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JUST IN: Tension in Osun as controversial LG election holds amid security threats

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There is tension in Osun State following Governor Ademola Adeleke’s insistence to conduct the controversial Local Government election despite security threats and stiff resistance from opposition parties.

Stakeholders, particularly opposition parties and security agencies, have raised concerns over the security situation in the state, predicting unrest.

The concerns followed previous events where members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the All Progressives Congress, APC, clashed, resulting in the death of at least six party members on Monday.

The crisis escalated when the previously sacked local government chairmen and councillors moved to return to council offices after a court judgement.

The APC members had moved to enforce the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, delivered on February 10, 2025, which overturned their sack by the verdict of the Osogbo Federal High Court on November 25, 2022.

Recall that a judgment by Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel of an Osogbo Federal High Court, delivered on November 25, 2022, had sacked the chairmen and councillors elected in the poll conducted by the immediate past Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola.

However, the Court of Appeal nullified the judgment on February 10 this year, leading to chaos across all the Local Government Areas in the state.

Despite resistance from the PDP members, the reinstated Chairmen insisted that the planned election must be cancelled until their tenure elapsed in October 2025.

AGF warns Governor Adeleke against disobeying Appeal Court ruling

Wading into the crisis on Thursday, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi urged Governor Adeleke to respect the Appeal Court judgement, stating that the tenure of the chairmen and the councillors has been restored.

The AGF accused Governor Adeleke of attempting to override the judiciary and warned that proceeding with the election would constitute a serious violation of the Nigerian constitution.

According to him, such elections will “not only be invalid since the term of office of the elected officials just restored by the judgment of the Court of Appeal will still be running until October 2025, but it will also amount to an egregious breach of the Constitution which Governor Adeleke has sworn to uphold”.

Court orders conduct of polls SaturdayDespite the legal advice from the AGF, an Osun State High Court in Ilesa on Friday ordered the State Independent Electoral Commission, OSSIEC, to conduct elections for the LG chairmen and councillors in all the 30 council areas on Saturday (today).

Justice A. Aderigbigbe, who gave the judgement, stated that there is vacancy in the 30 local government areas of the state as earlier held in a judgement by the Federal High Court.

The court also directed and compelled all the security agencies, including the Nigeria Police, Department of State Services, DSS, Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC, among others, to provide adequate security, during and after the election.

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NNPC Trading Limited MD appointed as Nigeria’s OPEC representative

We congratulate Maryamu Idris, Managing Director of NNPC Trading Limited, on her appointment as the National Representative for Nigeria at the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Trading Limited says that its Managing Director, Maryamu Idris , has been appointed as Nigeria’s National Representative to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

NNPCL announced the development on its X handle on Wednesday, and said Idris’s new role marks a pivotal step in representing Nigeria’s interests within the influential cartel of oil-producing nations.

“We congratulate Maryamu Idris, Managing Director of NNPC Trading Limited, on her appointment as the National Representative for Nigeria at the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC),” the statement read.

The corporation hailed her achievements in many capacities in the oil sector.

Maryamu’s extensive experience in the energy sector includes leading Pricing and Valuation efforts within NNPC’s Crude Oil Marketing Division and serving as a Technical Advisor to Nigeria’s OPEC Delegation.

She also played a foundational role in Nigeria’s engagement with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and contributed to oil sector reforms through her work with the Bureau of Public Enterprises and the Oil and Gas Implementation Committee (OGIC).

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FIRS loses 4 senior staff in Lagos Afriland Towers Fire

The deceased staff were identified as Mrs. Ekelikhostse George, Assistant Director; Mr David Sunday-Jatto, Assistant Director; Mrs. Nkem Onyemelukwe, Senior Manager; and Mr. Peter Ifaranmaye, Manager.

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The Federal Inland Revenue Service, (FIRS) has confirmed the death of four of its senior staff members in the fire incident that gutted Afriland Towers on Broad Street, Lagos, on Tuesday.

The deceased staff were identified as Mrs. Ekelikhostse George, Assistant Director; Mr David Sunday-Jatto, Assistant Director; Mrs. Nkem Onyemelukwe, Senior Manager; and Mr. Peter Ifaranmaye, Manager.

In a statement confirming the incident, Mr Dare Adekanmbi, Special Adviser on Media to the FIRS chairman, said that the victims were trapped while on duty at the two FIRS offices located on the sixth and seventh floors of the building when the inferno broke out.

“Our Security and Safety officials quickly mobilized and contacted the fire service as soon as they were alerted. On getting to the scene, thick dark smoke was already billowing out of the building.

“The Management and entire staff are in deep shock and sorrow over the development,” he said.

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JUST IN: President Tinubu lifts state of emergency in Rivers, as Fubara prepares to resume duty

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has lifted the state of emergency imposed on Rivers State, restoring full democratic governance six months after suspending the Governor, Deputy Governor and State House of Assembly members.

