Nkechi Blessing, the Nollywood actress, has spoken up on the main reason why she waited for three years before apologising to the Theater Arts and Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (TAMPAN) leaders.

Recall that over the weekend, the thespian had apologized on her knees at the Celebrities Entertainment Awards in Canada, seeking forgiveness and readmission to the association.

Speaking on the reason she took her time to apologise, Nkechi explained that she is trying to change a lot about herself and has decided to reconnect with the industry.

The actress stated that in the past, she never listens to anybody or take corrections but has decided to change that about herself.

In a social media post, she wrote, “I was that Nkechi who doesn’t listen to anybody, who doesn’t take corrections from people.

“Now, in trying to change a lot about myself, I’ve decided to reconnect with the industry that made me who I am.”

She explained the suspension resulted from behaviour deemed rude, uncouth, disrespectful, and abusive towards industry elders.

Captioning the post, she wrote, “CHANGE Comes with a lot of soul searching,sober reflections and most importantly PEACE within yourself,body,mind and soul….The things I know now, I wish I knew earlier I for don pass this level but still I am Thankful to God for Direction and guidance I tender my unreserved apology to the entire Body of the Guild @tampanglobal

“Hoping they find a place in their hearts to forgive me. TAMPAN BOARD OF TRUSTEES National Central working Committee National executive councils. All states,local and stakeholders both in Nigeria and in the diaspora!!!!!! My daddies @mrlatin1510 @princejidekosoko @deleodule_ @adebayo.salami @officialyinkaquadri and every single member of the Association #tampan”.

The Senate has commenced the screening of the seven newly nominated ministers.

The nominees are Dr Nentawe Yilwatda as Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Muhammadu Dingyadi as Minister of Labour and Employment, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu as Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, and Dr. Jumoke Oduwole as Minister of Industry, Trade and Development.

Others are: Idi Muktar Maiha as Minister of Livestock Development, Rt. Hon. Yusuf Ata as Minister of State, Housing, and Dr Suwaiba Said Ahmad as Minister of State, Education.

The Senate following a motion moved by the leader, Opeyemi Bamidele at 12:57 pm, on Wednesday suspended its rule to admit the Special Adviser to the President on Senate matters, Basheer Lado, to bring the nominees into the plenary.

The Senate President, GodsWill Akpabio, had on Thursday read the letter from President Bola Tinubu nominating the new ministers.

This development follows President Tinubu’s recent reshuffle of his cabinet, including the dismissal of five ministers: the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju-Ken Ohanenye; Minister of Tourism, Lola Ade-John; Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman; Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Abdullahi Muhammad Gwarzo; and Minister of Youth Development, Dr Jamila Bio Ibrahim.

China has a new richest person and it’s the entrepreneur behind the app TikTok.

Zhang Yiming, 41, co-founder of TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, topped the 2024 Hurun China Rich List, released Tuesday, October 29.

His wealth reached $49.3 billion, as assessed by research, media and investment group Hurun Inc, which publishes the ranking of the country’s richest people.

Zhang’s ascendency comes after ByteDance’s global revenue grew 30% last year to $110 billion, Hurun said.

Since its official launch in May 2017, TikTok has been catapulted to mass global popularity as well as becoming an era-defining social media platform beloved by many young people around the world.

Zhang owns 20% of ByteDance, which he co-founded with college roommate Liang Rubo in Beijing in 2012. He stepped down as its CEO 2021 after building ByteDance into one of the biggest names in Chinese tech.

ByteDance also holds China’s popular news app Toutiao and Douyin, TikTok’s sister app in China.

Zhang’s rise to the top of the rich list knocked China’s “bottled water king” Zhong Shanshan out of the lead spot for the first time in three years, though he remained second.

R&B star Temilade Openiyi, also known as Tems, has stated that she believes that she’s super famous in Nigeria.

Speaking in a podcast interview with Big Boy TV in the United States, Tems said her celebrity status sometimes complicates her movements in Nigeria.

She recalled almost getting mobbed while driving in Lagos last December.

