The Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, has said he would report former Minister, Obiageli Ezekwesili, to the Igbo traditional leadership.

Naija News reported that Senator Onyekachi and the former Minister of Education, Ezekwesili, clashed during the Senate Committee on Ethics sitting constituted to hear sexual harassment allegation brought by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

Speaking on Monday with AIT, Onyekachi accused Ezekwesili of describing him as a hooligan. The Ebonyi North Senator stated that he respects women and has championed women’s empowerment and rights.

His words: “As a person, I can’t talk to my wife like that in public. I can’t talk to my driver like that in public. I can’t talk to any woman that way in my life. I’ve never done that in my life. I respect women. I’m one of the people that have been championing the rights and privileges of women.

“As a legal practitioner, I’ve won so many cases in favor of women that were denied the right of inheriting their father’s property because their father had no male child. I’ve won so many cases pro bono. The facts are there. If you go to Ebonyi State, you will see them. I’m one of the leaders from the South East that have a program of building houses for widows, sponsoring their children in school. I have over 300 of them. All these are to show the respect and regard and love I have for women.

“But for a woman to get up in public and tell me to shut up my mouth and call me a hooligan, a red cap chief in Igbo land that has made my mark, that has made my contribution, has stood for election. I have a vote of over 500 people to be in the Senate and somebody who has never won a ward councilor to come to my office and tell me to shut up my mouth and call me a hooligan. This is unacceptable. And I’m going to take that up within the Igbo traditional leadership because it never happened.”

The political crisis within the Lagos State House of Assembly remains unresolved as Speaker Mudashiru Obasa continues to push forward with his lawsuit against former Speaker Mojisola Meranda and other lawmakers, despite President Bola Tinubu’s intervention, Naija News has learned.

According to sources familiar with the matter, confusion and concern are growing among APC leaders in Lagos over Obasa’s refusal to withdraw the legal case.

“The truth is that there is uncertainty among the party’s leadership regarding why the Speaker is still in court.

“Honestly, we don’t know why. After President Tinubu’s intervention and their meeting in Abuja, everything about the leadership crisis seemed to have been settled,” a source revealed to SaharaReporters on Monday.

The source further noted that Meranda had already stepped aside in line with the party’s resolution, making Obasa’s persistence puzzling.

“If you know Meranda very well, you will see that she is an easygoing person, not someone who wants the speakership ‘do or die.’ Since the leaders told her to step down in the interest of the party, she relinquished her ambition and did not pursue it further. This is why we don’t know what Obasa wants from the court again. But everyone is observing the situation,” the source added.

Meanwhile, Obasa’s lawyer, Afolabi Fashanu (SAN), has dismissed any speculation that his client is considering dropping the lawsuit.

A former majority leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Edison Ehie, has revealed how he was approached with ₦5 billion to facilitate the impeachment of the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara.

Ehie, who currently serves as the Chief of Staff to the suspended Governor Fubara, said he still has the evidence of the offer on his phone.

Speaking on a Channels Television programme, Sunday Politics, he disclosed that he has printed the evidence and shared it in case those who approached him with the bribe want to use it against him in the future.

He said, “I can also open my phone to show you, in the beginning of October 2023, when they approached me with a bribe of N5 billion. It is here in my phone.

“It was for impeachment. It’s here. I have it and I have printed it and distributed it, incase in their evil imagination, they decide to attack me. I already have a son and a brother.”

Ehie, who was the factional speaker of the Rivers Assembly until January 2024, said the offer to facilitate Fubara’s impeachment was made to him at a time he was still the Majority Leader of the House.

Naija News had earlier reported that Ehie also vehemently denied claims that he played any role in the burning of the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex on October 29, 2023.

The allegations, made by former Rivers State Head of Service, George Nwaeke, accused Ehie and Fubara of masterminding the fire that destroyed the state’s Assembly Complex.

However, Ehie refuted the claims, stating he was not involved in the incident.

Lawal Idris, a former Senior Special Assistant to the immediate past Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, has described his former boss administration as a failure.

He lamented that Matawalle tenure was filled with political upheavals, economic stagnation, insecurity and confusion.

According to him, his former principal could not pay the then minimum wage of ₦30,000 but paid ₦7000 to civil servants.

