The Allied People’s Movement, APM has tackled President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over his recent admonition to catholic bishops that the security and economic situation in the country has improved under him.
APM’s the National Publicity Secretary, Abubakar Yusuf stated this in a statement on Wednesday, saying the president was only trying to paint a different picture of what’s happening in the country.
Tinubu had told the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, led by its President, Most Rev. Matthew Ndagoso who visited him in Aso Villa, Nigeria’s Presidency that things are gradually picking up in the country, particularly in the areas of economy and security, saying the economy has ‘improved” as the country has recovered from the “dark tunnel of uncertainty” it was before he came to office.
“I have listened to you carefully, and most importantly, your key areas are security and education. I can tell you categorically with sincerity that the country has been placed on a sound footing. The economy has recovered. The alarm for bankruptcy and dark tunnel of uncertainty that we had when I came in has been changed,” Tinubu told the Bishop on Wednesday.
Reacting, APM said the situation in the country has not changed, that it’s wrong for the president to lie to the bishops when millions of Nigerians are sinking deeper into abject poverty and terrorists are having a field day killing, and maiming Nigerians across the country.
According to the opposition party, independent data from credible institutions indicate that the poverty level in the country has risen sharply, to over 63 percent as more than half of the nation’s 280 million people are affected.
The party wondered why the president thought he could deceive Nigerians, more so the catholic bishops who are constantly in close touch with the masses, saying the administrations policies such as the removal of fuel subsidy has triggered off various problems in the country, including high food prices, high transportation cost, unaffordable school fees, house rent hike, among others.
“Since President Tinubu claims that Nigeria is better under his administration, the APM challenges him not to travel abroad for medical treatment, but rather to stay in the country for the remainder of his term and benefit from the ‘wonderful’ healthcare his administration has provided,” the party said.
Prominent Nigerian lawyer Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama, SAN, has rejected the decision of the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee LPDC to suspend him from legal practice for three years.
The LPDC had, in a directive, issued on Wednesday July 29, 2026, found the senior lawyer guilty of soliciting and cornering briefs belonging to fellow legal practitioners.
The LPDC’s decision derived from a complaint with No BB/LPDC/1314/2024 instituted by Mr Chris Alashi against Gadzama and another lawyer, Ocha P Ulegede accusing them of illegally collecting his briefs and clients.
But in a statement, Gadzama noted that while he has not been formally served with the certified true Copy (CTC) of the said suspension by the LPDC, he has instructed his legal representatives to appeal the decision in Court.
He appealed to his clients and associates not to press the panic button, assuring them that the suspension will neither stand, nor affect his practice as a lawyer, as he hopes to secure a stay of execution of decision pending the hearing and determination of his appeal.
“The complaints against me alleged that I improperly took over another lawyer’s brief, solicited clients and wrongfully appropriated professional fees.
“Those allegations are, with respect, unfounded. I was retained directly by the judgment Creditors through written letters of instruction and acted throughout strictly in accordance with that professional retainer.
“In my respectful view, the documentary evidence before the Committee does not support the findings made against me”, Gadzama noted.
He further faulted the decision of the LPDC to entertain disputes bordering on legal representation and professional fees, insisting that those are matters outside the jurisdiction of the committee.
While expressing his determination and commitment to pursue his appeal up to the highest judicial layer in the country, he equally reassured his clients and associates that the judiciary will do justice to the matter.
“I trust in the judicial process and remain confident that justice will ultimately prevail”, he added .
Former Vice President of Nigeria and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has described the latest revelation that the Federal Government exceeded its 2024 borrowing limit by ₦4.79 trillion, pushing fresh borrowing to ₦12.62 trillion, as further proof that the Tinubu administration has completely lost control of the nation’s finances.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said Nigerians were promised that the painful removal of fuel subsidy, repeated tax hikes and other harsh economic measures would reduce borrowing and restore fiscal stability. Instead, the country is witnessing the exact opposite: endless borrowing, ballooning debt and unprecedented waste.
