General News
2027: Any Northerner seeking presidency enemy of North- Akume
Abubakar Kabir
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume has declared that any Northerner seeking to contest the 2027 presidential election is an enemy of the North, insisting that President Bola Tinubu remains the right candidate to lead Nigeria beyond 2027.
Akume urged Northerners to support Tinubu’s re-election bid and wait until 2031 before seeking to reclaim the presidency, warning that individual political ambitions should not undermine the region’s collective interests.
The SGF spoke Saturday in Kaduna during a pre-campaign meeting with Benue State indigenes resident in the state, where he called for unity and support for Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general election.
“Anybody who is from the North and running for the presidency is an enemy of the North. Don’t allow that pretender to deceive you. It is not yet our turn. The North’s turn is in 2031. Prepare to vote for Tinubu,” Akume said.
He warned against allowing personal political ambitions to threaten national unity, arguing that the North should prioritise the power rotation arrangement between the northern and southern regions.
“Do not allow anyone to destroy the country because of a vaunting personal ambition,” he said, adding that Tinubu had been fair to Nigerians in federal appointments and had not favoured one religion over another.
Akume also criticised an unnamed presidential aspirant over what he described as inconsistent positions on fuel subsidy removal, insisting that Tinubu remained the best option for the 2027 election.
“Let nobody deceive you, Asiwaju loves Benue, and he has displayed that in the number of significant projects the Federal Government is carrying out simultaneously in the state,” the SGF said.
He identified healthcare, roads and education as sectors benefiting from federal government interventions in Benue, adding that similar projects were being implemented across the country.
He also claimed that more than 65 per cent of NELFUND funds accessed had gone to beneficiaries from the North.
The former Benue governor recalled that Kaduna was where political leaders agreed on power rotation between the North and South, describing the arrangement as essential to national unity and Nigeria’s territorial integrity.
“Remember that it was in this same Kaduna State that we agreed on power rotation between the North and the South. We agreed on power shift, and that is what has kept this country going,” he said.
Akume praised Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani for his leadership and urged Benue indigenes resident in the state to support his re-election, while stressing the importance of leadership that accommodates different ethnic and religious groups.
“If Asiwaju was not a good leader, I would not tell you otherwise. Your governor is a good man, and he has done well for this state. Let us return him to power too,” Akume said.
Those who accompanied the SGF to the meeting included former Jigawa State Governor Saminu Turaki, former Minister of Women Affairs Pauline Tallen, Senator Abu Ibrahim, Minister of Water Resources Joseph Utsev and Minister of Steel Development Shuaibu Abubakar Audu.
General News
Military kills 15 terrorists in Borno air strike
Our Reporter
The Joint Task Force (North East), Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK), has recorded another operational success with the neutralisation of 15 terrorists in a precision air strike north-west of Pulka in Gwoza LGA of Borno State.
A statement by the Acting Military Information Officer, Headquarters Joint Task Force (North East) Operation HADIN KAI, Captain Mohammed Goni, on Saturday, noted that the operation was conducted at about 11:50 p.m. on 23 October 2026, following credible intelligence and confirmed sightings of terrorist movements in the general area of Pulka.
According to the statement, the precision strike was subsequently followed by ground operations to exploit the area and consolidate the operational gains.
General News
Mbah urges youths to embrace acquire relevant skills
Our Reporter
The Governor of Enugu State Barr. Peter Mbah have charged the youth in Enugu State to embrace innovation, develop their knowledge, acquire relevant skills and also see themselves as participants in building the future.
Mbah disclosed this in his keynote address at the 20th anniversary of the pleasant gathering international, 2026 public symposium with theme “,Building sustainable communities through leadership, service and innovation”.
Gov Mbah represented by the Commissioner for youth and Sports Enugu State Barr Lloyd Ekweremmadu, emphasized that Enugu State government recognized that a sustainable development must be given to the youth, that is why the administration invested in schools, teachers, technology and experiential learning.
He pointed that the most general infrastructure any society can build is in human capacity of his people. According to him “The New experiential learning that is been put in place is to ensure that young people are not just embarking on having certificate but learning in a way that they will be impactful in the society.
“Education in Enugu today, is to help the young ones to think, create, innovate, solve problems and be productive to the society. Our aspirations must be to raise a generation of young people who are not merely consumers of what others created, but who possesses confidence and knowledge to create solutions in a world that we live.
“Our young ones should not be treated merely as beneficiaries, waiting for government or societies to provide opportunities for them. They should be recognized as products of development, innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders in their world,” he said.
He however encourage the convener of pleasant gathering international to remain committed to young people, continue building partnership and translate their vision into measurable impact.
A federal high court Justice in Enugu State, Hon Justice Mabel Seun-Bello speaking on “leadership, accountability and transparency” advice youth to first of all discover their potentials and develop it.
She encouraged them to have confidence in their potentials, saying that confidence breeds competent. She noted that leadership means someone building himself or herself. According to her. “A leader cannot build others when he or she is not built. You cannot build institutions, when you are not contended to be built. You cannot transform organisation, if you are unwilling to be transformed.
