Category: News

The embattled female lawmaker disclosed this to her jubilant supporters in a video trending on social media.

She expressed gratitude to her supporters following a favourable court judgment that reaffirmed her position in the Senate.

She said, “I thank you for your support. I am glad we are victorious today. We shall resume in the Senate on Tuesday by the grace of God.”

Recall that a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had on Friday fined Akpoti-Uduaghan the sum of ₦5 million after finding her guilty of contempt of court over a Facebook post deemed to have violated an earlier court order.

The court also nullified her six-month suspension from the Senate, declaring it excessive, unconstitutional, and an infringement on the rights of her constituents.

Justice Binta Nyako, in a ruling that spanned multiple legal issues, held that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s Facebook post, a satirical apology directed at Senate President Godswill Akpabio, breached an interim injunction issued by the court on March 4, 2025.

That injunction had barred all parties from making public statements or social media posts relating to the ongoing suit she filed challenging her suspension.

The embattled Senator was suspended by the Senate in March after a rowdy plenary over dispute on the rearrangement of seating positions in the Red Chamber.

Days later, the matter took a different dimension when Senator Natasha accused Akpabio of sexual harassment while speaking on a live TV show.

The suspension, which was slated to last six months, sparked outrage across various civil society groups and human rights organisations.

Akpoti-Uduaghan subsequently sued the Senate and its leadership, arguing that the action was a calculated attempt to silence her and deny her constituents representation.

In response to a satirical Facebook post dated April 27 – in which she offered what the court described as a “mock apology” to Akpabio, lawyers representing the Senate President filed a contempt application against her.

The lawyers claimed that the post was in defiance of the court’s gag order.

During proceedings, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s legal team contended that the post was unrelated to the suspension case, insisting it concerned her personal allegations of misconduct by the Senate President.

Justice Nyako, however, disagreed, stating that the post was clearly linked to the matter before the court and therefore constituted a deliberate breach of the court’s directive.

Delivering her ruling, Justice Nyako imposed a ₦5 million fine on the senator and ordered her to issue a public apology within seven days.

The apology must be published in two national dailies and reposted on her Facebook page.

In a separate but related decision, the court struck down the Senate’s six-month suspension of Akpoti-Uduaghan, describing it as ultra vires and lacking constitutional backing.

The judge ordered her immediate recall to the Red Chamber and criticized the Senate’s disciplinary procedures, urging the National Assembly to review its internal rules to ensure they align with democratic principles and constitutional guarantees.

Justice Nyako stressed that elected lawmakers are constitutionally required to attend no fewer than 161 sitting days in a legislative year and that the prolonged suspension effectively denied the people of Kogi Central their right to representation.

The ruling has elicited mixed reactions.

Supporters of the senator hailed the decision as a victory for democracy, transparency, and gender rights.

Meanwhile, legal analysts say the verdict sets an important precedent for how courts may intervene in legislative affairs, particularly in cases involving fundamental rights.

At the time of filing this report, the Senate leadership was yet to officially comment on whether it would appeal the ruling or not.

Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan is also facing a separate criminal defamation trial, which has been adjourned to September 23. Leadership

Describing the move as “an exercise in futility”, Ajaero argued that the issue of minimum wage is treated globally as a national matter in line with International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions, which regard member countries as entities, not sub-national units such as states.

He alleged that the plan by lawmakers was a calculated attempt to “bastardise” the national minimum wage structure and shift other labour-related responsibilities to the states, including the establishment of state industrial courts that would independently handle wage disputes — a move he said violates ILO principles.

“The National Assembly should not go into this exercise in futility unless members will also allow their respective states to determine their wages.

“If they attempt to smuggle labour matters into the concurrent list, we will mobilise workers to protest against it, even up to election day,” the labour leader said.

Speaking later with journalists, the NLC President reaffirmed that organised labour would firmly oppose any effort to undermine the minimum wage, calling on lawmakers to uphold justice and protect the interests of the citizens they represent.

“All over the world, there is a minimum wage for the protection of workers. In Nigeria, there is legislation for a minimum wage of ₦70,000. The law permits states to pay more than that, and in fact, many states currently pay above the minimum wage,” he said.

