Author: Drum Africa Correspondent
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…
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, has announced Prof Adamu Ahmed as its new vice-chancellor. Prof Ahmed’s appointment was announced on Wednesday morning by the school’s public affairs directorate. He was picked by the institution’s Governing Council, chaired by Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, during its 209th special council meeting. Ahmed teaches at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning of the institution. He was a one-time Director of the institution’s Directorate of University Advancement; Prof. Ahmed is the current Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the Federal University of Education, Kano. “Prof Ahmed’s appointment was announced at 6:15 am today (Wednesday,…
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) has predicted high-intensity rainfall likely resulting in flash floods between May and June 2025 in coastal cities of the country. The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, made this disclosure while presenting the annual climate prediction for the year 2025 in Abuja. He also revealed that the onset of rain is predicted to be delayed over the northern and central states of Plateau as well as parts of Kaduna, Niger, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba, Adamawa, and Kwara. While early onset is expected over the southern states of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Anambra, and sections of…
The management of the Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo, Taraba State, has dismissed recent media reports alleging a severe drug shortage at the hospital. It acknowledged that while the hospital has faced some challenges in the supply chain, the situation was not as complicated as portrayed in certain media reports. Haruna Abubakar of the hospital’s Press and Protocol Department in a statement on Tuesday, said the FMC management is committed to ensuring the availability of drugs and the delivery of quality healthcare services. The statement reads, “When this administration took over nearly five years ago, we inherited a significant debt related…
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Kaduna State University branch, has announced plans to embark on an indefinite strike starting on February 11 due to unresolved welfare concerns. The union announced this in a letter signed by its Chairman, Dr Peter Adamu, and Secretary, Dr Peter Waziri, addressed to the national body seeking approval for the action. The letter, obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday, highlighted the union’s decision to embark on the strike following the non-response from the Kaduna State Government regarding their grievances. Some of the issues raised by the union include nonpayment…
A Tokyo court on Tuesday upheld a suspended six-month sentence for former Nissan executive, Greg Kelly, a one-time aide of the firm’s fugitive ex-CEO Carlos Ghosn. Both prosecutors and Kelly, a 68-year-old American charged with helping Ghosn attempt to conceal income, had questioned the 2022 verdict, but the Tokyo High Court dismissed their appeals. Kelly was arrested in 2018 in Japan at the same time as Ghosn, whose detention sent shockwaves around the business world. Ghosn, a French, Lebanese and Brazilian national, fled the country concealed in a music equipment box the following year while on bail — leaving Kelly…
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) rose from its inaugural meeting in 2025, on Monday, with the approval of the sum of N4.8 billion for the treatment of HIV patients across the country. The approval came on the heels of the recent plan by President Donald Trump of the United States to suspend financial assistance to countries for HIV treatment, among others. The Council also approved $1 billion for health governance and human capital development which the sub nationals are expected to benefit from. Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Ali Pate, disclosed this while briefing newsmen at the end of…
China on Tuesday said it would impose tariffs on imports of US energy, vehicles and equipment, firing a return salvo in an escalating trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. US President Donald Trump on Saturday announced sweeping measures against major trade partners Canada and Mexico, with goods from China hit with an additional 10 percent tariff on top of the duties they already endure. Minutes after they came into effect, Beijing unveiled levies of 15 percent on imports of coal and liquefied natural gas from the United States, while crude oil, agricultural machinery, big-engined vehicles, and pickup trucks…
The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to pay a compensation fee of N1.12bn to Mike Madu’s family after he was killed by an INEC driver in Imo State. Justice Inyang Ekwo also ordered INEC to pay the N1.12bn with 10 per cent interest per annum from the date of judgment until the final or full payment is made, and mandated its Chairman, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, and other defendants to send a letter of condolence to the late Madu’s family. “An order is hereby made for the defendants to pay the cost…