Nation
THE STATES
Abuja
There are allegation of fraudulent practices in the salary department of the National Assembly.
Quite a number of complaints have been made by many against the staff on the department which is situated at the Annex of the National is supposed to have been done by the Auditors, who would have collected 10 percent of the amount in question.
Benue
Councillors in Ogbadibo local council of Benue State are presently at dagger drawn with the council chairman for allegedly mismanaging the recently released excess crude funds.
This was coming after repeated warnings from the Benue State government to invoke necessary sanctions against local government council leadership in the state that pilfer the excess crude funds released to the councils for development purposes.
The councilors who have commenced impeachment proceeding against the council chairman, Mr. Clement Agada, are also venting their anger on the chairman for his alleged total disregard for the principles for accountability and transparency in the handling of the council’s funds.
The aggrieved councilors reached the decision after a committee set up to investigate the management of the last allocation of excess crude totaling N78 million released to the council in December discovered that the council chairman allegedly misapplied the funds.
Aside the impeachment proceedings, the local government legislative council under the leadership of Mr. Julius Ali had directed the immediate freezing of the council’s account in three commercial banks to forestall further illegal withdrawals from the affected accounts.
For now the only authorised withdrawal is for the payment of workers’ salaries to save the council workers the agony as a result of the crisis.
Ondo
The commissioner representing Ondo State in the Niger Delta Development Commission, NNDC, Mr. Benson Enikuomehin assured the people of the communities of adequate and unprecedented development and fairness to all the communities in the region.
Enikuomehin gave the assurance in Akure during a reception organised for him by leaders from Ilaje council area of the state.
According to him, the areas have suffered in the past and within the next four years some developmental projects would be inaugurated.
He said plans are on to reclaim an expanse of land in the oil rich community of Ilaje while some road projects would be awarded to link it with other towns in he hinterland.
Communities which would benefit from road projects according to him include Ugbo, Ugbonla and Mahin township roads.
Enikuomehin said the contract had been included in this years’ budget.
He lauded the governor for nominating him for the board appointment and promised to justify the confidence reposed in him.
The commissioner pointed out that the “door of NDDC is opened for anybody irrespective of political affiliations because as a Peoples Democratic Party member I was nominated by Labour Party administration in the state.”
Enikuomehin said he would not work against the interest of the governor but work with him for the Development of the Niger Delta region areas of the state.
Plateau
Teacher in Plateau State have threatened to resume their suspended strike, accusing the government on reneging on the agreement reached with them.
Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, in the state Comrade Gunshin Yarling alleged that the state government had failed to abide by the agreement reached on the 27.5 percent Teachers salary structure, TSS, and outstanding three years leave transport allowance.
He said the teachers were dissatisfied with the implementation of the agreement reached to end the over four-month strike and would not return to classes until their demands were fully met.
However, the state government in a swift reaction denied the allegation saying it had infact, started a gradual implementation of the agreement.
Commissioner for Education, Prof. Angela Miri told journalists that the NUT had been trying to resist the verification exercise which would see unqualified teachers being eased out of the system.
“Our children are suffering from the strike. The implementation of the agreement has started. I have been asking the chairman of State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, about the progress being made and she said NUT was trying to resist the verification exercise that we are going to do which is part of the agreement,” she said.
She appealed to the teachers to consider the negative effect of another strike on school children who were get to regain lost ground fro last year’s four month strike, adding that those of them with requisite qualification or evidence of having started NCE programme had nothing to fear.
The Gbony Gwon Jos, Da Gyang Buba had in October last year brokered an agreement between the state and the teachers to end the protracted crisis.
Lagos
Federal Bureau of Investigations, FBI, agents have carried their investigation of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab into Ghana, trying to piece together his time in the West African nation before he embarked on a journey that ended with his Christmas Day attempt to blow up a U.S. plane.
Abdulmutallab arrived in Lagos, Nigeria December 24 from a flight originating in Ghana. He then flew to Amsterdam where he boarded a plane bound for Detroit on Christmas.
Details are scarce because “this is a security issue,” James Agyenim-Boateng, the country’s Deputy Information Minister, told our source. He said the FBI had been in the country since last Saturday and that no arrests have been made as of yet.
Agyenim-Boateng said Abdulmutallab, upon arriving in Ghana Dec. 9 from Ethiopia, had listed one hotel where he was staying on his immigration form, but actually stayed in a different hotel.
Investigators, he said “have put that part of the puzzle together.”
Ghana, the official said, was unhappy about not having information on Abdulmutallab after his father reported the young man’s radical views on the United States and other foreign security agencies.
