Author: Gbenga Olaleye

President Bola Tinubu’s Senior Special Assistant on Print Media, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, has dismissed any suggestion that former President Goodluck Jonathan poses a political threat, saying there is no cause for concern even if Jonathan chooses to return to active politics. Speaking in an interview in Kano, Abdulaziz said Jonathan’s past electoral defeat as a sitting president in 2015 already demonstrated his political limits. “Somebody who was defeated while he was a sitting president, there is nothing he can do now. Maybe he can come and try his luck. It is the beauty of democracy. Anybody can decide to contest,” he…

Political activist Mahdi Shehu has accused President Bola Tinubu and the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service of promoting nepotism and regional bias in the recently published shortlist for the 2025 Customs Cadet Officers recruitment. In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, Shehu alleged that the list heavily favours candidates from the southern regions of the country, particularly the South-West, at the expense of the North. According to him, of the 1,785 shortlisted candidates, 1,244 were from the South while only 541 were from the North. He claimed that about 45 per cent — roughly 803 candidates…

Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum and Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, has claimed that governors and other PDP members who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) are facing political difficulties following their departure. Speaking on Saturday during the inauguration of the PDP Convention Communication Sub-Committee in Abuja, Mohammed said the party’s governors are working behind the scenes to maintain unity and rebuild ahead of the 2027 general elections. “If you ask me whether I am concerned about our governors leaving for APC, I am more than concerned,” he said. “But leadership is a…

The immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has acknowledged that technological advances have improved the conduct of elections in Nigeria over the past decade but warned they cannot eliminate the deeper flaws that continue to undermine the credibility of the country’s polls. Yakubu made the remarks in the foreword to a newly released, 200‑page book published by INEC and titled Election Management in Nigeria: 2015–2025. A copy of the publication was obtained by New Daily Prime. Describing the decade covered in the book as “one of the most momentous in the history of…

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has issued a stern response to Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, following the governor’s public criticism of the cost per kilometre of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, a major infrastructure project spearheaded by the Tinubu administration. During an inspection tour of the Keffi Bridge and Nasarawa–Toto Road projects on Saturday, accompanied by Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule, Umahi defended the federal government’s costing of the highway project, saying the figures were derived in accordance with global engineering best practices and should not be reduced to mere “political soundbites”. Governor Makinde had, in a viral video…

The Labour Party has rejected growing speculation that its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, might step down in favour of a political coalition or rival aspirant, declaring that such a move would be a betrayal of the hope millions of Nigerians have invested in his candidacy. Reacting to recent debates over possible opposition alliances, the party’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Tony Akeni, said that any attempt to force Obi out of the race would effectively crush the aspirations of Nigerians seeking a new political direction. “Forcing Peter Obi to withdraw from the race is to take away 90 per cent of…

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has asserted that the Nigerian Senate will not allow itself to be “held hostage” by the disruptive behaviour of any individual lawmaker, stressing that discipline and adherence to parliamentary rules are essential to the health of Nigeria’s democracy. In a statement issued on Saturday by his media aide, Eseme Eyiboh, titled “The Trials and Triumphs of a Resilient Nigeria’s 10th Senate,” Akpabio warned that while dissent is welcome in a democratic space, it must occur within the bounds of the Senate’s Standing Orders. “The Senate cannot and will not be held hostage by the disruptive instincts…

The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the State House of Assembly of gross insensitivity over the killing of at least ten residents of Akinlalu, a community in Ife North Local Government Area, allegedly by operatives of the Amotekun Corps. In a strongly worded statement released on Saturday by the APC’s Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, the party condemned the Assembly’s delayed response to the killings and criticised its apparent prioritisation of the reopening of sealed Amotekun offices over justice for the victims. “The Egbedun-led House has demonstrated insensitivity over the callous killings…

The North-Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum has expressed strong support for President Bola Tinubu following the appointment of Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Amupitan, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and legal scholar from Kogi State, was appointed to head Nigeria’s electoral body with the approval of the National Council of State. His appointment has been met with enthusiasm by APC stakeholders in the North-Central region. In a statement released in Abuja on Saturday by the Forum’s Chairman, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga — a member of the APC campaign council…

The Oyo State Government has firmly rejected proposals to increase the retirement age for teachers and civil servants from 60 to 65 years, asserting that such a policy would restrict employment opportunities for the state’s growing number of young graduates. The Federal Government of Nigeria had earlier approved an extension of retirement age for clinically skilled health workers, citing the need to retain experienced professionals in order to strengthen healthcare delivery and boost training capacity. Following this decision, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) urged that the policy be extended across all sectors of the public service. Some states have already…