Author: Platform Times Newspaper

… Gov’s Aide Alleges Cash-For-Support Deal By Lawmakers A fresh scandal has hit the impeachment plot against Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, as his aide alleged on Thursday that lawmakers received ₦350m each as constituency project funds, even as a court moved to halt the impeachment process. The governor’s Special Adviser on Strategy, Darlington Orji, made the allegation during an interview on The Morning Show on Arise Television, accusing members of the Rivers State House of Assembly of double standards over budgetary appropriations. Orji said the lawmakers, who are spearheading the impeachment move against Fubara, had earlier collected the ₦350m…

The All Progressives Congress has defended President Bola Tinubu’s decision to engage a United States-based lobbying firm, DCI Group, describing the public outrage as misguided and rooted in ignorance of how modern governments advance national interests. In a statement issued on Friday by the Lagos APC spokesman, Seye Oladejo, the ruling party said the criticism from opposition figures over the $9m contract betrayed either “a grave misunderstanding of global diplomacy” or a deliberate attempt to mislead Nigerians. The Federal Government reportedly hired DCI Group to lobby policymakers in Washington, particularly to counter negative perceptions about Nigeria’s security situation and reassure…

A 103-year-old woman has been confirmed dead after a fire razed a residential building on Bola Street, Oyingbo, Lagos, on Friday. The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency said the inferno engulfed a bungalow with attached shops, destroying six shops, eight rooms and a mini-flat before emergency responders brought it under control. In a statement, LASEMA’s Permanent Secretary, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said the agency’s response team arrived at the scene at about 12:13pm and found the structure already ablaze. “The fire reportedly started in a room before spreading to other parts of the building. Despite swift intervention, one life — a 103-year-old…

 The Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa, has urged closer collaboration between the Ministries of Defence and Interior, warning that Nigeria’s security challenges cannot be effectively tackled in isolation. Gen. Musa made the call on Friday during a courtesy visit to the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, in Abuja. Both ministers pledged to strengthen inter-ministerial cooperation to confront evolving threats such as terrorism, insurgency, banditry, and cross-border crimes. Describing the two ministries as “two sides of the same national security coin,” Musa said the distinction between internal and external security was increasingly blurred. “The line between internal and external…

Armed men have abducted a housewife and her five-month-old baby in Wodata Zambufu, a community in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State, sources confirmed yesterday. The incident reportedly occurred on Friday, around 10 kilometres from the Kwara State NYSC orientation camp in Yikpata. According to residents, the victims were taken while traveling within the state. An audio recording obtained by Platform Times revealed that the kidnappers had contacted the family, demanding a ransom of N20 million for their release. In the recording, one of the abductors could be heard struggling with Yoruba while negotiating with the family. The mother,…

Former world heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, has resumed training weeks after a tragic road crash on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway claimed the lives of two of his close friends, signalling a cautious return to routine following the devastating loss. A video that surfaced online on Friday showed the British-Nigerian boxer engaging in strength workouts at a gym before moving to a cardio session on an exercise bike. He was also seen around the swimming pool area of the facility, while another post on his Snapchat story displayed his workout duration with the caption, “FIGHTERS.” The fatal accident occurred on December 29,…

The National Sports Commission (NSC) has earmarked N2.1bn in the 2026 federal budget to “promote and organise” the 2025 National Sports Festival in Ogun State—an event that was concluded eight months ago—triggering fresh concerns over duplication and waste in public spending. A review of the 2026 Appropriation Bill shows the controversial line item under the commission’s capital expenditure, despite the festival having been staged in Ogun between May 16 and May 30, 2025 and formally declared open by Vice-President Kashim Shettima. The development is raising questions over the purpose of the allocation, especially as Ogun State is not scheduled to…

Former Deputy Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, ESV Rt. Hon. Remmy Hazzan, has commiserated with the family of the late Chief Victor Olabisi Onabanjo over the death of their matriarch, Mrs. Lucia Onabanjo, who passed away at the age of 101. In a condolence message addressed to Hon. Mrs. Bukola Onabanjo and the entire Onabanjo family, Hazzan described the late centenarian as a woman of strength, dignity and enduring faith, whose life was devoted to family, service and moral values. He said Mrs. Onabanjo stood as a quiet pillar behind a household whose name is firmly etched…

The Elegant Nurses Forum has demanded an urgent, independent investigation into the death of twin babies who reportedly died after receiving a wrong injection during immunisation at Ajangbadi Primary Health Care Centre in Lagos State. In a statement on Thursday, the group described the incident as “heartbreaking and unacceptable,” insisting that the tragedy exposed deep-rooted failures in the state’s primary healthcare system and poor enforcement of professional standards. The forum sympathised with the bereaved parents, saying no family should lose children through avoidable medical errors. It, however, clarified that the injection was administered by a Community Health Extension Worker, not…

An Ogun State traditional ruler, Oba (Dr) Akintunde Akinyemi, the Eselu of Iselu Kingdom in Yewa North Local Government Area, has cautioned the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade I, against publicly challenging Governor Seyi Makinde over the inauguration of the maiden rotational Oyo State Council of Obas. Oba Akinyemi, in an open letter dated January 15, said the Alaafin’s reported denial of consultation by the governor was inappropriate and capable of escalating tensions between the palace and the state government. The Oyo State Government had on Thursday inaugurated the rotational council with the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Adewolu…