ABUJA – Nigeria has reiterated the need to transform the ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF) into an operational mechanism for regional peace and stability. Maj-Gen. Umar Abubakar, Director, Peacekeeping and Regional Security, Ministry of Defence, stated this on Wednesday in Abuja at a Governmental Experts’ Validation Meeting on the ESF Training Policy for Peace Support Operations. The meeting brought together technical experts and strategic partners to finalise and validate the ESF’s training policy on peace support operations. “This is a pivotal moment for ECOWAS. The policy we are validating today will transform our Standby Force from concept to reality. “It will…
Author: Reporter
A female passenger lost her life after a private vehicle driver rammed into a motorcycle along the Igan Road in the Ago-Iwoye area of Ogun State. This is just as the motorcyclist sustained varying degrees of injuries in the crash that occurred in the early hours of Wednesday. The spokesperson for the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, Babatunde Akinbiyi, confirmed the incident in a traffic update sent to PUNCH Metro correspondent on Wednesday. According to Akinbiyi, the accident involved a red Toyota Camry with number plate JJJ 168 GY and a red Bajaj motorcycle with number plate KNN…
BUJA The Minister of State for health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, has highlighted the imperatives of Universal Health Coverage for Nigeria and Africa countries, just as he advocated for creativity and innovation if the 2030 timeline set for countries to attain the goal must be achieved. Salako gave the indication at the African Health Business Symposium held in Abuja on Wednesday with the theme, “Leveraging Innovation to Advancing Universal Health Coverage”. In his speech at the event, the minister applauded the meeting for focusing attention on fundamental human right issues that are fundamental to economic development, poverty…
A Federal High Court in Lagos has discharged and acquitted Ayodele Fayose, former Ekiti State governor, of money laundering and fraud charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke upheld a no-case submission filed by the defence, ruling that the EFCC failed to establish a prima facie case against Fayose that would warrant him entering a defence. “The prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against him to warrant further defence,” the judge held. Fayose and his company, Spotless Investment Limited, were re-arraigned by the EFCC on an…
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate slowed for the third consecutive month to 22.22 percent in June 2025 from 22.97 percent in May, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) On a month-on-month basis, inflation declined significantly to 1.68 percent in June from 1.53 percent in May, indicating a higher pace of price rise across the economy. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that the 301st meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), where key interest rate decisions are made, will take place on Monday, July 21, and Tuesday, July 22, 2025. During the May meeting, the MPC had…
Liverpool have indicated interest in signing Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak and are prepared to splash £120m on the player. The prolific Sweden international was known to be a key target for Arne Slot’s reigning Premier League champions as they seek the addition of a new top-level center forward before the window closes on September 1, having already spent £116 million on Florian Wirtz and also signed the likes of Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, and Giorgi Mamardashvili. Isak was said to have been on a three-man striker shortlist on Merseyside also featuring Eintracht Frankfurt’s in-demand frontman Hugo Ekitike and Napoli’s…
Gianluigi Donnarumma has shared his thoughts after Paris Saint-Germain’s 3-0 loss against Chelsea in the final of the FIFA Club World Cup on Sunday. The Italian shot stopper was in goal as PSG fell to a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea with goals coming from Cole Palmer, who bagged a brace and new signing Joao Pedro. The Parisiens were the favourites to add to their treble going into the final but were second best against a spirited Chelsea side. Reflecting on the disappointing defeat Donnarumma wrote in a post on his social media profiles (via Football Italia):“A shame that we did…
ABUJA Prominent stakeholders in Nigeria’s higher education system have called for urgent reforms to reposition universities for 21st-century relevance. They made the call recently at the fourth public lecture of the African School of Economics (ASE), Abuja, themed, ‘The 21st Century Nigerian University: Pitfalls and Pathways’. In their remarks, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abdullahi Yusuf Ribadu and the Director of Skills Development and Entrepreneurship at NUC, Mr. Ashafa Ladan, emphasized need for Nigerian universities to move beyond traditional degree awarding. They noted that the institutions must become hubs of innovation, skills development and national…
Daniella Okangba, a 2023 Law graduate of Babcock University, has emerged as one of the most outstanding students at the 2025 Nigerian Law School/The Nigerian Body of Benchers Call to Bar ceremony, clinching five prestigious awards including the coveted third prize for Best Overall student, in Abuja. This year’s Call to Bar ceremony was historic, with 5,728 new lawyers, the largest cohort in Nigeria’s legal history, officially joining the profession. Okangba, who graduated with First Class Honours, received the following awards: Justice Olujide Shomolu Award for Best Student in Civil Litigation, Mr. D. D. Dodo award for Best Female Student…
DAURA Former Anambra State Governor and Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has explained his absence at the burial of former President Muhammadu Buhari, citing flight restrictions as the reason for his inability to attend the ceremony in Daura on Tuesday. Obi spoke to journalists after paying a condolence visit to the late president’s family on Wednesday. Explaining his absence the day earlier, Obi said efforts to attend the burial were hampered by a combination of unavailable flights and restricted air traffic to accommodate high-level dignitaries. According to him, “Yes, it was difficult to…