News
Economic crisis deepens as Tinubu runs 52 days without ministers
The Fifth Amendment to the Nigerian Constitution mandates the president and governors to submit the names of their ministerial and commissioner-nominees within 60 days of taking the oath of office for confirmation by the Senate or state House of Assembly.
The cabinet gives a glimpse into the President’s governance style, policy direction, and the team executing the administration’s agenda.
The Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly matters (House of Representatives), Olakunle Olanrewaju, confirmed on Wednesday that the President has yet to forward his ministerial nominees to the National Assembly.
But commenting on the situation, the President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Francis Meshioye, said the delay in the announcement of the president’s cabinet was becoming a cause for concern.
According to him, with regard to appointing cabinet members that will oversee the organised private sector, it is crucial to make sure that the president places ‘a round peg in a round hole.’
Meshioye said, “Naturally, when you have an expectation and the expectation is yet to be fulfilled, you will be worried. So, definitely, everyone, including the business community, worries about this. But we have confidence in the new administration. He needs to be very diligent in appointing whoever will hold any office. We implore him to do this and we believe that he is going to do this within the timeline.”
On his part, the National President of the Association of Small Business Owners, Femi Egbesola said it was worrying for the president’s cabinet to remain a mystery only few days to the time allotted by the constitution for cabinet appointments to be made.
“It is the talk of the town; everybody is talking about it. Not just the business community alone. We heard the news that it would be announced today (Wednesday), but up till now we have not heard anything. Quite a number of businesses base their planning on the body language of businesses. Now that it has not been announced, it is actually holding businesses to a standstill because businesses cannot plan,’’ he lamented.
Also speaking, the Deputy-President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gabriel Idahosa said that it was important for the president to appoint cabinet members with not just the right credential and expertise, but the character needed to make decisions that will echo positively on organised business.
He said, “Everybody expects that we will have appointees with good character, that they do not have a well-known record of bad conduct. That is the general expectation.”
But the Director General of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, Mr Wale Oyerinde, observed that the delay in appointing ministers may be slowing business activities, the president is still within the constitutionally guaranteed time.
He said that for the organised business, the president should have hit the ground running after the election.
Oyerinde stated, “The law says 60 days, he has not broken any law, we will be pre-empting. While the inability to immediately appoint a minister may have caused the delay in actions, the reality is that he is still within the constitutionally guaranteed time. The organised business expectations were that the president should have hit the ground running since the elections were over, he should have known those that will work.
“He should have been operating within the context of putting round pegs in round holes. But having said that, we will also be jumping the gun if we now start making issues when the constitutionally guaranteed time of making appointments has not passed. Yes, it can slow down activities within the context of getting the proper person to engage in policies but in our own understanding he is still within the constitutionally guaranteed time.”
A facilitator with the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Dr Ikenna Nwaosu, argued that the president is compounding the many problems he inherited from his predecessor.
He noted, “The president has been preparing for the presidency even before the election; he has been looking for it so why is his list of ministers pending? Secondly, he knows that he is inheriting a lot of problems and the solution to all those problems should be at his fingerprints. And even as he has taken over power, he is adding more issues like the foreign exchange, fuel subsidy, and tuition fee for students and all that.”
He maintained that the president should have been able to appoint his cabinet members within the first 30 days after his inauguration.
‘’Because he has been preparing for this presidency for years, so I will agree with any business owner that is saying that the president not being able to come up with his ministers by this time is negatively affecting their businesses and socio-economic development,’’ he declared.
Meanwhile, no fewer than 10 new confidential secretaries have been deployed by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation ahead of the resumption of the new ministers.
The memo was addressed to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; all permanent secretaries, the Department of State Services and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
It was also copied to the service chiefs and the Inspector- General of Police, the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria and the chairmen of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission; Economic and Financial Crimes Commission; Code of Conduct Bureau; Police Service Commission and Federal Character Commission.
Others who were also notified included the chairmen of Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission; Independent National Electoral Commission, National Population Commission; Federal Inland Revenue Service, Clerk of the National Assembly, among others.
