President Bola Tinubu says the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will continue persuading Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso to return to the bloc.

Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso severed ties with ECOWAS after sanctions were imposed on them by the bloc following coups in their domains.

In a statement on Friday, Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson, quoted Tinubu, chairman of ECOWAS, as saying that the bloc would continue to be friendly to the countries.

Ngelale said Tinubu spoke in Abuja on Friday when he met with ECOWAS defence chiefs.

“It is in our hearts to make sure that security is enhanced, and that constitutional government is defended and promoted in our region,” the statement reads.

“It has been a challenging tenure for me since three members indicated their exit. We will work hard to persuade them to return, whichever way.

“No one man is smarter than the group of heads that is here. We will do everything to offer a hand of friendship to them and give them reasons to come back to us.

“The solution to terrorism and other challenges lies in our hands. We have to do it together.

“The ECOWAS standby force must be ready. We will continue to invest in this, as well as in the economic prosperity and opportunities across our region.”

On his part, Christopher Musa, chairman of the ECOWAS chiefs of defence staff, said insurgency and unconstitutional changes in government must be addressed collectively.

The Nigerian men’s 4x400m relay team has been disqualified from competing in the final of the event at the 2024 Olympics.

After the Nigerian women’s 4x400m relay team crashed out of the event on Thursday, most sports enthusiasts in Nigeria were expecting the men’s team to earn Nigeria its first 2024 Paris Olympics medal.

Recall that the men’s relay team, which comprised Emmanuel Ojeli, Ezekiel Nathanial, Dubem Amene, and Chidi Okezie, initially secured a spot in the final after finishing second in their heat behind France, achieving a season’s best time of 2:59.81.

However, their hopes were dashed when they were disqualified for stepping on the line during their heat. Reports claimed that South African athletes were the ones that made the official complaint, which was looked into and sanctioned against Nigeria by the Olympic committee.

As a result of their disqualification, Belgium has moved up to second position, and South Africa has stepped up to third position.

This outcome is a disappointment for the Nigerian team, who had aspired to replicate the success of the 2000 and 2004 teams that won gold and bronze in Sydney and Athens respectively.

The development happened before Nigeria’s best prospect for a 2024 Olympics medal, Tobi Amusan failed to qualify for the final of the 100m hurdles earlier today. Hence, Team Nigeria are still without a medal with less than two days to the end of the tournament.

The athlete who has sustained Nigeria’s aspirations for a medal in the current Paris Olympic Games, Tobi Amusan, has crashed out of the tournament.

Amusan finished third in the semi-finals of the women’s 100m hurdles.

The 27-year-old competed in lane six during the first heat of the event on Friday.

The reigning world champion and world record holder finished behind Alayasha Johnson from the United States, who clocked a time of 12.39 seconds, and Devynne Charlton from the Bahamas, who recorded 12.50 seconds.

Amusan’s time of 12.55 seconds was insufficient to qualify her for the finals.

This achievement comes amid Nigeria’s disappointing performance in the games, where Nigerian athletes have yet to secure a medal as the Olympics approach their conclusion on Sunday.

On Tuesday, former Super Eagles Coach Adegboye Onigbinde criticized Nigeria’s performance, attributing it to inadequate sports administration in the country.

The veteran technical sports director said: “You see, why Nigerian athletes are not performing well in the ongoing Olympics and other international sports competitions is not technical, but administrative. Is it technical that an athlete who qualified properly in her event will be ridiculed by not registering her for participation?

“Situations like this will continue if our administrators don’t separate politics from sports.”

He stressed that most of the administrators have forgotten the core objective of developmental programmes in sports which had earned the country some measure of success in the past.

Former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on Friday identified purposeful leadership and team work, as factors that can bring positive change and development to the country.

Obasanjo, also noted that Nigeria, as a nation cannot progress without changes in the way governance is administered.

Former President stated this when he played host to six lawmakers from the House of Representatives, who co-sponsored bills seeking a single six-year term for the president and governors, power rotation between the northern and southern parts of the country, and a single day for presidential, governorship, national assembly, and state assembly elections, led by Hon. Ugochinyere Ikenga, representing the Ideato North and South Federal Constituency of Imo State, at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) Abeokuta.

