Category Nigeria News

Benjamin Kalu, the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, has lamented the destruction of the Lagos Trade Fair Complex and described the procedure as heartbreaking.

President Bola Tinubu traveled to Abia State on Friday to commission projects being carried out by the Governor Alex Otti administration.

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, represented the president at the gathering.

Our hearts bleed as a result of the destruction, demolition of our brothers’ homes and offices in Lagos, Kalu said.

Kalu pleaded with Lagos authorities to intervene and give defaulters time to review their documents before losing their homes.

“I’m asking the governor of Lagos State (Babajide Sanwo-Olu) to keep accommodating our brothers for some of them who have not received the right document.”

Let them enter the room and examine some of these documents. Homes are being destroyed in this difficult time, which bleeds our hearts. However, he said, “I know that Mr. President, who cares about the Igbos, will listen to the Igbos’ desires.”

The deputy speaker further urged the federal government to prioritize port expansion in the South East to boost the region’s trading economy.

“We should probably have a new port in the South East,” he said. We need a port because South Easterners are traders, he continued.

The Trade Fair Complex in Lagos has begun the demolition of unsafe and illegal structures, and Kalu’s plea comes as a result.

The Lagos State Building Control Agency, the Urban Renewal Agency, the Lagos State Building Control Agency, the Physical Planning Permit Authority, and the Ministry of Physical Planning participated in the operation on September 25.

Read more about the demolition at the Lagos Trade Fair: Commissioners claim there is no ethno-ethnic coloration and it is purely technical.

Jubril Gawat, the aide to Governor Sanwo-Olu, confirmed the exercise, stating that it “targeted” illegal developments, structures without statutory approvals, defective structures, and structures constructed on roads setbacks and drainages.

The Office of Infrastructure, Lagos State House of Assembly members, security personnel, and other parties were in charge of the demolition.

No Ethnic Coloration: The Lagos Government Says.

The Lagos State Government has defended the demolition, arguing that technical and legal requirements predominated over the decision-making process.

Olumide Otuyinka, the state’s commissioner for physical planning and urban development, claimed Lagos had engaged in similar enforcement.

He refuted the claim of ethnic targeting and told Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, “That is not true.” Owode Onirin, Idumota, and Ikeja are our destinations. It is uncolored in any way ethnically. We simply need to do our work, after all. Nothing here is ethnic; it is purely technical.

He claimed that even in troubled areas, enforcement was carried out, and that he had personally led a team that visited a white cap chief’s palace. For all of us, this is Nigeria. You must adhere to the laws of that location when you are there. It’s really that easy. “

Without the proper investigation, the commissioner accused the Trade Fair Management of “leasing land” to private developers. He claimed that contractors did not obtain permits for construction, citing a three-story building that was constructed just two feet from the street’s kerb and had doors that opened onto the street.

Otuyinka argued that defaulters had ample time to comply. He claimed that officers who served notices were harassed and even detained while they were there in March 2024.

They knew we were coming, but that’s not new. We allowed defaulters to do so. They must abide by the law, he added.

The 15 billion dollar counterfeit, expired, and substandard products have been destroyed by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

In line with NAFDAC’s ongoing campaign against counterfeit and unsafe products, the destruction exercise was held in Ibadan, the capital of the Oyo State.

Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, NAFDAC Director General, claimed that the destruction was necessary to stop the dangerous drugs from re-entering Nigerian markets.

Adeyeye reaffirmed the NAFDAC’s commitment to safeguarding the public health, as represented by Martins Iluyomade, NAFDAC’s Director of Investigation and Enforcement.

She stated that efforts to stop products that violate the law will be intensified by NAFDAC as the country’s lead agency and federal task force on counterfeit drugs.

According to Adeyeye, “the products we destroyed today include expired, counterfeit, unreported, unregistered, and prohibited drugs.”

Read more about the Naval Chief’s efforts to combat pirates, maritime criminals, and increased oil production.

She included various vaccines, analgin, cocodamol, codeine cough syrup, tramadol, oxytocin, and other items that had been destroyed.

She continued, “These products are estimated to be worth only fifteen billion naira on the streets today.”

Adeyeye praised the Nigeria Customs Service for handing over 25 containers of prohibited medications, including an artesunate injection and Tramadol 225mg.

Other items that were seized included frozen chicken and CSC cough syrup, both of which were flags as unsafe for public consumption.

She also expressed gratitude to the Police, the Nigerian Army, DSS, NDLEA, NSCDC, and the Nigerian Pharmaceutical Council.

Adeyeye urged Nigerians to avoid quacks and unlicensed drug dealers, citing the risk of unregulated drugs harming public health and safety.

Just a few days after a similar decision was made with the Rivers State Pension Board, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara dissolves the Rivers State Microfinance Agency.

During the state’s period of emergency rule, the two boards were one of those that were reconvened.

Governor Fubara has reappointed Jonathan Tobin, who previously served as the Microfinance Agency’s chairman from October 2023, to serve as Managing Director, despite the Pension Board’s pending re-inauguration.