The memo read partly, “I am directed to convey the approval of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation for the deployment of the following Confidential Secretaries SGL. 12- 14 in the Federal Civil Service. Please note that this posting takes immediate effect.
“All Directors of Human Resources Management/Administration are required to submit details of compliance to this posting instruction to the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation no later than July 24, 2023.
“All officers concerned are reminded that failure to adhere to this posting instruction contravenes the provisions of the Public Service Rules 030301 (b) and will be met with appropriate The PUNCH reports that the Public Service Rules 030301(b) states that refusal to proceed on transfer or to accept posting is misconduct which is inimical to the image of the service and which can be investigated and proved. It can also lead to termination and retirement.”
Some of those appointed include Onalo James to serve at the Office of the minister for transportation, Obi Ngozi, office of the minister of aviation, Ekwot Theresa, office of the minister of information and culture, Gukas Jumai, office of the minister of special duties among others.
The Anambra state police command has arrested a suspect for allegedly impersonating, False Representation of Mr Linus Williams “BLord” and defrauding members of the public.
According to the charges of false representation using the name of Blood to defraud the public the 22 year old young man Hillary Tochukwu Enujekwu from Okpanam in Delta state is accused of committing the crime punishable under Section 386 of the Criminal Code , Cap 36 , Vol 2 Revised Law of Anambra state of Nigeria 1991.
However the Magistrate Court did not sit on this Friday and the accused was returned to the State Criminal Investigation Department Amawbia.
Speaking to reporters Mr Linus William aka Blord confirmed that the accused had been using a fake TikTok handle claiming that he is Blord adding that he is not active on TikTok and is yet to verify his TikTok.
“I am at the Magistrate Court Amawbia in respect of a matter that was brought to the Court over a young man that has been using my videos and my pictures to defraud the public for the past three years”
“He has been n notorious on TikTok and he has about 11 million likes on TikTok and about 870,000 or there about followers on TikTok”
“Meanwhile my original TikTok has about 150,000 followers with 1,5million likes but this young man has about 11.6 million and that is ten times of my profile and people take his profile as the real Blord profile and they have been transacting with him and defrauded more than 100 people millions of naira and dollars ”
“Many of them came to the station to write their statements and the young man has confessed and agreed to the crime and the family has been begging for us to know how to settle the matter”.
“We came to Court today but the Court did not sit and they are taking the boy back to Police custody State Criminal Investigation Department where he is being remanded”
William recalled that when the matter came up, he reported to the Police who took action and arrested boy and invited him over to come and see the suspect .
“We went through his phone and all the videos on his phone are my videos, the number that he has been using to defraud them and once you call that number his number will ring and he used it to defraud people running into millions, 1,000 dollars , 3,000 dollar’s 5 million at different scenario and people believe that I was the one that defrauded them”.
“When he defraud the victims he will tell them to come to the office and we have nine different branches of my office and when they come we tell them that it not Blord profile” he said.
William thanked the Police for a job well done addin that he is innocent of those allegations against him.
William further explained that his outfit is verifiable on Instagram adding that his TikTok is yet to be activated .
“The Blord is on Instagram and I have a verify Instagram and verified Facebook but am not on TikTok and I am working towards verifying myself on TikTok”
“For you to get a legitimate Blord, make sure that the profile is verified and and if you feel doubted, we have office in nine major Cities and one should be close to you and you can come to the office and do your transactions ” he said.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer SP Tochukwu Ikenga said that the matter is before the Court of law hence cannot comment on it .
News
2027: Mandate Group Endorses ex Abia Speaker Chinedum Orji for Ikwuano/Umuahia Fed Constituency Seat
The Ikuku 2027 Mandate Group has endorsed former Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji, as its preferred candidate to represent Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives in 2027.
In a statement titled, “Representation with Experience, Legislation with Results: The Ikwuano/Umuahia Compact for 2027,” the group said its position followed what it described as a careful assessment of aspirants seeking to represent the constituency.
