Political appointments in Nigeria are sometimes trailed by controversies, especially when certain patterns are deduced.

Questions about compensation or competence of the appointees also often arise.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari was accused of being religiously and ethnically lopsided in his appointment.

For President Bola Tinubu who suceeded him, the common accusation, though still tender, is that he favours people of Yoruba descent.

The former governor of Lagos, it appears, has a knack for appointing people who had served the state, especially those who worked with him as far back as the return of democracy in 1999.

Here are some recent presidential appointees who served in Lagos government in the past.

OLATUNJI BELLO — FORMER ENVIRONMENT COMMISSIONER NOW IN FCCPC

On June 24, Olatunji Bello was appointed as the chief executive officer of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).

Bello is a lawyer, administrator, and journalist. He studied law and  holds a master’s degree in international law and diplomacy from the University of Lagos and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2002.

He was the former secretary to the Lagos state government.

He had his first public service stint under Tinubu when he became managing director, Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency, in 2010.

In 2011, he was appointed as  commissioner for environment under the administration of Babatunde Fashola and served in that capacity till May 2015 when he was appointed as secretary to the Lagos state government by Akinwunmi Ambode.

DAYO MOBEREOLA — FORMER TRANSPORTATION COMMISSIONER NOW IN NIMASA

Tinubu appointed Dayo Mobereola as director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in March.

Mobereola was the commissioner for transportation in Lagos from 2015 to 2016. Before his appointment, he was the managing director of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) from 2002 to 2015.

He holds a Ph.D and an M.Sc in transport economics from the University of Wales, United Kingdom.

Before joining public service, Mibereola was the deputy managing director and project development director at AFM Consulting Plc, London.

He was also a senior economist at British Petroleum Shipping Limited; and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Transport, both in England and in Nigeria.

AYODEJI ARIYO — FORMER FINANCE COMMISSIONER NOW IN BPE

Tinubu appointed Ayodeji Ariyo Gbeleyi as the director-general of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) in June.

In January 2022, ex-President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Gbeleyi as the board chairman of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN),

Gbeleyi served as commissioner of finance in Lagos from 2013 to 2015 under Fashola with concurrent responsibility for the oversight of the office of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP).

He is a fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN).

Gbeleyi is also an alumnus of executive programmes of London Business School, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and Lagos Business School.

JIDE IDRIS — FORMER HEALTH COMMISSIONER NOW IN NCDC

Jide Idris was a three-term commissioner for health in Lagos.

He served as health commissioner under the governments of Tinubu, Fashola and Ambode.

Idris also served as a permanent secretary in the Lagos state ministry of health.

In February, Tinubu appointed him as the director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).

Idris succeeded Ifedayo Adetifa who headed the NCDC since September 2021.

He graduated from the College of Medicine, University of Lagos (CMUL), before obtaining his master of public health (MPH) degree at the Yale University, US.

Idris is a member of the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).

DELE ALAKE — FORMER INFORMATION COMMISSIONER NOW IN SOLID MINERALS

Dele Alake was Tinubu’s commissioner for information and strategy from 1999 to 2007, after serving as his special adviser in the same capacity.

In June 2023, Tinubu appointed Alake as his special adviser on special duties, communications and strategy, and later as minister for solid minerals development in August.

Alake was born in October 1956 and holds a bachelor of science degree in political science and a master’s in mass communications from the University of Lagos.

WALE EDUN — FORMER FINANCE COMMISSIONER, NOW FINANCE MINISTER

Adebayo Olawale Edun served as the Lagos state commissioner for finance for two terms from 1999 to 2007 during Tinubu’s tenure.

He was appointed minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy in August 2023 after serving as Tinubu’s special adviser on monetary policies.

Edun completed his bachelor’s degree in economics at the University of London and his masters in economics from the University of Sussex, England.

He is a former chair of ChapelHillDenham Group, and an executive director of Lagos merchant bank, Investment Banking & Trust Company Limited, now Stanbic IBTC.
He is also the founder and chair of Lagos Boxing Hall of Fame.

HAKEEM MURI-OKUNOLA — FORMER LAGOS HEAD OF SERVICE, NOW TINUBU’S PRIVATE SECRETARY 

Muri-Okunola is another figure who was in active service of the Lagos state government, though not in the capacity of a commissioner.

In September 2023, he resigned as the Lagos state head of service after five years to take up appointment as Tinubu’s principal private secretary.

