₦airaland Forum

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, in a rare newspaper advertisement, has applauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s transformative leadership.

Dangote commended Tinubu for addressing ocean surges and flooding in Victoria Island, as well as for building a new Atlantic city and expanding the country’s infrastructure by simultaneously embarking on the construction of the Lagos-Calabar and Sokoto-Badagry superhighways.

The advert, an honest assessment of President Tinubu’s leadership, contrasts sharply with opposition claims that the president has achieved nothing in the past two years.

9jatriot:
This is still neither here non there. In the last video, you said you had never met Abacha. In this clarification, it has changed to you had never met Abacha until that day.

The truth is that this would not have been an issue at all if the lamba king was not forming 'cent obi'. It was him who first told the world that he had worked for Abacha to decongest the port, no one else knew about it.

All I can see here is a bunch importers of consumption goods. To think that this is the same guy telling us from consumption to production. I wonder how he planned to it.

The Federal Government has cleared a debt of over ₦20bn and resolved a backlog of more than 200,000 passport applications inherited before the Bola Tinubu administration assumed office.

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja during the inauguration of a new Passport Front Office under the Ministry.

He said the reforms, driven by President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, have also led to the issuance of over 3.5 million passports in less than two years.

“When we came in, there was a backlog of over 200,000 passports and nearly ₦20 billion in debt. Today, that backlog has been cleared, and the debt has been settled,” the minister said.

Out of the total passports issued since August 2023, 3,080,141 were processed locally, while 466,117 were issued in the diaspora—bringing the total to 3,546,258.

The minister attributed the success to sweeping reforms that also helped the government save over ₦1 billion annually.

He said a key move was the full automation of breeder document uploads, birth and marriage certificates, among others, which previously incurred huge costs through third-party contractors.

“This is a major reform. We no longer pay contractors for what Nigerians can upload themselves. That money stays with government now,” Tunji-Ojo said.

As part of efforts to enhance accessibility and security, the number of centres issuing enhanced e-passports has increased from 26 to 44 across Nigeria and from five to 47 in the diaspora.

All passport offices now issue harmonised, ICAO-compliant enhanced passports, replacing the previously inconsistent system that undermined Nigeria’s global credibility.

The minister also announced the upcoming launch of a central passport personalisation centre with state-of-the-art technology in August 2025.

The facility, funded by Iris Smart Technologies at no cost to the government, is expected to further strengthen Nigeria’s passport infrastructure.

Additionally, he said the country has joined the International Civil Aviation Organization Public Key Directory, enabling global authentication of Nigerian passports.

Reinforcing the government’s commitment to digital transformation and national security, Tunji-Ojo disclosed that beginning July 31, all applications for Special Expatriate Permits and Temporary Work Permits must be processed online.

“Manual processing will no longer be allowed. We must have the data, biometrics, and documentation of every applicant for national security,” he said.

The reforms, the minister noted, are aimed at delivering transparent, secure, and citizen-friendly services while eliminating waste and inefficiencies within the system.

Kenneth Okonkwo, a former spokesperson for Peter Obi and now a member of the opposition coalition, has predicted that President Bola Tinubu will retain power in 2027 if the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presents a southern candidate like Obi as its presidential flag bearer.

Speaking on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme aired on Tuesday, the actor-turned-lawyer argued that to unseat Tinubu, the opposition must rally behind a strong northern contender with national appeal.

“My strategy this time around is that I am going to support a northerner in 2027,” Okonkwo said.

“It must be a northerner that the whole north is willing to support.

“If the whole north is willing to support an Atiku, why not?

“If the whole north is willing to support a Tambuwal, why not? The person must be qualified, and if he has experience in the presidency, it is an added advantage, and when he puts up something from the south, that will push him through,” he added.

Okonkwo, who served as one of the lead spokesmen for Obi during the 2023 presidential election, severed ties with the Labour Party in July 2024, citing internal crises and Obi’s failure to resolve them.