Idris, stated this while reacting to a factional All Progressives Congress (APC) Publicity Secretary in the State, Yusuf Idris Gusau, who said that the payment of the much awaited ₦70,000.00 minimum wage by Gov Dauda Lawal was a deceit to hoodwink civil servants that he is an action governor who has their welfare at heart

He argued that APC is envious of the achievements of Gov Lawal in barely two years in office, which according to him, surpassed the four years of the immediate past APC-led government of Matawalle.

According to him, the APC is still groaning over its defeat in the 2023 governorship election.

Writing on behalf of Zamfara Rescue Movement, Idris said, “To state that the governor is working hard, particularly in the implementation of the minimum wage to civil servants as a ‘deceit’ to gain their support is a deliberate distortion of [truth].

“To distort facts and try to incite citizens against the government they overwhelmingly voted into office and still support is unpatriotic and counterproductive.

“Partisan politics should be set aside as the government strives to provide dividends of democracy to citizens.

This is what APC failed to understand. Politics of bitterness has no place in Zamfara State, which was why the people voted out the party in the 2023 gubernatorial election and why the party also remains factionalized in the state without direction and future.

“The government of Bello Matawalle of APC could not pay then minimum wage of N30,000.00, instead he paid N7000.00 to civil servants for a month salary.

“Civil servants were demoralised and impoverished which grossly affected their potentials and productivity essential in charting economic growth and prosperity.

“Despite this meagre salary workers and pensioners were equally owed months of their wages and pensions; promotion, human capital development trainings etc, were suspended due to lack of initiatives and strategic management of scarce resources.

“It was this atmosphere of despondency and insecurity that compelled the good people of Zamfara State to vote out a sitting governor, Bello Matawalle of APC.

“For the people of Zamfara, the dark days of political upheavals, economic stagnation, insecurity and confusion in governance is over.

“All benefits to former members of the State House of Assembly were settled, funds to Ministries, Departments and Agencies in the state withheld for two years by the Matawalle’s administration were released.”

The Labour Party (LP) has cleared George Muoghalu and John Nwosu for the party primaries slated for April 5, ahead of Anambra state governorship election, in November.

Naija News reports that the Screening Committee led by its chairman and the Deputy Minority Whip of the House of Representatives, George Ozodinobi, screened the two aspirants, on Friday.

In his speech, Ozodinobi lauded the two aspirants for being true party members and also commended them for their track records and loyalty to the leadership of the party.

He assured them of the party’s non partisan approach towards its selection process and its commitment in ensuring that the best aspirant emerge.

“We will work according to the laid down rules and we want to assure you of highest level of transparency throughout the process of the selection.

“We will work to ensure that we approach the election as a united house, without rancour. It is going to be a brotherly context where everyone in the party will join our flag-bearer in the onerous task of campaigning and winning the November governorship election for the salvation of Anambra State,” he said.

Muoghalu was the first National Secretary of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), and a former National Auditor of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Similarly, Nwosu was also a Director at the 2023 Peter Obi and Datti Ahmed Presidential Campaign Council.

Three Nigerians based in the United States of America, Olumide Olorunfunmi, Samson Amos and Emmanuel Unuigbe, could be sentenced to a combined jail term of 60 years for alleged money laundering to the tune of $4.5m.

PUNCH Metro learnt in a statement by the US Department of Justice obtained on Sunday that the trio conspired among themselves to launder money which caused losses to about 125 victims in the US.

It added that the laundered money was proceeds from romance scams and business email compromise schemes.

The statement noted that while the duo of Amos and Unuigbe pleaded guilty in 2023, Olorunfunmi admitted guilty while being arraigned before a federal court on Friday.

It read, “Olumide Olorunfunmi, 39, a Nigerian national, appeared in federal court in Charlotte today and pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy for laundering millions in criminal proceeds linked to romance scams and business email compromise schemes.

“According to documents filed with the court and today’s plea hearing, the scheme caused more than 125 victims to transfer over $4.5 million of proceeds stemming from illegal activities.”

“Two of Olorunfunmi’s co-conspirators, both Nigerian nationals, have also pleaded guilty to federal charges and are awaiting sentencing.”

