The Harbingerngr News

By Olu Fasan BY the end of this year, or even earlier, the All Progressives Congress, APC, Nigeria’s ruling party, may control 30 or more of Nigeria’s 36 state governors. Currently, the party has 29 state governors in its fold. Of these 29, only 21 are APC governors by election, the others are APC governors by defection. The gale of defections has swept away eight of the 12 governors of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and deprived the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, of its only governor. The president, Bola Tinubu, is fully hands-on in his determination to lure and co-opt virtually all opposition governors into his party ahead of his re-election bid in 2027.  But does anyone, not least the president himself, care about the irreparable damage that the whirlwind of defections is inflicting on Nigeria’s party system and its electoral or representative democracy? Any representative democracy derives its legitimacy from the explicit consent of the governed, and, thus...

*Govs have powers to grant such amnesty, if... — AGF  *They can't grant amnesty offences under federal laws — Lawyers  lACF, CNG, CAN, MBF, Muslim clerics, others disagree, *Say amnesty'll compound insecurity in region NORTHERN  leaders have disagreed with the federal and state governments over amnesty being granted terrorists who have turned the region into a killing field. The leaders' angst is coming against the backdrop of plans by Katsina State governor, Dikko Radda, to grant amnesty to 70 terrorists, as part of an agreement reached between the state government and terrorists terrorising the state and other parts of the north. The anger of the northern leaders was accentuated by the position of Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, on the matter, as Special Adviser to the President (Communications and Publicity) in the AGF's office, Mr. Kamarudeen Ogundele, yesterday gave vent to governors' powers to grant such pardon. ''Governors have ...

GOVERNOR Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, yesterday, described the continuous stay of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chairmen and councillors at the Local Government Council Secretariats as illegal and undemocratic. The Chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria, ALGON, however, disagreed with Adeleke, urging him to desist from media blackmail and allow the court to determine the tenure issue. Governor Adeleke, in a state broadcast, declared that self tenure elongation, the APC officials granted themselves across the council in the State is against all known laws of the country, especially since the said council officials admitted to having tenure that expired on October 22, 2025. He said: “In several filings that have become public documents in our courts, including the Supreme Court, their lawyers and the Attorney-General of the Federation admitted that these APC chairmen and councillors have no claim to office beyond October 22, 2025.  “To further confirm that...

AN Inspector of Police identified as Victor Okus, has shot two of his colleagues, following an altercation in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Although the cause of the shooting is still sketchy, it was gathered that the policemen attached to 17 Police Mobile Force, PMF, were on special duty at Intels, Onne before the incident happened.  It was learned that the suspect, Okus, was quickly arrested and is currently in Police custody. The Police Public Relations Officer of the state Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, who confirmed the development described it as sad. Iringe-Koko noted that the incident happened on Sunday, adding that one of the officers died on the spot while the other was hospitalised. He said: “The Rivers State Police Command is deeply saddened to report a tragic and distressing incident that occurred on January 18, 2026, resulting in the loss of a dedicated Police Officer, Inspector Ibrahim Sani.  "The suspect, Inspector Okus, a colleague and fellow officer attached to 1...

TWO middle aged men died, weekend in Odukpani, near Calabar, Cross River State, following a knife fight where both inflicted severe knife cuts on each other. The knife fight took place in a community called  Akpap -Okoyong  in Odukpani Local Government Area of the state. An eye witness, Ettenma, who is a resident of the community gave the  names of the two men  as Edet and Effiong.   According to him,  the altercation between the two men began when Effiong went to Edet’s residence with a machete, fuming over the disappearance of a bunch of plantation from his farm and in the ensuing argument, inflicted Edet with  knife cuts prompting Edet to also pick up his machete, which was lying beside him to cut his assailant. He said: “Effiong went to his farm and observed that someone had cut his bunch of plantain and while complaining loudly, someone told him he saw Edet with a bunch of plantain coming from the farm's  direction.  "Effiong then w...

TRAGEDY was averted in Apapa, Lagos, after a team of policemen from Area Command, Apapa and officials of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, succeeded in chasing away some residents of the area and onlookers that gathered to scoop diesel from a fallen tanker at Liverpool area of Apapa.  The tanker fully loaded with diesel had fallen off the bridge at Liverpool, mid day, spilling its content on the road and blocking easy flow of traffic, which resulted in a gridlock that lasted for some hours.  The incident saw residents of the area and passersby rushing to the scene to scoop the inflammable contents without considering the associated risks. It was gathered that soon after the incident, a detachment of policemen and officials of LASTMA  arrived the scene and on seeing the large number of people scoping the inflammable content, descended on them and succeeded in chasing them away.   Confirming this in a statement via X, LASTMA said traffic has been d...