Author: Gbenga Olaleye

Abuja – A legal expert, Sunday Adebayo, Esq., has raised concerns over the increasing use of defamation laws to silence bloggers, content creators, and social media users in Nigeria, warning that freedom of expression must not be undermined under the guise of enforcing defamation laws. In a legal commentary titled “Freedom of Expression and the Law of Defamation in Nigeria: A Legal Appraisal of the Double-edged Sword,” Adebayo noted the rising number of arrests and detentions over social media posts, particularly involving criticisms of public figures and government officials. He argued that while freedom of speech is a constitutional right, it…

The Deputy Governor of Osun State, Prince Kola Adewusi, has called on members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Ife Federal Constituency to remain calm and allow the party’s leadership to resolve the internal crisis that has recently emerged within the zone. Adewusi, reacting to reports of a vote of no confidence passed against him and two other party chieftains over alleged anti-party activities, described the situation as a “storm in a teacup.” He made the remarks in a statement released on Wednesday through his Chief Press Secretary, Goke Awoyemi. Earlier reports indicated that tensions flared during a…

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has declared a 50 per cent reduction in fares on the Blue Line rail service for Thursday, 4 September 2025, in celebration of the rail’s second anniversary of commercial operations. The announcement was made in a statement released on Wednesday, highlighting the significant strides the Blue Line has made since it began serving the public in September 2023, along the Marina–Mile 2 corridor. “In just two years, the Blue Line has transported more than five million passengers safely. Trains now operate at 10-minute intervals, completing over 90 trips daily. What used to be long,…

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ife Federal Constituency has passed a vote of no confidence in Osun State Deputy Governor, Kola Adewusi, and former National Secretary of the party, Prof. Wale Oladipo, accusing them of engaging in anti-party activities. The decision was announced in a communiqué issued following the constituency’s meeting on Monday. The statement also sanctioned the Ife East Local Government PDP chairman, Olasunkanmi Makinde. The party accused the three leaders of fraternising with Bimbo Ajilesoro, the member representing Ife Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, who recently defected from the PDP to the ruling All Progressives…

Paulinus Iheanacho Okoronkwo, a former employee of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC), is scheduled to be sentenced on 1 December in the United States for allegedly receiving a $2.1 million bribe from a Swiss company during his tenure at the corporation. Okoronkwo faces a maximum prison term of 25 years. Okoronkwo was indicted in January 2024 by the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California on multiple charges, including three counts of engaging in monetary transactions involving property derived from unlawful activity, one count of tax evasion, and one count of obstruction of justice. The charges…

Former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has emphasised that Nigerians can only enjoy true leadership when leaders are genuinely elected. Speaking on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television, on Tuesday, Baba-Ahmed highlighted the connection between credible elections and national security, asserting that the ongoing cycle of violence in Nigeria stems from flawed leadership selection. “When asked how to stop the cycle of killings in Nigeria, I say this: only when you have the right leaders, and you can only have the right leaders when they are truly elected,” Baba-Ahmed stated. He warned against electoral malpractice, saying, “So long…

Datti Baba-Ahmed, the Labour Party’s vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, has called for former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai to be formally questioned over his recent claims that the Federal Government is financially supporting bandits. Baba-Ahmed made the remarks during an appearance on Politics Today, a programme broadcast by Channels Television on Tuesday. He strongly criticised the response issued by the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, which dismissed El-Rufai’s allegations. “If the so-called office of the National Security Adviser treats this statement with levity, then Nuhu Ribadu was never a policeman; he is not a…

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has criticised Nigeria’s health system, describing it as unacceptable that millions of citizens still trek long distances for basic medical services, with many dying from preventable diseases such as malaria. Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday at the unveiling of the Care365 Health Hub, chaired by former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.), Obasanjo lamented that poor access to healthcare continues to claim the lives of vulnerable Nigerians. “It is no longer acceptable that, in the age of artificial intelligence and space tourism, a Nigerian child should die of malaria because her mother could not afford…

OpenAI has announced plans to introduce parental controls on ChatGPT within the next month, following mounting concerns about the chatbot’s potential role in cases of self-harm among teenagers. The company said the new feature will allow parents to link their accounts with their children’s, restrict functions such as memory and chat history, manage how the chatbot responds, and receive alerts if signs of “acute distress” are detected during use. “These steps are only the beginning. We will continue learning and strengthening our approach, guided by experts, with the goal of making ChatGPT as helpful as possible,” OpenAI said in a…

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has explained why it deliberately refrained from fielding candidates in three local government areas during the just-concluded council elections, describing the decision as a calculated political strategy. At a press briefing in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, Tony Okocha, a senior APC chieftain, said the party opted not to contest in Obio/Akpor, Port Harcourt City, and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government areas because it lacked the capacity to challenge the dominance of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in those constituencies. According to Okocha, presenting candidates in the three LGAs would have amounted to “missing the…