Author: Platform Times Newspaper

China imported goods worth about $2.3bn from Nigeria in the first half of 2026, representing an 80 per cent increase, the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Yu Dunhai, has said. Dunhai disclosed this on Friday in Abuja at an international seminar on “China’s Zero-Tariff Measures and Africa’s Economic Structural Transformation,” organised by the Centre for China Studies. The ambassador attributed the surge to China’s zero-tariff policy for African countries, which took effect on May 1 and covers 53 African countries with which Beijing maintains diplomatic relations. He said Nigeria-China bilateral trade also rose to $18bn during the first half of the…

Daud Olatunji The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria has approved new fares for the 2027 pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, with intending pilgrims from the Southern Zone required to pay ₦7.89m. The commission also fixed December 2, 2026, as the final deadline for states to remit all Hajj fares, warning that there would be no extension. Under the new fare structure, pilgrims departing through the Maiduguri/Yola zone will pay ₦7.57m, while those in the Northern Zone will pay ₦7.68m. The Southern Zone has the highest fare at ₦7.89m. NAHCON announced the fares in a circular issued by its management in Abuja…

— Commission Assures Voters Of Credible Poll, Says All Results Will Be Uploaded To IReV Daud Olatunji The Independent National Electoral Commission has said it printed millions of ballot papers and result sheets within 36 hours after a court judgment compelled it to include the Social Democratic Party candidate, Francis Ajala, in Saturday’s Osun State governorship election. The commission also assured voters that results from polling units would be uploaded to its Result Viewing Portal, IReV, as voting and result processing progressed. The INEC National Commissioner supervising the Osun election, Kunle Ajayi, disclosed this on Friday during an interview…

…1.13m Stayed Away In 2022 As Turnout Crashed From 53% In 2014 To 42% In 2022 Mujeeb Akindoyin Voter apathy in Osun State has deepened over the years, with official election figures showing that the number of registered voters has continued to rise while the proportion of citizens actually participating in governorship elections has steadily declined. An analysis of voter registration and votes cast in the state’s governorship elections between 2007 and 2022 shows that turnout, after recording a modest improvement in 2014, fell sharply in 2018 and declined further in 2022. The trend has become more striking ahead of…

Ayomide Awe The Independent National Electoral Commission has disclosed that 1,906,390 Permanent Voter Cards have been collected by registered voters ahead of Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State. The figure represents 81.50 per cent of the 2,339,233 registered voters in the state, according to the commission. INEC also disclosed that 432,843 PVCs, representing 18.50 per cent of the registered voters, remained uncollected and had been deposited with the Central Bank of Nigeria. The commission made this known on Friday in a statement issued by the Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna. The disclosure came less than…

The Chairman of the Trade Union Congress, Festus Osifo, has commended the Department of State Services for arresting and prosecuting suspected terrorists and bandits, saying the action will send a strong warning to criminal elements terrorising Nigerians. Osifo spoke in Abuja on Tuesday, where he urged the DSS to sustain its operations against terrorists, bandits and other violent criminals responsible for attacks and loss of lives across the country. The TUC leader said the arrest and prosecution of suspects were critical to restoring public confidence in the fight against insecurity. “When they are arrested and prosecuted, the bad guys get…

— 620,000 forced from communities by banditry, kidnapping — Zamfara records over 261,000 displaced persons — Katsina has nearly 181,000 IDPs, 37,000 returnees — 89% of IDP locations lack adequate sanitation Daud Olatunji The International Organisation for Migration has disclosed that no fewer than 737,073 internally displaced persons have been recorded across Nigeria’s North-West, with armed banditry and kidnapping accounting for about 84 per cent of the displacement. The IOM Chief of Mission in Nigeria, Sharon Dimanche, disclosed this on Friday during a virtual press conference in Katsina, saying the figure was contained in the organisation’s latest Displacement Tracking Matrix…

Former NBA Shendam branch chairman, Gabriel Nkup Tsenyen, has been remanded in the custody of the Department of State Services pending a decision on the propriety of his fresh arraignment over alleged cyberstalking and incitement. The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday ordered that Tsenyen, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Plateau State, remain in DSS custody until August 20, when the court is expected to determine whether the new charges against him can proceed. Justice Joyce Abdulmalik gave the order after the DSS brought the former Nigeria Bar Association chairman before the court on a two-count…

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has dragged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu before the Federal High Court in Abuja, challenging his eligibility to contest the 2027 presidential election over an alleged discrepancy in an NYSC discharge certificate. Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, filed the suit on Friday alongside his party and personally appeared at the court registry to depose to an affidavit in support of the case. The defendants are Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress and the Independent National Electoral Commission. The plaintiffs are relying on Sections 137(1)(j), 139(1)(a)(i) and 285(14)(c) of the 1999 Constitution,…

Seven inmates detained at Kano custodial centres have regained their freedom after the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Dije Abdu Aboki, ordered their release on medical grounds. Justice Aboki issued the order during a jail delivery exercise in which she reviewed the cases of 82 awaiting-trial persons detained at the Kurmawa and Goron Dutse Custodial Centres. The exercise, according to the Kano State Command of the Nigerian Correctional Service, was aimed at speeding up the administration of criminal justice, protecting the rights of detainees and reducing congestion in custodial facilities. The Command’s Public Relations Officer, CSC Musbahu Lawan, disclosed…