Author: Alade Adisa

Former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, on Friday, pleaded not guilty to a fresh 19-count charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja. The former governor, who was brought before the court from Kuje prison, denied his alleged complicity in an N80.2 billion fraud. Specifically, the EFCC alleged that the defendant, who piloted the affairs of Kogi State from 2016 to 2024, used five proxies to acquire choice properties in highbrow areas of Abuja and Dubai. The anti-graft agency told the court that the properties were acquired…

The law firm of Afe Babalola has written a petition to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, (LPDC) asking it to strike out the name of Lagos-based legal practitioner, Dele Farotimi from the roll of legal practitioners in Nigeria for allegedly violating certain provisions of the rules of professional conduct for lawyers. The 90-page petition dated December 6, 2024 was signed by a partner in the law firm, Ola Faro, who was also mentioned in Farotimi’s book, “Nigeria and its criminal justice system.” The petition is titled “PETITION AGAINST TOMILOLA TITUS FAROTIMI (ALSO KNOWN AS DELE FAROTIMI ESQ), A NIGERIAN LAWYER…

The Senate has issued a warrant of arrest against the Managing Director of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Dr Peer Lubasch for persistent refusal to appear before the Senate Committee on Works despite earlier summons. The resolution of the Senate on the warrant of arrest against the MD of Julius Berger followed a motion moved by the Senate Minority Whip, Senator Osita Ngwu. Senator Ngwu in his motion co-sponsored by the Chairman of the Senate’s Committee on Works Mpigi Barinada and Senator representing Cross River South, Asuquo Ekpenyong informed the Senate that Julius Berger Plc Julius Berger have persistently refused to…

Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, has warned state governors bypassing the Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy, threatening to charge them with a contempt of court suit if they continue to defy the judgment. the Attorney General stated this in Abuja on Thursday at the 2024 annual conference of the National Association of Judiciary Correspondents. The Supreme Court, on July 11, 2024, delivered a landmark judgment affirming the financial autonomy of the 774 local government areas in the country and stopping governors from further control of funds meant for the…

President Bola Tinubu reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to creating a business-friendly environment, particularly in the energy and solid minerals sectors, during a meeting with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the State House on Wednesday. In a session focused on fostering bilateral trade and investment, Tinubu assured German investors of Nigeria’s readiness to remove administrative bottlenecks and leverage its abundant natural resources to drive industrialization and economic growth. President Tinubu described Nigeria’s economic reforms as designed to ensure long-term prosperity through sustainable frameworks, emphasizing that the nation is poised for industrialization through its rich resources. “We must enhance the possibility of becoming…

The premier of Canada’s most populous province on Wednesday threatened to cut off energy supplies to the U.S. if President-elect Donald Trump implements his proposed tariffs on Canadian goods. This bold move highlights the escalating tensions between the two nations as they grapple with potential trade conflicts. “We will go to the full extent depending how far this goes. We will go to the extent of cutting off their energy, going down to Michigan, going down to New York State and over to Wisconsin,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said during a press conference following a virtual meeting with Canadian Prime…

President Biden is commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. It’s the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. The commutations announced Thursday are for people who have served out home confinement sentences for at least one year after they were released. Prisons were uniquely bad for spreading the virus and some inmates were released in part to stop the spread. At one point, 1 in 5 prisoners had COVID-19, according to a tally kept by…

A woman in Lafia Local Government Area of Nasarawa State whose husband is a commercial Keke NAPEP rider has given birth to conjoined twins. The conjoined twins were delivered at a local healthcare facility in Gidan Buba community of Lafia. A family source who confirmed the twins’ birth lamented that they had been discharged due to the ongoing strike over the non-implementation of the 2024 National Minimum Wage Act, leaving them stranded. According to the family source, they are in dire need of financial assistance from members of the public to save the lives of the conjoined twins.

….Sets up probe panel The Nigerian Senate has asked the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to halt demolition of properties in the FCT, pending the conclusion of investigations by its ad-hoc committee. The resolution was reached on Thursday following a motion raised by Senator Ireti Kingibe, who expressed concerns that the demolition in the FCT has taken a dangerous dimension. Kingibe insisted that there was need for the Senate to intervene. Parts of Kingibe’s motion read: “Further concerned that demolition in FCT is no longer in line with due process and that a cross section of individuals…

President Bola Tinubu is set to present the N47.9 trillion 2025 budget to the national assembly on December 17. Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced the development at a plenary on Thursday.“The president has made his intention known to the National Assembly to present the 2025 budget to the joint session of the National Assembly on the 17th of December, 2024,” Akpabio said. On November 14, the federal government proposed N47.9 trillion as the total expenditure in the 2025 budget. Tinubu later submitted the medium-term expenditure framework and fiscal strategy paper (MTEF/FSP) for 2025–2027 to both the senate and the house…