Author: Amina Mohammed

No fewer than 29 chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ondo State have announced their defection to the All Progressives Congress in the state, ahead of the governorship election scheduled for November 16. This was announced in a joint statement signed by the 29 defectors on Wednesday. The statement was titled ‘We Have Joined the APC.’ According to the statement, some of the defectors were chieftains who held various positions during the eight years of Olusegun Mimiko’s administration. They include a former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mrs Jumoke Akindele; a former Chief Press Secretary to Governor…

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of four new permanent secretaries for the Federal Capital Territory Administration. The appointments, according to a statement signed by the FCTA Director of Press, Anthony Ogunleye, on Wednesday, were necessitated by the imminent retirement of two of the previously appointed secretaries and the creation of the Youth Development Secretariat. The newly appointed secretaries are Okeke Joy Chinwe (South East), Ajayi Rotimi Babatunde (South West), and Nathan Nancy Sabanti (North East). Tinubu also approved the formalisation of the position of the Solicitor-General of the FCT Administration as Solicitor-General/Permanent Secretary for the Legal Services Secretariat.…

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Gwabin Musa, has expressed delight at the high level of synergy among members of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) amid the numerous operational successes being recorded against terrorists, insurgents, kidnappers and other criminal elements in the country. He made this remark on Tuesday while being briefed at the Strategic Operations Centre, Headquarters Nigerian Air Force. The CDS also commended the AFN for the renewed efforts in the fight against oil theft in the Niger Delta region which, according to him, was in line with the directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu…

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers celebrated three years in power on Wednesday with a military parade paying homage to their homemade bombs used in war, fighter aircraft and goose-stepping security forces. The Taliban’s armed forces towed Soviet-era tanks and artillery pieces through the former US air base in Bagram, where Chinese and Iranian diplomats were among hundreds who gathered for the parade and speeches. The former Bagram base once served as the linchpin for US-led operations against the Taliban for two decades. A swarm of motorbikes strapped with yellow jerry cans, often used to carry homemade bombs during the fight against international…

Prominent national personalities have continued with their criticisms against the House of Representatives bill prescribing a 10-year jail for those who refused to recite the national anthem. The Bill, sponsored by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, is set for its second reading, where its general principles will be debated. In May, President Bola Tinubu signed into law the bill to revert to Nigeria’s old national anthem which was dropped by a military government in 1978. The newly re-adopted anthem, which begins “Nigeria, We Hail Thee,” was written by Lillian Jean Williams in 1959 and composed by Frances Berda. The Bill “stipulates that…

France has launched a cyberbullying probe following a complaint by Algerian Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif, who was at the centre of a gender controversy at the Paris Olympic Games, prosecutors said on Wednesday. The controversy has rapidly become a hot-button issue outside the ring, with politicians and celebrities including Donald Trump and Elon Musk weighing in. The investigation was opened Tuesday into “cyberharassment” following the high-profile gender row at the Games, the Paris public prosecutor’s office told AFP. The athlete’s lawyer Nabil Boudi said last week that Khelif, 25, had filed a complaint for online harassment, calling it a…

The leadership of the Ondo State’s Labour Party has disassociated itself from the Secretary General of the Yoruba Socio-Political Group, Afenifere, Chief Olusola Ebiseni. Ebiseni claims to be the candidate of the party in the forthcoming November 16 governorship election in the state. The party in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh on Wednesday also said that Dr. Ayo Olorunfemi emerged as its flag bearer for the state governorship election after its primaries held in Akure in June. Olorunfemi said that Ebiseni who contested for the governorship of the opposition People’s Democratic Party in the state but…

The House of Representatives on Wednesday, clarified controversies around media reports about the Counter Subversion Bill. A statement signed by Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Speaker, Musa Krishi, said the clarification on the bill sponsored by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen was necessitated due to misconceptions. He said, “The attention of the Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, Ph.D has been drawn to reports in sections of the media about the Counter Subversion Bill, which he sponsored. “The Speaker appreciates the interest Nigerians have so far shown on the Bill, which pertains to our…

The National Judicial Council (NJC) will meet on Friday, August 16, to select a successor for the outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola. Ariwoola will retire on August 22 upon reaching the mandatory age of 70. An anonymous Supreme Court source confirmed that the NJC’s decision on the new CJN will be forwarded to President Bola Tinubu. “The NJC has fixed Friday to meet and decide on the name to be sent to the President. No name has been sent yet as the NJC has not met,” the source said. Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, the most senior Supreme…

A Libyan driver was arrested on Tuesday in the Bishr area of Libya for attempting to smuggle six undocumented female migrants from Nigeria. The arrest was made during a routine police patrol, which intercepted the vehicle and detained the driver. According to Migrant Rescue Watch, an organisation that monitors migrant activities, the driver claimed that the women were his family members in an effort to evade arrest. However, authorities saw through the ruse and took the driver and the women into custody. The individuals involved have been transferred to the Bishr Police Department, Libya for further legal action as authorities…