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Agba Jalingo: I have no hands in his travails, it is him versus FG- Cross Rivers Gov tells journalists.
Cross River governor, Ben Ayade, has finally spoken about the continuous detention of Agba Jalingo, a Nigerian journalist who is standing treason trial for criticising the governor.
Mr Jalingo, the publisher of CrossRiverWatch, was arrested on August 22 over a report alleging that Mr Ayade diverted N500 million belonging to the state.
“In court, it is Federal Government versus Agba Jalingo, not Cross River State,” Mr Ayade told reporters on Monday at the presidential villa, Abuja, where he went to meet President Muhammadu Buhari.
“He’s in court for treason, a state does not have power to try anyone for treason, it’s not me.”
Mr Ayade said the journalist’s arrest and trial is in connection with Omoyele Sowore’s #RevolutionNow protest.
“On his Facebook page, he sent pictures where he was being teargassed at the revolution march in Lagos. His own pictures, posted by himself and when Sowore was being arrested, he went back to his Facebook to post that the revolution has just started, ‘we will continue this battle until revolution works’. He admitted this in Court,” Mr Ayade said.
“You are seeing him as a journalist, but he’s not, he’s the chairman of Sowore’s party in Cross River State so he’s a politician. He has a primary calling, which is journalism.
“Once he started the campaign to overthrow the government of President Buhari, he ceased to be seen from the point of journalist because he has become the state chairman of a party.”
Governor Ayade, however, says he has been working for Mr Jalingo’s release from Calabar prison where he has been incarcerated.
“I am of the opinion that Agba should be released because I think he was just youthfully excited.
“If you ask Agba Jalingo today, I’m the one working with his lawyers for his freedom, I’m the one sustaining him and sending upkeeps,” he said.
PREMIUM TIMES contacted Mr Jalingo’s lawyer, Attah Ochinke who said, “I can confirm I have been in discussions with officials of the Cross River state government in that direction (Jalingo’s freedom).
Mr Ochinke said he would not comment on Mr Ayade’s claims that he has been sending “upkeeps” to the detained journalists. “It is not through me,” he said.
The governor spoke on his relationship with Mr Jalingo whom he said is his “brother”. He said the journalist betrayed him after he assisted him and his newspaper. He accused the journalist of serial acts of “blackmail”.
“Please don’t get it wrong, Agba Jalingo is not just from Cross River State, he’s not just from Obudu, where I also come from, he’s my brother.
“Please ask Agba Jalingo, that CrossRiverWatch, the first person to give him money to set up the office was myself. His official vehicle, it was me. I don’t have to list all of these, he knows that I have funded and supported him, but journalism stops where blackmail becomes part of your strategy.
“Today you need something, then Ayade is a good man and you start writing all the good things, but if I take my phone and show you our WhatsApp communication, you will call me a godly man. Today I need money to set up a computer school, tomorrow I need money to feed my birds, the other day I need to be INNOSON’s sole distributor in Cross River State, I do all that.
“But when I don’t get a thing right you go to the social media and write something as careless as Governor Ayade has taken N500 million to Russia. You impugned my father’s name, my character, my family name, for just a personal request that I’ve not met, out of many that I have met.
“Please for once, put yourselves in my shoes. All I simply did was to stay out of the issue,” the governor said.
“I have an intellectual background as a professor, I will stand with journalists at all times and I will never prosecute somebody.”

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Abandoned Roads: Lagos Assembly Sends Fresh Message

