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The Speaker of the Niger House of Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji, says the decision to marry off 100 orphaned girls in his constituency is to prevent fornication. Mr Sarkin-daji denied forcing 100 orphaned girls into marriage as part of his constituency project. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, had petitioned the Inspector General of Police on the matter. NAN also reports that the minister had sought a court order to restrain the speaker from engaging 100 orphaned girls in forceful marriage. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday in Minna, Mr Sarkin-daji…

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has decried the substantial debt burden inherited from the previous administration of Nyesom Wike, saying most of the projects commissioned in the state were not fully funded. Governor Fubara stated this during the commissioning of the Aleto-Ogale-Ebubu-Eteo Road, also known as Old Bori Road in Eleme Local Government Area of the state. The project was commissioned by the Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti. He said the contractors who handled the affected projects are returning for outstanding payments. Governor Fubara did not, however, give an estimate of the debt. He said he is now compelled…

The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Alfred Adewale Martins, has charged civil society and other Nigerians with demanding that lower tiers of government (state and local) account for the allocations they receive.   Mr Martins gave the charge in an interview in Lagos. He said searchlights should be beamed on the local and state governments as they collected the larger budgetary allocations. He said the subsisting approach of always focusing on the federal government for virtually everything was misleading and mostly ended in open-ended probes. According to the cleric, the local and state governments receive votes from the centre for varying…

Abia State Government has released the forensic audit report of Okezie Ikpeazu’s administration. According to Vanguard, the 60-page dossier was released by the Commissioner of Information, Prince Okey Kanu, after the State Executive Council meeting press briefing Monday night. A perusal of the document compiled by a renowned global audit firm, Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler, KPMG, shows various financial transactions and alleged infractions by the immediate-past administration in the state. It also contains details of how the administration authorized the release of N10 billion from the state coffers for the purpose of building Abia Airport, and later instructed the contractor…

Mr Paul Ibe, spokesperson of the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, of pursuing personal interests at the expense of the party’s collective goals. “Well, Wike has charted different paths to serve his interest because I don’t understand what interest, is it the PDP interest? It cannot be. It is his interest all well and good for him,” Ibe stated in Seun Okinbaloye’s Mic On podcast released on Saturday. Ibe’s comments come in the wake of the political tension between Wike and Atiku which was said to…

President Bola Tinubu has directed the mandatory purchase of compressed-natural-gas-powered vehicles by all government ministries, departments, and agencies. The President said the directive is in furtherance of country’s effort to transition to cleaner energy as CNG-enabled vehicles have been adjudge to produce lower emissions, even as they present a more affordable alternative for Nigerian energy consumers. Recently, the Minister of Finance Wale Edun took a tour of the factory where the CNG vehicles were being put together and promised that the vehicles will soon be rolled out. The Minister also said the benefits of the vehicles will soon be available…

Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara has announced a plan by his administration to set up a panel of inquiry into the governance of the state. Governor Fubara stated this on Monday after swearing in Dagogo Iboroma as the Attorney General of the state shortly after the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) was screened and confirmed by the Victor Oko-Jumbo-led House of Assembly. He emphatically stated that the state is in a critical situation where it has become obvious that the political crisis cannot be resolved. The governor accused his opponents of deliberately sabotaging his administration while he was hoping that…

The Rivers State House of Assembly led by Victor Oko-Jumbo, has screened and confirmed a commissioner nominee sent to it by Governor Siminalayi Fubara. During the screening on Monday, the nominee, Dagogo Iboroma, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, pledged to uphold the rule of law and serve the state diligently, irrespective of the ministry he will be deployed to, Channels Television reported. The event was the first legislative session since the election of new principal officers, and the Speaker, Victor Oko-Jumbo backed by lawmakers supporting Governor Fubara of Rivers State. Also present during the screening were principal officers and former…

In a landmark case, the Incorporated Trustees of Citizens Awareness against Corruption and Social Vices Initiative (CACASVI), a renowned civil society organization, has been granted leave to challenge the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) over its secretive recruitment practices. In a statement signed by Olumuyiwa Onlede, Executive Director CACASVI on Sunday in Abuja Onlede has said that with the support of FOI Counsel, a specialized law firm focused on Freedom of Information litigation and research, CACASVI is taking NCDMB to court for its failure to disclose crucial information about its staff and hiring processes. The organization is seeking…