A bill seeking to bar persons above the age of 60 from contesting for president, governor, vice president, and deputy governor has passed second reading in the House of Representatives.

Sponsored by Rep Ikeagwuonu Ugochinyere, the bill is part of the proposed amendment to the 1999 Constitution on the review of eligibility criteria for the positions.

If passed and assented to by the president, the law would affect the eligibility of President Bola Tinubu, 73, Atiku Abubakar, 78, Peter Obi, 63, and others in their age categories for the 2027 presidential election.

The bill proposes changes to Section 131 of the Constitution to introduce a 60-year age limit for presidential candidates.

The age restriction will be captured in Section 177 of the constitution for the governorship category.

Similarly, potential aspirants for the presidential and governorship elections must have at least a first degree to qualify for elections.

In a related development, the Senate on Thursday slated for consideration a bill seeking to make it mandatory for all categories of elections to be conducted in one day.

Sponsored by Senator Salihu Mustapha (Kwara Central), the bill, if it scales all legislative requirements, will mandate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct all elections in a single day.

The categories of elections to be affected are the presidential, national assembly, governorship, and state assemblies.

A number of the senators, however, argued over the practicability of the bill, doubting the capacity of INEC to cope with the demand.

They pointed out the uneven terrain across many states, especially in the reverine areas where movement and distribution of electoral materials take many hours to accomplish.

Other senators also picked holes in the bill, pointing out that voters, especially those in rural areas, might not be able to cope with a high number of ballot papers at once.

Delta State College of Nursing, Agbor, has issued a query to one of its students, Osato Edobor, over her involvement in a viral video that showed student nurses allegedly ridiculing First Lady Oluremi Tinubu.

The query, dated March 27,2025 and signed by the provost, Evbodaghe Rita Ogonne, accused Edobor of singing, recording, and circulating the video, which the institution considered a “malicious act” and a punishable offence according to the Student Handbook.

The incident occurred during the First Lady’s official visit to the Dome Event Center in Asaba, where she launched the Renewed Hope Initiative Health Programme and distributed 10,000 professional kits to midwives.

In the video, the students rejected Mrs. Tinubu as their mother, singing “na your mama be this o eh” in response to the MC’s praise song.

The college has given Edobor 24 hours to respond to the query, which states: “It has come to the notice of the school authority that you, Student Nurse Osato Edobor… was found to be engage in malicious act of recording/singing and posting unofficial response to song during the arrival of the First Lady.”

A key suspect in the kidnapping and killing of a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Kafachan, Kaduna State, Rev. Fr. Sylvester Okechukwu, has given a shocking explanation as to why the priest was kidnapped and killed.

Speaking at the headquarters of Operation Safe Haven in Jos on Thursday, the suspect said he kidnapped Okechukwu because he needed ₦200,000 to solve a personal problem.

Okechukwu was abducted on March 4 at his home in Tachira, Kaura Local Government Area.

His body was found the next day, March 5, but the suspects were arrested on Tuesday following a raid by troops in a settlement at the Warsa-Piti community of Lere LGA of the state.

While the suspect admitted to planning the abduction, he denied ordering the priest’s murder.

“Fr. Okechukwu was living in our house in Tachira. I planned his kidnapping because I needed ₦200,000 to solve a problem.

“I invited some guys from other places to help, but I never told them to kill him. I don’t know why they did it because I had already left before it happened,” he said.

Another suspect, also in custody, confirmed that the chief suspect pressured him into joining the crime.

“At first, I refused, but he insisted. We grew up in the same community, so I later agreed. On that day, I left my place in Warsa-Piti, Lere Local Government, to join in the kidnapping.

“He also brought in others from Bokkos in Plateau State, and they came with guns. After we took the priest and walked some distance, we left him with them. We don’t know why they killed him,” he said.

The International Monetary Fund, IMF, has appointed Nigerian billionaire and group chairman of Heirs Holdings, owners of United Bank of Africa, Tony Elumelu to its advisory council on entrepreneurship and growth, convened by Kristalina Georgieva, the fund managing director.

The announcement was disclosed in a statement on Friday.

According to the statement, the IMF advisory council comprises global business leaders, policymakers, and academics dedicated to identifying and addressing regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship.

The IMF said Elumelu will be instrumental in ensuring that Africa’s entrepreneurship is central in policy making.

“Elumelu, Africa’s leading advocate of entrepreneurship and whose Foundation has funded, mentored, and trained over 25,000 African entrepreneurs since 2015, champions entrepreneurship as the engine for the economic transformation of Africa,” the statement reads.

