Category: PM News

The management of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, has responded to a law firm that issued a pre-action notice against the university concerning alleged irregularities in its Post-UTME process and admission, PM News has gathered.

In a reply dated October 4, 2025, OAU’s Legal Unit pointed out that the letter from the lawyer, Kene Nnadi of F.K. Nnadi and Co., Enugu State, carried a 2024 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) seal.

This, the university noted, shows that the lawyer had not renewed his practicing license for 2025.

The university therefore asked him to prove that he is qualified to practice law for the current year, as required by professional regulations.

PM News reports that In a letter signed by the Director of Legal Services, Yinka Ayantola, OAU stated:

‘It is our observation that the seal you affixed to your letter is your 2024 seal.

As you know, you must pay your practicing fee for 2025 before you can act as a lawyer.

We therefore request that you confirm your right to practice for this year as required by the relevant regulations.’

Earlier, the law firm had sued OAU and the University of Lagos (UNILAG) over alleged issues in their Post-UTME exercise.

Veteran Nigerian Scrabble player Chinedu Okwelogu, fondly known in Scrabble circles as Chinedu Thorpe or Sidespin, is brimming with excitement at the prospect of representing Nigeria at the 2025 World English Scrabble Players Association Championship (WESPAC) in Ghana.

At 60, Okwelogu is defying age barriers and proving that Scrabble is indeed a lifelong sport.

While many of his contemporaries are settling into retirement and grandparenthood, he is preparing to battle it out on the world stage against opponents young enough to be his grandchildren.

He is one of the 15 players selected by the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), to represent the country at the biannual competition holding in Accra, the Ghanaian capital next month.

For Okwelogu, the thrill of competing among the best minds in global Scrabble is not just about personal glory-it is a testament to the longevity and employability that the game offers.

Having first picked up Scrabble tiles in 1973 before a decade-long detour into table tennis, Okwelogu turned professional in 1983.

His love for the game eventually helped him achieve academic success, earning his O-Levels in 1986 after several unsuccessful attempts.

Sidespin’s passion for Scrabble also opened professional doors, leading to his employment within the Scrabble community in Kano State.

Now set to retire from the Federal Civil Service on November 7, Okwelogu remains fully active in the sport as a Tournament Scrabble Consultant, illustrating what he calls the ‘uncommon reality’ of Scrabble as a lifelong profession.

‘Scrabble can employ a human being for life in multiple capacities,’ he said. ‘I’m fulfilled just by being an example of that truth.’

In both Nigerian and international Scrabble circles, it is not unusual to see players well into their 70s still competing-and winning prize money. Okwelogu takes pride in being part of that enduring tradition.

Looking ahead to WESPAC 2025, the veteran aims to break into the Top 10, determined to better his previous outing at the 2009 Championship in Malaysia, where he finished around 68th position.

Before heading to camp with the rest of his teammates, his preparations have been intense, focusing particularly on mastering two- to six-letter words, a key component of elite-level Scrabble success.

Team Nigeria will be camping in Lagos for about two weeks before leaving for Accra.

As Okwelogu counts down to Ghana, his journey stands as an inspiring reminder that passion and persistence can indeed make age just another word on the board.

By virtue of Nigeria’s leading role and state in the World, the country has been given 15 slots for players representation at the global event which runs from the 9th to the 17th of November 2025 in Accra.

As a country, Nigeria is currently ranked second in the World and that’s our lowest ranking in the last ten years.

After a series of National and Continental championships and Qualifiers the most revered and respected NSF Technical Committee has carefully selected 15 players who will represent Nigeria at the World Championship.

The list include, current African Champion, Oluwatimilehin Doko, former African Champion Rex Ogbakpa, PANASA President’s Cup winner Victor Godwin and Africa number two player George Ezinore as well as number three ranked player on the continent and highly rated in the World, Abdulmumin Jimoh.

The rest of Team Nigeria are very experienced serial winners at national and international competitions in the last five years.