Muri-Okunola was appointed personal assistant to Tinubu between 2003 and 2005. After serving as his personal assistant, Tinubu appointed him executive secretary of the land use and allocation committee.

He became permanent secretary in 2011 — about 10 years after joining the civil service — and was posted to the Lands Bureau in the Governor’s Office.

YEMI CARDOSO — FORMER COMMISSIONER FOR BUDGET, NOW CBN GOVERNOR

He was a banker, stockbroker and consultant. He was appointed as the chairman of the board of Citibank Nigeria. He was also a member of the Cities Alliance’s Africa Think Tank Group.

Yemi Cardoso was appointed commissioner for economic planning and budget in Lagos in 1999 when Tinubu became governor of the state.

In September 2023, Tinubu appointed him as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Ex-governor of Anambra State and 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party or LP, Mr Peter Obi, has called on President Bola Tinubu to release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as ordered by the court.

Obi while addressing journalists in his hometown of Anambra on Saturday said the continued detention of Kanu when the court had granted him bail was against the rule of law in the text that was made available.

It’s not clear when the court granted Kanu another bail apart from the 2017 bail.

Before he was granted bail, he was brought before the Federal High Court in Abuja on charges bordering on treasonable felony filed against him by the Federal Government.

However, the court revoked the bail and issued a bench warrant for his arrest after he failed to present himself as required.

The IPOB leader was rearrested in Kenya in 2021.

Since then, he has been in detention and has failed to secure another bail after several applications.

The latest denial of bail was handed down to Kanu on May 20 when the presiding judge at the Federal High Court in Abuja, Binta Murtala Nyako, held that, he had jumped bail in 2017 and would not be grnated another.

The judge said, “You have an option of appeal. Please exercise your right of appeal,” in the ruling that was delivered few weeks after Kanu had failed in an earlier bail application.

But Obi explained that, “Government must obey the law as the rule of law is an intrinsic asset that we must cherish and live with. And I have always said that I am going to discuss with every agitator.

“I plead with the government to ensure that all those who are in similar conditions are released and discussed with. We are a democratic nation and we should not be doing things that are arbitrary and not within the law,” he stated.

He challenged the government to work harder to curb insecurity, noting, “The primary work of government is the security of lives and property.

“Like I always say, the primary duty of any government is security of life and property. It is the foundation on which people live in a nation because nobody can stay in an insecure place.

“And it is worrisome what is happening in Nigeria where people wake up everyday with
news of killings, abductions and kidnappings, which have made Nigeria one of the most insecure places on the surface of the earth and it requires urgent attention”.

On what’s happening in the South East, Obi said, “As I thank the governments in the zone for their efforts, there is a need to do more. I want our governors to come together as a family to solve this problem. I am saying this with the little experience I had when I was there.

“As the federal government appears to have overshadowed everybody, the governors should urgently come together. They can even invite those of us who have been there to interact with them to chart the way forward.

“Yes, there was an attempt in the past that failed, but I don’t believe in failure. There should be more effort to make it work. They should also work with security agencies, vigilante groups to achieve the desired objective.

“Even with an economic agenda, I want to see the South East governors work more closely. We want to see them come together and also bring together other groups in the zone.”

He also said he is against destructive protest, stating that, “I’m against destruction of government assets and property, because it is still our scarce resources that we are going to use to repair them.

“Peaceful protest is allowed, but it must be for a reason and not personal interest of some people. It must be properly articulated and properly directed.

“I recall when people said they were protesting police brutality and I said to them no, let’s rather deal with the leadership issue.

“If we have good leaders, their agents can’t be bad. The problem is leadership. If the leaders are competent, have the capacity and doing the right thing, their agents will follow their examples.

“I want to use this opportunity to say that all those who are being held because of one protest or the other should be released, whether they are freedom fighters, EndSARS protesters because there is freedom of speech..

“We are a democratic country and people have the right under the constitution to express themselves freely. They also have the right to peacefully protest and we must listen to them.

“We must listen to those who say they are not happy, that is why it is a democratic nation. We should stop acting dictatorial and behave as if this is not a democratic country.

“I know we are in a state of capture, but then, we should act in a manner that shows some decency.”

On whether there are plans for him to join other politicians to form a mega party, Obi said: I’m more particular on how the poor Nigerians can feed.

