Augustine Alugbala Nwazunku, the former leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi State, passed away.
Nwazunku, who contested the governorship in the 2023 general elections as a candidate for governor, served until his death as an associate professor and consultant on environmental health at Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, Anambra State.
His death was confirmed by Channels Television’s (TV) obtained by Senator Paulinus Igwenwagu, the party’s Deputy Governorship candidate for the 2023 elections, in a statement released on Thursday.
In honor of our own, all meetings and any other activities are suspended on Saturday, June 28, 2025.
The statement read, “We are invited to assemble at the Aristocrat Hotel along Ezza Road for onward movement to pay a condolence visit to the family and pray for his soul.”
Anyanwu: The PDP Constitution forbids the NEC to elect and remove national officers and chieftains.
We hereby inform you that we have lost one of us, former caretaker chairman of our party in Ebonyi State, Professor Augustine Nwazunku, on behalf of our leader, H. E. Dr. Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii, and the entire Ebonyi PDP, “it added.
Manchester City defeated Juventus 5-2 on Thursday to show their Club World Cup credentials, while Vinicius Junior led Real Madrid to a 3-0 victory over Salzburg to advance to the last 16.
Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia defeated Pachuca of Mexico 2-0 to defeat Salzburg in the final match of the day’s other game to claim a 2-1 victory over Wydad Casablanca.
With a victory over Juventus in front of 54, 320 spectators at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, City became the only team to have won all three of their group games.
After goals from Salem Al-Dawsari and Marcos Leonardo against Pachuca, City will now face Al Hilal, the only Asian representative in the following round.
City winger Jeremy Doku opened the scoring, saying, “We played well and I’m happy with the victory.”
After Rayan Ait-Nouri’s arrival with a clever ball set him up, Doku pounced for the opening kick.
On June 26, 2025, the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Group D football match between Italy’s Juventus and England’s Manchester City takes place at the Camping World stadium in Orlando. The match between Portugal’s No. 02 Alberto Costa and No. 11 Belgian midfielder No. 11 Jeremy Doku and No. 1 Belgian No. 1 Jeremy Doku fight for the ball. (Photo: PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP)
However, in one of the few instances where Guardiola’s team let their focus wander, City stopper Ederson passed the ball to Teun Koopmeiners, who levelled for Juventus.
Pierre Kalulu resurrected City’s lead with a powerful header from Matheus Nunes’ cross.
After the break, the Premier League side stepped up a level with Erling Haaland’s introduction in an effort to make up for a poor season by their standards, which saw them finish the year without a significant trophy.
Before Savinho headed home from close range for the fifth, the Norwegian striker scored the third and assisted with the fourth for Phil Foden.
Dusan Vlahovic scored for Juve late on, but it did not detract from Rodri’s impressive comeback. City were given a first start after his protracted injury layoff, giving him his first start.
Igor Tudor, the coach of Juventus, said, “Manchester City have a lot better (quality of) players than us, that’s the truth, and that needs to be acknowledged.”
“We didn’t have the right timing for us to play better tonight,” he said.
In a meeting between two teams that were already eliminated but were hoping to seal the deal with a victory in Washington, DC, Al Ain defeated Wydad.
Cassius Mailula, a striker from South Africa, gave the Moroccans a early lead before Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba, a striker from Togo, leveled from the spot for Al Ain.
After Juve and City both fell to 5-0 and 6-0, respectively, and Paraguayan international Alejandro Romero curled home from the edge of the box to claim the team’s victory over the United Arab Emirates, the team earned its first goal of the tournament.
READ MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract extension with Al Nassr
Vinicius stars in Madrid’s success
At the conclusion of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Group D football match between Italy’s Juventus and England’s Manchester City at the Camping World stadium in Orlando on June 26, 2025, Pep Guardiola’s Spanish head coach Pep Guardiola and English midfielder #47 Phil Foden. (Photo: PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP)
In Philadelphia, Vinicius defeated Salzburg to claim the top spot in Group H, scoring one goal and making another with a dash of class.
On Tuesday in Miami, Real will face Juventus in the last 16.
