The Osun State Chief Judge, Justice Oyebola Ojo, on Tuesday, has declared that the owner of Hilton Hotel Ile-Ile, Osun State, Dr Rahman Adedoyin, is culpable in the murder of Timothy Adegoke, a postgraduate student of Obafemi Awolowo University. The death sentence was issued by Osun State Chief Judge, Justice Oyebola, convicted for same crime alongside Adedoyin are two of his staff; Adeniyi Aderogba and Kazeem Oyetunde. While delivering her judgement,  the Chief Judge of Osun and presiding Judge of the State High Court, Adepele Ojo, held that the circumstantial evidence available to the court, pointed to the killing of Adegoke while being a guest at the hotel owned by Adedoyin. Adegoke was reportedly murdered when he lodged in the hotel on November 6, 2021, and his corpse was found in a shallow grave close to the hotel. Police last year charged the suspects at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court but the case was struck out and redirected to Osun State, where the incide...

  Tinubu, a former Lagos State Governor, was inaugurated as Nigeria's 16th President on Monday, May 29 at the Eagle Square in the nation's capital city, Abuja. The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola administered the oath of office to Tinubu and his deputy, Kashim Shettima at exactly 10:28am and 10:38am respectively. The swearing in ceremony was witnessed by Tinubu’s predecessors including Muhammadu Buhari and Goodluck Jonathan. Tinubu’s wife, Remi; Shettima’s wife, Nana as well as Buhari’s wife, Aisha also witnessed the oath-taking ceremony. African leaders who witnessed the historic event at the venue beautifully decorated with the green-white-green colours of the nation were the new Prime Minister of Gabon, Billy By-Nze, President of the Republic of Cote D’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara; Ghana President, Nana Akufo-Addo; and Rwanda President, Paul Kagame. Also at the venue of the inauguration ground were dignitaries including Akinwumi Adesina, Aliko Dangote, Femi...

  The Federal Government has unveiled Nigeria Air, a national carrier. The Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika performed the ceremony at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on Friday. Thirty aircraft are expected to form the fleet of Nigeria Air in the next five years. However, only one aircraft has arrived. Senator Hadi Sirika insists that the national carrier would be private-sector driven with the Federal Government holding just a 5% stake while private owners would hold the remaining 95% share in the new airline. Ethiopian Airlines holds a 49 percent stake in the new airline. Meanwhile, the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) had faulted plans by the outgoing Sirika to launch the operations of Nigeria Air despite a restraining court order on the project. AON lawyers wrote a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari asking him to stop the minister. However, Sirika insists that he has not violated the court order. According to him, an opportunity was given to domestic airlin...

  The Department of State Security Service, has warned against disorderly behaviours and non-adherence to protocols during presidential inauguration activities. This is contained in a statement signed by the spokesman of the service Peter Afunanya. According to him the Service is, however, aware of plans by subversive elements to disrupt the programmes in parts of the country. The aim is to undermine security agencies’ efforts at ensuring peaceful ceremonies as well as creating panic and fear among members of the public. Based on these, citizens, the media and Civil Society Organisations are advised to adhere strictly to security and civil protocols during the events. The service also urged the citizens to shun fake news, false alarms, skewed reportage/narratives and sensationalism that may likely inflame division, tension and violence prior to and after the exercises. The Service call for the populace to remain calm and law abiding. Meanwhile, it will continue to sustain collabora...

  The Chief Magistrates’ Court sitting in the Yaba area of Lagos on Tuesday has  adjourned the trial of  Afrobeat musician Seun till Wednesday, May 24. No official reason was given for the absence of Magistrate Justice Adeola Olatubosun who has been hearing the case. Meanwhile, a source hinted a Lagos based Television station that she was away attending a conference. Kuti was brought to the magistrates’ court but upon learning of the absence of the magistrate, he was immediately taken to the police station at Panti. One of his lawyers confirmed that the case had been adjourned till Wednesday, May 24. The lawyer also said that the team of lawyers had followed the police to Panti to see how the release of their client could be arranged as the four additional days of remand granted by the court expired Tuesday (today). However, outside the court premises, a group of people who called themselves members of the ‘Free Seun Kuti campaign’ staged a protest calling for the immedi...

