Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, has confirmed his opposition to the activities of the Rainbow Coalition led by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike.

governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, under the aegis of the Progressive Governors Forum, had distanced themselves from the coalition, arguing that its activities could jeopardise the political ambitions of some members of the party.

Wike subsequently hit back at the governors, led by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma, accusing them of being politically lazy.

Speaking in an interview with Channels Television on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, Lawal said Wike must clarify where his political allegiance lies.

The governor said the issue would be brought to the attention of President Bola Tinubu upon his return from his working vacation in France.

“I’m part of that mission, and our message is very, very clear: be on one side. You can’t be on two sides,” the governor stated.

According to him, it is unacceptable for the minister to be on the side of the ruling party while still supporting candidates from other parties.

“You can’t be supporting the APC here and still be supporting some other political parties somewhere else.

“It doesn’t make sense. It’s not done anywhere,” the Zamfara State governor added, insisting that he is always in support of the decision of the forum.

Rivers State House of Assembly has ordered the immediate arrest of the Vice Chancellor of PAMO University of Medical Sciences, Professor Smith I. Jaja, over his repeated refusal to appear before the House committee.

The House ad hoc committee is probing the disbursement of scholarship funds to the institution.

The Assembly issued the warrant of arrest on Friday during its 53rd legislative sitting.

Martins Wachukwu, Special Assistant on Media to the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, disclosed the resolution in a statement on Friday.

According to the statement, the committee, headed by the Deputy Leader of the House, Dumle Maol, had invited the Vice Chancellor on several occasions to explain how funds released to the university under the scholarship arrangement were utilised.

The Assembly learnt that the university received over N29 billion from the Rivers State Government under the scholarship scheme.

The report also disclosed that the amount received did not correspond with the student enrolment figures.

The Assembly asked the Rivers State Government to set up a funds recovery committee to identify and recover all unaccounted funds allegedly in the possession of PAMO University and return the recovered money to the state’s Consolidated Revenue Account.

Speaking, the Speaker of the House, Martin Chike Amaewhule, lamented what he described as problems with the implementation of the scholarship agreement.

The Speaker frowned at discrepancies among documents submitted by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education and the Office of the Accountant-General of the State.

“The documents are not consistent in their accounting of the funds released to the university.

“Based on the Assembly’s assessment of the records before it, only about N5 billion of the more than N29 billion released to PAMO University appeared to have been utilised,” he said.

Lagos State governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu has urged Nigerians to set aside ethnic, religious and other differences and work collectively towards building a peaceful, stronger and more prosperous country.

Sanwo-Olu made the call on Friday at the Lagos Secretariat Community Central Mosque, Alausa, Ikeja, following a special Jumat service held to mark Nigeria’s 66th National Independence Day.

The governor, who was represented at the event by his deputy, Dr Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, said Nigeria possessed the human resources, expertise and natural wealth required to achieve sustainable development and greater prosperity.

However, he identified national unity as a key factor in harnessing the country’s potential, noting that divisions among Nigerians had continued to hinder the pursuit of common goals.

“Part of the challenge is that we are not united as a people. We see ourselves differently, so there is no coincidence of purpose,” Sanwo-Olu said.

He maintained that Nigerians would be able to achieve greater progress if they worked together towards a shared national objective.

“If we unite and come together, we have the talent, ability and resources to lift this country. So, I am saying that unity is very important, and that’s the major challenge that we face,” he said.

Sanwo-Olu also attributed some of the country’s longstanding-difficulties to divisions among its people, citing the Civil War as an example of the consequences of disunity.

The governor stressed that the task of building a better Nigeria should not be left to the government alone, calling on religious and traditional leaders, the private sector and citizens to play active roles in national development.

He recalled the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, when government agencies, private organisations, religious institutions and individuals collaborated to confront the crisis.

According to him, the spirit of collective action demonstrated during the pandemic should not be limited to emergencies but should also be channelled towards addressing the country’s wider development challenges.

Earlier, the Chief Imam of the mosque, Yunuss Al-Imam, urged Nigerians to take greater responsibility for the development of their communities instead of relying solely on the government.

The cleric also called for an end to tribal sentiments and religious intolerance, stressing that no ethnic group should regard itself as superior to another.

“I want to urge the congregation to shun tribalism, religious intolerance and traditional conflicts, and instead embrace peace, mutual respect and peaceful coexistence for the progress and development of society,” he said.

A chieftain of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Buba Galadima, has said only God and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu know what will happen in the 2027 presidential election.

Galadima made the remark on Thursday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he discussed the opposition party’s preparations for the 2027 election and the prospects of its presidential ticket involving Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.

When asked whether he expected the 2027 election to be free and fair, Galadima expressed doubts, alleging that political developments ahead of the poll had given the opposition cause for concern.

“If you are dealing with criminals and fraudsters like these ones we have, you can’t be sure of anything,” he said.

“Only God and Tinubu know what will happen to this election.”

Galadima also alleged that opposition politicians had come under coordinated attacks, citing incidents involving opposition supporters in Enugu, Peter Obi in Benue State and an ADC governorship candidate in Kaduna.

The NDC chieftain, however, expressed confidence in the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket, saying the pair would win if the election were conducted freely, fairly and transparently.

“Obi and Kwankwaso will win this election if it is free, fair and transparent, unless somebody decides to use the machinery of government and take it away from them,” he said.

Galadima also disclosed that he is currently the chairman of the coordinating strategic committee for the presidential candidate and his running mate. He said the committee was working to harmonise the political blueprints of Obi and Kwankwaso, who contested the 2023 presidential election on different platforms.

