Maverick singer Seun Kuti has opened up about how he truly felt, when he wasn’t invited to Davido’s highly publicized wedding.

The event, which took place on June 25, 2024, was attended by numerous dignitaries and celebrities.

In a recent interview on ‘Curiosity Made Me Ask‘ with Bae U Barbie, Kuti shared his disappointment and frustration about not receiving an invitation.

He revealed that he struggled to sleep for a week due to the snub, which he found particularly hurtful given their past relationship.

Seun Kuti explained that Davido and his entourage would often visit his family’s bar, the African Shrine, and enjoy free drinks.

He felt that their past connection made the exclusion from the wedding guest list even more painful.

“Davido would come to the African Shrine with 100 guys, and he would drink without paying, but when it was time for his wedding, I didn’t get IV. I was pained, I didn’t sleep for one week,” he said.

Faisal Makarfi, the eldest son of a former Governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Makarfi, is dead.

According to a family source, he died in a motor accident along the Kaduna-Zaria Expressway on Saturday evening.

The source said that the deceased after the accident was taken to a hospital where he was confirmed dead.

The late Faisal Makarfi was until his death a trained engineer.

He attended Kaduna International School and Adesoye College, Offa, Kwara State for his secondary education.

He also attended the University of Greenwich, London, for his undergraduate and master’s degrees, and later enrolled for his PhD programme at the same institution.

Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has approved a minimum wage of ₦73,000 for civil servants in Ondo State.

Aiyedatiwa announced the new minimum wage during the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign flag-off held in the Ondo West Local Government Area on Saturday.

Recall that in September, the federal government and organized labour reached an agreement establishing a new minimum wage of ₦70,000 for government employees nationwide.

Accompanied by his deputy, Chief Olayide Adelami, and prominent party officials in preparation for the off-cycle governorship election scheduled for November 16, 2024, Aiyedatiwa stated that his administration, which took office ten months ago following the passing of the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, has been actively transforming governance in the state, particularly by enhancing the welfare of civil servants.

Aiyedatiwa, who is the APC candidate for the upcoming governorship election, emphasized that the state government is committed to motivating its workers through training opportunities and promotion initiatives while also ensuring the timely payment of salaries and any outstanding arrears.

“Our civil servants are being motivated through different training programmes, and their salaries are being paid regularly. We do not owe, but let me announce to you that this administration has decided to implement the new minimum wage.

“Even though the minimum wage is supposed to be N70,000, ours is going to be N73,000. We will continue to improve on your welfare and advance further. By November 16, 2024, come out en mass and vote for APC,” the governor said.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Governors Forum has called for an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss various concerns regarding the party’s crisis.

Recalls that since Umar Damagum became the acting National Chairman following Senator Iyorchia Ayu’s court removal, he has faced increasing criticism from party leaders over the ongoing crisis in the PDP, resulting in calls for his resignation.

Damagum’s indecisiveness has contributed to the tense political situation in Rivers State between Governor Sim Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.

On Friday, in a surprising turn of events, Damagum’s faction of the NWC, through the party’s National Director of Publicity, Chinwe Nnorom, announced the suspension of National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba and National Legal Adviser Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN) for alleged insubordination and anti-party.

Shortly after, a statement signed by Ologunagba indicated that the NWC had suspended Damagum and National Secretary Sen. Samuel Anyanwu for alleged disloyalty to the PDP, appointing National Treasurer Yayari Ahmed Mohammed as the acting National Chairman.

As the crisis rocking the party persists, the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum and Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has charged the factional acting National Chairman of the party, Umar Damagum, to revert to the status quo.

In an interview with PUNCH, a senior party member revealed that PDP stakeholders were considering the establishment of a caretaker committee to guide the party toward a National Convention to elect a new National Working Committee.

The source, who was in the meeting between the Bauchi Governor and Damagum’s faction of the NWC, said that the chairman of the PDP Governors forum urged for calm and called for an emergency meeting to tackle concerns in the party.

He said, “Governor Bala Mohammed is worried about the situation. During his meeting with Damagum’s team on Friday, he welcomed them and called for calm. The governor urged them to restore the status quo to keep the NWC unified and allow the NEC to address the issues at its next meeting.