TEAM NIGERIA SQUAD

? Oluwatimilehin Doko – Continental Champion

? John Aiyedun – All Africa Championship winner

? George Ezinore – Africa’s No 2 and NSF Green Jacket holder

? Victor Godwin – President Cup winner

? Rex Ogbakpa – Continental Champion

? Abdulmumin Jimoh – Exp

? Tega Okiemute

? Samuel Adebola

? Chinedu Thorpe

? Emmanuel Umujose – EEAST winner

? Larry Etuwa

? Ben Quickpen – 2024 NSF golden medallist

? Tuoyo Mayuku – The most decorated female of all time in Africa

? John Curtis Ebomah

? Peter Ebomah

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Oba Maduabuchi, has described the suit filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking to stop former President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting the 2027 presidential election, as ‘an abuse of court process.’

Maduabuchi made this assertion on Tuesday during an interview on Arise TV’s Morning Show.

‘An abuse of court process occurs when someone tries to relitigate an issue that has already been settled by a court of competent jurisdiction,’ he explained.

According to him, the question of Jonathan’s qualification or disqualification had already been adjudicated in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. ‘Nobody has taken that issue on appeal,’ he said. ‘Until that judgment is set aside, it remains the law.’

The senior lawyer stated that any party attempting to reopen that settled issue in another court of coordinate jurisdiction was merely ‘abusing the process of the court,’ describing such litigants as ‘busy bodies.’

Maduabuchi further explained that what governs any legal situation is the law in force ‘when the act in question was done.’ He queried whether Section 137(3) of the Constitution existed in 2010 when Jonathan took the oath of office.

He noted that the provision was only enacted in 2018. ‘When Goodluck Jonathan was taking the oath of office, there was no statutory limitation that could inhibit him from running for two constitutionally guaranteed terms,’ he said.

The SAN questioned whether Jonathan took any oath after the 2018 amendment, comparing attempts to apply the new law retroactively to punishing someone under a law that did not exist at the time of the act.

Illustrating his point, Maduabuchi recalled that judges’ retirement age was previously 65 before being raised to 70, asking whether a judge who retired before the amendment could return to the bench under the new law.

He stressed that ‘the law demands certainty,’ adding that ‘in 2010 and 2011, when Goodluck Jonathan took the oath of office, the prohibition in Section 137(3) was not in existence and therefore not binding on him.’

He concluded that no ‘pyrotechnic argument’ could give life to a law that did not exist at the time, referencing a decision of the Court of Appeal which affirmed that Jonathan had the right to contest and that retrospective laws could not be applied against him.

Reality TV star and media personality, Tacha Akide, has paid a visit to her former residence in Port Harcourt.

The former BBNaija housemate, who went on a tour in her former neighborhood was seen being emotional after visiting her former room.

Tacha showed her fans her former house and the small room she resided in, while taking a trip down memory lane.

She spoke about some of her experiences and struggles during her stay there, while taking pictures with residents and fans.

Veteran Nollywood actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, has opened up about how fellow filmmaker Ruth Kadiri inspired her to embrace YouTube filmmaking.

Speaking on the Nollywood on Radio podcast, Omotola recounted how Kadiri persistently encouraged her to join the growing community of Nigerian filmmakers leveraging YouTube to showcase their works.

According to Omotola, the conversation took place while she was on vacation in 2023.

‘I came on vacation in 2023, and Ruth called me. She said, ‘Mama, do you know what’s going on? There’s a whole revolution with YouTube.’ She showed me numbers and everything,’ Omotola said.

The award-winning actress noted that Kadiri described YouTube as a ‘phenomenal platform’ that allows creators to have total control over their content.

‘She told me, ‘You can do what you want on YouTube, but I think you should get in on this. You would do very well.’ She didn’t let me rest,’ she added.

Omotola revealed that after much persuasion, she decided to give it a try.

‘That girl gave me no peace of mind. So I called my producer and said, ‘Let’s just try something.’ We shot the first project in four days and used the fifth day for cleanup. I surprised myself. I was thankful to her for giving me the courage to try.’

The success of her debut project on YouTube eventually inspired her to produce Mother’s Love, a feature film that later premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

‘Mother’s Love came because I was under pressure. I just told my producer, ‘What if we did a feature film?’ and that was it. We started planning immediately and shot it in less than two weeks,’ she shared.

Omotola admitted that she initially felt nervous about her comeback to the screen.

‘It took long to release because I was scared people might laugh at me or say it wasn’t good enough,’ she said.

