Security operatives have thwarted an alleged assassination attempt on Odianosen Okojie, husband of actress Mercy Johnson.
Okojie, the federal lawmaker representing the Esan
North-East/Esan South-East constituency in Edo, was said to have been attacked
by armed men suspected to be political thugs at his residence in Uromi on
Friday morning.
The attackers were said to have invaded the lawmaker’s
residence with a Lexus GX 470 carrying a Rivers state vehicle registration
number.
In a statement on Friday, Michael Ihaza, the media aide to
Okojie, said the armed thugs disguised as police officers and “claimed to be on
appointment”.
Olumide Akpata, the Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Edo, says Peter Obi’s endorsement of his candidacy is “worth its weight in gold”.
Akpata spoke in an interview on Arise Television on
Thursday.
The Edo governorship election is billed for September 21.
On Wednesday, Obi implored the Edo electorate to vote Akpata
as their next governor. He added that if elected, the former president of the
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) would deliver the needed change.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has demanded that corrupt politicians be jailed for their misconduct, arguing that “thieves cannot provide just governance”.
On Thursday, the 87-year-old statesman spoke virtually at
the memorial lecture of Denis Joseph Slattery, the late cleric, in Lagos.
In his speech titled ‘the imperative for moral rectitude in
governance,’ Obasanjo said the most important demand of anybody involved in
governance at any level is “accountability”.
He stressed that government officials with “questionable”
integrity cannot make fair decisions for the greater good.
The National leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Rabiu Kwankwaso, said his intention to be President is to rescue Nigeria from the present economic quagmire.
Kwankwaso made this revelation during a visit to the Osun
State Party Secretariat, at the weekend, stressing the need to make state
chapters vibrant for easy and effective administration.
He also said the party would strengthen its state chapters
in its bid to wrestle power from the All Progressives Congress, APC, in 2027.
This is contained in a statement by the State Party
Chairman, Dr Tosin Odeyemi on Friday.
Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, says he remains loyal to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, dismissing rumours of him joining the All Progressives Congress, APC.
A social media report had gone viral containing an electronic flex banner with the governor’s image suggesting his defection to the APC.
Responding in a statement, the Director of Press and Public Affairs to the Governor, Gyang Bere, described the reports as misleading.
According to him, the governor firmly upholds the party’s values and the trust placed in him by the people of Plateau State who overwhelmingly elected him in the 2023 elections under the PDP.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a defection suit instituted against the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Ezenwo Wike.
The suit seeking to replace the 27 lawmakers on account of their alleged defection from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) was on Friday thrown out on various grounds.
Among others, Justice Peter Lifu who delivered the judgment held that the suit instituted by the Action People’s Party APP was statute barred having not been filed within 14 days allowed by law.
While the defection was said to have been carried out in December last year, the APP filed the case on July 12, a period of 8 months after the cause of action emanated.
Ola Aina has said he is open to discussing a new long-term contract with Nottingham Forest.
Aina will become a free agent at Forest next summer but the Tricky Trees are keen to secure him to a longer contract.
“All I can say is I am really happy at Forest. Fantastic club, I feel at home and we’re just building,” he told BBC Radio.
“I’m building, the club’s building. Let’s just see what happens in the future.”
Some civil society groups have cried out over the large number of awaiting trial inmate’s in Nigeria’s correctional centres.
The groups, during the Cvil Society Organisations meeting in Adamawa State, hosted by the Public & Private Development Centre (PPDC), noted that about 70 percent of inmates are awaiting trial.
Stressing that the rise in the number of pre-trial inmates was alarming, they disclosed that as at December 2023, more than 53,000 inmates were awaiting trial across 253 correctional centres in Nigeria.
“The growing number of pre-trial detainees, many held for years without trial under dire conditions, poses significant human rights concerns, overwhelming the justice system and correctional facilities,” the PPDC said in the message signed by the PPDC Head of Communications and Knowledge Management, Munachi Okoro.
PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc (PZCN) says it has not received any formal notification of divestment from PZ Cussons Plc, its parent company.
PZ Cussons on Wednesday said the company plans a partial or
full sale of its African subsidiaries.
The manufacturer of personal healthcare products said the
sale will reduce its exposure to naira fluctuations.
According to PZ Cussons, the board has received multiple
interests for the sale.
The Edo Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in the September 21 (tomorrow) governorship election in the state, Anugbum Onuoha, has called on political parties in the state, to come forward with incriminating evidence against his competence.
Onuoha is a cousin to the Minister of the Federal Capital
Territory, and immediate past governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike.
Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily
on Friday, Onuoha said he is competent enough to conduct a free and fair
election in Edo State, urging political parties to disregard allegations of
likely favouritism peddled against him.
Recall that Edo PDP chairman, Tony Aziegbemi had
asked the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to redeploy Onuoha
over ties with Wike.
Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, says the federal government had “exited” servicing its debts through ways and means.
Edun spoke on Thursday at the 2024 Access corporate forum,
themed, ‘Nigeria’s Economic Rebirth: Hopes and Implications’.
His statement comes days after the Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN) said it would sustain its ways and means advances to the federal
government at a 5 percent limit for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
Ways and means is a loan facility through which the CBN
finances the federal government’s budget shortfalls.
The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Friday, vowed to fish out the producers and distributors of Crystal Meth, popularly known as Mkpuru Mmiri in the Southeast.
IPOB condemned the production and distribution of the dangerous and damaging illicit hard drugs in Umuaka, Orlu Province in Imo State.
Emma Powerful, the spokesman of IPOB, said the group’s intelligence unit discovered about 10 factories producing the dangerous drugs in Umuaka town, Orlu Province in Imo State.
A statement by Powerful reads: “The attention of the Directorate of State of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has been drawn to the dangerous and damaging illicit hard drugs manufacturing businesses going on at Umuaka, Orlu Province in Imo State under the protection and cover of the zoo Government and their security agencies.
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has urged Christian couples never to allow spiritual responsibilities to replace conjugal duties to each other.
Adeboye gave this advice while speaking about the importance of maintaining romance in marriages.
Adeboye, in a post on his official X handle, said that he and his wife, Foluke, still nurture their love with pet names whenever they are alone.
He stressed that anointing does not reduce romance, adding that marriage is the only institution where romance and intimacy are allowed between a man and a woman.
On May 6, the apex bank directed all commercial, merchant,
non-interest and payment service banks, mobile money operators, and payment
service providers to charge a 0.5 percent cybersecurity levy on electronic
transfers.
The CBN later withdrew the directive on May 20, essentially
suspending the proposed cybersecurity levy on electronic transfers.
However, reports had claimed that the apex bank reinstated the levy, quoting the CBN’s “Monetary, Credit, Foreign Trade, and Exchange Policy Guidelines for the Fiscal Years 2024-2025”.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has implored candidates,
political parties, and supporters to respect the democratic process and the
people’s choice during the Edo governorship election.
The election will hold on Saturday, September 21.
Tinubu’s appeal was contained in a statement issued by Bayo
Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy.
The president said he believes in the ability of voters to
make informed choices.