“To tackle these concerns, I understand that the governors have called an emergency meeting for Monday. Some stakeholders are discussing the possibility of appointing a new caretaker committee to manage the party’s affairs and organize an elective national convention in 2025 to usher in new NWC.

“These stakeholders believe that reconciliation efforts will not lead to the current NWC members collaborating for the party’s benefit. However, they are also cautious due to the ongoing litigation surrounding the Damagum and NWC situation. Therefore, the governors will convene to consider all these issues.”

The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) on Saturday decried that most people in the North cannot afford a single square meal per day as a result of the lingering insecurity and socio-economic hardship plaguing the region.

The groups disclosed this in a one-day community engagement held in Katsina under the chairmanship of Professor Sani Abubakar Lugga, the fifth Wazirin Katsina.

The theme of this engagement is: “Imperative of Popular Participation in Tackling Socioeconomic Challenges Bedeviling Nigeria Through Community Solutions.”

The National Coordinator of the Coalition Jamilu Aliyu Charanchi told reporters insecurity in the Northern Region is walking with its two legs hence the need to find a lasting solution to the problem.

According to Charanchi, the time of lamentation is over as virtually all Nigerians know that the country is in a serious problem.

“People can no longer afford three square meals. We are not even talking about the three square meals, people cannot afford a single square meal per day.

“Insecurity is walking with its two legs in the North. So these are the reasons we have seen, and we have come to realize that, the leaders are not even ready to address the problems and to some extent, not only the leaders but even ourselves we have a contribution to do so that at least we can get ourselves out of this quagmire.

“So, the CNG decides after the stakeholders roundtable held in Abuja to engage community people so that each and every member or stakeholder in the community will get to know how to contribute their quota towards alleviating insecurity, economic hardship, and all other crises bedeviling the North.

“The main target here is the community to know how they can contribute to alleviate the problem bedeviling the region. The participants mostly leaders of various organizations are carefully selected. After this meeting, we will mandate the leaders to go back and summon their members and tell them all the information they have gotten here,” he said.

Charanchi while talking about corruption in the country believed that all the problems facing Nigeria ranging from corruption itself, insecurity, economic hardship, and dilapidation in the infrastructure in the education sector, and health sector among others show there is a crisis of leadership.

“In as much as we can get it right, we can get the right leaders, we can get the leaders that have the country at their heart, we can get the leaders that have human feelings, we can get the leaders that act like messengers of God, we can get the leaders that will treat this country as they are going to treat their family definitely we will get it right.

“It’s very unfortunate we don’t have leaders in this country. All we have in this country are politicians and the problem with politicians. They always care about how to secure the next election. But a true leader cares about how to secure the next generation.

“It’s a waste of time to call on leaders to change because I doubt much if our leaders have fear of God. I doubt much if our leaders believe there is something we call hereafter, I doubt much if our leaders have something we call humanity, and I doubt much if our leaders believe that service to humanity is a service to God.

“We have self-centered leaders that believe in enriching themselves and looting the treasury.

“So, the only solution is to let the community come together to believe that, we are the government not somebody as the government, and let’s get it right from our constituency,” Charanchi added.

In his remarks, the Special Guest of Honor and Governor of Katsina State Dikko Radda, commended the organizers of the meeting, stating that, the State Government has done a lot in tackling the issue of insecurity.

The governor who was represented by the State Commissioner for Information and Culture Bala Zango said that Katsina has become a role model in the North in terms of tackling insecurity.

He, however, advised the youth to learn from the bad experience witnessed during the recent nationwide Hunger/End Bad Governance protests where he said bad elements took advantage by turning the demonstrations from peaceful to violent.

“Issues of insecurity and other issues that hindered the development and progress of the North and Nigeria as a whole have been discussed in this community engagement.

“Katsina State Government has done well not only on security and economy but also in every sector.

“I am advising the youth to learn from the bad experience during the recent nationwide hunger/End Bad Governance protest where bad elements took advantage by turning the protest to violent instead of peaceful.

