Category: Happenings

The 2023 Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate, Peter Obi has said the last general election showed that Yorubas don’t hate Igbos.

This was as Obi noted that the election was not a Christian or Igbo agenda.

Obi said the 2023 general election saw Nigerians unite across tribe and religious lines, adding that the poll corrected the impression that Yorubas hate Igbos.

The former Anambra State governor spoke while receiving the 2024 Courageous Citizen Award from the Nigerian-American Coalition for Justice and Democracy (NACJD) in Abuja on Saturday.

Obi noted that the massive turnaround was an indication that Nigerians desired a change from the status quo.

“It was a time that Nigerians united and spoke with one voice regardless of tribe, tongue or religion. The 2023 election wasn’t a Christian or Igbo project.

“It was a Nigerian project. I saw our legends and elder statesmen come together for the first time. I was glad to see people like former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Pa Ayo Adebanjo and others stand their ground.

“I am saying this to correct the impression that the Yorubas hate Igbo people. A lot of people made certain sacrifices because we just wanted to say ‘Enough is enough’ in Nigeria. Imagine those who had lost their lives for the cause of a new Nigeria,” he said

Obi came third in the 2023 presidential election after trailing his counterpart from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar and the winner, President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Social media influencer Saida Boj claims she is currently more prominent in Nigeria than music superstars Wizkid and Davido.

Saida Boj has been trending due to her controversial views on monetizing relationships.
Saida Boj declared, “I am currently bigger than Wizkid and Davido in Nigeria at the moment.”

Her controversial statement has ignited a flurry of reactions online, with many criticizing her audacity and questioning her basis for comparison.


Saida Boj, known for her provocative remarks on monetizing relationships, has been a trending topic for several days due to her controversial views.

The influencer’s recent claim has further fueled the debate, as she insists that her current status surpasses that of Wizkid and Davido.

In her words;

“I am currently bigger than Wizkid and Davido in Nigeria at the moment.”

This comes after the controversial influencer stated that if the organizers of Big Brother Naija wish to have her participate in the reality show, they would have to pay her.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have declared a nationwide strike beginning from Monday, June 3rd, 2024 over the tripartite committee’s inability to agree on a new minimum wage and hike in electricity tariff.

The President of the TUC Festus Osifo announced the strike at a joint news conference with the leadership of the NLC in Abuja on Friday. According to the labour leaders, the decision follows the expiration of an earlier request to the Federal Government to conclude all negotiations for a new minimum wage before the end of May.

“In light of this persistent inaction, we, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), hereby issue a notice of commencement of an indefinite nationwide strike to the Federal Government,” Osifo said.

Part of the draft bill circulating on social media, seen by Netnaija.ng is titled: “A Bill for an Act to Substitute the Annexure to Decree 24 of 1999 with a New Governance Model for the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”


Although the identities of the sponsors of the bill were yet to be ascertained, the Bill when passed would be cited as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria New Governance Model for Nigeria Act 2024.

The sponsors of the Bill explained that the current Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended) is not “autochthonous” as it does not evolve from the deliberations and consensus of the Nigerian people.

According to the advocates, the constitution amendment would be subject to a “yes or no” vote in a referendum by the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Part of the draft Bill seen by Netnaija.ng on Friday partly read:

“PART I – Preliminaries: WHEREAS Nigeria, its Peoples and Government have been governed under Decree 24 of 1999 that was handed down by the then Military Government without the express consent of the people despite the preamble of “We the people.”

“WHEREAS the said Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended) is not autochthonous as it does not evolve from the deliberations and consensus of the Nigerian People.

“WHEREAS the Peoples of Nigeria now desire and effectively demand for a change to a Constitution based on the Federal/Regional System of Government.

“WHEREAS the Federal and Regional governments are to operate within the provisions of this Constitution, it is within the discretion of the ethnic blocs within the States that constitutes a given region to aggregate or disaggregate as Provinces, Divisions and Districts, while being in control of their affairs without let or hindrance at whatever level of governance.

“Whereas the 1999 Constitution as amended is a schedule of a military decree now deemed to be an Act of the National Assembly for which the National Assembly has the powers to amend and/or abrogate as expedient.

“Whereas the National Assembly where so necessary and expedient can invoke the doctrine of necessity to resolve any point of law for the good governance of the country Nigeria.”

On PART 11 – Substitution Clause, the drafters proposed that the National Assembly shall invoke its inherent powers to expunge the schedule attached to decree 24 of 1999 often referred to as 1999 Constitution as amended from the decree, which “is now deemed to be an Act of the National Assembly to which the National Assembly have the powers to so do and replace same with a new governance model for Nigeria effective not later than October 1, 2024.”

