AMID the escalating crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party, the National Working Committee has called for an emergency meeting, following a deadlocked session between PDP governors, party leaders, and the Independent National Electoral Commission. A reliable PDP source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to lack of authorisation, told The PUNCH that the NWC is scheduled to meet today (Wednesday). According to the source, INEC advised the party to consult its members, its constitution and other documents to resolve its internal disagreements. The PDP Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, while addressing journalists after the meeting with INEC, stated that…
Author: Farouk Abbas
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THE Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has announced the arrest of 26 persons suspected to be masterminds of the killings in Yelwata, Benue State. Addressing a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday, the IGP said the police were on the heels of other suspects who participated in the Yelwata killings that led to the death of 47 persons. He assured Nigerians that the police are not overwhelmed as they are mopping up light and small weapons illegally acquired by some persons. Egbetokun added that the police is also intensifying its border patrols in order to curtail the influx of…
THE Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has identified hunger and poverty as serious social challenges that are largely responsible for the continuous national security threats being experienced in the country. General Musa stated this in Abuja on Monday at the 14th National Security Seminar organised by the Alumni Association of the National Defence College. The Chief of Defence Staff, who was represented by the Chief of Defence Training at the Defence Headquarters, Rear Admiral Ibrahim Shetimma, called for a unified national approach to combating hunger and poverty in addition to timely reporting of suspicious movements. “Insecurity is no…
THE Senate has directed the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to raise its revenue target for 2025 from six to 10 trillion naira, citing the urgent need for enhanced enforcement and surveillance amid rising smuggling and insecurity challenges across the country. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Customs, Isah Jibrin, stated this on Monday when the NCS’ Deputy Comptroller General Jibo Bello appeared before the committee for its budget defence. The tariff policy of the government became the crux of the matter as the committee identified gaps, frowning upon the lack of enforcement of a 4% freight on board (which…
HAJIYA Rabi Idris ( Hajiya Umma), mother of Daily Trust Editor- in-Chief, Malam Hamza Idris, is dead. Confirming Hajiya Rabi’s death, one of her sons, Aminu Idris, said she passed away in the early hours of Monday 23rd June, 2025, at her residence in Kano, after a brief illness. Burial arrangement will be held at 11:00am at Wali Maigeza Cemetery, popularly known as Kofar Mazugal Cemetery, in Kano metropolis. More details soon…
AFTER more than two decades, former employees of the defunct Nigeria Airways will receive their pensions, as the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has facilitated the long-awaited approval of their pension benefits. This development marks a significant milestone in Nigeria’s aviation history, ending a prolonged struggle that began after the national carrier shut its doors on September 30, 2004. Many of the affected Nigeria Airways staff have since passed on, while others lived in despair, waiting for justice and compensation. The approval was announced during a gathering at the Secretariat Headquarters of the Air Transport Services Senior…
A FEDERAL High Court in Abuja has expressed displeasure over the failure by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to comply with its order directing the anti-graft agency to vacate one of the houses seized from former Petroleum Resources Minister, Diezani Allison-Madueke. Justice Musa Liman, in a ruling on Friday, held among others, that it was disrespectful of the court for the EFCC to disregard the court’s earlier order directing it to vacate the property – House 6, Aso Drive, Asokoro, Abuja – only to return to the same court for an order staying its said order pending appeal.…
THE immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has bagged a Lifetime Achievement Award on Media Empowerment by the national body of the Nigeria Union of Journalists. The award was bestowed on him on Saturday, at the 70th anniversary of the Union and book presentation held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, in Abuja. A former President of the NUJ, who represented Kogi West Senatorial District in the 9th National Assembly, Senator Smart Adeyemi, received the prestigious award on behalf of the former governor. The honour, according to the President of the Nigeria Union Journalists, who signed former…
THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 43-year-old female make-up artist, Adekoya Adebukonla Mary, after 2.20 kilograms of cocaine were discovered factory-fitted in the walls of her bag. In a statement by the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, the agency said Adekoya, who claimed to be travelling to India for fibroid surgery, was arrested by its operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos. It said the suspect was arrested on Monday, June 16, 2025, based on credible intelligence. It explained that under surveillance, Adekoya was allowed to check in…
NO fewer than five people have been killed by a suspected explosion involving a military-grade mortar bomb in Kano. 15 others sustained varying degrees of injuries. This newspaper reports that the incident, which occurred in the early hours of Saturday, caused panic in the affected area and drew emergency responders to the scene, including security personnel and medical teams. The State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, who arrived at the scene shortly after the explosion, said the blast may have originated from a military ordnance believed to have been improperly handled or transported. “I received a call that something…
