Kebbi State House of Assembly Speaker, Muhammad Usman Zuru, is dead.
The lawmaker died on Monday night in an Egyptian hospital where he had been receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness, according to sources familiar with what happened.
Zuru’s death was confirmed by the sources close to the Kebbi State Government, even though the state government failed to give further details.
Before he died, Zuru represented Zuru Constituency in the state assembly and was regarded as a key figure in the legislature.
Confirming the development, an aide to the governor on Communication and Strategy, Idris Zuru, described the incident as shocking, painful and a big loss to the state.
Zuru: “The death of the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Muhammad Usman Zuru, came to us as a rude shock. It is a painful loss not only to Kebbi State but to the entire nation.
“We are still gathering full details surrounding his passing. The government will make an official statement and announce burial arrangements in consultation with the family.”
Yufus Buhari, son of the late Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, has declared his interest to run for the House of Representatives seat in the 2027 poll.
He made his intention known in a letter he personally signed, and made available to the journalists at the weekend.
The letter, dated 3rd April 2026, is titled: “Expression of interest to contest for the seat of House of Representatives Sandamu/Daura/Mai’Adua Federal Constituency.”
It read, “With all respect, I am extremely delighted to write and inform you of my intention to contest for the seat of House of Representatives at the above-mentioned constituency (Sandamu/Daura/Mai’adua), under the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC).
“After wide consultations, I wish to contest for the seat of the House of Representatives, Sandamu/Daura/Mai’adua, as my contribution to ensure a good and qualitative leadership.
“Your support will help my ambition to succeed, to bring infrastructural development as well as human support and development to the people of this constituency.
“While expecting your full support and encouragement, I wish you all the very best in all your undertakings.”
The magazine reporst that Buhari’s declaration comes few days after some APC stakeholders in the Sandamu Local Government Area of Katsina he’s their preferred aspirants for the Daura/Sandamu/Mai’adua Federal Constituency of the state.
The decision was taken during a high-level meeting held at the Sandamu Local Government secretariat, which brought together elected officials and political appointees across the federal constituency.
Speaking to participants, the council chairman, Usman Na-Lado, described the endorsement as a collective decision by party leaders in the counicl and state as a whole.
He stressed that Yusuf’s candidacy was considered suitable based on his perceived capacity and acceptance among party stakeholders.
The council chairman explained that beyond the House of Representatives seat, the meeting also reaffirmed support for President Bola Tinubu and Governor Dikko Radda as the party’s flag bearers for the Presidency and governorship seats, respectively, in the 2027 general elections.
Sources within the party informed that the endorsement of Yusuf Buhari is a clear directive from the state governor, Dikko Radda.
One of the sources, said “Yusuf Buhari is Governor Rada’s candidate.”
Chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, (ADC), and Publisher of Ovation International, Dele Momodu, has observed that the current political wave in Nigeria cannot allow opposition parties to thrive.
He, also, alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC), has never intended to tolerate a strong opposition in Nigeria.
According to a report by Arise News on Monday, Momodu claimed that the administration is using certain individuals strategically to undermine democratic movements and destabilise opposition parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.
His remarks highlight ongoing concerns about the political environment and the challenges faced by opposition parties in navigating internal and external pressures.
Momodu, made the comment while reacting to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s, (INEC), handling of the leadership dispute within the ADC.
The dispute involves competing claims over the party’s leadership and the recognition of factions, which has created uncertainty within the party.
He suggested that the current political climate is being shaped in a way that limits the effectiveness of opposition groups and impedes their ability to operate freely in Nigeria’s democratic system.
The Kuturmi Unity Development Association (KUDA), a community group in Kaduna State, has disputed claims by the Nigerian Army that 31 abducted worshippers in Ariko, Kachia Local Government Area, abducted during Easter worship, have been rescued.
KUDA made the clarification in a statement issued on Monday and signed by its President, Joseph David Ariko, and Publicity Secretary, Manasseh Samuel, insisting that all victims remain in captivity.
The group’s reaction followed earlier reports attributed to military sources which stated that troops foiled a terrorist attack on an ECWA Church in Ariko during Easter service and rescued 31 kidnapped victims after a gun battle with the attackers.
The report also indicated that five persons were killed before troops arrived, while operations were ongoing to track fleeing assailants.