According to the Budget Office, the Federal Government borrowed 61.2 per cent above what was approved by the National Assembly. Worse still, an additional ₦3.19 trillion classified as “budget support” was obtained despite no such provision existing in the approved budget, with no clear disclosure of its source.
This is not an isolated incident. It fits into a disturbing pattern that has become the defining signature of the Tinubu administration: duplication, opacity and reckless fiscal management.
This is the same government that has been caught creating fake agencies, padding budgets with duplicated allocations, hiding trillions under the mysterious Service Wide Vote, allocating obscene sums for luxury SUVs while critical sectors gasp for survival, and now borrowing far beyond the limits approved by law.
What exactly is all this borrowing funding?
Certainly not education, where children continue to learn under deplorable conditions.
Certainly not healthcare, where hospitals remain underfunded.
Certainly not security, where innocent Nigerians are massacred while security agencies complain of inadequate funding.
Certainly not infrastructure, because the roads remain death traps and electricity has become an expensive luxury.
The tragedy is that Nigerians are being forced to service debts whose benefits they cannot see.
Even more troubling is the contradiction that defines this administration. Only days ago, it emerged that high crude oil prices have handed the Federal Government an estimated ₦7.98 trillion oil windfall, yet instead of reducing borrowing, the government has continued to pile debt upon debt. A government earning windfalls while borrowing recklessly is not suffering from lack of revenue; it is suffering from lack of discipline.
The Budget Office report further reveals that debt servicing alone consumed ₦12.36 trillion, exceeding the budget by more than 52 per cent. Nigeria is fast approaching the dangerous point where government exists primarily to borrow in order to repay previous borrowings.
This is not economic reform. It is fiscal vandalism.
No responsible government mortgages the future of unborn generations while simultaneously presiding over duplicated budgets, wasteful expenditures, opaque financial practices and an ever-expanding bureaucracy.
The question Nigerians must now ask is simple: where is all the money going?
When revenues increase, borrowing also increases. When taxes increase, borrowing still increases. When subsidy is removed, borrowing accelerates. When budgets are padded and duplicated, borrowing becomes the answer once again.
This is not governance. It is a debt addiction.
The ADC believes Nigeria deserves a government that lives within its means, eliminates waste, restores transparency, blocks leakages and channels public resources into productive investments rather than financing an endless cycle of borrowing.
The Nigerian people cannot continue paying today’s taxes to service yesterday’s loans while tomorrow’s generations inherit only debt.
Watching your now widely discussed interview with Mr Peter Obi on Channels Television last Sunday, 25th July, I found myself asking whether I was listening to a fresh interview or a replay of several previous encounters. Many of the questions had been asked before. The repeated interruptions, the persistence on certain themes, and the manner in which you pursued some answers created an impression that the interview was intended to achieve something beyond informing or educating Nigerians.
That impression became even stronger when you raised the January 1966 coup and specifically invoked the name of Major Kaduna Chukwuma Nzeogwu. The line of questioning left the unmistakable impression that the events of 1966 should continue to cast suspicion on the suitability of an Igbo man to lead Nigeria today. At that moment, I could not help wondering why an event that occurred when Peter Obi was barely five years old should become a point of interrogation for a presidential candidate in 2026.
More importantly, why should the identity of one military officer from 60 years ago be used, directly or indirectly, to reinforce an ethnic narrative against a man whose only connection to him is that both bear Igbo names?
For decades, some have insisted on describing the January 1966 coup as an “Igbo coup.” Yet, history is far more complex than that convenient political slogan. The young officers, most of them in their twenties and led by the 28-year-old Major Nzeogwu, reportedly intended to release Chief Obafemi Awolowo from prison and install him as Nigeria’s leader. That objective alone challenges the simplistic ethnic interpretation that has dominated public discourse.