THE Minister of Works, David Umahi, has ordered the immediate deployment of ministry officials and engineers from China Harbour Operations and Maintenance Company to restore and find a lasting solution to persistent flooding on the Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi road, after torrential rains disrupted traffic and forced President Bola Tinubu to cancel his visit to Yelwata, Benue State. The President was expected in the town on Wednesday to sympathise with grieving residents following the killing of over 100 persons, but his convoy was halted by a flood that rendered the road impassable. Umahi, who described the incident as “embarrassing,” blamed the private concessionaire…
A TOTAL of 542 senior Non-Commissioned Officers retired from the Nigerian Armed Forces on Thursday after 35 years of service. The retirement ceremony, held at the Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre in Oshodi, Lagos, included 362 soldiers from the Nigerian Army, 134 from the Navy, and 46 from the Air Force. Speaking at the event, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, represented by Major General Aligbe Obhiozele of TRADOC, praised the retirees for their dedication. Obhiozele stated, “Today we celebrate your courage, discipline and selfless service to our great nation. Your 35-year journey embodies the finest military…
THE Federal Government through the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has raided the Abuja office of Contact Tele-performance Company (TLC), a visa support outfit, and sealed the premises following alleged consumer rights violations as well as assault on security officers by agents of the centre. The Director of Surveillance and Investigations, Mrs. Boladale Adeyinka, who led the enforcement team to the business premises, explained that the commission was left with no option but to seal the business premises as a result of these infractions. She also alleged that FCCPC enforcement agents were assaulted by persons acting on the…
KOGI Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has been arraigned before Justice Chizoba Orji of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court for alleged defamation. The lawmaker was arraigned on Thursday by the Federal Government on three counts bordering on alleged defamation of Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello. Security operatives are visible around the court, with the proceeding attended by the lawmaker’s husband, a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili; activist Aisha Yesufu; and numerous supporters. The government accused the Senator of “making imputation knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm…
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested a former Speaker of Plateau State House of Assembly, Moses Sule, alongside 14 former lawmakers over allegations of money laundering and abuse of office. EFCC Spokesperson Dele Oyewale disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja. The commission’s spokesman said the suspects were arrested by operatives of the EFCC’s Makurdi Zonal Directorate on Tuesday, following petitions from concerned citizens in the state. Oyewale explained that the former legislators allegedly violated the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and were also implicated in procurement irregularities. He explained…
AN EFCC’s witness, Offure Achille, on Tuesday, admitted that the name of Ali Bello, the Chief of Staff to Gov. Usman Ododo of Kogi, did not feature in any of the bank transactions in the ongoing money laundering trial. Achille, the Head of Operations at Access Bank branch between 2015 and 2023 in Lokoja, Kogi, told Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja during cross examination by Bello’s counsel, Abubakar Aliyu, SAN. The witness, who said he had no personal interest in the case, agreed that she gave a testimony as part of her official assignment. She…
ACTING National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ambassador Ilyas Umar Damagum, has refuted reports he is plotting to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He attributed the reports to desperate and determined political foes, asserting he was not pursuing a secret deal towards defecting to the APC. “It is my detractors,” Damagum asserted in a response to The Nation’s text message requesting clarifications over the alleged plans. He was alleged to be secretly plotting to dump PDP once his tenure as acting chairman expires at the party’s national convention scheduled for August 28-30, 2025. But in a…
JUSTICE Halilu Yusuf of the Federal Capital Territory High Court on Monday granted bail at ₦2 billion to a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele. Justice Yusuf granted the bail after Emefiele was arraigned on an eight-count charge in which he is accused of among others, unlawfully acquiring a housing estate comprising 753 units, allegedly stealing and taking control of billions of naira in proxy accounts. The court gave Emefiele 72 hours to fulfill the bail conditions, warning that failure to do so will result in him being remanded in custody. In the ruling, Justice…
THE Nigeria Police Force has announced the recovery of several vehicles stolen in Abuja and smuggled across borders to Ghana and Niger Republic, following coordinated international operations with INTERPOL. In a statement issued on Saturday by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the police said the operations were executed through the INTERPOL National Central Bureau Abuja, in collaboration with its counterparts in Accra and Niamey. Adejobi said a key recovery was a Toyota Prado (2020 model), stolen during a robbery incident in Abuja, which was later traced to Accra, Ghana. The statement read, ”Operatives of the INTERPOL NCB Abuja,…
THE National Drug Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a businessman, Ezemokwe Chukwuebuka Christian, at the Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA), for ingesting 53 wraps of cocaine, while on his way to Tehran Khomeini, Iran. This came barely two weeks after operatives of the NDLEA at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) Kano, intercepted a 60-year-old businessman Chinedu Leonard Okigbo heading to Iran with 65 pellets of cocaine in his stomach. Spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday in a statement in Abuja, said that Ezemokwe, 44, was arrested on Saturday, 7th June, while trying to board Qatar Airways…