However, KUDA described the reported rescue as inaccurate, saying the information did not reflect the reality on ground.
“We wish to categorically state that this claim is entirely false, misleading, and does not reflect the current situation.
“Contrary to the reports being circulated, all the abducted persons are still in captivity with their abductors.
“The families and representatives of the victims remain in contact with the bandits, who have confirmed the safe arrival of the victims at their camp. This clearly invalidates any claim of a successful rescue operation,” the statement added.
While acknowledging ongoing efforts by security agencies to address insecurity, the association expressed concern over what it described as the dissemination of unverified information, warning that such reports could mislead the public and worsen the distress of affected families.
“False reports of this nature create unnecessary confusion, give families false hope, and undermine public trust in official communications,” KUDA said.
It called for intensified and coordinated efforts to secure the immediate and unconditional release of the victims, stressing that their safe return remains the priority.
“The safe return of the abducted persons remains our utmost priority, and we urge all stakeholders to intensify genuine efforts toward securing their release,” the statement read.
Governor Monday Okpebholo, has pledged a sum of N2 billion to support infrastructural development at Edo state University, Iyahmo, while commending the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Victor Adetimirin, for his sacrifice and commitment to advancing the institution.
Speaking during the inauguration of the Ehi-Agenmonmen Business Administration E-Library and performing the ground-breaking of a State-of-the-Art Health Centre and an Ultra-modern Fitness Centre at the University, the governor lauded the Vice-Chancellor for his initiative, particularly his decision to donate his first full month salary towards the building of the State-of-the-Art Health Centre.
The Governor said if the VC can donate his first full month salary towards building the State-of-the-Art Health Center, then the government will have to do much more.
He thereafter announced a donation of N2 billion, two Toyota Hiace Buses and two CNG buses to the University.
“I want to sincerely thank the Vice-Chancellor of this university that such sacrifice demonstrates dedication to educational development.”
The governor also expressed appreciation to Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his continued interest in the education sector, stating that the President’s consistent inquiries into the state of education in Edo reflect the ideals of his Renewed Hope Agenda.
According to him, the donation of the Business Administration E-Library and commitment to build the Ultra-modern Fitness Centre deserve commendation and are worthy of emulation.
In a major announcement, Okpebholo said the state government would match the Vice-Chancellor’s gesture with significant funding.
Responding to requests made by the university management, he said, “You have asked for buses; we will give you two Hiace buses and two CNG buses. I will also add more as we progress.”
Okpebholo also called on the first Visitor and Founder of the University; former governor of the state, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, to contribute to the project.
“This university is dear to my heart,” he added, while assuring the academic community of sustained government support.
He expressed appreciation to staff and students of the university for their commitment, assuring them that greater days lie ahead for the institution.
A business magnate and philanthropist, Ehi-Agenmonmen, donated a Business Administration E-Library while Mr. Peter Omoh Dunia, a businessman and Philantropist is funding the Ultra-modern Fitness Centre.
Also speaking at the event, former Governor and founding visitor to Edo State University Iyamho, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, commended the Governor for his commitment to the development of education in the state.
“I thank you, Mr Governor, for increasing the subvention to the university. I initially thought it was N150,000,000 not knowing it was raised to N250,000,000” he said.
Oshiomhole noted that the governor’s support for education has become widely acknowledged, citing interventions across institutions in the state, particularly the revival efforts at Ambrose Alli University.
Renowned Economist and Chief Executive of Financial Derivatives Company has called on the federal government to adopt a refinery-based subsidy model to reduce and stabilize the price of fuel in the country.
Rewane made the remark in the face of the ongoing US/ Israel attack against Iran which has affected energy costs globally, including Nigeria where the pump price of petrol has almost doubled.
Before the war in the middle east, the product sold for less than N800 but has now risen to N1,300 per litre.
According to Rewane, the federal government can adopt a model, where crude is sold directly to refineries in the country, at a control price, to reduce the price at the pump.
Speaking during a session on Nairametrics TV, Rewane noted that rather than maintaining a broad subsidy regime, Nigeria could adopt a targeted approach by leveraging local refineries to stabilize fuel prices and reduce inefficiencies.
