ONE WORD

A United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago, has sentenced Olalekan Jacob Ponle, a.ka. Mr Woodberry, to eight years and three months in prison for multimillion-dollar fraud. A federal judge, Robert Gettleman convicted Ponle on July 11, and he is to be deported to Nigeria after serving his jail term, according to court documents. “The defendant is hereby committed to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons to be imprisoned for a total term of 100 months as to count,” Gettleman said. Mr Woodberry sentenced to eight years imprisonment in US, to be deported to Nigeria Mr Woodberry was sentenced after being found guilty of one count of fraud. Seven other counts were dismissed following a plea bargain in April this year. The judge ordered the convict to submit himself to the U.S. Marshal Service for onward transfer to the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, where he would be allowed visit from family members, especially his Ameri...

The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Mr. Julius Abure, has urged members of the party to be alert, following information available to him that the All Progressives Congress, APC, was already preparing for a possible re-run of the 2023 presidential election. This, he explained, was because the ruling party was aware the tide was heavily tilted against it in the ongoing legal challenge to the presidential election results as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Abure said this during an online meeting held with Nigerian-American Coalition for Justice and Democracy, led by Professor Eddie Oparaoji, the Labour Party Diaspora Chairman in the United States, in Abuja yesterday. Acting National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh, in a statement quoted Abure as calling on the over 10 million members of the party to be “on the alert and get ready to further humiliate APC and its government in the polls if their sinister plot fails to materialize.” He ...

In what could be described as a major breakthrough in the fight against crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region, Tantita security outfit which is a private security outfit owned by Former militant leader High Chief Government Ekpemupolo alias TOMPOLO have arrested an oil vessel christened MT TURA 2, and twelve suspects in the border waterways between Delta and Ondo state. The arrest of the vessel and suspects which also had the support of the Joint Task Force operation Delta safe , is part of the synergy and charge by the federal government, in reducing crude oil theft to the barest minimum level. The arrest of the vessel notorious for criminal activities since 2016 despite changing it's original name from ALI, which is a Turkish name to MT-TURA 2 according to the director of TANTITA operations, was as a result of intelligence gathering. On his part, the commander JTF operation Delta safe hails the synergy between TANTITA and the military One of the arrested twelve suspects who i...

As the jostle for ministerial list reaches the home stretch, there are strong indications that no fewer than five former governors will feature in the president’s list of nominees that is heading to the Senate for approval between now and next week. The unusual list, already dubbed the ‘cabinet of (political) unity’, will have nominees drawn from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and many technocrats. President Bola Tinubu’s handshake across party lines has already elicited contests and intrigues in political camps over choice of suitable representatives in some of the key states. But there may be enough slots to go round sought-after persons. The Guardian learnt that barring last minute change, the cabinet will be as bloated as what former President Muhammadu Buhari had, but with major realignments in portfolios. The President has less than 20 days left out of the 60 allowed by the Constitution for him to send his list of Ministers to the Senat...

  President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been chosen to lead the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as its next chairman. The choice was made on Sunday in Bissau, the capital of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, at the group’s 63rd Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community. Bayo Onanuga, the president’s communications advisor, revealed this in a tweet on his official account on Sunday. The President left the county on Saturday ahead event. The tweet reads: “Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will become the new ECOWAS chairman today, succeeding President Umaro Embalo of Guinea Bissau, who became chairman 4 July 2022, at the 61st summit in Accra. “Tinubu’s leadership will be announced in Bissau today at the 63rd Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).” President Tinubu would be introduced during the current ECOWAS leadership su...

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has called out some Nigerians for supporting Mmesoma against the board. JAMB said that the findings of the Anambra State Government’s Commission of Inquiry vindicated its stance. This was disclosed in a statement made available to journalists by the board’s Acting Director, Public Affairs and Protocol, Dr Fabian Benjamin, in Abuja on Saturday. Benjamin said that the report had further reinforced the board’s position that its system is not and cannot be compromised. ” Therefore, we will not despair despite the painful realisation that some Nigerians would do anything to cast aspersions on the good name of the board. ” However, in spite of all the posturing of its detractors, the board remains resolute and uncompromising in its commitment to give Nigeria the best as far as credible and fair assessment is concerned,” he said. Going further, Benjamin said some people desire JAMB’s fall. His words: “For the benefit of those who are still d...

  Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos has given Amazon a 14-day ultimatum to remove the Eyo masquerade from the movie ‘Gangs of Lagos’. The movie, which was directed by Jade Osiberu, was released to the pubic via Amazon’s Prime Video on April 7 ‘Gangs of Lagos’ tells the story of a group of friends forced to navigate the hardship of growing up on the streets of Lagos. The Eyo masquerade, unique to the Lagos neighbourhood of Isale Eko, has drawn criticism from the public for being portrayed in the movie as being worn by a group of murderers. Irate indigenes have also questioned the film’s portrayal of Isale Eko as a den of criminals. As a result, the Isale Eko Descendants Union (IDU) filed a lawsuit against Amazon and the film’s producers. The union is demanding ₦10 billion in damages. The Oba of Lagos, while wading in on the matter said the Eyo was illegally represented in the movie and as such damaged the reputation of the brand. He also alleging that it violated the rights of the indigeno...