Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have abducted Mr Akari Loveday, the special adviser on Domestic Affairs to the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Akari was reportedly kidnapped on Friday along the river on his way to Ayakoro community in Ogbia local government area of Bayelsa State, the hometown of the NDDC Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku.

Although the Bayelsa State Police Command has not made official statement about the incident, a source from the community said a combined team of security operatives in the area have been deployed for the rescue of Mr Akari.

According to the source, the kidnappers stopped the boat conveying Akari and others on the river, pulled him into their own boat and tried to get away when the engine of their boat malfunctioned.

He stated that the kidnappers had to paddle the boat to the bank of the river before running into the bush with the victim.
The source added that security agents, including police officers in the area have commenced a search for him.

“The SA Domestic to the NDDC MD has been kidnapped. He was kidnapped along the river on the way to Ayakoro when he was abducted.

“They took him out of the boat, but as they tried to get away, their engine stopped suddenly. So they pulled to the shore and ran into the bush.

“As I was coming, on the road to Otuoke and the entire area, there was heavy police presence. They were doing stop-and-search”, he said.

[Leadership]

Within a spate of 24 hours this week, two key developments occurred in the Nigerian economic sector.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu confirmed the appointment of Shamseldeen Ogunjimi as Accountant-General of the Federation while the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) appointed 16 new directors as part of reforms within the apex bank.

The appointments did not come as a surprise to many as Ogunjimi had been nominated for the position since 2024, even before the expiration of the tenure of Oluwatoyin Madein, the outgoing accountant-general. 

Similarly, the CBN had placed an internal advertisement for the post of directors following the retirement of the previous directors.

What, however, came as a surprise is that the appointments followed a particular pattern that conforms to allegations that under the current administration, a particular section of the country- the South-West, is dominating the economic landscape.

Ogunjimi, like President Tinubu, hails from Lagos State, and is taking over from  Madein, who is from Ogun State and  from the same geopolitical zone and ethnic group as the president.

If this was a coincidence, the appointment of 16 new directors at the apex bank makes it look otherwise.

Of the 16 new directors, eight are of the same ethnic affinity while the remaining eight were picked across the remaining over 200 ethnic groups in the country.

Those that share one ethnic affinity, Yoruba, include Ojumu Adenike Olubunmi, Director, Medical Services; Makinde Kayode Olanrewaju, Director of Procurement and Support Services; Isa-Olatinwo Aisha, Director of Consumer Protection; Yusuf Rakiya Opemi, Payments System Supervision; Vincent Monsurat Modesola, Strategy Management and Innovation;  Akinwunmi Akinniyi; Banking Supervision; Adedeji Sikiru, Currency Operations and Branch Management; and Solaja Olayemi, Other Financial Institutions.

Others from other ethnic nationalities are Abdullahi Hamisu, Director of Banking Services; Jide-Samuel Omoyemen Avbasowamen; head, Information Technology; Sike Ijeoma, head, Financial Policy and Regulation, while Monetary Policy Formulation will be overseen by Oboh Victor Ugbem. Nakorji Musa is to head Trade and Exchange; Farouk Muhammad, Reserve Management; Hassan Umar, Development Finance Institutions Supervision (OFISD); and Okpanachi Moses, Director of Statistics.

This, coupled with the previous appointees from the South-West zone, has raised the question of ethnic favouritism at the expense of other parts of the country and has made the president’s economic team to appear lopsided.

This tendency was noticed very early in the life of the current administration when the president named Yemi Cardoso as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Zacheus Adedeji as the chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). All of them are Yoruba from the South-West.

Groups speak on appointments

Noticing this trend, some Nigerians attempted to call the attention of the president to the lopsidedness of appointments into positions that have to do with finance and economic wellbeing of the country.

As early as 2023, when the president was just months in office, a group, The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), accused him of nepotism, alleging that most of the key appointments in his government were allotted to Nigerians from his ethnic group.

