Former Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, in this interview with Musikilu Mojeed, says the ruling APC will not win future presidential elections. He also speaks on his corruption trial, Sowore’s trial, the Buhari administration, and why his party, the PDP, cannot provide effective…

PT: On May 29, it became exactly 20 years since the return of democracy to Nigeria which is the longest stretch of democratic governance since independence in 1960. What's your impression about how far we have travelled? JONATHAN: In life, it is always more rewarding to look to the positive side…

As a top army officer holding command position, he abused public trust and was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Realising that he had been boxed into a tight corner, with clear evidence of guilt laid bare before him, the officer sang like a canary as he confessed…

On Saturday, April 20, an exhausted Olusegun Obasanjo sat down with Musikilu Mojeed and Oladeinde Olawoyin at his Ibogun Olaogun ancestral home to reflect on Nigeria's democracy journey. The former president had scheduled the interview for his Abeokuta home. But when the reporters arrived the Ogun State capital early that…

The African Development Bank and the World Bank have blacklisted 15 Nigerian firms doing businesses with them. Also put on the blacklist are nine Nigerian nationals indicted for various forms of procurement malpractices. The African Development Bank had early Tuesday announced the debarment of Lutoyilex Construct Limited, a construction company registered in Nigeria. The  company's Managing…

In this third and final part of his interview with PREMIUM TIMES, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, speaks about the roles he and some other officials of the Goodluck Jonathan government played in what has become known as the Malabu OPL 245 saga.…

In this second part of his interview with PREMIUM TIMES, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, speaks about the Justice Ayo Salami saga, the Halliburton bribery scandal, the controversy over the Pfizer drug trial and his relationship with Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti. Mr…

Mohammed Adoke was Nigeria's Attorney-General and Minister of Justice between 2010 and 2015. At the end of his tenure, he went into exile and is yet to return to the country ever since. For almost two hours on May 5, Mr Adoke sat down with PREMIUM TIMES’ duo of Musikilu…

The founder of African Independent Television (AIT) and a senior member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Raymond Dokpesi, says he suspects the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the State Security Service (SSS) are behind his recent ordeal at the hands of Nigerian Immigration Service officials when he was…

One evening in early September last year, Pius Adesanmi, telephoned me frantically from his base in Ontario. He had been calling for days and due to my excessively busy schedule at the time and the time difference between Canada and Nigeria, we missed each other repeatedly. He would call while…

CONTINUED FROM HERE PT: You ran into controversy over your recent attempt to define interference, intervention and observation, body bags and all of that, what do you really mean? Nasir El-Rufai: Let me just say what I don’t mean. My statement is not an invitation to anyone to attack election…

PREMIUM TIMES has obtained a secret audio recording revealing details of how three of the four senior army officers tasked with disrupting presidential election in Borno state in 2015 conspired to frustrate the plot. A recording of a secret meeting of the three officers at the centre of the plot…

The Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has given insights into why he thinks President Muhammadu Buhari is having a political row with former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Mr Obasanjo supported the election of Mr Buhari in 2015. However, they fell apart over some political differences and have been attacking each other…

The leadership of the Nigerian Army in 2015, led by Kenneth Minimah, a lieutenant general, activated a last-minute plan to truncate that year's presidential election to stop President Muhammadu Buhari from being declared winner, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report today. But the plot failed after four senior officers charged with…

The actions of Nigeria's Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has culminated in a Katsina State High Court terminating the corruption trial of three former officials of the Katsina State government. The three former officials -- Nasiru Ingawa (former special adviser on Sure-P to former Governor Ibrahim Shema), Abdulazeez…

Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim is the presidential candidate of the Peoples Trust in the upcoming 2019 election. He discusses his chances at the poll, why the Buhari administration has failed, Kwara politics and why he left the PDP where he was the deputy national publicity secretary, in this interview with PREMIUM TIMES’ Musikilu…

In this interview with PREMIUM TIMES’ Musikilu Mojeed and Festus Owete, PDP presidential aspirant and senator representing Kano Central Senatorial District, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, speaks on his ambition, Kano politics and other issues. Excerpts: PT: You are one of the 12 aspirants of the PDP. Why do you think the…

CONTINUED FROM HERE In this second part of his interview with reporters Musikilu Mojeed and Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, Governor Samuel Ortom speaks about his relationship with Senator George Akume, his battle with Adams Oshiomhole, the corruption allegation against him and the real reason he left the ruling APC. PT: Do you…

In this interview with reporters Musikilu Mojeed and Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, Governor Samuel Ortom chronicles his ordeal as chief executive of Benue, saying the instability in the north-central state is deeper than herdsmen-farmers clashes. The second part of the interview will run later this week. PREMIUM TIMES: We observed that it…

Nigerian taxpayers need to know this. Their representatives at the National Assembly, led by Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, have just illegally received and shared a hefty N10billion from the national treasury. The money is not part of the obscene N125billion appropriated…

In this interview with Editor-in-Chief, Musikilu Mojeed, the National Chairman of the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), Tope Fasua, reviews the three-year tenure of the President Muhammadu Buhari government, saying the administration has done more damage to Nigeria than all others before it. He also speaks on the growth of…

Reports suggesting that a doctor’s letter submitted to a Federal Hight Court, Abuja, by a former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh, is fake are incorrect, DUBAWA, Nigeria’s fact-checking and verification platform, is reporting. The UK chapter of the All Progressives Congress had written to the…

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday said Nigeria has become too solid as a country for any force, calamity or misgovernance to destroy it. Mr. Obasanjo, who spoke exclusively to PREMIUM TIMES from Azerbaijan where he is chairing a meeting of the InterAction Council of Former Heads of State and…

Hadiza Bala Usman was appointed Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority at a time the agency was plagued by corruption and inefficiency. Ten months before her appointment, Swiss prosecutors had named four former top shots of the NPA in a $20.7 million bribery scandal involving a joint venture partner…

The Publisher of popular news website, Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, has thrown his hat into Nigeria’s political ring. He is now gearing up to run in the country’s forthcoming presidential election in 2019. In this interview with Editor-in-Chief Musikilu Mojeed, Mr. Sowore explains why he is joining politics, how he…