Author: Drum Africa Correspondent

A former governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sir Paul Chukwuma, has emerged as the candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) for the November 8, 2025, governorship election in Anambra State. Chukwuma, who recently resigned from the APC, citing irregularities in its primary, secured the YPP ticket through a consensus vote by 374 delegates during the party’s primary held in Awka on Thursday. The exercise, conducted using the Option A4 method, was supervised by the party’s National Secretary and Chairman of the Election Committee, Vidieno Bamayi. Bamayi declared that the process was peaceful and followed the party’s…

The Ondo State House of Assembly on Thursday intervened in the crisis rocking the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, over unpaid salaries of the workers. Members of staff of RUGIPO on Tuesday protested against non-payment of six months’ salaries. The workers also accused the state government of failing to implement the national minimum wage. The workers are under the umbrella of the Non-Academic Staff Union and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics. Speaking at the plenary, the Speaker of the Assembly, Chief Olamide Oladiji, said the House had no option but to constitute an ad-hoc committee to investigate the protest.…

The All Progressives Congress has shut down its national secretariat in Abuja, popularly known as Buhari House, following the murder of its Director of Administration, AbdulRauf Adeniji. The APC made this known in a memo titled ‘Secretariat closure for the mourning of the director of administration’, on Thursday. It was learnt that the deceased, who was kidnapped weeks ago, was killed last month. The ruling party stated that the closure of the secretariat would take effect on Monday, April 14, 2025. It advised all the staff to use the mourning period for sober reflection and prayers for the family and…

Jennifer Awele, the wife of late Nollywood actor Junior Pope, has shared an emotional tribute to mark one year since his tragic death. Awele shared the tribute on her Instagram handle on Thursday. In her touching post, Awele described the last 12 months as extremely difficult, saying, every day has been filled with thoughts of her late husband. She wrote, “It’s been one year of standing in the face of our unimaginable loss, and not a day has gone by without a thought of you. Your love still surrounds us, your laughter echoes in our hearts, and your presence is…

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…