In a statement issued by its coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA faulted the appointments of the CBN governor and the FIRS chairman.

 Speaking in the same vein, the national publicity secretary of the apex northern socio-cultural and political organisation, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Professor Tukur Muhammad-Baba, also criticised Tinubu for giving sensitive and “lucrative” appointments to persons from his southwestern part of the country.

Muhammad-Baba, a professor of Sociology, said this should not be encouraged in a “deeply fractious federation” like Nigeria.

Even the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, in November 2024, also saw reasons to caution President Tinubu over what it described as his bias and preference for the Yoruba in federal appointments.

The group made this known in a statement by its then leader, Ayo Adebanjo and the national publicity secretary, Justice Faleye respectively, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

Part of the statement reads: “We can never condone the outrageous bias by Tinubu to make the Yoruba heads of all arms of the criminal justice system (EFCC, DSS, Attorney-General and Chief Justice); the economy (Coordinating Minister of the economy, CBN, Finance, Blue Economy, Digital Economy, Trade, Industries and Investment, Bank of Industry, Solid Minerals); as well as the forces (army, police, customs, immigration).”

Economic analysts observe that the president, having appointed himself minister of petroleum and made his long-time associate, Wale Edun, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, he should have spread the other slots on the economic team to other parts of the country since the two positions are central enough to determine the swing of major policy decisions.

The position of the coordinating minister of the economy gained popularity under the Goodluck Jonathan administration, when the minister of finance, apart from overseeing affairs at the core ministry, coordinated other ministers to work in tandem with the economic vision and policies of the administration.

The petroleum ministry is seen as very important due to its control of the activities in the petroleum industry, which is responsible for the country’s earnings.

Under the current administration, in addition to the position of the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, the bulk of the portfolios that have to do with the economy have been placed under the supervision of people from the president’s part of the country.

Gboyega Oyetola from Osun State is the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy; Jumoke Oduwole is Minister of Trade and Industry; Bosun Tijani, Minister of Innovation and Digital Economy; Adebayo Adelabu is Minister of Power, while Dele Alake is the Minister of Solid Minerals Development.

Weekend Trust observes that key agencies that either control the country’s finances or economic development are also mostly headed by people who share the same ethnic affinity. They include the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adewale Adeniyi; Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Kemi Nandap; the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman, Ola Olukoyede, and chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele.

Even when the president constituted a 31-man Presidential Economic Coordination Council in March 2024, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Edun, was made the chairman of both the 19-man economic management team emergency taskforce and the 14-man economic management team.

President Tinubu also established the Economic Management Team Emergency Taskforce (EET), which also has the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance as chairman.

The economic team usually designs the policies to introduce and guide the development of the economy. It also controls the bulk of the resources of the country due to the substantial amount domiciled in the ministries and agencies under its supervision.

Those in the team are considered very powerful as the economic prosperity of the country rests squarely on whatever they decide for the president.

 The floating of the naira, categorising power consumers into bands and the tax reforms bills are believed to be some of the direct influence of the economic team.

‘There’s lopsided distribution’

The programme coordinator of the Social Development Integrated Centre (Social Action) Nigeria, Mr Isaac Botti, agrees that the composition of the president’s economic team is one sided. He said, “We need to transcend ethnic biases and see how we can work with the right set of people as a country – those who really understand what needs to be done to revamp the economy.”

Dr Aminu Hayatu, a political economy researcher/analyst and senior lecturer in the Department of Political Science, Bayero University, Kano, said that merit should trump any other consideration in the composition of an economic team.

He said: “While I acknowledge the importance of inclusivity, economic policy should ultimately be driven by capacity rather than regional or ethnic considerations.”

He, however, added that in a diverse country like Nigeria, broad representation could help ensure that economic policies reflect the realities of different regions.

Blast from the past

Meanwhile, some analysts have pointed out that the immediate past leader of the country, Muhammadu Buhari, started the lopsidedness during his administration. But facts on ground show that it was slightly better during the previous administration.

