Femi Fani-Kayode, Nigeria’s ambassador to South Africa, has vowed to drag Karl Von Batten before the courts, demanding no less than $100 million in damages over what he describes as defamatory claims. Von Batten is a United States-based lobbyist retained by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar. Fani-Kayode added that he will not stop at the money. He said he would also press for Von Batten’s extradition from the United States to Nigeria to answer for alleged violations of the country’s cybercrime laws. The ambassador issued the threats in a statement posted on X on Wednesday, responding to a planned $36 million…
Author: Abiola
A Federal High Court sitting in Gombe has nullified the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary that produced Professor Isa Ali Pantami as its candidate and ordered the party to conduct a fresh governorship primary in Gombe State. The ruling, delivered by Justice Amina Aliyu Mohammed, followed a suit filed by Usman Aliyu Garry, who challenged Pantami’s emergence as the PDP governorship candidate. Garry argued that the required primary election was not conducted after the party announced Pantami as its sole candidate on June 26, 2026. The court’s decision effectively nullifies Pantami’s ticket and directs the PDP to organise a…
Nigeria has just made a power play on the global mining stage, and Washington is all in. In a landmark move, Nigeria and the United States have signed a mineral investment agreement designed to crack open Nigeria’s estimated $700 billion solid minerals sector and pull serious American investment into the ground floor of a largely untapped industry. The framework was inked in New York by Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, at Nigeria’s Mission House on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly. It’s not just a…
Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has broken his silence on the apparent quiet from friends and former colleagues as he battles legal and political troubles, stating he bears no resentment toward those who have distanced themselves. In a statement titled “My Relationships and the Aftermath,” dated September 23, 2026, El-Rufai addressed concerns over the silence of individuals he had previously supported. He disclosed that he had stood by people and causes “at considerable personal cost,” guided by his Islamic faith, Arewa upbringing, and conscience not by expectations of praise or reciprocity. “Their reasons are their own, and I do…
A sweeping Premium Times investigation has unearthed a troubling pattern of suspicious financial dealings linking former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar and his ex-wife, Jennifer Douglas, to corruption allegations across multiple continents. The report, published on 23 September 2026, reveals that a recent International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration tribunal ruling in Paris is merely the tip of the iceberg, the fifth in a series of international cases spanning nearly two decades. On 17 September 2026, the ICC tribunal named Atiku in its final award concerning the stalled $5.96 billion Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project. The tribunal found that Leno Adesanya,…
Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso has declared that the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) will reintroduce fuel subsidy if it wins the January 2027 presidential election, calling President Bola Tinubu’s abrupt removal of the subsidy a “mistake” that plunged Nigeria into a “total mess, economically”. Kwankwaso, the NDC’s vice presidential candidate running alongside Peter Obi, made the declaration during an interview with Arise TV, insisting the party would not simply revert to the old regime. “We’re bringing back fuel subsidy in our own way. There are so many ways to do that,” he said, pointing to a model anchored on domestic refining capacity.…
The $200 million settlement in the Mambilla hydropower dispute is at the centre of renewed controversy, with former Attorney-General Abubakar Malami defending the payment as being in Nigeria’s interest while critics frame it as a trick played on then-President Muhammadu Buhari. The ICC tribunal held that the 2020 settlement between Sunrise Power and the Federal Government was a product of corruption from which Malami was to benefit. Malami denies this, insisting he acted in good faith and for the country, not for personal gain. Podium Reporters reported that the dispute centres on Sunrise Power and the federal government over the…
President Bola Tinubu has called on African nations to form a strong continental alliance to end the decades-long practice of exporting raw critical minerals, urging leaders to prioritise local processing, manufacturing and value addition so that the continent’s mineral wealth benefits its people rather than external markets. Speaking through Vice-President Kashim Shettima at the 3rd Africa Minerals Strategy Group High-Level Roundtable on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, the President said Africa can no longer afford to remain a supplier of raw materials to global industries while mineral-rich communities lack infrastructure, jobs and a…
A Kaduna State High Court has fixed October 26, 2025, to deliver its ruling on a no-case submission filed by former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, in the alleged wiretapping case brought against him by the state government. Justice Amina Bello fixed the date on Thursday after hearing arguments from both the prosecution and the defence counsel. El-Rufai, through his lead counsel, argued that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case linking him to the allegations, urging the court to dismiss the charges and discharge him. The prosecution, led by the state Attorney-General’s office, opposed the submission,…
According to the statement signed by Dele Alake, Spokesman of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, the APC has accused former Anambra State Governor and NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi of misrepresenting his fiscal record. The statement said Obi and his supporters spent years packaging his tenure as one defined by exceptional fiscal prudence, including the claim that he left Anambra without a debt burden. It said this has now emerged as a well-packaged lie. The statement alleged that the facade built around Obi has been torn to shreds after disclosures by the Anambra State Government, which responded to Obi’s challenge…