“This amendment is subject to a yes or no vote in a Referendum by the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” it proposed.

On governance structure under PART III – Stipulations for Federal Administration, the sponsors proposed that: “(1) Nigeria shall be a Federation comprising Regional Territories and a Federal Capital Territory and shall be a Republic to be known by the name of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“(2) The territorial jurisdiction of Nigeria shall comprise the territory of the Regional members of the Federation and its boundaries shall be as determined by international agreements



“3.2 Basis of the Federation: “(1) Every Ethnic Nationality and People in Nigeria has an unconditional right to self-determination within her delineated territories.



“(2) The sovereignty, powers and authority to formulate the articles of association towards any reform of the Central Federal Government of Nigeria, at any other time shall lie jointly and severally with all the ethnic nationalities occupying their respective territories.

“(3) Every Ethnic Nationality and People in Nigeria has the right to a full measure of self-government which includes the right to establish institutions of government in the territory that it inhabits and to equitable representation in the Federal and Regional Governments.

“(4) A “Ethnic Nationality or People” for the purpose of this Constitution, is a group of people who have or share large measure of a common culture or similar customs, mutual intelligibility of language, belief in a common or related identities, a common psychological make-up, and who inhabit.”

President Bola Tinubu has vowed to drop any member of his cabinet whom he feels falls short of the expectations of Nigerians.

Speaking at a meeting with the leadership of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday, the President said he would continue to do his best for the country.

“I thank the cabinet members for their efforts, but I will relieve any of them of their duties anytime I feel that they are failing Nigerians,” he said. He also appealed to state governments to prioritize the needs of local communities by ensuring accountability and effectiveness in the administration of local governments.

“I will appeal to you to summon the governors. I am doing my very best to enhance the revenue base of the country. They must equally be sympathetic, and they must urgently consider the needs of the local people.

The attack, which took place in Mannheim, was captured during a YouTube live stream and it is believed to have happened during a small gathering for the BPE political group, which holds anti-Islam views.

The attacker can be seen tackling a man to the ground before attempting to thr¥§t a knife into his head.  Bystanders rushed to aid the victim and tried to pull the attacker off.

The city’s police force confirmed the incident and said three people, including one officer, were injured but there was no further danger to the public as the suspect was apprehended.

The police did not immediately provide any information about the severity of the injuries or the identities of those involved, but one of those stabbed was a prominent German far-right political activist and critic of Islam, Michael Stürzenberger.

A Manhattan jury found Donald Trump guilty of all 34 charges of falsifying business records on Thursday, an unprecedented & historic verdict that makes Trump the first former president in American history to be convicted of a felony.

He’s also the first major-party presidential nominee to be convicted of a crime in the midst of a campaign for the White House. He was found guilty of all 34 counts he faced.

Unanimity was required for any verdict. The verdict in the hush money trial was announced after jurors deliberated for nearly 12 hours over 2 days.

The former president is set to be sentenced on 11 July – days before the start of the Republican National Convention on 15 July where Trump is expected to be formally nominated for president. He faces a maximum sentence of 4 years in prison, though others convicted of the same crime often receive shorter sentences, fines or probation.

And if he defeats President Joe Biden in November, he will be the first sitting president in history to be a convicted felon.

There is palpable tension in Aba, Abia State as some gunmen enforcing the sit-at-home order of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) reportedly engaged soldiers at Obikabia Junction in a shootout.

It is reported that two soldiers were killed by the enforcers of the sit-at-home order but the military and the police have not confirmed this.

The hoodlums also burnt a military patrol vehicle and some shops in the area.
Although SaharaReporters could not immediately ascertain whether anyone died in the shootout, videos of the incident seen on Thursday morning show a lone soldier armed with a rifle running to hide in a shop as their patrol van burns.

On Wednesday morning, President Bola Tinubu signed the bill and was welcomed to the floor of the green chamber to the tune of the reintroduced national anthem.

Ezekwesili, who described the law as repugnant, said she would continue to sing the former 46-year-old anthem.

“Let it be known to all and sundry that I, Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili will whenever asked to sing the Nigerian National Anthem sing: 1. Arise, O compatriots, Nigeria’s call obey,” the former minister said, referring to the first lines of the former anthem’s first stanza.

“This is my own National Anthem and let it be known that no one can suppress my right to dissent an obnoxious “law” that is repugnant to all that is of good conscience in Nigeria.

“Whatever else is #NotMyNationalAnthem.”

Tinubu said the reintroduced anthem portrays the country’s diversity and unity.

President Bola Tinubu has assented to the National Anthem Bill 2024 reverting to the old national anthem, “Nigeria, we hail thee”.

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, revealed this on Wednesday at a joint session of the National Assembly marking the Silver Jubilee Of Nigeria’s 4th Republic.