In a statement on Tuesday, President Tinubu said the emergency, declared on 18 March 2025, had become “painfully inevitable” after a constitutional crisis paralysed governance in the state. He recalled that disputes between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the State House of Assembly had left critical economic assets vulnerable and halted budget approvals.

Tinubu said his intervention under Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution was to “arrest the drift towards anarchy” after mediation attempts failed. “Considered objectively, we had reached that situation of total breakdown of public order and public safety in Rivers State … it would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation,” he said.

The President thanked the National Assembly, traditional rulers and the people of Rivers State for their support throughout the emergency. He also acknowledged dissenters who challenged the declaration in court, saying such actions were “the way it should be in a democratic setting.”

Tinubu noted a “groundswell of a new spirit of understanding” among stakeholders in Rivers State and said the conditions that necessitated the emergency no longer existed.

“With effect from midnight today, the emergency in Rivers State shall end,” he announced. “Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, including Speaker Martins Amaewhule, will resume work in their offices from 18 September 2025.”

He urged governors and state legislatures nationwide to prioritise harmony and peaceful governance. “It is only in an atmosphere of peace, order and good government that we can deliver the dividends of democracy to our people,” he said.

STATEMENT BY HIS EXCELLENCY, BOLA AHMED TINUBU, PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, ON THE CESSATION OF THE STATE OF EMERGENCY IN RIVERS STATE

My Fellow countrymen and, in particular, the good people of Rivers State.

I am happy to address you today on the state of emergency declaration in Rivers State. You will recall that on 18th March, 2025, I proclaimed a state of emergency in the state. In my proclamation address, I highlighted the reasons for the declaration.

The summary of it for context is that there was a total paralysis of governance in Rivers State, which had led to the Governor of Rivers State and the House of Assembly being unable to work together.

Critical economic assets of the State, including oil pipelines, were being vandalised. The State House of Assembly was crisis-ridden, such that members of the House were divided into two groups. Four members worked with the Governor, while 27 members opposed the Governor.

The latter group supported the Speaker. As a result, the Governor could not present any Appropriation Bill to the House, to enable him to access funds to run Rivers State’s affairs. That serious constitutional impasse brought governance in the State to a standstill.

Even the Supreme Court, in one of its judgments in a series of cases filed by the Executive and the Legislative arms of Rivers State against each other, held that there was no government in Rivers State.

My intervention and that of other well-meaning Nigerians to resolve the conflict proved abortive as both sides stuck rigidly to their positions to the detriment of peace and development of the State.

It therefore became painfully inevitable that to arrest the drift towards anarchy in Rivers State, I was obligated to invoke the powers conferred on me by Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to proclaim the state of emergency.

The Offices of the Governor, Deputy Governor, and elected members of the State House of Assembly were suspended for six months in the first instance. The six months expire today, September 17th, 2025.

I thank the National Assembly, which, after critically evaluating the justification for the proclamation, took steps immediately, as required by the Constitution, to approve the declaration in the interest of peace and order in Rivers State.

I also thank our traditional rulers and the good people of Rivers State for their support from the date of the declaration of the state of emergency until now.

I am not unaware that there were a few voices of dissent against the proclamation, which led to their instituting over 40 cases in the courts in Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Yenagoa, to invalidate the declaration.

That is the way it should be in a democratic setting. Some cases are still pending in the courts as of today. But what needs to be said is that the power to declare a state of emergency is an inbuilt constitutional tool to address situations of actual or threatened breakdown of public order and public safety, which require extraordinary measures to return the State to peace, order and security.

Considered objectively, we had reached that situation of total breakdown of public order and public safety in Rivers State, as shown in the judgment of the Supreme Court on the disputes between the Executive and the Legislative arm of Rivers State. It would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation.

As a stakeholder in democratic governance, I believe that the need for a harmonious existence and relationship between the executive and the legislature is key to a successful government, whether at the state or national level.

The people who voted us into power expect to reap the fruits of democracy. However, that expectation will remain unrealizable in an atmosphere of violence, anarchy, and insecurity borne by misguided political activism and Machiavellian manipulations among the stakeholders.

I am happy today that, from the intelligence available to me, there is a groundswell of a new spirit of understanding, a robust readiness, and potent enthusiasm on the part of all the stakeholders in Rivers State for an immediate return to democratic governance.

This is undoubtedly a welcome development for me and a remarkable achievement for us. I therefore do not see why the state of emergency should exist a day longer than the six months I had pronounced at the beginning of it.

It therefore gives me great pleasure to declare that the emergency in Rivers State of Nigeria shall end with effect from midnight today. The Governor, His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara, the deputy governor, Her Excellency Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and the speaker, Martins Amaewhule, will resume work in their offices from 18 September 2025.

I take this opportunity to remind the Governors and the Houses of Assembly of all the States of our country to continue to appreciate that it is only in an atmosphere of peace, order, and good government that we can deliver the dividends of democracy to our people. I implore all of you to let this realisation drive your actions at all times.

I thank you all.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR
President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
Federal Republic of Nigeria
State House, Abuja
September 17, 2025

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