Author: Platform Times Newspaper

Suliat Lawal Justice Faruk Hassan Bunza of the Kebbi State High Court has recounted his nine-day ordeal in the hands of bandits, revealing how his abductors monitored news reports about his kidnapping and operated from a hilltop camp where they lived with their families. The judge, who regained his freedom on August 3 after being abducted from his residence in Bunza, Kebbi State, said he was held about 49 kilometres from his hometown at Dutsen Bandan, a hill behind the permanent orientation camp of the National Youth Service Corps in Dakin Gari, Suru Local Government Area. Justice Bunza said his…

Former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, has disclosed that wealthy civilians played significant roles in Nigeria’s successful military coups, saying no military takeover in the country’s history was achieved without civilian support. Babangida, who will turn 85 on Monday, made the disclosure in an interview with Badeggi 90.1 FM in Minna, Niger State, as part of activities marking his birthday. The former military ruler, who governed Nigeria from 1985 to 1993, said wealthy Nigerians historically provided financial and other forms of support to military officers involved in coup plots. “No successful coup in Nigeria’s history had occurred without civilian involvement,” Babangida…

Zainab Abioye The Executive Chairman of the Nigerian Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji, has said sustained revenue mobilisation is critical to building a stronger and more stable Nigerian economy and reducing the country’s dependence on borrowing. Adedeji stated this during a high-level meeting with the Chairman of AACS, a public policy analysis and management consulting firm, Dr Ayo Abina, on Friday. The meeting focused on Nigeria’s economic outlook, fiscal sustainability, revenue mobilisation and the need to consolidate the Federal Government’s ongoing economic reforms. Adedeji said the country’s revenue drive should not be viewed merely as an effort to collect more taxes,…

Stakeholders have called on religious organisations, particularly churches, to take a stronger leadership role in the fight against gender-based violence, warning that perpetrators must not be allowed to hide behind faith, family or reconciliation. The stakeholders made the call at a media roundtable, “Dialogue to Action: Advancing GBV Prevention and Organisational Sustainability,” organised by the Anglican Compassion and Development Initiative in Abuja. The Programme Officer of ACADI, Chibuike Iroegbu, said religious institutions had a responsibility to confront gender-based violence within their communities rather than treating it as a private family matter. He said the church must not become a safe…

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has declared his support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid, saying he will campaign for and vote for the President in 2027 despite growing political competition in the South-East. Umahi, who spoke on Saturday during an inspection of the 65-kilometre Afikpo-Uturu-Okigwe Federal Road in Okigwe, Imo State, questioned whether his decision to support Tinubu instead of Labour Party presidential hopeful Peter Obi amounted to an offence. The minister said, “I won’t vote for Obi but Tinubu, is that a crime?”, arguing that the Tinubu administration’s infrastructure projects across the South-East should be enough…

The management of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, has ordered an immediate investigation into a viral video showing the alleged assault of a lecturer following an accusation of attempted sexual misconduct involving a female student. The incident reportedly occurred within the university premises on Saturday, August 15, 2026, with footage of the confrontation subsequently circulating widely on social media. The lecturer, identified as being from the Department of Chinese Studies, Faculty of Arts, was allegedly assaulted amid the controversy surrounding the sexual misconduct allegation. However, the university management cautioned against drawing conclusions before the facts of the incident are…

— Accord leads in several strongholds, APC dominates pockets as results emerge from 24 LGAs Daud Olatunji The Osun State governorship election remained fiercely contested on Saturday evening as results from polling units and ward collation centres showed a tight battle between the incumbent governor and Accord Party candidate, Ademola Adeleke, and the All Progressives Congress candidate,  Bola Oyebamiji, with neither party establishing a clear statewide lead from the results monitored so far. Results obtained by PLATFORM TIMES from the situation room of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, CJID, showed a mixed pattern across the state, with Accord…

— Elderly, pregnant women, PWDs get priority as voting continues peacefully in many areas — Vote buying allegations surface in several LGAs; voters report payments of up to ₦15,000 — BVAS, ink shortages delay voting in some polling units, while high turnout recorded in others Daud Olatunji  The Osun State governorship election witnessed a mixed pattern of voting on Saturday morning, with reports of peaceful and orderly voting in several parts of the state alongside incidents of vote buying, biometric accreditation challenges, long queues, crowd control problems and isolated disagreements among voters, party agents and security personnel. As of 10:48am,…

Today on Platform Times Newspaper, 15th August, 2026. Visit www.platformtimes.com.ng for many more stories.

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…