Author: Gbenga Olaleye

Around a dozen soldiers have been arrested in Benin following an attempted coup d’état that briefly disrupted national broadcasting on Sunday. According to military and security sources who spoke to AFP, the detained group includes the alleged ringleaders of the failed operation. One security official confirmed that 13 individuals had been taken into custody, noting that all but one are serving members of the Beninese armed forces. The remaining detainee, sources said, is a former soldier believed to have maintained connections within the military. The arrests came shortly after a startling broadcast aired on Benin’s national television early Sunday morning.…

Senate President Chief Godswill Akpabio has clarified the circumstances surrounding his ₦40bn defamation lawsuit against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, stating that the case was filed over three months ago and not recently instituted as claimed by the Kogi Central lawmaker. In a statement released by his media office on Saturday, Akpabio dismissed assertions by Akpoti-Uduaghan that the suit was a fresh reaction to her renewed social media allegations of sexual misconduct. He insisted that the matter had long been before the court but had not proceeded earlier because she was allegedly evading service of the court’s summons. The Senate President said…

Former National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Iyiola Omisore, has condemned his disqualification from the party’s Osun State governorship primary, describing the decision as “a huge joke” and accusing the screening panel of bias, inconsistency, and procedural misconduct. Omisore spoke in Abuja on Saturday after he and six other disqualified aspirants appeared before the APC Screening Appeal Panel to challenge the decision. The aspirants were barred from participating in the primary scheduled for 13 December, with the Screening Committee citing alleged irregularities in the documentation submitted with their nomination forms. Those disqualified include Omisore, Babatunde Oralusi,…

Pensioners of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) have announced that they will join the nationwide naked protest scheduled for 8 December, as agitation intensifies across the country over long-standing unpaid entitlements. The decision was disclosed on Saturday by the National Financial Secretary of FRCN pensioners, Bola Popoola, in a statement issued in Lagos. Popoola said the group had been left with no choice but to join the controversial demonstration, organised by the Coalition of Federal Pensioners of Nigeria, to demand payment of accumulated arrears and palliative allowances owed to retirees. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) had earlier…

Tensions flared in Osun State on Saturday as the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) exchanged accusations over violent clashes that reportedly left several people injured in Boluwaduro Local Government Area. The Osun State chapter of the APC claimed that five of its members were attacked and seriously wounded by hoodlums allegedly linked to the ruling PDP. The party said the incident occurred shortly after the Supreme Court delivered its judgment in the suit filed by the state’s Attorney General, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, against the Federal Government over withheld local government allocations. The apex court had struck…

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr. Adegboyega Oyetola, has praised the Supreme Court’s decision to strike out a suit filed by the Osun State Government over the release of allocations to sacked local government chairmen. The minister described the ruling as a significant affirmation of constitutional order, democratic principles, and the autonomy of local government authorities. In a statement issued in Lagos on Saturday through his Special Adviser on Media, Dr Bolaji Akinola, Oyetola commended the country’s apex court for what he termed a “victory for democracy and the rule of law”. The Supreme Court, in a 6–1…

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Screening Committee has disqualified former APC National Secretary and ex-Osun State Deputy Governor, Iyiola Omisore, along with six other aspirants, from contesting in the party’s governorship primary scheduled for 13 December, citing gaps and irregularities in their nomination processes. The committee’s report, obtained by our correspondent on Friday, emphasised the need for stakeholders to prioritise reconciliation to ensure party unity ahead of the election, noting that resolving internal disputes is essential for a credible primary. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had earlier scheduled the Osun State governorship election for 8 August 2026. The Screening…

The Osun State House of Assembly has passed the Osun State Local Government Accounts Administration Bill, 2025, a development aimed at tightening financial governance and promoting transparency across the state’s 30 local government areas and area councils. According to a statement issued in Osogbo on Friday by Olamide Tiamiyu, Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, the legislation provides a clear framework for the opening, management, and operation of local government accounts. It is anchored on Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which empowers state legislatures to make laws guiding local government finances. The Assembly said the bill was…

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has said the 16 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) are “free to leave,” insisting that his political camp will continue to collaborate with the lawmakers who have remained loyal to the PDP. Wike made the remarks on Friday while speaking to journalists after inspecting the ongoing construction of an interchange bridge linking Maitama, Gishiri, Jahi, and Gwarimpa in Abuja. His comments followed a dramatic turn of events earlier in the day, when 16 lawmakers—among…

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a suit filed by the Osun State Government seeking to compel the Federal Government to release allegedly withheld allocations due to the state’s local government councils. In a split decision of six to one, the seven-member panel held that the legal action instituted by the Attorney General of Osun State was incompetent. According to Vanguard, the lead judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Idris found that the state lacked the locus standi to invoke the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction on behalf of its 30 local government areas. Justice Idris clarified that the Constitution empowers the…