Emeka Obasi
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who knew Nzeogwu perhaps better than most of his contemporaries, wrote that the young officer was a committed nationalist and not someone driven by ethnic ambition. Whether one agrees with every aspect of that assessment or not, it reminds us that history deserves careful examination rather than selective recollection.
It is equally significant that one of the officers whose actions contributed most to frustrating Nzeogwu’s operation was Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. As commander of the Fifth Infantry Battalion in Kano, Ojukwu protected the Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero, and his household until the coup collapsed. Ojukwu himself was from present-day Anambra State, the same state from which Peter Obi hails. History, therefore, refuses to fit neatly into ethnic stereotypes.
Now let us consider Nzeogwu himself.
He was born in Kaduna. He was raised in Kaduna. He attended his primary and secondary education in Kaduna. His military career in Nigeria was rooted in Kaduna. His closest associates were largely Northerners. He spoke fluent Hausa and became so identified with the city that “Kaduna” became part of his name. By most accounts, he rarely visited his ancestral home at Okpanam, in present-day Delta State, before his death at the age of 30.
Students of human development have long recognised that while ancestry gives a person roots, environment shapes their personality, worldview, relationships, and, very often, identity itself.
I have no desire to deny Nzeogwu his ancestry. His middle name, Chukwuma, proudly reflects his Igbo heritage. But beyond ancestry, much of his upbringing, socialisation, and military formation took place in Northern Nigeria. When he was killed near Nsukka during the early stages of the Civil War, his body was recovered by Nigerian troops, taken to Kaduna, and buried in the Military Cemetery there in a grave marked Number 9. In many respects, Kaduna was the home he knew best.
Against that background, it becomes difficult to understand why Peter Obi, a man from the South East whose only connection to Nzeogwu is a shared ethnic ancestry, should repeatedly be confronted with the actions of a military officer who died decades before Obi entered public life. Even if Nzeogwu had spent his entire life in his ancestral homeland, that homeland was in present-day Delta State, in Nigeria’s South South, not Anambra State in the South East, where Peter Obi hails from. Geography, history, and chronology all reject the association being implied.
Nigeria has never judged entire regions by the actions of individual military officers.
In 1976, Lieutenant Colonel Buka Suka Dimka led the aborted coup that claimed the life of General Murtala Mohammed. Dimka came from the Middle Belt, yet no serious political leader from that region has since been held responsible for his actions.
Major General Muhammadu Buhari overthrew the democratically elected government of President Shehu Shagari in 1983. Decades later, he returned through democratic elections to become Nigeria’s President.
General Ibrahim Babangida annulled the June 12, 1993 presidential election, an election widely regarded as Nigeria’s freest and fairest. Yet no one has used his actions to stigmatise every politician from Niger State. General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who also hails from the same state, served as Head of State and was judged on his own record, not on Babangida’s.
That is how mature societies behave. Individuals answer for their own decisions. Entire ethnic groups do not inherit guilt across generations.
Seun, as one of Nigeria’s most influential television journalists, you carry enormous responsibility. Millions of Nigerians, especially young people, depend on you, not merely to ask difficult questions but to ask fair questions, historically grounded questions, and questions that unite rather than deepen old divisions.
The wounds of the Civil War have not completely healed. Those with powerful media platforms should resist every temptation, however subtle, to reinforce narratives that continue to divide Nigerians along ethnic lines. Journalism should illuminate history, not selectively weaponise it.
Peter Obi should ultimately be judged by his words, his ideas, his record in public office, and his vision for Nigeria, just as every other presidential candidate should be judged by theirs. To hold him morally accountable for the actions of military officers in 1966 is neither historically sound nor consistent with the standards of fairness that journalism demands.
Nigeria deserves better. Our history deserves better. Journalism, at its noblest, must illuminate rather than inflame, educate rather than divide, and seek truth rather than reinforce inherited prejudice. History should never become a weapon against innocent generations. It should remain a teacher, reminding us where we have been, while guiding us towards where we ought to be.
