Author: Platform Times Newspaper

…Nigeria May Get 55 New States, 278 LGAs — Constitution Review Committee …Lawmakers Consider Boundary Adjustments, Amendment Bills Daud Olatunji Fresh agitations for state and local government creation have resurfaced as the National Assembly Joint Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution received 333 fresh demands from Nigerians seeking far-reaching amendments to the nation’s supreme law. The Deputy Senate President and Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, Senator Jibrin Barau, disclosed on Friday that the panel received 55 requests for new states, 278 proposals for additional local government areas, two demands for boundary adjustments, and 69 amendment bills touching…

The Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes, and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI), Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Abeokuta Chapter, has accused the hospital management of bias and administrative injustice in the recent promotion exercise affecting some staff members. The union, in a petition addressed to the Acting Medical Director of the centre and obtained by PLATFORM TIMES, alleged that several qualified staff were unjustly denied promotion while others with similar or lesser qualifications were elevated without due process. According to the letter signed by the branch chairman, Comrade B. A. Obabiyi, and the secretary, Comrade O. A. Olatunji, the…

The National Assembly Joint Committee on Constitution Review has received a total of 333 fresh requests from Nigerians seeking the creation of new states and local government areas across the country. According to a statement on Friday by the committee’s chairperson and Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, the panel got 55 proposals for new states and 278 requests for additional local governments from various interest groups nationwide. In addition, the committee received two requests for boundary adjustments and 69 bills seeking amendments to different provisions of the 1999 Constitution. The statement, signed by Jibrin’s Special Adviser on Media and…

… Presidential aide insists appointments within constitutional powers … New service chiefs to inject fresh energy into counterterrorism efforts Daud Olatunji The Presidency on Friday dismissed claims linking President Bola Tinubu’s replacement of the nation’s Service Chiefs to an alleged coup attempt within the military, describing the exercise as a normal administrative action carried out in line with constitutional powers. Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, in a statement issued in Abuja, said the President’s decision to overhaul the military leadership was aimed at strengthening the nation’s security architecture for greater efficiency. According to…

…Ex-President, Chidoka, Amosun, Others Harp On  Leadership, Culture, Moral Reform  Daud Olatunji Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday disclosed that he once rejected a proposal to make former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, his successor because he considered him “not mature enough” for the role at the time. Obasanjo made the revelation at the second edition of the Ajibosin Platform Annual Symposium held in Abeokuta, Ogun State, where national leadership, value reorientation, and moral rebirth dominated discussions. The former president, who spoke shortly after the keynote address by former Aviation Minister Osita Chidoka, interrupted the presentation to recount the behind-the-scenes…

The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, on Friday revealed that he has witnesses travelling from the United Kingdom, United States, Ethiopia, and Kenya to testify in his defence in the ongoing terrorism trial against him. Kanu, who is standing trial on charges bordering on terrorism and incitement, told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the foreign witnesses would form part of the 23 individuals he intends to call as defence witnesses. At Friday’s proceedings before Justice James Omotosho, Kanu requested more time to prepare for his defence, explaining that he was yet to…

The Deputy Senate President, Senator Jibrin Barau, on Friday disclosed that no fewer than 55 requests for new states and 278 proposals for new local government areas are currently before the National Assembly’s Joint Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution. Barau, who chairs the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, made this known during a two-day retreat for members of the Senate and House of Representatives committees on constitution review held in Lagos. In a statement issued by his media aide, Ismail Mudashir, Barau said the volume of submissions underscores Nigerians’ desire for inclusivity, representation, and restructuring of the…

By Barrister Bilal Akinola Husayn Introduction Since June 2023, Nigeria has witnessed an unsettling shift, one that threatens its delicate unity, fairness, and social fabric. The North, long a stabilizing pillar of the nation’s identity, now finds itself systematically marginalized, politically isolated, and economically weakened. Across politics, security, religion, and governance, a pattern has emerged, one that paints a disturbing picture of selective justice, religious bias, and deliberate exclusion of northern Muslims from the mainstream of national life. This is not mere coincidence; it is a carefully woven web of policies and decisions that together form a quiet but coordinated…

President Bola Tinubu has approved the sack of Nigeria’s service chiefs and announced the appointment of their replacements, in what is seen as a major shake-up in the nation’s security architecture. The President’s decision was contained in a statement issued on Friday by his media aide, Sunday Dare. According to the statement, Tinubu named Major-General W. as the new Chief of Army Staff, while Air Vice Marshal S.K. Aneke takes over as Chief of Air Staff. Rear Admiral I. Abbas was appointed Chief of Naval Staff. The President had earlier appointed Olufemi Oluyede as the new Chief of Defence Staff,…

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has warned governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against excluding him from key party activities, declaring that any attempt to sideline him would hasten the party’s collapse. Wike, who spoke during his monthly media parley in Abuja, expressed deep frustration over what he described as the deliberate efforts of some PDP governors to edge him out of the party’s major consultations, despite his enormous contributions to its growth and survival. According to the former Rivers State governor, the attitude of some current party leaders was self-destructive…