Author: Lawan

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) yesterday admitted collecting N300 million from the Rivers State Government while planning its 2025 Annual General Conference (AGC) initially billed for Port Harcourt. This followed the demand by Rivers State Sole Administrator Ibok-Ete Ibas that the money, approved by suspended Governor Siminialayi Fubara, be refunded. However, the NBA said the cash was “an unconditional gift”, not payment to facilitate the conference. The government in a statement by Hector Igbikiowubo, the media aide to Vice Admiral Ibas faulted the reasons given by the NBA for the relocation of its conference after receiving the money. The statement…

Italy has accepted a request to host the second round of the U.S.-Iranian talks in Rome, Italian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Antonio Tajani said. Earlier in the day, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said that the second round of the talks between Washington and Tehran would take place in the Italian capital. We have received a request from interested parties, from Oman, which acts as a mediator, and we have given a positive answer. “We are ready, as always, to welcome meetings that can bear positive results in this case, in the nuclear issue,’’ Tajani said, as quoted…

The Moscow City Court has sentenced Ukrainian nationalist Todor Panovsky in absentia to eight years in a general regime penal colony for his involvement in an attack on the Russian Consulate General in Odesa. A court spokesperson told RIA Novosti on Monday that, “Panovsky has been sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment to be served in a general regime penal colony.” According to the Russian Investigative Committee, in January 2019, Panovsky targeted the administrative premises of the Russian diplomatic mission in Odesa. He reportedly damaged consular property and threw pyrotechnic flares onto the grounds of the consulate. Panovsky was charged…

No fewer than 235 soldiers have been lost in the past day by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk direction, says the Russian Defence Ministry on Monday in a statement. In total, Ukraine has lost more than 74,245 service people and 406 tanks during the offensive in the Kursk direction, the ministry also said. According to the ministry, in the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian armed forces have lost up to 235 service people, an armored personnel carrier; three combat armored vehicles, 14 cars, and four field artillery weapons. ”Others include four mortars and a BM-21 Grad multiple launch…

Mr Christopher Maikalangu, Chairman, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) says his decision to leave the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APAC) is to secure greater opportunities for his people. Maikalangu made this known in a statement made available to newsmen on Monday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Public Affairs, Mr Kingsley Madaki, According to him, the council has been losing out on federal appointments and employment opportunities due to political misalignment. He stressed that his move to decamp to the APC was aimed at ensuring that the people of AMAC benefitted from…

Pakistan expelled 852 Afghan families, comprising 4,567 individuals, on Sunday, according to a statement released Monday by Afghanistan’s High Commission for Addressing Returnees Problems. The commission confirmed that the deported families returned to Afghanistan through two major border crossings: Torkham in eastern Nangarhar Province and Spin Boldak in southern Kandahar Province. At the Torkham border, Afghan authorities are providing the returnees with temporary shelter, food, water, medical assistance, and transportation to their home provinces. The Pakistani government has announced plans to deport up to three million Afghans this year. An estimated seven million Afghan refugees—most of them undocumented—are currently living…

Troops of Operation Safe Haven (OPSH) have rescued 16 kidnapped victims in Mangu Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau. Maj. Samson Zhakom, the Media Officer of the operation disclosed this in a statement in Jos on Monday . Zhakom said that the victims were rescued on Sunday night along Mangu-Jos road. “Our troops have rescued 16 passengers kidnapped along Jos – Mangu road. “The victims were rescued while troops were conducting an operation and discovered an empty vehicle abandoned by the roadside at Mararaban Kantoma in Mangu. “The troops immediately searched the nearby bushes to trace the occupants of the…

France said on Monday that Algeria was threatening to expel 12 of its diplomatic staff, adding that it would take immediate reprisals should that occur in the latest flare-up between them. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in a statement that the Algerian authorities were demanding that 12 of France agents leave Algerian territory within 48 hours. ”If the decision to expel our agents is maintained, we will have no choice but to respond immediately,’’ he said. Algeria over the weekend protested against Frances’s detention of an Algerian consular agent suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of an Algerian. French…

The House of Representatives has constituted a 19-member Ad-Hoc Committee to oversee the implementation of the State of Emergency declared in Rivers State. House Spokesman Akin Rotimi announced that the committee will be chaired by House Leader Julius Ihonvbere, with Minority Whip Ali Isa serving as deputy chairman. According to Rotimi, the committee’s mandate is to ensure that governance in Rivers State remains anchored on constitutional principles and the rule of law, even during the emergency period. “This development underscores the resolve of the House of Representatives to uphold the supremacy of the Constitution and ensure that the extraordinary measures…

Acting on the directive of the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), a special task force of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has raided multiple locations in Lagos and Ogun States, leading to the arrest of suspects allegedly involved in the adulteration and counterfeiting of electrical cables. The coordinated operation targeted illegal operations at 29 Idolowo Market and 4 Sagbemi Street on Lagos Island, as well as Akute in Ogun State, Alaba, Oshodi, and other areas in Lagos. The raids were part of ongoing efforts to sanitize markets and eliminate the sale of substandard wires. Following an investigation led by…