President Bola Tinubu is currently at the joint session.

Akpabio said the sitting is primarily to launch the new national anthem, explaining that the President will not be making a speech because he has to leave to launch the Abuja metro line.

The Senate and the House of Representatives had previously passed the legislation to swap the national anthem from “Arise, O Compatriots” to “Nigeria, We Hail Thee” at separate sittings. The old anthem, “Nigeria, We Hail Thee”, composed when Nigeria gained independence on October 1, 1960, has replaced the “Arise, O Compatriots” anthem.

A Federal High Court in Abuja has cleared Alhaji Bello Bodejo, the President of Miyetti Allah Kautal Kore, of charges related to terrorism, as filed by the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF.

Justice Inyang Ekwo delivered a ruling, discharging Bodejo after counsel for the AGF, Aderonke Imana, made an oral application to withdraw the three-count charge.

Quoting Imana, she stated, “Consequently, the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation has instructed me to withdraw this charge against the defendant in the interest of justice. That is our humble application, my lord.”

Imana clarified that the application was made in accordance with Section 108 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015, and grounded on the authority vested in the AGF under Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

Bodejo’s legal representative, Ahmed Raji, SAN, offered no objection to the application. He expressed gratitude to the AGF, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, for what he termed as a “magnanimous gesture.”


“We urge your lordship to discharge the accused person under the sections referred to by the prosecutor,” Raji added.

A federal high court in Kano has ordered the removal of Muhammad Sanusi II from the official residence of the Emir of Kano

S.A. Amobeda, the presiding judge granted an ex parte motion filed by Aminu Ado Bayero, the dethroned Emir of Kano & the applicant. The order comes hours after a state high court restrained Bayero from parading himself as the Emir of Kano

In the suit marked FHC/KN/CS/190/2024, seen by TheCable on Tuesday, Amobeda ordered Kayode Egbetokun, (IGP) & Hussain Gumel, Kano commissioner of police to ensure that all rights & privileges of an Emir are given Ado Bayero

“An order restraining the 3rd, 4th & 5th respondents & all other respondents from denying the applicant to use his official residence & palace at the Emir’s Palace, Kofar Kudu as well as enjoyment of all rights & privileges accrued to him by virtue of being Emir of Kano State & to evicting anybody residing within the palace illegally pending the hearing & the determination of the originating summons,” the temporary injunction reads

In 2023, the ministry of aviation under Hadi Sirika, former minister, unveiled Nigeria Air — 3 days before the end of former President Buhari’s administration. The development had elicited concerns among stakeholders nationwide over the ownership arrangement which gave Ethiopian Airlines a 49% equity stake.

The F.G had a 5% equity, while a consortium of three Nigerian investors had 46%. In August 2023, Keyamo announced that the national carrier project was suspended till further notice.

Providing updates at the ministerial press briefing in Abuja, Keyamo said: “It remains suspended. It was never Air Nigeria. It was not Air Nigeria. That’s the truth. It was only painted Air Nigeria. It was Ethiopian Airlines trying to flag our flag,” he said. If it is so, why not allow our local people to fly our flag. Why bring a foreigner to fly our flag? So nobody should dispute that it was Air Nigeria.

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a 48-year-old Paris, France-bound businessman, Emmanuel Okechuku Orjinze for ingesting 111 wraps of cocaine, which he excreted after days of observation in the agency’s custody following his arrest at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja.

Okechukwu who also claims he is a professional footballer in Europe was arrested on Tuesday 21st May during the outward clearance of Airfrance flight AF 878 from Abuja to Paris, France.

After a body scan confirmed he ingested illicit drugs, he was taken into custody where he excreted a total of 111 pellets of cocaine that weighed 1.603 kilograms over a period of three days. The suspect claimed he does business in the maritime sector while still scouting for any European football club to engage him.

At least six students of Ajayi Crowther University (ACU), Oyo State, have been arrested by the police over the brutal murder of their colleague, identified as Alex Timileyin.

It was gathered that the arrested students attacked Alex after they allegedly caught him with a missing iPhone 12 Pro Max on Friday night, May 24, 2024.

The students, who are residents of Shepherd’s Inn hostel, stripped the deceased, shaved his head and gang beat him from 10 pm on Friday to 6 am on Saturday.

He was later abandoned in the rain, where he sadly passed away.

Alex, a 200-level Engineering student, was found d£ad in front of the hostel on Saturday morning.

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has assured Nigerians that with time there will be a significant reduction in the cost of electricity traffic.

While presenting his ministerial scorecard in Abuja, on Friday, May 24, he described the current electricity tariff regime as a temporary hardship that will lead to permanent gain.

