The British Royal House has conferred the honour of Commander of the Royal Victorian Order on Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun.

The investiture at Windsor Castle carried a ceremony and symbolism.

Acting on behalf of King Charles, Princess Catherine conferred the honour in recognition of distinguished personal service to the Crown.

The award places Edun among a select group of global achievers whose public contributions transcend borders.

The ceremony also recognised Lydia Tischler, a Holocaust survivor and child psychotherapist; Rhys McClenaghan for services to gymnastics; and John Whiston for services to broadcasting and television.

Edun’s recognition resonated far beyond the grandeur of Windsor, highlighting the growing international regard for Nigeria’s reform leadership.

A former trustee of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, Edun’s career has long combined global engagement with institution-building.

Those same principles underpin his stewardship of Nigeria’s economy, where confidence, discipline, and consistency have become the defining themes of reform.

Since assuming office, Nigeria has begun to reverse years of macroeconomic fragility.

•Senator Barinada Mpigi

Senator Barinada Mpigi, the Chairman Senate Committee on Works who held the mandate of Rivers South-East Senatorial District in the 10th Assembly, is dead, aged 64.

His death makes it the fourth of serving senators to have passed on in the current Assembly senate since their inauguration in June 2023.

While he served, the late federal lawmaker made active contributions at plenary on issues of national development, especially in environmental governance in the Niger-Delta region.

Senator Mpigi, who was a close political ally to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High court today adjourned for judgment indefinitely in respect of the defamation suit instituted against Socio-economic and Accountability Project (SERAP) by two operatives of the Department of State Services(DSS).

Justice Yusuf Halilu adjourned for judgment after the adoption of addresses by counsel to the claimants and defendants.

The two operatives, Sarah John and Gabriel Ogundele had sued SERAP for N5 billion for alleged defamation following SERAP’s accusation that the DSS invaded its Abuja office in 2024.

At the adoption of written addresses today, counsel to SERAP, Victoria Bassey, from Tayo Oyetibo, SAN Chambers, urged the court to dismiss the suit in its entirety.

Ms Bassey, asserted that the suit was misconceived because the claimants did not establish that the words complained of were published of and concerned them personally.

In the written address, the defendant’s counsel posited:

”The law is firmly settled that in an action for defamation, the burden lies squarely on the claimant to prove, as a threshold and indispensable requirement that the words complained of were published of were published of and concerning him personally.

This requirement is not cosmetic as it goes to the very root of the cause of action and failure to establish it is fatal.It is common ground that none of the publications complained of mentioned the claimants by name, rank, photograph or office.

The referred generically to ‘officers from Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS)’ and complained of the conduct of the DSS as an institution”.

According to the counsel, the claimants have not established that the complaints of SERAP referred to them, adding that “there is no evidence whatsoever that a right-thinking individual reasonably understood the words complained of to refer to either claimants personally”.

In his adoption of address, counsel to the claimants, Oluwagbemileke Kehinde, urged the court to grant all the reliefs of the claimants, and discountenance the defendants’ defence, describing them as incompetent.