News
“My daughter works with CBN,” Ali Ndume confesses after opposing movement of part of apex bank to Lagos
A few days after he opposed President Bola Tinubu’s plan to move part of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to Lagos, the chief whip of the senate, Ali Ndume has admitted that his daughter works the apex bank.
He however said his comments on the proposed movement of the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and some offices of the apex bank to Lagos are “the truth”.
Last week, the senator representing Borno south said there would be “political consequences” for moving the aforementioned offices.
The senator made the comments following the recent announcements that these offices will be relocated to Nigeria’s commercial centre.
The development elicited varied reactions, with northern stakeholders like the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and Ndume’s who outrightly rejected the decisions.
Ndume’s initial comment elicited outrage in some sections of the social media.
While Doyin Okupe, a former presidential aide, said Ndume’s comments were capable of sparking a crisis, Sunday Karimi, senator representing Kogi west, said his colleague spoke for himself and not for the senate.
In his defence, Ndume said his comments were borne out of patriotism for the country.
“Even if my ward is working in CBN, is she the only person that is going to be transferred to Lagos? There are hundreds of people that they planned to move to Lagos. Whenever an issue like this crops up, instead of addressing the issue, the people and some of the reporters will now concentrate on the messenger, not the message,” he said.
“So this is the kind of distraction, let us discuss. Is it necessary at this time to relocate some of these departments and agencies of government back to Lagos. Why was the capital moved from Lagos to Abuja, was it not because of congestion, because of inconveniences, because of inefficiencies?
“And since then, Lagos has been expanding. This argument that they are forwarding, that it is for efficiency. What efficiency? In today’s world where you can do transactions electronically, you can do meetings by Zoom, you can communicate by WhatsApp, you can transfer documents by PDF. There is no excuse there [decision to move CBN, FAAN to Lagos].
“Coming to the political issue, yes, it must have consequences because when Tinubu was elected, he was not appointed, he was elected.
“Then even if I have a ward there, my daughter or my son or whatever, which I do, I should not say anything if I see something wrong going on, I should not speak because my daughter is there, that does not work.
“You see, somebody has to stand up to speak the truth. That is what I am trying to do.
“Let’s say I have a ward in CBN. Is there anything wrong with that? My daughter for example or my son or whatever, because I am a politically exposed person, does that take the right of my ward or my relative to work in CBN? That is one.”
The Borno senator expressed confidence that Tinubu will take the right action on the issue.
“I am in APC and proud of APC. One of the staunch supporters of Mr President,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the people outside are trying to be more catholic than the pope. The pope knows me very well, that is Tinubu, he knows I speak the truth. Tinubu will do something because he knows I spoke the truth. There will be political consequences.
“Haven’t you seen the reaction from the Katsina elders, northerners generally, are against this move. Is it not true that he will seek the votes of northerners in 2027?
“Is it not true that northerners again or the opposition will take advantage of this too? Now they [section of the north] are telling us ‘we told you that this man is a tribalist, look at what he is doing. In one year he has started making moves to hurt the north’.”
The legal team of suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, say they are ready with factil evidence to defend her in court.
The team received a formal summons in the case filed against her by the Federal Government at the Federal Capital Territory High Court last week.
On Friday, May 16, 2025, the Federal Government filed the suit, marked CR/297/25, over alleged defamatory remarks made during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on April 3, 2025.
The government accused the senator of “making imputation knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm the reputation of a person”, citing Section 391 of the Penal Code, cap 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990.
Among the witnesses listed to testify during the trial were Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and a former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.
Others include Asuquo Ekpenyong, a senator; Sandra Duru; Maya Iliya, investigating police officers; and Abdulhafiz Garba, investigating police officers.
However, in a statement issued Friday night by Dr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa (SAN) on behalf of the legal team, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s lawyers confirmed receipt of the formal summons and pledged to prepare all “factual and statutory defences” available to the lawmaker during trial.
“At about 2:30pm on Friday, May 23, 2025, within the premises of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, we received the information filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, containing three counts alleging that our client, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central, made imputations she had reason to believe would harm the reputation of Senator Godswill Akpabio, President of the 10th Senate,” the statement read.
“We received the said information on her behalf through a letter of authority duly issued and filed in the court’s registry.
“The legal team will fully prepare and present all factual and statutory defences available to our client during the trial.”
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) will on Tuesday next week begin the take over of 4,794 properties in Abuja, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) headquarters, due to unpaid ground rent.
The PDP headquarters, currently under construction in Abuja’s Central Business District, is among the affected properties, having been revoked in March for several years of unpaid ground rent. The FCTA disclosed that 4,794 titles had been revoked for failure to pay ground rent, with some defaults dating back 43 years.
The affected properties are located in various districts, including Central Area, Garki I and II, Wuse I and II, Asokoro, Maitama, and Guzape.
The defaulters owe over N6.96 billion in ground rent. The FCTA had given a 21-day grace period for owners with debts under 10 years, which has now expired.
The FCTA officials announced that the takeover would begin on Monday, May 26, 2025, with the sealing off and restriction of access to the affected properties.
The Director of Land Administration, Chijioke Nwankwoeze emphasized that the revocations were carried out under Section 28(5)(a)(b) of the Land Use Act, which empowers the government to reclaim land when the terms of occupancy are violated.
Two people sustained serious injuries when a training aircraft crash-landed at the Ilorin International Airport on Friday.
Director of Public Affairs and Family Assistance, NSIB, Mrs Bimbo Oladeji, who disclosed this in a statement, said the incident occurred at 17:28 local time on May 23, 2025, during a simulated instrument approach on Runway 05 at Ilorin International Airport.
Oladeji said the aircraft veered off the runway and came to a stop on the grass verge, leaving the two occupants on board injured.
She stated: “Both sustained serious injuries and were swiftly evacuated to a medical facility, coordinated by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA.
“In response, the NSIB Go-Team is currently preparing to depart from Abuja to Ilorin to conduct on-site investigations. The team will secure the site, collect physical evidence, interview witnesses, and retrieve operational data to establish the cause and contributing factors of the incident.”
Quoting the Director General of the NSIB, Captain Alex Badeh Jr., she said “Our thoughts are with the injured, and we commend the swift medical and emergency response. Now, our focus is on understanding exactly what went wrong. Every investigation is an opportunity to improve safety. We are deploying our team to Ilorin to ensure that no detail is overlooked.”
-
News2 years agoBreaking: Tinubu’s authentic ministerial nominees
-
News2 years ago“Anytime we want to kill terrorists, President would ask us to take permission from France but they were killing our soldiers-” Niger Republic coup leader
-
News2 years ago“I’m leaving the Catholic church because Bishop Onah is oppressing me,” says Okunerere
-
News2 months agoSenate to speed up conclusion of Nigeria Forest Security Service Bill
-
News2 years agoDokpesi and the Gazebo Mystique
-
News2 years agoRadio Nigeria’s veteran broadcaster Kelvin Ugwu dies three months after retirement from service
-
News1 year agoPersons against Allagoa’s reforms behind protests at NSITF
-
News2 years agoTsunami: Tinubu orders dissolution of managements, boards of MDAs, to sack all Buhari’s political appointees