Rewane explained that the proposed model would involve the government supplying crude oil to domestic refiners at a controlled price, while ensuring that refined petroleum products are sold to consumers at lower rates.
“Nigeria will actually sell oil to the refiners at a particular price and insist that the refiners bring down their price and pay the difference,” he noted.
According to him, this approach would allow the government to focus on supporting a limited number of refiners instead of subsidising the entire fuel supply chain.
“It is more efficient for Nigeria to pay three or four refineries to keep going and for them to transfer the subsidies to the consumers.”
He also highlighted Nigeria’s structural advantages, including its oil and gas resources and geographic positioning, as factors that support the feasibility of the model.
Rewane’s proposal comes amid ongoing debates following the removal of the petrol subsidy, a policy shift aimed at reducing fiscal pressure and eliminating distortions in the downstream sector.
While subsidy removal has improved government finances, it has also led to higher fuel prices and increased inflationary pressures, affecting households and businesses.
Rewane also linked the proposal to rising global oil prices, noting that increased revenues could provide the fiscal space needed to sustain such a system.
“Nigeria is going to double its oil revenues because the price of oil has gone up. You must be able to recycle the oil windfall into the pockets of the people.”
One of the victims of the recent violence in Anguwan Rukuba, Jos North Local Government area of Plateau state, has been confirmed dead.
The deceased, a University of Jos undergraduate, Abel Joro, reportedly sustained severe injuries during the violence.
The student, described as “full of life, dreams and hope,” reportedly died in the Intensive Care Unit of the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) after battling to survive injuries from the attack.
His death was announced on Monday morning by Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo, Regional Chairman of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), Plateau State, via his X (formerly Twitter) handle, where he expressed deep sorrow over the tragic loss.
“Abel Gacho Joro, a young 200 level student of UniJos full of life, full of dreams, full of hope is gone tonight,” he wrote.
“After fighting with everything he had to stay alive in the Intensive Care Unit at JUTH… this is too painful, this is too heavy for the heart to carry.
The National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Bolaji Abdullahi, has revealed how the party made several offers to Nafiu Bala Gombe after change of leadership but rejected all.
He stated that he later opted to align with external political interests after allegedly receiving inducements, as the party’s leadership crisis continues to generate controversy across Nigeria’s political landscape.
Speaking during an exclusive interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State, on Monday, Abdullahi accused the opposition of intentionally luring Nafiu Bala with offers the ADC could not match, insisting that the party is focused on saving Nigerians and not enriching political actors.
“We made efforts to pacify him, we approached him, we tried to find something for him to do within the party, but at that point he had already approached people within government who were willing to use him, and we could not match what they were offering him.
“Suddenly, this is a man we all know, and he now has a convoy of armoured cars, security details, and is living in luxury.
The National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Bolaji Abdullahi
“Where did all that come from? For us, it is clear that he got a better offer elsewhere and decided to align with those interests against the party,” he said.
Recall that the leadership crisis within the ADC intensified in early April as factional leader Nafiu Bala publicly disowned a circulating resignation letter, labeling it a forgery.
This development follows a Court of Appeal ruling that prompted INEC to de-list the rival National Working Committee led by Senator David Mark.
Bala, who claims he is the rightful acting chairman as the party’s highest-ranking original officer, faces accusations from opponents of being a sponsored agent meant to destabilize the party, even as his supporters protest at INEC headquarters for his formal recognition.
Abdullahi insisted repeatedly that there was no internal confusion within the ADC, contrary to public perception, maintaining that the situation was artificially created by external forces.
“There was no confusion in ADC, except that which has been engineered by INEC, which is being used by the ruling All Progressives Congress on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“There is no confusion whatsoever. What INEC has done is to create a situation that never existed, and Nigerians are beginning to see through it. This is not about internal disagreement; this is about external interference designed to destabilise the party,” he declared.
The ADC spokesman also challenged INEC’s authority over party leadership matters, describing its actions as unconstitutional and inconsistent with established legal precedents.
He maintained that political parties operate as voluntary associations whose internal affairs cannot be dictated by external bodies, stressing that INEC’s role is limited to supervision.
“INEC does not have the power to remove leadership of a political party. Fundamentally, a political party is a voluntary association, and if you are not a member of our family, you cannot come and remove the head of that family.