“A self-made entrepreneur, Elumelu’s embracing of entrepreneurship is fundamental to his concept of Africapitalism, his belief that Africa’s private sector can and must play a leading role in the continent’s development, making long-term investments that deliver social and economic value.

“Elumelu will be instrumental in ensuring that Africa’s entrepreneurial potential is central to global economic policy making.”

Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the advisory council on March 26, Georgieva said the appointees would share their experiences on how macroeconomic and financial policies “can provide a supportive environment for innovation, entrepreneurship, and productivity — key ingredients for a thriving private sector and strong economic growth”.

Annie Idibia, popular Nigerian actress and the estranged wife of singer, Innocent Idibia, professionally known as 2Face, has reverted to her maiden name.

DAILY POST recalls that the duo got married in 2012, and separated in January 2025.

Annie, who has been silent since 2Face announced their separation on his Instagram page, made a return to online on Thursday March 27 2025, and deleted all posts on her page.

However, breaking her silence after the deleted posts, she dropped 2Face’s surname and addressed herself with her maiden name “Annie Uwana Macaulay”.

While appreciating her followers and the public for standing by her during her trying times, she wrote, “To My family and friends who came through for me, the support system i have now, all my amazing family here and all over the world, God bless you for the outpouring of love.

“I appreciate every single one of you and I don’t take any of it for granted, may the universe continue to be in your favor. Lots of LOVE. Annie Uwana Macaulay”.

However, she is yet to remove Idibia from her profile.

Her profile still reads ‘Annie Idibia1’

A prominent Ijaw leader and elder statesman, Anabs Sara-Igbe, has again criticized the decision of President Bola Tinubu to impose a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspend Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy and members of the State House of Assembly.

Sara-Igbe, in an interview with Vanguard, said that the action of President Tinubu is a violation of the country’s constitution.

The former spokesperson of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), argued that Tinubu could carry out the action because the National Assembly has failed in its responsibility of checking the excesses of the executive and is no longer an independent arm of government.

He added that with what has been done in Rivers State, Nigeria is tilting towards civilian dictatorship and inviting military intervention.

Speaking against the backdrop of recent submissions by former President Oluesegun Obasanjo and 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, that democracy is dead in Nigeria, Sara-Igbe agreed that when leaders refuse to abide by the provisions of the constitution, it is clear that democracy is indeed threatened.

In his words, “Nigeria is tilting towards dictatorship. Civilian dictatorship is inviting the military brothers to come. It is like the inside rat in the house inviting the outside rat.

“So, democracy is threatened, the leaders no longer obey the constitution, and there is a breakdown of law and order.”

Sara-Igbe argued that all arms of government – the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary violated the constitution and failed to play their expected role in events around the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State.

“They have violated the constitution. The president has violated the Constitution. If you look at Sections 188 and 189, you will see that Mr President has violated the constitution as regards Rivers State.

“Even if you go to sections 183, 188, 189, the sections that deal with the removal or illegibility of the governor, there is no provision that empowers the president to suspend or sack a governor.

“And now, they are even thinking of suspending him forever; it means democracy is dead. I agree with them. We are fast sliding into a dictatorship.

“We see that all the arms of the government—the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary—have all violated the law.

“The legislature did not apply the constitutional provision in Section 305 that says a 2/3 majority of the members must vote on issues of state of emergency. They did a voice vote, so we did not know how many people voted, how many were absent, or even present.

“All these happened without following the due process of law. The rule of law is no longer in place. Mr President should be careful; that is my advice.

“He should turn back; he cannot destroy the country because of one man. He should not damage his reputation and the entire democratic system.”

It’s Not Too Late

The Ijaw leader, however, appealed to President Tinubu to beat a retreat before the country is plunged further into constitutional errors.

“What is happening today is against the law and a slap on the Nigerian constitution. So, Mr. President, the head of the government can make amends.

“Again, Mr President violated the law by overriding the Supreme Court judgment. The Supreme Court said don’t release money to the government in Rivers State until the budget is presented.

“Without a budget, Mr. President overrode the Supreme Court and released money. These are all breaches of the Constitution. The president is doing all these things because he knows that the National Assembly has also breached the constitution and is compromised. The judiciary, on its own, has lost shape to the executive,” he submitted.

Veteran gospel singer Dr. Panam Percy Paul has revealed that he once turned down a lucrative international record deal because it required him to compromise his faith.

Speaking with Pastor Emmanuel Iren, the renowned musician recounted how, in 1995, he was offered a three-year contract worth £24 million, which was approximately ₦7 billion at the time.

