Author: Platform Times Newspaper

….Lawmakers Threaten Arrest, Demand Oloyede’s Appearance Over Missing Documents There was palpable tension on Wednesday at the National Assembly when officials of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) abruptly walked out on members of the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Examination Bodies. The drama unfolded after the committee demanded that the JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, appear before it with some key documents relating to the board’s operations. Oloyede, however, was absent and was represented by Mr. Mufutau Bello, a director in the board, who arrived at the complex with other JAMB officials. Trouble started when…

… 2024 WSCIJ Report Exposes Deepening Threats To Journalists, Activists … Centre Says Civic Space Shrinking As State, Non-State Actors Tighten Grip Daud Olatunji The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) has raised alarm over the increasing hostility toward journalists and civic actors in Nigeria, identifying Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and Kano as the worst offenders in 2024. The revelation was contained in the Centre’s “Shrinking Freedoms: 2024 Journalism and Civic Space Status Report” unveiled on Tuesday in Lagos. According to the report, while the number of documented violations dropped slightly from 134 in 2023 to 103…

The Federal High Court in Abuja has declared the formation of a “shadow government” by political economist and convener of the Big Tent, Prof. Pat Utomi, as unconstitutional and a usurpation of executive powers. Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Inyang Ekwo Omotosho ruled that the Nigerian Constitution makes no provision for the establishment of a shadow government under the nation’s presidential system. “The idea of a shadow government is unknown to the Nigerian Constitution and amounts to a usurpation of executive powers,” the judge held. “Unlike the parliamentary system where opposition parties form shadow cabinets for oversight and policy alternatives,…

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has arrested 45,853 drug suspects and secured 9,263 convictions in the last 30 months, marking a major stride in Nigeria’s anti-narcotics war. The agency also seized over 8.5 million kilograms of assorted illicit drugs and rehabilitated 26,613 drug users within the period. NDLEA Chairman, Brigadier-General Buba Marwa (retd.), disclosed this on Wednesday during the agency’s Award and Commendation Ceremony held in Abuja. Marwa, who honoured 220 outstanding personnel and decorated 15 senior officers with new ranks, credited the achievements to the dedication of NDLEA operatives and the support of the Tinubu…

Daud Olatunji, Abeokuta President Bola Tinubu has withdrawn the earlier presidential pardon granted to convicted murderer, Maryam Sanda, following widespread public outrage and criticism over what many Nigerians described as a miscarriage of justice. Sanda, who was sentenced to death in 2020 for killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, son of former PDP Chairman, Haliru Bello, had her sentence initially commuted to six years under the President’s prerogative of mercy. However, after a wave of condemnation, Tinubu directed a review of the decision and approved a reduced 12-year term instead. In a statement on Wednesday, the Special Adviser to the President…

Former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and ex-Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, has confirmed that his Abuja residence was raided by men suspected to be military operatives, but denied having any link to an alleged coup plot under investigation by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA). Sylva, in a statement released on Wednesday by his Special Assistant on Media and Public Affairs, Julius Bokoru, described the reports linking him to the alleged plot as “false, malicious and politically motivated.” Bokoru disclosed that the former minister and his wife, Alanyingi Sylva, were both out of the country when the…

A fresh wave of discontent is spreading among Nigerian soldiers deployed in the North-East as some troops have accused “repentant” Boko Haram members integrated into military operations of secretly leaking sensitive information about army movements and armoury to their former terrorist allies. According to a report by Sahara Reporters, several frontline soldiers stationed in Borno and Yobe States have described the policy of recruiting and working alongside “repentant” insurgents as a “deadly mistake that continues to cost lives.” One of the soldiers, who spoke under condition of anonymity, alleged that some of the so-called repentant fighters routinely relay vital intelligence…

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has declared that the Federal Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is revolutionising Nigeria’s road construction model with a new generation of highways designed to last between 50 and 100 years. Umahi stated this on Wednesday during an inspection tour of the Abuja–Kaduna–Zaria–Kano Expressway (Section I), describing the new approach as a major shift from decades of poor-quality road projects that often collapse within a few years. According to a statement by the ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Mohammed Ahmed, the minister said the new engineering standards will prioritise durability, recycling, and…

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive review of the controversial presidential pardon recently granted to 175 inmates, after nationwide outrage over the inclusion of convicts jailed for serious crimes including murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and arms dealing. The reversal came barely three weeks after public criticism trailed the initial pardon list approved at the National Council of State meeting on October 9, 2025. In a statement issued Wednesday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu directed that names of persons convicted of serious crimes be deleted from the list, while others had their…

A labour and civil rights advocate, Comrade ‘Yinka Folarin, has charged the Ogun State Government to stop blaming past administrations and focus on delivering tangible legacies that will improve the lives of the people. Folarin, in a strongly worded statement titled “Ogun State Government Must Be Reawakened: Leave the Past and Focus on the Legacies You Intend to Leave Behind”, accused the Dapo Abiodun-led administration of hiding under inherited liabilities despite enjoying increased internally generated revenue (IGR) and tripled federal allocations. He lamented that despite being in power for over six years, the administration continues to shift blame for its…