A City investment banker, Damilare Ajao, may be heading to jail after falsely claiming that his female manager sexually harassed him by commenting on his string vest.

Ajao, who worked with German finance giant Commerzbank in London, had alleged that his boss made flirtatious remarks about seeing his vest through his shirt and even tried to touch his Gucci belt buckle in the staff canteen.

But the claims, which formed the basis of his 2019 employment tribunal suit against the bank, were later dismissed by Judge Anthony Snelson, who ruled that Ajao’s story was ‘false and in large part made up’, calling it ‘pure invention.’

Now, Commerzbank has dragged the former banker back to court, accusing him of ‘wicked lies’ and seeking to have him jailed for contempt. If found guilty, Ajao could spend up to two years in prison.

According to the bank’s lawyers, Ajao’s fabricated allegations caused severe psychological distress to the female manager, identified only as Q, who has since developed a serious psychiatric illness.

‘What Mr Ajao has done is to manufacture a wholly bogus claim of sexual assault and harassment,’ the bank’s lawyer, Louis Browne KC, told the High Court. ‘He did that to obtain compensation, and those false allegations have had a very detrimental effect on Q’s health.’

But Ajao insists he did not lie. His defence lawyer, Sasha Wass KC, argued that he genuinely believed he was a victim of harassment, saying he merely ‘perceived’ the comments about his vest to be inappropriate.

‘She says it happened once and didn’t mean it sexually,’ Wass said. ‘He says it happened more than once and took it as a sexual comment. There’s room here for a grey area.’

The case continues, but for Ajao, what started as a workplace complaint over a string vest may now end with the loss of his freedom.

A group of market women in Benin metropolis on Tuesday lauded Oba Ewuare II, the Oba of Benin, for rejecting plan by the daughter of the president, Mrs Folasahde Tinubu-Ojo to install one Pastor (Mrs) Josephine Ibhaguezejele as Iyaloja-General, the market leader in Edo state.

Oba of Benin had during a recent visit of Mrs Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, the Iyaloja-General of Nigeria to his palace said the Benin culture did not recognise installation of Iyaloja-General in markets in the city.

The traders had turned down plan by Folashade-Ojo to install Pastor (Mrs) Josephine Ibhaguezejele as Edo market leader, prompting the Iyaloja-general to visit the Oba over the matter.

The market women hailed the Oba for explaining Edo market women leadership tradition to Mrs Folashade Tinubu-Ojo.

Madam Florence Ahunwan, who led the women to the palace, hailed the Oba for upholding the rich culture and tradition of the Benin Kingdom.

Ahunwan showered praises on Oba Ewuare for his truth and goodwill to Nigerians in defence of Edo heritage.

The market women sang praises of the Oba and thanked him for being a beacon of support to his subjects.

Responding on behalf of the palace, Chief Osaro Idah, the Obazelu of Benin, joined by other palace chiefs acknowledged the visit by the market women.

Idah assured the group that their goodwill message would be communicated to the Oba .

He cautioned the market women against violence while carrying out their trade at the various markets. (NAN)

The 17 passengers abducted by gunmen along Calabar waterway have regained their freedom after 12 days in captivity.

A top Naval officer who pleaded anonymity disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar on Monday.

The Naval officer said that the 17 victims were rescued from the creeks on Monday without payment of ransom.

He said that the victims were successfully rescued by the Nigerian Navy following an intelligence report.

According to him, the Navy swung into action and blocked the only entrance to the creek, thereby preventing the kidnappers from taking away their victims to another location.

‘The kidnappers who had run out of foodstuff by this time had no choice than to let go of their victims.

‘We were careful not to engage them in order not to jeopardize the safety of the victims.

‘As I speak, the victims are presently at the Naval Reference Hospital in Calabar, while we are after the kidnappers.’

The source assured that the Calabar water remained safe for movement of goods and services.

NAN recalls that the victims were traveling from Calabar to Oron in Akwa Ibom state when their ferry was hijacked and the passengers taken away by the gunmen.

It also recalls that some passengers, including the Akwa Ibom Police command spokesperson, DSP Timfon John, were with the 17 victims but were not abducted due to lack of space in the kidnappers’ boat.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has requested the National Assembly’s approval to obtain $2.3 billion in external loans to help finance Nigeria’s 2025 budget deficit, refinance maturing debts, and sustain ongoing fiscal reforms.

