NEWS

The Presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement and Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, of lying over the alleged N50bn funding from the Federal Government for the upgrade of the Ibadan International Airport. Makinde, who spoke while addressing supporters at the Makinde/Daura 2027 Presidential Town Hall meeting in Katsina on Tuesday, said the Oyo State Government did not receive any N50bn from the Federal Government, adding that the expansion of the Ladoke Akintola International Airport, Ibadan, was fully funded by the state government. Wike, while appearing on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout programme on Monday, had claimed that the President Bola Tinubu-led administration supported the Oyo State Government w...

The United Kingdom Department for Education has excluded teachers trained in Nigeria, Ghana and India from using the route to apply for Qualified Teacher Status in England. The change took effect on September 9, 2026, according to updated guidance posted by the DfE and sighted by PUNCH Online on Tuesday. QTS is the professional teaching qualification for teachers in England and a status recognised by many schools in the country. The department said teachers trained to teach in Ghana, India or Nigeria would no longer be eligible to use the “Apply for QTS in England” service from September 9. The latest decision followed the release of data on applications for QTS from overseas-trained teachers for the 2024-2025 academic year. The data, released on August 27, showed that N...

Sweden has set out the rules under which young foreigners can apply for a working holiday visa, confirming that only citizens of six countries are currently eligible for the scheme. Sweden’s Migration Agency noted that the country has established bilateral youth exchange agreements with Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea. Under the terms of these agreements, nationals of the selected countries aged between 18 and 30 can spend up to a year on a working holiday in Sweden. For Nigerians seeking opportunities to work or reside in Sweden, the current framework excludes African nations. Consequently, Nigerian passport holders are ineligible for the working holiday visa pathway and must instead apply through standard work permits, study visas, or other establi...

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has raised questions regarding who is constitutionally leading Nigeria, following the expiration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 21-day vacation. President Tinubu left Nigeria on August 30 for what the Presidency described as a three-week annual vacation in France. Concurrently, Vice President Kashim Shettima is in the United States leading the Nigerian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). In a statement released on his official social media handles on Monday, September 21, Atiku argued that the nation cannot be governed from Europe, urging both the Presidency and the National Assembly leadership to respect constitutional succession procedures. At...

The Federal Government has warned that it would close the Lagos section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway within two weeks if motorists and other road users fail to comply with safety measures and conditions along the route do not improve. The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State, Olufemi Dare, said this on Monday, September 21, while addressing journalists during an inspection tour of the highway. According to him, the decision followed a directive from the Minister of Works, David Umahi, amid persistent safety breaches, vandalism and other illegal activities along the road.  He said the government could no longer tolerate overspeeding, illegal parking by trucks and articulated vehicles, illegal U-turns, motorcycles and tricycles, roadside trading and other activities ...

President Bola Tinubu will not attend the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, with Vice President Kashim Shettima designated to lead Nigeria’s delegation. The decision means Tinubu will be absent from the UN General Assembly’s high-level gathering for the third consecutive year, having also been represented by Shettima at the 79th and 80th sessions in 2024 and 2025. Stanley Nkwocha, spokesman to the Vice President, confirmed the arrangement in a statement. “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has mandated Vice President Kashim Shettima to represent him and lead Nigeria’s delegation to the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, UNGA, in New York, United States. VP Shettima will lead a high-level delegation comprising Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Riv...

A Baptist Church pastor and nine others were k!lled by gunmen in different communities in Barkin-Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State. It was gathered that the suspected assailants attacked passengers travelling to Gana-Ropp in Barkin-Ladi, on Saturday evening, September 19, 2026, killing six and injuring others in the vehicle. A resident of the community, who witnessed the incident, Ukasha Garba, claimed that the six persons k!lled were passengers from Gana-Ropp, traveling to the next community to work in a farm. It was further learnt that in the early hours of Sunday, September 20, a pastor from Baptist Church, his secretary, and one other person were ambushed and shot d3ad on their way to church at Dorowa Babuje, in the same council area. The development disrupted chu...

The three national news outlets President Donald Trump banned from the White House, CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, have said they will sue the Trump administration. President Donald Trump announced the ban on Friday, accusing the organisations of writing "fiction or lies" about his team. The companies said their reporters were denied access to the building on Saturday. In a joint statement on Monday, they said they were pursuing legal action to "protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports". Posting on Truth Social shortly after, Trump said the White House was not "instituting an assault on the Free Press" and that he was targeting "FAKE NEWS". The First Amendment forbids the government from "abridging" the f...

The Allied Peoples Movement and its presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, have filed a lawsuit challenging the N200 million campaign advertising permit imposed on presidential candidates by the Abia State Government. The suit, marked HU/214/2026, was filed before the Abia State High Court in Umuahia. Abia State Governor Alex Otti, the state Attorney-General, the Abia State Signage and Advertisement Agency and the Abia State House of Assembly are named as defendants. Under the fee schedule announced by the signage agency, presidential candidates are required to pay N200 million for campaign advertising permits, while governorship candidates are charged N150 million. Senatorial candidates are required to pay N100 million, House of Representatives candidates N50 million and State House ...

The Federal Government has commenced the payment of Additional Exit Benefits, AEB, to retirees of Treasury-funded Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, with approximately N1.1 billion already paid to 175 retirees who exited the Federal Public Service between 1 January and 31 August 2026.  The payment is being made under the Federal Government Exit Benefit Scheme, EBS, approved by the Federal Executive Council and effective from 1 January 2026.  The National Pension Commission, PenCom, which made this known in a statement, informed that the Scheme provides an additional financial benefit to Federal Government employees at retirement, alongside their pension benefits under the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS.  Under the Scheme, Federal Civil Servants who have s...