Author: Drum Africa Correspondent

The Federal Government has signed a $328.8 million contract with Chinese firm, China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), to rehabilitate and expand Nigeria’s electricity transmission network under Phase 1 of the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI). The agreement covers Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Financing (EPC+F) for the development of 330kV and 132kV transmission lines across the country, aimed at improving grid reliability and reducing stranded generation capacity. The project will be coordinated by FGN Power Company, a special purpose vehicle established by the federal government to oversee implementation of the PPI. The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu,speaking at the contract signing ceremony…

The Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, has approved the appointment of a new chairman and members of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission. According to the statement, the new RSIEC Chairman, Dr Micheal Ekpai Odey, will work with six members and four professors. The appointment was announced in a Government Special Announcement issued on Wednesday by Prof. Ibibia Worika, the Secretary to the Rivers State Government. The statement, which was sent to newsmen, said the appointment takes effect from Monday, 7th of April 2025. It reads, “The Following have also been appointed as Chairman and members…

Amid the security challenges facing the nation, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, has asked Nigerians to stop giving money to kidnappers and bandits. He stated this on Tuesday while receiving 60 kidnapped victimss recently rescued from captivity in Zangon Kataf, Southern Kaduna, following sustained military operations. The victims were received at the National Counter-Terrorism Centre in Abuja, the nation’s capital. “Please stop giving money to these people, it is the most difficult thing we are facing,” the NSA told Nigerians. “Many of these people (kidnap victims), their families have given money to these people (kidnappers) but it did not…

Workers at the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, in Ondo State on Tuesday embarked on an indefinite strike over the non-payment of salaries by the Ondo State Government. The striking workers, who are members of the Non-Academic Staff Union and the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics, staged a peaceful protest on the institution’s campus to express their grievances. The aggrieved staff revealed they are being owed six months’ salaries and accused the government of failing to implement the national minimum wage. They carried placards with messages including, “We are hungry, pay our six months’ salaries,” “Mr Governor, please implement our…

Rivers State Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.) has approved the appointment of administrators for the 23 Local Government Areas of the state. This comes less that 24 hours after a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt reportedly restrained him from appointing administrators to oversea the affairs of the local government councils. The order was issued by Justice Adam Muhammed on Tuesday in suit no. FHC/PH/CS/46/2025 in the case filed by PILEX Centre for Civic Education Initiative led by Courage Msirimovu against the Sole Administrator in his official capacity. However, Ibas also approved the reconstitution of some boards…

A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital has barred the Sole Administrator Ibokette Ibas from appointing Sole Administrators to run the 23 local council areas. Justice Adamu Turaki Muhammed gave the order on Tuesday following a motion exparte application filed by PILEX Centre for Civic Education Initiative led by Courage Msirimovu challenging the decision to install Administrators in the Local Government Councils as a Sole Administrator for the period of six months. At the hearing, the Court stated that the motion exparte was filed on March 28, 2025 and prayed the court for many reliefs…

The Presidency has maintained that President Bola Tinubu’s appointments will continue to be based on “merit, integrity, geographical spread, and demonstrable capacity to serve the Nigerian people,” insisting that they will not be based on Senator Ali Ndume’s “cherry-picked tribal arithmetic”. Recall that Senator Ndume, representing Borno South Senatorial District of Borno State, accused President Tinubu of breaching the constitutional principle of federal character in his political appointments during an Arise TV programme. Ndume raised concerns about the growing ethnic imbalance in the current administration, citing President Tinubu’s failure to adhere to Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution. This section…

The National Executive Council of the Labour Party has passed a vote of confidence in the Julius Abure-led National Working Committee. This was part of the resolutions at the party’s NEC meeting held in Abuja on Monday. In a communique read out by the National Secretary, Alhaji Ibrahim Umar-Farouk, the NEC expressed satisfaction with the Supreme Court decision, which, it said, had returned the power, glory and supremacy of political parties. The communique read, “The court asserted the supremacy of the party over its internal affairs and that leadership of a political party is not for any court to decide,…

The Presidency has debunked widespread reports claiming that President Bola Tinubu has sacked the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu. The reports, which went viral early Monday, alleged that Yakubu had been removed from office and replaced with a certain Professor Bashiru Olamilekan in what was described as a “sweeping change” in the electoral body’s leadership. Reacting to the claims, the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Digital and New Media, O’tega Ogra, described the news as false and urged the public to disregard it. “Disregard any fake news making the rounds about the replacement…

Young demonstrators under the aegis of the Take-It-Back Movement on Monday defied police warning and staged protests in Abuja, Lagos, Oyo, Rivers, among other states. Clad in their signature orange berets, the protesters began their rally in Lagos at the Ikeja Under Bridge, marching through major roads in the state capital while chanting solidarity songs, under the watchful eyes of police officers. The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) had earlier urged the movement to cancel its planned nationwide protest, describing the timing as “ill-conceived and mischievous.” However, in a swift response, activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore dismissed the police’s…