  A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to “account for the spending of $460 million Chinese loan to fund the failed Abuja Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) project.” The court also ordered the government to “publish the total amount of money paid to Chinese and local companies and contractors, specific details and the implementation of the project.” Hon. Justice Emeka Nwite made the verdicts while delivering judgment in a Freedom of Information suit number: FHC/ABJ/CS/1447/2019 brought by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP). This was contained in a statement on Sunday by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) signed by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare. According to the statement, the suit followed the disclosure in 2019 by the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed that “Nigeria was servicing the loan,” adding that she had ‘no explanations on the status of the project.’ She reportedly said...

  The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has exhibited intent to call “no more than 100 witnesses” in the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT). Also, the Labour Party candidate Peter Obi is challenging the declaration of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the February 25 election. Counsel for Atiku and the PDP, Chris Uche, addressing the court in Abuja on Saturday, said all the parties had met, and considered and agreed on the numbers of witnesses, duration and examination of witnesses. Uche added that though the new time given them to call the witnesses is seven weeks, they would need three weeks, since the issues were getting narrower. All the parties in the suit agreed to streamline the numbers of witnesses as well as the duration of each party to call witnesses. For the evidence in chief, they categorised them into 30 minutes for the lead witness because they will tender and identif...

  Two kidnapped US embassy staff have been rescued unharmed in Nigeria, say police,  According to a brief statement by the spokesman for the Anambra State Police Command, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu, the rescue took place in the early hours of Friday. The police image maker disclosed that a joint security force rescued, unhurt, the two victims abducted during the attack on a US convoy along Atani/Osamela road in Ogbaru. In its statement later on Friday, the US Mission confirmed the rescue of two of its staff, adding that they have informed their families of their “recovery.” The statement read, “Two U.S. Mission employees missing since the May 16 attack in Anambra state are alive and safe and under the protection of Nigerian authorities in Anambra. We have informed their families of their safe recovery. U.S. Mission personnel are on their way to meet and accompany them home. “We continue to work intensively with Nigerian security and law enforcement on this matter, to identify the ...

The Police division in Anambra State has said that two suspects have been arrested in connection with Tuesday’s attack on the US Consulate Convoy in Ogbaru Local Government Area. Prior investigations conducted by the police revealed that seven persons were killed in the assault. Of the seven, three were US Consulate officials and four were Mobile Police escorts. Speaking on the development on Thursday, Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Echeng Echeng said a Joint Security Task Force comprising of police tactical teams and troops of the Nigerian Army and Navy, raided the suspects’ hideout at Ugwuaneocha community within Ogbaru LGA. According to him, the security operatives upon arrival, met a deserted camp. And while the camp was razed down, the Commissioner disclosed that two persons of interest have been arrested and they are under interrogations by the police. During the press briefing at the State Police Command headquarters, Amawbia, the Commissioner also stated that the vic...

  President-elect Bola Tinubu has promised to hit the ground running and unify the country upon his assumption of office come May 29. Tinubu further pledged to work to ensure continued positive relations with the United States, as to build on the gains of the partnership between both nations. The president-elect stated this in a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. According to a press release by his spokesman, Tunde Rahman, the former Lagos State governor said his immediate priorities as president would be to deliver institutional reforms and development programs to deepen democratic institutions and bring help to poor and vulnerable Nigerians. He also expressed his determination to strengthen Nigeria’s democracy and faithfully serve the people as their president. Rahman explained that during the talks that lasted about 20 minutes, President-elect Tinubu recalled being granted asylum by the US when he was forced on exile during his struggle for the res...

  The Lagos State Police Command has arraigned Afrobeat singer, Seun Kuti for assault. It was reported that Seun was arraigned before Magistrate Adeola Olatunbosun of a Magistrate’s Court in the Yaba area of Lagos State on Tuesday. Inspector of police,  Usman Alkali Baba had ordered his detention on Saturday. Kuti, 40, was "captured on video assaulting a police officer in uniform", the police spokesman added. Kuti - the son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti - went to the police headquarters on Monday with his lawyer and family representative.  The accused was charged with assault on a police officer, an offence contrary to Section 356 of the Criminal Code Act of Nigeria. The police prosecutor, S. A. Adebese implored the court to remand the defendant for 21 days pending legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions. Seun turned himself in at the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja in the early hours of Monday, accompanied by his lawyer and family representatives.

