The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has identified a potentially fraudulent investment platform known as Tofro.Com (Tofro) and has issued a warning to Nigerians to be cautious of their tactics, which involve soliciting funds through promises of substantial returns.

Naija News reports that SEC gave this warning in a statement released on Thursday, May 1, 2027.

In the notice, the SEC cautioned that the suspected investment platform presents itself as a cryptocurrency trading venue, emphasizing that this investment scheme is not registered with the Commission.

The SEC indicated that its investigations reveal that Tofro’s activities display the common characteristics of a deceptive Ponzi scheme, such as the promise of excessively high returns, a heavy dependence on a referral system to maintain payouts, and the inability to fulfill withdrawal requests from investors.

The Commission urged Nigerians to exercise caution when considering investments with Tofro, highlighting that any individual who invests with this entity does so at their own peril.

The notice reads, “The attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission has been drawn to the activities of an online platform known as Tofro.Com (Tofro), which holds itself out as a cryptocurrency trading platform.

“The Commission hereby informs the public that the Tofro is NOT REGISTERED by the Commission either to solicit investments from the public or operate in any other capacity within the Nigerian capital market.

“Investigations have revealed that Tofro’s operations exhibit the typical indicators of a fraudulent Ponzi scheme, including the promise of unusually high returns, heavy reliance on a referral system to sustain pay-outs and failure to honour withdrawal requests from subscribers.

“Accordingly, the public is strongly advised to be wary about investing with Tofro, as any person who places such investment with the entity, does so at his/her own risk.

“The Commission similarly reminds potential investors of the need to VERIFY the registration status of investment platforms via the Commission’s dedicated portal: www.sec.gov.ng/cmos before transacting with them.”

The Director-General of the commission, Emomotimi Agama, maintained that it is crucial that Nigerians understand the dangers of putting their hard-earned money into ventures that are not registered or regulated by SEC.

The United Kingdom has announced the resumption of its visa application services in Enugu.

This is coming months after its centre in the city was closed down.

Last November, the UK shut down its visa application centres (VACs) in Enugu and Port Harcourt following the launch of its largest facility in Lagos, operated by VFS Global.

At the time, VFS announced that Nigerians applying for UK visas would need to book appointments at VACs in Lagos or Abuja.

The now-reopened centres in Enugu and Port Harcourt were previously managed by TLScontact.

In an update on Wednesday, the British High Commission said visa application services have resumed in Enugu.

“Residents of Enugu, Nigeria, can now enjoy a smooth UK visa process from the comfort of our Premium Application Centre at Omedel Luxury Hotel,” VFS noted earlier.

The agency said applications can be submitted at the Omedel Luxury Hotel.

In Port Harcourt, applications are processed at Hotel Presidential, according to VFS.

The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade, has reacted to the controversy surrounding a video showing him seated while greeting the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, at a public event in Ibadan hosted by First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu.

The incident has sparked online debates after footage showed other monarchs rising to greet the Ooni while the Alaafin remained seated.

In a statement released by his Personal Assistant, Kolade Oladele, the Alaafin dismissed the uproar as a “needless controversy” driven by bloggers and online commentators intent on sowing division among Yoruba traditional rulers.

“This latest instalment in a series of manufactured debates is an unhelpful exercise that distracts and detracts from the truly important issues to which sons and daughters of Yorubaland should devote their energy,” the statement read.

Oba Owoade reaffirmed his respect for the Ooni and other Yoruba monarchs, stressing his commitment to unity, peace, and collaborative development across Yorubaland.

He also warned against turning royal engagements into “fodder for digital sensationalism.”

“We call on the public to reject attempts to sow seeds of discord and instead join us in reimagining a Yorubaland where our traditions serve as catalysts for progress,” the statement concluded.

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has assured Nigerian workers that their efforts would not be in vain.

Naija News reports that PDP, in its Workers Day message on its ? handle by its spokesman, Debo Ologunagba, commended Nigerian workers for remaining resilient amid economic hardship caused by All Progressives Congress (APC) policies.

PDP highlighted spiraling inflation, rising costs of living, declining purchasing power and unabated insecurity as challenges confronting workers at workplaces.

It read: “On this Workers’ Day 2025, we proudly salute the resilience, dedication, and indomitable spirit of Nigerian workers, the heartbeat of our nation’s progress.

“Your tireless efforts drive Nigeria’s economy, sustain our communities and inspire hope for a brighter future.

“We recognize the immense challenges you face in the workplace, the spiraling inflation, rising costs of living, declining purchasing power, unabated insecurity and increased hardship, due to the flip-flop policies of the failed All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.