Read more about Fubara Cautions Permanent Secretaries Over Conduct During Emergency Rule here.

Members of the defunct Microfinance Agency Board were instructed to turn over all assets and properties to the Acting Managing Director in a government announcement released in Port Harcourt and signed by Dr. (Mrs.) Inyingi Brown, the head of service.

The Governor would re-establish the Board in due course, according to the statement.

Tobin was in charge of the state’s $4 billion loan program to assist small and medium-sized businesses.

The facility, which was launched as part of Governor Fubara’s economic empowerment initiative, aimed to promote entrepreneurship, foster employment, and strengthen the informal sector.

Siminalayi Fubara, the governor of Rwanda, has warned permanent secretaries that they will be held accountable for their actions if they violated the civil service’s standards during the state’s emergency.

Austin Ezekiel-Hart was sworn in as a permanent secretary by the governor at the Port Harcourt Executive Chambers.

Governor Fubara explained that Ezekiel-Hart’s elevation, in part due to his professionalism in the state civil service, was based solely on merit.

He urged the new appointee to uphold the values and principles that earned him the promotion, not at any time, telling any permanent secretary to disregard due process.

Also read: Fubara Relieves Commissioners Aren’t Upon Amaewhule’s Eyes.

Further, the governor assured that his administration would be defined by actions rather than rhetoric, and that he would be forced to use evidence to support his assertion that Ezekiel-Hart would never be subject to harassment under civil service regulations.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has continued to issue a no-debit order on 30 bank accounts where the Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan has detained local government funding. The Oyo State High Court has extended its interim injunction against the United Bank of Africa (UBA).

In a decision on Friday, Justice Ladiran Akintola argued that the extension was necessary to ensure that all parties in the case with the No. number hearing had a fair hearing. Osun State Local Government Service Commission, UBA Plc, and the Attorney-General of Osun State

At the hearing, UBA’s attorney was not present. Despite filing a joinder request and a second challenge to the court’s territorial jurisdiction, Kazeem Gbadamosi, SAN, the lawyers representing the sacked APC council chairmen were present.

READ ALSO: Ozekhome’s Withholding Osun LG Funds “Highly Political”

The plaintiffs’ attorney, Musibau Adetunmbi, SAN, claimed that he needed some time to study the applications, which were only submitted on Friday and Thursday. Because their joinder application hadn’t yet been approved, he claimed that the ex-chairmen lacked locus standi.

Gbadamosi argued in opposition to the extension that his clients had a right to be included in the lawsuit because they were directly affected by the injunction. He added that it is impossible to renew an order that has expired in a court of appeal.

A further affidavit from Boluwaduro LGA’s Head of Local Government Administration, Mrs. Rachael Abidemi, was provided to the court during the course of the proceeding. She alleged that she attempted to siphon money from a private law firm’s account in violation of the court order, citing a letter from two individuals who wrote to UBA demanding that the bank pay 15% of the allocations.

Mrs. Abidemi argued that the individuals lacked legal authority and that Osun’s 2025 LG administration only allowed the directors of finance and administration and general services to signify council accounts. She submitted exhibits to confirm the current officers.

In Suit No. 4, the plaintiffs argued that the Supreme Court still has jurisdiction over the council chairs’ legitimacy. releasing funds at this point would undermine justice, according to SC/CV/773/2025.

Adetunmbi explained to journalists following the sitting that the Supreme Court’s hearing on October 7 was pending, and that the interim order was extended to protect the disputed billions.

He said, “Our contention is simple: those who paid the money knew the case was already before the court.” The Supreme Court should speak first, not the Supreme Court. The funds might have gone awry without this preservation order.

Seyi Makinde, the governor of Oyo State, has pledged to do more to entice investors to the state after the first large-bodied aircraft landed at the upgraded Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport.

Makinde stated at the hotel’s opening ceremony that the airport’s renovation had rewritten its 43-year history, but that his administration’s plan was to make it the most investor-friendly facility in Nigeria.

In spite of Nigeria’s current economic difficulties, the state’s business-friendly policies continue to entice investors, and the government will raise the bar to ensure more businesses find Oyo State attractive.

The governor thanked The Jagz Hotel’s management and staff for surviving the economic downturn, and assured businesses that the state government would continue to support them.

READ MORE: Oyo Government Procures Two Aircraft To Improve Security

Makinde criticized the theory of “import substitution” as a means of growth, arguing that no nation had prospered by focusing solely on its local environment. He argued that Oyo should open its doors to international investors, citing the airport’s expansion as a key factor in growth and tourism.

The first wide-bodied aircraft touched down at Ibadan Airport last Friday, according to Makinde, and it was a joy. The airport, which was put in operation in 1982, had to wait 43 years.

We made the runway possible by expanding it within a year of receiving approval. However, we won’t stop there. We want to make Ibadan Airport a hub where visitors from all over the world can feel welcome and return, making it the best airport in Nigeria.