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 China executes former official Li Jianping over $421m corruption case China on Tuesday executed Li Jianping, a former official in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, who was convicted in the largest-ever corruption case in the country, totalling over $421 million. According to the Indian Express, the death sentence of Li, former secretary of the ruling Communist Party’s working committee for the Hohhot Economic and Technological Development Zone, was initially issued in September 2022 and upheld on appeal in August 2024. Tuesday’s execution followed the approval of the Supreme People’s Court and was carried out by a court in Inner Mongolia, according to a report by the state-run Xinhua news agency. Li, aged 64, was found guilty of embezzling three billion yuan (over $421 million) in illegal gains, marking the largest sum involved in a single corruption case in China’s history. Since taking power in 2012, Chinese President Xi Jinping has made the anti-corruption campaign a corner...

  The Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned in the strongest terms the illegal suspension of the Chairmen of the 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state. On Tuesday, the State House of Assembly suspended the LG Chairmen following the directive of Governor Monday Okpebholo. Governor Monday Okpebholo had earlier written a petition to the House over the refusal of the chairmen to submit financial records of their local government to the state government. In the letter, the governor, who described the LG chairmen’s refusal as an act of insubordination and gross misconduct, requested the House to look into the matter. In a statement by the Edo PDP Caretaker Chairman, Tony Aziegbemi, the party said that the chairmen and their vice were not given the opportunity to defend themselves describing the suspension as unconstitutional. “How can a governor direct the state Assembly to suspend democratically elected chairmen of the 18 local councils for insubo...

 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐭 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬, 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐥𝐲 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬, 𝐒𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐊𝐞𝐲𝐚𝐦𝐨 The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, says the Fly Nigeria Act will transform into law under his watch. The minister lamented that the document, which is expected to make it mandatory for government-financed air transportation of government personnel, contractors, grantees, and properties to be carried by Nigeria Air Flag Carriers, has yet to materialise more than 15 years after it was first proposed. Speaking at a one-day “Stakeholders’ Engagement on the Legal Framework for the Fly Nigeria Bill and Related Enabling Legislation’, in Abuja, Keyamo said he would rally all the major stakeholders to push for the Bill to be signed into law. Vice President of the Airline Operators of Nigeria and Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, and the spokesperson of the Association, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, described the move as a new dawn for the c...

  The purported expulsion of Hon Ikenga Ugochinyere by the Peoples Democratic Party has been dismissed by the executives of the party at Umukegwu/Umuopia ward and Ideato North Local Government Area of Imo State. In a statement issued on Monday, the local council leaders described the alleged expulsion as fake news and reaffirmed Ugochinyere’s membership and leadership role in the party. Reports had earlier emerged that Ugochinyere, who is a member of the House of Representatives, representing Ideato North/Ideato South federal constituency of Imo State and spokesman of the Coalition of United Political Parties, had been expelled from the party. In the letter signed by Thankgod Okeke, the council chairman, and Onyebuchi Umeh, the secretary, Ugochinyere was accused of alleged misconduct and anti-party activities. But reacting in a statement signed by Umukegwu/Umuopia ward chairman, Chief Mathias Onuebunwa and Chief Emeka Eze, as Ideato North LGA PDP chairman, the executives said Ugoch...

 Nnamdi Kanu’s release may not end S’East insecurity – Soludo The Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, on Tuesday, said he doubted if the release of the detained leader of the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, would end the pervasive insecurity in the South-East. Soludo argued that criminals had hijacked the Biafran struggle and were now exploiting the Biafran struggle and Kanu’s name to perpetrate organised crime and fuel insecurity in the South-East region. Soludo noted that under the guise of agitation, these individuals had turned to “lucrative criminality,” engaging in armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism, and idolatry. He insisted that their activities have nothing to do with the genuine liberation struggle, stating that such crimes are purely driven by greed and lawlessness. Speaking during a press briefing at the Governor’s Lodge in Amawbia on Tuesday, Soludo revealed that over 99 per cent of criminals arrested in Anambra in the past two years ...

 Nigerians’ve lost confidence in Tinubu –Yusuf   Former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and a member of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Prof. Usman Yusuf in this interview, speaks on various issues including President Bola Tinubu’s recent visit to France and the Tax Reform bill before the National Assembly. Nigeria-France relationship is not new, and it’s a significant one. France is Nigeria’s biggest trade partner in Europe. What positives do you see from this relationship, particularly when it comes to security and economy? To be honest, I’m nervous and every Nigerian should be. Okay, let’s look at our relationship with France past, present, and the future. France has been in all these Francophone African countries for 60 to 66 years, and they’ve been kicked out. They’ve been kicked out of Chad, Senegal, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. Five of your neighbours kicked out a colonial master, and all of a sudden, you are hugging that person. The...

 PRESS RELEASE FALANA’S APPEAL ON VINCENT MAKINDE’S CASE: POLICE CLARIFIES STATUS AS DISMISSED OFFICER WHO ESCAPED LAWFUL CUSTODY TO EVADE PROSECUTION. Debunks Allegation of Inhumane Treatment, Justifies Use of Leg Restraints The Nigeria Police Force is aware of a viral video of one Vincent Makinde in leg restraint claiming he is an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) detained without cause, and a subsequent demand of his release by the renowned legal luminary and Human Rights Activist, Mr Femi Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). The police hereby clarify that contrary to the erroneous narrative, Vincent Makinde was dismissed as a Police Inspector from the Nigeria Police Force in 2022 following a thorough investigation and orderly room trial due to several serious offences such as abuse of office, extortion, gross misconduct, dereliction of duty, and insubordination among others.  While awaiting the validation of orderly room proceedings and subsequent prosecution, ...