According to the group, Orji stood out on the basis of his experience, capacity, character and record of public service, having previously served as Leader and Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly.
The group said its support for the former Speaker was based on what it described as a desire to take tested legislative experience to the National Assembly.
“We are presenting Rt. Hon. Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji to represent our Federal Constituency in 2027. This is not a campaign of noise. It is a campaign of structure, law, and delivery,” the group stated.
It said Orji’s experience in presiding over legislative debates, passing budgets and exercising oversight over the executive would equip him to effectively represent the constituency in Abuja.
The group outlined security, economic relief, youth employment, education, healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture and transparency as key areas of its proposed legislative agenda for the constituency.
On security, it said Orji would support legislation aimed at strengthening community policing, local security architecture and federal intervention against kidnapping and violent crime across Ikwuano, Umuahia North and Umuahia South.
The group also said he would focus on legislation and oversight aimed at reducing the cost of doing business, improving access to credit for small and medium-scale enterprises and protecting households through scrutiny of policies affecting fuel and electricity costs.
On youth development, the group said the proposed agenda would seek to connect young people in the constituency to federal employment, entrepreneurship and skills-development programmes, including initiatives of the National Directorate of Employment and the Bank of Industry.
It added that education and healthcare would also feature prominently, with plans to advocate increased intervention in schools, expand access to scholarships and bursaries, and pursue improvements in primary healthcare and federal health infrastructure across the three local government areas.
The Ikuku 2027 Mandate Group further said Orji would use legislative engagement, budgetary advocacy and oversight to pursue federal road, electrification and water projects in the constituency.
“A legislator does not build a road, but he fights for it in the budget and monitors it,” the group stated, adding that quarterly reports on approved projects and their implementation would form part of its proposed accountability framework.
On agriculture, the group said the agenda would focus on policies supporting agro-processing, storage facilities, access to agricultural grants and improved market access for farmers, particularly in Ikwuano.
It also promised an open and accessible representation model, including annual scorecards, town-hall meetings across the three LGAs and a public tracker for constituency interventions.
The group said women, persons with disabilities and other underrepresented groups would also feature in its inclusion agenda, alongside support for women-owned businesses and girls’ education.
It further argued that the constituency deserved stronger federal presence, including more intervention programmes, training centres, agencies and infrastructure projects.
According to the group, its 2027 campaign would be built around ward-level engagement, policy town halls and what it described as data-driven voter outreach.
“Sloganeering gets attention. Campaigning gets results. And with Chinedum, you get both,” it stated.
The group described the proposed agenda as a “compact” with the people of Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South, built around legislation, effective oversight, accessible representation and transparency.
“This is our contract with you: Legislation that protects. Oversight that delivers. Representation that is accessible. In 2027, vote for experience that has led, and leadership that will legislate,” the group stated.
It adopted the campaign message: “Ikwuano/Umuahia First. Experience That Works.”
The statement reads in full
REPRESENTATION WITH EXPERIENCE, LEGISLATION WITH RESULTS: The Ikwuano/Umuahia Compact for 2027″
BY IKUKU 2027 MANDATE GROUP
1. THE VERDICT AFTER SCRUTINY
After a careful examination and scrutiny of all those aspiring to represent Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South Federal Constituency, and after weighing verifiable empirical indices of service, capacity, and character, one name stands clearly above the rest: Rt Hon Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji. He stands out as the most suitable because he has distinguished himself as a man of independent mind, tested experience, natural charisma, loyal followership, and above all, a human heart that beats for the people. In a race where many talk, he has a record to show.
2. THE MANDATE
We are presenting Rt Hon Chinedum Enyinnaya Orji to represent our Federal Constituency in 2027. This is not a campaign of noise. It is a campaign of structure, law, and delivery. Having served as Leader and Speaker at the subnational level, he understands how to turn the voice of the people into laws that actually work.
3. WHY EXPERIENCE MATTERS
As former Leader and Speaker, Chinedum presided over debates, passed budgets, and held the executive to account. That is the experience we are taking to Abuja: the skill to draft bills, build consensus across party lines, and ensure our constituency is not just present, but influential in the National Assembly.
