President Bola Tinubu has encouraged FCT Minister Nyesom Wike to disregard detractors and focus on his transformative work in the Federal Capital Territory.

Tinubu commended Wike’s leadership, emphasising that the centre’s overhaul reflects his administration’s commitment to excellence and quality governance.

The president stated this during the inauguration ceremony of the rehabilitated International Conference Centre in Abuja on Tuesday.

Speaking at the event, Wike praised President Tinubu for showing leadership by giving him a matching order to rehabilitate the centre. The minister added that he received pressure about the project from some people whose names he didn’t mention.

 

In his speech, President Tinubu said the centre’s rehabilitation is part of his administration’s efforts to “change the way we do things and reflect us as people of quality, people of character.”

 

Reacting to Wike’s remark about pressure from people, Tinubu told the minister to focus on his work in the FCT and ignore busybodies and bystanders.

“Don’t pay attention to the busybody and the bystanders. Whatever they say, continue with your good work. You’re a transformational leader. You have the foresight and determination to succeed.”

 

Earlier in his speech, Wike said the conference built in 1991 by the military administration of General Ibrahim Babangida was an eyesore because no renovation work has been done on it since its first inauguration.

Wike said any agency or ministry that intends to use the halls within the centre must pay to sustain and maintain the facility.

A former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor-Kalu, has said it is not advisable for Nigeria to return to the era of paying a subsidy for petroleum products imported into the country, insisting that the subsidy was a scam.

Kalu, who is the senator representing the Abia North senatorial zone in the Senate, spoke in his Igbere country home on Tuesday, adding that the Federal Government can subsidise agriculture and food to reduce the effect of subsidy removal on Nigerians.

He said President Bola Tinubu has been working tirelessly to pull people out of poverty, adding that the economy of Nigeria will soon be stable because of the economic policies of the president.

He said, “President Tinubu has done very well in the last two years. I’m not playing politics, and I’m talking about revamping the economy, so let us come together and support the President to rebuild our economy.

 

“I’ve spoken seriously about the economy and getting it back on track on several forums, but this is a task that requires all hands on desk to accomplish. At the top, the economy is doing well, but it needs time to trickle down to the common man.

“But it will take time to get back on track because of the worldwide inflation. The effects of COVID are still with us, which might take up 10 to 15 years to pull out. I can assure you that President Bola Tinubu is working tirelessly to pull people out of poverty.

“I’m not a part of the President’s economic team, and I’m not saying this because I’m a member of the APC but as a citizen of Nigeria. The President knows people are hungry, and he is working to ensure the country is pulled out of hunger. 

“A few things we have been able to get back are the stabilisation of the exchange rate of foreign currency in the past 9 months.

“Should we depend on petroleum subsidy again? No. We can subsidise food and others, but in petroleum, it was a very big scam.

 

“In the next two to three years, the economy will be stabilised. I know people are suffering, I pay people, I produce things, and I know the quantity I manufacture and what I sell. No president in the world wants to punish the people, but every president wants to ameliorate the suffering of the people”.

Speaking on the accolades from Governor Alex Otti, Kalu said that during his time as governor, his target was to build Aba to use the resources to build other places, and that’s what he did.

“There’s nowhere in Africa that people do not know Aba and Enyimba City, and that starts with securing the people. I created the Bakassi Boys, and they worked with the police and DSS to secure the place. This shows the people who said we didn’t do anything in the state. I laid the foundation and worked with a template to build the Aba and Umuahia added with Ohambele.

“My visit to Otti is very private. I’m the oldest governor of Abia State. I have the right to go to Governor Alex Otti. My discussion with him is about the state. I’m building 5 factories in Igbere, which will take off in the next one year, and before long, it will start processing, so I need peace and unity in this place.

“I’m APC to the core, and I’ve said that I’ll pull the trigger for the party. APC should work hard to deliver the party in the state and federal and we are committed to that.

 

“I’m a high-ranking member of the APC; to suspend me in the party, you will have to go to NEC. So we need to make the APC win in other places. Politics is not all about carrying crowd, because young men who are in politics to make money are making noise. We don’t do that. I’ve been in business for 40 years, and I’ve the track record,” he said.

Kalu also urged Nigerians to join hands to build a strong nation for future generations to come, insisting that nation-building cannot be achieved overnight.

He said, “Our duty is to Nigeria and to work for the country. We have done well. I have been fortunate to be in a few African countries and those institutions. People criticise our judiciary, but we have one of the best and strongest judiciaries in Africa.

