Author: Drum Africa Correspondent
The 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has accused President Bola Tinubu of further entrenching Nigeria and its citizens in poverty while feeding them with wrong statistics. In a statement he posted on his X page on Monday, Peter Obi stated that under Tinubu’s leadership, Nigeria has become one of the world’s hungriest nations. The Labour Party leader recounted how Tinubu, as a presidential candidate in the 2023 election campaign, chastised him for regularly using statistics. Obi, on the other hand, said that Tinubu, after taking power, is now circulating false figures regarding Nigeria’s economic status in order to…
President Bola Tinubu has assured the Super Falcons of a befitting celebration upon their return from Morocco, where the team won the WAFCON title for a record-extending 10th time on Saturday. The Super Falcons staged a stunning comeback at the Olympic Stadium in Rabat, recovering from two goals down to beat hosts Morocco 3-2 and claim the 2024 title. Morocco took an early lead courtesy of the tournament’s highest goal scorer, Ghizlane Chebbak, in the 12th minute, and doubled their advantage when Sanaâ Mssoudy found the back of the net in the 24th minute. Nigeria responded with a spirited second-half…
Idris Inuwa, assistant national secretary for the north-west zone of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), says Nasir el-Rufai, former Kaduna governor, is not a member of the party and cannot speak on its behalf. Speaking at a press conference on Friday in Kaduna, Inuwa said El-Rufai is not on the party’s membership register and has never been assigned any role. “It has come to our attention that Malam Nasir El-Rufai has taken it upon himself to appear in various fora, including policy dialogues and stakeholder meetings, purporting to speak for the SDP.” “Let this be made unequivocally clear: el-Rufai is…
Ondo State Governor, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, has expressed confidence that the emergence of Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, as the national chairman of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), would pave the way for President Bola Tinubu’s overwhelming victory in the 2027 general elections. Prof. Yilwatda was nominated and unanimously endorsed as National Chairman by members of the National Executive Council of the party on Thursday in Abuja. In a congratulatory message on Friday, Aiyedatiwa described Prof. Yilwatda’s emergence as the new national chairman as a signal to re-engineer and reposition the party for greater success. The governor, in the message released…
A group of pensioners under the aegis of the Concerned Retirees of Abia State Hospitals Management Board (HMB) has appealed to Governor Alex Otti to urgently intervene in the payment of their 15-month unpaid salary arrears, inherited from the previous administration. The group acknowledged that while the arrears were not incurred by the current government, Governor Otti had earlier assured that the debts would be paid in tranches—a process that has since begun. Speaking on behalf of the group, spokesperson Ifeanyi Mbanefo lamented that despite repeated appeals and formal letters to the Office of the Accountant General and the Nigeria…
The Presidency has dismissed claims by the 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, that the North has been neglected under President Bola Tinubu’s administration. The presidency also stated that several critical projects and programmes are currently underway in the region. Kwankwaso, during a stakeholders’ dialogue on the 2025 constitutional amendment in Kano on Thursday, warned that national resources are increasingly tilted towards the southern region, resulting in deepening poverty and insecurity across the North. He lamented the deplorable condition of federal roads in the northern states, recounting how a cancelled flight forced him to…
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, CFR has applauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR for allocating $3 billion for the completion of the Eastern Rail line. It will be recalled that the House of Representatives during its Wednesday plenary session approved the President’s request for the funding of the project. The project is seen as a vital component of the government’s efforts to drive economic development and improve the lives of people from the South East and Nigeria generally. While commending the President, the Deputy Speaker in a statement said that the Eastern Rail…
Anambra State governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, has appointed Mr. Joachim Achor, an indigene of Abia State as the Accountant General of Anambra State. This appointment marks a decisive departure from the longstanding tradition of reserving top government positions exclusively for state indigenes. Achor first came to Anambra as a student in search of academic opportunity. Upon graduating from the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, he was deployed to Anambra State for the mandatory one year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme. During his service year, he earned distinction as the best corps member in the state, a feat that earned him the…
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has reportedly shut down a warehouse in Kano after finding a large amount of dangerous chemicals that can be used to make explosives. NAFDAC officials found the warehouse on Wednesday in the Kwakwachi area of Fagge Local Government, following a tip-off and inspection by NAFDAC enforcement officials. It contained 60,000 litres of sulphuric acid and 28,560 litres of nitric acid, along with 330 empty jerricans. The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who was represented by Dr. Martins Iluyomade, described the find as “mind-boggling” and said this was one…
A former Senate minority leader Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe has described the threat and restriction of movement imposed on the former governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, by the governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebolo, as a direct challenge to Nigeria’s unity and a brazen attack on the nation’s constitution. The lawmaker, who is also the Chairman of the South East Senate Caucus, warned that the Governor of Edo State lacks the constitutional authority to infringe upon any citizen’s rights and may, by doing so, have recklessly triggered a divisive trajectory that could harm Nigeria’s democratic progress. In a…