4. SECURITY OF LIVES AND PROPERTY
For us, the first duty is safety. Chinedum will sponsor and support legislation to strengthen community policing, support local security architecture, and increase federal intervention against kidnapping and violent crime across Ikwuano and the two Umuahia LGAs. A safe constituency is a productive constituency.
5. THE ECONOMY AND COST OF LIVING
Food, transport, and power costs are biting our people. His focus will be on laws that reduce the cost of doing business for our traders in Umuahia markets, support SMEs with access to credit, and protect households through oversight of fuel subsidy reforms and electricity tariff structures. We are legislating relief, not just talking about it.
6. JOBS, YOUTH AND SKILLS
Youth unemployment is not a slogan to Chinedum. It is a policy problem. He will push for a Federal Constituency Skills and Entrepreneurship Act to link our young people to NDE, BOI, and digital job programs. Internships, vocational centers, and startup support will be tracked quarterly and reported back to the people.
7. EDUCATION AS A FOUNDATION
From primary schools in Ikwuano to tertiary access in Umuahia, education must work. He will advocate for increased UBEC and TETFund releases to our schools, sponsor bills for STEM (Science , Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and vocational education, and establish a transparent constituency scholarship and bursary scheme tied to merit and need.
8. HEALTHCARE THAT REACHES YOU
Our PHCs must have drugs, staff, and power. Chinedum will use legislative oversight to ensure NHIA ( National Health Insurance Authority) enrollment drives reach our wards, push for constituency health bills, and lobby for federal health infrastructure upgrades in our three LGAs. No mother should die giving life.
9. POWER AND INFRASTRUCTURE THROUGH LAW
A legislator does not build a road, but he fights for it in the budget and monitors it. Chinedum will lobby for the inclusion of key Ikwuano-Umuahia roads, rural electrification, and water projects in federal budgets, and he will publish quarterly reports on what was approved and what was delivered. Oversight is his promise.
10. AGRICULTURE AND MARKET ACCESS
Ikwuano’s farmland and Umuahia’s markets are economic engines. He will support legislation for agro-processing, storage facilities, and easier access to federal agricultural grants. We will connect farmers to markets and reduce post-harvest losses through policy, not promises.
11. GOOD GOVERNANCE AND TRANSPARENCY
Having been Speaker, Chinedum knows how budgets are padded and projects disappear. He will run an open office: annual scorecards, town halls in all three LGAs, and a public tracker for all constituency interventions. The people must see where the money goes.
12. WOMEN AND INCLUSION
Legislation must reflect everyone. He will champion bills that support women in business, protect girls’ education, and ensure 35% inclusion of women and PWDs in constituency appointments and programs. Representation without inclusion is incomplete.
13. FEDERAL PRESENCE FOR OUR CONSTITUENCY
We deserve more federal projects and institutions. Chinedum will use his legislative relationships to attract agencies, training centers, and intervention programs to Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South. Our size and capital city status must translate to federal advantage.
14. CAMPAIGNS, NOT JUST SLOGANS
Let’s be clear: electioneering is more than chants. This campaign will be built on ward-to-ward engagement, policy town halls, and data-driven voter outreach. Yes, we will have a message you can remember. But behind every slogan will be a bill number, a budget line, and a plan. Sloganeering gets attention. Campaigning gets results. And with Chinedum, you get both.
15. THE COMPACT
This is our contract with you: Legislation that protects. Oversight that delivers. Representation that is accessible. In 2027, vote for experience that has led, and leadership that will legislate.
“Ikwuano/Umuahia First. Experience That Works.”
Hon. Alex Mascot Ikwechegh, Member representing Aba North/Aba South Federal Constituency, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for what he described as “responsive leadership” following the Federal Government’s decision to accelerate implementation of the 2026 budget.
Speaking on Magic FM, Aba, on Thursday, Ikwechegh said the renewed push to release funds to Ministries, Departments and Agencies demonstrated that the President listens to the legislature.
