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By Okwudiri Okafor, Umuahia Abia State government and land owners housing the proposed Abia airport project have agreed on certain previously contentious areas in a bid to get the project off the ground. Consequently, they have inaugurated a joint technical committee to make further progress on the project. This followed a crucial meeting between the government and community leaders, village and compound heads of land owners as well as the technical team of the Nsulu Airport Land Owners Forum, held on Thursday at Government House, Umuahia, the capital of the South-East Nigerian state. In a communique signed by Chief of…

By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna Kaduna State Government has intervened in the ongoing industrial dispute between electricity distribution firm, Kaduna Electric, and its workers’ union, which resulted in outage in all its franchise states for five days. The state's Deputy Governor, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, who hosted the meeting at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House on Thursday, pleaded with the union to restore electricity to consumers as soon as possible because the outage has impacted negatively across all sectors. Dr Balarabe implored the management and the union to find a common ground to ensure the resolution of their differences, as the lack of…

By Prosper Okoye Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have raised the alarm over alleged human rights violations against Nigerian migrants being deported from Germany. During a press briefing in Abuja,the Nigerian capital, on Thursday, February 6, the groups, including the Civil Society Network on Migration and Development (CSOnetMADE) and the Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse, and Labour (NACTAL), called for urgent government action to address flaws in the deportation and reintegration processes. Recounting a recent incident, National Coordinator of CSOnetMADE, Dr Emeka Obiezu, lamented the inhumane treatment of a Nigerian deportee, Bright Obasuyi. He recounted: "On 22 January 2025, a plane…

Shock -and some relief -enveloped Anambra State on Thursday, February 6, when the fate of missing member of Anambra State House of Assembly, Hon. Justice Azuka, finally came to light. His decomposing body was recovered on Wednesday night, February 5. The body was recovered by a combined security team at the Second Niger Bridge,Onitsha, the Anambra commercial nerve centre. The lawmaker, who represented Onitsha 1 North constituency, had been declared missing since Tuesday, December 24 (Christmas Eve), 2024, when unidentified gunmen kidnapped him as he returned home on Ugwunaobankpa Road, Inland Town, Onitsha. Elected on the platform of Labour Party…

By Stephen Gbadamosi, Ibadan Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barrister Nyesom Wike, on Wednesday, February 5, led a strong delegation to condole with Governor 'Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, South-Western Nigeria, who lost his elder brother recently. The delegation comprised two former governors in the former G-5 Governors' Forum, Senators and a former Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives. Wike, who arrived Makinde's Ikolaba, Ibadan residence in company with the former governors of Abia and Benue states, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu and Samuel Ortom, commiserated with the governor, stating that "whatever affects him also affects the G-5 Governors." The delegation…

By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna Worrying developments seem to have,once again, cropped up in Kaduna State,which has witnessed rare calm in about one-and-a half years now, as fresh violence was unleashed in the key North-Western State on Wednesday, February 5. During the incident, a deadly attack was launched by bandits on Majagada community, Lere Local Government Area (LGA) of the state, leaving in its wake deaths, injuries and abductions. In January,2025, the State government, through the Senior Special Assistant to the State Governor on Public Affairs, Victor Bobai, issued a statement where it accused Gov. Uba Sani's "political adversaries" of recruiting…

By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu has fired a letter to politician and leader of Northern Star, Hajia Naja’atu Muhammad, demanding public apology and retraction over an alleged malicious statement in a TikTok video shared across social media platforms. Popularly known to her followers simply as Naja'atu, in the TikTok video she allegedly accused the NSA of serving in President Bola Tinubu’s government, a man he allegedly castigated when he (Ribadu) was Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). In a letter, through his lawyer, Dr Ahmed Raji SAN, the NSA said he has never…

By Okerafor Athanasius, Jalingo Seeking to revitalize the civil service, Governor Agbu Kefas of Taraba State has appointed a new Head of Service (HOS). He is Dr. Hamidu Ahmed Kara, who hails from Gembu, headquarters of Sardauna Local Government Area (LGA) of the North-Eastern State. These were contained in a press release signed and issued to journalists in Jalingo, the state capital, by Secretary to the Government of the State (SGS), Barrister (Chief) Gebon Timothy Kataps. According to the statement, Dr. Kara's appointment followed what was described as the statutory retirement of the former Head of Civil Service, Mr. Paul…

By Okwudiri Okafor, Umuahia After over 70 years of existence, a new lease of life beckons for the rickety, colonial era Igwu River bridge in Abia State, South-East Nigeria. The iconic bridge was constructed by Nigeria's British colonial masters long before October 1,1960, the historic date the West African country extricated herself from foreign rule and gained political independence. Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, officially flagged off reconstruction of the long-abandoned bridge, popularly called Omenuko bridge. The government's move seeks to break the jinx of not having a firm bridge at the location, after decades of managing the fragile…

By Sylvia Kodilichukwu, Enugu Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, South-East Nigeria, has signed into law a bill to create a one-stop shop for tax collection and administration in the state. The action thus ends multiple taxation. Entitled the 'Enugu State Internal Revenue Service (Establishment and Consolidation of Revenue Administration) Law, 2025:, the new legislation also makes the revenue collection agency autonomous and free of bureaucratic encumbrances. Speaking at the brief bill-signing ceremony at Government House, Enugu, on Tuesday, February 4, Mbah described the law as a milestone in his administration’s quest to enable the Ease of Doing Business policy…