“We stand in solidarity with you, as we continue to lead the charge in the patriotic effort ahead of 2027 to rescue our nation from the stranglehold of the APC. We assure that your labour will never be in vain.”

Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), has retrieved three official vehicles from the suspended Deputy Governor of the state, Prof. Ngozi Nma Odu.

However, the Rivers State Government has stated that the essence of the retrieval of the vehicles was to ensure protection of government property.

It was gathered that some military men, alleged to be naval operatives, and some state government officials stormed the Port Harcourt residence of Odu on the alleged order of the sole administrator.

It was further gathered that the military men who took over the residence of the suspended deputy governor later entered the compound and took away three vehicles.

Reacting to the development, Democracy Watch Nigeria described it as disturbing, noting that the military men arrived at the residence in a commando style and took away the vehicles.

The body, in a statement in Port Harcourt by its spokesperson, Elder Vincent Chimene Wopara, alleged that the sole administrator ordered the military men to carry out the act.

Wopara said: “In a disturbing show of force, the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), on Friday, 25 April, ordered naval personnel to storm the official residence of the Deputy Governor of Rivers State and forcibly remove three vehicles.

“The naval officers, acting on the direct instruction of the Sole Administrator, carried out the operation in a commando-style raid, taking away two Toyota Hilux vehicles and one Toyota Hiace bus. The brazen action took place in the early hours of the day and has since sparked widespread condemnation across the state.

“This development marks a new low in the ongoing disregard for due process and democratic norms under the current administration. The action is viewed by many observers as a targeted provocation, intended to intimidate and humiliate the office of the Deputy Governor, which remains a constitutionally recognised institution.

“We call on well-meaning Nigerians, civil society organisations, and the international community to take note of this growing trend of militarisation and impunity in Rivers State. It is imperative that those in positions of authority act within the bounds of the law and uphold the dignity of democratic institutions.”

Rivers Gov’t clarifies on retrieval of official vehicles

Meanwhile, the Rivers State Government has confirmed that it retrieved three vehicles from the residence of the suspended deputy governor but said the action was to ensure that government properties are safe and secured.

The government, in a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Sole Administrator, Hector Igbikiowubo, regretted that the action was twisted and politicised, questioning the motive of those bringing politics into the matter.

The statement questioned what the government vehicles were still doing in the residence of the Deputy Governor over one month after her suspension, adding that the move to recover government property should not be misconstrued as overreaching.

It read: “The Rivers State Government has noted with dismay the deliberate misrepresentation of the lawful retrieval of two Toyota Hilux vehicles and one Hiace bus from the premises of the suspended Deputy Governor.

“This routine administrative action, aimed at securing government property, has been twisted by political opportunists seeking to create unnecessary tension. We question the motives of those politicising this matter: What legitimate purpose did these vehicles serve in the suspended Deputy Governor’s premises over one month after the declaration of a state of emergency?

“The Rivers State Government maintains that the recovery of its assets cannot reasonably be construed as executive overreach. This administration remains committed to prudent management of public resources and will not be distracted by baseless allegations.

“We urge all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from testing the resolve of an administration that has demonstrated remarkable patience in the face of persistent provocation. The public is advised to disregard sensationalised accounts of this incident and focus instead on the government’s ongoing efforts to restore stability and good governance in Rivers State.”

Popular Nollywood actress, Chacha Eke, has announced separation from her husband and movie producer, Austin Faani.

Notably, in 2022, Chacha Eke and Austin Faani made headlines after she announced their separation, citing domestic violence, but later retracted her claim.

In a recent Instagram post, Chacha Eke opened up about personal struggles, including her mother’s passing, the loss of her child, and separation from Austin Faani, a relationship she had envisioned lasting forever.

Chacha Eke shared her perspective on love, asserting that without respect, love falters.

Furthermore, the actress opened up about facing struggles, heartbreaks, and disappointments head-on, while managing responsibilities, and triumphed.

Her post reads,“I’ve watched the life I built fall apart Infront of me and still got up the next morning to keep going. I’ve lost my parents suddenly to death, I’ve said goodbye to the man I thought would grow old beside me.Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it”.

Meanwhile, the announcement has sparked buzz online, prompting speculation amid queries over its legitimacy, citing previous announcement and retraction.

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Lagos during the 2023 general elections, Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, has explained his decision to return to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

During a visit to the APC state secretariat in Acme, Ikeja, Jandor was welcomed by the party’s executive council, led by State Chairman Cornelius Ojelabi.

He used the opportunity to express his willingness to support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election campaign in 2027 and suggested that he might again contest the Lagos governorship on the APC platform.

“This is not our declaration proper, this is just to come and formally inform you of our decision to return home and to the APC family. We are happy to come back to the winning family.

