Category Archives: Featured

PDP: We remain united, strong in spite defections – Gov Fintiri

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Gov. Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa says the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) remains united and strong in spite of recent defections of some  governors and key members of the party to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Fintiri, who is the Chairman of PDP Committee for 2025 National Convention,  said that the party remains a formidable political institution capable of reclaiming power in 2027.

The Adamawa governor, who spoke to newsmen in Ibadan on Thursday, after inspection of the Lekan Salami Sports Complex, proposed venue of the PDP convention slated for Nov. 15 and Nov. 16, affirmed confidence in the strength and unity of the party.

Read Also: PDP postpones 103rd NEC meeting

He maintained that the upcoming convention would demonstrate the party’s resilience, internal democracy, and readiness to offer Nigerians a credible alternative in the next general election.

Fintiri expressed satisfaction with the level of preparation, and thanked Gov Seyi Makinde of Oyo State for his support.(NAN)

BREAKING: Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa resigns from PDP

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Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, has resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

His Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, confirmed the governor’s exit.

Diri, who announced this on Wednesday at the Executive Council Chamber in the Bayelsa State Government House, did not state the political party he will be moving to.

The governor said he left the opposition party for “very obvious reasons.”

Read Also: Eradiri sets agenda for Diri’s defection to APC 

“Today, I have formally resigned my membership of the Peoples Democratic Party for very obvious reasons.

“I am grateful to all my friends and supporters who have stood by us and with us, and I want to thank all of you. Together, we will continue to build a strong, virile Bayelsa State and a strong and virile country by extension.”

His decision was backed by 23 members of the House of Assembly, led by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Abraham Ngobere.

Diri’s defection came 24 hours after his Enugu State counterpart, Peter Mbah, dumped the party for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

As of the time of filing this report, Governor Diri has not yet declared his next move.

Tinubu congratulates EFCC Chairman Olukoyede on birthday

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has extended warm felicitations to the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Olanipekun Olukoyede, on his birthday, describing him as a courageous and reform-driven public servant committed to cleansing Nigeria of corruption and financial crimes.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, the President praised Olukoyede’s professionalism and steadfast dedication to strengthening the EFCC’s mandate of combating economic and financial offences.

President Tinubu noted that since his appointment, Olukoyede has shown exceptional zeal and integrity in implementing key reforms that enhance transparency, accountability, and efficiency in governance.

Read Also: Tinubu appoints Rinsola Abiola as CLTC DG

The President particularly commended the EFCC boss for setting up a special task force on currency offences to address naira abuse and the dollarisation of the economy, as well as for developing a strategic framework to tackle cybercrime and economic sabotage.

According to Tinubu, these initiatives have helped restore public confidence in the EFCC and align with his administration’s commitment to economic stability and institutional renewal under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

While celebrating Olukoyede’s achievements, the President prayed for God’s continued guidance, strength, and wisdom for the EFCC chairman as he leads Nigeria’s foremost anti-graft agency.

“President Tinubu prays that Almighty God will guard and guide the EFCC chairman and bless his determination to free Nigeria from the economic ills that have tied us down for ages,” the statement added.

Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd prays court to void its deregistration by CAC

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Malabu Oil & Gas Limited has urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to make an order declaring its deregistration by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) as null and void.

The oil and gas company, which is said to be jointly owned by Mohammed, son of former Head of State, Late Gen. Sani Abacha, and others, had been enmeshed in boardroom crisis.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Malabu, in the originating summons marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/2137/2025, had sued CAC as sole defendant for allegedly deregistering it over alleged failure to file its annual returns.

The company, in a fresh suit filed by its lawyer, Reuben Atabo, SAN, prayed the court to make an order restoring its name to the register of companies in the country pursuant to Section 692(6) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020.

Atabo equally sought “an order of perpetual injunction, restraining the defendant (CAC) from further deregistering and/or striking off the name of the plaintiff from its register.”

He sought a declaration that having regard to the fact that the affairs, management and control of the plaintiff are subjudice and currently being contested in different courts, “it is improper in law for the defendant to purport to strike off plaintiff’s name from the register of companies in Nigeria pursuant to the provisions of Section 692(3) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020.”

The senior lawyer listed the various cases to include matters in suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/51/2010 in which CAC was a party before Justice Gabriel Kolawole, suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/14/2017, suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/816/14, charge no: CR/151/2020 and charge no: FHC/ABJ/CR/268/2016.

