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Casualty figure in the road accident involving some students of the Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomoso, on Thursday rose from the initial three to six, following the death of another three passengers at the hospital where they were being treated after the crash. The PUNCH  earlier reported that three occupants of the bus travelling along Osogbo/Ifon/Oyo boundary road late on Wednesday were burnt to death in the road crash. But six other occupants were reportedly rescued by the operatives of Osun Ambulance Scheme that responded to the distress call from the scene of the accident which occurred near Ojutu Bridge, Ilobu. A resident of Okinni, identified as Adeyanju, who spoke to PUNCH Metro on Thursday, said the driver of the bus conveying the victims had hit a commercial motorcyclist in the town, and was making attempt to escape the rage of some angry residents chasing after him. “Few meters from Ojutu Bridge, the driver lost control of the vehicle and the bus somersaul...

Terrorists have reportedly killed six persons in the Takanai community of Atyap Chiefdom in Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.  The attack occurred on Tuesday night, September 26, 2023, barely five days after gunmen attacked a village in Kaura, killed a woman and kidnapped two of her children.   The acting Secretary to the District Head of the Community, Mr. Samson Markus, who confirmed the sad incident to  Punch  on Wednesday, said the terrorists invaded the village at around 7:pm and opened fire, killing four people in the same compound while two in another family.   According to Markus, two children were also victims of the deadly attack.   "We were going about our normal businesses when we heard gunshots, we thought it was the military at first until we saw it was the Fulanis who came in from Zango Urban,” Markus alleged.   Before the military arrived, they had succeeded in killing six persons, including 2 children....

President Bola Tinubu has given out a warning about the future that awaits Africa if it fails to break drug enterprises.    Declaring open the 31st meeting of the Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies, Africa (HONLAF) at the Abuja Continental Hotel on Tuesday, September 26, Tinubu warned that Africa will remain in chains if it fails to break drug enterprises.   The President who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, urged heads of national drug law enforcement agencies in Africa to renew the fight against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in their respective countries.   He said;    “If we don’t dismantle the criminal enterprises that threaten our future and build a brighter tomorrow for all Africans, we will remain in chains in a diseased and amoral world, as will our children and their children. “This threat has crossed borders and destroyed societies and dreams. Without the moral commitment of the men and wom...

Singer, Naira Marley has said that he has no hand, directly or indirectly, in the d€ath of his former signee, Ilerioluwa Aloba aka Mohbad.   In a fresh statement shared on his IG page this evening September 26, Naira Marley said he has not only been shocked by the passing of Mohbad but also by the ‘’lies and threats'' issued against him.   He said himself and Mohbad had their share of disagreements while working together but that it never degenerated into wishing each other d£ath. He said he has been out of the country since August 31 but is making plans to return following an invitation by the police who are currently investigating the d£ath of late Mohbad. He said he is fully cooperating with the police team and has no reason to be a fugitive since he has no hand in the d€ath of Mohbad.   Naira Marley said in due time the circumstances surrounding Mohbad's d€ath will be unveiled and the world will know the truth. He added that Mohbad left his record label in...

The Chief Coroner of the Lagos State Judiciary, Justice Mojisola Dada has ordered an inquest into the death of Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly called Mohbad. A letter signed by the Cororner, Magistrate Taofikat Shotobi and addressed to law firm, Falana and Falana Chambers,  says the inquest will begin sitting at the Magistrate Court 3, Ademola Candide-Johnson Court in Ikorodu on Friday, September 29.   In a letter dated September 18th, 2023 and addressed to the Chief Coroner of the High Court of Lagos State, Justice Mojisola Dada, the law firm had requested the inquest to unravel the circumstances surrounding what it described as the “very tragic” death of the late Mohbad under “mysterious” circumstances.   In its reply to the firm’s letter, the coroner said she had the directives of the Chief Coroner of Lagos State, Hon. Justice Mojisola Dada, to convoke an inquest pursuant to the extant provisions of Sections 14 and 15 of the Coroner’s System Law of Lagos State,...