Speaking on the demands of the #EndBadGovernance protesters, Obasanjo said their demands were very legitimate, saying that the government should listen and hear their cry, and stop deceiving the masses that all is well.

He said, “like I have warned earlier, we should know that we are all sitting on a keg of gun powder if we fail to begin to do the right thing…for instance, what the youth are demanding are very legitimate and should be listened to or why should they be denied of what rightfully belong to them?

“They are frustrated, they are hungry, they are angry, they are unemployed, they deserved to be given listening ears”.

The wife and two daughters of a Kogi-based journalist, Muhammed Bashir, were among 10 members of the same family kidnapped by gunmen in Kaduna State on Thursday.

Bashir’s wife and two girls came to Kaduna earlier on Thursday to spend the holiday with her family in a Kaduna suburb.

Bashir, a correspondent for the Nigeria Telegraph, told colleagues in Lokoja, Kogi State’s capital, on Friday, to pray for him.

“My dear colleagues, please, I need your prayers. My two daughters and their mother, including eight others, were kidnapped yesterday by unknown gunmen in Kaduna, where they went for a holiday.

“Please pray for me,” he wrote in the Kogi Correspondents’ Chapel WhatsApp platform.

According to him, his family left Abuja the same Thursday for Kaduna. But they got kidnapped at their residence on Thursday night.

He said that he had contacted the Police and the Department of State Services, DSS, and had been informed that actions were being taken to rescue them.

The Kano State Government has filed a fresh fraud charge against the immediate past governor of the state Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, his Commissioner for Local Government, Murtala Garo and two others.

According to the charge sheet, Garo, Lamin Sani and Muhammad Takai were charged with criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, making false statements or returns and criminal misappropriation.

The state accused them of mismanaging of the 44 Local Government’s statutory allocations remitted to the State Joint Local Governments account from the Federation account.

They were also accused of criminally diverting N57.4 billion through several personal accounts of Local Government’s Cashiers and other Personal and corporate accounts, the charge sheet said.

The state government also accused them of transferring the funds into dollars for their personal benefit.

The state further alleged that they acquired a Service apartment on the Murtala Muhammad Way, a commercial apartment at Akoya Oxygen – x20868 Dubai in Tigerwood and plot 2201 Floor 22 Damac Height, Marsa Dubai Marina, a multi-billion Naira Hotel in Jabi, Abuja.

Others are filling stations, on Gwarzo Road Kano, Eastern Bypass Kano.

In the charge sheet, the state said it will call 143 witnesses.

No date has been fixed for the matter.

On April 4, the Kano government filed a suit against Ganduje, his wife, Hafsat Umar and six others before the Kano High Court.

The six others include Ganduje’s son, Umar Abdullahi Umar, Abubakar Bawuro, Jibrilla Muhammad, Lamash Properties Ltd., Safari Textiles Ltd., and Lesage General Enterprises.

On July 16, in the charge sheet with case No. K/143c/24, the state government accused Ganduje and erstwhile commissioner for justice, Musa Lawan, were charged with criminal conspiracy and misappropriation.

The Kano government accused Ganduje and Lawan of abuse of office.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to listen to the demands and concerns of the youth which necessitated the nationwide protests.

Obasanjo made the call on Friday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, while playing host to six members of the National Assembly.

The ex-Nigerian leader said what the youth were seeking through the nationwide protests was legitimate, stressing that there could be dire consequences if their demands were not met as soon as possible.

The six lawmakers are co-sponsors of a bill seeking a single six-year term for presidency and rotation between the North and the South.

Obasanjo urged the Federal Government to listen to the youth and not treat their concerns with levity.

“You are what you are today because you’re a Nigerian; I’m what I am also because I’m a Nigerian. So why should they be Nigerians and be languishing in poverty?

“They make demands and we’re not listening to them. Many of them are frustrated, desperate, angry, and unemployed. What do we expect?”

