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JUST IN: Tinubu’s Rivers Agency Nominees Face Senate Screening

…..The 17 nominees were all presented before the Senate committee by the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, Basheer Lado, who divided them into three categories.
The 17 candidates nominated by President Bola Tinubu to oversee the affairs of Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, Rivers State Civil Service Commission and Rivers State Local Government Service Commission have officially declared their assets before the Code of Conduct Bureau.
The assets declaration came on the heel of security clearance by the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Police.
The Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, disclosed this during the screening exercise by the Senate ad hoc committee to oversee the activities of the Rivers Sole Administrator, Vice Adm Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd).
The development comes barely one week after President Tinubu transmitted the names of nominees to the Senate for confirmation.
The five nominees for the Rivers State Civil Service Commission are Dr Barikor Baribuma (Chairman), Lot Egopija, Ms Maeve Ere-Bestman, Mrs Joy Obiaju and Mrs Charity Lloyd Harry.
Rivers State Electoral Commission has seven nominees – Dr Michael Ekpai Odey (Chairman), Mr Lezaasi Torbira, Prof Arthur Nwafor, Prof Godfrey Mbudiogha, Prof Joyce Akaniwor, Dr (Mrs) Olive A. Bruce and Prof Chidi Halliday.
The category of Rivers State Local Government Service Commission also has seven appointees namely Israel N. Amadi (Chairman), Linus Nwandem, Lady Christabel George-Didia, Dr Tonye Willie Pepple, Richard Ewoh, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ofik (retd) and Sammy Apiafi.
The 17 nominees were all presented before the Senate committee by the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, Basheer Lado, who divided them into three categories.
The nominees for the Rivers State Primary Health Care Management Board are expected to take place on Wednesday at the Senate.
Bamidele who doubles as the chairman of the 18-member committee, however, reaffirmed the Senate’s commitment to upholding democratic processes in the oil-rich state.
He said, “Let me quickly inform distinguished colleagues and members of the public that the nominees who are seated before us have gone through security screening by the various security agencies, including the Department of State Security as well as the Nigerian Police.
“And none of them had had any issue with security clearance, which is germane to what we are doing here. We will just be speaking to your CV because I will have no issues with security clearance.
“Members of the public are also to be told that we have also insisted that they should go through the constitutional requirement of going to do their assets declaration by the Code of Conduct Bureau, which they have also complied with.
”The Ekiti lawmaker also disclosed that once they finished the screening exercise, the results and recommendations would be presented to the Senate leadership at the next plenary.
“Finally, it is also for me to report that as a committee we did not have any petition against any of the nominees who are here. So there is no inhibiting factor that would really prevent us from screening any of the nominees.
“The screening exercise itself is a process and all of these individual steps that I have mentioned are part of the process.“
Once we are done with this, we then make our recommendations to the Senate in plenary for the confirmation or otherwise based on our findings and recommendations,” he said.
News
JUST IN: President Tinubu set to return to Nigeria after Saint Lucia, Brazil trip

President Bola Tinubu is expected to return to Nigeria on Saturday (today) two weeks after his two-nation visit to Saint Lucia and Brazil.
The President’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga announced this in a post on his official X handle.
Recall that Tinubu departed Abuja for Saint Lucia and Brazil on Saturday, June 28, 2025.
The President paid a state visit to Saint Lucia as part of efforts to deepen Nigeria’s engagement with Caribbean nations and strengthen South-South cooperation.
Tinubu on July 4th departed Saint Lucia for Brazil where he attend the 2025 BRICS Summit, held July 6-7, 2025.
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CBN And Bank of Industry Partner With CEAN To Stabilise Nigeria’s Creative Sector Post-COVID
For more than a decade, CEAN has played a vital role in connecting Nigeria’s informal creative workforce to structured policy, funding, and formal economic opportunities.