Nigeria's President, Bola Tinubu, has objected to the release of his Chicago State University (CSU) records to the candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.   Tinubu pleaded on Monday, September 25, that if the court was inclined to grant Atiku’s application for discovery, it should be limited to only his diploma certificate he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in aid of his qualification for the 2023 presidential election. In his latest plea to the court, Tinubu said; “That conclusion should be set aside and the application should be denied because the information sought cannot be used and, therefore, is not ‘for use’ in the foreign proceedings.   “Even if a narrow subset of information can be considered ‘for use’ in the foreign proceeding, that is limited to the diploma submitted to INEC. Fishing expeditions into other documents and more document productions must be preclu...

This is to inform the general public & all interested applicants that online application for 86 Regular Recruits Intake for Non-Tradesmen & Women has commenced. Application starts 25 September & ends 10 October 2023. Application Is Free at the official site . Shortlisted candidates will participate in the State Recruitment Screening Exercise scheduled for 6 – 19 November 2023. Nigerian Army Recruitment Is FREE, Beware of Fraudsters.

President Bola Tinubu has reluctantly allowed a federal judge in the United States to give his university certificate to his political opponent Atiku Abubakar. But the Nigerian leader pleaded with Judge Nancy Maldonado to block all other details, especially the gender and admission records, among others, of the person who owns the certificate from being disclosed. Mr Tinubu’s prayers on Monday morning came as part of the ongoing legal battle unfolding at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago. The case was brought by Mr Abubakar, who has been on a judicial quest to establish that Mr Tinubu was not eligible to be Nigerian president despite his election in February 2023. He won the election by 36 per cent of the vote after Mr Abubakar and Peter Obi, who was his running mate in the 2019 election, fell out, subsequently dividing their potential votes into at least two parts, paving the way for Mr Tinubu’s victory with the slimmest marg...

AN analysis of Nigeria’s public debt stock, released by the  National Bureau of Statistics , has shown that each Nigerian currently owes N396,376.19 in terms of debt per capita. The NBS  published  that the country’s total public debt increased by 75.27 per cent from N49.85 trillion in the first quarter of 2023 to N87.38 trillion at the end of the second quarter of 2023. In monetary terms, this is an increase of N37.53 trillion in three months. The ICIR  calculated the debt stock per capita by dividing the total public debts of the country by the country’s population. According to the  World Poverty Clock , Nigeria’s population is estimated at 220.4 million. Breaking down by category, the total external debts by the federal government stood at N29.9 trillion, while the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory external debts were N3.35 trillion. For domestic debts, the Federal government’s debt is N48.31 trillion, while for States and FCT is N5.82 ...

A section of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in Abuja is currently on fire.   According to reports, the offices of three justices in the apex court have reportedly been affected by the fire. The cause of the fire outbreak is yet to be ascertained. Men of the FCT Fire Service are on the ground to help put out the fire.

The Justice Arum Ashom-led Lagos State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal will today September 25, deliver judgment on the petitions filed by the governorship candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, and his counterpart in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, against the emergence of Babajide Sanwo-Olu as winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election in the state.   Rhodes-Vivour and Jandor are challenging the return and declaration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winners of the state governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).   Rhodes-Vivour, in his petition marked EPT/LAG/GOV/04/2023 dated April 9, 2023, had urged the tribunal to nullify Sanwo-Olu’s victory on the alleged grounds that the candidate of the All Progressives Congress was not qualified to run in the election. In his p...

The Public Relations Officer for the court, Festus Akande, has said that the fire incident that occurred on Monday morning, September 25, won’t have an effect on the presidential election petition.   Speaking during an interview on Arise TV this morning, Akande disclosed that an electrical fault was the cause of the fire outbreak.   “As a matter of fact, there’s no single connection, and it won’t affect anything in the court. This incident occurred in a chamber equipped with a computer and other equipment, as well as a functional library used by any justice occupying such chamber. The only thing that was affected were the books and computer equipment in the chamber. Even the books are replaceable. Also, it has nothing to do with it because it was from an electrical fault, which could happen anywhere, and there are things that happen daily.”   LIB had reported earlier that a fire broke out in a section of the apex court earlier today.

