Author: Abimbola Ogunaike

By Tunde Rahman With just a few days before the August 15 Osun State governorship election, the political calculus is already shifting. The election is a two-way horse race between incumbent Governor Ademola Nurudeen Jackson Adeleke of the Accord Party and his challenger, the All Progressives Congress candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji – popularly branded as AMBO. While no election is won on paper, three key factors – party structure, voter disenchantment with the incumbent, and the imperative of alignment with the centre – will likely determine where the pendulum swings. APC in Osun has spent the last two years…

National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, has challenged Nigerian leaders to make service to humanity and the culture of giving central to their leadership, insisting that political positions should translate into tangible improvements in the lives of ordinary citizens. Yilwatda made the call on Saturday, 8 August, 2026, in Jalingo, Taraba State, where he marked his 58th birthday by sponsoring a medical and surgical outreach that reached thousands of residents across the state’s three senatorial districts. Rather than holding a conventional birthday celebration, the APC chairman chose healthcare intervention as the centrepiece of his anniversary,…

By LANRE ADEWOLE Penultimate weekend’s win of the Nigerian Bar Association presidency by Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, is the third consecutive time her South West zone would be saddled with an unwanted representative at the helm of the lawyers’ body. And this time, it hits closer home considering that the disfavoured, is also Yoruba. That sounds like Olusegun Obasanjo’s first presidential mount. The “emergence” of the Bar’s first elected female president, has further unclad the lawyers’ association, widely seen as consistently hemorrhaging value and credibility since democratic rule returned, like the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5:25-34 who…

By: Dr James Bwala Going through the pages of newspapers, the drama that is taking over Nigeria’s approaches to the 2027 presidential elections is disconcerting. The pattern that dominates the political landscape speaks less of the personalities falling over themselves as the days unfolded. Politicians are fixated more on personal attacks and partisan squabbles than on substantive discussions about national challenges and solutions. This trend is not only counterproductive but also detrimental to Nigeria’s democratic progress and socio-economic development. For a country grappling with profound insecurity, widespread poverty, and pervasive corruption, the electorate deserves leaders who prioritise meaningful dialogue about…

By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola A 45-year-old man, Julius Ochim, has reportedly been arrested in Sagamu, Ogun State, for allegedly having sexual relations with his daughter, resulting in two pregnancies and the birth of a child. The alleged incestuous relationship reportedly began after Ochim’s wife died in 2009, with the man allegedly threatening his daughter with unspecified cultural consequences whenever she resisted his sexual demands. The daughter reportedly became pregnant four years ago and later gave birth to a daughter, now three years old. Despite the birth, Ochim allegedly continued the sexual relationship until she became pregnant again. The situation reportedly…

By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has never won an election for the party, insisting he has no regrets about frustrating George’s ambition to become the party’s national chairman. The Minister made this known in a statement issued on Friday, 7 August,2026 by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, where he attributed George’s continued criticism of him to resentment over the decision to zone the PDP national chairmanship to the South-South, a…

By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola The Royal Father of the Nigeria Golf Federation Summit, His Royal Highness Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi, is expected to attend the second edition of the summit, scheduled to hold in Abuja for stakeholders and golfers across the country. The event is scheduled to hold on Thursday, 27 August,and Friday, 28 August,2026, at the NICON Luxury Hotel, Abuja, with President of the Nigeria Golf Federation, Otunba Segun Runsewe, disclosing that the gathering would be a highly glamorous one, citing confirmations already received from many of the dignitaries expected to grace the occasion. Runsewe said the summit was…

By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola Nigerian law professor and diplomat, Akasoba Duke-Abiola, widow of the late businessman and politician, Chief Moshood Abiola, has accepted her nomination and endorsement to contest for the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN). Duke-Abiola announced her decision in a statement issued on Saturday, 8 August,2026, following her endorsement by the African Policy and Research Consortium, a body made up of government officials, scholars, policy leaders and development practitioners from Africa and other parts of the world. Her nomination comes amid growing calls for stronger African representation in the leadership of major international institutions. Duke-Abiola…

By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has issued the Guidelines on the Taxation of Virtual Assets, providing a clear administrative framework for taxing virtual assets in the country. The Service disclosed this in a statement issued on Saturday, 8 August,2026, directed at taxpayers, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), Peer-to-Peer (P2P) marketplace operators, tax practitioners, and other persons engaged in virtual asset activities. According to the statement, the Guidelines set out applicable tax obligations, including registration, reporting and record-keeping requirements, valuation principles, and the tax treatment of virtual asset transactions, in line with the provisions of the Nigeria…

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), in partnership with the European Union in conjunction with the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance(International IDEA), has launched a dedicated media corps to strengthen the capacity of journalists to investigate, report and sustain public attention on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Nigeria. The initiative, unveiled in Abuja under the EU-supported End Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Programme, is designed to move media coverage of SGBV beyond episodic reporting and towards sustained investigative journalism capable of exposing perpetrators, institutional failures and the social conditions that allow violence against…