“Personal success breeds public success. For someone to succeed in life, it requires personal transitions, which includes, identifying your potentials, personal success, by focusing in building that potentials you have discovered, specialisation on your potentials and purposeful impact.
The president of the Pleasant gathering international, Barr Joy Ogbonnaya earlier in an interview with Journalists said that her passion as the convener of pleasant gathering international is to impact and bring massive transformation among the youth and they have not failed. It is seen in the life of the youth in the state and beyond.
According to her, “Pleasant gathering international is an international partnership organization in consultative statutory with the United Nations. In this 20th anniversary, the public symposium is aimed at building community leadership, services and innovation. Which is actually what has kept us in the view.
“If we are able to raise youths who are fully focused with purpose, then we are getting closer to have a better leadership, if not the best,” she said. However she called on individuals, government, health professionals, employers, training institutions and donors to support, heip and shape the young ones and the communities.
General News
Induction: IG suspends training of reinstated officers
Our Reporter
The Inspector-General of Police has ordered the immediate suspension of the ongoing six-month induction course for reinstated senior police officers following a ruling by the National Industrial Court.
The directive, contained in a police wireless message dated September 25, 2026, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent on Friday, ordered the affected officers to vacate the training premises at the Police Staff College, Jos, with their personal effects.
The message, addressed to the Police Staff College, Jos, and the National Institute of Police Studies in Abuja, and copied to the office of the Inspector-General of Police, stated that the suspension was in compliance with a recent court judgment.
“INGENPOL directs you to temporarily suspend ongoing six-month induction course for reinstated senior officers,” the message partly read.
“All course participants to vacate premises with their personal effects with immediate effect.”
The order followed a ruling delivered by Justice Buhari Sani of the National Industrial Court, Abuja, on September 28, 2026, in suit number NICN/KN/51/2026, filed by the Advocacy for Human Rights and Cultural Values for Development Initiatives against the Inspector-General of Police and five others.
In the ruling, obtained by our correspondent on Friday, the court set aside an ex parte order it had granted on September 22, which restrained the police authorities and the Police Service Commission from implementing the reinstatement of Cadet Assistant Superintendents of Police from Courses 18, 19 and 20.
The court also struck out the motion ex parte dated September 18, describing it as lacking merit and constituting an abuse of court process.
Justice Sani said the earlier order was granted on a “misapprehension of the true state of affairs” and following the applicant’s failure to disclose material facts concerning an existing judgment on the reinstatement of the officers.
The judge explained that the decision being challenged was not merely an administrative action but the subject of a subsisting judgment of the National Industrial Court in suit number NICN/ABJ/28/2025, which had been affirmed by the Court of Appeal.
“The presence of a subsisting judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction fundamentally alters the legal landscape,” the judge held.
He added that where a decision being challenged was the execution of a valid and subsisting judgment, the court could not restrain its implementation as though it were an unlawful administrative act.
“The real urgency contemplated by law was therefore absent,” the judge said, adding that the applicant had failed to establish that the subject matter of the suit was at risk of destruction.
The court further held that the applicant was under an obligation to make full and frank disclosure of all relevant facts when seeking an ex parte order.
“The failure of the applicant to disclose the existence of the judgment in Suit No. NICN/ABJ/28/2025 and its affirmation by the Court of Appeal is a material non-disclosure that strikes at the heart of the ex parte order,” the judge ruled.
The reinstatement of the affected officers followed an earlier judgment concerning the regularisation of their dates of first appointment and the application of Section 18(8) of the Police Act, 2020, which addresses the maximum years of service and retirement age of police personnel.
In a letter dated July 31, 2026, the Force Secretary, Assistant Inspector-General of Police Bode Akinbamilowo, conveyed the Police Service Commission’s decision on the regularisation of the dates of first appointment of Assistant Superintendents of Police and inspectors who entered the Force through the cadet system.
The letter stated that the affected officers had previously been retired following a Police Service Commission decision in January 2025 but had their retirements reversed in compliance with the National Industrial Court’s judgment in suit number NICN/ABJ/28/2025.
The Inspector-General subsequently directed the affected officers to report to the Police Staff College, Jos, for a six-month induction course.
The list of affected officers attached to the July 31, 2026, letter included Assistant Inspector-General of Police Owohunwa Idowu and AIG Benneth Chinedu Igwe, both of Cadet ASP Course 19 of 1996, as well as Deputy Commissioner of Police Simon Asamber Lough of Course 20 of 2000.
The officers were among those previously retired but reinstated following the judgment of the National Industrial Court in suit number NICN/ABJ/28/2025.
According to the annexure, Owohunwa was born on July 20, 1970, and appointed into the Force on August 15, 1996, while Igwe was born on October 7, 1968, and appointed on the same date.
Lough was born on May 14, 1969, and appointed on May 1, 2000. The document listed their retirement dates by age and length of service, respectively, as July 20, 2030, and August 15, 2031, for Owohunwa; October 7, 2028, and August 15, 2031, for Igwe; and May 14, 2029, and May 1, 2035, for Lough.
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