However, the offer came with a condition—he was asked to reduce the number of times he mentioned “Jesus” in his songs.

“The catch was ‘can you reduce the number of times you call the name Jesus in your songs?’ And there is more where this came from. One of them said to me, ‘You actually don’t need to mention the name Jesus. You can call Him other names like Righteous One, Greatest Lover,’” he recalled.

Shocked by the proposal, Paul immediately rejected the deal, stating that no amount of money could make him alter his message.

“I was at the peak of ministry and success in the industry. I was offered £24 million for a three-year contract. 1995, £24 million was equivalent to ₦7 billion. I told them, you can keep the money, while I keep the name.”

The gospel icon also lamented how the music industry has shifted away from ministry, with marketers and record labels now dictating how artists create their music.

“Today, the extreme is that music ministry has now become music industry, where the industry now dictates to the ministers what to do, how to sing, and when to sing. For example, it was the marketers in Alaba that encouraged the musicians to add tongues to their songs,” he noted.

The last lap of traditional rites (Oro Ipebi) for the Alaafin-elect, Oba Akeem Owoade 1, holds tonight at the Sango shrine at Koso in Oyo town.

According to a release by the Director of Media and Publicity to the Alaafin of Oyo, Bode Durojaiye in Ibadan, the state capital, on Friday.

The statement said Oba Owoade would be accompanied by members of the traditional council, the Oyo mesi, Princes and Princesses from all the royal families, traditional religion priests, the Baales (village heads), and a section of residents.

Durojaiye said, “The royal father would sleep over at the shrine where he will be worn with the Sango crown by Baba Mogba in the early morning of Saturday, as the 46th Alaafin of Oyo.

“Immediately after the wearing of Sango crown, everybody present at the historical event, including the Oyo mesi members,, will prostrate and say Kabiyesi to the Alaafin.”

The activity is a prelude to the official coronation ceremony that will take place on April 5, 2025, at the open field of Oliveth Heights, Oyo.

The International Monetary Fund has called on the Federal Government to expedite the completion of its cash transfer programme to support vulnerable households, describing it as a crucial priority in the face of ongoing economic reforms.

The Director of the IMF’s Communications Department, Julie Kozack, made the call during a press briefing on Thursday.

She stated that while the Fund welcomed Nigeria’s recent efforts to stabilise its economy and boost growth, it was important that these policies were supported by measures that protect the country’s poorest citizens.

He said, “We do recognise the extremely difficult situation that many Nigerians face.

Kozack confirmed that the IMF’s First Deputy Managing Director, Gita Gopinath, who had visited Nigeria earlier in March and met with key officials, including the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Yemi Cardoso.

Gopinath also engaged with civil society groups, private sector stakeholders, and students at the University of Lagos during her two-day visit to Abuja and Lagos.

She added that IMF staff would return to Nigeria next week in preparation for the 2025 Article IV Consultation, a periodic assessment of the country’s economic and financial policies.

She noted that further updates on Nigeria are expected after the team concludes its mission.

Last year, the IMF advised Nigeria to extend its cash transfer programme to rural areas in light of rising poverty and food insecurity.

The Fund has consistently urged the government to scale up the initiative as a means of helping poor Nigerians navigate the worsening cost of living crisis.

The World Bank recently stated that cash transfer programmes are essential in helping Nigerians escape intergenerational poverty, especially at a time when inflation and weak economic growth are hitting the poorest the hardest.

The Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has called on Muslims across the country to look out for the new moon of Shawwal 1446AH on Saturday, March 29, 2025.

In a statement signed and made available to newsmen on Friday by the Waziri of Sokoto, Prof. Sambo Wali Junaidu, who also serves as the Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Religious Affairs at the Sultanate Council, the sighting of the new moon will determine the end of Ramadan and the celebration of Eid el-Fitr.

According to the statement, “March 29 marks the 29th day of Ramadan 1446AH, making it the first possible day for moon sighting.

“The Sultan has urged anyone who sights the moon to report their observations through the designated phone numbers provided in the release.

The numbers listed for reporting moon sightings are: 08037157100, 08066303077, 08035965322, 08035945903 amd 07067146900.

Muslims are encouraged to participate in the moon sighting exercise as it plays a crucial role in determining the official date for Eid celebrations. If the new moon is confirmed, it will signal the beginning of Shawwal and mark the end of the month-long Ramadan fast.

The statement said the Sultanate Council would announce the final decision on Eid based on verified moon sightings.