“We have come to join our numerical strength to that of the existing party strength to ensure that we keep winning for Nigerians.

“Our focus is to see how we can dismantle all the gang up in the name of coalition against Mr President and work to return back as President of Nigeria in 2027,” Jandor clarified.

Reflecting on his defection from the APC to the PDP in 2022, Jandor described the move as a calculated step to find space to prove his capacity.

“I’m a man of conviction,” he said. “I don’t just follow the crowd. Our departure from APC then was strategic. Now, we are back—not empty-handed but with political weight.”

He attributed his return to APC to the increasing political manoeuvres aimed at weakening President Tinubu’s prospects in 2027.

“There’s a Yoruba adage: ‘Omo eni o ni se idi bebere ka fi leke si idi omo elomiran’ – Charity begins at home. We must defend our own. Our priority is to ensure President Tinubu’s return in 2027. Every other matter is secondary,” he added.

While he has not formally declared for the next governorship race, Jandor stated that he remains open to contesting if the party supports his ambition.

“I’ve not pulled out of the governorship race. If the party gives us the ticket, we will take it and run with it. But whatever the party decides, we will abide.”

He reiterated his commitment to fully reintegrate into the APC, bringing back with him the same level of political relevance he had before his departure.

APC Chairman Cornelius Ojelabi, while welcoming Jandor back, described the move as timely and strategic for the party.

“All 20 local government and 37 LCDA chairmen were consulted before this reunion. The 2023 elections weren’t our best outing, and we must correct that in 2027,” Ojelabi stated. “With you back, we can erase that record and deliver across all levels.”

He acknowledged Jandor’s influence in Lagos politics and assured him of full reintegration.

“Asiwaju Tinubu has a forgiving spirit. Those who previously opposed him are often welcomed and integrated once they return. The door is open, and your step today is the right one.”

Vice Chairman Maiyegun Moshood also applauded Jandor’s return, saying it would help restore the essence of Lagos politics.

“You are passionate about Lagos. Your return strengthens the core of our party,” he noted.

Publicity Secretary of the party, Seye Oladejo, added that the PDP had been significantly weakened by Jandor’s defection.

“With this move, the PDP is left without a credible governorship candidate. The strength of their party has diminished,” he remarked.

The Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has said Nigeria would achieve its prosperity only with righ leadership.

Naija News reports that Governor Makinde urged citizens to change their mentality on leadership recruitment in the country.

He stated this at the grand finale of the Oyo State Youth Summit 2025, at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, on Wednesday.

Makinde faulted views that foreign powers were behind Nigeria’s economic challenges.

“Some people would talk about a conspiracy theory; that Nigeria is being held down by advanced countries, but we need to remember that some people over there who came here when the rich culture of the land had not been destroyed, they still say, Oh, we went to Nigeria then and it was the best place in the world to live.

“Nigeria’s right to prosperity is achievable, so the right mentality is that we must rise,” he said.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governor stated that immediately Nigeria gets leadership right, everything would change.

“Once we get our structure and leadership right, when we have leaders who see the potential in the country, then see the need for the country to focus more on education and other opportunities,” he stated.

Governor Makinde also urged youths to embrace opportunities that abound in the country through entrepreneurship.

“We must not be taken unaware; we must be well-informed and lean towards entrepreneurship,” he urged.

He assured Oyo State youths that his administration would continue to support them to unlock their potential.

He emphasised that entrepreneurship, education and intensive production would lead to economic prosperity in Nigeria, with right leadership.

Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, on Wednesday, condemned a statement credited to the immediate-past governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, to the effect that he “regrets” accepting to be presidential running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2023. 

Frank, in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday,
said even though he was of the opinion that Okowa might have been misquoted, the fact that the former Delta governor has not debunked the claim after over 24 hours showed that he has owned up to it. 

He said it was, therefore, necessary to set the records straight in order not to distort history or mislead Nigerians concerning how Okowa emerged as running mate to Atiku in 2023.

He said Okowa’s position was an “afterthought” since he was not only desperate to be running mate but fought, begged and lobbied for the position.

“It is understandable that Okowa is fighting the battle of his life to evade prosecution by the EFCC over corruption allegations against him, but to make Nigerians believe that he now “regrets” taking up the position of vice Presidential candidate of the PDP in 2023 is not only an an afterthought but cowardice in full bloom.

“We know how Okowa begged, fought and lobbied to get the position,” he said. 

He equally described Okowa as a serial liar and betrayer, saying his recent defection to the APC has shown him as not only a highly unstable character who suffers from gross integrity deficit but principally driven by parochial survival instincts.

