The Caretaker Committee of the Labour Party has called on Julius Abure to cease presenting himself as the national chairman.
The party leadership maintained that Abure’s tenure ended on June 9, 2024.

During a press conference held by the Labour Party National Transitional Committee (NTC) in Abuja, the Secretary of the party’s Board of Trustees, Salisu Mohammad, noted that this resolution was made during a stakeholder meeting in Umuahia, led by the legitimate and lawful Caretaker Committee under Nenadi Usman.

Mohammad emphasized that the NTC has actively engaged and rallied all pertinent stakeholders to facilitate the party’s recovery from what they termed Abure’s unlawful actions and corruption.

He further stated that since Abure took over as national chairman following the unexpected passing of the previous chairman, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, in 2000, he has led the party without undergoing an election.

‘In fact, INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) had asked him to vacate the chair meant for Chairman of Labour Party.

“These interventions by the NTC have culminated in the meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Labour Party in Umuahia.

“The National Transitional Committee (NTC) facilitated by the Nigerian Labour Congress as the Trustee of the Labour Party fully accepts and commends the decision of the NEC of the Labour Party at its meeting on September 4, 2024.

“We support the 29-man Caretaker Committee to prepare and conduct democratic congresses to elected party leadership at the Ward, LGA, State and National levels’’, he said.

He stated that the NEC convened by Governor Alex Otti of Abia represents the most necessary intervention to rescue the party from what he termed as unlawful activities.

“We believe that this intervention is in line with the expression of the democratic will of the millions of Nigerians who do not want the party to die at the hands of political contractors who have been procured to destroy the party,” Mohammad said.

King Charles III, on Thursday, hosted President Bola Tinubu at the Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom (UK).

The development was confirm by the new media aide to the president, Olusegun Dada, who posted a photograph of both men exchanging pleasantries in a post on X.

The aide said continued diplomatic ties and partnership between Nigeria and the UK were discussed at the meeting.

Dada said, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu visited His Majesty, King Charles at Buckingham Palace.

“The significant meeting, highlighting the continued diplomatic ties and partnership between Nigeria and the United Kingdom.”

Both men met last in November 2023 shortly before the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Tinubu traveled to the UK after visiting China where a number of agreements were signed between Nigeria and the Asian giant.

The president is expected to leave the UK for the United Nations general assembly meeting in New York, US.

Beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s student loan scheme across the country have lamented the delay in the payment of the August monthly stipend.

Some of the students, in separate interviews with our correspondent, expressed their disappointment in the payment delay.

The PUNCH reports that students can choose to apply for upkeep loan apart from institutional loans, which is paid directly to institutions.

A total of 20,371 students from six tertiary institutions were said to have been paid a sum of N20,000 each as July stipends.

The institutions said to have benefitted from the disbursement are Bayero University, Kano State; Federal University, Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State; University of Ilorin, Kwara State; University of Benin, Edo State; University of Ibadan, Oyo State; and University of Maiduguri, Borno State.

A BUK student, who spoke to our correspondent anonymously for fear of victimisation, said, “We haven’t received the August stipend. I am very confused. Please help us speak to them. The economy is getting too difficult. In fact, we are even trying to plead with them to please help us increase the stipend as the N20,000 cannot even get us anywhere.”

Another student from the University of Ibadan, who also spoke anonymously, said, “To be very honest, I was expecting it at month end but till now we have not got any feedback from them as to what the problem is.”

A student of the University of Benin, also speaking, said, “Honestly, it is getting too late. NELFUND needs to do something. Our school fees have been paid but at this point, the upkeep is much more important. Please help us reach out to them.”

Commenting on the development, NELFUND’s Director of Corporate Communications, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, said the students would likely be paid the N20,000 stipend this week.

“It’s been approved. They should get it this week,” Oluwatuyi said.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Nigerian Students has called on the Federal Government to increase the monthly stipend from N20,000 to N40,000.

In a surprising twist, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has announced that it will not sign the peace accord, just two hours before the planned signing ceremony.

This move is coming ahead of the September 21 governorship election, where the peace accord was intended to promote a peaceful and harmonious electoral process among contending political parties.

Recall that Governor Godwin Obaseki had earlier declared that his party Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, may not sign the peace accord because the party has lost faith in the police and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Addressing a press conference at the party secretariat, Emperor Jarret Tenebe said the party declined to sign the accord because two months after a police inspector Onuh Akor, who was the orderly to the candidate of the party, Sen Monday Okpebholo was shot and killed along Airport Road, nobody has been arrested and prosecuted.

Details soon …

Samson Siasia, a former Super Eagles head coach, says he believes the team is currently lacking a creative midfielder.

Siasia said the Super Eagles need a playmaker in the mould of former captain of the side, Austine Jay Jay Okocha to be a world-beater.

Nigeria is yet to find a suitable replacement for Okocha since the former Bolton Wanderers star quit international football in 2006.

Former Chelsea midfielder John Mikel Obi was expected to take up the role but failed to live up to expectations.