According to him, “The electricity tariff might look expensive at the moment. But I’m optimistic that these tariffs will go down. We know how much we were buying SIM cards when telecoms first came. We know how much we were buying the telephone sets. But gradually, it scaled off.

Generation, transmission, and distribution, these prices will also go down. So, it is a temporary hardship and it will lead to permanent gain.

Operatives of the Enugu Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC have arrested Forty-six (46) suspected internet fraudsters, in Awka metropolis, Anambra State.

The suspects were arrested during a sting operation, in the early hours of Friday, May 24, 2024 following credible intelligence linking them to cybercrime activities in the State.
Items recovered from them include mobile phones, six laptops and six exotic cars.

The suspects are currently tendering confessional statements and will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.

The Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos has granted the interim forfeiture of $4,719,054, N830,875,611, and other assets linked to the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.

The order was issued on Friday, May 24, by Justice Yellim Bogoro after an ex-parte motion by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Bilkisu Buhari, counsel to the anti-graft agency, filed the ex parte application for the forfeiture.

The funds that have been forfeited to the federal government in the interim are said to be domiciled in First Bank; Titan Bank and Zenith Bank, being operated by Omoile Anita Joy; Deep Blue Energy Service Limited; Exactquote Bureau De Change Ltd; Lipam Investment Services Limited; Tatler Services Limited; Rosajul Global Resources Ltd and TIL Communication Nigeria Ltd.

A father of one, identified as Onybuchi Anele, has passed away after he was allegedly shot with a teargas canister by a policeman in Abuja.

It was gathered that the tragic incident occurred on Wednesday, May 22, while Anele was returning from work.

Narrating what transpired, an eyewitness who spoke with Leadership said: “The deceased, while on his way home, hit an okada man and his passenger and after stopping and making sure the accident victims were okay, decided to head home in the Haj Estate when policemen arrived the scene.”

The eyewitness further explained that trouble started when the policemen, who arrived at the scene, decided that the deceased must follow them to their station even after the okada man and his passenger had left the scene to go.

The ensuing altercation trigg£red a quarrel, which led to the policeman shooting the teargas canister into the eye of the deceased at a close range.

The witness explained that the church members of the deceased and his neighbors in the estate came out and took the deceased to Kubwa General Hospital after which, he was referred to National Hospital, where he eventually died around 8 am on Thursday.

A video of Anele’s family praying for him as blood gushed out of his face has since gone viral online. He sadly passed a few hours after the video was captured.

Minister of Works Dave Umahi disclosed this in Lagos at the 3rd stakeholders meeting of the coastal highway project on May 23, 2024.

He said the F.G is doing away with the proposed new route of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway from km 16 to 25 & reverting to the gazetted alignment to save the telecommunications infrastructure & submarine cables, among others at the axis

“We have three critical infrastructures that are located in one spot. One is the 2Africa submarine cable that cuts across 33 countries connecting about 3 billion people. That cable landed at Mopo & where it landed, the West African Cable Systems (WACS) had already been located there about 17 years ago

We have a mega IPP which is to provide power to the 2Africa cable & the WACS cable. According to him, “We have fully redesigned section one, which is 47 kilometers & we can say that we’ve done everything possible to put human face by managing the alignment.

Soyinka stated in an interview with Noble Eyisi on Thursday.

Recall that Obi finished third behind Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 presidential election.

Soyinka said he hopes that Obi does not vie for the presidency in the 2027 election.

He said, “I hope for the sake of the nation that he doesn’t express interest in the next election because for me as a leader, if there was any proof that he was unfit to lead that country, it’s in the conduct which he encouraged among his followers.

“I know for a fact that he was in control of those forces,” he added.

The Nobel prize winner added that dishonest political leaders are encouraging the “divisive actions of the group.”

He said “one of these days, they would turn on them and teach them a lesson”.

Soyinka said, “It has to do with education. I didn’t read all these insults from Obidients but of course, some links were sent to me, especially when facts were being manufactured.

“I know that there is a relay mechanism, which is triggered into action by those who control what we call the trolls of the internet, and so my disgust and contempt.

“I just went about my business, you know, because nobody, anybody on this earth who thinks they can stop me telling the truth as I see it needs to have his or her head examined. It’s as elementary as that.

“But it is depressing to see those who wanted to be political leaders encouraging that kind of action, that kind of attitude in the youth.

“And my mind went to the expression: ‘They don’t know what they’re doing’. Those who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind.

“One of these days, they would be astonished, they would turn on them and teach them a lesson.

“And so, my attitude was very blasé but it is for me a sad phenomenon, especially for those who want to lead a multi-textured (society) — different religions, different ethnic groups, different worldviews — who actually want to preside over such a group as one.

“It means that they have already declared themselves incompetent to lead such an entity.”