Author: Festus Adeloye

Reed Hastings, the co-founder of Netflix and a Democratic party megadonor, has called for Joe Biden to take himself out of the presidential race following his disastrous performance at last week’s debate against Donald Trump. Hastings told the New York Times on Wednesday that the president “needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous”. The statement makes Hastings one of the first major Democratic donors to speak out as pressure mounts on the president, 81, to step down over concerns he is not up to the job. The White…

Britons headed to the polls Thursday in a general election widely expected to emphatically return the opposition Labour Party to power and end nearly a decade-and-a-half of Conservative rule. The country’s first national ballot since Boris Johnson won a landslide for the Tories in 2019 follows Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s surprise call to hold it six months earlier than required. His gamble looks set to backfire spectacularly, with polls throughout the six-week campaign — and for the last two years — pointing to a heavy defeat for his right-wing party. That would almost certainly put Labour leader Keir Starmer, 61,…

The All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday, dared Governor Godwin Obaseki to walk with the candidate of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Asue Ighodalo round the streets of Benin City and other parts of the state, if he would not end up with a bloody nose. The party also called on its members still angry with the outcome of the governorship primaries that brought its current candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, to be true party members and work for APC’s victory, which it said would only be achieved as a united family. Speaking during the inauguration of the local government…

Preesident Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of qualified Nigerians to the Board of the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation CREDICORP. Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale, in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, said that the appointment was to further expedite the process of expanding consumer credit access to Nigerians. According to the statement, Otunba Aderemi Abdul, an Independent Non-Executive Director, has been appointed as the board chairman of the nine-member board, while Engr. Uzoma Nwagba is appointed as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer. Mrs. Aisha Abdullahi is appointed as the Executive Director (Credit,…

The Kaduna Citizens Watch for Good Governance (KCWGG), a group, has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent and Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) over the N423 billion allegedly misappropriated by the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-rufai and his officials. While addressing a press conference on Wednesday, the Chairman of KCWGG, Comrade Victor Duniya said the petitions requested for immediate investigations, arrests and prosecutions of El-rufai and his appointees who were involved in alleged mismanagement, siphoning, and some illegal financial and administrative activities while he governed the State for eight years. While reacting to questions…

A bill for the creation of Adada State passed its first reading on the floor of the Nigerian Senate on Tuesday. The bill, which has been cited as the “Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Alteration) Bill, 2024 (SB. 482)”, seeks to amend Section 3(1) and the First Schedule, Part 1 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to provide for the creation of Adada State to bring the number of South-East states to six to be at par with the other geopolitical zones of the country. The bill was sponsored by Senator Okey Ezea, representing…

The House of Representatives has warned the former National Vice Chairman (North-West) of the All Progressives Congress, Salihu Lukman, to desist from what it called his needless criticism of the National Assembly, and instead speak to issues of national importance. The House warning came on the heels of a statement issued by Lukman on Tuesday, July 2, in which he branded the 10th Assembly as a failure. Lukman in the statement said, “Partly because of the faint or almost complete absence of courageous voices in the National Assembly, the President and the members of the executive body of government are…

The Senate on Wednesday, July 3, blamed the recent suicide bombings in Gwoza town in Borno state on failure of intelligence on the part of security forces. Senate president, Godswill Akpabio disclosed this in his contribution to the debate on a motion on the incident sponsored by the chief whip of the Senate, Mohammed Ali Ndume, during plenary. Ndume in his lead debate identified Mandara Mountains, Sambisa Forest and the Lake Chad region as the remaining terrorists’ havens. The Senate in its resolutions urged the Federal Government to direct the military to re-think its conventional strategies in fighting insurgency and…

UEFA said Wednesday it had opened a probe into Turkey defender Merih Demiral for celebrating a goal in the team’s 2-1 win against Austria at Euro 2024 with an allegedly ultra-nationalist salute. The tournament organiser said in a statement it was investigating the player for “inappropriate behaviour” during Tuesday’s knockout game in Leipzig. The gesture, which Demiral made to the crowd after scoring his second goal of the game, is associated with Turkish ultra-nationalist group Grey Wolves. Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Wednesday condemned the Turkish player’s goal celebration. “The symbols of Turkish right-wing extremists have no place in…

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed that the issue of releasing Nnamdi Kanu was not part of his discussion with the South East governors in Enugu State, on Tuesday. The former President and Chief Emeka Anyaoku met with the governors on their own invitation to discuss regional development issues, and the purported plan release of Kanu by the federal government was not part of it. A release by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, on Wednesday, stated that the regional development issues include that of security and infrastructure. Others were economic and cooperative/collaboration, which was meant to complement the…