Featured

Yaba Building Collapse: Death Toll Hits Five

Published

4 years ago

February 14, 2022

Eric

Residents of Akanbi Crescent, in the Yaba area of Lagos, where a three-storey building collapsed on Saturday, have faulted the rescue team for coming five hours after the incident happened.

The three-storey building under construction collapsed on Saturday, trapping a security guard and construction workers.

The incident, which occurred around 3.30pm, was coming barely three months after a 21-storey building in Ikoyi, owned by the late Managing Director, Fourscore Heights Limited, Femi Osibona, collapsed, killing over 40 people.

At the Yaba building collapse, five people died in the rubble following the end of the rescue operation.

Speaking with our correspondent on Sunday, some of the residents berated the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency for coming late for the rescue operation, adding that the only survivor was rescued by the residents.

One of the residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity, blamed LASEMA for using an excavator for the rescue operation.

She said, “I was at home when I heard a mini rumbling sound like sand was being poured but the intensity was different and when we all came out, we saw that the building caved in and people around started calling the rescue team from 3.30pm but they didn’t come until 7.30pm.

“The only guy that was taken alive from that place was by the efforts of the neighbours. LASEMA ought to bring a forklift rather than the excavator they brought. Excavator should be the last thing they will bring for cleaning; it should not have been for rescue because it will compact people underneath.

“It was a three-storey building with a car park underneath and most of the workers were trapped underground. They were six, one was brought out alive, and five were brought out dead. The last person was brought out about two hours ago.”

Another resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the state government should be held liable for the incident.

“From our experience as residents, we think the government is not doing enough; they have regulatory bodies for all these and once they mark a building, no follow-up, no due diligence and it’s quite unfortunate that we’re paying for it.

“Personally, I feel Lagos State should be sued because those lives that were lost could have been protected and I would like to advise that all these emergency and regulatory bodies, the government should equip them and provide local government offices for them so we don’t keep waiting for them when things happen,” the resident added.

The Punch

Featured

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

Published

3 hours 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

8 hours 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.

Featured

DSS Nabs Man over Assassination Attempt on Peter Obi

Published

11 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) has detained a man in connection with the recent attack and alleged assassination threats targeting Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

According to AIT, the shooting incident took place on February 24, 2026, in Benin City, Edo State, during a political gathering attended by Obi and several figures from the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The meeting was hosted by former APC National Chairman, John Oyegun. Gunmen reportedly opened fire at the venue, causing panic and forcing attendees to disperse for safety.

According to security sources, shortly after the attack, an individual identified as Udeme Monday Stephen allegedly took to social media claiming responsibility and issuing additional threats against Obi, warning of further violence.

Intelligence officials reportedly initiated swift investigations, employing digital tracing and forensic tools that led to the arrest of the 26-year-old suspect in Rivers State. He is said to be a teacher at a private secondary school in the Eliozu area of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area.

The suspect remains in DSS custody and is expected to face prosecution. The agency reiterated its commitment to responding to credible threats and safeguarding lives and national interests without bias.