Author: Daily Post Nigeria

The management of the University of Ilesa has warned prospective candidates against engaging individuals or groups claiming to facilitate admission into the institution through unofficial means.

In a notice issued by the university management on Wednesday, authorities stressed that the institution does not authorise or recognise POST-UTME or admission agents for candidate registration or admission processing.

The university stated that all admission procedures must be carried out strictly through its official registration platform to avoid falling victim to fraudsters and impostors.

“The University of Ilesa strongly cautions prospective candidates against patronising POST-UTME or admission agents,” the statement read.

It added that the institution “does not authorise or endorse such services” and advised applicants to rely solely on official communication channels provided by the university.

To assist candidates seeking clarification, the university released designated contact numbers for admission-related enquiries.

The institution urged candidates and parents to remain vigilant throughout the admission exercise and avoid making payments or disclosing personal information to unauthorised individuals posing as admission representatives.

UNILESA warns candidates against fraudulent Post-UTME admission agents

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, USCIRF, has disclosed that no fewer than 30,000 armed Fulani militants are currently operating across Nigeria.

The USCIRF’s report titled “Nonstate Violators of Religious Freedom in Nigeria: Fulani Militants,” said armed Fulani militants are the ones worsening insecurity and religious freedom violations in several parts of the country.

The report, which was released in May 2026, described the armed groups as some of the deadliest non-state actors responsible for violent attacks across the Middle Belt and Southern Nigeria.

The USCIRF stated that the militants operate in clusters ranging from 10 to 1,000 fighters, carrying out coordinated assaults that have led to thousands of deaths, mass displacement and heightened religious tensions.

According to the Commission, attacks linked to Fulani militants accounted for the highest number of deaths among religious communities in Nigeria in the past year, surpassing casualties attributed to organised insurgent groups and criminal gangs.

It pointed out that although many attacks targeted Christian communities, Muslim communities had also suffered killings, kidnappings and raids.

“Violence by Fulani militants caused the highest number of deaths among all religious communities in Nigeria over the last year compared to attacks by organised insurgent groups and criminal gangs,” it said.

The commission noted that while the groups lacked a central leadership structure, some factions occasionally collaborated with bandit networks and extremist organisations.

“These actors operate in a variety of contexts and with a multiplicity of likely aims and motivations.

“While many Fulani militant groups wage independent attacks, others periodically coordinate with a wide range of actors, from conventional bandit gangs seeking financial enrichment to recognised terrorist organisations that espouse violent interpretations of Islam,” it added.

30,000 armed Fulani militants driving Nigeria’s insecurity — US govt

The Labour Party, LP, has noted that the values embodied by Eid al-Adha have become even more urgent and relevant at this time, when the nation continues to grapple with economic hardship, insecurity, hunger, and growing social and ethno-religious tensions.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Ken Eluna Asogwa, the Labour Party felicitated the entire Ummah on the solemn and spiritually significant occasion.

Muslims in Nigeria and across the world are commemorating the sacred festival of Eid al-Kabir.

LP noted that Eid al-Adha symbolises profound faith, obedience, sacrifice, and total submission exemplified by Prophet Ibrahim (Peace Be Upon Him) in his total devotion to the will of Almighty Allah. 

“Beyond the festivities, this holy season calls for deep reflection, renewed spirituality, selflessness, and greater commitment to the service of humanity,” the statement said.

It added, “At a time our nation continues to grapple with economic hardship, insecurity, hunger, and growing social and ethno-religious tensions, the values embodied by Eid al-Adha have become even more urgent and relevant. 

“We therefore urge Nigerians to embrace compassion, generosity, and mutual understanding, especially towards the less privileged and vulnerable in society.”

The Labour Party also called on those entrusted with leadership and public responsibility to govern with justice, fairness, equity, and empathy in line with the noble teachings of Islam, which place great emphasis on the welfare and protection of the people, ideals that the Labour Party vigorously pursues. 

“This is a defining moment for leaders at all levels to rise above selfish interests and work sincerely towards alleviating the suffering of Nigerians.”

“As we celebrate this blessed festival, we pray that Almighty Allah (SWT) accepts our sacrifices and acts of worship, grants peace and prosperity to our nation, and continues to guide us on the path of righteousness.