According to her, she can’t drive in Nigeria without police escorts due to her popularity.

“I used to drive in Nigeria, but now I can’t drive. I almost got mobbed last December. If I want to drive, I must have police escorts at the front and the back,” she said.

Tems said she struggled with fame because she’s an introvert but later adjusted.

The National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Maigandi, has queried the claim by the President of the Dangote Group, Alike Dangote, that the 650,000 barrels per day refinery currently has 500m litres of premium motor spirit, also known as petrol in stock for onward supply to Nigerians.

Maigandi said this is because its members drafted in by Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to pick up products on its behalf, couldn’t load petrol from the Refinery in Lagos for four days.

He also stated that oil marketers have not been able to pick products from the refinery despite having paid N40bn to the NNPCL.

Maigandi said this when he appeared on ChannelsTv Sunrise Daily on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Dangote urged petroleum marketers, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, to source petrol directly from his refinery to meet local demand.

He stated that the refinery can produce over 30 million litres of fuel daily at full capacity and currently holds 500 million litres in reserve, enough to supply the country for over 12 days without imports.

He confirmed the refinery’s readiness to supply fuel after closed-door talks with President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

“We’re more than ready,” Dangote assured State House Correspondents, adding that the refinery’s production capacity could offset Nigeria’s fuel needs significantly.

“It is not an issue because, as we speak today, we have 500 million litres, you know, in our tanks. So 500 million litres in our tanks even if there’s no production from anybody or no imports. This will take the country more than 12 days, you know, with no imports, with no production, nothing,” he added.

The IPMAN leader, reacting to this, expressed surprise that the refinery currently possesses a stock of fuel products sufficient to meet the nation’s needs for a full 12 days.

He also expressed surprise that the owner of the $20bn refinery said marketers were boycotting his refinery to buy imported petrol.

Maigandi said, “If he (Dangote) can be able to sell the product to us directly, we can buy the product because we have to pay before we pick. Presently, we have N40bn under the NNPCL custody but we cannot source the product.

“Just recently, there are some of my marketers that NNPCL sent to load in Dangote refinery, and those marketers stayed with their trucks for four days, and they cannot load. So I was surprised when Dangote said he has over 500 million litres of PMS. We are ready to buy the product from Dangote if he is ready to sell it to us directly.”

The IPMAN leader stated that instead of sourcing Dangote petrol through the NNPCL, the private refinery should directly register independent petrol marketers to facilitate smoother loading of the product.

The Metropolitan Police Service of the United Kingdom has dismissed a Nigerian-British officer, Shola Balogun of Bromley Police Station, for biting a colleague (name withheld) at a birthday party in Bexleyheath, Kent.

This was disclosed in a hearing that was held from October 21-23, 2024, and chaired by a high-ranking officer, Christopher McKay, with IPM Amanda Harvey and Assessor-Detective Superintendent, Kirsty Mead as the panel members.

The document of the hearing notice sighted by our correspondent revealed that Balogun, a Police Constable, had attended a 40th birthday party of another police officer with about 70 other persons in attendance at Goals Sports Bar, stressing that he and the officer (victim) were the two police officers present at the event aside from the celebrant.

The document also explained that the incident happened on April 22, 2022, as a result of a light-hearted horseplay between them in the past but with no significant falling out.

It read, “On the 22nd of April 2022 about 70 people attended a 40th birthday party for a police officer at Goals Sports Bar in Bexleyheath, Kent. Among those attending were members of her work team, ERT C, who were based at Bromley Police Station. PC Shola Balogun and PC (name withheld) were two of those police officers who were present at the party. The officers knew each other well as work colleagues, having been based at Bromley Police Station together since June 2018.

“There had been light-hearted horseplay between them in the past but no significant falling out. Both describe a good friendly working relationship. The victim said he arrived at the party at about 9 pm after meeting other officers in a nearby pub. PC Balogun arrived after the victim and he admitted that had been drinking alcohol before his arrival. There is a dispute about the incidents that took place between them during that evening.