“Mr. President has shown he is a listening President who has the interest of the nation at heart. He did not see our concerns as opposition. He saw them as part of our job to ensure Nigerians get value for money,” the lawmaker stated.
Ikwechegh had earlier drawn national attention after raising a motion on the floor of the House over delays in budget releases despite appropriations passed by the National Assembly. The intervention sparked debate among lawmakers over the slow pace of capital project execution.
The Federal Government has since announced measures to fast-track releases under the 2026 Appropriation Act, which provides for an aggregate expenditure of ₦68.32 trillion, with ₦32.2 trillion earmarked for capital expenditure.
According to Ikwechegh, legislative oversight is most effective when it produces concrete results.
“Our job is to speak firmly when policies are not working, and to also acknowledge when government takes corrective action. That is how the executive and legislature serve the people together,” he said.
The Abia lawmaker stressed that the real test of the budget lies in delivery — completed roads, functional hospitals, jobs for youths, and improved services across constituencies.
He expressed optimism that with improved coordination between the National Assembly and the Presidency, Nigerians will increasingly begin to feel the impact of the 2026 budget as implementation gathers momentum.
Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan was the front-runner after last month’s first informal vote, in which the council’s 15 members, including the five with veto power, pass judgment in secret on the candidates.
Argentina’s Rafael Grossi — the current head of the UN nuclear watchdog — is also a candidate along with Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Ecuador’s Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Guyana’s Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Uganda’s Olara Otunnu and Senegal’s Macky Sall.
After the first round concluded, Ecuador’s Ivonne A-Baki threw her hat into the race to succeed Antonio Guterres, who will complete his second five-year term on December 31, 2026.
“While the first straw poll set the scene for the Secretary-General race, the second may give us some direction about where it is headed,” said the International Crisis Group’s Daniel Forti.
“Diplomats expect fluctuations in the vote distribution compared to the July poll. Most will be watching to see whether the early front-runners consolidate their support or slip in the standings.
“It is unlikely that any candidate will emerge from (Friday’s) poll with a decisive lead.”
Forti said the veto-wielding nations — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — might wait until later to express their preferences, while new contenders could emerge.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said Thursday he could not rule out that possibility.
“If, for example — I’m speculating now — if there is a deadlock on any of the candidates we are seeing today, if nobody… flies, then I think that we may see other candidates as well,” Nebenzia said.
Even if a candidate earns the required nine votes from the 15 available in the Security Council, they must also avoid a veto by the five major powers, which are deeply divided.
Once a candidate clears those bars, their name will go to the General Assembly of all UN members for confirmation.
The Security Council straw poll was devised in the early 1980s in an attempt to break a deadlock between two candidates shut down by vetoes.
The informal mechanism has persisted, in various forms, despite criticism from countries opposed to the opaque process.
“There is a good chance that some nominees realise after (Friday’s) vote that their campaigns have reached the end of the road,” Forti added.
Each member state must anonymously assign each candidate one of three labels: “encourage,” “discourage,” or “no opinion.”
That would give those with no support the opportunity to withdraw — though they are not obliged.
In the first rounds of the process expected to take several weeks, all ballots are the same colour.
But after an unspecified number of votes, the ballots of the five permanent members will become a different colour from those of the elected members, making it possible to identify potential vetoes, without knowing which country blackballed any given candidate.
It is tradition that the UN’s top job should rotate between different regions.
Under that premise, the role should go to a candidate from Latin America this time. There are many candidates from the region, though Sall and Otunnu hail from Africa.
The civilian-contracted plane crashed at the airport of the long-range radar site in Cape Newenham, on the state’s southwestern tip, the Alaskan Command said in a statement.
Rescuers who landed near the crash site “confirmed there were no survivors,” it said.
The statement did not say what those onboard were doing at the radar site, which tracks aircraft operating in Alaskan airspace.
“This is a devastating loss for our military family and the communities we serve,” said Alaskan Command chief Robert Davis.
“These individuals were dedicated professionals carrying out a vital mission in a demanding environment,” Lieutenant General Davis added.
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