President Tinubu, who defeated Obi and Atiku in the 2023 general election, assumed office in May 2023 and is expected to seek re-election in 2027. His presidency followed an eight-year tenure by Muhammadu Buhari, a northern leader from the North-West, continuing Nigeria’s informal practice of rotating power between the northern and southern regions.

While Tinubu, a southerner from Lagos State, eyes a second term, Okonkwo believes the opposition must be strategic to stand a chance.

“Tinubu has become incurably bad and we want to terminate his incumbency,” he said.

“Anybody telling you it’s injustice if the north comes in, if the south comes in, and whoever wins in a primary election will take it for four years. Where is the injustice? It has happened before.

“Anybody telling you to bring a fresh southerner to compete against Tinubu, a southerner, is trying to tell you to zone the ticket to Tinubu and Tinubu will win outright,” Okonkwo concluded.

He said since the APC is presenting Tinubu to be its flag bearer, the opposition coalition must present a northerner to challenge him.

“If you bring somebody from the Southeast, even if he wins, they will steal it from him.

“Let me tell you the strategy that will make the Southeast man to be president. Do you know the South-West has never contested an election against an incumbent? Strategy? Because they know that in Nigeria, if you don’t have the establishment supporting you, even if you win, they will steal it from you.

“Peter Obi won the election in 2023, and they stole it from us. If you do it again, they will steal it from him because there is no incumbent to back you, but if you bring somebody from the north, nobody will prevail on him to leave his victory because he is not from the same side as you,” he said.

Anambra, Imo top list of UTME exam malpractice centres — JAMB

Data released by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board during its 2025 policy meeting on Tuesday revealed that Computer-Based Test Centres in Imo and Anambra states topped the list of CBT Centres nabbed for fingerprinting malpractices.

In total, about 19 centres were nabbed nationwide, with Anambra having six, Imo with four, Abia with one, Edo with one, Kano with two centres, Ebonyi, Delta, Kaduna, Rivers and Enugu with one centre each.

The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, during his presentation, also noted that impersonators also made use of albinos for the purpose of image bending and remote uploads, among others.

Meanwhile, the police have arraigned two persons before the Federal High Court in Katsina for alleged impersonation and examination malpractice.

The police prosecutor, Abdussalam Danmaidaki, said the defendants, Bolanwu Emmanuel and Ibrahim Abdulaziz, committed the offence on April 30 at Zee Alpha International School, Funtua.
Danmaidaki said that Emmanuel invited Abdulaziz into the exam hall to impersonate him and sit for the 2025 UTME, JAMB examination on his behalf with registration number 2025515278JA.

The prosecutor said that the offence was punishable under sections 4(2)(a) and (b), and 4(3)(c) of the Examination Malpractice Act, Cap E15, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

He also said that Abdulaziz unlawfully and fraudulently presented himself as a UTME candidate and wrote the said exam under the same name as Emmanuel with registration number 2025515278JA.

He said that the offence was punishable under sections 3(1)(a) and (b), and 3(2)(c) of the exam malpractice Act, Cap E15 laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty.

The prosecutor prayed to the court to allow time for him to present witnesses.

The presiding judge, Justice Hussaini Dadan-Garba, adjourned the case to July 18 for trial and presentation of witnesses by the prosecution.

IkeOnyia:
It's like Peter Obi and Rotimi Amaechi will tussle for the ADC presidential flagbearer if Atiku decides to let it go this time around. Amaechi is now fully in ADC as a member after resigning from APC but Obi still has one leg in LP as he doesn't seem to be sure of his fate in the coalition.

bikefab:
ADC is dead on arrival. Same bunch of crooks and theiving politicians. Imagine Dino, El Rufai and Atiku . I better ride with Tinubu as much as I dislike the man, I can't vote for any cause championed by El Rufai.

Former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi has vowed to serve for only one term in office if he gets the presidential ticket of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Amaechi stated this while making an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday.

When asked if he would consider the balance of power if given the ticket, the ex-governor of Rivers insisted it was an unwritten rule in Nigerian politics.

