Author: Festus Adeloye

The Federal Government on Friday said it is negotiating with the leadership of the National Assembly to broker peace over the recent suspension of the Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. “We’re engaging all the stakeholders to ensure that they temper justice with mercy,” the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Iman Suleiman-Ibrahim, told State House correspondents during a Meet-the-Press Programme at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Her comments come barely 24 hours after the 10th Senate suspended Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months. The lawmaker had submitted a petition alleging she had been sexually harassed by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio. Akpoti-Uduaghan first…

The Federal Government has set December 2025 as the deadline for completing the Petroleum Technology Development Fund Centre for Skills and Development Training in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The centre, which has been under construction since 2011, is designed to train low- and middle-level manpower in various vocations relevant to the oil and gas industry. The Minister of State for Petroleum (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, issued this directive during an inspection of the facility, emphasising its importance in equipping young people with valuable skills. Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the inspection on Friday, Ekpo noted that the project is…

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has successfully secured a total of 95 years in prison for four convicted drug kingpins—Ogbuji Christian Ifeanyi, Iloduba Augustine Chinonye, Shuaibu Nuhu Isa (a.k.a Don), and Zidon Zurga—for trafficking cocaine and skunk worth over N4.6 billion. The Federal High Courts in Lagos and Yola, Adamawa State handed down the sentences following separate convictions. NDLEA operatives arrested Ogbuji Christian Ifeanyi at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, on September 18, 2024, during an inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines passengers arriving from Addis Ababa. He was caught importing 817 wraps of cocaine, weighing 19.40…

Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide has expressed concern over claims by truck drivers that their members were being attacked in various parts of the South-East. The Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, had earlier in the week expressed concern over the alleged attacks on drivers of trucks conveying goods from the North to the South-East by suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB. According to ACF, the killing of the drivers and the destruction of their vehicles constituted a serious threat to national security that could lead to the breakdown of law and order and anarchy.…

Following the expiration of the 48-hour ultimatum issued to the chairman and commissioners of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) to appear before it, the Rivers House of Assembly has given them another 72 hours to do so.  The lawmakers reached the resolution during plenary in Port Harcourt on Friday. The move followed a request brought by one of the lawmakers Enemi George. This was deliberated with the House voting to extend the ultimatum to Monday, 10th March to enable Justice Enebeli, who is the RSIEC chief, and other officials, to appear before them. The House had proposed to…

Chairman of the disbanded Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) says former Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai has every reason to feel embittered over his non-clearance as a ministerial nominee by the Senate  in 2023. He however said only President Bola Tinubu can explain why El-Rufai was dropped from the list. Speaking last week during an interview on Arise TV, El-Rufai had said President Bola Tinubu who pleaded with him to come and work with him to sanitise the electricity sector, simply “changed his mind on the nomination” but used the non-clearance by the senate as…

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday quizzed the immediate-past Minister for Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy Ohanenye, for her alleged roles in the misappropriation, violation of procurement process and diversion of public funds of ₦138.4m in the course of disbursing the 2023 budgeted funds for the Ministry. According to authoritative sources, the ex-minister arrived at the Commission’s headquarters around 11am on Thursday and faced interrogators on her alleged involvement in the fraud. The sources claimed that investigations by the EFCC showed that funds donated for the funding of P- Bat Cares for Women Initiative were diverted…

A renowned Nigerian novelist and writer, Mabel Segun, has passed away at the age of 95. The demise of the tennis champion, broadcaster, and diplomat was announced by her family in a statement late Thursday. According to the statement, Segun, a retired administrator, died in the early hours of Thursday. The statement added that her funeral arrangements will be announced later by the family. “It is with gratitude to God for a life well spent in the pursuit of excellence in Literature, Broadcasting and Sports that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, grandmother and great grandmother, Mabel Dorothy…

The Special Adviser and a Consultant to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on Communications and Strategy, Ken Okolugbo, has blamed the tension between his principal and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan in the Senate on pent-up anger. Okolugbo claimed that the seat arrangement controversy which pitted the Senator representing Kogi Central against the Senate President was made worse by Natasha’s bottled-up anger for her removal as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Content. “The fact of the matter was that her seat was removed and there was already bottled-up anger because she was removed from the local content committee,” Okolugbo…

Human rights activist, Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman, widely known as “Revolutionary Alfa,” has passed away in a motor vehicle accident along the Abeokuta-Sagamu road in Ogun State.  He was 53 years old at the time of his death. Sulaiman was reportedly travelling to Ibadan on Tuesday, when the vehicle he was in, was involved in a fatal crash. At the time of his passing, he served as the Executive Chairman of the Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ) and as the Chairman of the Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEOS). A devoted follower of…