  The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has encouraged incoming governors to stop depending on crude oil and diversify the sources of revenue in their regions. She spoke on Monday during an induction organised for elected governors in Abuja, two weeks before the May 29 inauguration. According to her, states with over-dependence on the monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) would be badly hit. “We need to start preparing now for a time when our oil and gas will no longer serve us as the main sources of revenue. States with a heavy dependence on FAAC allocation will be particularly hit,” Okonjo-Iweala stated. “It is important that you governors start now to diversify your revenue sources. We ought to be seeking to double our growth rate and sustain that higher growth until we attain upper middle-income status.”

  The Federal Road Safety Corps has dissociated itself from the news currently published linking the Corps to seeking the introduction of Sharia Law to complement existing extant regulations on enforcement of traffic rules and prosecution of offenders. In a communique on Saturday, May 13, the assistant corps marshal/corps public education officer, Bisi Kazeem, described the report as a “baseless and unfounded opinion.” The statement unfolds that The Corps Marshal, Dauda Ali Biu has recalled with immediate effect, the Sector Commander to the National Headquarters Abuja, for necessary administrative action saying the Sector Commander through the quoted statements has breached the FRSC regulations and the Standard Operating Procedures. FRSC further inform the general public that the Federal Road Safety Corps is a Government Agency with statutory responsibilities for road safety administration in Nigeria and sensitive to the country's multi-religious as well as heterogeneous ethnic com...

  Five residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have sued the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) about the declaration of Senator Bola Tinubu as the nation’s president-elect. The plaintiffs in the suit filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja on April 28, 2023 aver that Senator Tinubu failed to secure at least 25 percent of votes cast in the FCT. The plaintiffs, Anyaegbunam Okoye, David Adzer, Jeffrey Ucheh Osang Paul, and Chibuike Nwanchukwu, who sued for themselves and on behalf of other residents and registered voters in the FCT, are asking the court to determine “whether or not the person who is to be elected president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and consequently administrator of the FCT through the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and the Federal Capital Territory Development Authority, on the first ballot, is required by section 134(2)(b) of the Constitution to obtain at least 25% of the votes cast in t...

  The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is present in court as the presidential Election Petitions Tribunal is anticipated to hear his application for live coverage of proceedings. Atiku had on May 8 filed an application for an order to allow the live coverage of the daily court proceedings on the case they brought against the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, which started on Monday. Arriving at the Court of Appeal Abuja, the venue for the tribunal sitting on Thursday, the former Vice President is accompanied by a former Governor of Cross River State, Liyel Imoke; a former governor of Adamawa State, Bonny Haruna, a former Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, and former PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus, among other dignitaries. Also present at the pre-hearing is the party’s governorship candidate in Kogi State, Senator Dino Melaye. Meanwhile, Abubakar Mahmoud, counsel to INEC, said the commission would file its response to the application s...

  The Federal Government on Thursday disclosed that Nigeria will spend N22.4 billion feeding inmates in correctional centers nationwide. This is according to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Dr Shuaib Belgore, who said this at a two-day High Conference on Decongestion and Corrections Management in Abuja, the nation’s capital. Belgore stated that the fund is budgeted for in the 2023 Appropriation Act. He said that there has been a steady rise in the population of the custodial centers with at least 80% of the inmates awaiting trial. According to him, there are 244 custodial centers nationwide, with a 75,507-inmate population, thereby leading to 82 of them being overcrowded. The total number of male inmates is 73,821 and female 1,686 female inmates, he noted. Out of the 75,507 inmates, 52,436 are awaiting trial while 23,071 are convicted persons, with 3,322 as condemned inmates on death row.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday overruled the appeal by Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging the election of Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as Osun State Governor. In its judgment read by Justice Emmanuel Agim, also upheld the Appeal Court’s judgment which upheld the election of Adeleke as the state governor. The apex court held that the appellant failed to adduce enough evidence to prove his allegation of over voting in the July 16, 2022 governorship poll. The judgment was affirmed and adopted by the entire five members of the panel. According to all the members of the panel, the appeal lacked merit. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Adeleke the winner of the poll, saying he scored 403,371 votes to sack Oyetola who was the then incumbent with 375,027. However, Oyetola and his party had alleged irregularities in the polls and challenged Adeleke’s victory at the Tribunal. Respite came for the former gov...