Minister of Works, David Umahi has revealed that the Abuja-Lagos highway will be completed in 2027 and will last for 100 years.    Addressing journalists on Saturday, September 23, Umahi said the proposed 470 kilometres Abuja-Lagos Greenfield superhighway will be built by a private sector consortium at no cost to the government.   The minister said the consortium will operate the facility for a yet-to-be-determined period on a build, operate and transfer deal. The highway will also be tolled at different points to enable the investors recoup their investment.   He said;    “When I first introduced this to the public, many doubting Thomases were saying ‘it is impossible, Lagos-Abuja that is done in 14 hours cannot be done in four and half hours’, that is the renewed hope of Mr President. “The President has approved that I fast-track this project. This project is going to be two lanes but each lane is going to be a two-carriage way and it is going...

A Canada-based show promoter, Prince George, has revealed that Mohbad died the day his Canadian visa was approved.   George who turned up for a candlelight procession organised by Nigerians in Toronto, Canada on Saturday night, September 23, said he planned surprising the late singer's friend, Bella Shmurda, by bringing him to his show.    He said;    “I had planned to surprise the late singer’s best friend, Bella Shmurda, during the latter’s show in Canada by bringing Mohbad to the show. “I sent a message to Mohbad’s manager in the morning of the day he died to inform him that his visa had been approved, only to be told that Mohbad had died mysteriously”

29-year-old French rapper MHD has been handed a 12-year jail sentence for murder.   The rapper whose real name is Mohamed Sylla, was found guilty by a court in Paris for his involvement in the gang-related killing of Loic K in the capital in 2018.   The French court heard that the victim was knocked down by MHD’s car, a Mercedes, before being beaten and stabbed by a group of up to 12 people. MHD had entered a “not guilty” plea to the charge. Five of his co-defendants were also convicted, while another three were acquitted.   AFP news agency reports that MHD told the court, “From the beginning, I have maintained my innocence in this case and I will continue to maintain my innocence.” He said he wasn’t at the scene of the crime, and the case against him was based on rumours. Part of the evidence against him was footage filmed by a local resident though the window of his home, while MHD was identified by other witnesses.   Other witnesses identified MHD...

The West African Examinations Council says plans to introduce the Computer Based Test mode in the administration of its examinations are at an advanced stage. The Head of National Office, Mr Patrick Areghan, gave the hint in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Saturday in Lagos. Areghan was speaking against the backdrop of notable achievements and advancements of the council under his watch, as he prepared to bow out of office on Oct. 1. He would be bowing out after completing his three-year tenure. Areghan said that introducing the CBT mode of administrating some of the council’s examinations had been part of his vision for the body. ”We have already started something in terms of CBT examination. We have gone far with our planning and all of that, even in the sub-region, the registrar to the council is also doing something. “But this is not as easy as some people will think. This is because we ask ourselves, how do we conduct CBT for practicals and essay papers...

The legal teams of President Bola Tinubu and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, will resume a legal battle over the President’s Chicago academic records in a United States court on Monday. A US District Judge, Nancy Maldonado, had on Thursday agreed to stay an order directing Chicago State University to make Tinubu’s academic document available to Atiku’s legal team. The hearing came up late Thursday night after the President’s lawyers filed an emergency motion seeking a delay in the implementation of the self-effectuating order directing the CSU to comply with Atiku’s subpoenas till Monday. Atiku is currently challenging the victory of the former Lagos State governor at the 2023 presidential poll and his recent affirmation by an election petition court in Nigeria. Earlier, a magistrate, Jeffrey Gilbert, had on Tuesday ordered Tinubu’s alma mater to provide all relevant and non-privileged documents to the applicant, Atiku, within two...

The Enugu State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has dismissed the petition of Chris Agu of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) against Peter Mbah for alleged forged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate, non-qualification, and corruption.   The PRP had claimed that Mbah entered a plea bargain with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the past.   In a judgment delivered today September 21, the Tribunal chaired by Justice Kudirat Murayo Akano held that the petitioner failed to prove that the respondent did not possess the minimum requirement to stand for election which is a school certificate or its equivalent. According to him, there’s no evidence to support the claim that Mbah is not qualified to stand for the election.   On the issue of the plea bargain by Mbah, the tribunal averred that the exhibits presented by the petitioners did not show any plea bargain by the respondent. The tribunal also held that to prove the issue ...

