The Harbingerngr News

President Bola Tinubu and Nyesom Wike. •Says he won’t be distracted by political naysayers •Anti-Tinubu coalition dead on arrival, says FCT minister President Bola Tinubu declared yesterday that though the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister, Nyesom Wike, was not yet a member of ruling All Progressives Congress APC, the party was open to receive him whenever he decides to defect. Tinubu, who stated this when he commissioned the Arterial Road N16 (Shehu Shagari Way) from Ring Road One (Nnamdi Azikiwe Way) to Arterial Road N20 (Wole Soyinka Road) and some other roads in Katampe District, noted that with Wike, APC would continue to be in a joyous mood, while the party’s rivals would continue to writhe in pains. He said:  “We have somebody in Nyesom Wike, he is not a member of my party, but yet the day he changes his mind and registers with the progressives, we will welcome him because we will enjoy him in singing ‘as e dey pain them, e dey sweet us”. On the project, the Pres...

*Democratic ideals not yet entrenched — ACF *Nigeria sliding into civilian dictatorship — Momodu AS Nigerians celebrate 32 years after annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election won by Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, mixed reactions yesterday greeted the status of democratic governance in the country. On June 6, 2018, former President, Muhammadu Buhari declared June 12 as the new date to mark Democracy Day in commemoration of Abiola’s election. The June 12 election was annulled by former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd). In 2019, Buhari assented to the Public Holiday Act Amendment Bill which made June 12 Democracy Day in Nigeria and a public holiday. However, the President Bola Tinubu-led administration has been in the eye of the storm over issues, such as worsening insecurity, harsh economic reforms, the use of the Cybercrime Act to intimidate and bully Nigerians and the decline in the country’s democracy. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Socia...

*Says June 12 watershed in Nigeria’s history *Urges parties to adopt option A4 for conventions, congresses FORMER Director-General of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Professor Tonnie Iredia, has criticised governors and other politicians defecting from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC,  ahead of the 2027 presidential election, likening them to herdsmen. Iredia made these statements, at the Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, during the Annual Lecture Series of the National Association of Political Correspondents (NAPOC), themed, The Legacy of Option A-4 and the June 12 election. He argued that herdsmen destroy crops and silence anyone who complains — a behaviour he compared to that of politicians, who decamp without accountability.  According to him, when governors abandon their parties and the people raise questions, they are often suppressed, just as herders attack farmers, who resist encroachment. Describing the June 12...

•As Ooni of Ife visits President in Lagos FOLLOWING a perceived frosty relationship between President Bola Tinubu and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, the president, yesterday, declared that his relationship with Sanwo-Olu remains cordial, adding that "it’s all over now. All is forgiven," Recall there have been reports of a cold war between Tinubu and Sanwo-Olu which had been awash in social media recently. In May, President Tinubu had snubbed  Sanwo-Olu during the inauguration of Phase 1 of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway in Lagos. In a video shared by the Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, Tinubu was seen entering the venue as dignitaries stood to welcome him. The President proceeded to shake hands with Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum; Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri; Cross River State Governor, Bassey Otu, and others — but appeared to bypass Sanwo-Olu, who was visibly waiting to greet him. The President received the governor, ...

*Says issuers not registered THE Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, has warned Nigerians against investing in Punisher Coin, also known as Spun. The commission said its investigations showed that Spun was a meme coin, adding that its promoters or issuers were not registered to operate in any capacity in the Nigerian capital market. The SEC, which noted that meme coins had no use case, value or projects backing them, said:  “The attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“The Commission”) has been drawn to several online publications advertising an unauthorized presale of Crypto coin termed ‘PUNISHER COIN’ aka ‘SPUN’,” the statement reads.  “The Commission hereby informs the public that the promoters or issuers of “PUNISHER COIN” aka “SPUN” are NOT REGISTERED to operate in any capacity in the Nigerian Capital Market, and also PUNISHER COIN ($PUN) is not approved by the Commission for issuance to the public. “Preliminary investigations revealed that PUNISHER COI...

By Adekunle Adekoya RECENTLY, the newswires were awash with reports that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede has relocated to Benue State, ostensibly in a show of force following endless killings by herdsmen militias in that state. Without fear of equivocation, one can say that Benue is the most embattled of all the states of the federation, given the frequency of attacks and scale of killings in that state. Plateau will be second on that gruesome list. Kaduna, under Nasir el-Rufai would have trumped both, given the bloodbath that took place in that state, but something happened; there is palpable relief as the orgy of killings there, particularly in Southern Kaduna, seems to have abated. What happened in Kaduna? Can we make it happen in Benue and Plateau? According to a 29 May, 2025 report by Amnesty International, no less than 10,217 people were killed in two years since the Tinubu administration came on board, with over 6,896 killed in Benue State alone, and at least 2...

THE Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has strongly condemned the continued killings in Benue State, accusing both the Federal and Benue State governments of failing in their primary responsibility to protect lives and ensure public safety. In a statement released on Friday 2025, and signed by Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, President of the CBCN and Archbishop of Owerri, the bishops expressed ‘heavy hearts and deep anguish’ over what they described as ‘utterly barbaric’ attacks on defenceless communities in Benue. “These cold-blooded attacks on defenceless communities where countless have been slaughtered, homes destroyed, and families left in anguish, are an affront to God, a stain on our shared humanity, and a terrifying reminder of the utter breakdown of security in our land,” the bishops said. The bishops criticized the failure of security agencies and political leaders to prevent the incessant bloodshed, warning that no amount of infrastructure development or regula...