“Rather than protest, let us resort to dialogue which is the best solution to problems. We have seen the lives that have been lost and property destroyed as a result of the protest,” he stated.

The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has advised President Bola Tinubu to seek help from former President, Goodluck Jonathan, on the economic crisis plaguing the country.

Recall that there has been outrage in the country following the fuel price increase.

The retail stations of NNPC raised the price of petrol to ₦1,030 from ₦897/litre in Abuja and from ₦868/litre to ₦998/litre in Lagos. Other locations witnessed similar price hikes.

Reacting to the development during an interview with Punch, the National Secretary of the NNPP, Dipo Olaoyoku, said the current administration has shown that it does not have what it takes to save Nigeria.

He said, “As far as Nigeria is concerned, nothing shocks us anymore. This present government has no iota of solution to the problem of this country. When there is a crisis in the country, and you have a government that only looks for the easy way out, it means that Nigeria is on a long journey.

“How can a president announce the removal of subsidy on his first day on the job without ascertaining the extent of the subsidy and the people receiving it? Within the same week, you announced the floating of the naira. At that time, Nigeria was solely dependent on imported fuel, with the prices being determined by the naira

“This government is bereft of ideas. Unfortunately, if you look at the people he has appointed into offices, you cannot identify a competent one among them. I just pity Nigerians. After surviving the hurricane of Buhari, see what Nigeria has been reduced to. It is catastrophic. This government has no compassion for any Nigerian.”

The NNPP scribe also decried that rather than recruit technocrats from different walks of life, the President surrounded himself with his political friends and associates.

Olaoyoku suggested that unless Tinubu sought the help of experienced political administrators like Jonathan, the masses would continue to wallow under the yoke of hardship.

“Again, they can beg Dr Goodluck Jonathan for help on how he was able to retain the rate of the naira to the dollar at ₦200 before the APC came on board. Let them go and beg him” he added.

Armed bandits on Saturday blocked the ever-busy Gusau-Funtua highway and abducted an unspecified number of travellers. 

The bandits blocked the highway between Kucheri and Magazu communities in Tsafe Local Government Area of the state, shooting at moving vehicles.

The spokesperson of the Zamfara State Police Command, ASP Yazid Abubakar, confirmed the incident to Channels Television via a telephone conversation.

He said an unspecified number of travellers were abducted during the attack, adding that the police and other security agencies are currently on joint rescue operations in order to rescue the abducted victims.

“The incident happened this afternoon. The bandits blocked the road and started shooting at the commuters, they kidnapped some of them,” Abubakar said.

“The command in collaboration with other security agencies are working hand in hand to make sure the kidnapped victims are rescued.”

Abubakar, however, denied the report that five mobile policemen were abducted during a shootout with the bandits

Recently, armed bandits have carried out a series of attacks along the highway.

Zamfara is one of several states in northwestern and central Nigeria terrorised by heavily armed gangs, who carry out mass abductions for ransom as well as burning and looting homes.

The gangs, who maintain camps in a huge forest straddling Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger states, have also undertaken large-scale kidnappings of pupils from schools in recent years.

Bandits have recently stepped up attacks, particularly in Katsina and Zamfara states.

Last month, the gangs raided four villages in Katsina state’s Sabuwa district, killing 25 people, mostly local vigilantes, in apparent reprisals over military offensives on their hideouts, according to a local official.

Bandits have no ideological leaning and are motivated by financial gain. But analysts and officials have expressed concern over their increasing alliance with jihadists waging a 15-year armed rebellion in the northeast.

Vice-President Kashim Shettima says the federal government is working to reverse Nigeria’s growing unemployment rate.

Shettima said this on Saturday at the launch of the Nasarawa state human capital development strategy document and gender transformative human capital development policy framework in Lafia.

He said the government is committed to empowering Nigerians with globally competitive skills which would enable them excel anywhere in the world.

Shettima said the human capital development (HCD) programme is designed to help Nigeria achieve a productive workforce.

“Enough of the distressing data on our education system—whether it is the mean years of schooling, the high pupil-to-teacher ratios, or the staggering number of youths not in employment, education, or training,” he said.