“I will rather talk about things that are affecting Nigerians today. We politicians are preoccupied by elections, and that is not what I’m after. I’m talking about how we can reduce the prices of food?

“Our people are dying of hunger. How do we make life more conducive for the poor Nigerian? How do we make our people earn more money? How do we pull people out of poverty? That should be our concern, and not forming a mega party.

“But if forming a mega party will provide all these things I have illustrated, then I’m all for it. But if it is for state capture, so that you can take power and continue with the consumption, consumption, consumption, that we see today, I will say no. But if it is to move it to production, production, production, then I say yes.”

At least seven people were reportedly killed on Saturday after two suspected suicide bombers attacked some wedding guests at Marrarraban Gwoza in Borno state.

Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication focused on the Lake Chad region, reported that many of the victims were said to be returning from a wedding ceremony when the first suicide bomber detonated her explosive near a motor park.

Makama said the suicide bomber was identified as a lady in her early 20s, adding that the injured ones were taken to the hospital in Gwoza.

Also, another bomber, disguised as a mourner, detonated an explosive in Gwoza LGA as residents were preparing for the burial of those killed in the first attack.

Makama said one person reportedly died and 16 others were injured during the attack.

The publication added that Yusuf Lawal, Borno commissioner of police, confirmed the incident.

Meanwhile, the military has imposed a curfew in Gwoza LGA to enable them to secure the town from any further threat.

In March 2024, two people were injured after an improvised explosive device (IED), strapped to a suspected suicide bomber, detonated near a mosque in Biu LGA of Borno state.

Germany scored twice in the second half to overcome Denmark 2-0 in the second round of the 2024 European Championship.

Kai Havertz’s penalty and Jamal Musiala’s well-taken goal made the difference against a spirited Danish side at the BVB Stadion on Saturday.

The Germans, who were shaky in their last group game, started the second-round clash a better side and thought they had the lead early on, but a review by the video assistant referee (VAR) ruled it out for offside.

The Danes eventually settled into the match, but their newfound confidence was scuttled when the game was suspended after 36 minutes due to heavy rain and lightning.

The players were forced off for 25 minutes before the match was resumed, but both teams went into the interval with the score goalless.

The eventual breakthrough goal came dramatically in the 53rd minute after VAR cancelled Joachim Andersen’s goal for Denmark for offside before awarding a penalty against the same player for handball.

Havertz duly stepped up to dispatch the penalty, handing Germany a controversial lead.

The scoreline was extended in the 68th minute when Musiala latched on to a long punt forward before slotting into the bottom corner to send a vociferous crowd into celebration mode for an impending passage into the last eight.

Die Mannschaft held on for a comfortable win and progressed to the quarter-final stage, where they will face either Spain or Georgia.

In the other match of the day, Switzerland scored once in each half to claim a deserved 2-0 win over Italy, knocking the holders out of the tournament.

Remo Freuler and Ruben Vargas were on target as the Swiss bagged the shock win to book a place in the last eight.

A Nigerian couple has been arrested in Anambra State and handed over to the police.

The couple was arrested over the treatment meted out to their five underage sons in the Osumenyi community, Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Mr Uche and Mrs Peace Mbonu are accused of alleged child abuse, starvation and refusal to provide necessities for their five underaged boys.

The arrest was carried out by the security operatives of the Nnewi South LGA before they were handed over to the police through the state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo.

This was made known on Saturday, June 29, in a statement by the media aide to the commissioner, Chidimma Ikeanyionwu.

The statement read, "On why they starved the kids, the couple denied the allegation and stated in their defence that the kids are always in the habit of eating raw rice, which makes them infuriated.

"While pleading for pardon, the couple said that they always feed the kids but that the children prefer eating raw rice, which they don’t know where they picked up the behaviour from.

"On his part, the oldest of the kids, Chigbo Mbonu, revealed that Peace Mbonu is his father’s third wife, and ever since she came into their family, they have faced a lot of untold hardship.

"Chigbo Mbonu, who is currently 17 years old, said that they feed once a day for the days their stepmother will give them food but rely on raw rice and palm kernel after hunger must have greatly dealt with them.

He went ahead to explain that he, at some point, stopped schooling because he helped his father in his block industry. He noted that he moulds blocks with four bags of cement on a bad day and six bags on normal days.

"Further physical examination of the children by the Women Affairs commissioner showed that they have been greatly starved and in need of medical care.