The Secretary to the Osun State Government, Teslim Igbalaye, and five others have been arrested and detained by the state Police Command following a raid on his residence in Osogbo on Wednesday.
The police said one of those arrested at the SSG’s residence was Oladele Abiodun, a suspect on its watchlist in connection with alleged criminal offences.
This was disclosed by the Osun State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Ojelabi, in a statement obtained in Osogbo.
Ojelabi also said a total of N4,810,500, two Permanent Voter Cards, a voter register, a Dynabook laptop, one photocopier and one printer were recovered from Igbalaye’s residence.
Others arrested alongside Igbalaye were identified as Akande Taiwo, 60; Adeyemo Lukman, 45; Olaoye Muftau, 50; and Aderemi Musliu, 40.
The PPRO said a police team, acting on intelligence that members of a criminal gang were hiding at a location in Osogbo, carried out a lawful raid and apprehended the suspects.
“The operation also led to the arrest of the following suspects: Hon Igbalaye Teslim ‘m’ 47years, One Akande Taiwo ‘m’ 60years, Oladele Abiodun ‘m’ 38years, Adeyemo Lukman ‘m’ 45years, Olaoye Muftau ‘m’ 50years, Aderemi Musliu ‘m’ 40years.
Earlier in statement, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Oluomo Kolapo Alimi, disclosed that the SSG’s residence was bursted by a combined team of police officers led by the Deputy Commissioner for Operations, with family members of the SSG taken to unknown destinations.
Alimi stated that the gestapo operations on the SSG residence followed a similar raid and arrest at the residences of about six commissioners and other top functionaries of the government.
He noted that as at the time the SSG house was invaded, his ward officials were holding a meeting within the compound while the SSG himself was attending the stakeholders forum organised by the National Electoral Commission.
The commissioner further revealed that the police had on Tuesday raided the residence of the Commissioner for Energy at Ikire, ransacking the building and destroying several properties.
He added that five other commissioners have reported their houses being shadowed and others bursted even when nothing illegal happened in their abodes.
Following several raids and arrests, Alimi stated that reports at the disposal of the government indicated that several Accord Party members are languishing in CID cells at the State Command without being granted bail.
Bowing to public resentment, the Plateau State House of Assembly has withdrawn the controversial bill seeking to establish special allowances for former members, principal officers, and presiding officers of the Assembly.
Opposition to the proposed legislation has been from Civil Society Organizations, labour unions, and members of the public.
The Chairman of the Joint Committee on Rules and Business, Finance and House Services, who is also the House Majority Leader and Member representing Kanke, Hon. Joseph Gokum announced this during a press briefing at the Assembly complex on Wednesday.
He explained that the decision followed extensive consultations, public feedback, and the Assembly’s commitment to responsive governance.
According to the committee Chairman, the 10th Plateau State House of Assembly remains committed to transparency, accountability, and people-oriented legislation.
He pointed out that since the bill was introduced, the Assembly had carefully listened to concerns raised by civil society organizations, labour unions, and other stakeholders who protested against the proposed legislation and made formal submissions.
The committee acknowledged that the concerns expressed by the various groups reflected the realities facing the state and the expectations of the people the lawmakers represent.
“As representatives of the people, it is our duty to ensure that every law we make promotes equity, fairness, and the overall welfare of all Plateau citizens, especially workers and pensioners who have devoted years of service to the state.”
The Chairman stressed that the decision should not be interpreted as a sign of weakness but rather as a demonstration of maturity, humility, and respect for public opinion.
He further assured that the Assembly remains open to future legislation that would address the welfare of former lawmakers in a manner that is sustainable, equitable, and acceptable to the people of Plateau State.
The chairman also expressed appreciation to civil society organizations, labour unions, and residents of the state who participated constructively in the debate over the proposed legislation.
According to the Chairman, the active participation of citizens in governance strengthens democracy and reinforces the Assembly’s resolve to remain accountable to the people.
