The prosecution of the high-profile Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project case suffered a significant setback on Monday after the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court halted proceedings, citing procedural shortcomings by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The development forced the court to adjourn the case for nearly three months after the defence successfully argued that the anti-graft agency failed to comply with established legal procedures before attempting to tender fresh evidence and call a key witness. The EFCC’s lead counsel, Abba Mohammed, SAN, told the court that the prosecution had only filed its 11th proof of evidence on the…
Author: National Update
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has criticised the Federal High Court’s decision awarding N140 million in costs against members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as well as N10 million against their counsel, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, warning that such heavy financial sanctions could discourage citizens from seeking judicial redress. In a statement issued on Tuesday by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, the rights group said although courts have the constitutional discretion to award costs, such powers should be exercised in a manner that preserves public confidence in the…
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has commended the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, and personnel of the Nigerian Army for recent counter-terrorism successes, urging the military to sustain joint operations and uphold professionalism in the ongoing fight against insecurity. In a statement issued on Monday by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, the civil rights organisation particularly praised troops of Operation HADIN KAI and the Nigeria Police Mobile Force (MOPOL) for thwarting an attempted mass abduction at the Federal Government Girls College, Monguno, Borno State, where 46 students were rescued from suspected ISWAP…
Proceedings in the criminal trial of former National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Shehu Musa Gabam, were halted on Monday after the trial court failed to sit, forcing an adjournment to August 17, 2026, and delaying the presentation of banking records the prosecution considers critical to its case. The adjournment came at a stage when officials of Zenith Bank, subpoenaed by the court, were expected to tender statements of the SDP’s bank accounts in the trial involving allegations of criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of party funds and other financial offences against Gabam and his co-defendants. Reacting to…
Four police officers attached to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command have been arrested for allegedly extorting ₦53,000 from the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr. Musa Aliyu (SAN), at an illegal checkpoint in Abuja. The officers were reportedly apprehended after they mounted an unauthorised checkpoint around the Banex Plaza area in Wuse II, where they allegedly stopped motorists to extort money under the guise of routine stop-and-search operations. According to the FCT Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Sanusi, the officers abandoned their official duty posts to operate what he described as an…
***Lawmakers fault slow budget implementation, seek fiscal reforms The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, on Monday pushed back against widespread claims that President Bola Tinubu’s administration had borrowed about ₦80 trillion, telling senators that the sharp rise in Nigeria’s public debt was driven largely by exchange rate movements, inherited obligations and accounting adjustments rather than fresh loans. Appearing before the Senate Committee on Finance during a high-level review of the nation’s fiscal performance, Oyedele said the country’s debt profile had been widely misrepresented, arguing that many Nigerians mistakenly equate the increase in…
The Senate’s Chief Whip, Senator Tahir Monguno, has raised concerns over the Federal Government’s poor budget implementation despite improved revenue generation, warning that failure to execute an Appropriation Act amounts to a breach of the law and could constitute “an impeachable offence.” Monguno spoke during a Senate engagement with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, and other top economic officials, where lawmakers scrutinised the implementation of recent budgets and the country’s fiscal performance. The senator questioned why government spending had remained sluggish despite reports from revenue-generating agencies indicating that most had surpassed their revenue…
By Lamara Garba Former Vice-Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, Professor Sagir Adamu Abbas, has called for a fundamental shift in efforts to tackle the growing number of out-of-school children in Northern Nigeria, warning that the crisis now poses a grave threat to the region’s security, economic prosperity and future development. Speaking at a one-day roundtable conference organised by Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Professor Abbas said the challenge had outgrown the education sector and should now be treated as a national development emergency requiring coordinated action from governments, traditional and religious institutions, universities, civil society organisations, development partners and local…
By Lemmy Ughegbe, Ph.D The warning came before the server failed. Long before thousands of lawyers attempted to log on to participate in the Nigerian Bar Association’s 2026 national election, warning signs had begun to emerge. Litigation was pending. Constitutional questions had been raised. Allegations affecting confidence in the neutrality of aspects of the electoral process had become matters of public discussion. Senior members of the Bar openly expressed concern that unless those issues were addressed, the credibility of the election itself could come under scrutiny. It was against that backdrop that the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister…
Tension is mounting in Ingle Edumoga Community of Ingle/Okpale Ward, Okpokwu Local Government Area of Benue State, as elders and youths have petitioned Governor Hyacinth Alia over the planned appointment of a new District Head, alleging a violation of the traditional rotational arrangement. The stakeholders, who insist it is the turn of Ingle Edumoga to produce the next District Head of Edumoga Chiefdom, accused the Ad’Okpokwu, Chief James Okefe, of attempting to sidestep the long-standing zoning principle by backing a candidate from another ward. In a three-page petition addressed to Governor Alia and copied to traditional and political leaders in…