Author: Farouk Abbas

THE Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday ordered the remand of Mr. Jesam Michael, Chief Executive Officer of Afriq Arbitrage System (AAS) Limited, at the Kuje Correctional Centre over alleged involvement in a multi-million-dollar investment fraud. Justice Obiora Egwuatu gave the order following Michael’s arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a seven-count charge bordering on money laundering, advance fee fraud, and operating financial services without a valid license. Ruling on Michael’s bail application, Justice Egwuatu denied the request, citing the severity of the allegations, weight of evidence, and the growing number of petitions from victims…

HUMAN rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has warned the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, not to contemplate sealing 34 embassies and foreign missions said to be owing ground rents in the nation’s capital city Abuja. “Embassies and missions cannot be invaded because they have not paid ground rent, which is not applicable for all of them,” the senior advocate said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday monitored by News Point Nigeria. The Wike administration in the FCT had published the details of 9,000 debtors in newspapers, asking them to pay their ground rents to avoid…

SEVEN people were killed on Sunday when a motorcycle struck an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) allegedly planted by suspected Lakurawa insurgents in Tangaza Local Government Area of Sokoto State. The victims, who were returning from a Sallah celebration in Gwabro village, were travelling on motorcycles when one of them struck the explosive device. The IED was reportedly planted beneath a tree commonly used as a rest point by military personnel during operations in the area. According to local sources, six men died instantly, while one of the two injured girls succumbed to her injuries the following day. Confirming the incident,…

LAGOS State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Sunday, dismissed a rumoured rift with President Bola Tinubu, saying it is a father-and-son affair. Sanwo-Olu stated this shortly after he met with the President at his Bourdillon residence in the highbrow Ikoyi area of Lagos. He met with the president alongside the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), the highest decision-making body of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos. There have been rumours of a perceived rift between the president and the governor, especially after the controversial removal of Mudashiru Obasa as Lagos speaker and his eventual reinstatement. Sanwo-Olu’s conspicuous absence from the flag-off…

THE Federal Government has declared Thursday, 12th June, 2025, as Public Holiday to commemorate this year’s democracy day celebration. The Honourable Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government, congratulated Nigerians on this occasion of 26 years of an uninterrupted civil rule. This was contained in a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Interior Ministry, Magdalene Ajani, and released on Sunday. “June 12 represents our historic journey to building a nation where truth and justice reign and peace is sustained and our future assured,” the statement quoted the minister as saying.…

THE Republic of Ireland has deported no fewer than 35 Nigerians, including five children, to Nigeria in a chartered flight that departed from Dublin Airport on Wednesday night. According to the Irish Mirror, the returnees, comprising 21 men, nine women, and five children, landed in Nigeria on Thursday. Irish Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, said he was “happy to say” that all of them returned to Nigeria despite an unscheduled stopover due to a medical incident on board. While the Irish government did not give a specific reason for the deportation of the Nigerian nationals, O’Callaghan only said, “Ireland has…

A FORMER Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Mohammed Uwais, is dead. He was aged 89. His family confirmed his death. The retired jurist died on Friday, June 6, 2025, in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city. Born on June 12, 1936, Justice Uwais served as the Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1995 until his retirement in 2006. After retiring from the Supreme Court, he was appointed by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to lead the Electoral Reform Committee, where he played a key role in efforts to improve Nigeria’s electoral system. Uwais chaired a commission that published a much-publicised report on…

FORMER President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday congratulated his friend and course mate in the military, Major-General Muhammadu Iliyasu Bashar who secured a Supreme Court victory following a 20-year battle for the throne against a deposed emir, Major Haruna Jokolo (retd.) “I hope you will continue to promote peace, happiness, and prosperity of the people in Gwandu Emirate and beyond,” a statement by Buhari’s spokesman, Garba Shehu, quoted the ex-president as saying in a phone call. The statement is titled ‘In a phone call, ex-president Buhari welcomes stunning SC victory of Emir of Gwandu.’ In the telephone call from London where…

FORMER President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has said disinformation played a significant role in the Nigerian Civil War (1967 to 1970). Obasanjo stated this at the sixth edition of the Annual Nigerian Civil War Symposium organised by the Army War College Nigeria (AWCN), yesterday, in Abuja. He said the theme of the symposium, “The Role of Disinformation in the Nigerian Civil War”, was germane, especially in this era of asymmetric warfare. According to him, disinformation, propaganda, psychological warfare and propagation of false narratives are means through which a weaker force attempts to discredit a superior force in asymmetric wars. “The same strategy…

GOVERNOR Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State has outlined reforms undertaken in the state’s healthcare sector, with a focus on strengthening primary healthcare delivery since assuming office in 2019. The governor spoke as a panellist alongside Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates at the 2025 Goalkeepers event hosted by the Gates Foundation in Lagos on Wednesday. Yahaya highlighted increased immunisation coverage, wider access to care, and improved infrastructure as key markers of progress. “Today, immunisation coverage has improved to around 50 percent, and access to primary healthcare has risen to between 40 and 45 percent. In addition, we now have the required infrastructure…

