Ado Ekiti Magistrate Court granted bail to Dele Farotimi on the following conditions:

1. ₦30 million bond

2. Two sureties (one of whom must be a property owner), submission of his passport, and

3. A prohibition on granting media interviews.

Dele Farotimi’s bail was also confirmed by human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, on his X handle on Friday.

Recall that a petition filed by a prominent lawyer and Senior Advocate in Nigeria, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), prompted Farotimi’s arrest.

He was remanded in prison custody on December 7, 2024, after being arrested on 16 counts of criminal defamation, following the publication of his book, Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System.

Super Eagles winger, Ademola Lookman has seen a significant rise in his market value, now estimated at €55 million.

The increase of €15 million places Ademola Lookman ahead of Bayer Leverkusen’s Victor Boniface, who stands at €45 million, making Lookman Nigeria’s second most valuable player, just behind Victor Osimhen at €75 million.

Winning the 2024 CAF Player of the Year award is a testament to Lookman’s outstanding performance, as he triumphed over notable contenders, including Simon Adingra from Ivory Coast, Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi, South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, and Guinea’s Serhou Guirassy. Additionally, Lookman was ranked 14th in the 2024 Ballon d’Or standings.

The 27-year-old winger’s rise over the past two seasons has firmly established him among Nigeria’s top football talents. At the end of 2023, he was valued at €30 million, but a remarkable year saw an impressive €25 million increase in his market value, reflecting an 83.33% growth.

By June 2024, after delivering a standout performance in the UEFA Europa League final—scoring a hat-trick in Atalanta’s 3-0 victory over Leverkusen to clinch the club’s first European title—his valuation rose to €40 million.

Jatin Dietl, Transfermarkt’s Italy Area Manager, noted, “Lookman capped off his impressive 2024 with the African Ballon d’Or, and rightly so. He has been in exceptional form, playing a pivotal role in Atalanta’s success and leading the club to its first international title.”

Before reaching this pinnacle, Lookman attracted interest from major European clubs such as PSG, Arsenal, and Liverpool, who expressed a desire to sign him last summer. However, retaining his talents may pose a challenge for Atalanta as the season progresses.

Despite the growing interest, Atalanta President Antonio Percassi has emphasized the club’s intention to keep Lookman during the January transfer window, stating, “Our plan is not to change anything in the January window,” regarding the forward’s future

House of Representatives member for Kaduna North Constituency, Mohammed Bello El-Rufai, has called for the scrapping of some yearly expenses of ministries, departments and agencies.

Bello El-Rufai noted that ministries, departments and agencies cannot include vehicles and furniture every year in their budgets.

He stated this during the debate on the 2025 budget on Wednesday. He explained that some items ministries, departments and agencies included in the 2024 budgets in their recurrent expenditure should not be allowed in the 2025 budget.

“Sir, the recurrent issue is in every budget, even a young person like myself, we budget for vehicles every year, we budget for utensils every year. So what I would like us to do, sir, to open more revenues or block loopholes is to look at all these ministries that are bringing their budgets.

“If they bought vehicles last year, please, they should just relax now. Vehicles do not expire. These are the little things, Mr. Speaker, that if, unless we start looking at them, the loopholes we talk about will not come out. I want to thank the leadership for sessions like this and other experienced members. It’s a learning opportunity, but on this, the Orasanye report, sir, should be implemented. It is key. That is one,” he said.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker further demanded financial discipline from leaders just as Nigerians are encouraged to endure the current hardship in the country.

“The second and most important thing to me, since I was a, well, I’m still a young man, since I was a boy, budgets every year come with new computers, new furniture. These things don’t expire, sir. We should cut them out totally. We can’t be asking Nigerians, we can’t have a tax reform bill that could shape the fiscal shape of this country. Well, as leaders, we are not cutting anything.

“So I urge the chairman, I’m honored, sir, that I chair a committee that has CBN, but my budget is not on here. But committee chairmen that are more experienced than myself should look into this. Nigerians are tired of every agency buying fork and knife every year,” he added.

A ₦9.36 billion budget has been made for domestic and international travel and refreshments for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima for the upcoming year.

Naija News reports that this information is detailed in the 2025 Appropriation Bill released by the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.

On Wednesday, the president presented a budget proposal amounting to ₦49.7 trillion to a joint session of the National Assembly.

