Author: Platform Times Newspaper

…Slams Blanket Corruption Claims Against State Executives … Says Looting Cuts Across All Levels Of Society Daud Olatunji Katsina State Governor, Dikko Umaru Radda, has rejected claims portraying Nigerian governors as inherently corrupt, describing the narrative as unfair, misleading and harmful to public discourse. Radda, speaking during an interview with Radio France Internationale (RFI), said corruption in Nigeria was not the exclusive preserve of governors, insisting that individuals outside political office had also been involved in large-scale looting of public funds. Questioning the growing public perception against state chief executives, the governor asked, “Are governors the only thieves in Nigeria?…

The Nigerian Army has arrested four police officers for allegedly defying President Bola Tinubu’s directive withdrawing policemen from non-essential VIP escort duties, raising fresh concerns over enforcement of the controversial security reform. PLATFORM TIMES gathered that the officers were apprehended by military personnel on December 17, 2025, at about 9:30am while allegedly providing unauthorised armed escort services to a VIP. Security sources disclosed that those arrested were Assistant Superintendent of Police Musa Waziri and Inspector Jeremiah Achimogu, both attached to the 45 Police Mobile Force, Abuja; Inspector Awipi Terry of the 21 PMF; and Inspector Hassan Baba of the 50…

A petrol tanker on Sunday rammed into the convoy of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, killing a police dispatch rider attached to him. Akpabio disclosed the incident on Tuesday during plenary at the Senate while announcing the death of the officer, identified as DSP Ibrahim Hussaini. According to the Senate President, the accident occurred shortly after his convoy picked him up from the Ibadan airport following an official visit to the state. “I went to Oyo State for the installation of our colleague. Unfortunately, my dispatch rider was run over by a tanker driver…

The Federal Government has raised the alarm over the increasing use of Point-of-Sale (PoS) operators by terrorists and kidnappers to collect ransom payments, describing the trend as a major challenge to tracking and disrupting terror financing networks. The Director-General of the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Maj.-Gen. Adamu Laka, disclosed this on Tuesday during an end-of-year briefing in Abuja. Laka said intelligence reports showed that ransom payments were now routinely channelled through PoS operators’ bank accounts, making it more difficult for security agencies to trace the funds and apprehend those behind the crimes. According to him, kidnappers often provide victims’ families…

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has alleged that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, offered to “hold down” the Peoples Democratic Party to pave the way for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027. Makinde made the claim on Tuesday during a media interaction in Ibadan, where he spoke extensively on the lingering crisis within the PDP and his strained relationship with the former Rivers State governor. According to Makinde, the alleged offer was made by Wike during a meeting attended by President Tinubu and other political actors, a revelation he said left him shocked. “I was in…

A media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, Mr Lere Olayinka, has alleged that Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, withdrew support for President Bola Tinubu after his ministerial nominee was rejected. Olayinka made the claim on Tuesday while reacting to Makinde’s recent declaration that he would not support Tinubu’s re-election in 2027. The Oyo State governor had, during a media interaction with selected journalists in Ibadan, accused Wike of working to destabilise the Peoples Democratic Party in favour of Tinubu’s second-term ambition. Makinde also hinted that he might contest against the President in the next…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has concluded arrangements to arraign the Bauchi State Commissioner for Finance, Dr Yakubu Adamu, over an alleged N4.6bn money laundering scheme linked to a failed motorcycle supply contract. Adamu will be docked alongside a company, Ayab Agro Products and Freight Company Ltd, before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on six counts of money laundering. The charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/694/2025, was filed by the EFCC’s Legal and Prosecution Department on December 19, 2025, and signed by Samuel Chime, according to court documents sighted by PLATFORM TIMES. The defendants were expected to take…

The General Manager of the Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency, Hon. (Dr) Kenny Bello, has distributed bags of rice and other food items to about 5,000 households across Ijebu East, Ijebu North and Ogun Waterside local government areas of Ogun State as part of his Yuletide outreach. The distribution, which was flagged off on Monday at Bello’s residence in Ijebu-Imusin, was targeted at low-income families, widows, youths, the elderly as well as community and religious groups in the federal constituency. Speaking at the event, Bello said the gesture was aimed at cushioning the impact of the prevailing economic hardship and…

The Independent National Electoral Commission has rejected a request by the Peoples Democratic Party to recognise the National Working Committee led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kabir Turaki, citing subsisting court cases and conflicting judicial pronouncements. INEC, in a letter dated December 22 and addressed to Akintayo Balogun & Co, lawyers to the PDP faction backed by Governors Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, said it could not take any administrative action that would pre-empt the outcome of ongoing legal battles over the party’s leadership. The commission stressed that the matter remains sub judice, adding…

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has assured students, stakeholders and the general public that its operations will continue without disruption as it temporarily switches to a skeletal remote work arrangement following a fumigation and sanitation exercise at its office. The Fund said the exercise, which commenced on Tuesday, December 23, 2025, will run until the end of the year as part of efforts to maintain a safe, healthy and compliant working environment for staff and visitors. NELFUND explained that only minimal staff required for essential on-site duties have been approved to report physically during the period, stressing that the…