He reaffirmed that the 10th Plateau State House of Assembly, under the leadership of Speaker Rt. Hon. Na’anlong Daniel remains committed to enacting laws that promote good governance, unity, and the overall development of the State.
It could be recalled that the Plateau State 10th Assembly had on the 7th July, 2026, sponsored the bill titled, “A Bill for a Law to Establish a Payment Allowance as Pension for Former Speakers, Deputy Speaker, Principal Officers and Members of the Plateau State House of Assembly and for Other Related Matters,”.
The bill was rejected by many stakeholders including Labour Unions and Civil Society Organizations who planned to protest at the Plateau State House of Assembly premises to register their disagreement with the proposed bill
IGP Says Substituting Court Order Stops Appearance Of DG
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, ( (HoSF), Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, has admitted responsibility for the lapses on the issue of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, ( PFIPC)
Walson-Jack made the admission while appearing before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the alleged operation of the purported council.
She agreed that due diligence was not thoroughly carried out in the process that led to the recognition of the Council.
Walson-Jack, however, maintained that her office relied on documents which appeared authentic without subjecting them to sufficient verification.
She told lawmakers that her office had no reason to doubt the documents at the time because they bore the State House logo and what appeared to be a familiar signature.
However, the HoSF said subsequent comparisons with genuine State House correspondence, backed by police forensic findings, confirmed that the signatures were different.
She, however, assured the committee that her office would review its internal verification procedures to make them more robust and fraud-proof.
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, has told the Committee that the self-acclaimed Director-General of the purported council, Mr. Adeniyi Adeyemi, could not appear before the lawmakers due to a subsisting court order.
Adeniyi Adeyemi
Disu, who was represented by Deputy Commissioner of Police Olufemi Akinola, said Adeyemi could only appear upon an order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
Following the submission, the committee adjourned further sitting on the matter until next week.
Residences of six Commissioners and that of secretary to Osun State Government have allegedly been raided by personnel of the State Police Command.
The Osun State Government raised alarm over “systematic invasion, attacks and bursting of homes of top State Government officials by the Osun State Police Command.” The latest is the invasion of the residence of the Secretary to the State Government.
In a statement, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Oluomo Kolapo Alimi, disclosed that the SSG’s residence was bursted by a combined team of police officers led by the Deputy Commissioner for Operations, with family members of the SSG taken to unknown destinations.
Alimi stated that the gestapo operations on the SSG residence followed a similar raid and arrest at the residences of about six commissioners and other top functionaries of the government.
He noted that as at the time the SSG’s house was invaded, his ward officials were holding a meeting within the compound while the SSG himself was attending the stakeholders forum organised by the National Electoral Commission.
The commissioner further revealed that the police had on Tuesday raided the residence of the Commissioner for Energy at Ikire, ransacking the building and destroying several properties.
He added that five other commissioners have reported their houses being shadowed and others bursted even when nothing illegal happened in their abodes.
Following several raids and arrests, Alimi stated that reports at the disposal of the government indicated that several Accord Party members are languishing in CID cells at the State Command without being granted bail.
The government’s statement read: “These raids on the SSG and our commissioners are an aggravated assault on the government and people of Osun State.
“This campaign of repression constitutes grave danger to democracy. It is a reprehensible unprofessional conduct by the police in support of the state APC.”
Alimi accused the police command of partiality, saying: “By openly launching attacks on Osun government officials, the state police command has again confirmed its partiality, its partisanship and its becoming a direct tool in the hands of Osun APC.
“This is a law enforcement agency becoming lawless and acting against the spirit and letters of the constitution.”
He warned that the violations come at a critical time, stating: “These grave violations of the constitution and basic rights of the government and people of Osun State come as the national chairman of INEC is meeting stakeholders.
“The police has become a major threat to the conduct of free and fair election in Osun State.”