Stressing the individual’s role in the scheme, the statement noted that the victims were directed to deposit money into accounts controlled by Amos and his co-conspirators who then transferred the monies to accounts in Nigeria.

The schemes, which were orchestrated between 2020 and 2023, also saw the defendants keeping a percentage of the monies that were deposited by the victims.

It continued, “As Olorunfunmi admitted in court today, from 2020 through 2023, Olorunfunmi conspired with Amos, Unuigbe, and others to launder the criminal proceeds of various illegal activities, including romance scams that typically targeted elderly victims and business email compromise schemes.

“Court records show that the victims of the schemes were directed to transfer funds into domestic and international bank accounts controlled by Olorunfunmi and his co-conspirators. Upon receiving the fraud proceeds, Olorunfunmi and his co-conspirators transferred the funds to other bank accounts, in the U.S. and overseas.

“They also profited by agreeing to ‘pay’ for the domestic deposits received by others by transferring Nigerian Naira from accounts the co-conspirators controlled in Nigeria to other accounts, based upon a “black market” exchange rate for United States Dollars to Naira.”

The statement concluded that each of the defendants risks 20 20-year jail term for the offence of conspiracy.

“The charge of money laundering conspiracy carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. A sentencing date has not been set,” it concluded.

The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in Benue State has expressed serious concerns regarding the reported poisoning and theft of cattle belonging to its members by criminal groups in the Agatu Local Government Area.

The Chairman of MACBAN in the state, Risku Muhammed, raised this issue over the weekend, revealing that more than 20 cows owned by Fulani herdsmen were poisoned on Saturday in Ucha village, Agatu.

He further alleged that in addition to the poisoned cattle, over 200 cows were stolen last Thursday by these criminals.

This situation was somewhat mitigated by the swift action of security forces, who managed to apprehend one of the thieves, although others managed to flee.

Muhammed accused a farmer from the Ucha community, whose name has not been disclosed, of poisoning the cows using rice chaff after inviting a herder to feed his cattle with it.

This act, according to him, resulted in the death of 13 cows, while seven others that survived are currently receiving treatment.

“I got a report from my members in Agatu LGA that a criminal who had laced rice chaff with poison invited one of our members to come and graze on the rice chaff. Unfortunately, 13 cows died instantly, while a veterinary doctor is treating seven,” Muhammed noted.

He commended the Local Government Council Chairman, Melvin Ejeh for promptly responding to issues concerning the herders and communities in the area, saying “the Local Government Chairman with some Non Governmental Organizations working in the LGA have several times paid for cows killed by these criminals.”

He revealed that herders have, at various times, lost numerous cows to criminals in Olegodege, Utigologwu, Egwuma, Akele, Okwtanobe, and now Ucha due to rustling and killings.

When reached for comment, Melvin Ejeh, the Chairman of Agatu LGA, confirmed that he had received the complaint from MACBAN. He assured that an investigation was underway, although a farmer had been apprehended in connection with the poisoned cows.

He also mentioned that Agatu has recently experienced a period of relative peace, thanks to the support from the state government and the deployment of security personnel to the region.

“We have received complaints from Miyetti Allah, and an investigation is going on about the incident. Agatu has been enjoying peace, and this is as a result of the Peace Committee that was set up, and on a daily basis, we review the peace process.

“It is unfortunate that some criminal elements are bent on instigating crisis and destroying the peace process but the government will not fold its arms and allow that to happen,” Vanguard quoted the Council Chairman saying.

The Chairman, who lauded the state government for ensuring peace in Agatu, appealed for the deployment of more security operatives to the LGA.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Chief Superintendent, CSP, Catherine Anene, who confirmed the development, said: “I have a briefing this morning (Sunday) about dead cows said to have been poisoned, investigation is ongoing and a suspect has been arrested over the matter.”

The Anene also confirmed the existence of a Peace Committee working tirelessly in the area to ensure sustainable peace in the communities of Agatu LGA.

President Bola Tinubu said his administration’s decision to remove the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) was to accelerate development and enhance resident participation in governance.

Speaking in Abuja on Sunday during a Sallah homage by FCT residents led by Minister Nyesom Wike, Tinubu stated that the decision was necessary to overcome bureaucratic hurdles that were slowing infrastructure growth in the capital city.