“Fighting terrorism is a collective responsibility of every country and it is therefore important that we share security information of this nature if we are to fight terrorism,” Agyenim-Boateng told our correspondent earlier this week.
“If we have heard this information (given to the US embassy in Nigeria) from our Nigerian counterparts, the suspect would have been subjected to a more thorough screening,” he said.
In Detroit, Abdulmutallab is due in federal court Friday for his arraignment on charges that he failed to detonate a chemical-laden explosive on the Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight. But with so much evidence stacked against him, experts say his defense team is left with few options as the case moves forward.
Attorneys outside the case say the 23-year-old’ s lawyers can challenge incriminating statements to the FBI, seek a mental-health exam for Abdulmutallab – and seriously consider a plea deal.
“This is not a case of mistaken identity or a whodunit. For the defense, it’s damage control,” said Joseph Niskar, a defense lawyer who was involved in a 2001 terrorism case in Detroit that fell apart for the government.
Former U.S. Attorney David Griem, who gave CBS News the government’s perspective, agrees.
“This a no-lose trial for the prosecution. .. You have a combination of two factors; One, that the crime was so horrific and, two, overwhelming evidence,” Griem told our source.
The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project(HYPREP) has inducted and given orientation to 100 Ogoni youths for training on Creative Arts. The beneficiaries were drawn from Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme Local Government Areas of Rivers State.
The induction and orientation ceremony, which took place at the CRAB of the Department of Theatre Arts of the University of Port Harcourt on Wednesday, was a prelude to the training proper, billed to commence next Tuesday.
As usual, HYPREP issued undertaking forms to the trainees, for them to complete and submit as a guarantee that they would subject themselves to the requirements of the programme as well as be of good behaviour throughout the four-month duration of the training.
HYPREP also announced that it would pay N150,000 to each of the beneficiaries monthly, as transport and feeding allowance, stressing, however, that only those who fully participate in the training would be entitled for the allowance.
Speaking at the event, the Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, welcomed the trainees to the programme, saying, HYPREP’s projects are evolving and that one thing that is happening today is that the Project has gotten leadership right, by making promises and keeping those promises.
According to him, the Project had equally promised to move away from rudimentary skills acquisition to high impacts acquisition levels, which it has kept today by sponsoring the training on Creative Arts.
He noted that in planning its livelihood programmes for Ogoni youths, HYPREP has taken time out to look for skills that would add value to the lives of the beneficiaries.
Zabbey, who was represented at the event by the Director of Technical Services, Prof Damian-Paul Aguiyi said by packaging the Creative Arts training, it was expected that the Ogoni people would have their own version of Nollywood known as Ogoniwood just as Nigerians are familiar with Hollywood, Bollywood, Kannywood and Nollywood.
To achieve this goal, the Project Coordinator explained that it was the reason for choosing a reputable establishment like Halibiz Consult Limited, to partner with the Department of Theatre Arts of the University of Port Harcourt, which he described as one of the most prestigious in the Niger Delta, for the training of the beneficiaries.
He also indicated that in doing this, HYPREP was desirous of going for talents that would help the Ogoni people grow in the film industry, and urged the beneficiaries to take the training seriously.
Zabbey equally enjoined the trainees to put in their best so that in the next three to five years, they would carve a niche for themselves and become forces to reckon with in the film industry.
On her part, HYPREP’s Head of Sustainable Livelihood, Mrs Josephine Nzidee said HYPREP does what it says it will, stressing that the process of training Ogoni youths on specialised skills started three years ago.
According to her, the selection process for the training was rigorous and transparent, and was carried out by renowned actors actresses.
She disclosed that the training consists of three major aspects, which include acting, script writing and make-up, while Nollywood actors like Charles Nnoje, Ngezu J. Ngezu and award-winning make-up artist, Jude Odo would be on hand to drill and groom the beneficiaries.
Mrs Nzidee noted that the programme is a specialised training that does not have anything like starter packs but that it is purely a professional certification programme that would launch the beneficiaries into the Nollywood industry in Nigeria.
According to her, the Creative Arts training is one of the four specialised trainings organised by HYPREP to ensure that the Ogoni people are well positioned in vital industries like Aviation, Maritime, Creative Arts and Mechatronics.
She said the last of such trainings on Mechatronics would take place in the coming months, and urged the beneficiaries to take the training seriously so as to put the Ogoni people on the Nollywood map.
She further indicated that while Charles Nnoje and Ngezu J. Ngezu would take the beneficiaries on the practical aspects, Jude Odo would take them on the make-up aspects.