The fiscal document is titled: ‘Restoration Budget, Securing Peace and Building Prosperity.’

As per the budget proposal, President Tinubu is set to spend ₦7.44 billion on travel and refreshments, while Vice President Shettima will allocate ₦1.9 billion for similar expenses.

In 2025, the president’s international travel is expected to cost ₦6.14 billion, with local trips amounting to ₦873.9 million.

Additionally, ₦431.6 million has been designated for the president’s refreshments, meals, and catering supplies.

For the vice president, international travel expenses are projected at ₦1.31 billion, with local travel costing ₦417.5 million.

The budget for refreshments, meals, and catering supplies for the vice president is set at ₦186.02 million.

In the first quarter of 2024, President Tinubu, Vice President Shettima, and First Lady Remi Tinubu incurred travel expenses totalling no less than ₦5.24 billion for both local and international trips, as revealed by an analysis conducted using GovSpend, a civic technology platform that monitors and analyzes federal government expenditures.

Budget For Presidency On Cars, Fuel, Honorarium, SAs Office

Meanwhile, the Office of the President has put forward a budget of ₦4,760,035,960 for vehicles, which includes ₦3,661,566,123 allocated for the acquisition of operational vehicles for the State House and ₦1 billion designated for the replacement of Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs).

Additionally, ₦255,728,214 has been allocated for the purchase of cars, with ₦127,864,107 specifically reserved for the procurement of SUVs for both the president and vice president and another ₦127,864,107 set aside for operational vehicles within the Presidential Conference Car Unit (CCU) fleet.

Furthermore, a total of ₦5,938,883,548 has been proposed for honorarium, the construction of an office complex for Special Advisers and Senior Special Assistants, and fuel for generators.

The budget outlines that ₦2,118,521,128 is designated for sitting allowances/honorarium, ₦1,989,579,359 for fuel, and ₦1,830,783,061 for the construction of the office complex for Special Advisers and Senior Special Assistants.

Nigerian singer, Tiwa Savage, has spoken about the effects of the divorce from her ex-husband, Tunji Balogun, popularly known as TeeBillz.

Recalls that TeeBillz announced their divorce in 2018 on social media.

However, in an interview with ‘The Receipts’ Podcast, Tiwa Savage accused TeeBillz of being responsible for the divorce, stating that she did not break up with him.

She explained that TeeBillz announced the divorce while she was still struggling with postpartum depression after the birth of their son.

Tiwa Savage also stated that it was heartbreaking how the public blamed her for the marriage breakup, adding she became ‘African Bad Girl’ afterwards.

She said: “The way our situation happened, he announced it online. I did not break up with him, but I was the one being attacked.

“My baby was just a few months old at that time. My body wasn’t the same because I was dealing with postpartum and depression. Only a few people came to see me. Everyone went to him.

“It got worse after I did an interview to tell my side of the story. People were like, ‘How dare you go and talk? You are a woman, and you are supposed to build the house. It’s your fault.’

“It was very heartbreaking how the public blamed me. Ever since then, I was like, ‘I won’t ever talk about the situation.’ It was an eye-opener for me. It made me depressed and angry for so long. Then I became the ‘African Bad Girl.’ I started getting tattoos and wearing bikinis and short skirts.”

The Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) has said the words British Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, used in describing Nigerian Police was unfair.

The National Chairman of PCRC, Mogaji Olaniyan, said while the Nigeria Police have its challenges, they are also doing great work in the nation.

Olaniyan, who stated this in an interview with newsmen on Friday, advised Kemi Badenoch to use her good office for the country’s good.

The PCRC Chairman said that there are many good and decent police officers in the country, like the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 2, Adegoke Fayode, who rejected N20 million bribe.

He emphasized that United Kingdom and United States policemen in the 1960s and 1970s were also accused of corruption and unprofessional practices.

“While we are not denying the fact that there are challenges and room for improvement, we must not forget the great dangers of ridiculing our country.

“It is an undeniable fact that many horrible things happened and are still happening in foreign countries, particularly in the UK and US, that are not reported by their media.

“Rather than ridiculing the Nigeria Police, it would have been better for Badenoch to use her good position to impact positively on the system,” he said.

He emphasized that Kemi‘s outburst could be a result of an experience she had with some police officers, but that should not take away the great work of some of the personnel.