In September 2019 when Buhari constituted an Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to replace the administration’s Economic Management Team, he named Prof Doyin Salami as chairman; Dr Mohammed Sagagi, vice chairman; Prof Ode Ojowu; Dr Shehu Yahaya; Dr Iyabo Masha; Prof Chukwuma Soludo and  Mr Bismark Rewane as members, while the secretary was  Dr Mohammed Adaya Salisu (Senior Special Assistant to the President on  Development Policy).

In his cabinet, Buhari appointed himself Minister of Petroleum; the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment was Niyi Adebayo; while Isa Ali Pantami was Minister of Communication; Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance; Sabo Nanono, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing; and Olamilekan Adegbite – Minister of Mines and Steel Development.

Nigerians should be concerned about competence – Presidency 

The Presidency, while reacting to the development, said there’s nothing wrong with the appointments since they are all Nigerians.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, told our reporter that once the appointees are Nigerians and they are qualified, then the matter is settled.

“I don’t see anything wrong with the point you are raising. Are they not qualified?” he asked. 

On the appointment of the Accountant-General of the Federation, he explained that it was earlier announced, but when it was pointed out that certain rules were not followed, it was stepped down.

“And they now went through a rigorous selection process. More people were invited, and at the end of the day, the man still came tops. So, I think that as Nigerians, we should not be looking at the appointment from the prism of region, ethnicity, religion or something like that, what we should be thinking about is whether they are qualified or not. Are they square pegs in square holes? That should be the issue.

“That is why we keep missing it – we always emphasise the wrong things. Are all those people not qualified? Is the FIRS chairman not doing well? Is he not bringing more revenue to this country?

“Is the CBN governor not doing well? Look, we should be looking at competence and ability to perform. I think that’s what should matter, not where somebody comes from.”

[DailyTrust]

Sixty-seven-year old Brad Keith Sigmon, an inmate at the South Carolina Department of Corrections in the United States, was executed by firing squad on Friday.

It was the first such execution in the US since 2010, and the fourth since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Sigmon selected the firing squad out of three state-approved methods of execution; others are lethal injection or the electric chair.

Convicted of double homicide, he was declared deceased by a physician at 6:08 p.m. ET, officials announced at a news conference.

Sigmon was found guilty of the deaths of his former girlfriend’s parents in 2001. He kidnapped the ex-girlfriend after the murders, but she broke free.

“I want my closing statement to be one of love and a calling to my fellow Christians to help us end the death penalty,” Sigmon appealed in a statement.

The convict also quoted Bible verses on forgiveness, and said, “Nowhere does God in the New Testament give man the authority to kill another man.”

Sigmon’s attorneys filed a petition to stop his execution, seeking executive clemency and commutation of the death penalty to life imprisonment without parole.

The lawyers noted that he committed the crimes and “stood trial while in the grip of an undiagnosed, inherited mental illness.”

But the last minute push was unsuccessful as the Supreme Court and South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster declined to approve leniency.

[DailyPost]

Popular actress and filmmaker, Wumi Toriola, has opened up about the setbacks she faced before the success of her film, ‘Queen Lateefah.’

The film became one of the highest-grossing Nigerian films of 2024, earning N350 million at the box office.

In an interview with The Nation, Toriola revealed that the journey to making ‘Queen Lateefah’ was not without challenges, as she encountered disappointments and delays before finally bringing the project to life.

“I would have shot ‘Queen Lateefah’ four years ago, but it didn’t happen. I had hitchhiked with my story, and I wasn’t completely satisfied, so I kept rewriting it. I faced disappointments, but what I’ve learned is that whenever you come out, just come out well. The place of preparation was helpful for me,” she shared.

Despite the obstacles, the actress is now celebrating the film’s overwhelming success, acknowledging that the long wait and meticulous preparation ultimately paid off. 

Looking ahead to 2025, Toriola hinted at bigger projects and major collaborations.

“We are expecting something huge—more collaborations, but in a big way,” she revealed.

