metro

Two more govs, 40 lawmakers set to dump PDP – Opposition group

Published

3 weeks ago

April 26, 2025

Two more govs, 40 lawmakers set to dump PDP – Opposition group

The Nigeria Lawmakers Opposition Coalition has revealed that 40 legislators and two additional governors are on the verge of defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), citing disillusionment with the party’s leadership and direction.

Spokesman of the coalition, Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, disclosed this during a press conference held on Friday in his hometown of Akokwa.

Ugochinyere expressed disappointment in the current state of the PDP, asserting that its founding fathers would be ashamed of what the once-proud party had become. He accused the current leadership of sabotaging the platform that brought them to prominence.

The coalition demanded the immediate sack of the party’s Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum; the PDP’s 2023 governorship candidate in Imo State, Senator Samuel Anyanwu; and the expulsion of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. They also called for the emergence of a substantive national chairman from the North Central zone to save the party from collapse.

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“For two years, the leaders of this party have failed to find a solution to its internal crisis because they are actively undermining the very platform that made them,” Ugochinyere stated.

He criticized Damagum’s statements invoking divine guidance, questioning his inaction during critical party decisions. “Where was God when you allowed the North Central to be sidelined in appointing an acting chairman? Where was God when you supported APC defectors in court? Or when party structures were handed to APC members? And yet you speak of faith in God?”

He also questioned the continued membership of Wike in the PDP despite his open collaboration with the APC-led federal government.

Ugochinyere further used the platform to draw attention to the severe erosion crisis ravaging his constituency, Ideato. He appreciated the federal government’s intervention in the N25 billion Umuchima erosion control project, commending both federal and state efforts.

“I thank the federal and state governments for their commitment, but in other parts of my constituency, especially the Umuechi-Urualla axis, the erosion is out of control. It’s threatening St. Jude’s Catholic Church, the king’s palace, and federal infrastructure. The situation is dire,” he warned.

He revealed that a previous World Bank erosion control project in the area worth N9 billion had been abandoned due to mismanagement by the former state administration, resulting in worsening conditions.

Two more govs, 40 lawmakers set to dump PDP – Opposition group

metro

Nigeria’s inflation rate drops again to 23.7%, says NBS report

Published

10 hours ago

May 16, 2025

Trends Admin

Nigeria’s inflation rate drops again to 23.7%, says NBS report

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported a decline in Nigeria’s inflation rate, which eased to 23.7 percent in April 2025, down from 24.23 percent recorded in March.

This was disclosed in the April Consumer Price Index (CPI) and inflation data released on Thursday.

According to the report, inflation dropped by 1.86 percent on a month-on-month basis.

The food inflation rate also showed a slowdown, standing at 21.26 percent year-on-year in April.

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“In April 2025, the headline inflation rate eased to 23.71 percent relative to the March 2025 headline inflation rate of 24.23 percent.

The MoM headline inflation rate in April 2025 was 1.86 percent. The food inflation rate was 21.26 percent (YoY),” NBS wrote on its X account on Thursday.

The CPI report comes just days before the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Monetary Policy Committee meeting scheduled for May 19 and 20, 2025.

Recall that the inflation rate had surged to 24.23 percent in March following the CPI rebase introduced in January. The CBN had paused interest rate hikes in February after inflation appeared to ease.

Nigeria’s inflation rate drops again to 23.7%, says NBS report

Education

UTME: Father of candidate who committed suicide over low score speaks

Published

11 hours ago

May 16, 2025

Trends Admin

Opesusi Timilehin

UTME: Father of candidate who committed suicide over low score speaks

A 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidate committed suicide on account of her low score.

The Lagos candidate, now identified as Faith Opesusi, was said to have scored 146 out of 400 points.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) released the results for its 2025 UTME on May 9.

An analysis revealed that more than 78 per cent of candidates scored less than 200 points out of the 400 maximum obtainable points.

The metrics, believed to have signalled mass failure, spurred protests from candidates who challenged the integrity of the exam.

Oluwafemi Opesusi, Faith’s father, said his distraught daughter took a liquid substance that led to her death after checking her result.

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In an interview with BBC, Oluwafemi said his 19-year-old daughter wanted to study Microbiology but the dream was cut short.

He said JAMB did not release the original result of his late daughter.

Oluwafemi said his daughter was devastated and disappointed after seeing her result.

“She had a high score in 2024 UTME. This year, she was given 146. The pain of it drove her to commit suicide,” he said.

The father said he would have tried to console his daughter if she had opened up about her trauma.

He added that the family was disappointed that her daughter had taken her own life.

On May 14, JAMB admitted that a technical error in Lagos and south-east states compromised UTME results across 157 centres.

A teary-eyed Ishaq Oloyede apologised to the affected candidates and Nigerians in a televised conference on May 14.

The JAMB registrar said the error, caused by one of its service providers, affected nearly 380,000 candidates.

These candidates, he added, will now be made to resit the examination between May 15 and May 19, 2025.

As of this reporting, JAMB has yet to directly address the Faith Opesusi case.

UTME: Father of candidate who committed suicide over low score speaks

metro

Shadow Govt: Nigerians mobilisiing 500 lawyers for me- Utomi

Published

11 hours ago

May 16, 2025

Trends Admin

Pat Utomi

Shadow Govt: Nigerians mobilisiing 500 lawyers for me- Utomi

Renowned political economist and former presidential candidate, Professor Pat Utomi, says a group of Nigerians is mobilising legal support in response to a lawsuit filed against him by the Department of State Services (DSS).

Utomi made the disclosure on Friday via a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“It’s energising (that) some want to put together 500 lawyers to defend me against the DSS,” he stated.

The DSS recently dragged Utomi to the Federal High Court in Abuja, accusing him of attempting to institute what he termed a “shadow government” in Nigeria. The security agency is urging the court to classify the action as unconstitutional.

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In court documents dated May 13 and filed by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Akinlolu Kehinde, the DSS argued that Utomi’s initiative was not only improper but posed a serious threat to national stability and the current democratic order.

Utomi, who contested the presidency in 2007 under the African Democratic Congress (ADC), is the sole defendant in the case.

Despite the legal action, he expressed gratitude for the messages of support he has received from around the country.

“I am heartened by messages of solidarity from across Nigeria on this shadowy business of chasing shadows of shadow cabinets. Reminds me of the Nigeria I used to know. I want to thank all,” he wrote.