The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, has said he is “not a comrade that speaks from both sides of his mouth”, apparently mocking the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole. He also said he was almost killed for defending the party chairman. Mr Oshiomhole's…

A popular stand-up comedian in Akwa Ibom State has been arrested by the police allegedly on the order of an Akwa Ibom government official. The comedian, whose stage name is Sir James, was arrested on Wednesday in Uyo. He is accused of posting "injurious" comments on Facebook against the commissioner…

In one moment, it seemed it was all over for him, and then, suddenly, he is the one with the last laugh. That is the story of Hope Uzodinma, who has just been declared the validly elected governor of Imo State, South-East Nigeria, by the nation’s Supreme Court, thereby making…

A group in Akwa Ibom State has asked the state government to set up a development commission for the oil-producing communities in the state. The group, Ekid People’s Union, made the demand in a communique issued on Saturday after their 2019 national congress at Esit Eket local government area of…

As the crisis within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State continues to escalate, a lawmaker-elect in the state has vowed that Governor Godwin Obaseki “can never win re-election.” The Edo governorship election is expected to take place in September this year. The lawmaker-elect, Washington Osifo, told PREMIUM TIMES…

The National Association of Seadogs, otherwise known as Pyrates Confraternity, has appealed to Cross River Governor, Ben Ayade, to intervene in the case of the detained Nigerian journalist, Agba Jalingo. Mr Jalingo, who is facing treason charges, was arrested on August 22 over a report alleging that Mr Ayade diverted…

A ward chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State, South-South Nigeria, has been shot dead. The slain politician, Paul Onomuakpokpo, the PDP chairman in Olomu Ward 1, Ughelli South Local Government Area of the state, was killed on Wednesday at about 7 p.m. along a highway in…

The police said they have arrested their officers caught on video assaulting a bus passenger over an iPhone. PREMIUM TIMES reported how three unidentified officers illegally confiscated iPhone 6 from one Justice Obasi on Saturday in Enugu, South East Nigeria, and then beat him up when he insisted on getting…

Three Nigerian police officers in Enugu, South East Nigeria, illegally confiscated an iPhone from a bus passenger and afterward assaulted the young man when he insisted on getting back his phone. The incident happened on Saturday at about 10 a.m. near a popular bus stop, Kenyatta bus stop, in Enugu…

While hundreds of NDDC projects remain abandoned and uncompleted across the oil producing states, partly due to non release of funds, the agency 'abandoned' $70 million in a bank for over a decade, an official has said. A series of investigations by PREMIUM TIMES on the status of projects by…

The campaign for Agba Jalingo’s release has been energised by the recent release of the Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, and a former national security adviser, Sambo Dasuki, from detention. Mr Jalingo, the publisher of the online CrossRiverWatch, is in prison in Calabar. He is charged with treason over a…

The Cross River governor, Ben Ayade, has created a ministry of foreign affairs in the state. The new ministry was announced on Tuesday when Mr Ayade swore-in 39 commissioners in Calabar. Apart from foreign affairs, Mr Ayade also created ministry of robotics and artificial intelligence, ministry of humanity and social…

A Nigerian journalist, Agba Jalingo, who is facing treason charges for allegedly criticising a Nigerian governor, is spending Christmas holiday in prison. Mr Jalingo, the publisher of CrossRiverWatch, was arrested on August 22 over a report alleging that the governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade, diverted N500 million belonging…

Rivers governor, Nyesom Wike, has fired back at Seriake Dickson, accusing the Bayelsa state governor of deliberately allowing the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) to win the 2019 governorship election in Bayelsa. “Dickson colluded with these people (in APC), so that EFCC will not arrest him when he leaves government,”…

Bayelsa governor, Seriake Dickson, has warned his counterpart in Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, not to see Bayelsa as an annex of Rivers State. “Let me put it on record, this is the first time I will formally respond to Wike’s childishness in this formal way. I have always ignored with…

A Nigerian court has voided the arrest of commercial sex workers in Abuja by law enforcement officials. The Abuja Federal High Court presided over by Justice Binta Nyako on Wednesday declared that officials of a security task force acted outside the law when they broke into apartments in Abuja suburbs…

A High Court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, has granted bail to a bank official who was remanded in prison for allegedly publishing “damaging and annoying” articles on Facebook against Akwa Ibom governor, Udom Emmanuel. The bank official, Michael Itok, 21, was granted N500,000 bail on Thursday by the court…

14 lawmakers-elect of the Edo State House of Assembly whose seats were recently declared vacant by the Speaker, Frank Okiye, said they are going to press for contempt charges against him. Washington Osifo, one of the affected lawmakers-elect, told PREMIUM TIMES that the speaker’s action breached a fundamental principle in…

Agba Jalingo, a Nigerian journalist who is on trial for treason, has reportedly been disowned by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Cross River State Council. Mr Jalingo, the publisher of the online CrossRiverWatch, has been in prison in Calabar. He is charged with treason over a report about an…

Two journalists are standing trial in Cross River State, South-South Nigeria, besides Agba Jalingo who is charged with treason for criticising the state governor, Ben Ayade. The two journalists are Jonathan Ugbal and Jeremiah Archibong, news editor and managing editor respectively for CrossRiverWatch, an online newspaper owned by Mr Jalingo.…

“I am the most abused and insulted president in the world, but when I leave office you will all remember me for the total freedom you enjoyed under my government," - Goodluck Jonathan, ex-Nigerian President. Nigerians are quick to make reference to the above quote by former President Goodluck Jonathan…

The Federal High Court, Calabar, on Wednesday denied bail to Joseph Odok, a Nigerian lawyer and an avowed critic of the Cross River governor, Ben Ayade. Mr Odok was arrested on September 26 in Abuja and taken to Calabar by road. His arrest and incarceration is believed to have been…

Godswill Akpabio, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, has announced his withdrawal from the planned rerun election for the Akwa Ibom North-West District, the Punch newspaper has reported. The Court of Appeal, Calabar, in November, had ordered a rerun in only one local government area – Essien Udim – in…

The judge in the treason trial of Agba Jalingo, a Nigerian journalist, has withdrawn from the case. Simon Amobeda announced his withdrawal from the case Wednesday after a secret recording where he allegedly made some “biased” remarks against Mr Jalingo was leaked to the press. Two persons, including a lawyer,…

A Nigerian journalist, Agba Jalingo, who is facing treason charges for allegedly criticising a Nigerian governor, is demanding that his case should be transferred to a new judge. Mr Jalingo, the publisher of CrossRiverWatch, was arrested on August 22 over a report alleging that the governor of Cross River State,…