Connect with us

News

Senate Confirms Appointment Of Service Chiefs

Published

on

37 Views

The Senate, on Thursday, confirmed the nomination of service chiefs newly appointed by President Bola Tinubu, following the screening of the top brass by the upper chamber.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio said during the closed-door session, the service chiefs answered questions on defence-related matters and topical issues.

The President had in a letter read on Monday on the floor of the Senate requested that the red chamber confirm the service chiefs.

The Senate, upon resumption of plenary on Thursday, started the screening of the service chiefs, with each of them mounting the podium to speak on how they will tackle insecurity in the country if confirmed.

The service chiefs confirmed are Maj. Gen. C.G Musa (Chief of Defence Staff), Maj. Gen. T. A Lagbaja (Chief of Army Staff), Rear Admiral E. A Ogalla (Chief of Naval Staff), and AVM H.B Abubakar (Chief of Air Staff).

Shakeup

On June 19, 2023, exactly three weeks after his inauguration, Tinubu removed all service chiefs in Nigeria and appointed new ones whom he directed to resume with immediate effect.

Those affected in the unprecedented shakeup include Alkali Usman who was removed as the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Lucky Irabor, sacked as the Chief of Defence Staff; Faruk Yahaya, retired as the Chief of Army Staff; Awwal Gambo, removed as the Chief of Naval Staff; and Isiaka Amao, retired as Chief of Air Staff.

The President subsequently appointed new service chiefs and named a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, as his new National Security Adviser (NSA). Ribadu replaced Babagana Monguno as the nation’s NSA.

Tinubu also appointed Adeniyi Adewale as the Acting Comptroller General of Customs.

All the new appointees have since resumed in acting capacity before their confirmation by the National Assembly.

High Expectations

The move by the President followed persistent calls by civil society organisations that the security architecture be rejigged and fresh hands allowed to handle the nation’s security apparatus.

Between May 2015 and May 2023, verifiable data showed that over 55,000 Nigerians were killed by terrorists, bandits, and armed gangs during the administration of immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari. The former military head of state was criticised by many over the alarming killings in the country under his watch.

During his inauguration speech, Tinubu, who took over from Buhari, his fellow party man on May 29, 2023, promised to “defend the nation from terror and all forms of criminality that threaten the peace and stability of our country”, adding that “to effectively tackle this menace, we shall reform both our security doctrine and its architecture”.

With the confirmation of the service chiefs, Nigerians expect a safe country and noticeable reduction in the rate of kidnapping, banditry, terrorism and other crimes ubiquitous across the Federation.

News

BREAKING: Fire guts Fresh FM office in Ibadan

Published

on

18 Views

A fire outbreak has been reported at a popular Ibadan radio station, Fresh FM, at Felele area in Ibadan South-West local government area of the Oyo State capital on Friday.

The incident, which started a few hours ago, has disrupted other related activities at the station.

A staff member of the station, @Arugboboisi, confirmed the incident on Friday evening in a post on his X handle.

He appealed to the Fire Service to respond without delay and urged the public to help spread the word and notify the nearest fire station.

“Fresh FM is currently on fire! We urgently need the Fire Service to respond immediately. Please retweet, spread the word and alert the nearest station,” he posted.

In another post, he shared the fire raging with “What a night” as the caption.

It is unclear what caused the fire, whether it has been put out or the extent of the damage.

Continue Reading

International

APC Declares Canadian IAD Reports False

Published

on

36 Views

Felix Morka, the National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC) on Friday urged the Party faithful, supporters and all Nigerians to disregard the report labelling the party as a terrorist organisation by the Canadian Immigration Appeal Division [IAD), saying its false and misleading.

Morka, in a statement on Friday, stated categorically that the Canadian court did not declare APC as a terrorist organisation, contrary to highly erroneous media reports in circulation.

He clarified:

“As reported, the declaration was allegedly made in the case of Douglas Egharevba and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, in which the Applicant (Douglas Egharevba) sought judicial review of a decision by ] which determined that the Applicant was inadmissible in Canada under its Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).

In a decision in the matter dated June 17, 2025, Judge Phuong T.V. Ngo dismissed the application for judicial review on the ground that the Applicant was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and that the PDP was an organization engaged in acts of subversion under paragraph 34(1)(b.1) of the IRPA making him inadmissible in Canada.

In his analysis, the Judge stated, “As such, applying the reasonableness standard of review, I cannot find the IAD’s conclusion that the Elections in question constituted a democratic process or institution and that the PDP, its members and supporters engaged in subversive acts committed against the electoral process for the improper purpose of maintaining political power to be unreasonable.”

To be clear, the only reference to APC in the entire 16-paged decision was in the introductory “Background”, Paragraph 4, where the court referenced a “Background Declaration Form in which the Applicant stated that “he was a member of the People’s Democratic Party [PDP] of Nigeria from December 1999 until December 2007, and a member of All Progressives Congress [APC] party of Nigeria from December 2007 until May 2017.”

For the record, APC was not in existence as of 2007.

The Party was registered in 2013. The Applicant’s claim of membership of APC as of 2007 is evidently false, as he could not have been a member of APC, which didn’t exist then.

For the avoidance of doubt, we dare to state that the court never made any determination on the question of terrorism in its decision. In the Judge’s own words:

“Having found that the IAD’s analysis on subversion was reasonable, this is sufficient to dismiss the application for review. I will therefore refrain from analysing the IAD’s findings on terrorism.”

Clearly, reports that the APC was declared a terrorist organisation by the Canadian court in this matter are patently erroneous, if not mischievous.

The court did not make such a declaration, and could not have done so, as that would be an unjustifiable overreach and a major breach of fair hearing, among other due process rights, given that APC was not a party to the proceedings.

Such a decision would also have been of absolute irrelevance as being made without jurisdiction, and of no extraterritorial applicability or significance. “

Continue Reading

News

Okonjo-Iweala Says Nigerian Economy now stable under Tinubu

“The reforms have been in the right direction. The next step is growth, and alongside that, building social safety nets so those feeling the pinch of reforms can get support.”

Published

on

By

21 Views

THE Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, declared that President Bola Tinubu and his team have worked hard to stabilize the economy.

“You cannot really improve an economy unless it’s stable,” said Okonjo-Iweala during a meeting today with President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

“The reforms have been in the right direction. The next step is growth, and alongside that, building social safety nets so those feeling the pinch of reforms can get support,” she said.

She added that growth, job creation, and income expansion must go hand-in-hand with measures to cushion the impact of ongoing reforms on vulnerable Nigerians.

Continue Reading

Trending