“Eid Mubarak to all Nigerians. May this celebration bring abundant blessings, divine mercy, peace, and renewed hope to every home.”

Eld el Kabir: ‘Govern in line with teachings of Allah’ – Labour Party to govt

Chief Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii has emerged as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in

The post 2027: Odii clinches Ebonyi PDP guber ticket unopposed appeared first on Tribune Online.

Much more than commemorating the annual Children’s Day marked every May 27, Zenith Bank Plc is championing the narrative that children are the true leaders of tomorrow. The Bank has deepened its investment in carefully curated initiatives that elevate children across education, financial literacy, health, digital inclusion, and social protection, building a generation equipped to thrive and lead. For Zenith Bank, every child matters, and the Bank’s footprint reflects a deliberate, pan-African strategy to nurture potential from the earliest age.

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Zenith Bank has been the financial institution partner to Kiddies Corner on Inspiration 92.3FM Lagos for over three years, anchoring the Tuesday edition and Zenith Financial Literacy Friday show. The programme blends spelling bee contests with financial literacy questions, creating awareness and onboarding children into the Zenith Children’s Account (ZECA). This partnership came alive at the Inspiration FM Children’s Day Carnival on Saturday, May 23, 2026, where Zenith Bank hosted over 1,000 children and their parents, celebrating ZECA winners with games, skits, and Zenith Bank-branded gifts.

The Bank’s Zenith Financial Literacy Week, held quarterly, takes this mission into select schools across all 36 states and the FCT. Students are trained on savings, budgeting, basic investments, and its retail products, with the top performer in each school awarded N50,000. Complementing this is the Bank’s nationwide Financial Literacy Program under the CBN-mandated Global Money Week, which in 2025 alone reached 3,622 students across 22 LGAs, deploying 137 bank employee volunteers as educators.

In alignment with the United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on Quality Education, Zenith Bank has donated state-of-the-art ICT centres and computer systems to schools and universities nationwide, including a Computer Centre to Bamaina Academy, Dutse, Jigawa State. Its transformative interventions include fully equipped libraries, vocational facilities, and large-scale school renovations, from Ojota Secondary School and Victoria Island Secondary School in Lagos to Hugallawa Primary School in Jigawa. Targeted financial support further breaks barriers with N1 million cash donation to Louisville Girls High School, Ijebu-Itele, supporting girl-child education; infrastructure upgrades at Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School; a N1 million scholarship endowment for St. Francis Catholic Secondary School; and support for the North-East Children’s Fund to aid education in conflict-affected communities.

Through its Primary Healthcare Centre Initiative across all 774 LGAs, Zenith Bank educates parents on early childhood savings during routine visits, linking health and financial well-being. The “PAD-A-QUEEN” Initiative commemorates the International Day of the Girl Child, reaching 5,000 girls in 10 schools with sanitary pads, hygiene kits, and menstrual health education to keep girls in school and promote SDGs 3, 4, and 5.

The Bank’s compassion extends to the most vulnerable. At Bethesda Home and School for the Blind, Idi Oro, Lagos, Zenith donated braille materials, food, and toiletries. For the 2026 International Day for Street Children, it partnered with Bosco Child Protection Centre on medical check-ups, food, clothing, and counseling. Annual Christmas Charity Visits to orphanages deliver cash, toys, and essential supplies, while support for the Smile and Shine Children Foundation’s Strive Conference empowers over 2,000 adolescents with life skills and leadership training.

Commenting on the Bank’s intentionality towards the development of children, Dame Dr. Adaora Umeoji, OON, Group Managing Director/CEO, Zenith Bank Plc, said, “At Zenith Bank, we are deliberate about initiatives that elevate children because they are not just our future, they are our present responsibility. As Whitney Houston so poignantly sang, ‘I believe the children are the future, teach them well and let them lead the way.’ That is the philosophy driving our investments in education, financial literacy, health, and digital inclusion. From Kiddies Corner to ICT centres, from PHCs to orphanages, we are teaching them well, equipping them early, and giving them the tools to lead. Zenith Bank renews its commitment to every Nigerian child, to nurture their dreams, protect their dignity, and secure their tomorrow.”

