Author: Platform Times Newspaper

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked President Bola Tinubu to set up an independent panel of inquiry to investigate how state governors have spent security votes since 2015, warning that the ongoing “national security emergency” may fail unless there is full accountability. SERAP, in a statement on Thursday signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, said despite the Federal Government’s declaration of a nationwide security emergency, state governors continue to spend billions of naira in opaque security allocations with little to show in terms of improved safety. Citing a recent Transparency International report, the organisation said security…

Some retired officers of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) on Wednesday scaled the gates of the National Assembly to press for urgent action on a bill that would allow them to exit the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS). The retirees, popularly referred to as “warrior retirees,” were demanding a meeting with Senate President Godswill Akpabio, accusing the upper chamber of deliberately delaying the passage of the legislation. Security personnel had locked the National Assembly gates, prompting the retirees to attempt to climb over in protest. High Chief Onyeike Chukwuma, a retired superintendent of police, described the CPS as “genocidal” and said…

The De Renaissance Patriots Foundation, a socio-cultural body of Lagos indigenes, has condemned the Lagos State Government’s decision to hand over the issuance of digital indigeneship certificates to a private firm, Qista Technologies, describing the move as an assault on the identity and heritage of native Lagosians. In a strongly worded statement titled “The Capture of Lagos Identity by an Inactive Sole Proprietorship Concern” and signed by its Media Officer, Lasisi Robert, the group warned that the development amounts to “centralising, commodifying and diluting” the indigeneship structure that has existed for centuries. The group said the quiet outsourcing of the…

The Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Oludaisi Elemide, on Thursday expressed full support for the proposed Special Seats Bill, describing it as a crucial step toward correcting long-standing gender imbalances in political leadership. Elemide gave the assurance when a coalition of women’s rights organisations paid him an advocacy visit at his office in Abeokuta. The delegation comprised representatives of the Women in Politics Forum, 100 Women Lobby Group, Safepoint and Care Initiative, and the Women in Media Development Initiative, with support from Global Affairs Canada and ActionAid Nigeria. The team was led by Professor Olubunmi…

Aishah Waliyullah The Professional Driving Instructors Academy of Nigeria (PDIAN) has renewed calls for a uniform national curriculum for all driving schools, warning that Nigeria’s fragmented driver-training system is fuelling the high rate of road crashes attributed largely to human error. The academy made the appeal during its second Drivers Education and Road Safety Webinar held on Wednesday, monitored by PLATFORM TIMES, with the theme “Building Capacity in Drivers Education for Improved Road Safety Outcomes in Nigeria.” PDIAN said the absence of standardized instruction across the country has created a dangerous gap in driver competence, exposing millions of Nigerians to…

The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has announced that an estimated 98 per cent of Nigerian workers will stop paying personal income tax from January 2026 under the Federal Government’s new tax framework. Oyedele disclosed this during the First Bank SME Connect webinar themed “Strategies for SMEs: Securing Your Business under the New Tax Law.” He said the reforms, approved for implementation next year, are designed to reduce hardship on low-income earners and create a tax system that is “fair, efficient and growth-focused.” According to him, workers earning the current N70,000 national…

Fresh controversies have engulfed the Miss Universe Organisation barely a week after the 2025 pageant concluded in Thailand, as authorities in both Thailand and Mexico launch criminal investigations into the contest’s co-owners. A Thai court has issued an arrest warrant for Anne Jakapong Jakrajutatip, a prominent media entrepreneur and co-owner of the global pageant, over an alleged $930,000 fraud, while Mexican prosecutors are probing the other co-owner, Raul Rocha Cantu, for suspected involvement in arms, drug, and fuel trafficking. The double-barrel scandal comes just days after Miss Mexico, Fatima Bosch, won the crown in a competition that was already marred…

The House of Representatives has asked the Federal Government to deploy full diplomatic pressure to secure the safe return of former President Goodluck Jonathan, who has been trapped in Guinea-Bissau following Wednesday’s military coup in the West African country. Jonathan, a member of the West African Elders Forum (WAEF), was in the country as part of a joint observer mission of the African Union (AU), ECOWAS and WAEF to monitor last weekend’s presidential election. He was reportedly caught up in the chaos when soldiers seized power, suspended the electoral process and shut the nation’s borders. During Thursday’s plenary, the lawmakers…

… 28 Million Children Lack Access To Basic Or Digital Education, Agency Warns …Country Could Earn $15bn Yearly By 2030 With Timely Investment Daud Olatunji  Nigeria may forfeit its place in a fast-growing $130 billion global digital skills economy unless it urgently expands investments in technology-driven education for its young population, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned. Speaking at a two-day media dialogue on digital learning organised by the Oyo State Ministry of Information in partnership with UNICEF, the Chief of UNICEF Lagos Field Office, Celine Lafoucriere, said the country stands to earn more than $15 billion annually…

The Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State has sealed a bilateral agricultural development partnership with the City of Dover in the United States, marking what officials describe as a major step toward shared food security initiatives and cross-border knowledge exchange. Chairman of Obafemi Owode LG, Ambassador Adesina ’Lanre Ogunsola, confirmed the agreement during an official award presentation and cultural exchange ceremony held on Monday in Dover, Delaware. Ogunsola, who addressed the Dover Legislative Council at a plenary session, said the partnership would drive mechanised farming, joint agricultural research and youth agro-entrepreneurship programmes. He announced that the local government…