Ajaero insisted that states must not be allowed to determine minimum wages independently, warning that such a move would endanger the welfare of average workers across the federation.

He also clarified that the NLC leadership was not aware of any state that had refused to pay the newly approved minimum wage.

On the issue of delayed implementation of local government autonomy, Ajaero stressed the need to approach the Supreme Court for further interpretation of its ruling to ensure full and proper enforcement, in line with constitutional provisions.

According to the party, they “cannot bear to be out of the corridors of power and patronage, who are desperate to grab power for themselves by guile and subterfuge, who lay claim to an immoral birthright to power, even while draped in odious record of betrayal of public trust, and rapacious public service.”

National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Barrister Felix Morka, in a statement on Thursday night claimed the speech delivered by former Senate President and interim National Chairman of the ADC, Senator David Mark, “was disgracefully vacant, without substance or purpose, nothing but stitches of untruths, diatribe, and regurgitated and baseless allegations against the APC-led administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

Morka who reeled out the achievements of the Bola Tinubu administration urged Nigerians not to fall prey to the antics of the ADC and its new members whom he described as “disgracefully clueless, without a care or concern about Nigeria and Nigerians, only filled with wolfish quest for power for their own mendacious end.”

The statement further read in part: “From beginning to end, Senator Mark said nothing about the purpose of the so-called coalition other than a loud declaration of desperation for power. What value does the coalition bring to Nigerians? Why should any Nigerian be concerned about a coalition of a bunch of egotistical maniacs for whom power and patronage are the oxygen on which their lives depend?

“One would have expected that, after months of vacillating between the devil and the deep blue sea, in search of a host platform, Senator Mark and his co-travellers would take Nigerians seriously enough by telling them what their coalition would do differently regarding the administration’s bold economic and sectoral policy reforms. What key alternative policy approaches would the coalition implement, and with what prospects of success compared to the high value and transformative impact of the administration’s reform policies? What exactly is the philosophical or ideological leaning of the coalition or its new party, aside from desperation for power at all cost, by all means necessary and unnecessary?

“Senator Mark’s speech was loud in its silence to these questions because himself and his coalition partners are disgracefully clueless, without a care or concern about Nigeria and Nigerians, only filled with wolfish quest for power for their own mendacious end.

“They must think Nigerians to be gullible and uncritical. Quite to the contrary, Nigerians are highly perceptive and discerning and will not be taken in by the coalition’s grand folly.

“This desperation is the reason for their willful blindness to the massive structural transformation of our country’s economy that has earned the praise and admiration of local and global economic experts, and now delivering improved living conditions and benefits to our people – with GDP growth rate of 3.4%; with external reserves from $4billion in 2023 to excess $24billion in 2024; cleared backlog of forex debt and CBN ways and means; debt service-to-revenue ratio from about 99% to 40%; with initial reform-induced inflation spike upwards of 31% in 2024 now tampered to 22% in 2025 and still declining; with rapidly declining prices of basic commodities; and with our farmers earning more than they have ever earned.

“And even with our oil exports at an all time high; with unprecedented quarter on quarter trade surpluses; with vast stability in foreign exchange market; with states and local governments enjoying vastly increased revenue allocation; with unprecedented access to student loan; and with stable academic calendars free from strike disruptions; with massive uptake in delivery of modern road and other transport infrastructure; with thousands of health care facilities built, revamped and upgraded; with determined war on terror and banditry that has yielded the neutralization and arrests of nearly 40,000 fighters; with many notable achievements in power, interior, aviation sectors; and with implementation of new minimum wage and significant impact of various social investment programmes, these opposition elements would stop at nothing to denigrate the success and transformative impact of reform policies for their own base interests.

“While coalition members remain preoccupied swimming in mud and throwing bricks, our great Party and President Tinubu remain undisturbed and focused on using all available bricks to building a stronger, enduring and more prosperous nation for this and future generations of Nigerians.” Tribune

Mrs. Tinubu announced the donation, which also included food items and clothing, on behalf of the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) when she and the RHI team visited the state in solidarity and to lend a helping hand.

This was disclosed in a statement by her media aide, Busola Kukoyi, on Wednesday.

