Author: Platform Times Newspaper

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, and former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Justin Welby, have called for stronger interfaith cooperation and concerted action against hate speech and fake news threatening peaceful coexistence in Nigeria. The two prominent religious leaders made the call on Saturday in Sokoto when Welby paid a visit to the Sultan, who is also the President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs. The meeting focused on religious harmony, national unity, security and the need for sustained dialogue among people of different faiths. The Sultan expressed concern over the growing circulation of hate…

… Domestic Obligations Account  For Nigeria’s Debt  ….Total Debt Rises 4.7% Between March, June ….FG Shoulders N152.77tn Burden Daud Olatunji Nigeria’s total public debt stock surged by N7.44tn within three months, rising from N159.35tn at the end of March to N166.79tn as of June 30, 2026, the latest figures from the Debt Management Office have shown. The increase represents a 4.7 per cent rise between the first and second quarters of 2026, underlining the continued expansion of the country’s debt obligations. The DMO disclosed this in its latest Public Debt Portfolio Report, released on Friday. The debt stock also rose…

Grace Adeleke Twenty indigent but academically outstanding students in Ogun State have been awarded fully funded secondary school scholarships by the House of Emmanuels Foundation. The beneficiaries emerged from a competitive scholarship examination organised by the foundation for more than 500 students drawn from public secondary schools in Abeokuta North and Abeokuta South Local Government Areas of the state. The awards were presented on Friday, September 25, 2026, during the second edition of the foundation’s educational intervention programme held at Lisabi Grammar School, Idiaba, Abeokuta. The ceremony attracted beneficiaries, parents, teachers, community leaders and other stakeholders, with some parents reportedly…

Daud Olatunji A woman identified as Shobowale Balikis has been handed over to the police after she was allegedly caught attempting to smuggle contraband into the Ibara Custodial Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State. Balikis was intercepted by vigilant officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Ogun State Command, at about 3:50pm on Saturday, September 26, 2026, while allegedly attempting to gain access to the custodial facility with the prohibited substance. According to a statement issued by the command’s Public Relations Officer, Odukoya Olayinka, the substance identified as “Ethano” was allegedly concealed inside a bottled water pack and disguised as drinking water meant…

Daud Olatunji The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested the suspended South-West Zonal Coordinator of the women’s wing of the City Boy Movement, Halimat Adenike Tejuosho, over alleged fraud involving purported federal government appointments and contracts. The EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, confirmed Tejuosho’s arrest on Saturday, saying she was taken into custody on September 8, 2026. “She is in our custody,” Oyewale reportedly said. The development came about five months after the anti-graft agency declared the 41-year-old Lagos indigene wanted over allegations of obtaining money by false pretence. The commission had appealed to members of the public with information…

The Jigawa State Hisbah Corps has arrested eight men over alleged involvement in same-sex acts following a complaint by a resident of Kazaure who claimed that the encounters had adversely affected his life. The complainant, identified as a resident of the Kanti area of Kazaure town, reportedly alleged that nine individuals had engaged in same-sex acts with him on different occasions. According to a statement issued by the Hisbah Public Relations Officer, Dauda Muhammad Hadejia, the complainant told the authorities that he subsequently tested positive for HIV and attributed the infection to the alleged encounters. Following the complaint, the Hisbah…

Toyyibat Qasim Two inmates have died following a confirmed cholera outbreak at the Kurmawa Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kano State, the Nigerian Correctional Service has disclosed. The NCoS said the outbreak, which was first detected on September 17, was confirmed through laboratory tests conducted on September 23 by its medical team in collaboration with public health authorities in Kano State. According to a statement issued on Saturday by the Service’s spokesman, Chief Superintendent of Corrections, JN Osuji, the incident began after an inmate developed symptoms including vomiting and diarrhoea. The inmate was subsequently admitted and treated at the custodial…

Ayomide Awe Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has challenged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to give Nigerians a detailed account of the country’s N166.79tn public debt, while demanding an apology over the economic hardship experienced since 2023. Atiku’s demand came as fresh figures from the Debt Management Office showed that Nigeria’s total public debt rose by N7.44tn between March and June 2026, from N159.35tn to N166.79tn. The DMO report, published on September 25, 2026, put domestic debt at N91.59tn, representing 54.91 per cent of the total, while external debt stood at N75.20tn. In dollar terms, the country’s total public debt was $120.93bn…

Daud Olatunji The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, has claimed that more than 10 million vulnerable Nigerians have received ₦75,000 each under the Federal Government’s conditional cash transfer programme. Yilwatda said the beneficiaries, many of whom he described as poor and vulnerable Nigerians, were largely absent from social media because they could not afford smartphones and other communication devices. The APC chairman made the disclosure on Saturday while responding to journalists shortly after the party’s three-day National Executive Council retreat in Maiduguri, Borno State. According to him, the Bola Tinubu administration had introduced several interventions…

Ayomide Awe The All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Ogun State, Senator Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, has pledged to prioritise the development of the state’s coastal communities and ensure transparent management of any revenue accruing from oil production. Adeola, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, also donated N60m and a bus to the Ogun State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists during a visit to the union’s secretariat at Iwe-Iroyin, Abeokuta, on Friday. The senator said the commencement of commercial oil drilling at Eba Island in Ogun Waterside in January 2026 had placed…