Author: Festus Adeloye

“I hear you also visited Nyesom Wike. I try not to talk about Wike. I say so because he is my subordinate, I try not to talk about him but I hear you visited him”. Why I won’t talk about him is that Nyesom Wike, his second tenure as Obio Akpor Council Chairman was by the grace of God but I was the architect of that second term. Nyesom Wike was appointed Chief of Staff by me. Nyesom Wike as a Minister of State, I nominated him. I was under pressure by the President to drop him, I refused. The…

Former Super Eagles coach, Christian Chukwu is dead. Chukwu, a former Super Eagles player, reportedly passed away early on Saturday, April 12, 2025, between 9 am and 10 am. He was 74. Emmanuel Okala, who also played for the Nigerian national team, confirmed the news to Segun Odegbami, a former teammate of Chukwu. Odegbami, who won the 1980 Africa Nations Cup with Chukwu, said: “I just received the news that between 9:00 and 10:00 this morning, ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu, MFR, my bosom friend and teammate, one of the greatest football players in Nigeria’s history, has passed on. Babuje, Emmanuel Okala,…

Arne Slot has said Mohamed Salah’s dedication combined with Liverpool’s determination to improve next season will maintain the forward’s phenomenal output for two more years. Salah ended uncertainty over his Liverpool future on Friday by signing a new two-year contract that should mean he completes a decade at Anfield. The agreement followed months of negotiations between the player, his agent Ramy Abbas Issa and Liverpool’s sporting director, Richard Hughes, and concludes a saga that at one point prompted a frustrated Salah to claim he was “more out than in”. No financial details have been disclosed but the 32-year-old has not taken a…

The Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has scheduled the state council election for July 12. Mr Tope Ojo, LASIEC’s Head of Public Affairs, who made this announcement on Friday in Lagos, revealed that the election for 57 council chairmanship positions and 376 councillor seats will take place on July 12. The notice added that if necessary, a re-run will occur on July 19. Lagos State comprises 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs). LASIEC’s notice confirmed that the election will include 20 Local Governments, 37 LCDAs, and 376 wards. The commission has officially launched the electoral process…

As part of ongoing efforts to ensure a successful 2025 edition of the Pan-African Drum Festival, a high-level delegation comprising Prince Segun Akanni, Convener of the Pan-Afrikan Drum Festival in Canada, Prince Julius Ojo, Founder of Julicare Foundation, and Mr. David Oyedele paid a strategic visit to the Nigerian High Commission in Ottawa, Canada. The team was warmly received and guided to the Head of the mission by the Minister Counsellor/Head Of Chancery, Ms. Rose Yakowa.  The Ambassador, HE Abba Zanna-Kawu, Charge’ D’ Affaires ai, alongside another senior minister at the Commission, Mrs Joy Adeniran, Minister, Political, and Consular hosted…

The United States has opened discussions with President Bola Tinubu on expanding economic cooperation across Africa as part of efforts to deepen trade, investment, and development ties on the continent. This was disclosed following a meeting on Thursday between President Tinubu and U.S. State Department Senior Advisor for Africa, Massad Boulos, in Paris, where the Nigerian leader is currently on a short working visit. According to a statement posted Friday on the official X (formerly Twitter) handle of the U.S. Mission in Nigeria, and shared by President Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the talks also touched on key…

Afreximbank has disbursed a total of $50bn in Nigeria over the past decade, making significant contributions to the country’s key sectors, including energy, manufacturing, healthcare, transport, and financial services. The President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, Prof. Benedict Oramah, disclosed this during the commissioning of the Afreximbank Africa Trade Centre in Abuja on Thursday. Speaking at the event, Oramah highlighted the bank’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s development, pointing out that these investments have been crucial in expanding the non-oil sectors of the economy. He noted that $19bn of the total amount disbursed had been invested in…

Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has urged the Rivers State Administrator Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas (rtd) to halt the appointments of Local Government Administrators and reconstitution of state boards.  The rebuke follows a Federal High Court order by Justice Adamu Muhammed, barring Ibas from appointing sole administrators to oversee the 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state. Despite the ruling, Ibas proceeded to appoint administrators and reconstitute boards of agencies, commissions, and parastatals, sparking accusations of executive overreach. Justice Muhammed’s ruling explicitly prohibited Ibas from making appointments. However, the retired Naval…

The Sole Administrator of Rivers, Ibok-Ete Ibas, has refuted reports that his administration is set to recruit 10,000 people into the state’s civil service. The development comes following reports on Thursday that the state had begun mass recruitment of graduates and non-graduates. According to the reports, the approval was granted by Ibas and the recruitment was announced by Ibibia Worika, secretary to the state government. Countering the reports, the acting head of the Rivers State Civil Service, Inyingi Brown, called the information false and misleading. He urged members of the public to ignore the notice, adding that it did not…

A helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in New York on Thursday, killing all six people onboard, including the pilot and a family of Spanish tourists with three children. The sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair and crashed upside down into the Hudson River between Manhattan and the New Jersey waterfront shortly after 3pm ET, leading to a huge response from emergency crews. Videos posted on social media showed the aircraft mostly submerged, upside down in the water, and rescue vehicles crowding on to the streets on shore as emergency workers raced to save those onboard. At the scene of…