The police in Lagos state have exhumed the body of singer Mohbad today September 21.   Recall that the 27-year-old singer died on September 12 in controversial circumstances. He was buried the next day, September 13, in Ikorodu Lagos.    Nigerians demanded that an autopsy be carried out following the startling revelations of him being harassed and assaulted while he was alive.   The Lagos state police command on Monday, September 19, set up a 13-man committee to carry out a detailed investigation into the circumstances surrounding his demise.   The committee is expected to turn in its report in two weeks.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has announced the compulsory retirement of all management staff with less than 15 months to statutory retirement. In the announcement made on Tuesday, September 19, the company said the retirement of the affected workers is with immediate effect and also in line with its business objectives. The statement read;  “In our bid to pursue effective organisational renewal to support the delivery of our strategic business objectives, it has become imperative to rejuvenate our workforce. “Consequently, in addition to the recent exit of three Executive Vice Presidents, other management staff with less than 15 months to statutory retirement will be exiting the company effective September 19, 2023. “This is in line with our commitment to scale up NNPC Ltd.’s capabilities through targeted talent management and equal opportunity for all Nigerians.”

A father has been arrested over the death of his 12-year-old daughter, Favour Williams.   The 12-year-old JSS 2 student of Junior Secondary School, Kurmin Tagwaye II, in Akwanga, the headquarters of Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, reportedly died mysteriously on her father’s farm.  Sources told Daily Trust that Favour allegedly hanged herself on the farm in Kurmin Twagwaye II along Wamba road last week Monday.  Father of the deceased, Mr Williams Ma’aji, was alleged to have defiled her and the act leaked. Youth leader of Kurmin Tagwaye, Thomas Vincent, who confirmed the incident said;    “Only God knows what led to the untimely death of the innocent girl who was seen around the village that fateful day she died. “The father told us that late Favour was working on the other side of the farm with the mother and after a while, he saw her coming and she greeted him and proceeded to another side of the farm, that she wanted to g...

A lawsuit filed by Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa, seeking to stop the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Department of State Services (DSS) from probing him over the comment he made during the valedictory session of the 9th National Assembly, has been struck out by Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja.   Recall that Senator Bulkachuwa had said that he made his wife, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, “extend help” to him and his colleagues during her time as President of the Court of Appeal between April 2014 and March 2020. The comment triggered condemnations from Nigerians with calls for his probe.   Justice Ekwo who presided over the lawsuit, struck it out on grounds of lacking merit. He stated that the lawmaker ought to understand the implications of the statement that he made on the floor of the Senate.   Ekwo stated that the legislative immunity that Bulkachuwa claims in t...

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Zacch Adedeji as the new Acting Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).   A statement released by Ajuri Ngelali, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, says the President has directed the erstwhile FIRS Chairman, Muhammad Nami, to proceed on 3 months of pre-retirement leave, as provisioned by Public Service Rule (PSR) 120243, with immediate effect, leading to his eventual retirement from service on December 8, 2023.   ‘’Hon. Zacch Adedeji is hereby appointed in acting capacity for a 90-day period before his subsequent confirmation as the substantive Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service for a term of four (4) years in the first instance. Hon. Zacch Adedeji is a first-class graduate in accounting from the Obafemi Awolowo University. He most recently served the nation as the Special Adviser to the President on Revenue, following meritorious service term...

The much-anticipated verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPT) is expected to be delivered on Wednesday, September 6th.  The Registrar of the Court of Appeal, Umar Bangari, disclosed this during an interview with Channels Television on Monday, September 4. He stated that the proceedings will be open to live broadcast by interested television stations. The Labour Party (LP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), as well as their presidential candidates, had petitioned the tribunal seeking to nullify the election of President Bola Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election. Judgement is also expected to be delivered by election tribunals in 25 states for governorship, National Assembly, and state assembly election petitions. The results of the polls announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are being contested in no fewer than 25 states out of the 28 states where elections were condu...