"It is important to note that Mr Uche Mbonu has married two wives before finally settling with the third one Peace Mbonu, who was his sales girl, and that the kids are all product of his previous marriages.

"According to the security operatives who helped in apprehending the culprits, they explained that after they got the husband, his wife Peace ran to Nnewi, her maternal home to hide before they eventually apprehended her too."

While reacting to the development, the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Ify Obinabo, condemned the act and stated that the state government will continue to ensure that child labour, abuse and all forms of maltreatment are reduced to the barest minimum.

The couple has since been handed over to the police for further investigation, after which the matter will be charged to court.

Olalere Oyewumi, a federal lawmaker from Osun State, who is a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator, has admitted that he bought votes during the 2023 general elections.

Vote buying and selling was rampant during the last elections, which affected the credibility of the polls conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had also deployed its officials in some polling units.

In a viral video, Oyewunmi, who is the Deputy Minority Senate Leader, narrated how he sent his aide on an errand on the eve of the election with his personal money for vote buying but was rejected by strong supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Speaking in Yoruba, the Minority Leader, who represents Osun West District, said “I tried all the tricks I knew to win at the Onilu House (Ile Onilu) polling unit but these people didn’t allow me.

“After exhausting money for the election, I gave my personal money to Ten-Ten to give to people at night to buy votes on the eve of the election, Ten-Ten came back with my money, saying the people rejected it. I was surprised.

“That was why I reached out to these people because I cannot be a Senator and continue to fail there. I was the one who called Ayandosu from Abuja to join me in the PDP. I told him he has talent and that the party he was serving then (APC) would not allow him to grow.”

Reacting to the development, the leadership of APC through its chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, said the confession had shown that Osun election was not free and fair.

In a statement, Lawal said: “The confessional statement of Senator Oyewumi was a confirmation of the fact that the last series of the elections in the state which secured victory for all the PDP candidates including Governor Ademola Adeleke, were brazenly rigged.

“The self-confession of Senator Oyewumi was an indication that he is a desperate politician who could go to any length to illegally corner opportunities regardless of what such portends to the right-thinking members of the society.

“In a civilised clime, Senator Oyewumi has no iota of reason to remain a minute longer in the Senate where he has been the Minority Leader based on his self-confession that he engaged in vote-buying during the election that secured a fraudulent victory for him.

“By now, Senator Oyewumi should be a guest of the statutory law enforcement agency constitutionally saddled with the responsibility of investigating such political crime involving a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Kayode Adesile did not anticipate the tragedy that occurred when he visited his newlywed wife, Oluwaseun Omolara Olusola, on June 25, 2024, at her residence in the Powerline area of Meiran, a suburb of Lagos.

Unknown to Adesile, an automobile technician, he had incurred the wrath of Esther, his wife’s 15-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, for reprimanding on an occasion she disrespected her mother, The Nation reports.

Esther, it was said, invited hoodlums to teach her stepfather a bitter lesson for meddling in her matter. The hoodlums, who were around when Adesile was visiting Esther’s expectant mother, pounced on him while he was about to enter the house, dealt him blows and recorded the scenario with their mobile phones.

“I verbally reprimanded her recently for being rude and disrespectful to her mother, who is my wife. I didn’t know that she was upset by my action which I took in good faith.

“They had carefully plotted the assault on me, knowing that I usually visit my wife’s home three times in a week.

“It was when I came around on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 that I was accosted by Esther who beckoned on the hoodlums to beat me up.

“I was badly beaten and humiliated as they took their time to make videos of the assault.”

It was said that after Adesile was assaulted, his attackers ran to the Meiran Police Station to lie that he attacked them. By the time Adesile reported the matter at the same police station he was detained.

The police, according to sources, would later find out that he was actually the victim of the assault, contrary to the complaint made by his attackers.

“The hoodlums invited by Esther were led by one Oluwakemi a.k.a. Honour, who supervised the brutality meted out to me and even filmed the scene with his boys.

“I was severely punched and battered by the hoodlums and left helpless as there was no one to save me from them.

“Even my wife who tried to save me was slapped silly by the boys and pushed to the ground.

“The hoodlums then left for the station and lied that I had attacked them.

“The police detained me when I went there to complain about the assault.

“It was later discovered that the hoodlums had lied and that they were the aggressors in this case.

“Hence, I was released on bail on Thursday June 27.”