Abacha, in the affidavit he personally deposed to, said he was one of the subscribers to the Memorandum and Article of Association of the company at the time of incorporation, as well as one of its present and subsisting directors.

He said he had the consent of the Board of Directors of the company to depose to the affidavit.

He said that sometime in 1998, he along with two persons incorporated the Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd with the CAC and was issued with RC NO: 334442.

According to him, at the time of incorporation in April 1998, myself, Kweku Amafagha, and Hassan Hindu, Wakili Adamawa, are the original directors and shareholders of the plaintiff.

“That upon incorporation, the company applied to the Federal Government of Nigeria through the then Department of Petroleum Resources for allocation of Oil Block.

“That upon duc consideration, Oil Processing License 245 otherwise known as OPL245 was granted to the company by the then Minister of Petroleum Resources on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

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“That sometime in September 1999, during the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the security agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria arrested and detained me for a period of about three years, i.e September 1999 to September 2002 after which I was released from custody.

“That during the period of my incarceration, certain alterations were made at the company’s registry of the defendant wherein my shareholding and directorship were altered without my consent and approval,” he said.

Mohammed said between 2005 and 2011, he instructed his lawyer, Atabo, to write to CAC on those purported alterations of shareholding as well as directorship.

He said upon the failure by the CAC to rectify those alterations, he commenced an action at the Abuja Federal High Court before Justice Kolawole who has been elevated to Appeal Court in suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/51/2010.

He said in the midst of different cases filed in courts, the CAC neither informed Malabu that the caveat it placed on its file which prevented the filing of annual returns had been lifted nor did the defendant publish in any national daily newspaper, a notice that it would strike off or de-register the company before the purported strike off.

Mohammed said he was duly informed by his lawyer that the action of the CAC was in contradiction with Section 692(3) of CAMA, 2020.

“That the purported de-registration or striking off of the name of the plaintiff by the defendant from the companies register, is unlawful, illegal, null and void,” he said.

“That the refusal of the reliefs being sought for in this suit, would occasion a grave prejudice to the plaintiff.

“That the defendant will not be prejudiced by the grant of the reliefs being sought by the plaintiff,” Mohammed averred.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the matter as at the time of filing the report.

(NAN)

Borno leads as INEC online pre-registration hits 7.4m

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 The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has recorded a total of 7,415,760 online pre-registration in the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) with Borno taking the lead with 783,546 registrants.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the commission released the data in its regular update on the exercise.

NAN reports that the exercise began on Aug. 18 nationwide.

The update also revealed that as at Oct. 12, a total of 1,502,733 Nigerians have successfully completed both online and physical Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) within the seventh week of the exercise.

For the online pre-registrations, out of the 7,415,760 total registration 3,877,330 representing 52.28 per cent were female, 3,538,430 representing 47.72 per cent were male.

Of the total online pre-registrants 5,095,056 were youths between the age of 18 and 34; while 1,873,848 were students and 168,680 were Persons With Disabilities (PWDs).

In terms of state by state registration, while Borno is leading with 783,546, followed by Osun with 632,751, Lagos with 590,341, Kebbi with 557,778, and Kaduna with 471,375 registrants.

Read Also: Absence of INEC witnesses stall proceedings at Edo governorship tribunal

For the completed registration for week seven from Oct. 6 to Oct. 10, the update revealed that from the 1,502,733 registrants, 878,715 completed their registration form pre-online and 674,018 were from physical registration.

The data also shows that form the completed registration female account for 828,563 registrants representing 55.14 per cent, while male account for 674,170 representing 44.86 per cent of the completed registration.

In terms of occupation, students accounted for 507,097, representing 33.74 per cent, followed by business owners with 279,384 at 18.59 per cent and house wives at 223,903 representing 14.90 per cent.

The statistics also show that 21,244 PWDs, constituting 1.41 per cent of the total, were successfully registered during the week.

Also for the week seven indicates that Lagos State recorded the highest number of completed registrations with 78,128, followed by Kano State with 82,703, and Oyo with 43,165.

INEC reminded the public that all forms of registration, both online pre-registration and physical, remain suspended in Anambra until after the Governorship Election scheduled for Nov. 8.

(NAN)

PDP postpones 103rd NEC meeting

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has postponed its 103rd National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 15.

The National Publicity of the Party, Debo Ologunagba, in a statement on Monday in Abuja said that the postponement of the NEC meeting to a new date would be communicated to members in due course.

Read Also: Osun senator Francis Fadahunsi dumps PDP 

Ologunagba said that the postponement was approved by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) at its emergency meeting on Monday in view of recent developments in the party.

