Television Nigerian

The South East governors have not deserted Nnamdi Kanu, the jailed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, or IPOB, according to Abia State Governor Alex Otti.

At a press conference in the state capital of Umuahia on Thursday evening, Governor Otti made this claim.

He asserts that the governors are actively working with the appropriate authorities to achieve Kanu’s release, emphasizing that not all of their efforts are intended for public consumption.

Some of the guarantees and interactions we have received are not intended for general consumption since doing so could cause the process to go awry.

However, I’m leading the charge to make sure he returns home in my capacity as his governor. The governors of the South East are united in this,” Otti stated.

A day after Igbo elders from all over the South East protested Kanu’s ongoing detention at Government House in Umuahia, this clarification was made.

Accusing the zone’s political leaders of ignoring the IPOB leader, the elders requested Otti to mobilize his colleagues to speak with President Bola Tinubu about the issue.

If the Federal Government wants Nigerians to think it is genuinely combating terrorism and insurgency in the nation, Solomon Dalung, the former minister of sports, has urged it to make the names of terrorists’ sponsors public.

Despite several assurances and growing evidence that it claimed to have obtained, the Nigerian government has continually failed to identify or prosecute the country’s terrorist sponsors and funders, according to the legislator from Plateau State who made the request in a statement on Thursday.

Dalung said in the statement that the government has turned to havoc and half-truths rather than taking decisive action quickly.

Dalung quoted Yusuf Gagdi, the representative of the Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, as saying that the government’s unwillingness to identify and prosecute terror sponsors and Gagdi’s strong opposition to the idea of establishing a state police were both hypocritical and ridiculous.

Even in Gagdi’s own Plateau State constituency, he emphasized, attacks, kidnappings, murders, and relocation have occurred, and there has been little accountability.

Dalung disputed Gagdi’s assertion that state police under governors are unreliable, claiming that the security system under federal administration has not performed any better.

Dalung also recalled claims made against a number of public people for serving as terrorist sponsors and questioned why the DSS had not invited the fingered individuals to be questioned.

According to media reports, Senator Shehu Buba of Bauchi South has been suspected of assisting terrorists; however, Dalung stated that there is no evidence that the DSS invited him.

Additionally, he asserted that whereas former Kaduna State Governor Nasiru El-Rufai has accused National Security Advisor (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu of aiding bandits on multiple occasions, he has not been detained or charged.

Additionally, the former Minister said that Gen. Christopher Musa, the Chief of Defense Staff, had earlier pledged to make the names of funders public, but that pledge had not been kept.

Previous incidents, such as the alleged submission of Nigerian terrorist sponsors’ identities to the government by the United Arab Emirates, are still recent, but the accusations have not been made public or prosecuted.

Nigeria is getting close to a tipping point. Nigeria faces more instability, dislocation, and a decline in public faith in the government until identities are made public, prosecutions are started, and constitutional changes like A’s state and community policing are implemented, he underlined.

The federal government’s most recent proposal to begin oil drilling in Ogoniland has been met with considerable opposition from the Ogoni Voice Achievers Foundation (OVAF), a well-known advocacy organization in the Niger Delta. In order to address long-standing environmental and social injustices, such as the completion of a thorough cleanup of the area and the long-awaited exoneration of the late Ken Saro-Wiwa and other Ogoni activists who were executed in 1995, the group maintains that no exploration or drilling should start.

Gospel Barifii Gokana, the organization’s founder and chairman of the board of trustees, said in a statement that the government’s decision was “deeply flawed, unjust, and unacceptable.” The proposal, according to Gokana, disregards the terrible effects that decades of oil exploitation have already had on Ogoni communities, including the destruction of livelihoods and the extensive pollution of farms and rivers. He cautioned that continuing without making amends for these past wrongs might rekindle animosity, intensify social discontent, and perhaps spark new hostilities in the area.

According to reports, the federal administration has used the country’s pressing need for economic recovery and increased energy security as justification for its proposal to resume oil operations. The Ogoni people cannot continue to bear the cost of Nigeria’s revenue demands when their ecology and health are in ruins, according to OVAF, which vehemently disagrees with this justification. Gokana pointed out that justice for the communities who have suffered the most from oil exploitation must coexist with the nation’s true recovery.

The absence of serious consultation with the Ogoni people is one of the group’s main concerns. Gokana said that only a small number of government representatives had participated in “closed-door negotiations,” a practice that he claimed did not adhere to the international human rights law-recognized concept of “free, prior, and informed consent.” He maintained that “this selective engagement cannot be considered legitimate or representative.” Instead of symbolic meetings with carefully chosen people, the Ogoni people should have an inclusive, transparent, and open approach.

In addition to consultation, OVAF criticized the decision-making process’s “absence of transparency.” According to the statement, officials made important decisions from offices in Abuja without really understanding the severe wounds that years of neglect, pollution, and brutal repression had left on Ogoni villages. The group claims that disregarding the opinions of those who are directly impacted erodes confidence and runs the risk of intensifying the feeling of exclusion that has long stoked hostilities in the Niger Delta.

OVAF reaffirmed that its stance is against injustice rather than against development or national advancement. The organization underlined that finishing the cleanup of Ogoniland as advised by the UN, obtaining justice for previous victims, and making sure that any future plans are based on the full participation and agreement of the Ogoni people are the first steps towards a viable future.

