Author: Platform Times Newspaper

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has called on the National Assembly to urgently pass the bill seeking to criminalise unexplained wealth, stressing that Nigeria cannot win the war against corruption without it. Speaking on Wednesday at the National Conference on Public Accounts and Fiscal Governance in Abuja, Olukoyede said the bill, which was rejected by the last assembly, is critical to empowering anti-graft agencies to investigate individuals whose assets exceed their known legitimate earnings. “If we don’t make individuals accountable for what they have, we will never get it right,” Olukoyede said. “Help…

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, has debunked claims linking him to the late Gen. Sani Abacha’s infamous military regime, saying his engagement under the junta was purely civic and not political. Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, came under renewed criticism over allegations that he was politically affiliated with Abacha’s administration—an era marred by massive corruption, human rights abuses, and clampdowns on civil liberties. In a statement posted on his official X handle on Wednesday, Obi clarified that his only engagement with Abacha’s government was as a co-opted member of a…

A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has alleged that several governors and top-ranking members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are secretly aligning with an emerging opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections. In a revealing interview with TVC News, Lawal—who officially dumped the APC on June 29—said these influential figures, though still publicly loyal to the party, are covertly working to unseat President Bola Tinubu’s administration. “Yes, there are APC members working with the coalition, and they will speak for themselves. Some may not be bold like me, but many—governors included—have privately…

…Ordered To Refund Victim Within 30 Days An Abuja-based lawyer, Everestus Chinedum Ugwuowo, has been suspended from legal practice in Nigeria for five years over his involvement in a N29 million property fraud. The Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC), in a damning verdict, found Ugwuowo guilty of “infamous conduct” after he was accused of fraudulently collecting N29 million from a client, Mrs. Grace Dauda, for the sale of a property he had no legal authority to sell. Delivering the ruling, a five-member panel led by former Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Justice Ishaq Bello, directed that…

…Only those above 45 with $10,000 bank balance eligible for tourist visa The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has again imposed strict travel restrictions on Nigerian passport holders, banning all transit visa applications and introducing tougher requirements for tourist visas. In a new directive circulated to travel agents on Tuesday, UAE authorities declared that Nigerian citizens between the ages of 18 and 45 are no longer eligible to apply for tourist visas unless they are traveling in groups or with official sponsorship. The UAE also announced a total suspension of transit visa applications from Nigerians, a move that has raised…

…Oloyede Flags Top Scorer as Suspected Mercenary …11 JAMB Staff Arrested in Ogun, 3,300 Candidates Under Investigation Balqees Adeniji & Feyisayo Ogunbiyi A wave of public outrage has trailed the decision by Vice Chancellors and other tertiary education stakeholders to peg the minimum cut-off mark for university admission at 150 and 100 for polytechnics and colleges of education for the 2025/2026 academic session. PLATFORM TIMES reports that the  decision, announced at the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s (JAMB) 2025 Policy Meeting on Admissions held in Abuja on Tuesday, has sparked widespread condemnation, with many accusing the stakeholders of lowering…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has commenced investigations into a suspected case of illegal cross-border cash smuggling involving undeclared foreign currencies worth hundreds of thousands of dollars at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano. The suspect, Ahmad Salisu, was intercepted by officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) during a routine luggage check on Monday, July 7, 2025. A search of his baggage reportedly uncovered a stash of foreign currencies wrapped in a polythene bag and hidden beneath clothes. Preliminary findings revealed the suspect was in possession of $420,900, £5,825, CFA 3,946,500, and 224,000 Cameroonian CFA, all…

 Daud Olatunji Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has dismissed as false and politically motivated, reports claiming he was pressured to step down for a southern candidate ahead of the 2027 presidential election. In a strongly worded statement released through his media office on Tuesday, the 2023 presidential flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described the alleged meeting as “phantom,” insisting he never attended such gathering and that no such discussion took place. “There was no such meeting. Atiku Abubakar was never in attendance,” the statement read. “The entire story is a malicious fabrication — pure fiction cooked up in…

The Federal Government has issued over 3.5 million passports since August 2023 and saved more than N1 billion annually following sweeping reforms in the passport application process, the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed on Tuesday. Speaking during the commissioning of a new passport front office in Abuja, Tunji-Ojo said the changes were part of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda aimed at enhancing service delivery, national security, and efficiency within the Ministry of Interior. The minister revealed that the administration inherited a backlog of over 200,000 unprocessed passport applications and a debt of nearly N20 billion upon assumption…

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has raised the alarm over an unprecedented spike in human rights violations across Nigeria, disclosing that it recorded a staggering 1,485,307 complaints in the first half of 2025 alone. The commission’s Senior Human Rights Adviser, Hilary Ogbonna, made the revelation on Monday during the presentation of NHRC’s monthly dashboard report for June. He described the figure as the highest ever recorded in the history of the commission. “This is our highest in the history of this commission. We are also happy that, as of June 30, we have resolved 20,000 cases. We can do…