On a rainy night at Lincoln Financial Field, the Brazil star Vinicius opened the scoring after Jude Bellingham made a superb defense-splitting pass on 40 minutes, much to the delight of the 64, 811 crowd.
In stoppage time, Vinicius then cleverly set up Federico Valverde to make it 2-0.
Gonzalo Garcia’s late goal, his second of the season, sealed Xabi Alonso’s side’s first victory of FIFA’s new competition.
Alonso told broadcaster DAZN, “I’m pleased with the boys, and now the interesting phase begins.”
Real were without top scorer Kylian Mbappe, who hasn’t played at the tournament while he recovers from illness.
“We anticipated Kylian would make it, but it wasn’t,” he said. We have four days left, and I want to be both cautious and optimistic at the same time,” Alonso said.
Governor Siminalayi Fubara, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, Rivers State House of Assembly Speaker Martins Amaewhule, and assembly members met with President Bola Tinubu on Thursday.
The President met with the parties at the meeting, according to Channels TV, and on March 18 the state declared a state of emergency.
Governor Fubara will meet with the President twice, the first of whom declared state emergency rule while suspending him, his deputy, Mrs. Ngozi Odu, and the Rivers Assembly.
President Tinubu attributed his actions, among other things, to the state Assembly’s inability to work together and the state’s security situation.
However, the results of Thursday’s meeting show that efforts to end the region’s protracted political crisis have come to an end. One photo shows the President with the governor and minister all smiles.
At their Thursday meeting, FCT Minister Wike, President Tinubu (center), and Governor Fubara (left) all chuckle.
In another image, the governor and the FCT Minister are seen circling the governor’s office alongside the speaker and other state legislators.
Although the president and the parties who met with him on Thursday night did not comment on the meeting, there are indications that the oil-rich Rivers State may be on the verge of ending.
Handshakes, smiles, and photos were captured by the parties, who have been at odds with each other for months and have been trading allegations.
In a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspended governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, as well as the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, for six months in the first instance, at the height of the political conflict between the Fubara and Amaewhule camps.
According to Tinubu, who relyed on Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution to support his position, he can’t continue to observe the political deterioration in Rivers.
Vice Admiral Ibok-ete Ibas (rtd), a retired naval chief, was immediately appointed and sworn in as the state’s sole administrative in the oil-rich Niger Delta.
At the Aso Villa, Governor Fubara (l) and FCT Minister Nyesom Wike (r), are followed by Rivers State Assembly members.
Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, Atedo Peterside, Nasir El-Rufai, Femi Falana, the Labour Party (LP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Nigerian Bar Association, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), among others, expressly rejected and condemned the suspension of Fubara and other democratically elected representatives.
The immediate-past governor of Rivers State, Wike, and his smitten ex-political godson Fubara, have fought for two years over the state’s political system.
Fubara’s alleged failure to implement a Supreme Court decision regarding the state’s political situation was the target of a threat from the Amaewhule camp, which is a Wike-backed organization.
On May 14, 2013, Goodluck Jonathan imposed an emergency rule in Nigeria on all of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa, the last of which a president did.
See the following images for more:
On June 26, 2025, Governor Fubara (right) and FCT Minister Wike pose with Rivers Assembly members at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
After declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State on March 18, President Tinubu grinnes as he shakes hands with Governor Fubara.At their Thursday meeting, FCT Minister Wike, President Tinubu (center), and Governor Fubara (left) all chuckle.
Ms. Grace Morenike Henry has been appointed as the new head of the Nigerian Legion’s National Council, according to the Presidency.
The appointment of Ms. Henry, who will become the first female and first non-commissioned officer to lead Nigeria’s most renowned veterans’ organization, was approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
This was made known to Channels Television on Thursday by the spokesperson for the Nigerian Legion, Abdul Lauya, in a statement released on Thursday.
He stated that Senator George Akume, the secretary to the Federation’s government, has signed the appointment, which will take effect on June 7, 2025.
Ms. Grace Morenike Henry, who was born on October 5, 1964, has over 25 years of distinguished service experience and left the Nigerian Army in 2000, according to the statement.