He added that the NWC took the decision exercise of its powers pursuant to Section 29 (2)(b) of the Constitution of the PDP (as amended in 2017).

“All NEC members should please note the postponement and be guided accordingly,” Ologunagba said.

(NAN)

Shettima, Akpabio, Abbas, others storm Enugu as Mbah, others, set to join APC

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Enugu State’s capital city is agog as all is now set for Gov. Peter Mbah and his political appointees to join the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Tuesday.

Mr Uche Anichukwu, the Senior Special Assistant to Mbah on External Relations, stated this in a statement on Tuesday in Enugu.

According to him, to receive Mbah into the party are the Vice President, Sen. Kashim Shettima; President of the Senate, Sen. Godswill Akpabio and Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr Tajudeen Abbas.

Others are the APC National Working Committee (NUC) led by the National Chairman of the party, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, governors as well as ministers, federal lawmakers and appointees, among others.

Anichukwu quoted various critical segments of the state as well as Ohanaeze Ndigbo to have thrown their weight behind Mbah’s decision to move into the APC.

He said that the former Chairman of the party in the state, Mr Augustine Nnamani maintained that PDP had itself to blame for precipitating the mass exodus from the party in Enugu State.

The chairman said that the party “mistreated and betrayed the people of the South East” and Gov. Mbah by its failure to recognise Udeh-Okoye as the National Secretary in line with established tradition in the party.

“The PDP chose a few people in Abuja over and above the South East. Mbah has exited as spelt out in their region’s communique in May to leave the party if its choice was not respected,” he added.

He regretted that the crisis in the PDP and injustice to the region had cost the party one of the best performing governors presently in Nigeria and reduced the PDP from controlling the five South East states to losing everything.

Read Also: Why our party rejected Adeleke’s alleged defection plans, by Osun APC

The governors aide added that Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Enugu State Chapter, equally applauded Mbah, “for taking the bold step of joining the ruling APC”.

According to him, this decision is both thoughtful and timely, considering the compelling need to attract more federal government projects to Enugu State.

He said the statement signed by Ohanaeze’s Vice President General representing Enugu State, Prof. Fred Eze and the National Treasurer, Dr. Peter Aneke, the apex Igbo socio-cultural body, reiterated its commitment for the zoning arrangement in the state.

“We remain committed to upholding the long-standing zoning tradition for the office of the Governor, in the spirit of equity, fairness, and justice in Enugu State,” the statement read.

Anichukwu also quoted the Chairman, Enugu State Traditional Rulers Council, Igwe Samuel Asadu, saying that Mbah had earned national acclaim and the trust of the people by his “trailblazing performance and grassroots-oriented development in the last 26 months.

“Therefore, the traditional rulers and people of Enugu State have absolute trust in his judgement. We wish him the best as he chats this new political course because it is rooted in the good of Enugu State. it is all about the people.

“The Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Enugu State chapter, Mr Okechukwu Edeh, expressed the readiness of the people to move in the direction of the governor.

“As we have said earlier, Gov. Peter Mbah is the political party Enugu State knows today. Besides, we believe that this is a wise decision.

“When it was stated earlier that we would chart a new political course when our voices no longer counted in the other political party,” ALGON chairman stated.

(NAN) 

I take responsibility for Abuja-Kaduna train derailment, says NRC MD

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The Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Kayode Opeifa, has taken full responsibility for the Abuja-Kaduna train derailment that occurred on Tuesday.

Opeifa, who spoke on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, assured Nigerians that the ongoing investigation into the incident would be transparent.

“Let me say, beyond apologising to Nigeria, I want to say as the managing director and chief executive, I take full responsibility. And in the case of safety, there is no indifference.

“Once it happens, the chief executive must take responsibility. In this case, I am taking responsibility,” Opeifa said. 

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The NRC boss further stressed that while the derailment should not have happened, measures were being put in place to prevent a recurrence.

“I want to assure Nigerians that an incident like this is not expected, is not prayed for, should not be happening, but where it does, it is to bring out the best in us.

“And I assure Nigerians that just as we are doing currently on the Warri-Itakpe, which he (the analyst) also mentioned, we shut down the Warri-Itakpe (route) three weeks ago.

“I ordered the shutdown for safety reasons, and if you see the level of work the men have been doing on the track, cutting it off and replacing it is to make sure things like this don’t happen,” he added.

