Author: Gbenga Olaleye

Nigeria’s economy grew by 3.98 per cent in the third quarter of 2025, slightly higher than the 3.86 per cent recorded in the same period of 2024, according to the latest Gross Domestic Product report published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday. The data shows that although the country continues to experience moderate and uneven recovery, key non-oil sectors helped stabilise overall performance. The NBS report stated: “Gross Domestic Product grew by 3.98 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms in the third quarter of 2025. This growth rate is higher than the 3.86 per cent recorded in…

The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State has revealed that Governor Ademola Adeleke may no longer be interested in seeking the party’s nomination for the 2026 governorship election, unless the crises rocking the party at the national level are resolved within the timeframe recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). This was disclosed on Monday in Osogbo by the Osun State PDP Chairman, Sunday Bisi, who addressed journalists on the party’s inability to hold its governorship primary earlier slated for 2 December 2025. Bisi explained that although Governor Adeleke had fully complied with the party’s…

The Presidency has urged Nigerians to play an active role in monitoring compliance with President Bola Tinubu’s directive to withdraw police escorts from VIPs nationwide. The call was made by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Daniel Bwala, during an interview on TVC on Sunday. He emphasised that public cooperation is essential to the policy’s success, which aims to redirect police personnel to core law-enforcement duties. Bwala encouraged citizens to document and report any individual still using police escorts in violation of the President’s order. “If you identify a celebrity, a private sector person, or…

Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has imposed a 24-hour curfew on Igbajo, in Boluwaduro Local Government Area, following a breakdown of law and order that erupted on Sunday night and spread into the early hours of Monday. The disturbance is reported to be connected to tensions surrounding the death of Prince Adegboyega Famodun, the former Osun All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman and embattled 30th Owa of Igbajo, who passed away last week after a brief illness. In a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, the governor ordered an immediate lockdown of the community…

The Agbekoya Farmers Society of Nigeria has announced the deployment of hundreds of its trained members to various villages and communities across Oyo State in a bid to curb the rising menace of banditry, kidnapping, and other violent crimes. The development was disclosed on Sunday following an emergency security meeting held in Ibadan, where the group reviewed the growing security challenges confronting the state and the country at large. Tension has escalated in parts of Oyo State, especially in Saki, within the Oke Ogun geopolitical zone, after residents raised the alarm over the reported movement of a notorious wanted criminal…

The Ogun State Commissioner of Police (CP), Lanre Ogunlowo, has confirmed the abduction of six real estate marketers in Oyebola village, Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area. The victims, who work with a Lagos-based property firm, were reportedly seized on Friday while on an inspection tour of land owned by the company. Ogunlowo disclosed the incident on Sunday during a telephone interview with our correspondent, shortly after an anonymous resident from a neighbouring community raised an alarm about the attack. According to the Commissioner, the marketers were invited from Lagos to assess the property and gather information to promote and sell the…

Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Foreign Affairs and Protocol, Ademola Oshodi, has defended the President’s latest round of ambassadorial nominations, insisting that the choices reflect Tinubu’s informed judgment on what is best for his administration and for Nigeria. Speaking on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Monday, Oshodi argued that political appointments to diplomatic positions are neither unusual nor improper, but part of a long-established global norm. According to him, world leaders—including presidents, prime ministers, and monarchs—routinely nominate trusted allies or individuals with whom they share longstanding political and personal relationships. “Whether it’s Donald Trump sending his friends…

Nigeria’s former Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd), has called on the newly emerged factional National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kabiru Turaki, to lead a thorough rebuilding of the party as it prepares for the 2027 general elections. Babangida delivered the charge when Turaki, accompanied by selected members of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC), visited his Hilltop residence in Minna, the Niger State capital. Their discussions reportedly centred on party renewal, national stability, and the strengthening of political structures nationwide. The former military president commended the delegation for identifying with the government and people…

The Kano State Government has firmly dismissed widespread rumours suggesting an impending security crisis, assuring the public that the state remains safe, stable, and entirely under control. The clarification followed a State Security Council meeting on Sunday, attended by all senior security chiefs, during which Governor Abba Yusuf received detailed briefings on ongoing operations across the state. In a statement released on Monday by the Director-General of Media and Publicity, Sunusi Dawakin-Tofa, the government emphasised that no credible intelligence points to any imminent threat to public peace. He stated that the circulating claims were “false, sensational, and deliberately crafted to…

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has sharply criticised the Federal Government following reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) spent N17.5 trillion in a single year on securing fuel pipelines. Atiku described the reported expenditure as unprecedented, alarming, and one of the most brazen financial scandals in Nigeria’s history. In a statement issued by his media office on Sunday, the former Vice President compared the alleged figure to the nation’s total fuel subsidy expenditure over more than a decade. He noted that approximately N18 trillion was spent on subsidies over 12 years—an intervention that, according to him, provided…