EVENING NEWS
THE HEADLINES
Fire Razes Sokoto NLC Secretariat
UNICROSS Students, Staff Member Die in Auto Crash
Lagos NLC, TUC Back Hamzat’s Gov’ship Bid
Group Seeks Transparency as Court Orders Ogun to Explain ARISE IIP Deal
Mexico Governor Resigns Amid U.S. Trafficking Allegations
CAF confirms dates for 2027 AFCON
THE DETAILS
The Nigeria Labour Congress secretariat in Sokoto State was gutted by fire in the early hours of Saturday, destroying property and records accumulated over three decades.
Secretary of the council, Hamisu Hussaini Hamisu, in a statement, said preliminary findings point to an electrical fault as the likely cause of the inferno.
“We suspect it was caused by an electrical fault. By the time the fire was noticed, it had already spread across the building,” he said.
He added that the blaze destroyed computers, printers, refrigerators, televisions, office furniture and vital records spanning decades.
Everything was burnt. We lost documents and equipment built over many years. Nothing could be salvaged,” Hamisu said
He added that the security guard on duty made efforts to contain the fire but was overwhelmed by its rapid spread.
The fire reportedly started around 3 am and engulfed the building before emergency responders eventually brought it under control.
The University of Cross River State has been thrown into mourning following a tragic road accident involving students and a staff member of the institution, resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries.
In an official statement signed by the University’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Onen Ebri Onen, the management said the accident involved 24 students and one staff member, most of whom were members of the Student Union Government (SUG) executive, returning from an official assignment in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
The incident occurred at Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State.
The university confirmed that three students and one staff member lost their lives in the accident.
The deceased were identified as Comrade Solomon Uya, Director of Sports of the SUG; Comrade Lucky Erim of the Department of Chemistry and President of the Faculty of Physical Sciences Students’ Association as well as President of Presidents; Comrade Favour Darlington of the Department of Educational Management; and Mr. Anthony Arikpo, the driver of the vehicle and a staff member of the institution.
Lagos State Deputy Governor Dr Obafemi Hamzat’s governorship ambition received a significant boost as the leadership of the State Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and its counterpart, the Trade Union Congress, TUC, expressed their support for his candidacy in the 2027 poll in Lagos.
This comes following earlier endorsements from various stakeholders, including President Bola Tinubu; the Governance Advisory Council, GAC, of the All Progressives Congress, APC; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, with another APC aspirant, Dr Olajide Adediran, popularly called Jandor, withdrawing from the race to support the consensus candidate; and former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s congratulatory message on his emergence as the party consensus candidate.
APC state chairman Cornelius Ojelabi, speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly Mudasiru Obasa, and other party chieftains had since endorsed his bid, while a couple of agencies such as “Waste Managers”, the Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria (AWAMN), declared their support for Hamzat.
Dr Ope Banwo the founder of Naija Lives Matter (NLM), has stated that Governor Dapo Abiodun cannot sign a 45-year contract with ARISE IIP using public resources and then tell the public to mind their business.
Banwo stated this following a landmark court judgement in which a Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta ordered the Ogun State Government to disclose the full details of its 45-year public -Public-Private partnership(PPP) agreement with ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (ARISE IIP).
Justice Abiodun Adeyemi ordered the Ogun State Government and its key ministries to release critical documents and information relating to the 45-year Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement between the Ogun State Government and ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (ARISE IIP) to Naija Lives Matter and Dr. Banwo.
FOREIGN NEWS
The governor of a Mexican state who was accused by the United States of ties to drug trafficking said on Friday he was temporarily stepping down to facilitate investigations.Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya and nine others were charged by the US Justice Department this week for working with the notorious Sinaloa cartel to distribute “massive quantities” of narcotics to the United States.
Rocha Moya, a member of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s left-leaning Morena party, has decried the allegations as “false and malicious.” “I inform the people of Sinaloa that today I submitted to the State Congress my request for a temporary leave from the position of governor,” he said in a YouTube video late Friday.
Rocha Moya, who is close to former leftist president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has been governor of the northwestern state of Sinaloa since 2021.Juan de Dios Gamez, the mayor of Sinaloa’s capital Culiacan who was among those named by the US Justice Department, also announced that he would step down.
Sheinbaum noted it was the first time that the United States had made narcotrafficking charges public against a sitting governor or other high-ranking official.The stunning charges add to already strained diplomatic relations with US President Donald Trump’s administration, following the recent death of two US agents — reportedly CIA personnel — in connection with a drug bust operation.
SPORT NEWS
The 2027 Africa Cup of Nations will be played between Jun 19 and July 17 the African Federation (CAF) announced on Saturday without revealing which of Uganda, Kenya or Tanzania would host the opener or the final.
The dates were approved by the FIFA Council in Vancouver, Canada, after fears the countries would fail to be ready were quelled with CAF president Patrice Motsepe who fought off a delay to 2028.
This edition of the AFCON, the first spread over three countries, will mark the return of the competition to East Africa for the first time since the 1976 edition in Ethiopia.
