Category Nigeria News

Bishop Johnson (Retired), a former US Army officer, has attributed Nigeria’s rising insecurity to weak local government structures, calling on the government to provide functional and effective governance to stop criminal activity.

Johnson made the remarks to The Morning Brief on Channels Television on Tuesday.

He emphasized that governance is a key component of any security strategy, but that many local governments in the nation are “in a comatose state.”

They fail to provide the people with essential services, leaving large populations at the disposal of criminal organizations that lure them into their businesses, and they continue to perpetuate the insecurity we see in the nation right now, he said.

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Johnson argued that Nigeria should not have any unrestricted spaces as part of its wider security strategy.

“Sometimes, we put our trust in security agencies, but they are unable to solve this issue alone. Important as part of a security strategy is governance.

He reaffirmed that those charged with providing governance must do so to get rid of the small criminal elements and let security agencies concentrate on those who want to wreak havoc on our nation.

The retired army captain noted that effective local governments combined with traditional leadership structures helped keep insecurity at a minimum when he looked back at the past.

After some opposition from lawmakers and procedural concerns forced an abrupt halt to deliberations, a move to amend the Senate standing orders, which are widely regarded as a strategic move to ease the next Assembly’s need for appointing new presiding officers, was halted on Tuesday.

The amendment proposal, which was supported by Opeyemi Bamidele, the head of the Senate, sparked sighs from all over the chamber as it was introduced.

Lola Ashiru argued that updating the Senate Standing Orders to accommodate new committees and enhance legislative practice was necessary in response to changing national realities, new commissions, and changing governance needs.

Among the three proposals that sparked immediate controversy are three.

1. As permitted by the seventh schedule of the constitution, allowing the electorates to cast ballots to choose the president and the Deputy President of the Senate. The amendment would make it possible for incoming lawmakers to choose the Senate’s President and Deputy Senate President before swearing in.

2. Required prior Senate experience for presiding officers. Senators with at least one four-year term would be the only ones who could compete for the top positions.

3. stricter ranking standards. Former presiding officers and long-serving lawmakers were placed at the top of the new hierarchy, while first-term senators were only able to contest without the help of a ranking member.

Senator Danjuma Goje, a former governor of Gombe State, was the first to object. He said, “I recommend that we completely eliminate the numbers 1, 2, and 3 because he specifically targeted the points of contention in the proposal.”

However, the Minority Leader, Abba Moro, referred to order 109 of the Senate rule book as a final order item and reaffirmed that any amendment must be officially submitted, printed, distributed, and listed on the Order Paper prior to discussion.

Have we adhered to this rule, asks him, “Sir, have we done so?” Otherwise, we should grumble a little and adhere to the law.

As senators exchanged gestures and murmurs, the room became agitated. In response to questions about the ranking clause, Senate President Akpabio expressed concern that it might unfairly influence leadership outcomes.

If a newly elected candidate is the party’s candidate, the number four means no one will be elected president. You automatically become Senate President, according to Akpabio, who is the fourth-place senator.

Therefore, Akpabio supported Moro’s request for comment.

He said, “What we are engaging in is an exercise in futility if we have not followed this process.”

Due to her involvement in a documentary about it, an Argentine judge was fired from her position on Tuesday after causing a mistrial in the negligence case against the late football legend Diego Maradona’s medical team.

Julieta Makintach, 48, was removed from her post by a special panel of judges, lawyers, and provincial legislators, and she was barred from any further judicial posts.

After decades of battling&nbsp, cocaine, and alcohol addictions, Makintach was one of the three judges in the now-annulled trial that followed Maradona’s death in 2020.

She recused herself after it became clear she had been interviewed for a case-related miniseries, potentially violating ethical standards.

Two weeks after being knifed, Maradona, 60, passed away from heart failure and acute pulmonary embolism on November 25, 2020.

A day nurse discovered him dead in his bed.

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Maradona’s medical team is facing a lawsuit over his private home’s convalescence conditions.

The football legend’s care in his final days has been called grossly negligent by the prosecution.

If found guilty of “homicide with possible intent,” which means following a course of action despite knowing it could lead to death, the defendants face prison sentences of eight to twenty years.

Instead of using a hospital, Maradona’s doctors’ decision to allow him to recuperate at home with little supervision and medical equipment has been the focus of the case thus far.

Although Makintach had denied participating in any filming for a documentary about the case, footage that was allegedly shared by Argentine media showed her being allegedly interviewed by a film crew the day the trial commenced, Makintach had denied involvement.

As the world observes the 2025 World Day for the Prevention of and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu has called for stronger, evidence-based laws to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse.

The First Lady emphasized the need for action supported by research, accurate data, and effective implementation in a statement released on Tuesday, citing the statement’s statement from the 2025 theme, “Strengthening the Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse through Evidence-Based Policy Making.”

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She noted that to protect children in their homes, schools, communities, and places of worship, deliberate and data-driven measures must be taken.

She urged stronger collaboration between government agencies, civil society organizations, religious and traditional leaders, parents, and young people, saying, “We as a country, we must ensure that every child grows up free from fear and harm.”

According to Kabiru Turaki, the US president is urged to intervene in the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) internal crisis, claiming that the country’s democracy is in danger. &nbsp,

In the midst of a fight between his organization and another led by Samuel Anyanwu, Turaki, the PDP’s national chairman, made the appeal on Tuesday at the party’s secretariat in Wadata Plaza, Abuja.

“I want to tell President Trump that he should step up and save Nigeria’s democracy because what is at stake is not just genocide against Christians.” I’m calling on all other developed countries, all advanced democracies, to come and save Nigeria, according to Turaki.

READ ALSO: PDP HQ Confused As Police Fire Teargas To Disperse Rioting Supporters

Prior to that, when rival organizations and their supporters fought at the party’s secretariat, things started to get chaotic. At first, they were denied entry to the venue, but Governors Bala Mohammed of Bauchi and Seyi Makinde, one of their Oyo State counterparts, arrived.

Turaki and his entourage later gained access to the secretariat despite having to use teargas to disperse the crowd.

The PDP chieftain stated in a statement to the media that he had taken over as the party’s national chairman following the incident.

He said, “We have driven them out of the secretariat, and I have entered my office, I have assumed leadership as the elected chairman,” promising to uphold democracy.

He declared that despite the crisis, the “PDP is back on course” and that “we shall continue to be the vanguards of democracy.”

We were tear-gassed, and I believe more than 50 canisters of tear gas have been shot at us, Turaki said, narrating what transpired. But we kept going and will continue to keep going.”

A group from the party in Ibadan, Oyo State, convened a group, and Tuesday’s incident was the result.

Turaki was chosen alongside other executive members to lead the PDP at the convention.

Nyesom Wike, the FCT’s minister, Ayodele Fayose, Samuel Anyanwu, and others were fired.

The Wike-supporting organization, however, has nevertheless labeled the Ibadan convention a “jamboree.”

In fact, it removed Bode George, Makinde, and other party chieftains who attended the Ibadan convention, giving the PDP crisis a new lease of life.