“The unemployment rates, the growing informal sector, and low labour force participation must be reversed. This is the dystopia our Human Capital Development Programme is designed to avert, under the mandate of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“For so long, at the National Economic Council, we have debated the ideal nation we wish to build and the pathways to achieve it.

“Our partnerships with the private sector are critical in achieving this. By facilitating access to resources, expertise, and innovation, we aim to make human capital development the cornerstone of a more prosperous and competitive Nigeria.”

He added that the unveiling of a blueprint for Nasarawa’s human capital challenges reaffirms the administration’s commitment to tackle the unique realities of each state.

“Nasarawa state’s commitment to the Human Capital Development (HCD) Programme, a lifeline for our nation, is built on the collective realisation that enough is enough,” he said.

“Enough of the cycles that have held us back. Enough of the legacies of unplanned high fertility rates and alarming maternal and under-five mortality rates. Enough of our vulnerable populations facing low life expectancy.

“Rather, it is an invitation for every country, and indeed sub-national entities, to rise to the challenge. Every child must have access to quality education, equitable healthcare, even as the nation’s workforce must be equipped with the skills necessary to thrive in the 21st-century economy.”

Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to the president, has defended President Bola Tinubu’s recent international trips.

On October 2, the presidency announced Tinubu’s departure from Abuja to the UK for a two-week vacation as part of his annual leave.

On August 29, Tinubu left Abuja for China but stopped in Dubai before arriving in Beijing on September 1 for a state visit and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

On September 16, the president returned to Abuja after the “fruitful two-week trip” to China, Dubai and the UK.

On Friday, Kabir Masari, the senior special assistant on political matters to the president, said he visited Tinubu at his private residence in the UK.

In a post on X on Friday, Masari said Tinubu departed the UK to France after their meeting.

The post generated mixed reactions with some Nigerians questioning the president’s recent international trips.

In a a tweet on Friday night, Onanuga said the president is currently on a two-week leave and can travel wherever he wishes.

“President Tinubu is on leave for two weeks. He is not restricted to the UK. It is his private time. He can go to anywhere he so desires. He is still observing his leave,” Onanuga wrote in a post on X.

Some governors in the country may be getting more desperate to share in the monthly allocation to local governments if revelations by some sources, including a council chairman and a party candidate, are anything to go by.

Findings by Sunday PUNCH showed that some governors have devised means to continue cornering council funds through secret oath-taking deals and agreements with elected chairmen.

The Supreme Court granted financial autonomy to the 774 LGs on July 11 and directed the Accountant-General of the Federation to pay allocations directly to their accounts.

Consequently, the Federal Government on August 20 set up a 10-member inter-ministerial committee to implement the court’s ruling. 

Sunday PUNCH gathered that the panel, headed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, had concluded its assignment and would submit its report any moment from Monday, October 14.

A few days after the Supreme Court judgment, state governors asked for a three-month moratorium before the commencement of direct allocation to the LGs to enable them to conduct elections.

Ebonyi, Bauchi, Kebi, Oyo, Kwara, Imo, Enugu, Sokoto, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Benue, and Rivers are the states that have conducted LG elections.

The President of the National Union of Local Government Employees, Ambali Olatunji, earlier this month disclosed that the Federal Government would commence direct payment of allocations into the accounts of each LG by the end of October.

An elected council chairman in one of the South-West states told Sunday PUNCH that he was compelled to pledge allegiance and give his state governor access to the funds all the time.

According to the chairman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, he and his colleagues repledged their loyalty to the governor after the Supreme Court verdict.

He said, “After the Supreme Court judgment, we met the governor and pledged our allegiance to him. We told him we would always abide by his directive on our LG funds. I cannot say we did that voluntarily; something propelled us to do it. Maybe I wouldn’t be the local government chairman now if I didn’t pledge because that was before our election. You should understand beyond what I have said.”

A senior media officer in the same state told Sunday PUNCH that part of the agreement the chairmen had with the governor was continuous remittance of their funds to a dedicated state account.

“I am privy to their arrangement. The chairmen were asked to pledge allegiance that they would continue to remit money to the state when the direct allocation commences. The only grace they have with the arrangement on ground now is that after payment of teachers and other workers, the chairmen will take N5m as security vote; the vice chairman and other principal officers will also have their running costs, while N10m will be set aside for the running of the local government. The rest of the allocation will then be sent to the state”, he added.