“Decline, justice, and the right to a safe environment have always been at the heart of the Ogoni struggle,” Gokana said. “Any attempt to resume oil exploration in Ogoniland will remain illegitimate and unacceptable until those rights are respected.”

Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), has cautioned officers against becoming involved in civil cases or land disputes that don’t have obvious criminal components.
Egbetokun said in a statement on Thursday that Nigerian police officers will no longer act as enforcers for business interests.

Getting involved in such issues damages the force’s reputation and neutrality, he said.

According to him, the Nigerian Police Force is not and never will be used as an enforcer of commercial interests.

“Officers have no business escorting parties for land recovery business, interfering with civil claims without a proven criminal element, or disturbing legally permitted occupations.”

Any officer who was discovered to have gone beyond this point would be disciplined, he continued.

The newly implemented Criminal Database Systems, which Egbetokun referred to as the “nervous system of 21st century Nigerian policing,” were also the subject of a statewide training program for police officers.

Launched in Abuja, the initiative signifies a change from reactive policing to intelligence-led, proactive operations grounded in data analysis and global collaboration.

This training signifies the beginning of a new era for the NPF and goes beyond a simple exercise. There is no memory without data. There is no justice if remembrance is absent. However, criminals have nowhere to hide when there is data, Egbetokun continued.

The IGP admitted that fractured intelligence, dispersed data, and inadequate record-keeping had long been flaws in Nigerian law enforcement, frequently leading to stalled cases and eroded public confidence.

He promised that the days of “forgotten files” will be over thanks to the new technology.

“With the help of the Federal Government and our allies, we are creating a system that keeps track of every arrest, documents every case, and holds every officer accountable. No case will be lost in the misplaced files. He declared, “No conviction will vanish into silence.”

The database will improve local law enforcement and bring Nigeria into compliance with international policing norms, according to Egbetokun.

The Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) and the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) stopped the strike action on Thursday due to a number of labor-related issues.

Following a crucial intervention meeting convened by Minister of Power Chief Adebayo Adelabu to address ongoing labor problems at the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was struck on Thursday, September 25, 2025, which led to the suspension.

The Nigerian Independent System Operators (NISO), TCN management, and representatives from the Federal Ministry of Labor, the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), and the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) were all present at the Abuja meeting.

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Remember that earlier on Thursday, NUEE ordered its members at the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to cease services immediately after the unions’ deadline for TCN management to address a number of labor-related issues had passed.

The Ministry of Power, represented by the Director of Distribution Services and the Director of Planning, Research, and Statistics, stepped in to stop the unions’ picketing and start a conversation.

Key agreements were obtained following lengthy discussions: The unions agreed to evaluate the report of a committee by October 6-7, 2025, with the intention of evaluating its implementation beginning in October 2025.

“TCN and NISO will work together to create a thorough implementation plan and evaluate the financial effects of the committee’s recommendations.

The Minister and the unions will both be shown this strategy.

“To address any lingering concerns, the management and unions will meet again.

In order to facilitate the implementation of the findings, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) would expedite the evaluation of TCN and NISO’s prices. No worker will be punished for taking part in the most recent strike.

According to a portion of the communiqué our correspondent saw, “as a result of these commitments, the in-house unions agreed to suspend their industrial actions, allowing the resolutions to be put into effect and promising a more cooperative path forward in addressing labor issues within Nigeria’s power sector.”

According to the Ogun State Government, on October 7, 2025, commercial passenger flights will start operating at the recently built Gateway International Airport (GWI) on the Ilisan-Iperu Remo route.
Value Jet Airline has been authorized to run flights on the GWI-Abuja route every Tuesday and Thursday, according to a statement released on Friday by Kayode Akinmade, Special Adviser to Governor Dapo Abiodun on Information and Strategy.

The airline’s flight itinerary states that it would leave GWI at 8:30 am and reach Abuja at 9:45 am. At 4:00 pm, the return flight will depart from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport and arrive at GWI by 5:15 pm, according to Akinmade.

The airline announced that tickets would be on sale beginning September 25 via travel agencies, web sites, and Gateway International Airport ticket desks.

Akinmade continued by saying that the new airport would offer travelers in Ogun, Ibadan, Lagos, and Abuja additional options for air travel along with unrivaled amenities.

According to reports, Governor Dapo Abiodun had previously declared that the airport had received Aerodrome Operational Permits from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in August after extensive audits and inspections.

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The accreditation was the first time a newly built airport in Nigeria has been granted such permission under the existing regulatory requirements, according to Abiodun, who called it a “historic milestone not only for Ogun State but for Nigeria.”

The airport received an Aerodrome Reference Code of 3C and an Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Services (ARFFS) Category 6 rating from the NCAA, which also allegedly hailed it as a model for Nigeria’s future aviation infrastructure.

The governor revealed that a multinational logistics company had agreed to run two weekly cargo flights to the new facility from London.

Abiodun emphasized that the airport has also been chosen as a backup landing location for Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport, adding, “We would also have flights from here to Abuja and Port Harcourt as start-up.”

According to Abiodun, the facility has the potential to stimulate regional trade, investment, and tourism.

“The Gateway International Airport will raise the bar for air travel in Nigeria and serve as a proud symbol of Ogun State’s progress thanks to its world-class infrastructure, international connectivity, and strategic location,” the governor stated.

According to NCAA officials, the facility would now be used as “a benchmark for what an airport should be in Nigeria,” he continued.