Author: darelasisi@gmail.com

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has described renowned playwright and novelist, Prof. Wole Soyinka, as a shining light of Nigeria whose influence transcends the Nigerian space. Celebrating Soyinka’s 90th birthday, Tinubu named the National Theatre in Iganmu, Surulere, Lagos after the Nobel Laurel winner. The theatre is now to be known as ‘Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts’. In a congratulatory message personally signed by the president on Thursday, Tinubu maintained that Soyinka deserves celebration, noting that he has been taking risks for the country since he was in his 20s. Tinubu also recalled Soyinka’s contribution to the…

A former spokesman for the Atiku Abubakar/Ifeanyi Okowa presidential campaign in the 2023 presidential election, Daniel Bwala, has asserted that President Bola Tinubu will soon reshuffle his cabinet. Bwala disclosed this in a statement where he lampooned Senate Chief Whip, Mohammed Ali Ndume, following his recent remark about the incumbent administration. Recall that during a BBC Hausa interview on Wednesday, Ndume mentioned that the federal government’s failure to tackle security problems and various other issues presents a significant obstacle. Ndume also pointed out that certain ministers are not able to have discussions with President Tinubu regarding these issues. “The major…

The presidency has tackled the 2023 Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate, Peter Obi over his silence to the Supreme Court’s judgement granting financial autonomy to local governments. President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, charged Obi to act like Atiku Abubakar by commenting on the epochal judgement and admitting that the president is making Nigeria great. Posting on his X page, Onanuga said a good opposition should be able to commend its opponent. He wrote: “Why is Peter Obi silent? “More than 36 hours after the Supreme Court gave a landmark ruling, granting financial autonomy to…

The Plateau State Government, on Friday, confirmed that a total of 22 victims lost their lives while 132 sustained injuries in the collapsed school building in Jos, the state capital. Naija News had earlier reported that Saints Academy, a secondary school in Jos, collapsed while students were writing their third term examination. The Commissioner for Information and Communication in the state, Musa Ashom, in a statement released in respect to the incident, said the casualty figure was as of 6 pm. The statement reads, “Current Situation as of 6:00 pm Friday evening, 154 people have been rescued from the debris. Sadly,…

The Chief Whip of the Senate, Mohammed Ali Ndume, on Friday, hailed the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for initiating a court action at the Supreme Court, which has now birthed a new financial regime for local government councils across the country. In its judgment, the apex court directed that local government allocations from the Federation Account should be paid directly to them, going forward. The Supreme Court declared that it was unconstitutional for state governors to hold onto funds meant for local government areas. In its lead judgment, read by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the highest court in Nigeria,…

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) and the Islamic Forum of Nigeria yesterday rejected the Samoa Agreement, asking the federal government to pull out from it. The CBCN urged the government to immediately propose amendments to the Samoa Agreement or withdraw from it, if such amendments were not accepted. The Islamic Forum of Nigeria, which  met at its headquarters in Kano, said the agreement “is in conflict with political, economic, religious and cultural rights of Nigerians.” The Catholic bishops, in a statement titled ‘Threats to the Sovereignty and Values of Nigeria in the Samoa Agreement’ and jointly signed by…

The Nigeria Police Command has dismissed an officer for refusing to report to his new station in Kaduna, where he was transferred from Cross River Command nine years ago. The officer, Corporal Buba Adamu was said to have promoted himself to the rank of superintendent and operated illegal activities in the Cross River Command. The spokesperson of the command, SP Irene Ugbo, made this disclosure at a press briefing in Calabar on Thursday. According to her, Adamu had operated as a “mobile police officer” without any supervision or reporting to a specific police command since 2015 when the transfer was…

The president of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero has said the meeting with President Bola Tinubu on the new national minimum wage on Thursday was not a negotiation. He stated this while addressing newsmen after the meeting. Ajaero explained that the meeting was not a negotiation, and the two figures of ₦250,000 and ₦62,000 remain on the table. According to him, what they had was a discussion, and they decided to talk about the amount and agree on real terms next week. Ajaero said, “In the real sense, it wasn’t a negotiation but a discussion and we have…

The Presidency has urged Nigerian State Governors to avoid seeing the Supreme Court judgment granting financial autonomy to the local councils as an affront. Naija News reported earlier that the apex court ruled that it is unconstitutional for state governors to withhold funds designated for local government administrations. The landmark judgement, delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, emphasized that this practice contravenes the financial autonomy rights of local governments and has persisted for over two decades. In the judgment delivered by a seven-man panel, Justice Agim ruled that the 774 local government councils in the country are to independently manage their…

The Sokoto State Governor, Ahmed Aliyu, has signed the amended Sokoto Local Government and Chieftaincy Law, which effectively strips the Sultan, Sa’ad Abubakar, of the powers to appoint district and village heads in the state. The law was signed by Governor Aliyu on Thursday along with five others after they were passed by the State House of Assembly. The Governor, however, denied insinuations that the local government and chieftaincy law was targeted at witch-hunting the Sultan, but rather to strengthen good governance in the state. He said those spreading contrary opinions are politically motivated or simply ignorant. “We note with…