Author: Drum Africa Correspondent
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced significant leadership changes at several federal universities, including the University of Abuja, now known as Yakubu Gowon University. According to a statement by the President’s spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, these changes are effective immediately. At Yakubu Gowon University, Onanuga noted that President Tinubu dissolved the entire governing council and relieved Professor Aisha Sani Maikudi of her duties as Vice-Chancellor. Senator Lanre Tejuoso, currently Pro-Chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, has been appointed Pro-Chancellor of the Yakubu Gowon University. He will be succeeded in Makurdi by Senator Joy Emordi, now pro-chancellor of Alvan Ikoku University…
The House of Representatives has directed the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the Nigeria Customs Service to implement strict measures ensuring that only unexpired and high-quality gas cylinders and kits are imported into the country. This resolution followed the adoption of a motion by Aderemi Oseni, who represents Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency in Oyo State. Oseni, a member of the All Progressives Congress, expressed deep concern over the rising incidents of gas explosions, which have resulted in multiple deaths, severe injuries, and the destruction of property worth billions of naira. He attributed the frequent explosions to the influx of expired…
Bandits have reportedly kidnapped the former Director General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brgd. Gen. Maharazu Tsiga (retd.), in Tsiga village, Bakori Local Government Area of Katsina State, in the early hours of Thursday. The bandits also killed one person and abducted at least nine others, even as they were said to have ransacked several homes, carting away valuables. The bandits attacked at 12.30am on Thursday, as eyewitness reports have it that the armed hoodlums stormed the community, shooting sporadically to scare residents. The Katsina State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abubakar Sadiq, was contacted to confirm the attack,…
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to temper justice with mercy and give freedom to the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu from detention. Kalu made the appeal while addressing the press after the inaugural meeting of the House of Representatives committee on South East Development Commission (SEDC) at the National Assembly complex in Abuja on Wednesday. The Deputy Speaker commended Mr President for his continous and tremendous support and commitment towards peace, development and stability of the South-East region. He noted…
The Katsina Command of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency has called for a collective effort to address drug abuse in the state. The NDLEA Commander in the state, Mr. Muhammad Aminu-Abubakar, made the call on Thursday in Katsina during sensitisation and advocacy for women and youth on drug abuse awareness and prevention. Aminu-Abubakar expressed the need for the people of the state to contribute their quota in the fight against drug trafficking and abuse. The NDLEA commander explained that the fight against drug trafficking and abuse was a collective effort of stakeholders, noting that “all hands must be on…
The lifeless body of Justice Azuka, the member representing Onitsha North 1 Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly, has been found by security operatives near the Second Niger Bridge. Azuka was reportedly kidnapped on December 24, 2024, along Ugwunaobankpa Road in Inland Town, Onitsha, while returning home for Christmas. He was abducted at gunpoint in a swift operation that lasted less than five minutes. The spokesperson for the Anambra State Police Command, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the discovery on Thursday, saying a joint security team found the decomposing corpse during a routine patrol. Ikenga said, “In the early hours…
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday seeking to ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, in his latest move targeting transgender people since returning to office. “From now on women’s sports will be only for women,” Trump said before he signed the order at the White House, surrounded by dozens of children and female athletes. “With this executive order the war on women’s sports is over.” Top Republicans including US House Speaker Mike Johnson and firebrand Congresswoman Marjorie Green were among those in the audience to watch the signing ceremony. “We will defend the proud…
Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, led a high-profile Nigerian delegation to initiate the repatriation of refugees who fled the Boko Haram insurgency to Baga Sola, Chad Republic. The displaced persons, mostly Borno indigenes, have spent nearly 10 years away from their homeland due to the insurgency that affected communities around the Lake Chad Basin. The delegation, which included the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Yusuf Sununu, and the Federal Commissioner/CEO of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, was received in Baga Sola on Wednesday by the Governor of Lac Province, Saleh Tidjani. The…
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, on Wednesday, welcomed the senator representing Delta North, Senator Ned Nwoko, following his defection from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party. Nwoko, who officially defected to the APC, hinged his exit on the current crisis rocking the PDP leadership. Nwoko added that Delta Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and a former governor of the state, Ifeanyi Okowa, did not accord him a conducive atmosphere to function at an optimal level. Welcoming Nwoko on Wednesday, Ganduje assured his delegation that with all three Delta senators on their side, the ruling party is…
President Bola Tinubu has raised the proposed 2025 budget from ₦49.7 trillion to ₦54.2 trillion, citing additional revenues generated by key government agencies. The President conveyed the budget adjustment in separate letters sent to both the Senate and the House of Representatives, which were read during plenary today by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio. According to President Tinubu, the increase was driven by ₦1.4 trillion in additional revenue from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), ₦1.2 trillion from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and ₦1.8 trillion generated by other government-owned agencies. Following the announcement, the Senate President has referred the…