Author: David Great

The Senate will vote on Thursday on the N2.18 trillion 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Bill, which was sent to them by President Bola Tinubu. Tinubu’s request, which was read aloud in the Senate during plenary on Tuesday, was given prompt attention. The bill’s budgetary provisions were debated, passed for a second reading, and the Committee on Appropriations was charged with interacting with the heads of concerned agencies for defence on the suggestions presented. The committee, chaired by Senator Solomon Adeola of the All Progressives Congress, Ogun West, met with the heads of the seven affected agencies until late Wednesday night and…

Israel hit Gaza’s largest refugee camp with renewed air strikes Wednesday, prompting UN rights officials to warn that targeting densely populated residential areas “could amount to war crimes.” Bombs struck the Jabalia camp for a second time in two days, pulverising buildings and, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, killing dozens of people. AFP witnessed extensive damage at the scene, with people frantically clawing through rubble to extract bloodied casualties. Israel said its fighter jets had carried out the strike, targeting “a Hamas command and control complex” and “eliminating” an undefined number of militants. Rescuers said “whole families” had died,…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, executive chairman, Ola Olukoyede has directed that sting operations at night time be stopped in all the Commands of the EFCC. The directive by Olukoyede is in line with the newly-reviewed procedures on arrest and bail of suspects. He gave the directive in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital on Wednesday, November 1, 2023 in reaction to the arrest of 69 suspected internet fraudsters by operatives of the Ibadan Zonal of the Commission in Ile-Ife, Osun State. Many of the suspects duly profiled by the EFCC have been released, while profiling of suspects yet un-released will…

Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has reviewed guidelines on arrest, bail and processing of suspects. The review which was premised on the need to adhere to rule of law and international best practices in the treatment of suspects, was rolled out on Monday, October 31, 2023 across all its Commands. In the new guideline, premium attention is focused on the rights of suspects, especially where arrest, detention and bail issues are concerned. Operational activities are to be tailored towards relevant provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the Administration…

A Rivers State High Court in Isiokpo Division, Ikwerre Local Government Area, has granted an interim injunction prohibiting the Rivers State House of Assembly and Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, from taking any move regarding the impeachment of the state Governor, Siminalayi Fubara. Governor Sim Fubara filed the ex parte motion earlier on Wednesday through his counsel, Damian Okoro (SAN). The restraining order was also issued on the Deputy Speaker, Dumle Maol, the Clerk of the House, and the Chief Judge of the State, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi. ‘Rivers not your inheritance’, Dele Momodu blasts Wike Presiding Judge, Justice Ben Whyte, made…

The leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, on Wednesday accused Israel of committing “massacres” in the Gaza war to cover its own “defeats”. Haniyeh, whose Islamist group launched the bloody October 7 attacks on Israel that sparked the Gaza war, accused Israel of “committing barbaric massacres against unarmed civilians”. “Its villainy will not save them from resounding defeat,” he vowed in a speech broadcast by Al Jazeera. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Wednesday that 3,648 children are among 8,796 people killed in Israeli strikes since the war erupted. The weeks of Israeli bombardment and a more…

The Senate has confirmed the appointment of Shaakaa Chira of Taraba State as the Federation’s Auditor General. Chira’s confirmation came immediately after the Upper Chamber examined him on Wednesday. On October 20, President Bola Tinubu accepted Chira’s nomination as substantive Auditor-General of the Federation, as proposed by the Federal Civil Service Commission. The Senate also confirmed the appointment of seven of President Tinubu’s candidates as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs). Etekamba Umoren is from Akwaibom; Mister Isha Ehimeakne is from Edo; Barrister Oluwatoyin Babalola is from Ekiti; Mister Abubakar Ahmed is from Gombe; Shehu Wahab is from Kwara; Aminu Idris is…

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Kogi State Command, has stated that 3,000 troops will be deployed, in addition to other security agencies, to ensure protection for the next governorship election. Ahmad Gandi, the Kogi state commandant, revealed this on Wednesday when updating press on the agency’s actions since his appointment. He stated that the command had finalised preparations to provide appropriate coverage and that no stone would be left unturned to guarantee a smooth election. Gandi stated that throughout his time in the state, he was able to prosecute 24 cases and achieve more than 90% of convictions.…

Dele Momodu, the Director of Strategic Communications for the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Council, criticised the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, on Wednesday for acting as if he owned Rivers State. Rivers State is neither your property nor inheritance, the celebrity publisher stated this in a post on his on X (previously Twitter) handle. Momodu had previously lauded the former Rivers State governor for the implementation of infrastructure projects during his tenure. He, however, stated that Wike had many flaws, among which were his lack of anger management and his forgetfulness that God has been kind to him.…

Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, Bala Mohammed, led his colleagues to meet with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, in Abuja on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the political situation in Rivers State. Mohammed attended the meeting with Governors Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau, Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa, and Kefas Agbu of Taraba. The governors agreed on the mediation meeting with Wike following their meeting on Tuesday night. Tinubu intervenes in Rivers crisis, meets Wike, Fubara The Forum decided to meet with the FCT minister in order to resolve differences between him and his…