President Bola Tinubu has appointed Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, to lead Nigerian delegation to the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican City.

Akpabio leads Nigerian delegation that comprises Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs; Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria; Archbishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Sokoto Diocese; and Archbishop Ignatius Ayua Kaigama of the Abuja Diocese to the funeral amid his ongoing struggle with sexual harassment allegations leveled against him by a fellow senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central.

As part of Tinubu’s delegation, Akpabio is expected to formally deliver a letter to the acting head of the Vatican, conveying the president’s condolences.

Pope Francis passed away on Monday, April 21, aged 88. He will be laid to rest on Saturday, April 26.

In a statement released on Friday, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, announced that the Senate President would lead a five-member delegation to the funeral.

Since February, Akpabio has been in the spotlight over sexual harassment allegation against him by Akpoti-Uduaghan.

The female lawmaker submitted a petition before the Senate against Akpabio in March.

Before the allegation, Akpoti-Uduaghan had had a face-off with Akpabio over seating arrangement in the Senate.

The altercation led to the Senate President ordering the sergeant-at-arm to walk the female lawmaker out of the Senate Chamber.

She was subsequently suspended for six months.

The decision sparked public outrage as many Nigerians have since been demanding for a thorough investigation into the sexual harassment allegations against Senate President.

Meanwhile, the Senate President has repeatedly denied the allegation, and the matter is currently in court.

The Presidency has delivered a jab at former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, declaring his 2027 presidential ambition and coalition-building efforts “dead on arrival” following the defection of Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and other top PDP figures to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

In separate posts on X, Presidential aides Bayo Onanuga and Tunde Rahman mocked Atiku’s attempts to rally opposition forces, saying recent developments show his coalition is crumbling before it even takes off.

Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, wrote: “Atiku’s political future looks bleak. The coalition that he, El-Rufai, Babachir, and new member Baba-Ahmed are cobbling together has disintegrated. Potential allies, including former running mate Ifeanyi Okowa and defunct CPC members, are giving his leprous group a wide berth. Atiku is a loser again.”

Tunde Rahman, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, posted earlier in the day: “Things are really getting perilous and the future looks so bleak for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s coalition. After the PDP governors washed their hands clean of any such coalition plan, the defunct CPC wing he is also counting on has proffered support for President Tinubu.

Today (Wednesday), he got his biggest shocker ever. His 2023 election running mate, former Delta State governor Ifeanyi Okowa, and Okowa’s successor, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, dumped the sinking PDP ship and hopped aboard the APC plane, and by inference, crossed over to the PBAT side.

Indeed, the counting of PDP governors crossing over to APC has begun. Isn’t Atiku’s coalition dead on arrival?”

The coordinated remarks followed a major political realignment in Delta State, where the governor, his predecessor, former Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, and the entire PDP state structure defected to the APC – an event seen as a significant blow to Atiku, who has been working to form a broad opposition alliance against President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 elections.

Okowa was Atiku’s running mate in the 2023 presidential election under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Atiku has yet to respond to the defection or the presidential aides’ comments, though acting national chairman Iliya Damagum earlier described the Delta exit as “unfortunate,” while insisting that the party remains focused and resilient.

The Lagos State Government has disclosed that a staggering 31,596 public school students failed the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), raising alarm across its education sector.

The figures, unveiled by the Lagos Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Jamiu Tolani Alli-Balogun, during a ministerial press briefing on Thursday in Alausa, Ikeja, showed that 54.3% of the 58,188 students from public schools who sat for the exams failed.

The commissioner said the pass rate was 45.7%.

The failure rate comes despite the government’s significant financial backing — a whopping N1.577 billion was paid on behalf of the students to cover WAEC fees.

“Suffice to say that the sum of N1,577,794,000 (One Billion, Five Hundred and Seventy-Seven Million, Seven Hundred and Ninety-Four Thousand Naira) only was paid by the State Government as examination fees for 58,188 students who were captured for year 2024 WASSCE,” Alli-Balogun announced.

In a bid to tighten accountability and avoid wastage, the Commissioner disclosed that biometric and image registration was carried out to accurately determine eligible students for government sponsorship for the 2025 WASSCE.

“The exercise successfully captured and registered 56,134 students as bona-fide beneficiaries of the Lagos State Government’s sponsorship for the examination,” he added.

However, the Lagos State Government rolled out a bold educational intervention – the Eko Learners’ Support Programme for WASSCE and NECO Candidates – aimed at reversing the tide of academic failure in the state’s public schools.

Launched on January 14, 2025, the initiative is part of a broader commitment by the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to equip Lagos students with tools for success.

“This forward-thinking initiative was designed to support and empower young scholars in attestation of the Ministry’s commitment at advancing interest and management of the educational system in Lagos State,” Alli-Balogun stated.

He said with a vision to broadcast 320 lessons across 10 key subjects, including English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Economics, Government, History, Literature-in-English, and Yoruba, the programme aims to bring world-class tutoring directly into students’ homes.

Thw commissioner said each 30-minute episode would air on Lagos Television (LTV) and be archived across major platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter), creating a digital learning library accessible to every student.

“It is a supportive eco-system that fosters academic achievement, creativity, critical thinking… every student deserves the opportunity to attain their full potential, regardless of their background or socio-economic status,” the Commissioner declared passionately.

Alli-Balogun urged students, especially those in boarding schools, to seize this opportunity.

“It is on this note that I urge and encourage students’, more importantly, students in our boarding schools, to take full advantage of this initiative, as education is a lifelong journey,” he said.