Author: Platform Times Newspaper

Deborah Hundenu The World Bank Group, in its recent data, has disclosed that former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and Goodluck Jonathan left a sum of $10.6 billion in loans. Obasanjo governed between 1999 and 2007, Yar’Adua between 2007 and 2010, until his death, after which Dr. Goodluck Jonathan took over and governed between 2010 and 2015. PLATFORM TIMES gathered that the leaders who governed the country between 1999 and 2015 left this huge debt for the nation. This revelation comes amid growing concerns over Nigeria’s ballooning national debt, which stood at N121.67 trillion ($91.46 billion) as…

Nigerian business mogul Tony Elumelu has accused former President Muhammadu Buhari and his late chief of staff, Abba Kyari, of obstructing his company’s attempt to purchase an oilfield despite raising substantial funds for the deal.  Elumelu, who heads Heirs Holdings, disclosed this during an interview with the Financial Times, shedding light on a contentious decision made by the previous administration. According to Elumelu, his investment firm had approached the Buhari administration around 2017 with a proposal to acquire an oilfield, offering a substantial sum of approximately $2.5 billion.  Despite the significant financial commitment, the offer was turned down by Buhari…

Emmanuel Oludare Former  President Olusegun Obasanjo has declared that many leaders in Nigeria and other African countries deserve to be either jailed or face execution for their actions while in office.  Obasanjo made this assertion during a meeting with six lawmakers from the House of Representatives at his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Friday. The lawmakers, led by Hon. Ugochinyere Ikenga of the Ideato North and South Federal Constituency in Imo State, had visited the former president to discuss several issues, including bills advocating  a single six-year term for the presidency and regional rotation of…

Former Ogun State Governor and Senator, Ibikunle Amosun, has expressed profound gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for appointing a Governing Council for the newly established Federal University of Medicine and Medical Sciences in Abeokuta, Ogun State. In a statement released on Friday, Amosun described the appointment of Usman Mohammed Shanawa as the head of the Governing Council as a significant milestone, fulfilling the longstanding aspirations of stakeholders in Ogun Central Senatorial District.  He highlighted the importance of the university to the region, noting that its establishment was a key desire during his tenure as governor from 2011 to 2019.…

NIS has suspended Okpravero Ufuoma, an assistant superintendent of immigration (ASI II), for soliciting money from a traveller. The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has suspended Okpravero Ufuoma, an assistant superintendent of immigration (ASI II), for soliciting money from a traveller. NIS comptroller general Kemi Nandap announced the suspension in a statement by the immigration’s spokesman Kenneth Udo on Thursday. According to Ms Nandap, the officer’s conduct, captured in a video circulating on social media, does not reflect the NIS values and ethics of professionalism. She condemned the alleged misconduct, saying it undermined the ongoing reforms to enhance service standards. She,…

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has moved to address leadership voids in its Ogun and Benue State chapters by appointing caretaker committees following the expiration of the tenures of the existing state executives.  The National Working Committee (NWC) of the party announced these appointments on Thursday, aiming to stabilize the party’s structures in the two states ahead of future elections. In Ogun State, a 13-member caretaker committee was inaugurated to manage the affairs of the PDP for three months.  The committee, chaired by former House of Representatives member Abiodun Awoleye, includes notable party members such as Paul Ogunnubi as secretary…

Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has raised concerns over the participation of young Almajiris in the recent #EndBadGovernance protests, stating that many of them were unaware of the reasons behind the demonstrations.  The protests, which began on August 1 across multiple cities in Nigeria, aimed to highlight the country’s worsening economic conditions but later turned violent in some northern states, leading to the imposition of curfews. Speaking during a recent interview, Governor Sule expressed his dismay that a significant number of those who took to the streets in Lafia, the state capital, were young Almajiris—some as young as five years…

The Department of State Services (DSS) has refuted claims by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) that its officers raided the union’s headquarters in Abuja. The controversy erupted following a statement by the NLC on Wednesday, alleging that heavily armed operatives stormed the Labour House, located in the Central Business District of Abuja, late in the evening.  According to the union, the raid occurred around 8:30 p.m., long after the close of work, with the intruders forcefully breaking into the building and ransacking the bookshop on the 2nd floor. Benson Upah, the head of Media and Public Relations at NLC, expressed…

Former Deputy National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George, has scolded the Federal Government’s handling of the oil sector, demanding  that Nigerians be told the  truth about the controversial fuel subsidy removal.  Addressing the press in Lagos on Thursday, George condemned the government’s lack of transparency and warned that its failure to clarify the situation is fueling public unrest and distrust. “The Federal Government needs to come clean. One day we hear there is a subsidy, the next day it’s gone—Nigerians deserve the truth,” George asserted.  “This back-and-forth is creating chaos. Where is the transparency? Who…

The Dangote Refinery, has revealed that 60% of its crude feedstock since commencing full operations has been supplied by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.  This disclosure came during a presentation by Aliyu Suleiman, the Group Chief Strategy Officer of the Dangote Refinery, to an ad hoc Senate committee on August 7. The Senate committee, led by Senate Majority Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, is currently investigating allegations surrounding the importation of substandard petroleum products into Nigeria.  According to Suleiman, the refinery has processed approximately 50 million barrels of crude oil since its operations began.  Out of this, 60% of the…