Author: Platform Times Newspaper

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to dismiss a suit filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery seeking to invalidate fuel import licences issued to marketers, warning that the move could destabilise supply, trigger price shocks and hand the downstream market to a single dominant player. In a strong legal opposition, the NNPC Limited told the court that granting Dangote Refinery’s request would expose Nigeria’s petroleum sector to serious risks, including supply disruptions and threats to national energy security. The dispute centres on import licences issued by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory…

A 49-year-old teacher, Adesiyan Adegboye, who was killed during last Friday’s bandits’ invasion of schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, has been laid to rest amid growing anxiety over the safety of students and teachers. Adegboye was buried on Friday in Ogbomoso following a solemn funeral service attended by family members, colleagues and sympathisers, who decried the rising wave of attacks on schools in the state. The late teacher was reportedly shot dead when armed assailants stormed three schools in the Oriire axis, abducting an unspecified number of students and staff in a brazen daylight operation that…

Former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has revealed his role in the emergence of President Bola Tinubu during the 2023 general elections, even as he expressed concern over what he described as the declining ideological direction of the ruling All Progressives Congress. Fayemi, who spoke during an interview on State Affairs, a podcast hosted by Edmund Obilo, said while he supported Tinubu’s presidential bid, the party they collectively built had strayed from its founding principles. The former Minister of Mines and Steel Development also described the unexpected surge of the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the last election,…

Tension gripped residents of Ekiti State on Friday after authorities of Ayetoro-Iloro High School ordered an emergency closure of the school following reports of suspected bandits sighted near the community. Students were said to have fled the premises in panic, with viral videos circulating on social media showing them running along major roads and seeking refuge from motorists and residents as fear spread across the area. The development sparked anxiety among parents, many of whom rushed to the school and surrounding areas in search of their children amid confusion and uncertainty. Although no attack or abduction had been confirmed as…

The Ogun State Police Command has said there is no verified intelligence confirming reports of alleged bandit threats circulating in parts of Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State, even as concerns continue to grow among residents and local security groups over possible attacks on rural communities and schools. The Command said it had taken note of reports making rounds on social media and within some communities about alleged threat letters purportedly warning of planned kidnappings of schoolchildren, but stressed that such claims remain unsubstantiated. In a statement issued on Friday by the Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Oluseyi Babaseyi,…

No fewer than 1,100 Nigerian migrants stranded in Agadez, Niger Republic, have returned to the country through Kano State, authorities confirmed on Friday. The returnees, who arrived by road, were received and processed by officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service and other partner agencies at designated reception centres in Kano. The Commandant of the Immigration Training School, Kano, Anthony Akuneme, disclosed this in a statement, noting that the migrants were immediately subjected to documentation and profiling upon arrival. According to him, the returnees are being processed through the Migration Information and Data Analysis System at the Migrants Arrival, Knowledge and…

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has explained why leaders of the African Democratic Congress were denied access to former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, currently in its custody, stating that only individuals recognised by a subsisting court order are permitted to see him. Top officials of the ADC, including Rauf Aregbesola, Bolaji Abdullahi and Salihu Lukman, were reportedly turned back on Friday at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja when they attempted to visit the detained former governor. Reacting, the ICPC spokesperson, J. Okor Odey, said the denial was in strict compliance with a court directive guiding…

…Calls For Bold Action, Rejects Passive Engagement Daud Olatunji The Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Ondo State, Mutiu Olaleke Agboke, has charged Nigerian youths to convert their ideas into impactful innovations capable of driving sustainable governance and national development. Agboke gave the charge on Friday, while presenting a paper titled “Ideas to Impact: Harnessing Youth-Driven Innovations for Sustainable Governance and National Development” at a leadership and empowerment summit organised by the Students’ Union of the University of Ilorin. He warned that Nigeria’s growing youth population could either become a catalyst for transformation or a trigger…

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has cautioned against attempts to attribute Nigeria’s democratic journey to any single individual, insisting that the country’s democratic gains were achieved through the collective sacrifices of many unnamed heroes. Soyinka made the remarks at the NADECO Awards ceremony and the public presentation of a book chronicling the history of the pro-democracy struggle, authored by former NADECO General Secretary, Ayo Opadokun. According to him, Nigeria’s return to democratic rule was not the product of one personality but the outcome of coordinated resistance, personal sacrifices, and contributions from diverse actors whose roles may never be fully documented…

A Lagos school proprietor, Benson Arinze,has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Lagos State Sexual Offences andDomestic Violence Court for sexually assaulting a six-year-old pupil within hisschool premises in the lbeju-Lekki area of thestate. Justice Abiola Soladoye,who delivered the judgment at the lkeja division of the Lagos State Sexual Offences and DomesticViolence Court, found Arinze guilty of aone-count charge of sexual assault by penetration. Arinze, owner of Nurtured Brooks Nursery and Primary School, Ibeju-Lekki, was found guilty of a one-count charge of sexual assault by penetration. In her judgment, Justice Soladoye described the evidence presented by the defence as…