Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa praised the Election Petition Tribunal’s ruling on Wednesday that affirmed his victory in the November 16, 2024, governorship race, calling on opposition figures to join hands in developing Ondo State.

The three-member tribunal, led by Justice Benson Ogbu, dismissed petitions filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Agboola Ajayi, for lack of merit.

The court also rejected challenges from Action Alliance (AA) and Abdullahi Olowokere; Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Bamidele Akingboye; Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and Kolawole Ogunfeyimi; and African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Adeyemi Nejo.

Addressing reporters shortly after the judgment, Aiyedatiwa said, “Some political parties thought that they can steal the mandate through the back door, but today, the judiciary has confirmed the decision of the majority of indigenes and residents of Ondo State. So, I am delighted and happy; I, myself, my deputy and the chairman of our party, we are grateful to God.”

The governor urged opposition leaders to contribute their ideas to the state’s development, saying, “I extend the hand of fellowship to our opponents. Their input will help move Ondo forward.”

With the tribunal’s decision now final, Aiyedatiwa will continue his administration’s projects without the cloud of legal challenges. His administration has prioritized road rehabilitation, healthcare improvements, and boosting agricultural value chains

Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has dismissed growing speculation suggesting he is planning to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a statement issued on Wednesday by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, the governor reaffirmed his commitment to the PDP.

“Governor Adeleke remains a bonafide member and leader of the PDP in Osun State,” Rasheed stated, describing recent media reports as baseless and misleading.

The clarification follows a high-profile visit by members of the Adeleke family to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The meeting, which included Nigerian Afrobeats superstar David Adeleke (Davido), Davido’s father, Chief Adedeji Adeleke, and Governor Adeleke himself, took place at the President’s Lagos residence on Tuesday.

The statement emphasized that the visit was purely a familial and courtesy engagement.

“The media speculation about likely or imminent defection is fake news. Governor Adeleke remains a member and leader of the PDP in Osun State. The visit by the Adeleke dynasty to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a routine courtesy visit. Any reading of defection agenda into the visit is mere fake news,” Rasheed said

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday hosted Pastor Tunde Bakare, the Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, in a closed-door meeting in Lagos.

The meeting centred on national development and Nigeria’s pressing challenges.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Bakare offered insights into his private conversation with the President, while choosing to keep much of the discussion confidential.

“Well, it’s not about just reservations. It’s about how the country will go well,” he said. “My life, personal vision, is to see a nation that walks in my lifetime. And those things I’ve discussed with Mr. President. They’re not hidden things, but I’ve learned that when you discuss with the person in charge, you leave it with him to do whatsoever he wills with what you have suggested. So I’ve had a private conversation with Mr. President, and I’m glad that he received me well. And I trust that God will help our nation.”

When pressed on the specific issues he raised during the meeting, the fiery preacher declined to offer details.

“I’ve just told you, what transpired in my discussion with him stays with me and with him,” he said. “God guiding him and giving him wisdom will help this nation not to slide or go down the drain, but to bounce back so that it can leave a mark that cannot be erased.”

The meeting comes weeks after Pastor Bakare publicly criticized the federal government’s handling of the country’s worsening insecurity and economic downturn.

In a sermon delivered in April at his Lagos-based church, the cleric issued a strong call for urgent national reforms, warning of the dire consequences of governmental inaction.

He had urged President Tinubu to embrace wise counsel and to “stop playing God,” warning that failure to act decisively could push Nigeria toward an irreversible collapse

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has commenced a nationwide engagement tour across all 36 states as part of a strategic push to build a formidable coalition ahead of the 2027 general election.

The party’s National Chairman, Ralph Nwosu, disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday.

He noted that the effort is designed to consolidate grassroots support and forge a united front against the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

The move follows growing political momentum around an emerging opposition alliance. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi, and former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai are among prominent figures proposing a coalition geared toward unseating the ruling party in 2027.

Also, it is understood that the ADC is one of the key platforms considered for the coalition effort.

Nwosu confirmed that a coordinated series of state-wide convergence events under the ADC platform would run from May 29 to June 6, 2025, across all state capitals. These gatherings, he said, are meant to unify coalition partners, political parties, civil society groups, labour unions, and other reform-minded Nigerians.

