Author: statereporter

Ryan Akabusi, an 8-year-old boy with autism from Richmond reported missing by the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office has been found dead, authorities confirmed on Sunday, August 25, 2024. He was reportedly found dead in a lake near his home by Texas EquuSearch. The child’s mom, Ademorowa Oladeinde told ABC13 on Saturday that home surveillance footage showed her son leaving their house in the 19900 block of Kendall Lake Drive at 4:56 a.m. Half an hour later, her neighbor’s camera captured him walking on a nearby street. Oladeinde said she later found a pair of his shoes on the road.…

The Bayelsans state capital Yenagoa and major local government areas in the state have recently experienced wide celebrations over the supreme court victory that affirmed Senator Douye Diri as Governor of Bayelsa state. Recall that Senator Douye Diri has been going through several untold court cases threatening his position as winner of the November 11th Election, even though the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has officially announced him as elected Governor of Bayelsa State, with a total of 175,196 votes leading his rival Chief Timpre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress who scored 110,108 votes. State reporters revealed that many…

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), has raised concerns about the weaponisation of insecurity in Nigeria for political gains. Speaking on Sunday at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Lagos, Okonjo-Iweala highlighted the detrimental impact of political actors exploiting insecurity to undermine governance in Africa’s most populous nation. “We cannot have socio-economic development without security,” Okonjo-Iweala asserted. “We certainly cannot have security without development. We all know that security has been weaponised in our country for political purposes by political actors, leading partly to the situation…

The federal government has disclosed that only eight universities are accredited to award degrees to Nigerians in both Togo and Benin Republic. This was disclosed by the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, on Sunday. The Minister also insisted that there is no going back on the decision of the federal government to cancel about 22,700 certificates awarded to Nigerians by some “fake” universities in neighbouring Togo and Benin Republic. Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme, Mamman maintained that the decision to invalidate the certificates was not a harsh one as Nigerians who obtained degree certificates from such “illegal” tertiary…

The Nigerian Armed Forces have successfully neutralized 171 terrorists and captured 327 individuals, including those involved in crude oil theft, in a series of operations across the North East, North West, and other volatile regions of the country over the past seven days. Major General Edward Buba, the Director of Defence Media Operations (DMO), disclosed these achievements in a statement released on Friday. The operations resulted in the detention of 302 individuals linked to terrorist activities and the arrest of 25 suspects involved in oil theft. Additionally, 134 kidnapped hostages were rescued during the same period. In the South-South region,…

Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa State has commenced payment of the N70,000 minimum wage approved by the federal government. President Bola Tinubu signed the new Minimum Wage bill into law a few weeks ago. This was after back and forth with organised labour. However, many governors have said they can not pay N70,000 minimum wage as a result of economic reality. The Adamawa governor initiated the payment of the new minimum wage for state workers, starting from August 2024, with a promise that local government workers will begin receiving the increased salary in September. This has sparked widespread celebration…

•25 years of controversy on a new Constitution or amendment refuses to die By Clifford Ndujihe, Politics Editor AFTER five amendments to the 1999 Constitution, two constitutional conferences and various recommendations of committees and panels, Nigerians are still in search of an acceptable grundnorm that will drive socio-economic development 25 years into the Fourth Republic. Currently, the National Assembly is in pursuit of the sixth amendment and the polity is awash with debates on whether the country should go for a new Constitution or continue with the tinkering of the 1999 document. While those for amendments argue that the Constitution…

By Nnamdi Ojiego In the 25 years since Nigeria’s return to democracy, the 1999 Constitution has undergone five amendments and billions of naira expended on the process. This stark reality has raised questions about the effectiveness and efficiency of the constitutional amendment process in the country. The constitutional amendment process has become a recurring phenomenon in Nigeria, with each attempt generating significant hype and expectation. However, the outcome has often been underwhelming, with few tangible results to show for it. According to Sunday Vanguard findings, the Constitution has been altered five times – twice in 2010 under President Umaru Yar’Adua…

Former Nigeria international Samson Siasia is poised for a return to football management, with his FIFA ban set to expire at the end of August. The ex-Super Eagles coach, who has been serving a five-year ban, is reportedly eyeing a position in Nigeria’s domestic leagues. Siasia, once handed a life ban by FIFA over allegations of match-fixing, had his punishment reduced to five years by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS). With the ban soon to be lifted, several clubs in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) and the Nigeria National League (NNL) have already expressed interest in securing…

It’s a routine thing from time to time to brief Mr President on situations, on issues and today is no exception. After the briefing, actually I tendered my resignation and Mr President graciously approved and accepted the resignation. I thanked him for giving me the opportunity to serve Nigeria under his transformational leadership for an extended period of 15 months which is very rare, by the way, to have the opportunity to serve 2 Presidents at a stretch, at a whole. So, I thanked him very well and promises to remain professionally dedicated to our country and to noble causes.…