He further said: “I started dating my wife six years ago before her mother died, and there was no problem between us.

“Her mother had asked her to bring me home for proper introduction after she told her that we were in a relationship.

“I later went to see her mother and we had a very cordial relationship before she died two years ago.

“When her mother was sick, my wife and I took very good care of her by taking her to a hospital in Abeokuta.

“She died shortly after we brought her back to Lagos.

“My wife is currently pregnant for me. I was the one that raised money to send her to school after she finished her JSS 3.

“I did not do anything to deserve the brutality meted out to me by the hoodlums she invited in connivance with a disgruntled family member of her mother to dehumanise me and even ran to the police to further detain me when in actual fact they were the aggressors.

“I was released on bail this morning (June 27) and the leader of the hoodlums is the leader a cult group in the community.”

Speaking with The Nation, Adesile’s wife, Oluwaseun, who is also Esther’s mother, said her daughter was being brainwashed and used by her unscrupulous family members and neighbours.

Oluwaseun said: “Esther Adekunle is a product of my former marriage. Her father humiliated me and was fond of brutalising me till we parted ways.”

She said she had struggled and weathered the storm to ensure that Esther and her two siblings got a good life and education after she parted with their father.

“There is no work that I have not done to give Esther and her siblings education. I am into cleaning services just so that I can have money to ensure that they feed well and go to school since their father abandoned them for me.”

The 36-year-old woman said that Esther had formed the habit of disrespecting and insulting her in public.

“Yet, despite all my struggle to make ends meet and raise them, Esther disrespects me in public and refused to heed my instructions.

“She would leave home without my consent and return when she wishes. She bedwets and exhibits dirty habits at home.

“It was recently when she insulted me openly that my new husband called her out and verbally reprimanded her for her misguided attitude.

“It was for that reason that she further became recalcitrant and planned with my mother’s family members and neighbours to invite the hoodlums to brutalise my husband.

“My new husband is not a gold digger. I have been dating him before my mother passed on two years ago.

“He was the one that provided the money we spent in processing admission for Esther to proceed for her Senior Secobdary education.

“Yet, he is the same person my daughter brought hoodlums to humiliate in public on June 25.

“While the boys were beating my husband, they also slapped me when i tried to stop them.

“”To my surprise, the boys came back the next day, June 26, and further assaulted me and there was no one to save me from them.

“They rushed to the police station and lied to the police that my husband attacked them. The police later detained my husband.

“The leader of the hoodlums, who is the husband of my daughter’s boss, was also detained when my husband indentified him as the leader of the gang that attacked him.

She added: “My husband was freed after the police discovered that the hoodlums were the culprits.”

In an audio recording obtained by our reporter, Esther, confronted by some persons on her complicity in the assault on her mother’s husband, accused Adesile of fondling her breasts about two months earlier.

“He (stepfather) fondled my breasts about two months ago,” Esther said.

Asked why it took her two months to avenge her purported molestation and why she did not tell her mother about it, she said: “I told my mother’s family members about it.”

Adesile and Esther’s mother however described the allegation as a tissue of lies.

“She is lying. I have never molested her. She is acting a script handed to her by the people that are guiding her to disrespect her mother and myself over my wife’s inheritance which they want to dispossess her of, ” Adesile said.

Esther’s mother also said her daughter was misguided and told to lie against her stepfather after it dawned on them that their action was criminal and could have consequences.

She said: “My daughter was told to lie that my husband recently molested her.

“The truth is that  she is doing a hatchet job for some people who are planning to take over my late mother’s property at all cost.

“My husband has never molested Esther. She is being used without her knowing.”

Contacted for comments, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Lagos Command, Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin, did not answer his call and also had not responded to the inquiry sent to his WhatsApp at press time.

Vice-President Kashim Shettima says Nigeria’s economy is experiencing turbulence but it is not limited to the country.

Shettima spoke at a one-day town hall meeting organised by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) held in Abuja on Friday.

Outlining the achievements of President Bola Tinubu when he was the governor of Lagos state, Shettima said the country needs to be fair to him. 

“This is a man we need to rally round and support. Yes, our economy is going through turbulence but is it confined to Nigeria alone? Let’s take a global picture,” he said. 

“Is any economy immune from the challenges of the times? So, I ask you to be fair to this poor man. 

“There is no doubt that every thriving economy grows from the quality of reforms adopted to offer the people avenues to translate their business ideas into formidable enterprises.”

