Politics
N165 billion: Gbajabiamila Launches Probe Of Aregbesola Over Stolen Prison Fund
Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, a staunch loyalist of presidential aspirant Bola Tinubu, has initiated a vast corruption probe of interior minister Rauf Aregbesola at the House of Representatives.
Mr Gbajabiamila presided over the plenary on Wednesday where it was decided that Mr Aregbesola and prisons chief Haliru Nababa should be probed for mismanaging up to N165 billion in funds earmarked for prisons development across the country.
The resolution followed a motion of urgent public importance by Ndudi Elumelu, the minority leader of the House on the floor of the House on Wednesday in Abuja. In his argument, Mr Elumelu criticised the welfare of the workforce.
“The House is disturbed that despite this Act and increase in budgetary allocations to the Nigerian Correctional Service to drive its renewed mandate, the tempo and quality of the Service have remained the same if not retrogressing,” Mr Elumelu said. “The House is worried that the working conditions of Staff and inmates’ welfare have deteriorated notwithstanding the over N165 billion budget allocations to the Service in the last two years.”
The legislators resolved to have its committee on Reformatory Institutions investigate the allegations and report to the House within 12 weeks for further legislative action.
The move comes as Messrs Aregbesola and Tinubu are slugging it out publicly over the power tussle in Osun state. On Monday, Mr Aregbesola was at a political rally where Mr Tinubu was severely derided, including being mocked over the viral video that many said amounted to public urination on his body.
Mr Aregbesola has been locked in a fierce political fray with his former chief of staff and successor, Gboyega Oyetola, accusing him and Mr Tinubu of conniving to destroy his legacy in Osun. Messrs Tinubu and Oyetola are believed to be of the same family, with Mr Oyetola often describing himself as a younger brother to Mr Tinubu.
Peoples Gazette has reached Mr Gbajabiamila’s office to find out whether or not the probe has connection to the ongoing rift between Messrs Tinubu and Aregbesola.
The Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, has initiated impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Deputy Ngozi Odu, issuing them a seven-day notice to respond to allegations of gross misconduct.
The Assembly cited eight specific allegations of gross misconduct as the basis for the move.
This is the third time Fubara and Odu would be facing impeachment proceedings from the Assembly since coming to office in 2023.
Attempts to impeach them in 2023 and 2025, amid political feuds between the Governor and his predecessor and erstwhile political god-father, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, had been halted by presidential intervention.
Here are the allegations below:
1. Reckless and unconstitutional expenditure of public funds
2. Unconstitutional misappropriation of public funds
3. Hindering the Rivers Assembly from performing its constitutional duties
4. Illegal appointments of persons without screening by the House of Assembly as provided by the Constitution
5. Seizure of salaries and funds meant for Assembly members
6. Seizure of salaries of the clerk of the Rivers House of Assembly, Emeka Amadi
7. Refusal to implement provisions of the Constitution on financial autonomy of the legislature and the judiciary
8. Withholding of funds meant for the running of the Rivers House of Assembly Service Commission and hindering its activities
Lilian Adebayo, the wife of the 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, has said that the party will unseat the ruling All Progressive Party at the 2027 election if Nigerians are true to themselves.
Mrs Adebayo made this assertion known on Wednesday during an interview with journalists after an event in Abuja.
According to her, the opposition party has overcome its crisis after the expulsion of its former chairman, Shehu Gabam and others.
She said Nigerians should vote the APC out in the 2027 general election due to the hardship the party has plunged citizens into.
“There is always a crisis in the party; the SPD has been able to handle its own. The problems in the party have been resolved.
“He has a great chance of winning the election if Nigerians are honest with themselves. If Nigerians think that the ones they consistently vote for would move the country forward, they live in denial,” she concerning the husband.
Recall that SDP recently expelled Gabam and other party executives.
The party’s state chairmen on Wednesday urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the police to investigate Gabam over alleged misappropriation.
In a significant political move, Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah officially defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.
Mbah announced his decision during a televised broadcast in Enugu after weeks of speculation.
He said, “Today, after a long reflection, we have made the decision to leave the Peoples Democratic Party and join the All Progressives Congress.”
Mbah explained that his decision to join the PDP was informed by the need to reshape Enugu and reorganise the politics of the state.
“Today, I stand before you to announce a break from the past and to share a decision that will shape the road ahead. This concerns our values, how we organize ourselves politically and how we secure the future of our project and our people.
“Leadership sometimes demands painful decisions in the service of higher principles and goals. And there comes a time, when everyone must make a bold choice to determine their destiny.”
Ahead of the governor’s defection, all members of his cabinet had on joined the ruling party.
Governor Mbah’s Senior Media Aide, Dan Nwomeh, confirmed the mass defection in a video posted on his social media handles on Monday. In the video, several government officials were seen openly declaring their allegiance to the APC, chanting praises for President Bola Tinubu and affirming their commitment to the new party.
“Enugu State Cabinet Members join the APC with full chest along with Governor PN Mbah,” Nwomeh stated.
The officials, including commissioners and top aides, could be heard in the video declaring, “We are now in APC; tomorrow is here; it is APC all the way; it is Jagaban all the way; from top to bottom.”
The collective defection marks a significant political shift in Enugu State, which has been a PDP stronghold since 1999.
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