The outgoing 2018 was an eventful year for the news. From the nation's often tumultuous politics to its governance, human rights to entertainment and business, newsmakers provided no letup. PREMIUM TIMES stayed alert all year, and worked hard to inform millions of its dedicated readers around the world. With exceptional…

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has written to the Ekiti State Governor-elect, Kayode Fayemi, congratulating him on his victory in Saturday's governorship election in the state. "Indeed, your success at the polls after a hard fought campaign is proof that the people of Ekiti State value your leadership and appreciate the…

The candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Kayode Fayemi, has taken an early lead in the Ekiti State governorship election. Mr Fayemi has won in seven of the eight local government areas where results have been announced by relevant electoral officials. The results from the various local governments will next…

An exemption certificate obtained by PREMIUM TIMES Tuesday morning has further rubbished the authenticity of the purported NYSC certificate being paraded by Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun. By the provision of the National Youths Service Act, some categories of Nigerians are eligible for exemption from the mandatory service. However, Mrs Adeosun remains ineligible…

As the world awaits the explanation of Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, over a PREMIUM TIMES exclusive report that she skipped Nigeria's one-year mandatory national youth service scheme and then forged an exemption certificate, this newspaper has decided to release her entire credentials to the public. We are releasing the documents…

Liverpool FC manager, Jürgen Klopp, has confirmed that the shoulder injury Mohamed Salah sustained during Liverpool’s Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid on Saturday evening is ‘serious’. According to club's official website, the manager said this at his post-match conference. “It’s a serious injury, a really serious injury." Salah's…

Screenshots of a video seen by PREMIUM TIMES show how one of the hoodlums in light brown t-shirt snatched the mace from its position in the Senate. The thugs, who stormed the Senate chamber on Wednesday morning, are believed to have been led by a suspended lawmaker Ovie Omo-Agege. The…

In this second part of the interview with Zizwe Poe, the pan-Africanist speaks on his views about how Nigeria can maximise its potentials within Africa. The don also speaks on the youth and the controversy surrounding the teaching of history in Nigeria. Excerpts: PT: We have spoken a lot about…

A foremost Pan Africanist, Zizwe Poe is an American Professor at Lincoln University. As a scholar who has extensively studied Kwame Nkrumah and has been part of Pan African movements, the don shares his knowledge and experiences on diverse issues including leadership, Pan Africanism and neo-colonialism. In this first part…

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Wednesday successfully blocked an attempt by embattled former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to return to Nigeria from London to face trial. Mrs. Alison-Madueke had fled to London shortly after she left office in May 2015, and has stayed away from the country since…

The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has reacted to the controversy surrounding the hike in this year's hajj fare. The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) had put this year's fare at $4,805 (about N1.5m), compared to the $4,003 pilgrims paid in 2016. NAHCON's announcement sparked nationwide outrage…

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has arrived Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, a city troubled by repeated Boko Haram attacks in the past days. Mr. Osinbajo was met on arrival by Governor Kashim Shettima and other officials of the state government as well as top military commanders in the city. Scores…

Nigeria’s internal secret service, the State Security Service (SSS), is enmeshed in a recruitment scandal following the exposure of a shocking lopsidedness in the composition of the new officers recently absorbed into the agency. The agency commissioned 479 cadet officers after their passing-out parade in Lagos on March 5, at…

Messaging giant, Whatsapp announced some weeks ago that it would start sharing some user data including phone numbers with parent company Facebook. WhatsApp updated its terms and privacy policy for the first time in four years which it claimed is part of its plans to test ways for people to…

PREMIUM TIMES has uncovered another budget padding scheme Nigerian lawmakers and cohorts in businesses and the executive arm of the government have deployed to steal billions of public funds through annual budgets. People familiar with this second strategy have been briefing PREMIUM TIMES since the first story was published. This…

The public row between the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and his erstwhile ally and former chairman of the House Appropriation Committee, Abdulmumin Jibrin, has provided a glimpse into how lawmakers routinely make billions of naira by inserting fictitious projects into the national budget each year. Nigerians…

At least 110 Nigerian individuals and companies have so far been identified by PREMIUM TIMES in the leaked internal data of Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonsecca, as operators of offshore shell companies in tax havens. Prominent among the new names being revealed today, in addition to the several that were…

Members of the Public Accounts Committees in the 7th Senate and House of Representatives, statutorily responsible for ensuring probity and accountability in the nation’s financial system, compromised the Money Laundering Act during their tenure, documents in the possession of PREMIUM TIMES have shown. Members of the committee as well as…

The office of the National Security Adviser has invited 241 companies and organisations in relation with receipt of payments from the agency during the tenure of Sambo Dasuki, a retired colonel. Mr. Dasuki is currently being prosecuted for allegedly distributing over $2.1billion meant for arms procurement to relatives, friends, political…

Nigeria’s lawmaking body, the National Assembly, is entangled in horrid abuse of the nation’s financial regulations, especially in its banking transactions, in the last six years, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report. Investigation by this newspaper, spanning weeks, revealed that between 2009 and 2015, the management arm of the federal legislature…

Fresh details have emerged on how members of the National Assembly Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution withdrew N7.75 billion purportedly to amend Nigerian constitution. PREMIUM TIMES had last week exposed how the federal lawmakers collected the money in tranches to purportedly alter the document between 2011 and…

Nigerian federal lawmakers, led by incumbent Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, and former Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha, withdrew a princely N7.75 billion of public funds in four years to purportedly review sections of the 1999 Constitution, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report today. In an investigation lasting months, this…

A former minister, Oby Ezekwesili, on Friday said the attempts by the Nigerian legislators to muzzle free speech through an anti-social law would be futile. In her reaction via Twitter, Ms. Ezekwesili scoffed at the proposed law and said it would be impossible to enact. "I laughed in Wazobia as…

Nigeria has recorded more deaths from insurgency and violent crimes in the last four years than before, despite spending an unprecedented N1.488 trillion on armaments between 2011 and 2014, a PREMIUM TIMES analysis has shown. While N369 billion was spent in 2011, N365 billion, N381 billion and N374 billion were spent…