Read more about Tinubu’s Personnel and Skills Gap Audit for the Federal Civil Service.
Prior to her appointment, she served as the Legion Headquarters, Abuja,’s Director of Corporate Affairs. She also serves as Nigeria’s National Coordinator for Female Military Veterans.
Maj. Gen. AbdulMalik Jibrin (rtd), who succeeds her, is widely regarded as a testament to the Federal Government’s commitment to gender equality and inclusion in the veterans’ community.
President Tinubu praised her leadership and demanded that she use her wealth of experience to reposition the Nigerian Legion, a group that has long been the nation’s ex-servicemen and women’s voice and support system.
Lauya added that her emergence signals a new era for the Legion as she assumes the role of leader in a time when there are mounting demands for institutional revitalization and veteran welfare.
The Nigerian Legion is a statutory body established to protect the rights of former service members and their dependents, particularly those who served in the Nigerian Armed Forces.
Its main responsibilities include assisting military veterans in their rehabilitation, reintegration, and economic empowerment, as well as promoting patriotism and national unity through commemorative days like those marked by the Armed Forces, and working with government agencies, security organizations, and civil society to uphold the honor and contributions of retired service personnel.
Taiwo Oyedele, the head of the presidential committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms, claims that his and his family were affected emotionally by the controversy that initially surrounded the tax reforms that were proposed by his committee.
The former PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) tax leader said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, just before President Bola Tinubu rebuffed four new tax bills, saying that the “most important sacrifice” is the emotional impact, particularly on my family.
At the height of the controversy, his wife allegedly held daily vigils for him.
“My family was affected greatly by the people who would write up stories for blogs and newspapers at the height of it.
For instance, my wife, for example, struggled to stay awake the night before going to bed.
“Thank God, my kids are still young. They don’t know what I’m going through, he said, but it’s been difficult. “It’s a big sacrifice,” he said.
Oyedele, who was appointed by the president in July 2023 as the tax committee chair, urged Nigerians to simplify their tasks.
“I believe it’s crucial to make the case that Nigerians should not deter honest people who want to help if they truly want a better country.
“It’s already a difficult choice to try to work in the public sector.” He claimed that making things harder than they should be is not helpful.
The tax boss, however, defended his sacrifice and said he was grateful for the change in the country’s tax system.
Looking back, it’s possible that the financial sacrifices were even smaller. The government’s proposed payment was absurd.
I responded, “You don’t need to give me a salary; just cover the cost of what you asked me to do.” And that’s okay with me. In the context of this, he said, “it’s a small sacrifice.”
He claimed that the new laws’ goals, which would become effective from January 2026, are intended to reduce tax collections and prevent tax evasion.
Oyedele: Households Making $250,000 or Less on a Monthly Income Won’t Pay Taxes
Oyedele added that the new laws are people-centric, growth-focused, and efficiency-driven, and that they would also protect businesses and prevent the government from taxing poverty.
Before it was passed and approved, the tax was fraught with scathing criticisms and stiff opposition from many, including some governors who argued that some states would not be able to pay staff salaries if certain bills were passed into law.
However, the Presidency and the National Assembly claimed that allies had been present and that governors’ fears had been flung out.
The four new tax bills that the National Assembly recently passed were signed into law by Tinubu on Thursday, describing them as crucial to the administration’s success and prosperity.
The Nigeria Tax Bill (Ease of Doing Business), which aims to harmonise Nigeria’s symbiotic tax laws into a unified statute, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, to provide a uniform legal and operational framework for tax administration across federal, state, and local governments.
At the request of Abiy Ahmed Ali, the Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Kashim Shettima has made an official state visit to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Gedion Timothewos, the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps’ minister of foreign affairs, and other officials welcomed him at the airport.
Vice President Shettima will take part in Ethiopia’s flagship environmental initiative’s official launch during the visit.
Read more about Shettima’s official visit to Ethiopia in Nigeria.
The planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over the course of four years is a goal of the program’s goals to combat deforestation, increase biodiversity, and combat climate change’s negative effects.