FORMER Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has disclosed why he made Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, his Chief of Staff, during his time as Governor of Rivers State. Amaechi said he appointed Wike his Chief of Staff instead of Commissioner for Finance so he could monitor him closely. Earlier, Wike had dismissed Amaechi’s remark, “We’re all hungry”, made during his 60th birthday celebration last week, claiming the former Rivers governor is not hungry for food, but for political relevance. But Amaechi also disputed Wike’s imputation that he was instrumental to him (Amaechi) becoming governor, stressing that…

THE Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Joseph Utsev, on Tuesday, cleared the air that no water release from Kainji and Jebba Dams caused the flooding and deaths in Mokwa, Niger State. Utsev made the statement during a press conference held in Abuja on Tuesday where he said the cause was basically by lack of adherence by people in the state to flood warnings. He said, “The Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation extends its heartfelt sympathy and solidarity to the government and the good people of Niger State, especially the affected communities in Mokwa, who have experienced losses,…

BANDITS have released Yakubu Dada, who was abducted alongside his youngest wife, Lami, along Kontagora Road in Niger State on October 31, 2024. Dada was reportedly freed on Monday, June 2, 2025, after his family paid an additional N20 million ransom, bringing the total amount paid to N30 million. The kidnappers had initially collected N10 million in November 2024 but later demanded an additional N20 million and four Bajaj motorcycles, threatening to kill Dada if their demands were not met. Tragically, in early May, the bandits killed his wife, Lami, to pressure the family. This newspaper reported that Yakubu Dada,…

Directs NMDPRA To Remit To FERMA THE Ad-hoc Committee constituted by the Nigerian House of Representatives on Monday, began an investigative public hearing on the implementation and remittance of the 5% user’s charge on pump price of Petrol and Diesel. The FERMA Act, 2007 provides for a 5% user’s charge on the pump price of petrol, diesel and of which 40% will accrue to FERMA and 60% to be utilized by the established State Roads Maintenance Agencies. The Ad-hoc Committee had earlier invited the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and other stakeholders…

THE Federal Government has warned Abuja automobile dealer, popularly known as Alamin Sarkinmota, against taunting civil servants in the country about their inability to acquire most of the cars he put up for sale in his advert videos. This was disclosed by the National Orientation Agency in a letter signed by its Director-General, Lanre Issa-Onilu, on Monday. According to Onilu, the agency is not pleased with the recent advert put up by Sarkin-Mola in a video to promote a Mercedes Benz 2023 C300 with Artificial Intelligence functionalities, where he asked the question “Can civil servants afford you?” and the AI…

SENATE President Godswill Akpabio has advised second-term governors to be circumspect in selecting their successors. According to the Senate president, governors who settle for successors simply because they kneel before them might be setting themselves up for betrayal when they finally leave office. The former Akwa Ibom governor stated this on Saturday at the commissioning of the first 30 kilometres of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway in the Lekki area of Lagos. Akpabio stressed the place of vision in leadership, urging second-term governors, especially those in the All Progressives Congress (APC), to prioritise visionary leadership over patronising loyalty. The event was…

AT least 150 million Nigerians have been affected by insecurity, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, said on Friday. Ribadu disclosed this in Abuja during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the National Counter Terrorism Centre and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. The agreement aims to promote agribusiness and livelihood empowerment for communities impacted by terrorism and violent extremism. Ribadu said insecurity had had a devastating impact on agriculture, which remains the primary occupation for most Nigerians. He said, “Insecurity is the biggest problem we are facing in all sectors but the biggest victim of insecurity is…

TROOPS of Operation Hadin Kai have killed 60 insurgents in a fierce overnight encounter in the Bita area of Borno State. The Nigerian Army, in a statement on Friday, described the operation as “decisive and coordinated”. It said the attack started around 1:09 am on Friday when the insurgents assaulted troops of the 26 Task Force Brigade, noting that a land and air assault obliterated the terrorists. “In a decisive and coordinated operation, gallant troops of Operation Hadin Kai launched a simultaneous land and air assault on terrorist positions in Bita, Borno State, in the early hours of today,” the…

AS President Bola Tinubu celebrates his second year in office, a report by Amnesty International Nigeria seems to cast a shadow on celebrations, as it shows that at least 10,217 people have been killed since he assumed office in 2023. The human rights organisation stated that the deaths were caused by attacks from gunmen, bandits and other armed groups, with Benue, Edo, Katsina, Kebbi, Plateau, Sokoto and Zamfara affected. It said Benue State accounts for the highest death toll of 6,896, followed by Plateau State, where 2,630 people were killed. The organisation said the failure of the Nigerian government to…

ONE hundred thousand serving and former councillors of the All Progressive Congress (APC) under the umbrella of the National Progressive Councilors’ Forum (NPCF) are billed to gather in Abuja to endorse President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the Forum’s National Convention scheduled to take place in July this year. This is disclosed in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by the National Organising Secretry of the Forum, Rt. Hon. Waziri Umar, to “affirm loyalty to Mr. President of Nigeria, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu and endorse him to continue in 2027.” The statement reads, “The National Progressive Councilors’ Forum (NPCF) wish…