  The National Association of Judiciary Correspondents has condemned in the strongest term the restriction of some Media Houses by the Court of Appeal Abuja from the coverage of the 2023 Presidential Election Petition Court scheduled  to start hearing of all petitions on May 8, 2023. This is contained in a statement by the Secretary General of the Association, Mr Paschal Njoku. Njoku also pressed that the Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal should immediately reverse the "obnoxious and irritating directive of Bukola Gar restricting media from accessing the Court of Appeal". The statement reads, " As we all are aware, the 2023 Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) will commence full hearing of various petitions arising from the conduct of the February 25, Presidential Election. "It is on record that former Vice President, Abubakar Atiku and former Anambra State Governor, Peter Gregory Obi and other aggrieved ones filed petitions challenging the conduct of th...

  King Charles III has been crowned at London’s Westminster Abbey at a majestic Christian coronation drenched in 1,000 years of history and tradition, but restyled to match 21st-century Britain. The build-up to the ceremony — the religious confirmation of Charles’s accession after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II last September — has been mostly celebratory. Thousands of people turned central London red, white and blue on Saturday, with a sea of Union Jack flags lining the streets for the coronation of King Charles III. Charles was born in Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, George VI, and was three years old when his mother, Elizabeth II, acceded to the throne in 1952. It was reported that Police arrested dozens of protesters using new powers rushed onto the statute book to crack down on direct action groups. The anti-monarchy movement Republic — which wants an elected head of state — said six of its organisers were detained, while climate act...

A judge at The Central Criminal Court, has sentenced former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, his wife Beatrice and Doctor Obinna Obeta to jail. At a sentencing hearing on Friday, Ekweremadu was jailed for nine years and eight months, his wife Beatrice was sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment while Obeta received a 10-year prison term. The sentencing follows their conviction in March for organ trafficking. The Ekweremadus’ sick daughter, Sonia, was cleared of any wrongdoing. The three were found guilty after arranging or facilitating a young Nigerian man’s travel into the United Kingdom in a bid to obtain his kidney on behalf of Sonia. The jury said Ekweremadu, his wife and their doctor criminally conspired to bring the 21-year-old Lagos street trader to London to exploit him for his kidney. The verdict is considered the first of its kind under the UK’s Modern Slavery Act 2015.

  Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), has advised Nigerians to accept the decisions of the court as final, when delivered. This was his   assertion  at a symposium in honour of a one-time Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Chike Idigbe on Thursday. Gowon also urged Nigerians to allow the courts do its work without interference, as the judiciary plays a pivotal role in the unity of the country . Also in attendance at the event are the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Alfa Belgore; Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba; and some Senior Advocates of Nigeria. Following the February 25 presidential election, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, had on March 1 declared All Progressives Congress’ Bola Tinubu the President-Elect on the grounds that his party scored the majority of votes cast in the polls. He had polled 8.8 m...

The Presidential Election Petitions Court has fixed Monday May 8 for the hearing of the petitions poking the declaration of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the President-elect. According to Tinubu’s legal team, Monday’s hearing is a pre-hearing session. The hearing is to clarify if there are any applications before the main hearing will start. The timetable will be set for the hearing of the substantive matters. The court also stopped receiving replies from the petitioners on April 23. The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, had on March 1 declared Tinubu the President-Elect on the grounds that his party scored the majority of votes cast in the polls. He had polled 8.8 million to defeat Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 6.9 million, Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) who amassed 6.1 million and 15 others. Challenging the Result, Atiku and Obi filed separate petitions seeking orders to annu...

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has brought to light that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with a United States-based firm, Atlanta Global Resources Inc (AGRI) to build a railway network that will connect the nine states of the Niger Delta region. This agreement was reached at the Public Private Partnerships (PPP) Summit which NDDC organised in Lagos on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. In a statement signed by its Director, Corporate Affairs, Ibitoye Abosede, the Commission warned that the foundational process may have been misconstrued by some persons to mean that the NDDC has signed the Engineering, Procurement and Construction, EPC, contract. While appreciating the need to be seen to be accountable and transparent as it collaborates with its stakeholders in the arduous task of developing the Niger Delta region, the NDDC said all it signed at the PPP Summit was a basic MoU to commence the preliminary processes of feasibility and viability of the rail project. The ...