September 12, 2022, Lagos, Nigeria –
In a bold and strategic move to rescue Nigeria’s creative industries from the lingering economic shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bank of Industry (BOI) partnered with the Creative Entrepreneurs Association of Nigeria (CEAN) to design and implement a nationwide intervention targeting vulnerable creative businesses.
The collaboration, launched in mid-2022, marks a milestone in the recognition of Nigeria’s creative economy as a critical pillar of national development—and affirms CEAN’s position as a trusted stakeholder in industry policy and infrastructure development.
Responding to a Sector in Crisis
The partnership was galvanized by CEAN’s early post-pandemic white paper, “Creating Through Crisis: The Future of Nigerian Creativity Post-COVID.
It presented compelling data and policy recommendations that influenced federal strategy.
While other sectors received initial support under the government’s economic recovery plans, it was CEAN’s persistent advocacy and detailed sector mapping that brought national attention to the creative industries’ urgent needs.
CEAN’s nationwide rollout had seen the training of over 2,000 creative entrepreneurs, advisory support to more than 500 micro-businesses, and the establishment of regional Creative Recovery Hubs in Lagos, Abuja, and Enugu.
“From day one of the pandemic, we understood that Nigeria’s cultural workforce—millions strong—was at risk of collapse,” said Adebowale Ewedemi, CEAN founding executive and veteran media entrepreneur.
“We didn’t just lobby for change; we brought the tools, the structure, and the roadmap,” said Ewedemi.
From Blueprint to Implementation
The result was a landmark intervention program backed by BOI and regulated by CBN, with CEAN serving as the official implementation partner.
The program delivers targeted support to struggling sub-sectors including independent film, performance art, fashion, radio, music, design, and digital content production.
Highlights of the program include:
• Access to low-interest working capital for creative entrepreneurs
• Training grants and accelerator programs for skill development
• Support for studio and performance infrastructure
• Technical assistance for digital transformation and business retooling.
CEAN’s nationwide rollout had seen the training of over 2,000 creative entrepreneurs, advisory support to more than 500 micro-businesses, and the establishment of regional Creative Recovery Hubs in Lagos, Abuja, and Enugu.
Sustained Leadership in Nigeria’s Creative Economy
This intervention is only the latest in CEAN’s long record of national impact. During the peak of the COVID-19 lockdowns, the association served as a frontline support system—offering emergency relief, transitioning training programs online, and shaping portions of the Federal Government’s Survival Fund.
For more than a decade, CEAN has played a vital role in connecting Nigeria’s informal creative workforce to structured policy, funding, and formal economic opportunities.
Through this work, the association—under Ewedemi’s leadership—has consistently introduced original models, innovative frameworks, and institutional partnerships that define sustainable creative sector governance in Africa.
Architects of a New Creative Economy
This partnership with CBN and BOI reflects a broader understanding that Nigeria’s future is tied to the creative ingenuity of its people—and that long-term development requires strategic institutions with deep insight, trust, and capacity.
“We’re proud to move beyond advocacy into implementation. This is not a moment—it’s a movement. We are helping to reshape the creative industry into a nationally recognized economic force, ”said Ewedemi.
As the creative sector continues to recover and rebuild, CEAN remains committed to ensuring that no artist, content creator, or cultural innovator is left behind.
News
President Tinubu congratulates Governor Okpebholo on Supreme Court Victory

Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has congratulated Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State on the affirmation of his election by the Supreme Court.
The Edo State governorship election took place in September 2024, and Governor Okpebholo was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Supreme Court, as the final arbiter, upheld the election of the governor today.
According to the press statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President (Information & Strategy), President Tinubu encourages Governor Okpebholo to be magnanimous in victory and rally the citizens of Edo across divides towards a singular vision of advancing the state’s development.
The President advises that now that the governor has cleared the legal hurdles, it is time for him to accelerate the delivery of exceptional services and good governance to the people of Edo State, which he has already begun to do.
President Tinubu also congratulates the leadership and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State and calls for cohesion and dedication in effectively discharging the mandate given by the people.
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