Tinubu revealed that Wike had approached him with a request to exempt the FCTA from TSA restrictions to enable more efficient project execution.

The president said he was convinced by Wike’s reasoning and quickly approved the request.

The exclusion from TSA grants the FCTA autonomy to use its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), estimated at over N250bn, for project development.

“I remember the day that the FCT Minister came to meet me, and he said, Please take us out of the problem of the TSA so that I can do more work and achieve more. I said, Show me what you are about to do, and he presented his thinking and belief.

“And everything started changing rapidly. I started seeing the opening up of the rural areas by the FCT, the resuscitation of abandoned projects, and the completion of the vice president’s official residence, which had been abandoned for years. The FCT rehabilitated health care centres, upgraded facilities for schoolchildren, and provided furniture,” Tinubu recalled.

He added that freeing FCT from TSA restrictions has catalysed infrastructure improvements, enhanced healthcare services, and increased security measures.

He identified achievements recorded since the TSA removal to include the opening up of rural areas, resuscitation of abandoned projects, and completion of the Vice President’s official residence that had been abandoned for years.

Tinubu further noted that the FCT has rehabilitated healthcare centres, upgraded facilities for schoolchildren, and provided furniture—developments that would not have been possible under the previous arrangement.

“We wouldn’t have been able to open our mouths to celebrate if not for the progressive ideas you brought to FCT. We can now celebrate the innovative ideas brought to the FCT,” Tinubu said.

He encouraged FCT residents and other Nigerians to look beyond ethnic and religious colourations in their leadership choices and focus more on results.

“Today, we live in peace, and security is improving. Hunger is coming down. Food prices are lowering. We can go to the market and do business. And our diversity and belief in ourselves are becoming stronger.

“We are not looking for magic. We are looking for results. We are looking for comfort. We are praying for good health. We are looking for someone who cares,” the president noted.

“The job is not just about Wike or me, but everyone. Nyesom Wike is proving the diversity of Nigeria. He strengthened that diversity to develop prosperity, showing us that we are all members of one family, living together in the same house, in different rooms, and under one roof,” the president said.

President Tinubu urged more tolerance, broad-mindedness, and patriotism from citizens.

“All I appeal for is tolerance, which has brought us this far. We have learnt some lessons from Ramadan. May the lessons continue to be with us,” he said.

Wike thanked the president for hosting the residents in the State House.

“This visit marks a historic moment as it is the first time the FCT residents can extend our greetings and best wishes to you in person during this blessed period. We are genuinely delighted to be here,” said Wike.

He pledged his loyalty to the President and committed himself to developing the capital city, assuring that the FCT would soon complete many projects.

“Despite our varied backgrounds, we are united in our unwavering support for your administration and the Renewed Hope Agenda,” he added.

The Sallah homage was attended by Vice President Kashim Shettima, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris, and an FCT delegation including members of the National Assembly, judiciary, religious and traditional leaders, security chiefs, and women and youth groups.

The senator who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th National Assembly, Shehu Sani, has declared interest in contesting for the central senatorial district in the 2027 election.

Naija News reports that the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain made the declaration on Sunday, March 30, 2025, while delivering his Eid-el-Fitr message at his residence in Kaduna.

The former lawmaker also stated that his priority is to see Governor Uba Sani re-elected in 2027, noting that the party is well prepared for all forces and challenges that might threaten his re-election.

He said, “Any politician who is going to contest election will be dependent on political equation which will determine what position is going to contest. I would say that if the conditions are right and equations favourable, I will offer myself to contest but specifically on the central senatorial district.

“If the people of Kaduna central want us to provide our own kind of leadership and representation at the NASS, you should expect me back to Senate in 2027.

“For now, we want to see that incumbent governor, Uba Sani is re-elected. We are going to do it with all our might and strength. We know that there are going to be challenges and opposition but we are well prepared for all the forces.”

While condemning the killing of hunters in Edo State, Sani urged security agencies to fish out the perpetrators.

He added, “If any citizen of this country cannot move from one part of the country to another, then we are not a nation.

“If someone will use one reason or another to take laws into his/her hand, then it means there is no government or authority.”