“It is possible that Badenoch or her family members were stopped or interrogated by the Police in Nigeria over an issue which prompted that derogatory comments.

“This should never take away or ignore the great works of the police in Nigeria, especially, under the current leadership,” he stated.

The Oyo State Police Command has announced ongoing investigations into the tragic stampede at a children’s funfair held in Ibadan on Wednesday.

The incident, which occurred at the Islamic High School, Orita Bashorun, resulted in the death of at least 35 children, with six others sustaining critical injuries and currently receiving medical treatment.

The probe follows a directive from President Bola Tinubu, who ordered a thorough investigation into the causes of the stampede.

Speaking on Channels Television’s programme, The Morning Brief, on Friday, Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer, Adewale Osifeso, shed light on the initial findings of the investigation.

According to Osifeso, preliminary evidence suggests that poor crowd management may have played a significant role in the tragedy.

He explained that the system for entry into the fair might have contributed to the chaos. Initially, attendees were required to pay a token fee to gain entry.

However, at some point, the fees were reduced, and later, entry was reportedly granted for free. This shift, Osifeso suggested, may have led to agitation and confusion among the crowd.

“Investigations are in progress, but from the preliminary findings, it was discovered that at some point the fair, they were supposed to go in with a token, at some point the prices were slashed and later, some had the opportunity of going in free. So, at some point, something must have gone wrong as regards some sort of agitation,” Osefiso said.

He highlighted that the overwhelming number of attendees far exceeded the expected capacity for the venue, further exacerbating the situation.

“In this case, when it comes to crowd control anything could have triggered it; it could be excitement, it could be fear, it could be panic and judging by the space, which at the end of the day we discovered that the crowd that got into that place which was not the originally planned number, could have also contributed to the stampede because those going in actually did most of the damage to those already in,” Osifeso stated.

In the aftermath of the incident, the police confirmed the arrest of seven suspects believed to have played a role in the stampede.

Among those in custody are Naomi Silekunola, a former queen of the Ooni of Ife, and the Principal of Islamic High School, Ibadan, Fasasi Abdulahi.

The police have not disclosed the specific roles of the suspects but have assured the public that the investigation will be transparent and thorough.

Former Special Adviser on Media to ex President Olusegun Obasanjo, Doyin Okupe, has said the priority given to defence in 2025 budget showed President Bola Tinubu’s seriousness in tackling insecurity.

The former Director-General of Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Organisation said the projections on daily crude oil output, price and foreign exchange benchmarks, are realizable.

Okupe stated this on Friday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Recall that President Bola Tinubu, in the 2025 budget, allocated to defense and security ₦4.91 trillion, infrastructure ₦4.06 trillion, health ₦2.48 trillion and education ₦3.52 trillion.

“The oil daily production of slightly more than ₦2 million barrels, the forex benchmark of ₦1,500 to the dollar and the projected crude oil price of $75 are all vividly realistic figures going on by current and predictably prevailing global trend.

“The huge allocation of ₦4.91 trillion (10 percent) to Defence and Security underscores the seriousness and political will of the administration to finally decimate insurgency and banditry.

“These two plagues are major contributors to food shortage, availability and inflation as they prevent farming activities in the North,” Okupe said.

The former aide to ex-president, Goodluck Jonathan, commended the President for the budget size. He said it showed the administration was out to spend thereby providing the necessary impetus for economic growth of the country.

“All in all, the huge size of the budget is also indicative of government’s intention to increase its spending thereby providing the necessary impetus for economic growth and increase in purchasing power of the citizens.

“The 2025 budget further strengthens the workability of the Renewed Hope Agenda,” he added.

Former federal lawmaker Senator Shehu Sani has lamented that the Kaduna-Abuja free train ride announced by President Bola Tinubu’s government has facilitated the movement of thugs.

DAILY POST recalls that on December 26, the Federal Government announced a free train ride for any Nigerian wishing to travel during the Christmas festivities.

The initiative, which received praise from citizens, has reportedly been hijacked in some quarters by thugs, according to Shehu Sani.

In a post on his official social media on Friday, the former lawmaker expressed his concerns, lamenting that thugs have taken over the Kaduna-Abuja train station for aimless trips.

He wrote: “The FG Kaduna-Abuja free train ride is a good gesture that has not helped those travelling for Christmas but provided an opportunity for thugs to take over the station and the train seats, just travelling to and from Abuja without purpose.”