With ‘Queen Lateefah’ setting a high bar, Toriola also expressed the pressure of surpassing her record. “It makes me feel great and at the same time gives me a lot of responsibility, because one will want to get better. Beating that record is a lot of responsibility,” she stated.

[TheNation]

A former Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has solicited support for Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.who was suspended from the Senate on Thursday.

Leading a delegation of senators from opposition political parties to visit Natasha at her home on Friday, Dickson said his engagement with the tax reform bills kept him away from the Senate proceedings on the day of Natasha’s suspension.

Dickson said as humans, senators have their low and high moments “and it is a tradition for Senators to support each other during these moments.”

“The public may recall that, for the past three days, I was attending the three-day workshop on the Tax Reform Bills which started on Wednesday, 5th of March and ended this evening, March 7.

“This is why I was not available yesterday to sit as a member of the Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, Privileges and Public Petitions in respect of the issues concerning our colleague Distinguished Senator Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan’s suspension, haven been assured by the Committee Chairman that the hearing would hold on Wednesday the 11th of March for which notices had already been issued. I was not notified of the emergency seating yesterday.

“This evening, after concluding the retreat, I led a delegation of some senators of opposition parties on a visit to our colleague Senator Natasha and met with her and her husband at their home.

“We offered words of encouragement, prayers and advice on a quick resolution of the issues surrounding her suspension,” he said.

“Having heard more from her and her husband for the first time, I will discuss with other colleagues on how to intervene and engage with the leadership of the senate to resolve the issues as soon as possible,” he added.

Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended on Thursday for six months after she refused her new seat in the upper legislative chamber.

The dispute escalated into allegations of sexual harassment by the Kogi senator against Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

Her suspension has sparked widespread debate and criticisms, particularly from women’s rights groups and civil society organisations.

The Peoples Democratic Party has condemned Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension, saying the move reeks of a grand cover-up attempt from Akpabio.

You were the deputy speaker. Then, you became the first female speaker. And now you are the first speaker to become a deputy speaker in Africa. Madam, it’s not your fault but you need to quit. Your middle name is not Rollercoaster 

When Obasa was removed, lawmakers said he was corrupt. If it were in the 18th century, they would have looked for a guillotine. They shouldn’t do this to themselves. It’s a most despicable capitulation. They said he built a gate with millions upon millions. They said he was a bad example to our children. Following the many vociferous allegations of corruption and high-handedness, 32 out of the 40 Lagos lawmakers voted to remove him. A removal can’t be more unanimous. They said his removal was good riddance to bad rubbish. That was last month. 

Now, the same Obasa has returned. And rather than ignominy, he has cornered glory. You have succumbed to intimidation and resigned to allow the perfidy. You can call it loyalty to your party leaders. You can call it party supremacy. Beautiful euphemism. Others call it Baba sope.  You were almost an Amazon. Sadly, you all turned out lily-livered. 

Collectively, you lamented the invasion of the hallowed legislature by the DSS. Was that your leaders in trying to whip delinquent children into line? The DSS later said they had come to provide security. But you knew what they came to do. And you and your colleagues swore to resist the transgressions. How, then, did you chicken out without a whimper? 

You had sneered as Obasa besieged the legislature with a gang of policemen to forcibly enter it. Do your leaders behave like area boys? Do they have any regard for the rule of law? If this was just leaders persuading followers, why the easy recourse to state banditry? All the lawmakers pointedly condemned both invasions as rape and vowed to resist the affront to democracy. Irked by the abomination, the people stood to support you against your oppressors. Then you all chickened out. The international community is amused. 

When Obasa returned from overseas and started to thump his chest, many had feared for you. Because if the drummer of the strange rhythm he was dancing to was in a bush in Abuja, then the entire House of Assembly would need courage to avoid humiliation. But you all rose to the occasion to a cost the filthy meddle some hands of the unseen intruder with moral defiance. And having announced your readiness to assert yourselves like free men and women who have broken their yoke, this capitulation is unpardonable cowardice. 