“The victim says that at around 23.30 he walked up a flight of stairs from the dancefloor and found PC Balogun in front of him. PC Balogun was about an arms-length away when he reached out and grabbed the victim’s spectacles off his face and dropped them on the floor. This surprised the victim and he claimed to have then approached PC Balogun in a friendly manner whereupon PC Balogun responded by pushing him with his right hand to the victim’s throat area. When the victim then complained about PC Balogun’s actions in a conversation at a time when they were only a foot apart because the music was so loud, PC Balogun is alleged to have leaned forward and bitten the victim on the right side of his face.”

However, Balogun’s account of the event was different from that of the victim as he claimed to have only knocked the victim’s glasses off by accident.

He also denied pushing the victim or biting him in the face as alleged but medical reports and diagnosis revealed that the victim was bitten.

The findings in the document read, “The Regulation 30 Notice alleges that by acting in the way described PC Balogun brought discredit to the police service and undermined public trust in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). This is alleged to have been a breach of the standard of Discreditable Conduct.

“Discreditable Conduct is explained in the College of Policing Code of Ethics as not behaving in a manner, whether on or off duty, which brings discredit to the police service or undermines public confidence in policing. This is further explained as being a requirement that police officers must keep in mind at all times that the public expects police officers to maintain the highest standards of behaviour. Police officers are instructed to always think about how a member of the public may regard their behaviour, whether on or off duty. The Panel is satisfied that PC Balogun breached this standard by biting the victim. Assaulting a fellow officer is clearly unacceptable and discreditable behaviour.

Meanwhile, the panel claimed to have spoken to people including an inspector who had been his line manager for close to five years about Balogun’s behavioural history and they all spoke highly of him and his qualities as a police officer, adding, “To counter-balance the evidence of his good character the Panel has received evidence of his previous disciplinary history.”

“The Panel bears in mind the words of Lord Justice Maurice Kay in the well-known case of Salter v Chief Constable of Dorset [2012] EWCA Civ 1047 when he said, ”As to personal mitigation, just as an unexpectedly errant solicitor can usually refer to an unblemished past and the esteem of his colleagues, so will a police officer often be able so to do. However, because of the importance of public confidence, the potential of such mitigation is necessarily limited.”

The panel further agreed on dismissal without notice as the outcome of Balogun’s action.

“In the present case, PC Balogun does not have an unblemished past and the previous misconduct proved against him is serious. In the present case, he committed a deliberate assault on a colleague without any explanation or justification. He humiliated PC Final Written Warning is not appropriate in this case. The only appropriate and proportionate outcome in this case is Dismissal Without Notice,” the document added

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arrested Chima Anthony Nwigwe, suspected leader of banks’ hacking syndicate alongside three others: Effiong Victor Emmanuel, Mohammed Bello Mahmud, managing director, Downstone Ultimate Limited and Daminan Ali for alleged conspiracy, unauthorized access to banks’ computer systems and fraudulent withdrawal of depositors’ funds.

A statement released by the anti-graft agency says they were arrested in a sting operation in Abuja following actionable intelligence about their suspected involvement in hacking, compromising databases of commercial banks, thereby causing fraudulent transfers and withdrawals through different digital platforms.

The agency says the suspects would be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations.

The Ondo State Security Network Agency codenamed Amotekun has arrested 20-year-old man, Friday Akinmade, for allegedly k!lling a 65-year-old woman in Owo, the headquarters of Owo Local Government Area of the state. 

The suspect was said to have k!lled the deceased with a plank after accusing her of stealing N3000 from him.

Akinmade, who spoke with journalists at the Amotekun headquarters on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, in Akure confessed to hitting the woman with a plank twice on the head without knowing that she would later d!e.

The suspect said when he confronted the deceased with the allegation of stealing she ran away from the scene.

The Commander of the Amotekun Corps, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye paraded the suspect alongside 26 others who were involved in crimes such as kidnapping, stealing, and burglary. 

“Akinmade Friday outrightly killed a 65-year-old woman. This is a 20-year-old boy,” Adeleye said.