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Miltary Top Brass Receives Body of Late COAS Lagbaja, Mounts Guard of Honour

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The body of late Chief of Army Staff (CoAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, has arrived in Abuja where he will be buried on Friday.

The Nigerian Air Force plane NAF 918 carrying the body of the late CoAS landed at the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, at around 12:15pm.

The remains of the late CoAS left the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos around 11am.

The military top brass were on ground to receive the remains of the late CoAS in Abuja, with military band playing to the loudest.

Upon arrival at the Abuja airport, a guard of honor was accorded to the body of the late CoAS and was taken down this red carpet in full view of Nigeria’s military top brass.

Lagbaja’s body will be interned on Friday at the national military cemetery, Abuja.

The CoAS died last week Tuesday, according to the presidency.

Lagbaja passed away in Lagos after a period of illness. However, the illness was not disclosed.

During this difficult time, President Bola Tinubu expressed his heartfelt condolences to the family and the Nigerian Armed Forces.

Born on February 28, 1968, Lagbaja served as the Chief of Army Staff for one year and four months following his appointment to the position by President Tinubu in June 2023.

His military career began when he enrolled in the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1987. On September 19, 1992, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Nigerian Infantry Corps as a member of the 39th Regular Course.

Lt. General Lagbaja also served as a platoon commander in the 93 Battalion and the 72 Special Forces Battalion.

He played pivotal roles in numerous internal security operations, including Operation ZAKI in Benue State, Lafiya Dole in Borno, Udoka in South East Nigeria, and Operation Forest Sanity across Kaduna and Niger states.

An alumnus of the prestigious U.S. Army War College, he earned a Master’s degree in Strategic Studies, demonstrating his dedication to professional growth and excellence in military leadership.

Lt. General Lagbaja is survived by his beloved wife, Mariya, and their two children.

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Ex-Polaris Bank Chief Remanded in Prison Custody for Alleged Fraud

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The Special Offences Court sitting in the Ikeja area of Lagos State, on Monday, remanded a former branch manager of Polaris Bank, Abiodun Sanni, at the Ikoyi Custodial Centre for alleged multi-million naira fraud.

Sanni was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 16-count charge bordering on obtaining credit by false pretences, forgery, use of false documents, and stealing.

The EFCC counsel, Orhieoghene Adewunmi, told the court that Sanni committed the offences at the Iju branch of the bank in Lagos on February 24, 2020.

The lawyer stated that the defendant, as the branch manager of Polaris Bank, obtained from the bank a credit sum of N17 million in form of a loan.

He said Sanni collected the loan on the pretext that the loan had collateral in the form of a fixed deposit worth N111.1 million, which belonged to one Yinkus Multi-biz Ventures.

The EFCC lawyer also alleged that the former bank manager dishonestly converted a Polaris Bank fixed deposit account worth N15.1 million, belonging to one Joshua Atolagbe, to his personal use.

According to Adewunmi, the alleged offences contravene Sections 36(1), 278(1), 313(1)(a), 361 (1) and 364 (1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Sanni, however, pleaded not guilty to all the counts preferred against him.

Adewunmi urged the court to remand the defendant.

“My lord the prosecution intends to call 10 witnesses in this case. We urge the court to remand the defendant in custody in view of his not-guilty plea,” the EFCC lawyer said.

The defence counsel, Osho Oludoshu, told the court that he had filed a bail application.

The presiding judge, Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe, thereafter, remanded Sanni at the custodial centre.

Justice Abike-Fadipe adjourned the case to March 6, 2025, for the commencement of trial.

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INEC Declares APC’s Aiyedatiwa Winner of Ondo Guber Election

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, as the winner of the just concluded Ondo State governorship election, held on Saturday, November 16, 2024. 

The Returning Officer for the election Olayemi Akinwumi, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State declared Aiyedatiwa winner of the election on Sunday, extending the governor’s stay at the Government House in Alagbaka, Akure.

Governor Aiyedatiwa polled 366,781 votes to defeat his closest rival and a former deputy governor of the state Ajayi Agboola who flew the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag. He scored 117,845 votes, more than twice lower than the APC candidate.

“That Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa of the APC having satisfied the requirement of the law is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” the returning officer said at exactly 2:30 pm at the INEC collation centre in Akure.

The declaration came hours after the collation of results for the election began in the early hours of Sunday. Although the collation centre went on breaks, the APC took a commanding lead with over 200,000 votes ahead of the PDP.

The final results showed that the APC won the election in a landslide, clearing all 18 local government areas.

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PDP Chieftain Sues IGP Egbetokun over Police Invasion of Home

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A former National Deputy Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Diran Odeyemi has filed a fundamental rights suit against the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.

Also joined in the suit is the Osun State Commissioner of Police.

The suit dated November 7, 2024, was filed before a Federal High Court in Osogbo, Osun State capital.

In an affidavit in support of originating summons, Odeyemi accused armed agents of the defendants of invading his residence at Ibadan on October 26, without prior notice.

The plaintiff said the invasion of his residence and attempt to unlawfully arrest him was part of plans by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to silence leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State.

Odeyemi alleged that the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje on 20th of October, 2024, declared in Akure, Ondo State capital that the party had a secret strategy to recapture Osun State for APC, adding that what played out at his residence was part of the broader plans of the APC.

The plaintiff asked the court to determine where the attempt and threat by the defendants and their agents to arrest him on wilful investigation of some stalwarts of the APC do not constitute an infringement of his fundamental rights to personal liberty, freedom of movement, expression and association.

The ground of the originating summons includes, “The plaintiff by virtue of sections 35, 39, 40, 41 and 46 under Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and under the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights is entitled to enjoy his rights to personal liberty, freedom of movement, freedom of expression and freedom of association.

‘The Plaintiff, being a citizen of Nigeria, has the right to move freely without any inhibition, express his thoughts, associate freely, and enjoy his dignity without being harassed, intimidated,d, or hindered in any way or manner.

“The Defendants and their officers are rigorously attempting to violate the plaintiff’s fundamental rights to personal liberty, freedom of movement freedom of expression, and freedom of association by threatening and planning to intimidate, harass, molest, and unlawfully arrest and detain him on wilful instigation of some politicians within the All Progressives Congress who are hellbent on framing the Plaintiff in order to silence him, as part of the All Progressives Congress secret strategy to recapture Osun State and wrestle power from the Peoples Democratic Party in the State., come 2026.

“The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress boastfully stated in Akure on the 20th October 2024 that the APC had a secret strategy to recapture Osun State from the Peoples Democratic Party but that he would not reveal the secret and his threatening statement was widely reported in the media.

“In what appears like the commencement of the secret political machinations, the agents of the Defendants, at the instance of some APC politicians and without having ever invited the Plaintiff, invaded the Plaintiff’s home on the 26th day of October 2024 in an attempt to unlawfully arrest, detain, harass and intimidate the Plaintiff but they failed because the Plaintiff was not in the country”

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