President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is expected to send his list of ministerial nominees to the National Assembly next week, sources have confirmed. The list has been a subject of speculation for weeks as Nigerians and other political stakeholders have tried to obtain insight into figures that will form the president’s cabinet and help drive his Renewed Hope agenda. Several figures have been put forward as possible nominees, while some media outlets have reported that the list has arrived at the Senate for affirmation. However, sources in the Presidential Villa told PODIUM REPORTERS today, Thursday, that the list is not expected…
Author: Albus Dauda
Mr Rasaq Salinsile, the Chairman of Rauf Aregbesola’s disbanded faction of the Osun state chapter of the APC, has been appointed as the Chairman of the Teaching Service Commission by the PDP Governor of the State, Ademola Adeleke. The news of his appointment became public yesterday when the governor announced portfolios for his Commissioners, many of whom emerged from his immediate family, including nephews and cousins. Salinsole’s new role has fuelled suspicion of a collaboration between Adeleke and the former governor of the state, Rauf Aregbesola, who remains estranged from his party after attempts to block the re-election of erstwhile…
David Hundeyin’s ordeal at the Harare airport in Zimbabwe was due to his attempt to enter the country on questionable refugee travel documents and without a visa, officials have confirmed. The blogger, recently axed from Oxford University over sexism and an unsanctioned commercial deal with a fake professor, was detained for several hours by airport security in the Southern African country on Wednesday night. He was nabbed after checks revealed that he had no visa to enter the country and his passport, issued by Ghana where he is seeking refuge from feared lawsuits in Nigeria over defamatory reports, raised questions…
David Hundeyin, a controversial blogger recently booted from Oxford University over sexism and unauthorised commercial activities, has been detained by airport security in Harare, Zimbabwe. He was arrested and detained after checks revealed that he was travelling with fraudulent documents in a bid to evade visa checks, reports say. David, who is wanted in Nigeria by multiple parties for various infractions including defamation, has accused the security agencies of keeping him in detainment without any formal charge or explanation. Nigerians have called for the blogger’s extradition back to the country to face trial for the spread of dangerous fake news…
The proscribed terror group, IPOB, has continued its terror campaign in the eastern part of the country after Peter Obi’s public support of the group with a statement absolving it from the criminal actions perpetrated in the region and for which its leaders have claimed responsibility. Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the last election, insisted that IPOB could not be blamed for the attacks owing to a denial issued by a faction of the group months back. But his statement, which came after intense backlash from the public over his silence, was met with condemnation as many queried…
State governments across the country are expecting a surge in monthly allocations from the Federal Government following a report that the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) is preparing to share N1.959 trillion, a record in the history of the country. The amount represents a three-fold increase of the N786.161 billion and N655.93 billion shared in the months of May and June respectively. The unprecedented spike providing states with greater fiscal strength to finance development is due to the termination of the fuel subsidy regime which hitherto sucked the country’s revenue and left little for investments in development as well other…
The Federal Government has scrapped plans to distribute monthly cash of N8,000 to 12 million households as part of efforts to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal, PODIUM REPORTERS can reliably report. Sources in the Villa confirmed the development to this publication today, citing concerns over the ability of the cash distribution to meet the administration’s goal of supporting the poor in the country grappling with the resultant price spike following the termination of the corrupt subsidy regime. Instead, the administration is set to increase the country’s minimum wage, a longstanding demand of Nigeria’s Labour Union. The increment…
Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last election, does not know how old he is. The astounding confusion came to light with his recent exhortation to his followers not to celebrate his 62nd birthday due on Wednesday, July 19. But in a similar statement issued days before his birthday in 2013, exactly ten years ago, Peter Obi claimed that he was clocking 50 years of age. A simple mathematical progression of age 50 from 2013, which was ten years ago, should see him celebrate age 60 this year. However, his claim of 62 has caused confusion…
As the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal prepares to pronounce a verdict on the contention of the losers of the 2023 presidential election that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s victory be overturned, it has become evident that the petitioners, notably Obi of the Labour Party, are hinging their success on the embrace of a flippant argument that voters in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory are given special status by the Nigerian constitution. Obi, likewise Atiku, is arguing that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s failure to claim 25% of the vote count in FCT Abuja, despite his overwhelming majority in more than 2/3rd of the…
Bring Back Our Girls Campaigner, Obiageli Ezekwesili, has offered a roundabout explanation for her silence on rampant IPOB killings in the southeast with a widely-mocked claim that her lack of powers as the country’s Commander-In-Chief renders her incapable of addressing the issue. In a tweet published last night, she fired back at those demanding that she addresses the illegal restrictions violently enforced by the proscribed secessionist group in her home state, demanding that they hand her “the office (of the president) so I can urgently, decisively and effectively tackle the degenerate state of insecurity in the South East.” But her…