As results continue to pour in from the November 16 governorship elections in Kogi State, a preliminary report by an independent group of observers has cast a doubt on the credibility of the exercise. YIAGA Africa, a public policy think-tank that monitored the election, said its observers confirmed cases of…

The electoral commission, INEC has condemned cases of thuggery in the ongoing gubernatorial elections in Bayelsa and Kogi states. The commission said this in a statement signed by the INEC Commissioner of Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye on Saturday. "Unfortunately, however, despite all the efforts of the commission and…

Voting has ended in some polling units in Kogi State where a governorship election is holding. PREMIUM TIMES has provided live updates of the election which has witnessed a high number of the late arrival of electoral materials, violence and intimidation of voters. The election was, however, also peaceful and…

Thousands of Kogi residents will today cast their votes for the candidates of their choice in a keenly contested governorship election. A total of 24 parties are taking part in the election. Although the registered voters in the state are 1,646,350, about 1,485,828 (90.2%) have collected their PVCs and are…

The Nigerian anti-graft agency, ICPC, says it would monitor the Saturday's governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states. The commission disclosed this on Friday in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES. The agency said its monitoring team would be on the lookout for vote-buying and selling, as well as other…

The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Bolaji Owasanoye, says the agency uncovered N12.5 billion padded into the 2019 budget. Mr Owasanoye said this on Thursday in Abuja while giving a report on the tracking of constituency projects in the country, TheCable reported. Padding…

An election observation group, YIAGA Africa, through its Watching The Vote (WTV) project, says voters in Bayelsa and Kogi states are trading their permanent voters' cards for N500 and N1,000 ahead of the governorship elections in the two states. The group disclosed this in a report from its observers it…

The Kaduna State State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and the Nigerian First Lady, Aisha Buhari, on Thursday, appealed to voters in Kogi State to forgive Governor Yahaya Bello for any perceived sins he may have committed against them in his first term. Mr Bello is standing for reelection on Saturday. One…

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has explained why it refused to sign the Independent National Electoral Commission's peace accord aimed at ensuring peace in the upcoming polls in Kogi. It also reacted to the burning of its secretariat in Lokoja the Kogi State capital. In a statement signed by the…

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has refused to sign the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) peace accord on the Kogi State governorship election, the spokesperson of the commission, Rotimi Oyekanmi, told journalists on Tuesday. The development reportedly emerged after the campaign team of the party's governorship candidate, Natasha Akpoti, was…

The Nigerian Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA) has sought partnership with PREMIUM TIMES to foster transparency and strengthen its monitoring and evaluation process across the country. The agency's Executive Secretary, Junaid Abdullahi, said this last Wednesday during a courtesy visit to PREMIUM TIMES headquarters in Abuja. He said that the…

The Nigerian government has launched a Human Capital Development (HCD) initiative to move 24 million Nigerians out of poverty before 2030. The plan is a collaboration between the office of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), according to a statement by the Forum on Friday. The…

The Editor-in-Chief of PREMIUM TIMES, Musikilu Mojeed, has urged Nigerian journalists to adopt Solution Journalism as a means to check abuse of office by public officials. He said investigative journalism is not all about the prosecution and jailing of government officials who have enriched themselves with public funds. Mr Mojeed…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will deliver sensitive election materials for the November 16 Bayelsa governorship election to the state this weekend, the commission has said. INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this on Thursday at a consultative meeting with stakeholders at the state capital, Yenagoa, according to a statement…

The National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) has debunked reports that some Nigerian senators were trying to hijack the budget of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Social Investments, Ismaeel Ahmed, spoke in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES on…

The Nigerian government has secured an interim forfeiture order from the Federal High Court in Abuja to seize N2.4 billion and properties allegedly linked to a former Managing Director of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), Haruna Momoh. In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Rasheedat Okoduwa, on Monday,…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Lagos has arrested a former bank assistant general manager, Rowly Isioro, and his businesswoman wife, Naomi, for their alleged involvement in a $1.49 million fraud. EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, in a statement on Monday, said the couple allegedly laundered the said amount…

Okoi Obono-Obla, who was sacked as chairman of the Special Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP), says he is being persecuted by an aide of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo for his refusal to be disloyal to President Muhammadu Buhari. Mr Obono-Obla headed the special panel on the recovery…

Sixteen local government chairpersons in Kwara State are currently being quizzed by anti-corruption operatives at the Ilorin Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged misappropriation of N4 billion and 10 per cent of internally generated revenue. The local government chairpersons include: Risikat Opakunle, Saidu Musa,…

The anti-graft agency, EFCC, has said it is set to prosecute medical doctors who issue fake medical reports to those undergoing trial for financial crimes. The acting chairman of the commission, Ibrahim Magu, disclosed this, on Friday, during an interactive session with anti-corruption stakeholders and journalists at the EFCC headquarters…

The acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, has refused to answer a question on why the anti-graft agency has failed to probe the former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, over cash-carrying bullion vans seen at his home on the eve of this year's presidential election.…

Nigeria's former air force chief, Umar Dikko, converted about N1 billion public funds to build a house for himself, a witness told a court on Thursday. Hammadama Bello, the 9th prosecution witness in the ongoing trial Mr Dikko, told the court that the defendant allegedly converted N1.2 billion, belonging Nigerian…

The Independent National Electoral Commission has said 889,308 Permanent Voters Cards in Bayelsa State and 1,485,828 in Kogi have been collected as at September 30. The INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this, on Wednesday, during a quarterly meeting with media and Civil Society Organisations held at the commission's headquarters in…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says combining the governorship and senatorial elections in Kogi State would save the commission N290 million. The INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, made the announcement on Tuesday, while giving his keynote address at a meeting with political parties. He said the commission would spend about…

The ICPC has arrested the Secretary-General of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Amaechi Akawu, for allegedly misappropriating $130, 000. The ICPC spokesperson, Rasheedat Okoduwa, in a statement on Monday, said the cash belonged to the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF). The agency said Mr Akawu's arrest followed a…