“The convergence, which will take place in each state capital, follows a resolution of the National Executive Committee and is backed by the National Working Committee. It will bring together political parties, civil society organizations, labour unions, and well-meaning patriots who have consistently demonstrated interest in joining forces with ADC’s coalition framework,” he said.

He added that the party intends to decentralize its coalition mission and shift ownership of the movement to the grassroots level.

“The idea is to take the vision, mission, and rescue agenda of ADC and its partners to the people, where it truly belongs. It is no longer a project centered in Abuja. The time has come for Nigerians to own this mission,” Nwosu stated.

Describing the coalition as inclusive and collaborative, Nwosu emphasized that members across all levels must embrace a shared identity.

“This coalition is not top-down. Every member, from national to ward level, should now be fully adjusted to the tradition that ADC is co-owned by the coalition. This is a shared journey,” he said.

He also called on party members and partners to embody the values of openness, compassion, and solidarity, which he described as core to the ADC’s political culture.

Speaking further on the objectives of the convergence, Nwosu explained that the events are aimed at harmonizing party messaging and leadership direction from the grassroots to the national level.

“We are developing a framework for bottom-up communication, ensuring our message resonates deeply with every Nigerian, regardless of geography,” he said.

He revealed that part of the program includes grassroots-driven resource mobilization, designed to equip citizens with the tools necessary to actively participate in nation-building.

“The program also introduces a new paradigm: resource development and mobilization from the grassroots up. According to party insiders, this structure is designed to foster equitable access to tools and platforms that will empower citizens at every level,” he said.

Nwosu noted that the decision to activate the state-level engagements was reached during an emergency session at the party’s Global Campus National Headquarters in Abuja. At that meeting, he stressed the urgency of Nigeria’s deteriorating state and the need for urgent collective political intervention.

“There is an urgent need to rescue Nigeria from the grips of nepotism, hunger, impunity, corruption, insecurity, insurgency, and poor governance. We cannot afford to treat this as business as usual. This is a national emergency,” he said

Suspended Senator representing Kogi West, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has raised the alarm that her official phone number has been cloned and is being used fraudulently to impersonate her and intimidate prominent Nigerians.

In a formal petition dated June 4 and addressed to the Director of the National Cybercrime Centre, Nigeria Police Force, Abuja, through her legal team at M. J. Numa and Partners, Akpoti-Uduaghan alleged that unidentified individuals are impersonating her by making unsolicited calls and sending deceptive messages under her name.

According to the petition titled “Disclaimer Regarding Illegal Cloning and Unauthorised Use of Our Client’s Phone Number,” the Senator warned that the operation appears to be a “coordinated cyberattack” designed to compromise her identity, mislead influential Nigerians, and manipulate public perception.

“The development is not only alarming but constitutes a gross violation of her privacy and a potential breach of national security,” her counsel, Barr. Michael Jonathan Numa stated in the letter.

Notable figures reportedly contacted in the impersonation scheme include Senator Ben Obi, former presidential adviser, and Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, former Governor of Edo State and ex-APC National Chairman.

Others are Chief Allen Onyema, CEO of Air Peace, Hon. Emmanuel Ukon and Seun Okinbaloye, a journalist with Channels Television.

Additionally, the Senator said she received a call from the Area Commander of Maitama District claiming to be returning a call from her — a call she never made.

Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Ifedayo Adams Adedipe, also alleged receiving a suspicious call that appeared to come from Akpoti-Uduaghan.

The Senator has disclaimed all such communications and urged the public and recipients of any suspicious messages or calls appearing to originate from her number to treat them with “extreme caution” unless directly verified.

She has offered to submit her devices for forensic analysis and called on law enforcement to launch a full-scale investigation to identify and prosecute those responsible

At least 11 people have been killed and many more injured in a stampede outside a cricket stadium in the southern Indian state of Karnataka to celebrate the home team’s victory in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the world’s most popular Twenty20 cricket tournament.

“No one expected such a huge crowd,” India’s chief minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, said on Wednesday. “The stadium has a capacity of only 35,000 people, but 200,000-300,000 people came.”

“Eleven people have died and 33 others are injured,” he said.

The incident took place earlier on Wednesday as thousands of fans gathered outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in the state capital, Bengaluru.

India’s NDTV broadcaster also reported that at least 11 people died. Local TV news channels showed footage of police shifting the injured and those who fell unconscious to ambulances.