Speaking further, Shettima said PEBEC is an enabler for the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

“Our role requires a unified and collaborative effort across the councils and MDAs and we can not afford to look away,” he said.

“The long-term success of PEBEC hinges on our ability to institutionalise reforms capabilities, foster deep collaboration across government and maintain a commitment to continuous improvements.”

He said the current reforms must become ingrained in public institutions. 

“By doing so, we kept the way for sustained progress and lasting impact that would outlive us all, creating a better Nigeria for our children and their children afterwards,” Shettima said.

He said the government must be driven by every citizen who aspires to grow businesses and who looks to the government for prosperity. 

According to the vice-president, these are peculiar times for developing solutions to improve the ease of doing business.

Shettima said Nigeria is the future of Africa and the burden is not only on leaders but on everyone to achieve set goals.

‘TINUBU CAPABLE TO LEAD NIGERIANS’ 

On May 29, Tinubu missed his steps and fell while climbing the parade vehicle at Eagle Square in Abuja.

Speaking on the issue, Shettima expressed disappointment in those who took a jab at the president’s health status due to the incident.

“We are not asking you not to question the eligibility of your president’s condition. But there is this mischievous vexation about the president’s health status,” Shettima said.

“We are not preparing for the Olympics, but an institution that builds on the superiority of ideas. But I dare to put it to you. The hallmark of true leadership is not the ability to lift a bag of cement, but the capacity to come up with robust ideas to solve a nation’s problems.”

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed to disburse $360 million to Ghana as part of its $3 billion loan arrangement.

In a statement on Friday, the IMF said the new tranche increases the country’s total receipts from the Washington-based lender to about $1.6 billion since signing up to the $3 billion three-year programme in May 2023.

“The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed today the second review of Ghana’s US$3 billion, 36-month Extended Credit Facility (ECF) Arrangement, which was approved by the Board in May 2023,” IMF said.

“Completion of the second ECF review allows for an immediate disbursement of SDR 269.1 million (about US$360 million), bringing Ghana’s total disbursements under the arrangement to about US$1.6 billion.

“Ghana’s economic reform program is delivering on its objectives.”

Following acute economic and financial pressures in 2022, the IMF said the fund-supported programme served as a credible anchor for the government to adjust macroeconomic policies.

The Bretton Woods institution said it has also propelled the implementation of reforms to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability while laying the foundations for higher and more inclusive growth.

“These efforts are paying off, with growth proving more resilient than initially expected, inflation declining at a faster pace, and the fiscal and external positions improving,” IMF said.

“The medium-term outlook remains favorable but subject to downside risks—including those related to the upcoming general elections

“Ghana’s performance under the IMF-supported program has been generally strong. All quantitative performance criteria for the second review and almost all indicative targets were met. Good progress has also been made on the key structural reform milestones, despite some delays.”

The Ghanaian authorities, IMF said, have also continued to make progress on their comprehensive debt restructuring.

In January, Ghana got a moratorium with official creditors on debt payments through May 2026, negotiating a deal with Eurobond investors to restructure $13 billion debt by the end of March.

The passing of Nollywood’s beloved comic legend, Mr. Ibu, marked a somber and heart-wrenching moment for the entertainment industry and his grieving family.

The iconic actor, who brought joy and laughter to countless fans, passed away on March 2 at the age of 62, leaving a void that can never be filled.

Amidst the solemn funeral ceremonies that had his loved ones and colleagues in attendance, a deeply emotional and shocking revelation came to light from Mr. Ibu’s first daughter, Amarachi.

Emerging at her father’s burial, she delivered a soul-stirring speech that has since gone viral, shedding light on her heartbreaking relationship with the late actor.

In the now widely circulated video, Amarachi disclosed that her connection with her father was virtually nonexistent.

The painful reality she unveiled was that the only time she ever met Mr. Ibu was during his final moments in the hospital, as he lay on his deathbed.

Amarachi noted that the only memories she would carry with her of her father were the ones forged in the hospital during his final moments. Fighting back tears, she shared how the accounts of others painted a picture of Mr. Ibu as a great actor and a compassionate man, beloved by many.

Her sorrow was palpable as she revealed that she had always lived with her mother and expressed deep regret that their relationship never had the chance to develop.

The tragic reality that their first and only meeting occurred at the brink of his death weighed heavily on her.