In July last year, the mood of Nigerians was livened up, then some fresh hope followed. President Muhammadu Buhari had just announced a new plan with German tech giant Siemens AG to reverse the hex that is electricity supply in the country where about half of the population lacks grid…

The National Industrial Court has ordered the Nigerian Army to reinstate another senior officer, Thomas Arigbe, after three such judgements since the military authorities illegally dismissed several officers in 2016. The judge, Paul Bassi of the Lagos division of the industrial court, handed the judgement on Thursday. Mr Bassi held…

The National Industrial Court, on Tuesday, ordered the Nigerian Army to reinstate a senior officer, Abdulfatai Mohammed, having established that the military authorities broke the law in dismissing the officer in 2016. "The compulsory retirement of the claimant is wrongful, unconstitutional, null and void," the judge, Rakiya Haastrup, said on…

The National Industrial Court has ordered the Nigerian Army to reinstate a senior officer, Abdulfatai Mohammed, having found the military authorities violated the law in his 2016 dismissal. The judge, Rakiya Haastrup, gave the judgement on Tuesday at the headquarters of the industrial court in Abuja. The judgement upholding Mr…

At least three persons have died in Oyo Town following gunshots by security operatives after people protested the failure of the firefighters in the town to stop a ravaging fire Sunday morning, witnesses have told PREMIUM TIMES. The fire razed Oyo's central commercial area, Akesan Market, almost entirely, leaving only…

The Turkish legislature has approved a proposal to send troops to Libya, amid concerns the conflict in the troubled African nation could escalate insecurity in the Sahel region, which includes Nigeria's extreme north. The approval on Thursday followed the declaration, last December, by President Recep Erdogan to intervene in the…

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the State Security Service (SSS) to release the Publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, and ex-National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki. Both men are being held in defiance of separate court orders. The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, said, on Tuesday, his office had issued…

President Muhammadu Buhari may have left the immediate past chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Tunde Fowler, shocked with the replacement Monday of the revenue chief. Mr Fowler on Monday wrote to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, asking to be allowed to continue his…

The Netherlands on Friday said the child labour practice, which a PREMIUM TIMES' investigation revealed in the Nigerian supply chain of Dutch multinational, FrieslandCampina, is being taken "seriously" and already a subject on the agenda of the European country's food industry. The Dutch government's response to the investigation by PREMIUM…

Nearly one year after Nigeria's interior ministry increased the Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Alien Card (CERPAC) fee, a federal court in Lagos has nullified the review. The cancellation followed a suit by the lawyer, Femi Falana. In the ruling delivered in November but just obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, the…

A former governor of Abia State, Orji Kalu, was Thursday convicted of corruption and mismanagement of N7.65 billion public funds. He was sentenced to a 12-year jail term by the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court, about 12 years after he was first arraigned by the anti-corruption body, EFCC.…

Multinational dairy company, FrieslandCampina, says it has engaged an international firm, Partner Africa, to conduct an audit of its raw milk sourcing in Nigeria following an investigation by PREMIUM TIMES revealing child labour in its supply chain. The company said it is committed to "preventing and eliminating" child labour in…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzXSpjzLSFQ&w=560&h=315] Yusufa and Tijani are not the only child workers here. Mohammed Isah, 13, also works on the cattle farm at Osomo and several others also do in other parts of Oyo State, such as Fashola, Maya, Saki, and Alaga, where FrieslandCampina WAMCO, the Nigerian subsidiary of Dutch dairy giant Royal…

Six-year-old Yusufa Isah shares a makeshift wooden sleeping platform with Tijani Abubakar, 13, on this isolated cattle farm, about 40 minutes' walk from their family settlement in Osomo Village in Iseyin, Oyo State, southwest Nigeria. The two underage boys lay on a mat half-covered with a mosquito net. There is no infrastructure…

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has won Ogbia Local Government Area in the Bayelsa State governorship election held Saturday. The local government includes Otuoke, the hometown of former Nigerian leader, Goodluck Jonathan. In Ogbia, APC scored 58,016 votes to defeat the state's ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with 13,763 votes.…

Soldiers have arrested the chairman of Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Ebinyo Turner, who repeatedly led thugs to disrupt the collation exercise at his council hall. The exercise is still underway at the time of filing this report at 11:28 AM on Sunday. Mr Turner, a PDP leader,…

The All Progressives Congress (APC) is leading with a wide margin in President Goodluck Jonathan's Ogbia Local Government Area, the results of Saturday's governorship election in Bayelsa State show. The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is trailing the APC from results of the wards collated so far at the local…

Voting has ended in some polling units in Bayelsa State where a governorship election is holding. PREMIUM TIMES has provided live updates of the election which was characterised by the late arrival of electoral materials, violence, and intimidation of voters. The electoral commission, INEC, has had to cancel the election…

Voting has been cancelled in Ologi (Ward 03) of Ogbia Local Government Area (LGA), a senior electoral official has said, following a violent incident that included "seizing" of an electoral official. The official, Ukuachukwu Orji, who is the INEC supervisory resident electoral commissioner for Ogbia LGA, said members of the…

The people of Bayelsa, South-south Nigeria, go to the polls today to elect a new governor. A total of 45 political parties are taking part in the election to govern the oil-rich state. The contest is, however, expected to be between David Lyon of the APC and Duoye Diri of…

The All Progressives Congress will participate in tomorrow's governorship election in Bayelsa State, the electoral body, INEC, has confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES. "APC will participate in the election in Bayelsa State," Festus Okoye, INEC's spokesperson, said Friday morning. On Thursday, the Federal High Court in Yenagoa ruled the party had…

Three of the governorship candidates running in Saturday's election in Bayelsa State are women, representing a low 6.6 per cent female inclusion rate. The three women are under-48. Seiyefa Eches, 47, is the candidate of DPC, and she holds a Bachelor's degree, according to information obtained from the electoral body,…

The EXIM Bank of China is Nigeria's biggest bilateral creditor in nearly 2 decades, having lent the African largest economy $6.5 billion (or N1.9 trillion) since 2002, analysis of official disclosures exclusively obtained by PREMIUM TIMES has shown. Based on separate Freedom of Information replies by the finance ministry and…

As it drizzled one October morning in Port Harcourt, Samuel Tamuno stepped out of an office where he had been meeting with his community school's head over mounting concerns about the students' number outgrowing available classrooms. "This set will proceed to SS1 next year but there will be no class…

Four suspected gang leaders previously wanted for "terrorising" communities in Rivers State have been apprehended following raids of their hideouts by the army, an official said. The media coordinator for army operations, Aminu Iliyasu, who just left as the spokesperson for Army 6 Division in Port Harcourt, said this on…