 15 declined to follow Eno to the APC, while 11 defected with him. Eno in his defection speech said he dumped PDP to connect the state to national politics. The governor, in the presence…

Nollywood actress Aisha Lawal has debunked an allegation making the rounds that she received a Toyota Venza as a birthday gift from socialite Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo. The rebuttal is contained in a video she posted on TikTok. Aisha Lawal has been in the eye of the storm after being dragged into a rift in the Lagos State branch of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). In a viral clip, a chieftain of the union, Azeez Ajibola aka Istijabah accused MC Oluomo, a former chairman of Lagos NURTW, of lavishing the union’s funds on Nollywood…

A former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mohammed Uwais, has died at the age of 89. The former CJN who died in the early hours of Friday served as Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1995 until his retirement in 2006. Following his retirement, he chaired the Presidential Electoral Reform Committee inaugurated by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. The committee included prominent figures such as Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah and human rights lawyer, Dr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN. Funeral arrangements are yet to be announced.

Professor Pat Utomi has expressed frustration over alleged attempts to silence him, saying he may leave the country. Utomi, who announced the formation of a shadow government recently, became a target of the  Department of State Services (DSS), with the security agency filing a suit against him. In the suit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the DSS requested that the court declare the shadow government “constitutional”. Speaking on Wednesday, Utomi disclosed that he was getting fed up and added that he was ready to depart Nigeria for Ghana. “I’m getting fed up with all of this. If they…

Former Minister of Education and Petroleum, Professor Jibril Aminu, has died at the age of 85. Aminu, a distinguished diplomat, cardiologist, and statesman, passed away in Abuja on Thursday after a prolonged illness. His funeral prayer is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. today at the Abuja National Mosque. His remains will be flown to Yola and then to Song Local Government Area, Adamawa State, for burial. A celebrated medical scholar, Prof. Aminu earned his medical degree from the University of Ibadan in 1965, graduating as the best student from the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. He went on to obtain a…

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has urged the Muslim Ummah to offer fervent prayers for Nigeria today, which falls on Arafat Day. He said the prayers would attract divine solutions to the myriad of challenges facing the country. The Sultan said this in a statement yesterday by the Secretary-General of Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Prof. Khalid Aliyu. He said: “In this sacred month of Dhul-Hijjah, we are calling on Nigerian Muslims to rededicate themselves to good virtues and fervent prayers on the Day of Arafat on Thursday.” According to him, the Day of Arafat is considered one…

Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has revealed how disinformation played a key role in the civil war that took place between 1967 to 1970. Obasanjo made the disclosure at the Sixth Edition of the Annual Nigerian Civil War Symposium organised by the Army War College Nigeria (AWCN) on Wednesday in Abuja. According to him, the theme of the symposium, ‘The Role of Disinformation in the Nigerian Civil War’, was germane, especially in the present era of asymmetric warfare. Obasanjo added that disinformation, propaganda, psychological warfare and propagation of false narratives are tools employed by a weaker force to discredit a…

The federal government has approved ₦2 billion for the construction of settlement homes for the victims of the flood disaster in Mokwa, which occurred last Wednesday. The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, disclosed this in Mokwa on Wednesday when he made a sympathy and assessment visit to the affected communities in Mokwa regarding the unfortunate incident. The Vice President, who could not believe the extent of the devastation caused by the flood after visiting the sites, also said that the federal government has ordered the immediate release of 20 trucks of rice to be distributed to all the surviving victims,…

The Federal Government has declared Friday June 6 and Monday June 9 as public holidays to mark this year’s Eid-ul-Kabir celebration. The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government. He congratulated all Muslim Ummah both at home and in the Diaspora on the occasion. He called on the Muslim Ummah to continue to imbibe the spirit of sacrifice and faith as exemplified by Prophet Ibrahim (Peace be upon Him) and to also use the period to pray for a peaceful and prosperous Nigeria. The Minister in a statement by the Permanent Secretary of…