Fulham star, Alex Iwobi has been used in the number 10 role in recent years but Siasia claimed he is not good enough to play the position.

“We don’t have an offensive midfield player that can give the last pass to the strikers. We have great strikers, but we need someone that is missing,” Siasia told Lagos Talks.

“Iwobi can not play that position. He’s a good player, but he’s not doing as much as he’s supposed to as an offensive player. We have to look for that person in the centre of the field, who can give the last passes and score goals.

“In the defence and other parts, right and left midfield, we are good. We need someone like Jay-Jay Okocha, but it has to be somebody that can score more than him.”

Marketers of petroleum products in Nigeria have reportedly written to President Bola Tinubu to complain that the drop in price of Dangote Refinery’s diesel to N900 per litre, is negatively affecting their businesses.

Devakumar Edwin,  Vice President, Dangote Industries Limited, disclosed this on a Twitter Spaces session organized by Nairametrics.

Edwin highlighted some of the challenges facing the Dangote Refinery and its impact on Nigeria’s fuel supply and prices.

According to him, the refinery, located in the Lekki Free Zone near Lagos, struggles to sell about 29 tankers of diesel per day due to low patronage from local petroleum product importers.

“As a result of this poor local patronage, the refinery exports most of its diesel and aviation fuel,” he said.

However, he said despite the challenges, 44% of the refinery’s petrol production capacity is sufficient to meet all of the country’s local demand.

Daily Trust reports that the Dangote Refinery, with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, started naphtha exports in March, low-sulphur straight run fuel oil (LSSR) exports in May, and began selling diesel and jet fuel domestically in April

In June, it started exporting diesel fuel meeting European specifications.

Jose Mourinho, the Fenerbahce manager, has claimed that Victor Osimhen “dives too much”.

Osimhen has joined Galatasaray on a season-long loan deal from Napoli.

This means the striker and his new teammates will fight directly with Fenerbahce for the Turkish League title.

Mourinho joined Fenerbahce in June, months after he was sacked at AS Roma, where he came up against Napoli a few times.

“The last time we played against him during Roma vs Napoli, I had this conversation with him, ” Mourinho told HT Spor.

“I told Osimhen, ‘you are one of the best players in Africa along with Salah. Before there were Drogba, Eto’o and Weah. You can’t be diving.’

“He dives too much, and that’s my problem with him, but after 10 minutes, we are fine.”

Augustine Eguavoen, the interim Super Eagles coach, has opened up on why he substituted Samuel Chukwueze during the second half of Nigeria’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, qualifying match against Rwanda on Tuesday.

Chukwueze was brought off at halftime, with Moses Simon taking his place.

The Federal High Court in Abuja granted bail to 10 protesters charged with treason-related offenses connected to last month’s #EndBadGovernance protests.

Justice Emeka Nwite set the bail at N10 million for each defendant, requiring a surety with property in Abuja worth the bail amount. The sureties must also submit their passports to the court.

The defendants, who were arraigned on September 2, pleaded not guilty to six charges, including plotting war and attempting to overthrow President Bola Tinubu. Their lawyers argued that the evidence did not support the treason allegations.

The charges against the defendants include inciting mutiny, destabilizing Nigeria, and waging war against the state. They were also accused of attacking police officers, burning police stations, and destroying other properties.

Counsel for the 1st-4th defendants, Abubakar Marshal, urged the Federal Government to reconsider the charges, highlighting that 49 additional protesters remain detained at Kuje Correctional Centre under court order.

The case has been adjourned to September 27 for trial commencement.

The Presidency has described the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, as the Nigerian version of former US President and Republican candidate for the US 2024 election, Donald Trump.

The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Bola Tinubu, Temitope Ajayi, drew the comparison in a post on social media platform, X on Wednesday.

This comes following the US presidential debate between Trump and Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Peter Obi is the Nigeria version of Donald Trump. Like Obi, Trump will use the most negative epithets imaginable to describe a country he wants to lead again just to make a point and rile up his base,” he wrote.

During the debate, Harris and Trump clashed on many issues ranging from abortion rights to immigration, as both candidates sought to sway voters in a tightly contested race.

Ajayi added, “Kamala Harris prosecuted Trump very well in their first face to face debate yesterday night. Kamala convincingly won the debate and left no one in doubt about his capacity.

“Vice President Harris knew Trump’s weakness and set traps for him. Trump fell for her baits. Both candidates have been fact-checked on their claims in the debate. While Harris was reported to have made just one incorrect claim, Trump made 33 false claims in the same 90 minutes debate.”

Media reports revealed that Trump often responded to Harris’s provocations by repeating conspiracy theories and making false statements regarding the 2020 election and immigration.

Despite being fact-checked by debate moderators, the former president stood by his controversial claims, including the assertion that immigrants were consuming the pets of U.S. residents.

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs — the people that came in — they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country,” Trump said, contradicting the Springfield city manager, who said such accusations had no basis in fact.

The 2024 US elections are slated to be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.