The derailment occurred on Tuesday along the Kaduna corridor shortly after the train departed Abuja at about 11 a.m. en route to Kaduna.

Passengers described the scene as chaotic, with many scrambling to safety.

US court jails Osun monarch Oba Joseph Oloyede for $4.2m COVID-19 relief fraud

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A United States District Court has sentenced the Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, to 56 months in prison over a multimillion-dollar COVID-19 relief fund fraud.

The sentence was delivered on Tuesday, August 26, by U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.

Oloyede, 62, a dual U.S.-Nigerian citizen who lives in Medina, Ohio, was also ordered to pay $4,408,543.38 in restitution, forfeit his Medina home purchased with fraud proceeds, and surrender $96,006.89 seized by investigators. He will serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.

Prosecutors said Oloyede led a conspiracy that exploited emergency loan programs created to assist pandemic-hit businesses.

“From about April 2020 to February 2022, Oloyede and his co-conspirator, Edward Oluwasanmi, conspired to submit fraudulent applications for loans made available through the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) under the CARES Act,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Read Also: Court remands five over alleged murder

Investigators said the monarch, a tax preparer, operated five businesses and one nonprofit, while Oluwasanmi owned three entities. Using these, they filed falsified applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL).

“Oloyede caused the SBA to approve 38 fraudulent applications, amounting to $4,213,378 in disbursed loans and advances,” prosecutors said.

Authorities added that Oloyede also filed fraudulent applications for some clients, taking 15–20% of their loans as kickbacks without reporting the income to the IRS. The funds were spent on personal items, including land purchases, home construction, and a luxury vehicle.

Oluwasanmi, 62, of Willoughby, Ohio, was sentenced in July to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution.

The investigation was conducted by the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, the FBI Cleveland Division, and IRS-Criminal Investigations, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward D. Brydle and James L. Morford.

No deadline extensions for visa processing, others for 2026 Hajj – NAHCON 

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 The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has appealed to all stakeholders to strictly comply with the timelines set by the Saudi Arabian authorities for the 2026 Hajj operations.

The commission urged the stakeholders to make early preparation as there will be no deadline extensions for visa processing, payments or contractual agreements.

NAHCON’s Commissioner of Operations, Prince Anofiu Elegushi, said this in a statement issued by its Principal Information Officer, Malam Shafii Mohammed, in Abuja on Thursday.

Elegushi said this at the Post-Hajj Stakeholders’ meeting with Licensed Tour Operator Companies in Abuja.

The commissioner issued a strong caution to stakeholders to strictly follow the official Saudi Hajj calendar and make early preparations.

“The Saudis have made it very clear — the dates on their calendar will not be extended by even a minute.

“Gone are the days when you could beg for extra weeks to process visas. For 2026, if the portal closes today, it closes today,” Elegushi said.

He reminded stakeholders of the 2025 experience, where many intending pilgrims assumed that Saudi authorities would grant extensions but missed deadlines and consequently lost participation slots.

Elegushi also reflected on the unexpected challenges during Arafat 2025, calling the experience a valuable lesson for the upcoming season.

Read Also: NAHCON announces fare for 2025 hajj

“What happened in 2025 has given us insight and direction. We must learn from it, plan better, and work faster.

“The Saudi system has changed, and we must adapt quickly,” he said.

Speaking on the financial preparations, Prince Aliu AbdulRazaq, NAHCON’s Commissioner for Policy, Personnel Management and Finance (PPMF), briefed participants on refunds, pending complaints and payment processes.

AbdulRazaq urged licensed tour operators to make timely payments for all Hajj-related obligations, noting that Saudi authorities will not grant extensions for contractual agreements or visa processing in 2026.

The Chairman/CEO of NAHCON, Prof. Abdullahi Usman, expressed appreciation to the state pilgrims’ welfare boards, private tour operators and service providers for their immense contributions to the success of the 2025 Hajj operations.

Usman also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government, which enabled Nigerian pilgrims to perform Hajj with dignity, comfort and peace of mind.

“The commission is committed to collaboration, fairness and transparency. But the same time, we expect total compliance from all stakeholders as we work together to improve service delivery and meet global best practices.”

Similarly, Commissioner Planning, Research, Statistics, Information and Library Services (PRSILS), Prof. Abubakar Yagawal commended tour operators on their successful outing and conduct during the 2025 Hajj. P

Yagawal also called for continued cooperation with the commission by all stakeholders, and urged intending pilgrims to ensure early payment and preparations for an improved 2026 Hajj experience.

(NAN)