Headlines
Aso Rock’s Staff Led to Swear to Secrecy
The Permanent Secretary, State House, Tijjani Umar, has cautioned members of staff against divulging classified and unauthorised information.
Mr Umar handed down this warning on Tuesday in Abuja during the administration of oath of secrecy to some members of staff of the State House.
No fewer than 42 members of staff took the oath which was administered by Justice Hamza Muazu of the FCT High Court.
The permanent secretary warned that such unauthorised disclosure was a breach of the law and would attract ‘consequences’.
“I want to begin my remarks by saying that this exercise for me is the beginning of doing what is right in our respective offices.
“Breach of classified information and documents is inimical to the delivery of service.
“Therefore, we found it necessary to assist this segment of staff who are directly dealing with classified information.
“This is a very peculiar environment and, therefore, it is important to us to remind them about their duties, their oaths, their responsibilities in all those things they are handling and then the consequences of mishandling such kind of responsibilities,’’ he said.
According to Mr Umar, “those taking the oath are staff of the C-in-C Secretariat; that is, Secretariat of the President; staff from the Registry of the Vice President, staff from the Registry of Chief of Staff to the President and the staff of the Registry of the Permanent Secretary.”
He said that others were staff of the Secret Registry of the State House and the Open Registry.
“Cumulatively, these members of staff are the ones that from day to day handle some of the most sensitive information going back and forth in our offices and in our environment.
“It is very important to us to discharge our responsibility and our obligations and to let them understand that we are going to apply the rules.
“Government as an institution is held together by laws, by rules and by regulations and those laws, rules and regulations are there to be respected, to be enforced and any breach of that will always carry a consequence.”
He said an earlier lecture “was to properly sensitise the members of staff to official secrets laws and regulations and how to avoid deliberate breach of classified information”.
Mr Umar said the exercise would be continuous and expressed delight that “so far the State House had not recorded any breach of information.”
“We have not had any breach; we don’t anticipate having any breach.
“But then, it is our duty to let them understand that if there is any, there will be consequences after investigations and that also includes after they have retired from the civil service,’’ he said.
Earlier in his remark, the Director, Special Duties, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Tukur Yahaya, said the essence of the event was to ensure the safety and security of government information, documents and facilities.
He said “secrecy was binding on every government official”.
The oath taking featured a lecture on the Official Secret Act which focused on patriotism, passion, truthfulness, integrity, loyalty, reliability dedication to duty among others from government officials.
State House Counsel Geraldine Longsten also attended the exercise which was held at the State House Auditorium.
(NAN)
British Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Keir Starmer on Monday announced his resignation, bringing an abrupt end to a premiership that began with Labour’s landslide general election victory in July 2024.
Starmer made the announcement in a statement outside 10 Downing Street, where he reflected on his time in office and defended his record in government.
“Every decision I have made has been about putting the country I love first,” Starmer said as he confirmed he would step down as both prime minister and leader of the governing Labour Party.
The resignation marks a dramatic political development in the United Kingdom, coming barely two years after Starmer led Labour back to power following more than a decade in opposition.
His departure is expected to trigger a swift leadership transition within the party at a time of heightened political uncertainty.
Addressing supporters gathered outside Downing Street, Starmer described entering No. 10 in 2024 as “the proudest moment” of his life, saying he entered politics with the goal of improving the lives of millions of people.
The outgoing prime minister also highlighted what he considered some of his key achievements, including rebuilding the Labour Party after years of internal divisions and restoring public confidence in the party’s economic and national security credentials.
Starmer said he inherited a Labour Party that was “politically, financially and morally bankrupt” and faced repeated predictions that it was finished as a political force.
He argued that his leadership helped transform the party, including efforts to tackle anti-Semitism and reposition Labour as a credible alternative government.
His resignation has immediately intensified speculation over his successor. Attention has turned to Andy Burnham, who recently won the Makerfield by-election and is due to be sworn in as a Member of Parliament.
Political observers and Labour insiders believe Burnham could emerge as the overwhelming favourite to take over the party leadership. Some party members are already discussing the possibility of a “coronation” process in which Burnham becomes the sole candidate, avoiding a prolonged leadership contest.
If that scenario unfolds, Labour could have a new leader and prime minister in place by September, around the time of the party’s annual conference.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Biodun Oyebanji, winner of the 2026 Ekiti State governorship election.
Oyebanji secured a landslide victory, polling 319,224 votes to defeat his closest challenger, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Dr. Wole Oluyede, who garnered 40,543 votes. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Dare Bejide, came a distant third with 12,872 votes.
The election, held across all 16 local government areas of the state, was overshadowed by reports of irregularities and widespread allegations of vote buying, drawing strong condemnation from observers.
The official results were announced on Sunday morning by the Chief Returning Officer, Professor Adenike Oladiji, who declared Oyebanji duly elected after meeting the constitutional requirements.
In her declaration, Professor Oladiji stated: “I, Professor Adenike Oladiji, hereby certify that I am the Returning Officer for the Ekiti State Governorship Election held on June 20, 2026, and that the election was conducted in compliance with the provisions of the law. Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress, having satisfied the requirements of the law and scored the highest number of valid votes cast, is hereby declared the winner and returned elected.”
Source: Reuters