Championing youth expression, the Zenith Annual Youth Parade, hosted by the Bank for 19 years, stands as a flagship Corporate Social Responsibility initiative.  Bringing together thousands of children and teenagers in a vibrant showcase of unity and discipline, the parade has remained dedicated since inception to the vital mission of supporting, nurturing, and empowering the Nigerian child, reinforcing the Bank’s belief that leadership is learned early through teamwork, confidence, and celebration of young Nigerian identity.

For Zenith Bank, Children’s Day is more than a date on the calendar. It is a daily pledge to empower, protect, and prepare Nigeria’s children for leadership. From classrooms to communities, the Bank’s initiatives are teaching them well and letting them lead the way because the future belongs to children who are equipped today.

Zenith Bank renews commitment to children with education, inclusion & opportunity at the core

Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has warned President Bola Tinubu, Senate President Godswill Akpabio and other political leaders against issuing Children’s Day messages amid worsening insecurity and repeated abductions of schoolchildren across the country.

In a lengthy post shared on X on Wednesday, Ezekwesili accused the Nigerian political class of failing children and lacking the moral justification to celebrate Children’s Day.

Addressing the President, Vice President, governors, members of the National Assembly and state assemblies, the former minister said they had “abandoned, betrayed, and condemned” Nigerian children to suffering.

She cited several incidents of school abductions across the country, including the reported kidnapping of students and teachers in Oyo, Kebbi, Niger, Kaduna and Sokoto states.

Ezekwesili also referenced the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls in 2014, noting that many of the victims were still missing more than a decade later.

According to her, successive incidents of mass kidnappings and attacks on schools showed the failure of leadership and the inability of government to protect children.

She further claimed that thousands of students had been affected by school abductions in recent years, while many schools were forced to shut down due to insecurity.

The former minister said Nigerian leaders should focus on addressing insecurity and protecting children rather than issuing ceremonial Children’s Day messages.

“To the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Vice President, the Governors of the 36 States, the Federal Executive Council, the Members of the National Assembly, the State Houses of Assembly, and the entire political class that has captured and destroyed the Nigeria State:

“Do not dare.

“Do not dare open your mouths on May 27 to wish Nigerian children a “Happy Children’s Day.” Do not dare release the recycled, ghost-written platitudes your media handlers have already drafted.

“Do not dare stand in front of cameras, surrounded by carefully arranged children in matching uniforms, to perform a tenderness you have never extended to the millions of Nigerian children you have abandoned, betrayed, and condemned to lives of suffering.

“You have no moral standing to wish anything to Nigerian children. None,” part of her message read.

You have no moral standing – Ezekwesili writes Tinubu, Akpabio, others

Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii has been declared winner of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, governorship primary in Ebonyi State conducted across the 13 local government areas of the state on Tuesday.

Odii emerged unopposed during the exercise monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

 Chairman of the committee that conducted the primary, Dr. Lekon Rotimi declared Odii the winner at the party’s collation center in Abakaliki, the state capital on Tuesday evening.

Lekon said Odii polled a total of 8,281 votes to emerge the consensus candidate of the party during the primary.

“I  am glad to announce that from the 13 local government areas of the state, we have a total vote of 8,281 for the sole and only candidate of the PDP.

“So, after careful and carefully collating all the results and careful verification of all the results that emanated from all the local governments like I stated earlier, a total of 8,281 votes, I the returning officer for this election hereby declare the outcome of this election as such and I congratulate the winner.

“I therefore declare and return Dr. Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii as the winner of this governorship primary”, he said.

Chairman of the party in the state, Chukwuma Igwe described the exercise as very peaceful.

“We have carried out all our primaries by consensus because PDP is a very peaceful family in Ebonyi State and everything we do, we do it to show others the way to go.

“We are always leading the way and everybody knows that PDP is where we are and we all know the direction we are going . Very soon, you will see the moving train. The time of locusts is over.

“In today’s election, we have carried out our primary. We have emanated from the ward and that’s why we are coming out late from the ward to the local government areas”, Igwe stated.