“They criticise our journalism, but we have one of the best. In all, we are building a strong democracy. Democracy is not a job you do in a day or hour.”

Popular On Air Personality, Ifedayo Olarinde, popularly known as Daddy Freeze, has revealed the severe personal and financial toll he faced after publicly criticising Nigerian pastors and religious institutions.

According to an interview he granted to Leadership Podcast cited by PUNCH Online on Tuesday, he revealed that his outspoken views on religion came at a steep cost, including the complete loss of his business investments and a total blackout from his lucrative career as a Master of Ceremonies.

“When I came after the Nigerian pastors, at the initial stage, I lost 100% of my business. It got so bad for like two years,” he said. “I used to MC and my rates were high — I used to charge N1.5 million when the dollar was N150.”

 

The controversial on-air personality explained that he earned as much as $10,000 per MC job, often getting booked every couple of months. “A revenue of at least $60,000 annually from just one aspect of my business, and it went away,” he lamented. “Since 2019 till now, I haven’t had an MC job.”

Freeze recounted how even one confirmed gig fell through due to backlash. “After they paid upfront and the flier went viral, people said they were not going to attend the event,” he said. “The guy had to call and inform me, and when I told him that we had already agreed, he said if it is about the upfront payment, you can keep it.”

Known for his Free the Sheeple movement, Daddy Freeze has consistently challenged the teachings and wealth practices of some Nigerian pastors.

Justice D. E. Osiagor of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has convicted and sentenced nine Chinese nationals to one-year imprisonment each for cyber-terrorism and internet fraud, following their arrest in a major sting operation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

According to a statement on Tuesday via X by the EFCC, the convicts, identified as LI Dong, Deng Wei Qiang, Huang Bo, Xiong Zhen, Lai Rui Feng, Zhao Xiao Hui, Lui Hai Rong, Lui Gang, and Du Ji Feng, were part of a syndicate of 792 alleged cryptocurrency investment and romance fraud suspects apprehended on December 19, 2024.

The EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 charged the nine individuals in February 2025 with one count separate charges of cyber-terrorism and internet fraud.

The charge stated, “That you, LI Dong, Deng Wei Qiang, Huang Bo, Xiong Zhen, Lai Rui Feng, Zhao Xiao Hui, Lui Hai Rong, Lui Gang and Du Ji Feng, sometime in December, 2024 at Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired amongst yourselves to commit an offence to wit: cause to be accessed computer system used for the purpose of destabilising and destroying the economy and social structure of Nigeria and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 27 (1) (b) and punishable under Section 18(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act 2015.”

 

Initially pleading “not guilty,” the defendants reversed their pleas to “guilty” during a court session on June 5, 2025.

 

Prosecution counsel, Nnaemeka Omewa, urged the court to convict and sentence them accordingly, a request supported by the defence counsel.

Justice Osiagor subsequently sentenced each defendant to one year in prison, effective from their arrest date of December 10, 2025, and imposed a fine of N1,000,000 on each.

 

The court further ordered that the convicts be repatriated to their country of origin within seven days of completing their sentences, as directed to the Comptroller General of Immigration.

Additionally, mobile phones, computers, laptops, and routers seized during the EFCC’s “Eagle Flush Operation” were forfeited to the Federal Government.

     

A Nigerian pastor, Abel Damina of Abel Damina Ministries International, has said the offerings and tithes collected in churches don’t belong to God, but men.

The controversial man of God stirred discussion with his recent statements regarding the destination of offerings and tithes collected by churches.

In a viral video clip from a Sunday service sermon, Damina asserted that these contributions do not go to heaven.

“No offering goes to heaven. Every offering we collect is used by men.

 

“All the offerings we give to God go to men,” he explained, claiming that the funds are, in fact, spent.

He also challenged common pastoral rhetoric, specifically those statements used to encourage tithe payments.

 

According to Damina, preachers propagate the idea that God utilises offerings and tithes exclusively to affect people’s thoughts. 

He further alleged that many preachers who require their congregations to tithe do not tithe themselves.

“Those tithe mongers who say the windows of heaven will open when you pay tithes are lying.

“The doors have been open since Jesus rose from the dead.

“They collect from everyone but don’t give to anyone.

“I was there; I know how it works,” Damina stated.

The publisher of Ovation International, Dele Momodu, has claimed that his soul has left the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Momodu stated this during an interview on the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State’s programme, on Tuesday.

