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Atiku Blasts Tinubu Over Failure To Enforce LG Autonomy

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Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has blamed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the governors’ compliance with the 2024 judgment of the Supreme Court, which affirmed the financial autonomy of Nigeria’s 774 local governments.

 

In the lead judgment of the apex court delivered by Emmanuel Agim, the seven-man panel ruled that it is illegal and unconstitutional for governors to receive and withhold funds allocated to local government areas (LGAs) in their states.

 

Tinubu, at the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held last Friday, threatened to invoke Executive Order to ensure compliance with the judgment of the Supreme Court.

 

Atiku, in a post on his X handle on Wednesday, however, claimed that Tinubu was abetting the governors for political gains.

 

Atiku asked Tinubu to instruct the Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to enforce the judgment immediately.

 

The former vice president further claimed that Tinubu’s failure to ensure compliance with the judgment of the apex court “is a calculated political move—using obedience to the law as a bargaining chip to force opposition governors into the APC and to keep governors within your party firmly under your control.”

 

His post read: ”Dear Bola Ahmed Tinubu, by July next year, your administration will have spent two full years deliberately ignoring a binding judgment of the Supreme Court directing the Federal Government to implement direct FAAC allocation to local governments.

 

“This is not a delay. It is defiance. Your refusal to act is a calculated political move—using obedience to the law as a bargaining chip to force opposition governors into the APC and to keep governors within your party firmly under your control. In doing so, you have reduced the Constitution to a tool of convenience and governance to partisan bargaining.

 

“Let us be clear: Supreme Court judgments are final, not optional. Persistently refusing to enforce one is a direct breach of the Constitution and a violation of the oath you swore to Nigerians.

 

“Local governments are the closest arm of government to the people. By withholding their financial autonomy (which ironically you’ve been trumpeting as a core cardinal policy), you are not weakening governors; you are crippling communities, stalling development, and deepening poverty at the grassroots. Roads remain broken, health centres abandoned, salaries unpaid—not by accident, but by choice.

 

“This situation does not require threats of Executive Orders or political drama. The solution is simple: instruct the Attorney-General of the Federation to enforce the judgment immediately. Anything short of this is a failure of leadership.

 

 

“Your continued inaction sends a clear message: that political control matters more than constitutional duty, that party dominance matters more than economic justice, and that regime survival outweighs the daily suffering of Nigerians already battered by harsh economic policies.

 

“Nigeria deserves leadership that obeys the law it swore to protect, not one that bends it for political gain.

 

“History will not forget this moment. Nigerians will not either.”

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How 2018 Federal Legal Advice Exonerated Saraki In Offa Robbery Case

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In light of the Kwara State Government’s fresh prosecution of Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki and his successor over the Offa robbery, fresh facts have emerged on why the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mr. E. U. (Etsu Umar) Mohammed gave the duo a clean bill of health.

The Federal Director of Public Prosecutions cleared former Senate President Bukola Saraki of involvement in the Offa bank robbery in 2018, citing no evidence of a connection.

It was gathered that the DPP reviewed a 16-page police report prepared and signed by Abba Kyari, a Deputy Commissioner of Police and then head of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IGP-IRT) at Force Headquarters, Abuja. The report detailed investigations into the April 5, 2018, multiple bank robbery attack in Offa, Kwara State.

The DPP in his first report dated June 22, 2018 and signed on behalf of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, prepared a five page legal advice in which he noted in paragraph 5 (f) that “for the Senate President (Saraki) and the Kwara State Governor (Ahmed), his office is unable to establish from the evidence in the interim report a nexus between the alleged offence and the suspects. Hence, it is our advice that further and thorough investigation in this regard be carried out”.

Following the submission of a second report by the police investigating team to his office on July 27, 2018, the DPP prepared a second legal advice, which was dated August 23, 2018. The three-page legal advice also has only three paragraphs.

In paragraph 3 (vi), he noted that “with regards to the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, since there is no departure from the earlier findings in the interim report, this office is still unable to establish any prima facie case against him for any offences of criminal conspiracy, armed robbery, and culpable homicide punishable with death”.

Both legal advices had recommended six people for prosecution. They are: Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Ibrahim, Salawudeen Azeez, Niyi Ogundiran, and Michael Adiukwu.

One of the suspects, Michael Adiukwu, later died in police custody, while the other five had since been tried at the High Court in Ilorin.

During the trial, the suspects revealed how they were coerced into incriminating Senator Bukola Saraki.

They mentioned several inducements dangled before them, including money and the promise of a visa to travel out of the country.

The suspects have since been convicted and their convictions confirmed by the Court of Appeal. The matter is now pending before the apex court, the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

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₦400m Ransom Demanded As Gunmen Abduct Another Kwara Ruler

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Terrorists have abducted a traditional ruler in Olayinka community, located in the Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, Oba Salman Olátúnjí Aweda and are demanding a ₦400 million ransom for his release.

The abduction occurred on April 18, 2026, when armed men, suspected to be militia herdsmen, invaded the community and took the monarch, his wife, and another resident into the forest.

According to JomogNews, residents who witnessed the incident said the terrorists, numbering over 10, invaded the monarch’s residence around Saturday midnight, forced the door open, and abducted him alongside another person in the house.

The assailants reportedly led both victims into the bush.

Chairman of Ifelodun Local Government Area, Mr Abdulrasheed Femi Yusuf, visited the community on Saturday on a sympathy visit and assured residents that efforts were underway to secure the monarch’s release.

“We are deeply concerned about this incident, and we are taking swift and decisive action in collaboration with security agencies,” he said.

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Living Faith Church Founder Declares Week Of Vengeance Against Insecurity Sponsors

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Bishop David Oyedepo, General Overseer of Living Faith Church Worldwide, has declared that bandits and their sponsors will face divine judgment and retribution within seven days.

Speaking on Sunday, April 19, 2026, during a service themed “Covenant Day of Vengeance” at the church’s headquarters in Ota, Ogun State, the cleric stated that those responsible for killings and kidnappings would face imminent consequences.

“I declare judgement on those who caused these tragedies and their supporters in the name of Jesus,” he said.

The cleric further asserted that divine retribution would occur within a short timeframe.

“Unless I am not sent, this will happen in the next seven days,” he added.

Oyedepo also expressed confidence that Nigerians would soon witness outcomes of what he described as divine intervention, noting that the coming days would bring “testimonies of vengeance.”

 

 

 

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