Vice President Kashim Shettima has ordered accelerated action on the deployment of 112 as Nigeria’s single national emergency number. According to Leadership newspaper, the Federal Government has directed stakeholders to design a comprehensive operational roadmap for nationwide rollout. A committee comprising the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) was constituted to finalise the roadmap and standard operating procedures for endorsement by the National Economic Council (NEC). Speaking at the stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja, Shettima urged the committee to base decisions on global best practices. He stressed the…
Author: Abiola
… Former Vice President’s American spouse received millions through shell companies while couple claimed ignorance of funds’ origins – US Senate Committee A U.S. Senate investigation has revealed that Jennifer Douglas Abubakar, wife of former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar, received over $10.4 million in wire transfers from offshore shell companies between 2000 and 2008, funds that investigators say included proceeds from bribery and corruption. The findings were published in a February 2010 staff report by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Senator Carl Levin, titled “Keeping Foreign Corruption Out of the United States: Four Case Histories.”…
The Benue State Government has denied knowledge of a visit by NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi, following reports that his convoy was blocked by youths in Guma LGA. Chief Press Secretary Kula Tersoo told Vanguard that neither Governor Hyacinth Alia nor the government was aware of Obi’s reported visit to Yelewata, a community where over 200 people were recently killed. Tersoo questioned why security agencies were not notified ahead of the visit, stressing that a presidential candidate requires adequate security coordination with the Police, DSS, and Civil Defence. He dismissed suggestions that the governor deployed youths to block Obi, saying…
NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi was blocked from visiting Yelwata, Benue State, on Tuesday to console victims of the June 13, 2025 massacre that claimed scores of lives. His team reported that armed thugs, allegedly sent by the state government, barricaded Boko Road near the Air Force Base. Obi’s photographer, Esther Umoh, shared videos showing stick-wielding mobs and stones being thrown at the convoy. Benue State NDC Publicity Secretary Agile Bem Ordedoo accused the APC of mobilising thousands of thugs to stop Obi from delivering relief materials worth billions. The Benue APC denied involvement, suggesting it might be the work…
The vice-presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Lawal Musa Daura, has declared that President Bola Tinubu can be defeated in the 2027 presidential election, asserting that he knows the President personally and is not intimidated by him. Daura, a former Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) who served under the late President Muhammadu Buhari, made the remarks on Monday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.Asked whether Tinubu could be beaten at the polls, Daura responded affirmatively: “Very well.”He argued that the current administration has made “several errors” that could create an opportunity for opposition…
The Oyo State Police Command has successfully dismantled a suspected child-stealing and human-trafficking network operating across Oyo, Ogun, and Delta States, rescuing no fewer than 17 children and apprehending seven key suspects. Commissioner of Police Abimbola Ayodeji Olugbenga revealed this significant breakthrough on Monday during a press briefing at the Command Headquarters in Eleyele, Ibadan. Interestingly, the investigation was initially set in motion by a petition alleging conspiracy, cyberbullying, threats to life, and defamation of character. However, it took a dramatic turn when detectives connected the case to the unsettling disappearance of three-year-old Ifakunle Ifagbenro, who vanished during a masquerade…
It has been Observed by international analysts and commentators that Karl Von Batten, a Washington-based lobbyist hired by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has deleted a social media post in which he claimed that US President Donald Trump appointed him as a commissioner to a White House presidential commission. The post, originally published on the verified X account of his firm – Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C. is no longer accessible. President Tinubu’s media aide, Sunday Dare, had already downplayed the announcement, clarifying that the appointment was actually to the Commission on Presidential Scholars – an education panel under the US Department…
A Kaduna businessman, Nasiru Musa Idris, has filed multiple criminal complaints against Islamic scholar Sheikh Ahmad Gumi and six others, alleging the wrongful detention of his Moroccan wife, Khadija Diab, for about 11 months. According to court documents seen by Podium Reporters, Idris legally married Diab in October 2024 after fulfilling all requisite formalities in Morocco and Nigeria. He claims the trouble began after he met Gumi at a pharmacy and later introduced his wife to him. Gumi allegedly insisted Idris obtain an additional marriage certificate from a Sharia Court, and then requested that his wife come for counselling due…
Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has declared he is “ready to die” for Nigeria, urging citizens to actively defend their votes ahead of the 2027 general elections. Speaking on Thursday at a town hall meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the former Anambra State governor insisted that securing credible elections cannot be left to politicians or electoral officials alone. He called on supporters not to be intimidated by threats, stressing that the objective must be to ensure Nigerians’ choices at the ballot box are respected. Responding to a supporter who expressed willingness to sacrifice…
Kaduna State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Sadiq Mamman-Lagos, has urged Northerners eyeing the presidency in 2027 to shelve their ambitions and wait until 2031, allowing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to complete his constitutional tenure. Speaking in an interview with journalists in Kaduna, Mamman-Lagos argued that the North should respect the political understanding that paved the way for Tinubu’s emergence. He recalled Tinubu’s role in supporting former President Muhammadu Buhari’s ambition despite his own presidential interest, stating the North should reciprocate by allowing Tinubu to complete his mandate rather than beginning another scramble for power. On electoral…