Also, a local government chairmanship candidate in one of the southern states told Sunday PUNCH that he and his colleagues took an oath to follow their governor’s directive on LG funds before they were cleared to be the candidates of the party.

“We are to follow the governor’s directive on local government funds; that was our pledge, and I don’t think it is bad,” he stated.

At least five other chairmen contacted by our correspondents in the North-East declined to comment on the matter.

The council bosses, after listening to Sunday PUNCH, said they had nothing to say.

A political analyst in Sokoto State, Abdul AbdulKareem, said Nigerians should not expect anything special from the chairmen.

“Why will you be deceiving yourself to ask such things from them; no one among them will admit to such questions. The only thing we know is none of them can do anything without instructions either from the governor or the leader of the party in the state. They were all appointed into that place for a purpose and can’t go contrary to that,” he added.

A former local government chairman in Ogun State, Wale Adedayo, urged chairmen to resist every attempt by governors to arm-twist them to remit their allocations back to states.

Adedayo, who was removed as the chairman of Ijebu East LGA of Ogun State for accusing the state governor of diverting LG funds, also urged the Federal Government to set up machinery to track and monitor LG funds.

“If quality local government chairmen are elected, none of them will agree to any arrangement by governors to return their allocations to states.

“President Bola Tinubu needs to revisit what President Shehu Shagari did during his tenure. Shagari had presidential liaison officers in all the states of the federation to monitor local government activities for the Federal Government. Tinubu also needs to appoint liaison officers for each state of the federation so that they can monitor local governments.

“The governors have taken the Federal Government to court to abolish EFCC. They are doing this so that nobody will be able to hold them accountable and essentially to continue to divert local government funds. They know that it is only the EFCC that can expose them so they don’t want the EFCC there again,” Adedayo said.

On his part, the immediate past chairman of the Ogun State chapter of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria, Babatunde Emilola-Gazal, called for the review of the revenue-sharing formula in order to give local governments more funds.

Emilola-Gazal said the current sharing formula was “unfair and skewed” in favour of both the state and federal governments.

He argued that most local governments might still be unable to meet their financial obligations with the current revenue-sharing formula even if the Federal Government paid allocation directly into their accounts.

He said, “There is no reason for what Anambra State Government or any other state government wants to do. It is not right, it is not justifiable, it is wrong and unfair at a time when everybody is looking forward to more development at the grassroots level.

“There is a problem with the revenue sharing formula. As of today, the 774 local governments in the country take 20.6 per cent of what accrues to the federation account, the state governments take 26 per cent while the Federal Government takes 52 per cent.

“There is a need for the revenue sharing formula to be revisited so that more funds will be given to the local governments than what is presently done. How can 774 local governments take 20.6 per cent while the Federal government takes 52 per cent of what is in the federation account. That sharing formula is inappropriate, it is skewed in favour of the Federal Government and that needs to be addressed.

The Secretary-General, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Mohammed Abubakar, added that the organisation was on top of the situation.

He said, “Yes, we are aware of the scheme of governors. But, there’s something ALGON is also facing. The leadership of the association sometimes also looks at the body language of their governors because these governors are in control of the chairmen. But, you know, we have the registrar trustees of the association, who to some extent are not chairmen in council. So, they seem to be the ones that are leading the pack on the agitation that this must be implemented. Some chairmen sometimes will not want to be in the bad book of their governors. So, they don’t speak out when necessary.

“But I can assure you that the board of trustees is on top of the issue. Very soon, you will hear from the trustees speaking and following up on the necessary authority to implement this. I can assure you that majority of the chairmen were excited when they learnt about this.

“They are trying to also avoid the situation whereby they will begin to be forced to return money to the governors after getting it from the Federal Government directly. So, I think they are also not comfortable with it and we guess we will find a way to pass the message through so that they don’t also get into trouble with their governors.”

Abubakar said some governors had also been making attempts to divide the association, adding that leaders of the group were countering such moves.