Author: Drum Africa Correspondent

Lagos State Government has restricted construction activities across the state to between 7.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m., Mondays to Saturdays. The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Oluyinka Olumide, announced the new directive in a statement on Thursday by the agency’s Director, Public Affairs, Mr Mukaila Sanusi. Olumide said the measure became necessary to safeguard the environment, curb incidences of building collapse, and enhance the overall well-being of residents. “This restriction must be strictly adhered to by all stakeholders in the construction sector. “It is in the public interest and will be enforced by relevant government agencies.” He…

Three opposition members of the House of Representatives on Thursday officially announced their defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) during plenary. The lawmakers include Oluwole Oke from Osun State, who left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Kabiru Hassan Rumrum and Sani Abdullahi, both from Kano State, who defected from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) to the APC. Rumrum had earlier declared his resignation from the NNPP and his return to the APC during a meeting with the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. Similarly, Oke had earlier announced his departure from the PDP in Osun…

Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has slammed the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board for the technical glitch that affected the 2025 UTME results. Recall that JAMB Registrar, Ishaq Oloyede, broke down in tears during a press conference on Wednesday while apologising for errors in UTME results, and later announced that affected students would rewrite the exams. Ezekwesili, in a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, wondered why JAMB did not address the earlier complaints with humility and prompt investigation. “Why could the authorities not have immediately acted with humility and done an unbiased and swift system check…

The House of Representatives has called for the establishment of at least one computer-based testing (CBT) in each of the 774 local government areas of the country for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).  The lawmakers made the resolution during plenary on Thursday, following the admission by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) that there were glitches in this year’s examination. According to the lawmakers, the move would aid in forestalling future recurrence. The House also called for calm in the wake of JAMB’s admission to errors in the 2025 UTME. Last month, the Senate mulled a similar resolution,…

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed for the second reading, a bill to amend the Electoral Act, 2022 to make voting in national and state elections compulsory for all citizens of voting age. Sponsored by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen (APC, Kaduna) and the member representing Bassa/Jos North federal constituency of Plateau state, Hon. Daniel Asama Ago, the proposed legislation seeks to deepen democracy in the country through increased participation and legitimacy in electoral outcomes. The bill also intends to provide a legal framework for enforcing mandatory voting for Nigerians age 18 and above, and stipulate appropriate sanctions for unjustified failure…

The Senate has confirmed the appointment of five Resident Electoral Commissioners submitted by President Bola Tinubu in March for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The confirmation followed the receipt and consideration of a report by the Chairman of Senate Committee on Electoral Matters during plenary on Wednesday. Presenting the report on behalf of the Committee, Senator Simon Lalong, urged the Senate to confirm the nomination of five individuals as Resident Electoral Commissioners for the Independent National Electoral Commission having passed the screening exercise. The approved RECs are Umar Yusuf Garba (Kano State), Sa’ad Umar Idris (Bauchi State), Chukwuemeka C.…

The 379,997 candidates in the five states of the South East and Lagos will be rescheduled for another Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination. The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, made this known in a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday. “206,610 in 65 centres were affected in Lagos and 92 centres in Owerri zone comprising of 173,387 candidates in the five states of the South East were affected,” he said. Oloyede, who took responsibility for what he described as a “sabotage” of the 2025 UTME, said the affected candidates will start getting text messages from the Board starting Thursday.…

The Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) has demanded the immediate payment of the seven-month arrears of the 2024 pay rise. The demand is contained in a communique issued on Tuesday at the end of the national executive council (NEC) meeting of NUAHP and Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) held in Jos, Plateau state. Kamal Ibrahim and Martin Egbanubi, national president and general secretary of NUAHP, respectively, jointly signed the communique. Members under the NUAHP include the pharmacists, physiotherapists, medical laboratory scientists, imaging scientists, and dental technologists. Others are occupational therapists, health information management practitioners, dental therapists, dietitians, and…

A former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has said he and a former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, would have challenged President Bola Tinubu over the nation’s current state of affairs if they were still serving as governors. The former governor of Rivers State stated this in Abuja on Tuesday at the public presentation of Lamido’s autobiography, ‘Being True to Myself’. Amaechi, who is also a former Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, said their era was marked by bold opposition and a commitment to holding the Federal Government accountable. He said, “I asked you (Lamido) this morning, what…

The House of Representatives on Tuesday voted against a bill seeking rotational presidency in the country. During the plenary presided over by the Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen, the lower chamber also rejected six other constitution amendment bills after they failed to scale the second reading. They include ‘A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to remove from Independent National Electoral Commission, the Powers of Registration and Regulation of Political Parties in Nigeria and Transfer same to the Office of the Registrar General of Political Parties and for Related Matters (HB. 2227) (Hon.…