Obasanjo noted that for Nigeria to attain its highest status, all hands must be on deck, just as “our mentality should also change”

According to him, the issue is not whether the country should adopt a single six-year term or maintain the status quo.

If the mentality of the people in governance does not change, then Nigeria will remain where it is, he stressed.

The President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has revealed that the Dangote Refinery’s crude oil supply problem lies with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the International Oil Companies (IOCs) in Nigeria.

Africa’s richest man disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.

He was responding to a report that the NNPC supplies Dangote Refinery with about 60 percent of the 50 million barrels lifted.

In the statement, Dangote noted that the primary challenge confronting the refinery is NUPRC’s reluctance to enforce domestic supply obligations by IOCs in Nigeria.

He explained that when Dangote Refinery approached the IOCs for crude supply, they either redirected the company to a third party or responded that their cargoes were committed.

“Our concern has always been NUPRC’s reluctance to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation and ensure that we receive our full crude requirement from NNPC and the IOCs.

“For September, our requirement is 15 cargoes, of which NNPC allocated six. Despite appealing to NUPRC, we’ve been unable to secure the remaining cargoes.

“When we approached IOCs producing in Nigeria, they redirected us to their international trading arms or responded that their cargoes were committed,” he said.

Recall that in July 2024, the NUPRC directed oil refiners in the country to provide monthly price quotes on crude supply to address the challenges facing Dangote Refinery.

In a move to address the crude supply challenge faced by Dangote Refinery, President Bola Tinubu directed NNPCL to sell crude in Naira to the company and other local refineries.

However, as of the time of filing this report, Tinubu’s directive is yet to be implemented.

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has countered claims by President Bola Tinubu that the Federal Government granted N570 billion to the 36 states of the Federation.

Makinde spoke in a newsletter he published on the Oyo State official website on Thursday.

The governor, who said reports that the Federal Government gave the states N570 billion is not completely accurate, added that the funds disbursed were not a direct allocation from the Federal Government.

He explained that the money received by the states were actually World Bank COVID-19 funds, with the Federal Government acting only as an intermediary between the international creditor and the 36 states.

Makinde added that the funding was contingent on what the states had already spent on COVID-19 programs, meaning the World Bank was simply reimbursing what the states had used to address the pandemic crisis.

The Oyo governor said: “I responded to a question from a concerned citizen of Oyo State regarding the claim that the Federal Government ‘gave’ states over N570 billion as some kind of ‘hardship fund’ for citizens.

“Let me state categorically that this is yet another case of misrepresentation of facts. The said funds were part of the World Bank-assisted NG-CARES project—a Programme for Results intervention.

“The World Bank facilitated an intervention to help states in Nigeria with COVID-19 Recovery. CARES means COVID-19 Action Recovery Economic Stimulus.”

Recall that while addressing Nigerians in a broadcast over the #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests against hunger and hardship, Tinubu had said his administration had disbursed N570 billion to the 36 states.

Tinubu stated that more than N570 billion has been released to the 36 states to expand livelihood support to citizens, while 600,000 nano-businesses have benefitted from nano-grants.

The President further said that an additional 400,000 more nano-businesses were expected to benefit.

Elder statesman and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Bode George has lamented that the crisis in the party is a resultant effect of personal ambition.

George disclosed that the ambitions of certain chieftains were tearing the party apart. 

He stated that the development constitutes an obstacle to genuine reconciliation,

“Elders of the party have to come into the room to resolve the personalized ambitions of people. That is what is killing our party,” he said.

He spoke on the sidelines of an interactive session with the media on the State of the Nation, held at his office in Ikoyi.

According to the retired Commodore, the founding fathers of PDP, led by the late Dr. Alex Ekwueme, put ethnicity and religion aside while laying its foundation.

George recalled that by dividing Nigeria into six zones and distributing the top six positions in the country among them, the party fostered inclusion and a sense of belonging.

He expressed fear that holding on to personal ambition may create problems of marginalization and exclusion.

George, who also reflected on the state of the nation, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to restructure the country to foster true federalism.