Author: Platform Times Newspaper

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has launched a manhunt for a Nigerian man based in Lagos, Ehiremen Aigbokhan, over his alleged involvement in a sophisticated cryptocurrency fraud scheme that siphoned over $250,000 (approximately ₦460 million) from a donor supporting former U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration campaign. The FBI, in a civil forfeiture complaint filed before a U.S. District Court, detailed how Aigbokhan and his accomplices orchestrated a Business Email Compromise (BEC) scam that successfully mimicked the official communication of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. The perpetrators reportedly created a fake domain — @t47lnaugural.com — that closely resembled…

A diarrhea outbreak has struck Government Girls Senior and Junior Secondary School in Kawo, Kaduna State, leaving 81 students ill and 15 hospitalised, the Kaduna State Ministry of Health confirmed on Friday. The ministry said the outbreak was first reported earlier this week, prompting immediate intervention by the state’s Rapid Response Team led by the State Epidemiologist, Dr. Jeremiah Diako. In a statement issued in Kaduna, Dr. Diako disclosed that the affected students, aged between 16 and 17, were promptly moved to the General Hospital in Kalwo for medical attention. “All hospitalised students have been successfully treated and discharged,” he…

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has issued a strong warning to the National Assembly over an alleged plot to remove labour matters, including the national minimum wage, from the exclusive legislative list of the Federal Government. The NLC said it would resist any attempt to move such responsibilities to the concurrent list—where individual states would be empowered to determine workers’ wages independently. Speaking during the National Administrative Council (NAC) meeting of the Central Working Committee held in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Friday, NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, described the move as “an exercise in futility” and a dangerous attempt to…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced a fresh wave of interest from political associations, disclosing that it has received 12 new applications for registration as political parties, pushing the total number of requests to 122. This development, contained in a statement on Thursday by Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, underscores what appears to be a surge in political mobilization ahead of future elections. As of the last general election, INEC had declared that it had only 18 duly registered political parties. Olumekun revealed that the latest batch of applications includes critical…

…. AMCON Offloads Ibadan DisCo For ₦100bn Electricity distribution companies in Nigeria generated over ₦553 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2025, according to a new report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) — even as the federal government confirmed the sale of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) for ₦100 billion, a deal now mired in legal controversy. NERC’s Q1 2025 performance report, released Thursday, showed that the DisCos billed a total of ₦744.27 billion, with a collection efficiency of 74.39%, marking a 3.05 percentage-point decline from the 77.44% recorded in Q4 2024. The commission attributed…

The House of Representatives has unveiled plans to hold zonal public hearings across Nigeria on 86 proposed constitutional amendment bills, targeting key issues such as state creation, security and policing, electoral reforms, and local government autonomy. Deputy Speaker of the House and Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, Benjamin Okezie Kalu, disclosed this during a press briefing at the National Assembly on Wednesday, describing the effort as “one of the most ambitious constitutional reform drives in Nigeria’s recent history.” Kalu said the hearings will hold across 12 centres in the country’s six geopolitical zones from July 11 to 20, with…

Security operatives have arrested three suspected masterminds behind the recent abduction of the Anambra State Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Daniel Onyishi. The suspects — identified as Emeka Ede, Okwudili Aja, and Onyebuchi Aja — were apprehended on June 26 during a joint operation by the Nigerian Military and the Department of State Services (DSS) in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State. The Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Markus Kangye, disclosed this during a press briefing at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja on Thursday. He said the raid, which targeted known hideouts…

Justice E.G. Umokoro of the Bayelsa State High Court has regained freedom after spending 12 harrowing days in the custody of armed kidnappers. Justice Umokoro, who presides over High Court 7 in Yenagoa, was abducted at gunpoint on June 21 while attempting to leave a popular eatery where he had gone to buy bread. Eyewitnesses said the assailants, clad in black uniforms, confronted him at his vehicle and attempted to coerce him into their Hilux truck. When he resisted, they fired at him but missed before forcefully dragging him into their vehicle and speeding off. The kidnappers had reportedly demanded…

Feyisayo Ogunbiyi  Otunba Segun Showunmi, the National Coordinator of The Alternative political movement, has declared that Nigeria’s democracy is broken and urgently needs a civic and generational overhaul, urging youths across the country to rise, organize, and rescue the system from collapse. Speaking on Thursday in Abeokuta during the South-West launch of The Alternative—a coalition of like-minded political actors pushing for a radical transformation of Nigeria’s political culture—Showunmi condemned voter apathy, tribal animosity, and recycled political failures as major threats to democratic stability. “Nigeria’s democracy is in crisis,” he declared. “We must not sugarcoat it. The youth must rise. Our…

Wema Bank has awarded a total grant of N3 million to three emerging entrepreneurs in Lagos as part of its initiative to support Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria. The grants were presented to the winners of a business pitch competition held during the Lagos Leather Fair, one of West Africa’s largest showcases of the leather industry. The beneficiaries – EwaOluwa Morenikeji of House of Ewa LTD, Joy Fache James of Paciencia, and Fatima Yusuf of House of Zibima – each received N1 million to scale their businesses. The initiative, according to the bank, marked its continued commitment…