“The role of INEC is supervisory, not administrative, not to control political parties and decide how they run their affairs. What they have done goes completely against established legal principles and the very foundation of democratic practice in Nigeria,” Abdullahi stated.
Addressing the Court of Appeal ruling at the centre of the dispute, Abdullahi explained that the directive to maintain “status quo ante bellum” had been misinterpreted by INEC.
He clarified that the ruling referred to maintaining the condition of the party before the conflict initiated by Bala, a period during which the leadership under David Mark was already in place and recognised.
“The Court of Appeal ruling was very clear when it said maintain status quo ante bellum, which simply means return to the situation before the conflict started.
“Now, before Nafiu Bala went to court, David Mark was already the duly recognised chairman of the party following the NEC meeting of July 29, which INEC monitored and acknowledged.
“So how does maintaining status quo suddenly translate into removing an existing leadership and leaving the party without direction? That interpretation is not only fraudulent, it is dishonest and completely self-serving.”
The Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, has demand a public apology from the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike over his remark about Channels Television journalist, Seun Okinbaloye.
The minister, the magazine recalls, recently made the remark during his monthly press briefing with some select journalists in Abuja, the nation’s capital, which not a few have described as a threat against the life of the popular journalist, who anchors Politics Today programme.
“If there was any way to break the screen, I would have shot him,” Wike said.
Reacting in a statement on Monday, the NUJ criticized the minister for making such remarks, which it said is capable of endangering the lives of journalists in the country, as well as affect press freedom.
The statement was signed by its National President, Alhassan Ya hya Abdullahi,
Nigeria is ranked among the countries with worst press freedom, and journalist abuse globally according to Amnesty International, AI.
“The Nigeria Union of Journalists expresses its concern over the statement made by the Minister regarding a journalist. Such remarks raise important issues about the safety of journalists and the protection of press freedom,” the statement said.
Adding, “The NUJ had delayed issuing this statement in the expectation that the Minister would reflect and withdraw the comment. However, the absence of such response has heightened concerns.”
The association representing Television and Radio stations in the country, the Independent Broadcast Association of Nigeria, IBAN had earlier directed its members to boycott press briefings by Wike until he retracts his threat to shoot the Channels Television journalists.
Nollywood celebrated figure-turned political actor Kenneth Okonkwo, a Barrister-at-law, has insisted that the arrest and detention of former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai by state-backed institutions was at the heart of the death of his mother, Hajia Umma El-Rufai.
This is as he posited that the sudden grant of bail to El-Rufai by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, to attend his mother’s funeral remains an eloquent testimony that the Government of the day is controlling the affairs of the Judiciary in the country.
The Source reports that El-Rufai who had been in the custody of the ICPC since February 18, was on March 28, 2026 granted temporary and compassionate bail to enable him participate in the burial ceremony of his mother who passed on ,on March 27 ,in Cairo Egypt.
Okonkwo who spoke in an interview with Symponi TV remained adamant that the psychological shock and trauma arising from the arrest and detention of El-Rufai killed her mother.
“I give you a good example of what happened in El-Rufai’s case. As far as I’m concerned, it was the incarceration of El-Rufai that killed his mother.
Kenneth Okonkwo
“You know when mothers get to that age (90 years) , they become so sentimental, and emotional.
“Let me tell you,there was a time that somebody told my mother that thieves burgled the residences of some her children, she felt so bad that they had to call religious preachers to come and talk to her.
“Then you can imagine the case of an aged mother who was told about the arrest and detention of her son . And may be ,some people might also have told her that her son has died. That was what killed her in my own opinion” Okonkwo stated.
Okonkwo ,a known ally of Atiku Abubakar, also pointed out that the death of El-Rufai’s mother highlighted a disturbing reality about the tight grip the All Progressive Congress -Federal Government has on the country’s Judiciary.
He expressed serious concern that the ICPC could grant bail to El-Rufai without reference to the Court that ordered his detention.
According to him, the ICPC’s gesture supposedly on the directive of the Federal Government is a clear indication that the Country’s Judiciary is under the control of the executive branch of Government.
“When the woman died that was when they remembered that they will release El-Rufai without a court order; meaning that they (Government) are the ones using the Judiciary because you can’t disobey the order of the Court just at will”, he added.