The PDP chieftain bemoaned the division within the PDP, which, according to him, poses a serious challenge to the ruling party.

“My soul has left the PDP; it’s only my body that remains.

“If the PDP were united, it could defeat the APC in 2027.

“But too many forces within and outside are fighting against this.”

His comments come amid a deluge of defections from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Momodu added that, “the ruling party’s strategy is to weaken the opposition.”

[DailyPost]

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike on Tuesday renamed the Abuja International Conference Centre (AICC) after President Bola Tinubu.

While speaking at the commissioning of the edifice by the Tinubu in Abuja, Wike said the ‘Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre’ is a world-class structure requiring constant maintenance.

He noted with the permission of the President that anybody that would use the newly renovated ICC must be made to pay irrespective of his or her status

Details shortly…

[TheNation]

Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal is reportedly negotiating a short-term loan deal to bring midfielder N’Golo Kanté from rivals Al Ittihad for the upcoming Club World Cup in the United States, according to transfer expert David Ornstein.

While no agreement has been finalised, there is growing optimism that a deal can be reached.

“Al Hilal are in talks to sign N’Golo Kanté on a short-term loan deal from fellow Saudi Pro League side Al Ittihad for the Club World Cup,” Ornstein reported. “An agreement has not yet been reached but there is optimism that a deal can be done.”

Both clubs are controlled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which acquired Al Hilal, Al Ittihad, Al Nassr, and Al Ahli ahead of the 2023 summer transfer window.

 

Al Hilal earned their spot in the expanded Club World Cup as the 2021 AFC Champions League winners, making them the only Saudi representative at the tournament.

 

Kanté, 34, joined Al Ittihad on a free transfer from Chelsea in July 2023 and played a key role in their Saudi Pro League title-winning campaign last season, finishing eight points ahead of Al Hilal.

The French midfielder, who has made 81 appearances for Al Ittihad, previously starred at Chelsea, where he won the Premier League, Champions League, Europa League, and FA Cup across seven years and 269 appearances.

Kanté joined Chelsea from Leicester City for £30 million in 2016 after helping the Foxes secure their historic Premier League title.

Al Hilal, now led by former Inter Milan head coach Simone Inzaghi, boasts a squad featuring former European stars such as Rúben Neves, Aleksandar Mitrović, and Kanté’s ex-Chelsea teammate Kalidou Koulibaly.

The club will kick off their Club World Cup campaign against Real Madrid on June 18, followed by matches against Red Bull Salzburg on June 22 and Pachuca on June 26.

[Punch]

President Bola Tinubu has departed Lagos for Abuja, the nation’s capital, after a two-week stay.

The president was accompanied to the Lagos airport by Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of the state, on Tuesday afternoon.

More to follow…

[TheCable]

 

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has stepped up efforts to rally support for a proposed opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections, seeking the backing of key northern political leaders to strengthen the alliance.

In a recent private meeting, Atiku reportedly visited former National Security Adviser General Aliyu Gusau (rtd) and appealed to him to help persuade prominent northern politicians who have expressed scepticism about the coalition’s direction and motives.

“Atiku begged Aliyu Gusau to specifically speak to former Senate President David Mark, former Jigawa State governor Sule Lamido and ex-presidential aspirant and former governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Makarfi,” a source familiar with the meeting disclosed. “These are northern leaders who have expressed scepticism about the Atiku/El-Rufai coalition and have distanced themselves from it,” the source added.

General Gusau, a retired military intelligence chief and one of Nigeria’s most influential political figures, has previously served as national security adviser to both Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan. He remains a powerful force in the background of Nigerian politics.

Though initially unconvinced about the intent of the coalition, Gusau agreed to initiate contact with the three senior northern figures to understand their perspectives and possibly facilitate a path forward. A meeting has reportedly been scheduled for this weekend at his Abuja residence.

“The meeting is for them to discuss the motives and modalities for the coalition and see if it’s worth supporting,” a source close to the talks confirmed.

David Mark, Sule Lamido, and Ahmed Makarfi have all been courted, it is understood.

Mark is said to be particularly cautious due to what some describe as a lack of clarity in the coalition’s formation. Makarfi has remained silent on the matter, while Lamido has taken a more vocal stance.

Lamido recently declared that he would not participate in any PDP meeting unless the party sanctioned key members who had openly endorsed President Bola Tinubu for a second term. He specifically named the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and former Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, as examples.

The proposed coalition is a joint effort by several prominent opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, and former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai.

[Politics Nigeria]