Author: Platform Times Newspaper

A former Governor of Ogun State and Senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has challenged Governor Dapo Abiodun to a public debate over the administration of the state. The move has further deepened the political rift between both leaders ahead of the 2027 electoral cycle. Daniel threw the challenge on Thursday while appearing on a live television programme, Beyond Headlines, on TVC, where he criticised the governor’s communication style and demanded accountability on key governance issues. He said, “It’s time. I am throwing a public challenge to sit with me for a debate. He is a good…

A United States federal court has sentenced a Nigerian-born academic, Nkechy Ezeh, to 70 months’ imprisonment for orchestrating a $1.4 million fraud scheme involving funds meant for vulnerable preschool children. Ezeh, 61, was convicted by a federal court in the Western District of Michigan, where she was also handed a concurrent 60-month sentence for tax evasion. The presiding judge, Hala Y. Jarbou, ordered the convict to pay $1.4 million in restitution as well as $390,174 to the Internal Revenue Service. Ezeh, a former Associate Professor of Education at Aquinas College, was found guilty of diverting funds from a nonprofit she…

Fresh tension has gripped the All Progressives Congress in Ogun State ahead of its Ogun East senatorial primary, as loyalists of a former governor, Gbenga Daniel, have raised the alarm over alleged plots to unleash violence and suppress voters during the exercise. The обеспed members, under the aegis of concerned APC stakeholders in Ogun East Senatorial District, in a petition dated May 13, 2026, accused allies of Governor Dapo Abiodun of orchestrating intimidation and harassment targeted at perceived supporters of Daniel across the nine local government areas of the district. The petition, addressed to the APC National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda,…

The Federal Government has warned telecommunications operators in the country, including Airtel Nigeria, MTN Nigeria, Globacom and 9mobile, that they risk regulatory sanctions if they fail to urgently improve the quality of their services across the country. The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, issued the warning in a statement on Sunday, stressing that ongoing reforms in the sector were not designed to excuse poor performance but to strengthen accountability and service delivery. Tijani said Nigeria’s long-standing connectivity challenges were structural, rooted in years of underinvestment in critical infrastructure and operational constraints that had hindered telecom operators…

… Crisis Deepens Across Conflict-Hit, Food-Insecure States …Nigeria Records Highest Child Admissions In Recent Years Daud Olatunji Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has raised alarm over deepening malnutrition crisis in Nigeria, revealing that more than 440,000 children were treated for varying degrees of the condition in 2025 alone. The organisation disclosed this in its 2025 Country Activity Report released in Abuja, attributing the worsening situation to rising food insecurity, ongoing conflict, inflation, flooding, mass displacement and weak healthcare systems across affected regions. MSF said its operations covered 10 states during the period under review, including…

The National Universities Commission (NUC) and the World Bank have signed an additional $65 million financing agreement aimed at strengthening Nigerian universities and expanding professional training for about 24,000 Nigerians under the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) initiative. The agreement, signed on Wednesday at the NUC headquarters in Abuja, brings new momentum to the SPESSE project, which initially commenced in 2021 with an $80 million World Bank facility designed to bridge critical skills gaps in procurement, environmental management, and social safeguards. Stakeholders at the signing included representatives of participating universities, the World Bank, and the Bureau of…

A 32-year-old housewife has been arrested by the Kano State Police Command for allegedly setting her co-wife’s room on fire in a midnight attack that left four members of a family with severe burns in Mangwarori Quarters, Mariri area of Kano State. The incident, which occurred at about 12:40 a.m. on May 12, 2026, reportedly affected her co-wife, two children, and her husband, according to the police. Confirming the development in a statement on Wednesday, the spokesperson of the Kano State Police Command, CSP Abdullahi Haruna, said the suspect, identified as Maryam Usman, allegedly set fire to the room occupied…

The Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council, Oluwemimo Osanipin, has disclosed that Nigeria expended a staggering N6.54 trillion on the importation of vehicles and auto parts between 2023 and 2025, heightening concerns over the country’s growing dependence on foreign automotive products. Osanipin made the revelation on Tuesday at the West African Automotive Summit held in Lagos, warning that the surging import bill poses a significant threat to the survival and growth of the nation’s local automotive industry. According to him, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that over N4.3 trillion was spent on vehicle imports…

A Kwara State High Court sitting in llorin has sentenced a church founder, Prophet AjiboyeOlayinka, to life imprisonment for raping three minors within his mission house.. The trial judge, Justice H.A. Gegele, in a judgment delivered on Wednesday, also slammed the convict with an additional14-year jail term for carrying  out illegal abortions to terminate pregnancies resulting from the sexual assaults. Olayinka, the General Overseer of the Land ofJoy and Prayer Ministry, Agah, Ganmo,in Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state, He  was arraigned on an eight‑count charge, including criminal conspiracy, unlawful sexual intercourse with minors, illegal abortion, and possession of…

A faction of Boko Haram insurgents has reportedly executed more than seven captives who attempted to escape from their hideout in Borno State, in what sources described as a chilling escalation of brutality in the North-East. The victims, said to be among dozens of abducted civilians held by the Jama’atu Ahlis-Sunna Lidda’Awati Wal-Jihad faction, were killed on Tuesday evening after their escape attempt failed. Sources familiar with the incident told PLATFORM TIMES that the executions were carried out in the presence of other captives, including women and children, to instil fear and deter further escape attempts. It was gathered that…