During the visit, the first lady appealed to the elders of the state to pursue all avenues to ensure peace is maintained in the communities.

“I come in as a mother whose heart bleeds. I assure you, this is the last time I will have to visit the state for this kind of intervention. And I pray God will honour this.

“Do not give room to the serpent to enter the edge and assault you. Mend the broken edge. This is enough. Nigeria is a beautiful country. The little girl who welcomed me at the airport said, ‘Welcome to the land of peace and tourism.’ I pray this will be so,” the statement quoted her as saying.

“The First Lady of Nigeria, on behalf of the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), then donated N1bn to victims of the clashes in the State in addition to food items and clothing,” it added.

The President’s wife urged the men to do all they could to keep the women and children safe and allow them to continue with their trade, including farming.

“Whatever it takes, bring peace to this land,” she added.

She also urged the youth to embrace peace and national unity.

The Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwuang, assured the wife of the President that his government and people would continue to forge peace and unity.

Mutfwuang also said that the funds would be put to good use.

“Wherever the edge has been broken, we will mend it. We will make peace with all men. I take full responsibility for the funds you have brought to us.

“I pledge that we will not hold back. We will disburse it to those for whom it is meant, and no elite will hijack it,” the statement quoted him as saying.

Also present at the event were the wife of the Vice President, Hajia Nana Shetimma, Plateau State Council of Traditional Rulers, religious leaders, market men and women, youth groups and representatives of the security agencies. Channels TV

The incident, which occurred in the early hours of Thursday, triggered a swift emergency response from officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), the Nigerian Police, and other rescue agencies.

According to updates from LASTMA’s verified X handle, victims trapped under the debris were successfully rescued and rushed to nearby hospitals for urgent medical care.

“There is a report of an overnight collapsed building along Adeniji Adele road, at Isale Eko. LASTMA personnel, other emergency responders, and men of the Nigerian Police Force are on the ground. Traffic flow is currently not affected… Victims rescued from the building have been taken to the hospital for treatment,” the agency stated.

While the exact number of casualties is yet to be confirmed, search and rescue operations are ongoing at the site, which has since been cordoned off for safety.

To ease movement in the area, LASTMA announced a temporary traffic diversion: “Our officials have diverted traffic from Zenith back through Oba’s Palace to make use of Enu Owa to their various destinations.”

Although the official cause of the collapse has not been determined, structural failures and the ageing nature of buildings in the area remain a known concern. Emergency teams continue to work at the scene as investigations unfold. Nation

Obi wrote on his X account, “It is heart-breaking that our president, who is the leader of a country with the highest number of out of school children in the world and with the students in the capital of his own nation, Abuja, presently not attending schools, would travel to St. Lucia and offer scholarships to children there, while his own country’s education system is in ruins, and even currently his nation’s capital, the Federal Capital Territory, the supposed seat of governance, have public schools shut down and closed for months.”

According to Obi, “This is not leadership; it is negligence at its peak. It is an act of betrayal against the Nigerian child.

“Nigeria has approximately 20 million children out of school, according to UNICEF, the highest number globally, with a literacy rate of under 60 per cent, far below the global average of 87 per cent.

“Similarly, the life expectancy stands at a mere 54 years, out of the global average measurement of above 70 years, one of the lowest in the world.”

On Human Development Index (HDI), which is the most critical measure of development, Obi said, “Nigeria is ranked in the ‘Low Category’ at 161 out of 193 countries measured, while St. Lucia, a Caribbean nation, has a literacy rate of over 90 per cent, which is above the global average of 87 per cent. She has a life expectancy of more than 72 years, which is within the global average,” while Nigeria is in the low category.

The presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the last general election, said, “So tell me, what sense does it make that a president of a country with such terrible and dire statistics would travel to a country with better indexes of development, especially in education, and still offer them scholarships funded by Nigerian taxpayers, when Nigeria children are largely out of school and the teachers not yet paid for months?

“Mr. President, by offering St Lucia students a scholarship, shows he knows how important education is, while depriving Nigerian students of the same access to education.

“We must, as a nation, reject these continued normalisations of misplaced priorities and build a better nation for us and our children.” Arise News