Author: Platform Times Newspaper

A Kano State High Court has sentenced two men, Buhari Abdullahi and Umar Mukhtar Usman, to six months imprisonment for impersonating officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a bid to defraud unsuspecting members of the public. The duo were convicted on Friday, July 25, 2025, by Justice Nasiru Saminu, after pleading guilty to a one-count charge of false impersonation brought against them by the Kano Zonal Command of the EFCC. According to a statement released by the anti-graft agency, the men were arrested after they were found parading themselves as EFCC operatives using fake identity cards.…

Nigeria’s public debt is fast approaching a record-breaking N200 trillion, sparking widespread concern across the private sector and among economic experts who fear the country may be hurtling toward a deeper fiscal crisis. As of the first quarter of 2025, the Debt Management Office (DMO) placed the public debt at N149.4 trillion. However, with the National Assembly recently approving new borrowing requests—including a $21.5 billion foreign loan and a $347 million domestic credit facility—analysts say the debt could balloon well past N200 trillion by the end of the year. What has amplified the crisis, observers say, is the sharp depreciation…

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, has commended Dangote Cement, Ibese Plant, for its sustained commitment to community development and food security through its annual farmers’ empowerment initiative. Speaking through the Ministry’s Mines and Environment Compliance Officer (Southwest), Mr. Mathew Ochimana, during the 2025 Farmers Empowerment Programme held in Ibese, Alake noted that Dangote Cement’s investment in its host communities is fostering economic growth, job creation, and social cohesion. The latest edition of the programme saw 240 farmers from Ibese and neighbouring communities receive modern farm inputs, including fertilisers, herbicides, raincoats, and boots — all aimed at…

Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has declared that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is on a steep decline and is unlikely to fare well in the 2027 general elections, predicting the party may come fourth in the national race. Fayose, a longtime PDP stalwart and outspoken critic of internal party failings, made the assertion during a live appearance on Politics Today, a political affairs programme on Channels Television, aired Friday evening. According to him, the PDP’s descent into irrelevance is largely due to unresolved internal wranglings, marginalisation of experienced leaders, and a failure to learn from past electoral…

A deepening hunger and malnutrition crisis is sweeping across northern Nigeria, with over 650 children confirmed dead in Katsina State and an alarming 400 severely malnourished children being admitted daily in Kebbi State, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, MSF). The two states have become epicentres of an escalating nutrition emergency that MSF describes as “unprecedented and catastrophic.” The dual tragedies are unfolding amid severe poverty, food insecurity, desertification, rampant inflation, donor funding cuts, and limited healthcare access. In Katsina State, MSF revealed that between January and June 2025, it treated nearly 70,000 malnourished children, with 9,878 requiring…

In a sweeping move aimed at overhauling Nigeria’s congested correctional system, the Federal Government says it has released more than 4,000 inmates across custodial centres nationwide. The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this on Thursday during a strategic meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Reformatory Institutions, chaired by Hon. Chinedu Ogah, in Abuja. Tunji-Ojo explained that the release followed a nationwide review of cases, with a focus on inmates held for minor and non-violent offences. According to him, the total number of inmates has now dropped from over 86,000 to about 81,450. “The correctional service remains a…

The Chairman of Chanchaga Local Government Area in Niger State, Alhaji Aminu Yakubu-Ladan, has dragged the Niger State Government to court over an alleged illegal attempt to reduce the constitutionally guaranteed tenure of local government chairmen and councillors. Yakubu-Ladan is asking the Federal High Court in Abuja to declare Section 29(2) of the Niger State Local Government Law, 2001 (as amended), which limits LG officials’ tenure to three years, as unconstitutional and inconsistent with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act, 2022. In the suit filed on July 11, 2025, with the number FHC/ABJ/CS/1370/2025, the plaintiff is…

The Presidency has dismissed as unfounded the recent claims by Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is marginalising Northern Nigeria. Kwankwaso, the 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), had during a stakeholders’ dialogue on the 2025 constitutional amendment in Kano on Thursday, lamented worsening poverty, insecurity, and what he termed lopsided allocation of national resources in favour of the South. The former Kano governor cited the poor state of northern infrastructure, particularly federal roads, recounting a harrowing road trip from Abuja to Kano after his flight was cancelled, which he described as “hellish.”…

The Kano State Commissioner for Transport, Ibrahim Ali Namadi Dala, has denied having any personal or professional relationship with Sulaiman Danwawu, a suspected drug trafficker currently facing prosecution at the Federal High Court in Kano. Namadi came under public scrutiny after reports emerged that he stood as surety for Danwawu, who is being tried over alleged involvement in illicit drug trafficking. The development sparked outrage from residents and civil society actors who questioned the commissioner’s judgment. In a statement issued on Friday, Namadi clarified that his involvement was based solely on appeals from “respected and credible individuals” who vouched for…

The United States government is set to discontinue its longstanding HIV/AIDS treatment support in Nigeria and several other developing nations, as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) faces a sweeping policy shift under the Trump administration. Leaked documents obtained by The New York Times reveal that the U.S. is drafting plans to phase out PEPFAR funding, effectively ending direct provision of antiretroviral drugs and other services that have supported millions of lives across Africa for two decades. The new approach would replace medical and service-based aid with a model that prioritizes “bilateral relationships” and public health strategies that…