Author: Drum Africa Correspondent

Three members of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday announced their defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), further weakening the main opposition party’s presence in the lower chamber. The defectors are Taofeek Abimbola Ajilesoro (Ife Federal Constituency, Osun State), Omirin Emmanuel Olusanya (Atakunmosa/Ilesa Federal Constituency, Osun State), and Markus Onobun (Esan Central/Esan West/Igueben Federal Constituency, Edo State). Onobun, who was the only PDP lawmaker from Edo State in the 10th Assembly, said he was leaving the party due to persistent internal crises. He added that his decision followed…

Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has condemned what it called the “glaring exclusion” of qualified persons from the South-East and South-South in recent Federal Government appointments to the boards and top management of key strategic parastatals, including the Bank of Industry and other national agencies. The apex Igbo body warned that the pattern reflected “a gross compromise of national equity and the principles of Federal Character as enshrined in the constitution.” In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr Ezechi Chukwu, Ohanaeze said the affected agencies are “frontline drivers of national reforms and economic reinvigoration” and, therefore, must reflect Nigeria’s…

The wife of former Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, Judith Amaechi, has denied allegations that she received N4bn monthly from the Niger Delta Development Commission as alleged by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. Speaking through her media aide, Dr Dike Bekwele, in a statement on Tuesday, Mrs Amaechi challenged Wike to make public his version of the forensic audit report on the NDDC, where either she or her non-governmental organisation, Empowerment Support Initiative, was indicted. Wike, in an interview on Channels Television, had alleged that Mrs Amaechi was receiving N4bn monthly from the interventionist agency…

The suspended senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, says she will approach the appellate court for interpretation of the legal impasse between her and the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio. Akpoti-Uduaghan made this known while speaking with newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday after being refused entrance into the National Assembly Complex by security personnel. The suspended senator had on Tuesday defied a heavy security blockade and arrived at the national assembly complex on foot from the MOPOL gate, accompanied by a crowd of supporters. The lawmaker, whose suspension by the senate is being contested in court, parked her…

The Senate on Tuesday approved President Bola Tinubu’s external borrowing plan of over $21 billion for the 2025–2026 fiscal cycle, paving the way for the full implementation of the 2025 Appropriation Act. The comprehensive borrowing package includes $21.19bn in direct foreign loans, €4bn, ¥15bn, a $65m grant and domestic borrowing through government bonds totalling approximately ₦757bn. Also included was a provision to raise up to $2bn through a foreign-currency-denominated instrument in the domestic market. The approval followed the presentation of a report by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt, Senator Aliyu Wamako, who noted that…

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is set to commission the newly established College of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Kaduna (CPESK), later this month, following the granting of a provisional license for the institution to operate as a private postgraduate university. Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, disclosed this on Monday when he received the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Ahmad Galadima Aminu, on a courtesy visit at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House. Commending the President for his commitment to human capital development, Governor Sani emphasized the strategic importance of the new institution in transforming Nigeria’s energy landscape. “We…

Electricity generation companies, under the aegis of the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), say the Enugu Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (EERC) planned cut for Band A tariff will lead to further debt accumulation. In a statement on Sunday, the EERC said it had approved a new tariff for MainPower Electricity Distribution Limited, cutting the Band A rate from N209 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to N160/kWh — down by N49. The new tariff is expected to take effect from August 1. The EERC described the new order as cost-reflective, saying the tariff was designed to reflect the federal government’s subsidy on power…

Nigerian students, under the aegis of the National Association of Polytechnics Students (NAPS), have barred the former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, from their campuses nationwide. The students said their decision was informed by Obi’s failure to retract his alleged misrepresentation of what occurred during a recent student union election in Auchi Polytechnics in Edo State. Speaking in Abuja on Monday, NAPS’ president, Comrade Eshiofune Paul Oghayan, said Obi’s failure to retract his alleged misleading claim creates doubt about his integrity as a leader. Oghayan said, “Even more concerning is the pattern emerging from his actions.…

The former Secretary to the Bauchi State Government, Ibrahim Kashim, has resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party. The resignation letter made public on Monday did not state the reason for his defection. Kashim extended gratitude to the leadership of his ward for allowing him to be a member of PDP, which ultimately led to his being honoured with nomination as the flag bearer of the party to contest the gubernatorial election in the state during the 2023 national elections. Recall that during the activities of the 2023 general election, Kashim, a few months before the 2023 governorship election, stepped down…

Socio-political activist, Aisha Yesufu, has vowed to stand by the lawmaker representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as she insists on resuming her duties on Tuesday at the Senate, despite opposition from the upper chamber. Yesufu made this vow on Monday, when she appeared as a guest on ‘Sunrise Daily’, a programme on Channels Television. She stated that she and others would accompany Natasha to the National Assembly, saying that the suspended senator had every right to resume office following a court judgement. “I think Senator Natasha has every right to resume office, and by tomorrow, she is not…