Also speaking, the External Relations Manager of Halibiz Consult Limited, Alabo Experience Douglas said his company gives much premium to standard and quality, and assured that the firm would give the trainees value for the money spent on the programme.
While charging the beneficiaries to be dedicated and punctual, he stressed the need for them to approach the programme with the mindset of being empty so that at the end of the day, they would benefit maximally.
On his part, the Head of the Theatre Arts Department of the University of Port Harcourt, Dr Ovunda Ihunwo said the CRAB is an acronym for Creative Review of Arts and Books, stressing that it was named by renowned playwright, Prof Ola Rotimi.
According to him, the CRAB had nurtured, groomed and produced Nollywood actors and actresses like Bobmanuel Udokwu, Ejike Asiegbu,Francis Duru, Hilda Dokubo, Monalisa Chinda, Julius Agwu, and a host of others, assuring the beneficiaries that they were on fertile environment to hone their talents.
He noted that symbolically, the crab is a nutritious seafood common in the Niger Delta, and reiterated the need for the beneficiaries to come empty for the training, as it were.
Ihunwo disclosed that the theory classes of the programme would run for three weeks while the fourth week would be for the master classes, and urged the trainees to avail themselves of the opportunity to make a difference by telling the Ogoni story, which he described as inexhaustible by themselves, in order to put Ogoni on the map.
A 23-year-old student of Nasarawa State University identified as Jatau Rilokwah, has been reportedly found dead in the university’s senior staff quarters.
A counter-insurgency expert, focused on the Lake Chad region, Zagazola Makama, disclosed this on his X handle on Tuesday.
According to him, the discovery was made on April 27, 2025, by a security officer at the university, Emmanuel Gyawo.
He stated that Gwayo was directed by Prof. Shedrack Jatau to check on his son upon arriving at the residence, and he found Rilokwah hanging from the ceiling.
“Professor Jatau, who was reportedly out of the State at the time, was informed of the incident. A team of police detectives, led by the Divisional Crime Officer of Angwan Lambu, was dispatched to the scene.
“The body showed no signs of violence, and no suicide note was found. Rilokwah was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre in Keffi, where he was confirmed dead by a medical doctor,” he further stated.
He added that the student’s corpse had been deposited in the hospital morgue.
He also quoted police sources as saying that investigations were ongoing to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The Ogun State Government has partnered with Nike Art Gallery to establish a new exhibition space at the Olumo Rock Tourist Centre in Abeokuta, a move Governor Dapo Abiodun says is aimed at boosting annual tourist visits from 20,000 to over 100,000.
Abiodun disclosed the plan on Wednesday while receiving the founder of the Nike Art Gallery, Chief (Mrs) Nike Davies-Okundaye, at his office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
“I went to Olumo Rock about a month ago and I decided that we needed to do something about restoring Olumo Rock to its old glory. From statistics, Olumo Rock hosts about 20,000 people a year in its current state, and I felt that we could increase that to at least ten times,” the governor said.
As part of the plan, an events hall within the tourist centre will be repurposed as a permanent gallery operated by Nike Art Gallery.
“I told them to shut it down. Practically, we want to bring it down and turn it into a gallery for you to use as an exhibition gallery,” he told Davies-Okundaye.
He added that the gallery will be ready before the National Sports Festival in May, when the State will host about 15,000 visitors.
“I want them to be able to see our tourist sites,” he said, listing attractions such as the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, the Ransome-Kuti family home, and the Adire market among key heritage spots to be showcased.
Highlighting Ogun’s improved infrastructure, the governor said, “Now that we’ve succeeded in having the intra and inter-state roads in place, you can come to Ogun State by rail; you can come by air. We’ve constructed one of the best airports in Nigeria, and very soon, you will be able to come by sea.”
Davies-Okundaye, in her remarks, praised the state’s efforts to promote tourism and pledged to use the new gallery to attract global attention.
“This gallery will bring many Heads of State. The one I opened in Abuja already has more than 10 Heads of State, including those from South Korea and the Czech Republic. The same will happen here,” she said.
She also applauded the Governor for his commitment to the Adire fabric industry.
“Adire is all over Nigeria, but Ogun has been promoting Adire for over 50 years. Today, the only cloth we can call our own is called Adire. This is what we can sell to the Europeans,” she said.
Abiodun reaffirmed his administration’s backing of the Adire industry, citing policies such as the Adire Ogun Digital Marketplace, compulsory wearing of Adire in the state, and provision of solar-powered production equipment to support artisans.
He also revealed plans to open a creative arts and entertainment village in partnership with Bolanle Austen-Peters, expected to be completed within two months.