F ormer Anambra State governor and presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, has denied claims that the state is still servicing debts incurred during his tenure. Obi said he left office without owing workers, pensioners or contractors, insisting that every payment due at the time was settled. His response follows a statement by the Anambra State Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, who said on the Voice of Ndi Anambra Podcast on Monday that the state’s federal allocation is still being deducted to repay loans borrowed under Obi and his successor, Willie Obiano. Obi, who governed Anambra from March 2006 to March 2014, described the claim as incorrect. In a video now circulating online, he said: “As at the day I left office, I was not owing any salary, pension or gratuity that Anambra State government is supposed to pay. I was not owing any supplier or contractor that had executed his job and his documents processed. I paid what was due to be paid.” H...

N igeria's food and drug regulator has warned Nigerians to beware of a fake toothpaste now in circulation, disguised to look almost exactly like a popular, registered brand. The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, said the suspected counterfeit product is sold as "ORACIRE+ Toothpaste." It was designed to imitate the approved "ORACARE+ Toothpaste," with the two names separated by just one letter. According to NAFDAC, the alert came after a formal complaint and follow-up intelligence from the market. During checks, its officials traced the fake product to Ojuwoye Market in Mushin, Lagos, where they found that its packaging, colours and design closely mirror the original, making it difficult for shoppers to spot the difference at a glance. That similarity is the real danger, the agency said. Because the source of the fake paste is unknown, there is no record of where it was made, what it contains, or whether it is safe for use. Un...

Vice President Shettima reads Nigerian leader's message to world's rising economic bloc, pitches Africa's youngest population as its biggest asset P resident Bola Tinubu did not travel to India for the 18th BRICS Summit, but his message still reached the room. Vice President Kashim Shettima stood in for him, reading out a speech that laid out, in clear terms, what Nigeria wants from its growing relationship with the bloc: real investment, shared technology, and a seat at the table when big decisions about the global economy are made. The summit, chaired by India this year, carried the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability." Shettima opened by thanking the Indian government and people for their hospitality, before getting into the heart of Nigeria's message one built around partnership, not charity. A key part of that message centered on Nigeria’s people. One number stood out in the speech: 16.9. That is the average age of N...

A four-storey building under construction in Enugu came crashing down early Sunday morning, trapping six people inside and sparking a frantic rescue operation that saved four lives while leaving one person's fate still unknown at press time. The structure, an unfinished hotel project in the city's Independence Layout neighbourhood, gave way just before dawn. Residents who rushed to help said things could have turned out far worse had the state government not already flagged the building as unsafe and shut it down months earlier. At the scene, Barr. Uche Anya, who heads the Enugu Capital Territory Development Agency, told reporters the tragedy stemmed from a builder who repeatedly brushed aside safety rules. He explained that his agency had already closed the site down, even though the project itself had received official approval back in 2021. Anya recounted how his team arrived at the wreckage around six in the morning, only to learn from a security guard that six workers had...

G etting into an HND programme in Nigeria will now go through JAMB.   The National Board for Technical Education, NBTE, announced on Tuesday that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board will handle all Higher National Diploma admissions starting this session. In a circular dated September 9, 2026, signed by NBTE Executive Secretary, Prof. Idris Bugaje, the board said the change affects polytechnics, related institutions, colleges of nursing, and colleges of health technology. The goal is simple: to create one central admission system and stop "illegal and compromised admissions." According to NBTE, the decision was made after a meeting with the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, and officials from JAMB, NYSC, NBTE, and the Federal Ministry of Education. The board explained that the new system will also protect students. In the past, some HND graduates had problems with NYSC mobilisation because of irregular admissions. Centralising the process through JAMB is meant...

𝑩𝒀- 𝑬𝑮𝑼𝑵𝑮𝑾𝑼 𝑪𝑯𝑼𝑲𝑾𝑼𝑲𝑨 𝑩𝑬𝑵𝑱𝑨𝑴𝑰𝑵 ‎Paying a bride price does not grant automatic consent, and forcing intimacy on a partner is basically sexual slavery. Last week, national newspapers highlighted a crucial clarification from Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions, Dr. Babajide Martins. Addressing journalists at the launch of Domestic and Sexual Violence Awareness month organized by the DSVA, he firmly stressed that marital rape is illegal. ‎I shared this vital report on my website and cross-posted it to Nairaland with full credit to the original source, not expecting a quiet room, but the reaction was heated. Within days, the thread pulled in over ten thousand views and more than a hundred comments. ‎The response came mostly from men, and it quickly became clear that the message struck deeply raw nerves. Many made it clear they wanted nothing to do with the law. Some made predictive statements like, "marriage will soon start taking place without the paym...

K aduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, has announced a major reshuffle with a fresh set of appointments covering commissioner offices, government agencies and advisory roles across the state. The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ibraheem Musa, made the announcement public on Thursday, September 10, 2026. According to him, the new appointments cut across sports, health, youth development, trade, gender issues and public infrastructure. Governor Sani said the changes are part of his administration’s plan to strengthen reforms and make government services reach people at the grassroots more effectively. Leading the new cabinet team is Ben Kure, who will now serve as Commissioner for Sports Development. He will be joined by Amina Akilu Dalhat and Abdullahi Garba Abbas, both named Commissioners for Special Duties to handle the first and second portfolios. Dr. Halliru Soba has been appointed Deputy Chief of Staff for Administration, while Hon. Ismaila Aliyu Makarfi and Hon. Mukhtar...

