Author: Platform Times Newspaper

…  Says Lawmakers Seize Printed Copies … Blames Misinformation  For N4.6 Trillion Stock Market Loss In 2025 Daud Olatunji The Chairman of the Presidential Tax Reform Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, has alleged that the National Assembly has collected all printed copies of Nigeria’s newly passed tax laws, a development he said has reignited uncertainty surrounding the implementation of the legislation. Speaking on Wednesday in Lagos shortly after delivering the keynote address at the 2026 Economic Outlook organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) as part of its 60th anniversary, Oyedele said feedback from his staff revealed that…

Former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has revealed that his wife and children mounted intense pressure on him to resign from office at the height of the #EndSARS protests, following what he described as sustained public hostility and online harassment directed at his family. Mohammed made the disclosure on Thursday during an interactive session at the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta (MAPOLY), Ogun State, where he donated copies of his book, Headlines & Soundbites: Media Moments that Defined an Administration, to the institution’s library under his nationwide Reading Sessions Project. The former minister said the backlash against him…

The National Judicial Council (NJC) has cleared the Chief Judge of Osun State, Justice Oyebola Ojo, of all allegations of financial impropriety and judicial misconduct, bringing to an end months of controversy that rocked the state’s judiciary. The decision was reached at the Council’s 110th meeting held on Wednesday and presided over by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun. In a statement issued by the NJC’s Deputy Director of Information, Kemi Babalola-Ogedengbe, the Council said it upheld the findings of a three-member investigative committee that probed multiple petitions against Justice Ojo and found them to be without merit.…

The 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has been granted a special direct entry admission to study Common Law at the North-West University, Kano, further reinforcing his reputation as one of Nigeria’s most intellectually accomplished traditional rulers. The university confirmed that the monarch has been admitted into the Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) Common Law and Sharia programme in the Faculty of Law at Level 200, with effect from the 2024/2025 academic session. In an official admission letter signed by the Head of the Directorate of Examinations, Admissions and Records, Jafaru Sule Muhammad, on behalf of the Registrar, the institution…

In a move that has sent ripples through Nigeria’s political landscape, Abubakar Atiku Abubakar, son of former Vice President and 2023 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and openly pledged support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027. The defection, which took place on Thursday at the National Assembly, is being viewed as one of the most symbolically significant cross-party shifts ahead of the next election cycle, given Atiku Abubakar’s status as one of the most formidable opposition figures in the country. Popularly known as Abba,…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has been accused of attempting to coerce a defendant in the ongoing $4.5bn fraud trial of a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, into implicating the ex-apex bank chief. The allegation was made on Thursday at the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, by a defence lawyer, Mr Nnamdi Offial, while testifying in a trial-within-trial ordered by Justice Rahman Oshodi to determine whether a statement made by the second defendant, Henry Omoile, to the EFCC was given voluntarily. Omoile, alongside Emefiele, is standing trial on multiple counts bordering on corruption, receiving…

The Federal Government has reiterated its long-standing position that it does not pay ransom to secure the release of kidnapped victims, insisting that those rescued are freed through sustained military pressure and intelligence-driven operations. The Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.), made the clarification during an interview with BBC Hausa, monitored in Kaduna, amid persistent public speculation that ransom payments are often made to free abducted persons, particularly schoolchildren. “The Federal Government does not pay ransom. Even if others do, the Federal Government does not. We do not pay ransom,” Musa stated emphatically. According to him, the rescue of…

The Federal Ministry of Works has proposed to spend over N500m in the 2026 fiscal year on empowerment programmes including the training of hairdressers and make-up artists, distribution of grinding machines, motorcycles and mini-vans, as well as anti-drug abuse campaigns across several states of the federation. Details of the controversial allocations are contained in the 2026 Appropriation Bill obtained from the Budget Office of the Federation on Thursday. A breakdown of the document shows that the projects, spread across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, are largely constituency-based and fall outside the traditional mandate of the Ministry of Works, which is responsible…

…Alaafin absent As Gov  Kicks Off Rotational Leadership Of Obas’ Council Daud Olatunji Governor Seyi Makinde on Thursday stirred fresh reactions across Oyo State as he named the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, as the inaugural chairman of the newly constituted Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs, sidelining expectations surrounding the Alaafin of Oyo. The development followed the formal inauguration of the reconstituted council at the House of Chiefs Hall, Secretariat, Ibadan, in line with the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs (Further Amendments) Law, 2025, recently passed by the state House of Assembly. Under the new…

Widows of fallen Nigerian military personnel on Thursday decried what they described as years of neglect and abandonment by relevant authorities, even as the country marked the 2026 Armed Forces Celebration and Remembrance Day. The widows, who spoke during the wreath-laying ceremony held at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Victoria Island, Lagos, said the worsening economic situation and rising cost of living had compounded their hardship, years after losing their husbands in active service. Coordinator of the Military Widows Association, Navy Town, Mrs Helen Amodu, lamented that the group life insurance of her late husband, Capt. F. E. Amodu, had remained…