Fire Razes Sokoto NLC Secretariat
UNICROSS Students, Staff Member Die in Auto Crash
Lagos NLC, TUC Back Hamzat’s Gov’ship Bid
Group Seeks Transparency as Court Orders Ogun to Explain ARISE IIP Deal
Mexico Governor Resigns Amid U.S. Trafficking Allegations
CAF confirms dates for 2027 AFCON
THE DETAILS
The Nigeria Labour Congress secretariat in Sokoto State was gutted by fire in the early hours of Saturday, destroying property and records accumulated over three decades.
Secretary of the council, Hamisu Hussaini Hamisu, in a statement, said preliminary findings point to an electrical fault as the likely cause of the inferno.
“We suspect it was caused by an electrical fault. By the time the fire was noticed, it had already spread across the building,” he said.
He added that the blaze destroyed computers, printers, refrigerators, televisions, office furniture and vital records spanning decades.
Everything was burnt. We lost documents and equipment built over many years. Nothing could be salvaged,” Hamisu said
He added that the security guard on duty made efforts to contain the fire but was overwhelmed by its rapid spread.
The fire reportedly started around 3 am and engulfed the building before emergency responders eventually brought it under control.
The University of Cross River State has been thrown into mourning following a tragic road accident involving students and a staff member of the institution, resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries.
In an official statement signed by the University’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Onen Ebri Onen, the management said the accident involved 24 students and one staff member, most of whom were members of the Student Union Government (SUG) executive, returning from an official assignment in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
The incident occurred at Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State.
The university confirmed that three students and one staff member lost their lives in the accident.
The deceased were identified as Comrade Solomon Uya, Director of Sports of the SUG; Comrade Lucky Erim of the Department of Chemistry and President of the Faculty of Physical Sciences Students’ Association as well as President of Presidents; Comrade Favour Darlington of the Department of Educational Management; and Mr. Anthony Arikpo, the driver of the vehicle and a staff member of the institution.
Lagos State Deputy Governor Dr Obafemi Hamzat’s governorship ambition received a significant boost as the leadership of the State Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and its counterpart, the Trade Union Congress, TUC, expressed their support for his candidacy in the 2027 poll in Lagos.
This comes following earlier endorsements from various stakeholders, including President Bola Tinubu; the Governance Advisory Council, GAC, of the All Progressives Congress, APC; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, with another APC aspirant, Dr Olajide Adediran, popularly called Jandor, withdrawing from the race to support the consensus candidate; and former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s congratulatory message on his emergence as the party consensus candidate.
APC state chairman Cornelius Ojelabi, speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly Mudasiru Obasa, and other party chieftains had since endorsed his bid, while a couple of agencies such as “Waste Managers”, the Association of Waste Managers of Nigeria (AWAMN), declared their support for Hamzat.
Dr Ope Banwo the founder of Naija Lives Matter (NLM), has stated that Governor Dapo Abiodun cannot sign a 45-year contract with ARISE IIP using public resources and then tell the public to mind their business.
Banwo stated this following a landmark court judgement in which a Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta ordered the Ogun State Government to disclose the full details of its 45-year public -Public-Private partnership(PPP) agreement with ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (ARISE IIP).
Justice Abiodun Adeyemi ordered the Ogun State Government and its key ministries to release critical documents and information relating to the 45-year Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement between the Ogun State Government and ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (ARISE IIP) to Naija Lives Matter and Dr. Banwo.
FOREIGN NEWS
The governor of a Mexican state who was accused by the United States of ties to drug trafficking said on Friday he was temporarily stepping down to facilitate investigations.Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya and nine others were charged by the US Justice Department this week for working with the notorious Sinaloa cartel to distribute “massive quantities” of narcotics to the United States.
Rocha Moya, a member of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s left-leaning Morena party, has decried the allegations as “false and malicious.” “I inform the people of Sinaloa that today I submitted to the State Congress my request for a temporary leave from the position of governor,” he said in a YouTube video late Friday.
Rocha Moya, who is close to former leftist president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has been governor of the northwestern state of Sinaloa since 2021.Juan de Dios Gamez, the mayor of Sinaloa’s capital Culiacan who was among those named by the US Justice Department, also announced that he would step down.
Sheinbaum noted it was the first time that the United States had made narcotrafficking charges public against a sitting governor or other high-ranking official.The stunning charges add to already strained diplomatic relations with US President Donald Trump’s administration, following the recent death of two US agents — reportedly CIA personnel — in connection with a drug bust operation.
SPORT NEWS
The 2027 Africa Cup of Nations will be played between Jun 19 and July 17 the African Federation (CAF) announced on Saturday without revealing which of Uganda, Kenya or Tanzania would host the opener or the final.
The dates were approved by the FIFA Council in Vancouver, Canada, after fears the countries would fail to be ready were quelled with CAF president Patrice Motsepe who fought off a delay to 2028.
This edition of the AFCON, the first spread over three countries, will mark the return of the competition to East Africa for the first time since the 1976 edition in Ethiopia.