A man overruled an entire state legislature. In his youth, he had rebelled against autocracy. Now he is the Citadel, the fortress of feudalism. So he can send some oldmen to deliver an ultimatum to the lawmakers, to ask them to lick their vomitus. Rather than pack up and run away, if they were too weak to fight, the lawmakers sat and started to weep helplessly in the open. The same people who had collectively vowed to defend their dignity and democracy were cowering and crying like babies. They endured the torment of going through the gut-wrenching ritual of re-electing Obasa. None of them covered his head with a tattered basket and spat some inventive at the oppressor. None of them had the balls to walk away. They were scared of the godfather. 

Some said they were crying for you, Meranda. But nobody is deceived. They were reduced to houseboys. Presumptuous houseboys. They were made to re-elect Obasa, who they had deceived as unfit to lead. Meranda, you stepped out for him to step in. You need to step away. Your CV now reads like it was written in Oluwole. The centre of excellence has been defiled. It stinks 

Make no mistake, Madam deputy speaker, it’s not party supremacy. It’s party destitution. The party has been castrated. Otherwise, there is no manifestation of party supremacy greater than 75% of the legislators and their constituents have their way on who becomes speaker. The party can weigh in and influence outcomes. But the party cannot make an entire legislature swallow its vomitus in the open like this. The real party spoke through the legislators. But one man overruled the party. Party supremacy is not a nebulous concept which can be used to convert lawmakers into errand boys of the godfathers. It is not an autocratic spanner. It exists to foster inclusion and democratic participation and not install a civilian dictatorship through the backdoor. 

When you became speaker we saw you herd the lawmakers to the GAC to receive blessings. You said they blessed you. We said you were subjecting the legislative arm of government to the dictates of a cabal.  Now you know. That fanciful GAC is a device in the hands of one man to make his dictatorial control of the state look collegiate. The subterfuge has been exposed. The party is decidedly a one-man show. 

Madam, you surrendered the mandate of the people. You were not an acting speaker. Throw in the towel, madam. Your return to your old seat is a disservice to womanhood. You cannot endorse this shenanigan by playing the fool. Your dignity matters. Your health matters too. Your continued presence in that assembly will damage not just your mind but public health. The Return of Obasa is a head-spinning drama. Disappear from the House, madam.  So that the public can catch their breath. 

E jor ma. You are too legit not to quit. Eko oni ba je o

Al Nassr forward Cristiano Ronaldo has made headlines after bantering with his lookalike fan.

The all-timeleading goal-scorer in football told the fan on Friday at the Al Awwal Park in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia that he was “very ugly”.

Ronaldo was alongside his teammates, near the touchline, doing the pre-match warm-up, as Al Nassr was set to take on Al Shabab in their Matchday 24 of the Saudi Pro League 2024/25 season.

“Bro you don’t look like me (x2), you’re very ugly,” said Ronaldo.

“You are the best bro, wallahi,” said the lookalike fan.

Although Ronaldo scored his team’s second goal, it was a frustrating game for Al Nassr as they were held 2-2.

[Vanguard]

Ali Pate, minister of health and social welfare, says the federal government has designated 154 health facilities nationwide to provide free treatment for women with obstetric complications.

Pate made the announcement on Friday during his appearance on ‘Politics Today’, a programme on Channels Television.

The minister also announced 18 centres across the nation for free treatment of vesicovaginal fistula (VVF).

An obstetric complication is a difficulty or abnormality that arises during the process of labour or delivery.

Obstetric complications are disruptions or disorders that can occur during pregnancy, labour, delivery, or the early postpartum period, affecting the health of the mother or baby.

Common examples include preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, preterm labour, and postpartum hemorrhage.

Pate said the health and well-being of Nigerians are fundamental to President Bola Tinubu’s vision, prioritising reduced maternal deaths by ensuring no woman dies due to inability to afford treatment.

See full list below