Author: Platform Times Newspaper

A United States District Court in Washington, D.C., has ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration to make public records relating to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu. The directive, issued by Judge Beryl Howell on Tuesday, followed a legal motion filed by American transparency advocate, Aaron Greenspan, who sought a review of an earlier decision that denied access to the documents. Greenspan, founder of PlainSite, a website that promotes legal transparency, had accused the FBI of violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by withholding documents linked to alleged federal investigations into Tinubu and one Abiodun Agbele.…

Nigeria’s external debt servicing has surged significantly in 2024, with the country spending a total of $2.32 billion to meet its obligations to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to a report by the Debt Management Office (DMO). This represents a sharp increase from the $998.92 million Nigeria paid in 2023. The bulk of this year’s debt servicing went towards the IMF, which received a total of $1.63 billion, comprising solely of principal repayments with no interest charges. The World Bank, on the other hand, received $689.44 million, broken down into $663.23 million to the International Development…

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has declared that poverty should not exist in Nigeria, emphasizing that the country’s abundant resources should be harnessed for the betterment of its citizens. Obasanjo made these remarks during a dinner organized in his honor by the Abia State Government at the Government House in Umuahia on Friday. According to him, Nigeria is richly endowed by God, and there is no reason why Nigerians should suffer poverty. “Nigerians have no business with poverty because God has given us all that we need,” Obasanjo said. “If we are mismanaging what God has given us, we do not…

A man whose identity could not be ascertained has reportedly met his death on Saturday while allegedly attempting to steal the statue of the Agemo deity at the Mafowoku roundabout, along Folagbade Road in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State. Residents of the area woke up to a bizarre scene as they discovered the golden Agemo statue—erected and commissioned over 21 years ago—had been forcefully removed, with the lifeless body of a young man found beside its remains. A viral video circulating online shows the suspect lying motionless in a blue top, a few metres away from the toppled statue. The circumstances…

Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, has described the recent attacks in Bokkos Local Government Area as acts of genocide orchestrated by terrorist groups seeking to displace local communities and take over fertile land and mineral-rich territories. Speaking during a televised interview monitored in Jos, the governor noted that the attackers, whom he described as terrorists, operate under the guise of herders and are heavily armed. He lamented that despite efforts by security agencies, the attackers continue to carry out coordinated assaults, citing the recent invasion of Ruwi community where mourners were ambushed in broad daylight. “These attacks are not reprisals;…

A professional driver who chauffeured the late singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad, to what would become his final performance has opened up on the events leading up to the young artiste’s sudden death, painting a picture of emotional turmoil, heated arguments, and a violent altercation. The driver, who has been in the car-hire business for over two decades, said he picked up Mohbad from his Lekki residence alongside his wife, Wunmi, and their infant son. According to him, the family appeared cheerful at first, with the singer doting over his child. However, tension quickly set in when an…

Barely 24 hours after opposition figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ex-Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai and other leaders of opposition parties paid a visit to former President Muhammadu Buhari, top leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress have met with the ex-leader in his Kaduna residence. The delegation, led by the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, comprised members of the party’s National Working Committee who met with Buhari on Sunday. The visit, according to observers, reveals the deepening political consultations ahead of the 2027 general elections. Photos from the meeting showed Ganduje and other APC chieftains in…

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities has accused the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Professor Abayomi Fashina, of orchestrating a campaign of intimidation against its members in a bid to coerce them into disowning the position of the union’s national leadership. In a strongly worded statement signed by its National Vice President, West, Dr. Abdussobur Salaam, and the Zonal Secretary, Hamzat Oyelere, the union alleged that Professor Fashina, with the backing of the institution’s Registrar and Bursar, is compelling SSANU members across departments to sign a yet-to-be-drafted disclaimer letter targeting the national body’s position. “This action is not…

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, on Saturday, destroyed a staggering 1.6 million kilogrammes of seized illicit drugs in Ogun State as part of renewed efforts to clamp down on drug trafficking and abuse across the country. The destruction exercise, held in Ipara, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. It was hosted by the Ogun State Commander of the NDLEA, Tijana Rabe, who described the development as a significant milestone in the command’s operations. The massive consignment of drugs destroyed comprised substances confiscated from multiple NDLEA formations under Zones 9 and 11, including the Lagos Strategic Command, Ogun, Oyo, Murtala Muhammed International…

Uche Nwokwu, coordinator of the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP), Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, says men with large breasts are at a higher risk of developing breast cancer. Mr Nwokwu said in an interview with journalists on Saturday in Abuja that men undergoing hormone therapy to alter their body physiology to appear more feminine are also at elevated risk. “When men take hormone therapies to alter their physiology, the more active female hormones can expose them to a higher risk of breast cancer,” he said. He explained that because men had breast tissue, they could develop breast cancer,…