P resident Bola Ahmed Tinubu says the Federal Government has now paid the D'Tigress basketball team every cash reward it promised them, closing out a pledge first made after their exploits on the international stage. In a statement , the President said each player received the naira equivalent of $100,000, while team officials were paid $50,000 each. This payment completes the full package promised to the team, which also included national honours and three-bedroom homes already built for them in Abuja. Tinubu called it a first for Nigeria, saying no previous administration had delivered a presidential sports reward of this size in full within a single year. He admitted the process took time, but said it was for good reason. "We had to follow the processes required by law and ensure that every commitment was properly implemented," he said. "That took time, but a promise made must be a promise kept." The President said similar work is ongoing for the Super Falcon...

A 42-year-old farmer, Ganiu Agbajo, has been taken into custody in Ogun State after he was accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in Ipokia Local Government Area. The case has sparked anger in the community and raised fresh worries about the safety of children. According to The Punch Newspaper , operatives of the Ogun State Community, Social Orientation and Safety Corps, known as So-Safe Corps, arrested the suspect on Monday after residents alerted them. The girl’s name is being kept secret to protect her. The corps’ Director of Information and Public Relations, Adegunwa Adegbuyi, who spoke in a statement on Thursday for Corps Commander Soji Ganzallo, said the incident came to light when the child got home upset. When her mother asked what was wrong, the girl said a man had raped her. The mother raised an alarm right away. Residents in the area then reported the matter to So-Safe Corps. Officers moved quickly and traced the suspect to his home in Hassan Compound, Igbokulu, ...

A peace meeting in Ado-Ekiti ended in blood on Wednesday after a 25-year-old woman, Kehinde Onizeokaraga, was allegedly killed by her husband with a machete. The man accused of the crime, Sodiq Ibrahim, who works as a meat seller, fled the scene right after the attack. Police are now searching for him. Both Kehinde and Ibrahim are from Kogi State. For months, their marriage had been troubled. Relatives said the constant fighting became too much, and Kehinde eventually left the home they shared. Hoping to mend things, community elders arranged a reconciliation meeting last week.  On Wednesday morning, Kehinde was asked to come to the house of her father’s friend for the discussion. Her cousin, Yussuf Lawrence, told reporters that she had no idea Ibrahim would also be present. What started as a talk to settle differences quickly fell apart. As reported by Sahara Reporters, Ibrahim pulled out a machete in the middle of the argument and struck Kehinde several times. She suffered deep ...

T he National Orientation Agency has said its role in the federal government’s digital Learner Identification Number policy is to inform Nigerians, not to start or run the programme. According to a statement seen by TheCable, NOA Director-General Lanre Issa-Onilu made this known on Thursday while responding to concerns raised by the National Association of Nigerian Students. Speaking through Paul Odenyi, the agency’s Deputy Director of Communication and Media, Issa-Onilu said NOA did not design the LIN and is not responsible for implementing it. The reaction followed NANS’ rejection of the LIN. The students described the policy as unnecessary and warned that it might duplicate the National Identification Number. They also questioned NOA’s involvement, saying the initiative falls outside the agency’s duties. Despite the criticism, the federal government began nationwide rollout of the LIN in April. Government records show that more than 1.9 million students who registered for the 2026 W...

T he Office of the President of the Senate has asked the Department of State Services to launch a full investigation into a false social media post wrongly credited to Senate President Godswill Akpabio. In a letter dated September 9, 2026, the Chief of Staff to the Senate President, Chinedu Francis Akubueze, told the DSS that the viral post was deliberately designed to cause ethnic tension and threaten national security. The post, which has been circulating widely on Facebook and other platforms, shows a picture of Senator Akpabio with his official title and a quote that reads: "Northerners, you will be the ones to suffer the most if you allow Tinubu to lose the election." The Senate office said the quote was completely made up. According to the petition, there is no record anywhere to back it up. The office checked speeches, interviews, public appearances, video and audio clips, official statements and media reports, but found nothing linking Senator Akpabio to those words. ...

S hould a police officer be filmed while he works? Yes, says the new President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya. But she is also asking Nigerians to know where to draw the line. Badejo-Okusanya made her position known on Tuesday in Abuja, during a sit-down with Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu and senior NBA officials at the Force Headquarters. The meeting, Premium Times reports, was arranged to ease long-running tension between lawyers and police officers across the country. Her point was simple: officers acting within the law have nothing to hide, so there is no reason to fear a camera. It is a bold stance for someone who only stepped into office last month, becoming the first woman ever elected to lead the NBA. To understand why this matters so much right now, it helps to go back to a court judgment delivered on 17 March. The Federal High Court in Warri, Delta State, ruled that filming police officers while they work in public is a constitutiona...

L agos State University has a new Vice-Chancellor. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who by law serves as Visitor to the university, announced on Wednesday, 9th September 2026, that Professor Ayodeji Olawunmi Badejo has been appointed as the 10th substantive Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University, popularly known as LASU. The news was made public through a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso. According to the statement, the appointment follows due process, guided by the LASU Law 2004 (As Amended), the legal document that sets out how a Vice-Chancellor is chosen for the university. So, who is Professor Badejo? He is a Professor of Counselling Psychology, and he comes into the role with years of experience as an academic and university administrator behind him. That background, university watchers say, is what qualified him for one of the most important jobs in Lagos State's education sector. He will not be starting from scratch, though...

T he National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has thrown its weight against a fresh government plan to give every student in the country a new identification number, describing the move as unnecessary and an overreach by the agency behind it. In a statement issued on Monday, the student body faulted the National Orientation Agency (NOA) over its recent announcement of the National Learner Identification Number (LIN), a scheme meant to create a special ID for students across Nigeria. NANS, which speaks for millions of Nigerian students both within the country and abroad, said no policy that affects its members should be rolled out without first consulting the union's leadership. "Anything done for us without us is outrightly against us," the group stated. According to NANS, the biggest problem with the new scheme is that it duplicates something that already exists. Every Nigerian, including students, already owns a National Identification Number (NIN), which the g...