He replied: “Of course. For now, the way Nigeria is, you must keep to that unwritten agreement that says North eight years and South eight years.

“I led the fight against the PDP government. Why? Because there was an agreement that the government at the time would serve four years.

“And after four years, that government reneged. And I said no, that would be unfair.

“That will be instability at its peak because the North will react. So the best thing to do, is to support the Northern candidate to continue the balance of power.

“This time around, the South must be allowed to complete their tenure.”

helinues:
Na for the Pdp to collapse their structure for the Apc. Lobatan

A chieftain of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and a key member of the opposition coalition, Nasir El-Rufai, has said a new political party would be registered as a back-up for the African Democratic Congress, ADC.

El-Rufai said the new party would be registered as an alternative option to counter potential infiltration by the All Progressives Congress, APC, into the ADC.

The opposition coalition adopted the ADC as its platform on Wednesday.

However, El-Rufai said there is a tendency that the APC might instigate crisis within the ADC by inciting old members against the new leadership.

He disclosed this in an interview with Radio France International (RFI) Hausa Service on Wednesday night.

“Those who refuse to join the APC face threats of investigations by agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), or Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

“The opposition parties’ alliance in the ADC is temporary, and we may register a new party as a second option, which we will move to should the ADC be instigated into crisis by the government,” the former Kaduna governor said.

ABUJA- THE 2023 Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, has taken a swipe at Coalition leaders who took over control of the party as the platform to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027, challenging the promoters to be courageous enough to announce that the party will field a Southern presidential candidate in the next election.

Addressing Journalists on Thursday in Abuja, Dumebi Kachikwu who described the opposition figures, led by former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and taking over the ADC, as ‘enemies of Nigeria., said that from the beginning, the coalition was tailored towards producing Atiku Abubakar as the candidate of the party in 2027, just as he said that Nigerians are all victims of unjust system.

He said, “These people are being sponsored against us Nigerians, they are all friends, they attend the same meetings, weddings, parties, they are all old friends. We are all victims of an unjust system. Atiku and Tinubu are not my problem, their generation is my problem.”

Amidst the present political crisis rocking the party, Kachikwu has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to inform Nigerians who the current National Chairman of the ADC.

According to the ex-presidential candidate, said that the opposition politicians — some of whom have held political offices in the past — are not going to take the country forward, stressing that Nigerian youths, who form the largest demographic, are not part of the coalition, adding, “the same people who put our country on its knees are the same people who claim they are fire brigade and they want to put out fire. And you think these people are out to rescue Nigeria? They are political jobbers.”

Kachikwu said, “There are also those who believe that by way of force, people can come in and take over the party. I just want to say before I start taking questions from journalists here present, I am not one who is easily cowed. For those who have been threatening me since yesterday, for those who on social media believe that I can be bullied, for people like People Gazette who have sent messages threatening that they are publishing a story about tax evasion, the same story they published 2 or 3 years ago in America, I will say to them very clearly now that at least I will assess taxes that they are claiming $2.7 million in America.

“The people that they are promoting, they should show you where they pay taxes, the business they do and their means of livelihood. To those who continue to believe that politics in Nigeria should continue by way of bullying, threats and aggressive forms of behavior, I want to tell you that we need to move away from this style and this brand of politics in Nigeria. You cannot continue to cow people on social media.

“You are the vocal minority and the silent majority will continue to have their way in Nigeria. You cannot bully people into going your way. As a party, I have here William, who is chairman of Benue State, Musa, the state chairman of Niger State, William from Nasarawa State here, I have Mohamed, who is also the national PRO of Etibok, chairman of Akwa Ibom, Mohamed Bono, and Zaradine Jigawa.

“These people you see here are people they call ordinary Nigerians, common men, who are the people who have been the guardians, custodians of this party. They are the people you saw yesterday when Mosu said that all their offices have been dissolved so that these new people can take over the party. Just imagine the situation.

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of Labour Party in 2023 election, Peter Obi, former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and ex-Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, had on Wednesday taken over control of African Democratic Party, ADC, as the platform to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027.