News
Corruption: Buhari Suspends NBC DG, Kawu
The Presidency has suspended the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission, Mallam Ishaq Modibbo Kawu.
Sources in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation said Modibbo reportedly got the suspension letter during the week but had been battling to have it reversed.
“I have confirmed from the relevant department, it is true that the DG of NBC, Mallam Ishaq Modibbo Kawu, was ordered to be suspended by the President (Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) following series of petitions and allegations against him,” a source in the SGF office stated.
Yet, another source said he was asked to “step aside” following investigation of the petitions against him.
The suspension came many months after an ongoing prosecution of Kawu by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other-Related Offences Commission for alleged corruption.
Consequently, the Director (Broadcast Monitoring), Armstrong Idachaba, was said to have been directed to act pending the outcome of the case.
When Saturday PUNCH visited the NBC on Friday, the issue was being discussed in hushed tones among staff members.
But when contacted, the spokesperson for NBC, Ekanem Antia, told our correspondent that he would not speak on the issue as according to him, he did not have details of the allegation.
“I am not aware (of it), as we speak now. I don’t have any document on my table to confirm (it). But we will issue a statement if at all it is true. The office is still working; we are all in the office. Everybody is in their department,” he said.
Several calls later put across to him didn’t go through as his telephone line indicated that it was switched off.
Last year, a civil rights organisation under the aegis of Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance, said it had made a fresh discovery of 16 illegal slots of radio licences approved by the NBC DG.
The organisation had alleged that while six slots were for his private company, Word, Sound and Vision Multimedia Limited, another 10 were approved for companies which did not apply or were not on the list approved by Buhari.
The chairman of CACOBAG, Alhaji Toyin Raheem, who raised the issue in a statement issued in Abuja, claimed that a former SGF was one of the 10 beneficiaries of the radio licences recently doled out by NBC.
The CSO asked the Presidency to direct anti-corruption agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and ICPC to investigate its findings.
But Antia had said the allegations were not new as the same group had petitioned ICPC.
The ICPC had urged the Federal Government to suspend Kawu and 32 other public officers/civil servants undergoing corruption trial at the time.
The commission had arraigned Kawu and two others, Dipo Onifade and Lucky Omoluwa, on alleged N2.5bn fraud.
They are being prosecuted on 12 counts for allegedly conspiring with one another to use the position of Kawu to confer a corrupt advantage on Omoluwa, his friend and associate, for which they pleaded not guilty and were granted bail.
The anti-graft agency also charged Kawu for allegedly deceiving Mohammed to sign the deal.
The embattled NBC boss allegedly asked Mohammed to approve payment of N2.5bn to Pinnacle Communications Limited owned by Omoluwa as “Seed Grant” under the Digital Switch-Over Programme of the Federal Government.
The suspended DG has however denied the allegations.
The Punch
By Eric Elezuo
The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has announced the kickoff of the 2026 West African Second-term School Certificate Examination, saying it would be computer-based, and decrying the decline of male participation as against their female counterparts.
The Council made the disclosure on Monday, while addressing the media at its National Office in Yaba, Lagos, on steps so far taken to ensure a hitchfree 2026 Examination.
In his address, the Head of National Office, Mr. Jacob Josiah Dangut, remarked that the 2026 computer-based WASSEC, started on April 21, 2026 with practical test papers, stressing that the nitty gritty parts of the exercise will kick off on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, therefore the reason for the sensitization of the Nigerian public on the exams.
He noted that nearly two million candidates registered to sit for the examinations.
In his words, “A total of 1,959,636 candidates from 24,207 schools enrolled for the examination.
“Of this number, 958,564 candidates (48.92%) are male, while 1,001,072 candidates (51.08%) are female. This reflects an increase in female participation and a decline in male participation compared to last year.”
Dangut called on policy formulations to take the matter serious so as to reinvent the urge for education among the malefolks.
Meanwhile, Dangut informed the public that candidates are being tested in 37 subjects across 97 papers, supervised by about 29,000 senior secondary teachers nominated by state ministries of education.
Dangut said the rise in computer-based entries followed the successful debut of the format in 2025, with more schools and offshore institutions adopting it for its efficiency and alignment with global standards.
The 2026 exercise will run through to June 19th.
The simmering political battle in Rivers State appears to have taken a fresh turn, following the screening of aspirants for the All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Assembly primaries, with several loyalists of Governor Siminalayi Fubara failing to make the party’s final list.
In a development already stirring political intrigue across the state, former Obio/Akpor council chairman Chijioke Ihunwo and serving lawmakers Sokari Goodboy and Victor Oko-Jumbo — all widely regarded as strong allies of Governor Fubara — were among those not cleared by the party’s screening committee for various reasons.
Political observers are interpreting their failure to scale through as more than just a routine internal party exercise. They say it is the latest signal of the deepening political fault lines in Rivers, where Governor Fubara and his predecessor, Minister Nyesom Wike, remain locked in a prolonged struggle for political supremacy.
On the other side of the divide, the list of cleared aspirants appears to favour established political figures and returning lawmakers, largely seen as loyal to the Wike camp.
Among those cleared are:
Maol Dumle
Major Jack
Enemi Alabo George
Tonye Smart Adoki
Tekenari Granville
Their emergence is being viewed as a reinforcement of the influence of the former governor within the APC structure in Rivers State.
The screening exercise, announced by Rivers APC publicity secretary Chibike Ikenga, comes at a politically sensitive time, with alignments already forming ahead of future elections and control of the Rivers State House of Assembly remaining a critical battleground.
For many political watchers, the outcome raises fresh questions: Is the APC in Rivers consolidating into a single power bloc? And does this effectively shut the door on Fubara’s loyalists seeking alternative political platforms?
Fubara, elected under the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in 2023, joined the APC last year, following a political dispute with Wike.
The Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) has been factionalized ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The rival factions emerged after its chairman, Governor Hope Uzodimma, was reportedly removed on Thursday.
While Uzodimma insists that he remains PGF chairman, Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun and his Kwara State counterpart, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, are reportedly leading a separate faction.
Another bloc within the forum has reportedly queued behind the duo of Abiodun and AbdulRazaq.
The development, which comes amid growing political realignments within the ruling party, marks a significant crack in the ranks of APC governors ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to reports by Arise TV, details surrounding the disagreement remain unclear, but sources within the party said tensions have been building over internal leadership control and strategic positioning ahead of the next election season.
As of the time of filing this report, none of the factions had made an official clarification regarding the alleged division.
