The Harbingerngr News

*NAAT to FG: Your 30% salary increase offer provocative THE federal government has officially approved the long-awaited 40 per cent peculiar allowance for federal civil servants, following intense pressure and threats of industrial action by organised labour. This came as the National Association of Academic Technologists, NAAT, yesterday rejected the 30 per cent salary increment offer, describing it as provocative. The approval of the peculiar allowance for federal civil servants, Vanguard gathered, came after a marathon meeting on Tuesday personally presided over by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Esther Walson-Jack, in Abuja. A peculiar allowance is a special extra payment approved for federal civil servants to address unique job-related conditions or economic challenges not fully covered by their basic salary. It is called “peculiar” because it is meant to cater for the specific or peculiar nature of public service work and welfare needs. For federal civil ...

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has dismissed the furore over his visit to the All Progressives Congress APC national chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, on Tuesday, declaring that he does not practice “politics of enmity” and owed no one public account of his private associations. Wike, who spoke with journalists during an inspection of ongoing road construction in Karu, Apo-Karshi and Kubwa yesterday, dismissed the controversy as a misreading of a straightforward personal gesture between two former ministerial colleagues. He said:  “We were all colleagues before he left for the chairmanship of APC. So what I should do anytime I see him is to hide? Anytime he sees me, he should run away, so people will not say something.’’ The minister revealed that the visit was, in fact, a reciprocal one, as Yilwatda had made several unsuccessful attempts to see him in his office. Wike said since the APC chairman could not secure a formal appointment, he decided to cal...

THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, yesterday,  took over 4,173.5 kilograms of cannabis indica valued  at over N10.4 billion, intercepted through a joint operation involving the agency and the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, at the Tin Can seaport in Lagos. Speaking during the handover ceremony, Assistant Commander-General of Narcotics,  Archieabia Ogboba, disclosed that the traffickers adopted multiple shipping routes in an attempt to evade security checks and frustrate security agencies from tracking the consignment. According to her, “The criminals intended to distort and frustrate law enforcement from monitoring their deadly container by creating multiple layers of movement.  The container originated from Toronto by truck on March 28, 2026, and was further conveyed by rail to Montreal before it was loaded onboard vessel Jakarta Express Voyage from Montreal. “It arrived at Tanger Med Port on April 15, 2026, where it was discharged and reloaded onto vess...

* Orders seizure of his property, refund of N22bn project funds   A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, yesterday, sentenced a former Minister of Power, Mr. Saleh Mamman, to 75 years in prison for stealing public funds totalling about N33.8 billion. Trial judge, Justice James Omotosho, convicted and sentenced him on all the 12-count fraud and money laundering charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. Mamman was handed seven years each on 10 counts of the charge, three years and two years on counts four and five of the charge.  Justice Omotosho held that the sentence should run consecutively without option of fine except on count four, which he allowed the payment of N10 million fine.  The court ordered the forfeiture of various foreign currencies that were recovered from the convict, as well as four choice property in Abuja that were traced to him.  The court directed the convict to pay back to the national treasury the sum ...

A Federal High  Court sitting in Abuja, has ordered seizure of property and funds in several bank accounts that were linked to a former acting Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Anamekwe Nwabuoku, who was earlier convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison. Nwabuoku was found complicit in an N868.4 million fraud on March 23. The court convicted him on a nine-count money laundering charge that was filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.  Meanwhile, in the ruling, Justice James Omotosho granted an order for the convict’s property and funds to be forfeited to the government. Funds in the different accounts contained in Schedule 1 of documents the anti-graft agency attached to the forfeiture application, include N12,526,206.55 in Temeeo Synergy Concept Limited’s Zenith Bank account number: 1016901286; N4,102,570.25 in Turge Global Investment Limited’s Zenith Bank account; 1016901279 and N682,904.36 in Laptev Bridge Limited’s Zenith Ba...

The Anambra State Police Command has recovered the stolen Toyota Land Cruiser belonging to slain cleric, Bishop Chinedu James of End-Time Reconciliation Ministries, Asaba, Delta State, and arrested two suspects linked to his murder. The development followed a coordinated intelligence-led operation by operatives of the Intelligence Response and Rapid Response Unit, IRRT, led by Orede Matthew, after credible intelligence indicated that the stolen vehicle was being moved into Anambra State for sale. Bishop James was reportedly abducted and shot dead during an attack on May 12, 2026, in Delta State, after which the assailants fled with his Toyota Land Cruiser, prompting a multi-state investigation by security operatives. Confirming the development, the Anambra State Police Command said the operation was part of ongoing efforts to strengthen proactive policing and intelligence gathering in line with the directives of the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu. Culled from Vanguard