The Commissioner called on higher authorities to intervene, saying: “We again call the attention of our traditional rulers, the Nigeria Police Service, the Inspector General of Police, the National Security Adviser and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to this escalation of targeted violence against top government officials and Accord members in Osun State.
“This must be stopped before it escalates into general breakdown of law and order.”
He also noted the governor’s restraint despite the provocations, adding: “Our governor has consistently tasked the populace to calm down and not to take law into their own hands.
The situation is reaching a boiling point. We must save our democracy from these lawless elements within the Nigerian police.
Aliko Dangote, plans to donate one-third of his wealth to charity as part of his succession plan, his daughter, Halima Dangote, has revealed.
Halima, a trustee of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, disclosed the arrangement in an interview with Bloomberg published on Tuesday, saying the billionaire had secured his family’s support to dedicate 33 per cent of his estate to philanthropy.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dangote’s net worth is estimated at $35.1 billion, meaning one-third of his current fortune would amount to about $11.7 billion if maintained at that level.
Explaining the decision, Halima said her father considers philanthropy central to his legacy and has embedded it into the family’s long-term succession plans.
“He sort of put all the structure in place whereby we focus a lot on health and education. He actually donated 25 per cent to the foundation. If you look at it, it is what we call in Sharia Code in Islam; it means he has donated 33 per cent of his whole inheritance to his foundation,” she said.
“That is how important it is to him because philanthropy needs to be in existence generation after generation.
“So giving back is part and parcel of what we do. We believe we’re here, that our business is successful because of the giving back and because of the philanthropic aspect. That is why the 33 per cent is important.
“And that is why he made an announcement and he asked myself, my two sisters and his mother to sign under that will that he is able to give that 33 per cent to humanity.”
The planned donation builds on Dangote’s existing philanthropic work through the Aliko Dangote Foundation, established in 1994.
According to Halima, the foundation was endowed with $1.25 billion about a decade ago and has since received an additional $700 million in funding.
She said about 70 per cent of the foundation’s spending is directed to Nigeria, while 20 per cent supports projects across Africa and the remainder funds initiatives in other parts of the world.
The foundation’s interventions span health, education, nutrition and humanitarian relief, and include partnerships with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and state governments in northern Nigeria that contributed to the eradication of wild poliovirus in Africa.
Dangote’s planned charitable commitment comes amid growing global attention on billionaire philanthropy. While the proposed 33 per cent allocation falls short of the 50 per cent threshold commonly associated with the Giving Pledge, it would rank among the largest philanthropic commitments ever announced by an African billionaire.
Earlier this year, TIME magazine named Dangote among the world’s most influential philanthropists in its inaugural TIME100 Philanthropy list, recognising his charitable work through the Aliko Dangote Foundation, which spends more than ₦50 billion annually on programmes across Africa.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Nyesom Wike has stated that the the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC will have no problem winning the 2027 election across the country, including Nigeria’s capital, saying the party’s performance will speak for it.
The Minister disclosed this during the inspection of the construction of Arterial Road N16 from Ring Road II to Ring Road III, linking Jahi with Gwarimpa and Karsana, which is being handled by CBC Global, and the 7.3-kilometre Tunga Madaki-Zuba Road.
While speaking to journalists, the minister stated that the ruling party would not need to sweat to win election next year in the FCT, stating that the APC have delivered huge infrastructure projects across the nation’s capital, which is visible for the people to see.
Wike stated that the party does not really have to campaign much as its performance will do the job, saying all the APC needs to do is to go back to the people and tell them that its ‘promise” has been kept.
He said “We are already campaigning with our performance. The major campaign is to provide the dividends of democracy. What are you going to tell the people when you have nothing to show? Our campaign is showing what we have done.
“All we have to do is go back to the people and tell them we made promises and kept them. People want to see your report card, not empty rhetoric. As far as the FCT is concerned, we have shown our report card, and we have no problem winning any election whenever INEC fixes it.”
The magazine reports that Wike is a member of the opposition peoples Democratic Party, PDP appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu under the APC government.
