News
‘He stopped picking my calls’ – Dele Momodu explains why he fell out with Wike
A journalist-cum politician, Dele Momodu, has explained why he fell out with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
He said he was a close friend to Wike but their relationship became strained after he informed the former Rivers State governor of his intention to contest for president.
He explained that Wike, who was also secretly nursing his own presidential ambition then, was angered by the information and stopped picking his calls.
Speaking in a recent episode of The Honest Bunch podcast, Momodu said, “I was very close to [Nyesom] Wike.
We are no longer close. Troubles started the moment I declared interest in the presidential election.
“He had not told anybody he wanted to contest but I was suspecting because of the branding and how much he was spending on journalists. He had PR deals with many media houses.
“Those things are not cheap but he was getting good results; everybody was talking about him.
“So, I met him and informed him that I would be contesting for the presidency and I would need his support.
And before then, I had consulted nationwide, I had met Emirs, the Sultan and everybody.
“The general impression I was getting was that if Wike wants to run, he would have problems, especially in the North. The Northerners would support anybody but not Wike.
“I tried to tell him that this is what I had picked up and in case you are unable to run, would you kindly support me? What’s the crime in that?
“I already considered you my friend. He stopped picking my calls, he told people even live on Channels, when an interviewer asked for his opinions on new entrances like Dele Momodu, he said, ‘Which Dele Momodu? Get serious!’
“I was shocked. Wike that told me that he used to watch myself and his boss, [Rotimi] Ameachi when we are flying helicopters, he would be down saying, ‘See these people, they’re enjoying o!,’ is now disrespecting me simply because he has now made money, and power.”
Reacting to former president Ibrahim Babangida’s admission of regret for annulling the June 12 elections in 1993 during his book launch titled, “A Journey of Service” in Abuja last week.
Momodu said he believes that a sincere and “unconditional apology” from the former president was all that was needed to acknowledge the injustice and fully heal the nation.
“I was hoping that we would be able to bring some form of closure to the June 12 crisis. All that we needed to do that day was to get a full unconditional apology for what happened,” Momodu stated.
“The moment I started hearing excuses about how we did it in the national interest, we did it so our democracy could survive. I don’t think what we have today is a proper democracy,” he noted.
Momodu criticised the current political landscape, arguing that it has strayed from true democratic values, pointing out that governments at all levels manipulate elections, leaving no room for real competition.
“It’s become a sham where the federal government wants to win every election, the state government wants to win every election, the local government is in disarray. So at the end of the day, what have we gained?” he asked.
Watch full interview below at Glitch Africa Studio: “The Honest Bunch”
Video credit: Honest Bunch
News
NYSC warns against night travel as 2026 Batch B Stream I orientation begins June 10
The orientation exercise will officially end on Tuesday, June 30, 2026.
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) announced Thursday that the 2026 Batch ‘B’ Stream I Orientation Course will begin on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, with the reception and registration of prospective corps members across the country.
In a statement signed by Caroline Embu, Director, Information and Public Relations, NYSC said that the registration would end at midnight on Friday, June 12, in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The NYSC added that the swearing-in ceremony for prospective corps members mobilised for the 2026 Batch ‘B’ Stream I service year would also take place on Friday, June 12.
The orientation exercise will officially end on Tuesday, June 30, 2026.
The scheme wished all mobilised Nigerian graduates safe journeys to their various orientation camps nationwide and reiterated its warning against night travel.
It advised prospective corps members to suspend their journeys once it is 6pm and spend the night at any available corps members’ lodge, military formation, police station, outpost, or palace of a traditional ruler before continuing the next morning.
News
President Tinubu appoints 40 years old Prof Aina as JAMB Registrar
Prof Aina will succeed Prof Is-haq Oloyede, whose two-term tenure expires on July 31, 2026.
•Prof Segun Aina
President Bola Tinubu has appointed Professor Segun Aina as the new registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Prof Aina will succeed Professor Is-haq Oloyede, whose two-term tenure expires on July 31, 2026.
Professor Aina, who will be 40 in July, is a distinguished academic and systems expert with extensive experience in national examination systems, digital infrastructure, and public-sector institutional reform.
A statement by the presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, stated that “President Tinubu expects Professor Aina to bring to bear his vast experience, knowledge and practical insight into the operations of the Board to take the critical educational organisation beyond the laudable heights achieved by his predecessor.”
A professor of computer engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Aina began his career with JAMB during his National Youth Service, gaining foundational experience in national admissions and data-driven institutional processes.
These insights have shaped his ongoing contributions to examination reform and systems optimisation.
News
Nigeria now produces 10,000 passports per hour
In an address during the International Civil Service Conference 2026 in Abuja, the minister said that the reform has transformed passport production from a slow, manual and fragmented process into a system driven by automation, integration and efficiency.
Photo: Minister of Interior, Olatunji Olubunmi-Ojo
Minister of Interior, Olatunji Olubunmi-Ojo, said that Nigeria can now produce “nothing less than 10,000 passports per hour.”
The minister attributes the passport production fest to the establishment of a world-class centralised personalisation centre in Abuja, a development he described as the first of its kind since 1963.
In an address during the International Civil Service Conference 2026 in Abuja, the minister said that the reform has transformed passport production from a slow, manual and fragmented process into a system driven by automation, integration and efficiency.
“For the first time since 1963, we have a world-class centralised personalisation centre in Abuja,” said Olubunmi-Ojo.
“And what that means is that from a system that could do 400 or 500 passports per hour, all over the world, we could barely do three, four thousand a day or per hour.
Today, we are in a position to do nothing less than 10,000 passports per hour with a centralised level of control.”
He said the nder the new arrangement, stressing that the innovation marks a major shift in the management of internal security services and public administration.
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