Author: Platform Times Newspaper

The leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, took a fresh twist on Friday as the Federal High Court in Abuja shifted hearing in the suit filed by the pro-Nyesom Wike faction to January 14, 2026. Justice Joyce Abdulmalik adjourned the matter after informing parties that the motion seeking her recusal had not been served on all respondents. The lawsuit seeks to nullify the recent PDP national convention held in Ibadan, which produced Ambassador Kabir Turaki  and other officers currently laying claim to the party’s national leadership. In a dramatic turn, a faction of the party loyal to former…

…Partners Tunde Onakoya, LSETF, LASODA on Disability-to-Ability Programme Jennifer Eze Lafarge Africa Plc on Thursday marked the 2025 International Day of Persons with Disabilities with a celebration of beneficiaries enrolled in its Disability-to-Ability (D2A) Programme, a flagship empowerment scheme designed to equip 100 persons with disabilities with vocational and entrepreneurial skills. The event, held simultaneously across the programme’s two training hubs in Ikeja and Ikorodu, brought together partners from the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA), and Chess-in-Slums founder and Guinness World Record holder, Tunde…

The Department of State Services has arrested a medical doctor alleged to be supplying drugs to injured kidnappers operating across parts of Kwara State. PLATFORM TIMES gathered that the suspect, whose identity is being withheld for security reasons, was intercepted at Jebba in the Moro Local Government Area after intelligence linked him to a network of couriers servicing violent criminal gangs. Security sources said that the doctor was travelling from Sokoto and was on his way to deliver medical supplies to bandits nursing gunshot wounds sustained during recent clashes with security forces. “He was tracked and picked up at the…

Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Chike Amaewhule, on Friday formally defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress, blaming what he described as “unresolved divisions” within the PDP for his decision. Amaewhule announced his defection during plenary in Port Harcourt, alongside 15 other lawmakers who also switched allegiance to the APC, further reshaping the political landscape in the state. Addressing his colleagues, the Speaker said he had already notified his ward chairman of his exit from the PDP, stressing that his move was driven by the internal cracks that had continued to weaken…

….Protest To Hit Abuja, Lagos, All State Capitals If Payments Remain Stalled ….Coalition Demands ₦32,000 Increment, ₦25,000 Palliative Allowance Daud Olatunji  The Coalition of Federal Pensioners of Nigeria has announced plans for a nationwide nude protest on December 8 to demand the payment of their outstanding pension increment arrears and palliative allowances. The group said the protest would proceed simultaneously in Abuja, Lagos and all state capitals if the Federal Government fails to release the long-approved payments before the deadline. National Chairman of the coalition and head of the NIPOST pensioners’ chapter, Mukaila Ogunbote, disclosed the plan in a statement…

Fuji legend, Wasiu Ayinde Marshal, popularly known as KWAM 1, has formally declared his intention to vie for the vacant stool of the Awujale and paramount ruler of Ijebuland, describing himself as a duly qualified prince from the Fusengbuwa ruling house. In a letter dated December 3, 2025, and addressed to the Fusengbuwa ruling house of Agunsebi Quarters, Ayinde said his aspiration was rooted in lineage, tradition and decades of service to Ijebuland and the Yoruba cultural sphere. “I am a bona fide son of the Fusengbuwa Ruling House of Agunsebi Quarters, tracing my ancestry to the Oba Jadiara lineage,…

Firdaus Obiremi Civil society groups, farmers and environmental advocates on Thursday raised the alarm over what they described as a looming assault on Nigeria’s food sovereignty. The CSO warned  that the proposed $2.5bn investment by global meat giant, JBS, could deepen hunger, displace rural communities and erode the livelihoods of smallholder farmers who currently produce 70 per cent of the nation’s food. The concerns were raised during a sensitisation rally held in Abeokuta as part of the “March for Food Sovereignty and Ecological Justice,” where stakeholders faulted the Federal Government’s support for JBS’ plan to build six industrial meat-processing facilities…

…Insist Sustainable Peace Must Begin Within Communities …Security Agencies Alone Cannot Restore Stability Daud Olatunji  Nigeria’s leading security and religious figures — National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah; and the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III — have warned that the country cannot overcome insecurity through the barrel of a gun alone, insisting that sustainable peace must begin within communities. The leaders spoke on Thursday in Abuja at a high-level dialogue on preventing violence and conflict in northern Nigeria, organised by the National Peace Committee (NPC) in partnership with the Kukah Centre…

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on Thursday said Nigerian troops arrested 74 terrorists and their collaborators while rescuing 318 kidnap victims during counter-insurgency and internal security operations across the country in November. Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Michael Onoja, disclosed that in addition to the arrests, 25 oil thieves were apprehended in the South-South, while 69 terrorists and their families surrendered to troops in the North East. Speaking at a media briefing in Abuja, Gen. Onoja said the military also destroyed 16 illegal oil refining sites and recovered stolen petroleum products valued at over N217 million, including 201,700 litres…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday arraigned a serving Gombe State magistrate, Mohammed Suleiman Kumo, on charges of bribery and extortion totaling ₦1.4 million. Kumo appeared before Justice H.H. Kereng of the Gombe State High Court on a three-count charge filed by the EFCC’s Gombe Zonal Directorate. The charges allege that the magistrate received monetary benefits through the bank account of a court registrar, identified as Adamu Ahmed, in violation of Section 10(a)(i)(ii) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000. One of the charges stated, “That you, Mohammed Suleiman Kumo, being a Magistrate at…