Author: Drum Africa Correspondent

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Former Minority Leader of Abia State House of Assembly, Hon Chijioke Chukwu as member Representing South East in the newly created North West Development Commission, NWDC. The Former Bende North State Constituency lawmaker is among the updated list of nominees for the Governing Boards of the North West Development Commission (NWDC) and the South East Development Commission (SEDC) to the Senate for confirmation. This announcement was made in a statement from the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Friday. In the revised nominations, Alhaji Lawal Samai’la Abdullahi was appointed as Chairman…

President Bola Tinubu has submitted an updated list of nominees for the Governing Boards of the North West Development Commission (NWDC) and the South East Development Commission (SEDC) to the Senate for confirmation. This announcement was made in a statement from the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Friday. For the SEDC, Tinubu has nominated Hon. Emeka Atuma as Chairman, with Hon. Mark C. Okoye set to take on the role of Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer. Other board members include Ugochukwu H. Agballah, Hon. Okey Ezenwa, Chief Hyacinth Ikpor, and Hon. Donatus Eyinnah Nwankpa, among others.…

President Bola Tinubu has directed the release of funds to settle pension arrears, salary increases, and other benefits owed to retired military personnel. This decision follows two days of peaceful demonstrations by veterans at the Federal Ministry of Finance. The Minister of State for Defence, Dr Bello Muhammed Matawalle, announced the development on Friday, thanking the President for his prompt action in addressing the veterans’ concerns. Matawalle commended Tinubu’s efforts to ensure the payment of a three-month salary increment and the release of funds for outstanding pensions and entitlements. According to a statement by the Director of Press and Public…

The Labour Party (LP) has expressed strong opposition to the defection of four of its members in the House of Representatives to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The lawmakers—Chinedu Okere, Mathew Donatus, Akiba Bassey, and Esosa Iyawe—claimed “internal crisis” within the LP as their reason for crossing over. Reacting to the announcement by Tajudeen Abbas, Speaker of the House, Obiora Ifoh, the LP spokesperson, described the move as “inconsistent with democratic norms,” vowing to pursue legal action. “The defection, to us, is quite unfortunate and we condemn the action which is irrational, untenable, inconsistent and alien to all known…

Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has called for caution over the Tax Reform Bills, asking Nigerians to digest the content before passing judgement on them. President Bola Tinubu’s transmission of the bills to the National Assembly has elicited heated debates among Nigerians. The northern region has been the most vocal in its criticism of the bills which have pitted some governors and lawmakers against the Federal Government. But speaking at the Government House in Owerri, Imo State on Thursday, Uzodimma said some of those against the bills have not studied their provisions. “Many of us who are criticising the…

The Labour Party caucus in the House of Representatives has lost four of its members to the ruling All Progressives Congress on Thursday. The lawmakers Who left LP for APC are Tochukwu Okere (Imo), Donatus Mathew (Kaduna), Bassey Akiba (Cross River), and Iyawe Esosa (Edo). Similarly, the daughter of former Delta State Governor, Mr James Ibori, Erthiatake Ibori-Suenu, also ended her relationship with the Peoples Democratic Party as she joined the APC. Confirming the development, Matthew, who represents Kaura Federal Constituency of Kaduna State, said the decision to defect to the APC is based on conviction. Asked if his imminent…

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, CON on Thursday said that the ravaging flood which displaced millions of Nigerians and prompted outbreak of diseases such as cholera, conflicts have remained major threats to the safety and well-being of the citizens. Kalu stated this in Abuja while delivering his address at the launch of updated 2024 countrywide risk analysis for Nigeria by National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). He said that findings of this analysis underscore that these critical issues remain major threats hence actionable steps are required towards a safer, more resilient Nigeria. He…

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has appealed to the Federal Government not to systemically phase out the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) which has “transformed” tertiary educational institutions in Nigeria in the last three decades. ASUU warned that suffocating the funding source of TETFund to run the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) would destroy public education in the country. “The only source of funding is from TETFund, so when you destroy it, you have destroyed public universities,” ASUU President Emmanuel Osodeke said. He alleged that some members of the ruling class “want to destroy public universities and ensure…

While some reports claimed that Netflix has decided to abandon the Nigerian market because of inflation among other challenges facing the country, the firm has denied exiting the country. However, Drum Africa learned that Netflix was only cutting funding for Nigerian movies. Relatedly, the United Kingdom (UK) and Nigeria have agreed to strengthen economic ties through a co-production agreement, facilitating collaboration between film industries in both countries to produce content for domestic and international markets. A report quoted an official of Netflix on the condition of anonymity as saying: “We are exiting the Nigerian market. We have lost too many…

The Senate yesterday summoned Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister Festus Keyamo (SAN), airline operators and other stakeholders in the sector over incessant flight delays and cancellations in the country. The Senate’s resolution followed its consideration, adoption and approval of a motion moved by the chairman of its Committee on Aviation, Abdulfatai Buhari, during plenary. In his motion titled: Incessant delayed and cancelled flights by Airline Operators in Nigeria, Buhari, who is representing Oyo North in the National Assembly, noted that delayed and cancelled flights had become too frequent. The senator said there were series of reports in the media on…