DK Shivakumar, the deputy chief minister of Karnataka, told reporters that “the crowd was very uncontrollable”.

The event was being held to celebrate Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s first IPL title win on Tuesday.

Stampedes often happen in India when large crowds gather. In January, at least 30 people were killed as tens of thousands of Hindu devotees rushed to bathe in a sacred river during the Maha Kumbh festival, the world’s largest religious gathering.

The automated ball-strike system (ABS) could be officially headed to Major League games next season. Commissioner of MLB, Rob Manfred on Wednesday, said he plans to introduce a proposal to MLB’s competition committee that includes bringing the ABS system to MLB in 2026.

The ABS system was used at 13 spring training sites in 2025, which included 19 teams, and was employed in approximately 60 percent of spring training games this past spring. Teams started with two challenges each and lost a challenge every time they were not overturned. If the call they challenged was overturned, they retained their challenge.

The pitching teams saw a 54.4 percent overturn rate, while the club hitting was overturned on just 50 percent of calls, and catchers were the most successful at 56 percent of calls overturned. Pitchers’ challengers were overturned on just 41 percent of calls.

With a full spring training use of the ABS in the books and reviewed by players and officials within the MLB, commissioner Manfred will now propose to implement the system into games officially in 2026.

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Should the system be approved for use, Manfred said human umpires will still make the majority of ball-strike calls themselves as they did in spring training and that the ABS system would be used just as it was in spring, with teams starting each game with two challenges they could use to challenge calls.

“I do think we’re going to pursue the possibility of changing that process, and we’ll see what comes at the end of that,” said Manfred. He noted that teams appear to be overall positive about ABS and that implementing it could diffuse players, coaches, etc. sending him emails to complain about balls, strikes, and umpires’ calls.

Kevin Slowey, the MLBPA managing director, noted that as they always have in the past, “players will review any proposed rule changes and provide their feedback and on-field experiences through the competition committee.”

Manfred noted that his biggest concern is implementing the system in a way the players will accept. The biggest note on the ABS system is that it is not a human making the calls, thus tightening or widening the strike zone on certain pitch counts, which will likely be different from that of a human umpire’s strike zone.

In years past and throughout history, it has not been uncommon for the league and the players’ association to disagree on rules or policy changes, and we have also seen lockouts and delayed seasons as a result of disagreements between the committees. With that, Manfred is making sure this is a completely transparent process that everyone agrees upon the implementation of before proceeding forward.

“I want them [the players] to feel like we respected the committee process and that there was a full airing of concerns about the system, and an attempt to address those concerns before we go forward,” said Manfred.

Along with the implementation of the ABS system, MLB is also testing a check-swing review system in the minor leagues this season. It likely won’t make its way to spring training games next year, as Manfred wants the focus to be on the ABS system and getting used to that. However, the ABS system was first used in the minor leagues, so it is likely that should that continue to go well in the minor leagues, it could be coming to spring training in the years to come, as the ABS system did.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored again as Portugal came from behind to beat Germany 2-1 in their Nations League semifinal on Wednesday.

The 40-year-old Ronaldo captained Portugal and scored his 137th international goal five minutes after substitute Francisco Conceição equalised with a blistering shot in the 63rd

Ronaldo became the oldest player to ever score against Germany while ending his “curse” against the country. The former Real Madrid star lost each of the previous five games he played against Germany.

Liverpool target Florian Wirtz had given the home team a 48th-minute lead with a perfectly placed header inside the right post, but Portugal coach Roberto Martínez made his changes count as he brought on Conceicao and Champions League winner Vitinha among the substitutes.

Vitinha excelled as Portugal finished the game in the ascendancy just four days after he helped Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) win the Champions League final against Inter Milan in the same stadium on Saturday.

Germany needed goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen at his best to prevent the visitors from scoring any more.

PSG wing-backs Joao Neves and Nuno Mendes both started for Portugal, while Stuttgart forward Nick Woltemade started for his Germany debut.

Conceicao only needed five minutes to make a mark with a brilliant long-range strike inside the far post after he surged past Robin Gosens like he was not there. Mendes gave Ronaldo a simple finish five minutes after that.

“It could have been more,” Mendes said.

The match was delayed by 10 minutes due to “adverse weather conditions” in Munich.