According to him, the two politicians complement each other and are being presented as a single ticket for the country.

“It is a single ticket for Nigeria. We are not going to run a divided government, one belonging to Kwankwaso and one belonging to Peter. No, we are running a Nigerian government. That is why we call this ticket a healing ticket for Nigeria,” he said.

He identified national unity, public confidence in government and security as some of the issues the ticket would focus on if elected.

“We want to create public confidence in governance, in government, and in the people running our country,” Galadima said, adding that the proposed administration would pursue security measures that would allow Nigerians to conduct their daily activities without fear.

Galadima also questioned reported political engagements involving President Tinubu and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, saying the opposition did not know what such interactions entailed.

“If they are doing the kind of politics that we see in Nigeria, he may announce himself having met the INEC chairman [and] some prominent Nigerians in France, and we don’t know what they are doing,” he said.

He further criticised the reported gathering of academics who publicly expressed support for Tinubu and argued that those individuals should not subsequently be recruited to serve in the election.

“We are saying, as a political party, that none of those 600 professors … should be recruited to serve in the elections, because they have already taken sides by declaring their support for a candidate in this election,” he said.

He also maintained that the NDC’s strategy would not necessarily depend on producing a single opposition candidate against Tinubu, arguing that the opposition had moved beyond the stage where legally distinct parties could field one joint candidate.

Former Ondo State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, has formally joined the African Democratic Congress, ADC, alongside other political figures from the PDP and All Progressives Congress, APC.

The development was announced by former Osun State Governor and ADC National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, in a post on his X account on Thursday.

Aregbesola said he joined the ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and other leaders of the party at a reception held in Akure, Ondo State, to welcome Jegede and other new members.

According to him, Jegede led the group of defectors, which included political figures from both the APC and PDP.

The reception was held at NEPA Park in Akure, where the new members were formally received into the ADC.

“Today, I joined the Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alh. Atiku Abubakar, GCON, and other party leaders to receive decampees led by Balogun Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, alongside other political figures from the APC and PDP, into our great party,” Aregbesola wrote.

He added, “The grand reception took place at NEPA Park, Akure, Ondo State.”

Jegede, who previously contested the Ondo governorship election on the PDP platform, was formally received into the ADC along with his supporters and political associates.

The event was attended by Atiku, Aregbesola and other ADC leaders as the party continues its political activities ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Vice President Kashim Shettima has said heavy debt servicing is limiting the ability of developing countries, including Nigeria, to invest adequately in education, healthcare and infrastructure.

Shettima spoke on Thursday while delivering President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s statement at the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.

He identified inadequate financing as one of the major obstacles to sustainable development, saying many developing countries spend a significant part of their resources servicing debts instead of funding critical sectors.

“Many developing countries devote substantial resources to debt servicing at the expense of education, healthcare and infrastructure,” he said.

The Vice President called for reforms to the international financial system to make financing more accessible to developing countries and ensure that debt sustainability assessments take their development needs into account.

The statement also called for wider access to concessional financing and supported alternative funding models involving private capital, blended finance, South-South cooperation and strategic partnerships.

According to Shettima, such financing should help countries pursue sustainable development, adapt to climate change and build infrastructure that can withstand future challenges.

He said the international financial architecture should be reformed to provide developing countries with greater opportunities to finance their development priorities.

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, says Nigerian workers can no longer survive on the N70,000 national minimum wage with the current economic pressures.

Keyamo said this at the 2026 National Pre-Retirement Summit organised by XEM Consultants Limited.

Speaking at the event, Keyamo stated that the rising cost of living had eroded workers’ purchasing power and made an upward review of wages necessary.

He, therefore, called on the Federal Government to meet organised labour halfway in the ongoing wage discussions.

According to him, unions were demanding as much as N500,000, recalling the negotiations that preceded the increase in the national minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000 in 2024.

The minister, however, noted that the current minimum wage was still insufficient to absorb the economic shocks confronting workers.

He equally criticised the treatment of workers by some government agencies, particularly situations where employees are denied basic allowances while senior officials allegedly approve large sums for international trips.

“I will have none of it. Without these workers, we will not have a country.

“It’s not the machines or everything that you have; it’s the human factor. Without that, no machine will move,” he said.

The Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, Cross River State chapter, has urged the state’s representatives in the National Assembly to protect the state’s interests in ongoing discussions over its oil wells.

IPAC, in a statement signed by its State Chairman, Effiom Edet Okon on Thursday said issues concerning the ownership and status of the state’s oil wells were of significant economic importance to Cross River.

The council called on the senators and members of the House of Representatives from the state to work together on matters relating to Cross River’s economic interests.

It said decisions, legislative engagements and public statements on the oil wells should be guided by constitutional provisions, equity and the interests of Cross River residents.

IPAC also urged the National Assembly members to demonstrate what it described as “unity of purpose” in addressing issues affecting the state’s economic future.

The council further appealed to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and other public officials to exercise caution in their public comments on matters relating to Cross River’s territorial and economic interests.

It said statements by senior public officials could influence public perception and relations between neighbouring states and communities.

IPAC noted that Cross River had maintained cordial relations with people from other parts of the country, but said such relations should not come at the expense of the state’s legitimate economic interests.

The council said it remained committed to dialogue and peaceful advocacy in addressing issues affecting the state.

The statement comes amid renewed attention to Cross River’s longstanding dispute over oil wells, following the decision by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to reopen the verification of disputed and newly drilled oil and gas wells.