– invites works commissioner, contractors
– lawmakers to submit list of abandoned roads to govt
The Lagos State House of Assembly has called on the Government to urgently address the pain of residents in relation to some roads.
The lawmakers at a sitting presided over by Speaker Mojisola Lasbat Meranda particularly mentioned the abandoned Bola Ahmed Tinubu Road in Igbogbo-Baiyeku Local Council Development Area (LCDA) urging Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to direct the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure to ensure that HITECH Construction Company resumes work on it.
They also urged all relevant agencies to develop a concrete plan for completing the project while ensuring adequate security measures for residents in the affected community.
Contained in the House resolution was that the contractors should receive an upfront payment of 60 to 70 percent to facilitate the prompt completion of projects.
Rt. Hon. Meranda directed all the lawmakers to compile lists of abandoned roads in their constituencies for submission to the appropriate ministry for immediate action.
The resolution followed a ‘matter of urgent public importance’ raised by Hon. Aro Moshood, who decried the hardship faced by Ikorodu residents due to the abandoned road.
“This road has been left in a deplorable state since 2017. What was meant to bring relief to the people has now become a source of distress, posing serious security and socio-economic challenges,” Moshood said.
The lawmaker highlighted the alarming rate of criminal activities including kidnappings, accidents and sexual assaults, all linked to the poor condition of the road in the area.
Contributing to the debate, Hon. Abiodun Ogunleye stressed the strategic importance of the road to the state adding that its completion would significantly boost economic activities in the area.
On his part, Hon. Lukmon Sa’ad Olumoh criticized the prolonged delay in the completion of the road, noting that the House had approved funds for the project in the previous year.
“It is disappointing that a road construction project has been abandoned for over seven years. I was part of a committee that inspected ongoing road projects across the state last year and contractors cited the fluctuating exchange rate as a major challenge.
“This House should invite the contractor handling the project to clarify whether they received the funds approved by this Assembly,” Hon. Olumoh said.
Deputy Chief Whip of the House, Hon. Sanni Ganiyu Okanlawon, insisted on a decisive action by the government. He also called on the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure as well as contractors to explain why the project remains uncompleted.
“This issue of abandoned road projects should not be treated with levity. I urge this House to summon the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, alongside the contractors, to explain why these projects have stalled,” he stated.
Hon. Tobun Abiodun proposed enacting a law to mandate all administrations to complete projects initiated by their predecessors so as to prevent cases of uncompleted projects.
Speaking about the challenge, Deputy Majority Leader Adedamola Richard Kasunmu stressed that the issue extended beyond Ikorodu.
“This is not just an Ikorodu problem. It is happening across the state. We need to summon all relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure to provide explanations for these abandoned roads,” he said.
Following extensive deliberations, the Assembly unanimously resolved to summon the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure and the contractors to provide a detailed report on the status of abandoned road projects in Lagos State.
News
Blackout As National Grid Suffers Disturbance

Nigeria experienced another nationwide blackout on Wednesday following the collapse of the national grid, the second such incident this year.
The incident occurred around 11:30 am on Wednesday, making it the second time the national grid will be suffering setback this year.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has yet to disclose the cause.
The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) confirmed the incident, stating:
“We regret to inform you that a system disturbance occurred on the national grid at 11:34 a.m., causing power outages across our coverage areas. While gradual restoration has begun, we are working with stakeholders to fully stabilize supply.”
A popular Nigeria National Grid account on X also reported the collapse, noting that parts of the country were affected.
When contacted, TCN spokesperson Ndidi Mbah said she was in transit and would respond later.
This latest failure follows a similar collapse on January 11, 2025. In 2024, the national grid suffered at least 12 collapses, highlighting ongoing instability in Nigeria’s power sector.
News
IBEDC Restores Power Supply To UCH After 3 Months Of Darkness

The blackout at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, has now ended as the management of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company yesterday restored power to the teaching hospital.
The restoration of power to the hospital was confirmed to newsmen by the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Professor Jesse Abiodun Otegbayo.
Recall that the hospital had been thrown into darkness after the distribution company cut off their power following a huge debt running into millions of Naira.
The strained customer-vendor relationship prompted the Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu to pay a working visit to the hospital during which he brokered peace between the two managements. IBEDC then promised to restore power within 24–48 hours.
Initially, when Vanguard asked him if energy had been restored to the hospital, he answered in affirmative but added that a fault had been discovered outside the hospital which the IBEDC team were trying to fix.
Prof Otegbayo said in a terse message, “Yes, but they have reported fault outside the hospital which they are attending to“.
Some moments later, the CMD confirmed it that the power had been restored.
He said, “IBEDC power is now on in University College Hospital, Ibadan.”
Prior to the reconnection, the CMD explained that when the power was cut, the management tried to reduce the effects by solarizing some emergency areas in the hospital.
Professor Otegbayo said, “The management applied some temporary measures to cushion the effects of the power outage.
“We have installed solar inverters to major areas in the hospital such as Intensive Care Unit, Children’s Emergency Ward, Endoscopic Unit, Cardiac unit and others.
“All these wards have solar inverters to provide energy so that the wards and patients will not be in darkness. Our short term measures will continue to stabilize the emergency areas. Some of our underground cables have been there for more than 50 years. That’s not within the budget of the hospital.
But, the public doesn’t know what we are passing through.”
The hospital had dismissed a report that some patients brought in their generators as an alternative.
The management clarified further that anyone who came to the hospital at night would see that some departments had lights.
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