Streaming giant Netflix has increased its subscription prices in Nigeria for the first time in 2025, marking its third price hike since 2024.

The Premium Plan now costs N8,500 per month, up from N7,000, a 21.43% jump.

The latest update on the company’s website also shows that the Standard Plan (HD quality and multi-screen support) now costs N6,500, up 18.18% from N5,500.

The Basic Plan has risen by 14.29% from N3,500 to N4,000, while the Mobile Plan, Netflix’s most affordable tier, now goes for N2,500, up 13.64% from N2,200.

Continuous price hike 

In 2024 alone, the company raised prices twice within three months, first in April and the second one in July.

At the time, Netflix cited a global pricing strategy aimed at accelerating revenue and funding its growing slate of content.

“As we invest in and improve Netflix, we’ll occasionally ask our members to pay a little extra to reflect those improvements,” the company noted in a letter to shareholders.  

“This helps drive the positive flywheel of additional investment to further improve and grow our service,” it added.

While Netflix has not directly blamed inflation for the latest increase, the company did acknowledge that price changes respond to local market conditions, including taxes and inflation.

What you should know 

The Netflix price increment comes amid high inflation that has pushed up prices of every product and service being offered in the country.

While Nigerians grapple with skyrocketing food prices, home entertainment is becoming out of reach for many households as a result of price increases, a situation that may be worsened by the recent 50% increase in the cost of data by telecom operators.

Major Pay-TV operator in the country, Multichoice Nigeria, has also implemented multiple price increments in the past year, sparking negative reactions from many Nigerians. 

• Meanwhile, Netflix has been adjusting prices in key markets globally, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.
• In Africa, Nigeria is not the only country where prices have been increased, as the company also implemented price adjustments in South Africa last month.
• The price hike in South Africa affected three of its four plans and is already in effect for new customers, while existing subscribers will see the new charges reflected in upcoming billing cycles.
• The most significant change comes to the Mobile plan, which increased by 20% from R49 ($2.67) to R59 ($3.21) per month—its first adjustment since the plan launched.
• The Standard plan moves from R159 ($8.70) to R179 ($9.78), while the Premium plan jumps from R199 ($10.87) to R229 ($12.53). Only the Basic plan, priced at R99 ($5.40), remains unchanged.

Former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has exposed how billions of naira were siphoned from public coffers through fraudulent subsidy claims.

Bawa in his new book, “The Shadow of Loot & Losses: Uncovering Nigeria’s Petroleum Subsidy Fraud,” alleged massive corruption in Nigeria’s fuel subsidy regime, detailing how billions of naira were looted through ghost imports, over-invoicin, forged documentation and systemic collusion between corrupt officials and private firms.

In a statement on Wednesday, Bawa, who served as EFCC chairman from 2021 to 2023 under former president, Muhammadu Buhari, revealed how single fuel shipments were used to obtain multiple subsidy payments, while subsidized fuel was diverted to black markets or smuggled out of Nigeria.

Bawa explained that perpetrators manipulated bills of lading to exploit international price fluctuations and maximise illicit gains, adding that the book is both a documentary of fraud and a call to action for reform, transparency, and accountability in Nigeria’s oil sector.

He said, “Companies routinely claimed subsidies for fuel never imported or inflated volumes to receive excess payouts.

“These crimes were enabled by forged documentation, regulatory failure, and entrenched corruption across government and business.

“In the book, published by CableBooks, an imprint of Cable Media & Publishing Ltd, Bawa details multiple fraudulent strategies including: Ghost importing and over-invoicing: Companies submitted claims for fuel that was never imported or inflated shipment volumes to receive excessive subsidy payouts.

“Manipulation of bills of lading: By altering shipping documents, fraudsters exploited international price fluctuations to claim higher subsidies. Round-tripping and double claims: Single shipments were often used to obtain multiple subsidy payments.

“Diversion and smuggling: Subsidised fuel was frequently diverted to black markets or smuggled out of Nigeria for profit.

“These practices, Bawa explains, were enabled by forged documents, weak regulatory oversight, and systemic collusion between corrupt government officials and private sector actors.

“The Shadow of Loot & Losses is not just a chronicle of fraud, it is a call to action — a demand for transparency, accountability, and reform in Nigeria’s public finance management, especially in the oil sector.”