He said rather than Okowa claiming to be regretful, the PDP should rather curse the day it was deceived by Okowa’s armada of lobbyists to invest part of its destiny in a politically hollow and an unfruitful and unprofitable character.

Frank said: “This is not Okowa’s first attempt as a high-level betrayal. The tale of how he stabbed ex-GovernorJames Ibori, his erstwhile godfather, in the back because of power is still fresh in our memory.

“Many of us know how Okowa emerged as Vice Presidential candidate which he was not meant to be because few of us never wanted him because we believed he did not have the capacity and experience to become vice president.

“I’m one of those who felt strongly that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, was a better candidate than Okowa as at that time. But because of the interest of some leaders and elders of PDP at that time, who at Okowa’s bidding unknown to many lobbied and pressurized Atiku to pick him.

“Therefore, Okowa lacks rectitude to play victim or feign regret over a job and position he desperately wanted.

“We are still of the opinion that if Wike had emerged in place of Okowa in 2023 as running mate to Atiku, perhaps PDP would be in government at the national level today but we lost out apparently because of the choice of this ungrateful Okowa who never brought real value or political capital to the table.

“Even as a sitting governor and a vice-presidential candidate, his party, PDP, lost Delta state during the last presidential election and because of his emptiness and lack of electoral value his present voyage would equally not benefit the APC.

“I dare say that with his lack of capacity and value, Okowa would remain a liability because even with him in APC, the party would still lose Delta state in 2027 like PDP did in 2023 with Okowa was a sitting governor.”

Frank, who is the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Ambassador to East Africa and Middle East, said with the desperation of President Tinubu to remain in office in 2027, APC will accept even criminals into its fold.

“With the likes of Okowa joining APC, it shows the party is now a dumping ground for looters. Okowa did not join the APC because he believed Asiwaju has delivered or that the party is working but because of his atrocities now being investigated by the EFCC.

“However, Nigerians and the international community will watch if the anti-graft agency will soft pedal on his go probe because he is now singing: ‘Tinubu, On Your Mandate We Shall Stand,’” he added.

Frank said Atiku did not have any incline of Okowa’s unreliableness when he picked him, adding that the choice affected Turaki’s long standing relationship with James Ibori, who had advised im against the person of Okowa.

“In fact, Atiku did not know that behind Okowa’s calm mien lies a betrayer and an ingrate. It is only God and posterity that will judge Okowa at the end of the day for making Atiku lose the 2023 presidential election because of his unpopularity,” he declared.

He claimed that neither Atiku nor the PDP would miss Okowa now that he is in APC with his former godson and now Governor of Delta State, Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, whom he practically begged and coaxed to go with him into the APC.

The Court of Appeal sitting in Calabar, Cross River State, has upheld the conviction and three-year prison sentence of Professor Peter Ogban, a University of Calabar (UNICAL) academic, for electoral fraud in the 2019 Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District election, in favour of a former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and current Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

In a landmark ruling delivered on Wednesday, the appellate court affirmed the earlier judgement of the Akwa Ibom High Court in Ikot Ekpene, which found Professor Ogban guilty of manipulating and announcing falsified election results. The court condemned his conduct in strong terms, citing the grave implications of such acts by someone entrusted with safeguarding the integrity of the electoral process. 

Professor Ogban, a renowned professor of Soil Physics, served as the returning officer for the 2019 senatorial election in Akwa Ibom North-West. Investigations by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) revealed that he altered the final results to inflate Akpabio’s vote count at the expense of his main opponent, Senator Christopher Ekpenyong of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who eventually won the election as Akpabio lost his re-election bid.

Despite the ruling, Akpabio has consistently denied any involvement in the electoral malpractice.

The conviction followed a rigorous investigation led by the then Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of INEC in Akwa Ibom State, Barrister Mike Igini. Under his leadership, the commission pursued the prosecution of two university professors, Ogban and Ignatius Uduk, for their roles in election result manipulation during the 2019 general election.

Similarly, earlier this year in February, the Akwa Ibom State High Court in Uyo sentenced Professor Ignatius Uduk of the University of Uyo to three years in prison for perjury and the publication of false election results. Uduk served as the returning officer for the Essien Udim State Constituency election in 2019. 

In addition to the prison term, Uduk was fined N100,000.

His case, first initiated in December 2020 after a warrant for his arrest was issued, faced multiple delays including a change of counsel, his collapse in the courtroom during cross-examination, and a dramatic request that the presiding judge recuse himself on grounds of alleged bias. Ironically, after the case was reassigned, it returned to the same judge for continuation.

LEADERSHIP reports that Akpabio, however, returned to the Senate in 2023 and eventually become the Senate President.