In a letter transmitted to the House of Representatives, the President explained that the proposed borrowing will be raised through Eurobonds, syndicated loans, bridge financing, or facilities from multilateral and bilateral partners.

The move, he said, is part of the federal government’s strategy to stabilise public finances, strengthen foreign reserves, and manage debt obligations efficiently.

Tinubu also sought approval to issue a $500 million sovereign Sukuk, marking another step in the government’s effort to deepen the domestic capital market and attract Islamic finance investors.

The President’s latest request falls within the external borrowing framework already approved by the Senate, which includes $1.84 billion in the 2025 Appropriation Act.

The administration hopes to use part of the new facility to refinance a $1.118 billion Eurobond maturing in November 2025, thereby avoiding repayment pressures that could destabilise the economy.

However, the proposed loan has sparked renewed debate over Nigeria’s rising external debt, currently exceeding $42 billion.

Economic analysts warn that increased borrowing could worsen the debt-service-to-revenue ratio, already among the highest in Africa.

Yet government officials maintain that the borrowing plan remains within sustainable limits and is vital to fund key infrastructure projects, stimulate growth, and protect essential public services amid dwindling revenue.

The request comes as the Tinubu administration intensifies efforts to restore investor confidence through reforms in energy pricing, exchange-rate unification, and fiscal discipline.

The National Assembly is expected to deliberate on the borrowing plan in the coming weeks, a decision that could shape Nigeria’s fiscal direction in 2025.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said its operatives has destroyed 66,078.57kg of skunk cannabis and arrested 54 suspected drug traffickers during its September operations in Edo.

Commander of Narcotics in the state, Mitchell Ofoyeju, disclosed this on Tuesday in Benin while presenting the command’s operational scorecard

According to him, the successes are achieved through intelligence-led operations across multiple local government areas of the state.

‘Our intelligence-led operations led to the arrest of 54 suspected drug traffickers, comprising 43 males and 11 females.

‘In a proactive measure to curb cannabis cultivation, six illicit plantations spanning over 26.43 hectares were destroyed,’ Ofoyeju said.

These plantations, he said, were located in Ugbogui Forest (Ovia South West), Ataroro Forest (Owan West), Urohi Forest (Esan West) and Ogu Forest (Iguiben LGA), with an estimated yield of over 66,000kg of skunk cannabis.

The NDLEA boss said the command also intercepted 1,506.57kg of assorted narcotics, including 1,502.26kg of cannabis sativa, 3.96kg of tramadol, and 0.087kg of Nitrazepam.

Others, he said, were 0.044kg of Swinol, 0.116kg of Danabol (Molly), 0.018kg of Methamphetamine, 0.028kg of cocaine, and 0.014 kilograms of heroin.

In one major operation, the commander said the operatives intercepted a truck along Wareke-Auchi Road conveying 82 bags of cannabis concealed in bags of charcoal, weighing 1,025 kilograms.

He said two suspects (names withheld) both from Zamfara were arrested in connection with the seizure.

He added that another raid on a notorious drug flashpoint along Wire Road, Benin City, led to the arrest of a 43-year-old man from Uhumwonde Local Government, allegedly found with 98 pinches of crack cocaine weighing 13g concealed in a wooden stool.

Ofoyeju noted that despite an annual court vacation that slowed prosecutions, the command secured one conviction, filed four new cases, and had 118 drug-related cases ongoing at the Federal High Court, Benin City.

He said the command also provided counselling and rehabilitation support to 32 individuals, including 10 clients undergoing therapy.

He said the command was had intensified anti-drug sensitisation campaigns in markets, schools, and correctional facilities across the state.

‘We are determined to dismantle drug trafficking networks operating in Edo State.

‘The command remains committed to safeguarding our communities, reducing drug demand, and ensuring that offenders face justice,’ he stated.

Ofoyeju, however, identified logistical challenges such as poor terrain and lack of operational vehicles in forested areas, which often impede the agency’s efforts to combat illicit cultivation.

He reaffirmed NDLEA’s resolve to sustain momentum in the ongoing war against narcotics, describing the latest achievements as ‘a critical step toward reclaiming the safety and health of Edo citizens.’