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Police Ban Students from Protest against Ganduje

Published

7 years ago

October 17, 2018

Eric

The police in Kano have banned the Kano chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) from embarking on a rally to call for the resignation of the governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, over an alleged $5 million bribe.

Mr Ganduje appeared in a series of video, receiving money in dollars alleged to be bribe amounting to about $5 million.

The money was given by persons believed to be contractors to the state government.

The first set of at least 15 clips in possession of online-based Daily Nigerian was published on Sunday afternoon by the platform.

The two minutes video was recorded in 2017 in what Daily Nigerian described as a sting operation aimed at beaming a spotlight on the governor’s alleged penchant for contract racketeering.

The governor has debunked the video as “cloned” and threatened a sweeping lawsuit against its publisher.

But PREMIUM TIMES’ graphics experts who examined the video corroborated the position of Daily Nigerian, which earlier said its internal and independent graphics analysts have authenticated the clips.

In an audio announcement sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday evening, the Kano police spokesperson, Magaji Majia, said the police rejected the students’ request to conduct rally on October 29 from Zoo Road to Kano government house.

The rally, according to Mr Majia, was to ask Mr Ganduje to step aside to allow for an independent investigation to ascertain the authenticity of the video clips.

“I wish to warn the group leader, Comrade Isa Abubakar, to caution his members to desist from embarking on this rally.

“However, we advise anyone who has a complaint or suggestion on this matter to approach the committee set up by the state House of Assembly in order to expand investigation.

“But whoever caught violating this directives would face the wrath of law,” Mr Majia said.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how the Kano State House of Assembly on Monday set up a seven-member committee to probe the videos. The committee was given one month to perform its task. It is not clear if the assembly, made up largely of the governor’s loyalists, would do a thorough job.

In a related development, a civil society organisation, Youth Coalition Movement, has called on the Kano State House of Assembly to immediately suspend Mr Ganduje, pending the outcome of the investigative committee constituted by the house.

A statement signed by group’s chairman, Aminu Sparrow, and sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday evening said the suspension became necessary to allow proper investigation.

He appealed to the state assembly not to hesitate in taking drastic action on anyone found guilty of such act no matter the position he occupies so as to serve as deterrent to others.

Mr Sparrow advised the assembly to reduce the timeframe given to the committee to two weeks for speedy investigation.

Featured

Akume Leads Nigeria’s Delegation to Jesse Jackson’s Funeral in US

Published

2 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Eric

President Bola Tinubu has approved a five-person delegation to represent Nigeria at the final burial rites of Rev. Jesse Jackson, the American civil rights leader, activist and former presidential candidate who died at age 84 on February 17, 2026, in Chicago.

Senator George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, is the leader of the delegation, according to a press statement from the Presidency on Wednesday.

Other members are the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa; the Special Presidential Envoy for Global and Pan-African Affairs, Brian Browne; and the Senior Special Assistant, Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaye.

The delegation will deliver President Tinubu’s message of condolences to the Jackson family.

In an earlier tribute, President Tinubu described Reverend Jackson as a great friend of Nigeria and Africa.

“He was a moral voice and a formidable resistance to apartheid in South Africa. He played a leading role in the campaign for the release from prison of Nelson Mandela and other African National Congress leaders. He won critical support for sanctions against the then apartheid government,” President Tinubu wrote.

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Tinubu Nominates Oyedele As Minister of State for Finance, Moves Anite-Uzoka to Budget Ministry

Published

2 days ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

A statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga, has announced that “President Bola Tinubu has nominated Taiwo Oyedele as the minister of state for finance, replacing Doris Anite-Uzoka.

“Mrs Anite-Uzoka will now move to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, as the Minister of State, her third portfolio in the administration.

“President Tinubu has today conveyed the nomination of Mr Oyedele to the Senate for confirmation in a letter to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

“Until President Tinubu nominated him as a minister, Mr Oyedele from Ikaram, Akoko, Ondo State, was the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, which overhauled Nigeria’s tax system.

“Mr Oyedele, 50, is an economist, accountant and public policy expert.

“He attended Yaba College of Technology, where he obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND) in accountancy and finance. He attended Oxford Brookes University and earned a BSc in applied accounting.

“He also completed executive education programmes at the London School of Economics, Yale University, the Gordon Institute of Business Science, and the Harvard Kennedy School.

“Mr Oyedele spent 22 years of his working career at PwC, joining in 2001 and rising to become the Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader.

“Mr Oyedele is also a professor at Babcock University in Ogun State and a visiting scholar at the Lagos Business School.”

Featured

Defection: Atiku’s Son, Adamu, Resigns As Adamawa Commissioner

Published

2 days ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Adamu Abubakar, the first son of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has resigned as Adamawa State’s commissioner for works and energy development, days after Governor Ahmadu Fintiri defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

Abubakar’s resignation letter, dated 2 March 2026, was addressed to the governor through the Secretary to the State Government. He gave no reason for his departure.

The timing is pointed. Fintiri announced his defection to the APC in a statewide broadcast last Friday, saying his cabinet and the PDP’s state structure had moved with him. Within 24 hours, 22 commissioners and special advisers publicly announced they were following suit. Abubakar, whose father remains one of the PDP’s most prominent national figures, was not among them.

In a statement issued Monday night, Abubakar’s media aide Abdulaziz Jauro said the former commissioner thanked the governor for the opportunity to serve and pledged continued loyalty to the administration’s developmental agenda. He also expressed gratitude to his father “for granting him the moral support and blessing to serve the people of Adamawa State” — a line that, read in context, suggests Atiku was consulted on the decision.

Abubakar said his resignation was not a withdrawal from public life. “This does not mark the end of his commitment to public service,” the statement read, “but rather the beginning of new avenues for developmental collaboration.”

The resignation leaves unresolved the question of whether it reflects a political break with the governor over his defection or a personal decision unconnected to the broader party realignment now reshaping Adamawa’s political landscape.