Headlines
Ambassador Warns Stranded Nigerian Students Against Attacking Embassy Staff
The Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of Sudan, Safiu Olaniyan, has decried the glitches in the efforts to evacuate Nigerians, including students, trapped in Sudan amid the ongoing insurrection in the country.
The envoy, who lamented that Nigerian students have been left stranded on Sudan streets, however, appealed for calm, explaining that the Nigerian embassy in Sudan was not in charge of hiring buses for evacuating the students.
He added that the stranded students were not alone facing hardship, as embassy officials were also impacted by the hardship occasioned by the fight in Sudan.
Olaniyan stated this while reacting to complaints and allegations levelled against the embassy.
In a voice note posted on NiDCOM Situation Room on Sunday, the ambassador clarified that the Ministry of Disaster and Humanitarian Affairs, as well as the National Emergency Management Agency, were in charge of the buses.
Olaniyan said “Good afternoon my fellow Nigerians. My name is Ambassador Olaniyan. I am reaching out to you at this point on the issue of buses that are creating tension everywhere.
“I just want to let you know that the embassy is not in charge of the bus contracts. We have not received any money from anybody to hire buses. We are arranging the logistics.
“Those who are arranging the buses are the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs in Nigeria, as well as NEMA. So, ours is to get the necessary instructions that this and this has been arranged and we just give instructions to the students to meet at so-and-so place and that is what we have been doing.”
The envoy lamented that the embassy officials were also without food, water, and light just like trapped Nigerians, assuring parents and students that the officials were fully on the ground in Khartoum, to ensure their evacuation.
The ambassador added, “The present arrangement that appears to have broken down was also coordinated in Nigeria. We are in contact with them to correct whatever is wrong with the contract because students cannot continue living on the streets. I want to assure you that we are as vulnerable as you are and will not leave until all of you have been moved to safety and to Nigeria.
“And so, I am urging you not to take any action like I am hearing that you are planning to attack the family of officers. The officers and I are all as vulnerable as you are. We have no food like you, we have no water like you; we have no light like you. It is not like we are living in a different world. This is war, and it is not tourism.
“So, what you are experiencing is also what we are experiencing. But I am assuring you that everything that needs to be done is being done. And within a very short time, the issues will be resolved.”
On the efforts made so far by the Nigerian government to ensure that the Egyptian authorities allow Nigerians fleeing Sudan to pass through their country, Olaniyan added, “With regards to those who are on the border of Egypt, the issue is for security clearance to be issued for the evacuees to be able to able to move across the border into the Egyptian border.
“All that needs to be contacted in Nigeria are being contacted for them to contact their counterparts in Egypt for this clearance to be issued. It is unfortunate that it has not been issued, but within a very short time, all this would be in the past.
“Once again, I urge you to be calm and await the necessary development. Nobody is sleeping. We know you are there because we are also here, and we are not going to leave you to your faith. We are in this together and we are not leaving until you have all left for safety and to Nigeria.
“So, we are all waiting for the action of the humanitarian ministry as well as NEMA in respect of the buses, and we are also waiting for the action of the authorities of Nigeria and Egypt in respect of the clearance that’s required to move the buses across the border.”
The Punch
The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno, says he has concluded plans to join the All Progressives Congress (APC) in no distant time.
He has reportedly mandated his commissioners and other appointees to either join him in the APC or resign if they are not comfortable with his decision.
A Government House source, who confirmed the development, said the governor broke the news during the State Executive Council meeting on Thursday.
The source, who pleaded anonymity, said Governor Eno warned his appointees that he had nothing to negotiate with them other than for them to follow him or leave.
The governor was quoted as saying, “Anybody who claims he is not aware of my intention to leave the PDP is still living in the 18th century.
“Apart from elected officials like House of Assembly members and Local Government Chairmen, I have nothing to negotiate with you.
“Let me tell you, anybody who believes that when I leave the PDP he will use the party structure to fight me is lying, because I will still control the PDP structure.”
Eno disclosed that he is in love with the leadership style of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu and, as such, would like to align with him.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman in the state, Aniekan Akpan, could not confirm the development at the time of filing this report, as his lines were busy. However, the Director of the APC Media Network, Mr. Iniobong John, confirmed the news to journalists.
John said, “It is no longer a rumour. I think there are some confirmations that the governor is defecting to the APC. Though unofficial, I can confirm that the governor is joining our party sooner or later. No official date has been confirmed yet, but all plans have been perfected for his defection to our party.”
He described the proposed defection as great news for the APC in the state and for Akwa Ibom in general, adding that the state would now be better connected to the national power center.
Daily Post
The All Progressives Congress has endorsed President Bola Tinubu as its flag bearer in the 2027 presidential elections.
The Party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, announced this on Thursday, on behalf of its National Working Committee, at its National Summit held at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja.
The endorsement came hours after APC governors and lawmakers cast a vote of confidence on the president and endorsed him for a second term.
The Federal Government has filed a criminal suit against the senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, over comments she made on national television that were allegedly deemed defamatory.
The case, marked CR/297/25, was filed on May 16, 2025, before the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, with Akpoti-Uduaghan listed as the sole defendant.
According to court documents, the government is charging the senator under Section 391 of the Penal Code (Cap 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990) for allegedly “making imputation knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm the reputation of a person.”
The said comments were allegedly made during a live broadcast of Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on April 3, 2025, where Akpoti-Uduaghan was said to have criticised unnamed individuals in a manner the government claimed was defamatory.
Count two of the charges accused Akpoti-Uduaghan of “making an imputation knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm the reputation of a person, contrary to Section 391 of the Penal Code Law, Cap. 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990, and punishable under Section 392 of the same Law.
“That you, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, on or about the 3rd day of April 2025, during the same Politics Today programme on Channels Television in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, made the following imputation concerning Yahaya Adoza Bello, former Governor of Kogi State.
“It was part of the meeting, the discussions that Akpabio had with Yahaya Bello that night to eliminate me. When he met with him, he then emphasised that I should be killed, but I should be killed in Kogi.
“You knew or had reason to believe that such imputations would harm the reputation of Yahaya Adoza Bello, former Governor of Kogi State”, the charge added.
Among the witnesses lined up to testify include Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State governor Yahaya Bello, who are identified in court filings as the nominal complainants.
Other witnesses listed include Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong, Sandra Duru, and police investigators Maya Iliya and Abdulhafiz Garba, who were involved in probing the matter.
The former Kogi governor had in April, petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), accusing Akpoti-Uduaghan, of making defamatory statements against him.
The former Kogi governor alleged that during a homecoming event on April 1, 2025, in Okehi Local Government Area, the female lawmaker ‘maliciously’ defamed him and accused him of being involved in an assassination plot.
The case comes amid ongoing political tensions surrounding Akpoti-Uduaghan, who was suspended from the Senate earlier this year. Her suspension sparked widespread criticism and allegations of political persecution.
Akpoti-Uduaghan had accused Akpabio of targeting her after she rejected his alleged sexual advances, claiming that her suspension was orchestrated to silence her.
She made the allegations following the altercation over sitting arrangement in the Senate Chamber that led to Akpabio ordering the sergeant-at-arms to eject her from the chamber when she rejected the seat offered to her.
She is challenging her suspension at the Federal High Court, where the hearing has been scheduled for June 27.
Source: ICIR