Addressing the mammoth crowd at the collation center after the declaration of the result, Odii, who lauded the peaceful and successful conduct of the primary, enjoined the party members and supporters to enthrone what he called governance in the state.

He accused the present administration in the state of running a personal family business government which he described as unacceptable.

Odii, who was also the 2023 governorship candidate of the party, opined that he was in the 2027 race to liberate the state.

Odii said: “Ebonyi can never be consumed, Ebonyi can never be conquered. Ebonyi can never become a personal family business and we are here for the rescue of our own dear state.

“I don’t need anyone to celebrate me. I don’t need anyone to clap hands or sing praises for me. What we are looking for is the task ahead of us and that task is how to recover Ebonyi for a better development.

“It is time for us to bring about good governance, the governance that will benefit born and unborn children, the governance that will bring good governance to the men and women.

“It is about the governance that will bring good welfare citizens, to the civil servants to the teachers. It is about the good governance that will bring about good economy to Ebonyi State and that’s why I have made myself available to it under the platform of PDP.

“Quote me on record, Ebonyi will never go to darkness again. I am always good at challenging the status quo when the time comes. God blesses people because of their people. I am blessed because of the land of Ebonyi.

“Let the God of the land stand and fight for the liberation of Ebonyi State. I am not scared about their gathering.

“I am not scared about what the future brings. What I look forward to, is the happiness of Ebonyi State and I believe that happiness is now, there is no other time.”

2027 poll: Ifeanyi Odii emerges Ebonyi PDP governorship candidate

Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Adewale Egbedun, has secured the backing of members of the Accord as the consensus candidate for the Odo-Otin State Constituency ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The endorsement was ratified during the party’s selection exercise held at the Okuku Town Hall in Odo-Otin Local Government Area of Osun State on Tuesday.

According to a statement issued by the Speaker’s spokesperson, Olamide Tiamiyu, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, monitored the process.

The statement explained that party members and stakeholders across the constituency unanimously adopted Egbedun as the party’s flagbearer for the forthcoming election.

Reacting to the development, Egbedun described the endorsement as a fresh responsibility to intensify his service to residents of the constituency.

“This is a call to do more for our people. I am deeply honoured by the confidence reposed in me by members of the party and stakeholders across the constituency,” he said.

The lawmaker stated that the confidence shown in him would encourage him to continue pursuing projects and programmes aimed at improving the welfare of people in Odo-Otin.

“I see this not merely as an endorsement, but as a responsibility to continue working tirelessly for the development of Odo-Otin State Constituency and Osun State as a whole,” Egbedun added.

He also commended members of the party for maintaining peace throughout the exercise, noting that the conduct reflected unity within the Accord party in the constituency.

Egbedun pointed to the presence of electoral officials at the venue as evidence of the credibility and transparency of the process.

“The monitoring of the process by INEC officials further demonstrates the transparency and credibility of the exercise,” he stated.

The Chairman of Accord in Odo-Otin, Taiye Olatunji, said party leaders resolved to adopt the Speaker because of what he described as his achievements within three years in office.

Olatunji maintained that members of the party were convinced Egbedun remained the preferred candidate to represent the constituency, adding that the consensus decision reflected the confidence reposed in his leadership by stakeholders across Odo-Otin.

Accord members endorse Osun Speaker, Egbedun for Odo-Otin Assembly ticket

Alhaji Hamza Musa Mai Bulawus has emerged as the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, in Zamfara State after winning the party’s primary election unopposed.

The primary election was conducted through a direct voting process across all 147 wards in the state’s 14 local government areas.

A total of 36,556 votes were reportedly cast in favour of Mai Bulawus during the exercise.

Announcing the result in Gusau on Tuesday, the SDP Governorship Primary Election Returning Officer for Zamfara State, Bello Hussaini Gusau, declared Mai Bulawus the winner of the exercise conducted under the authority of the party’s national leadership.

He said the election was carried out in line with party guidelines to ensure broad participation of members across the state.

According to him, the process was designed to strengthen internal democracy and present a united front ahead of the general elections.

The party confirmed that Mai Bulawus was the sole aspirant in the primary and secured overwhelming support from delegates across the state.

2027: Bulawus emerges SDP governorship candidate in Zamfara

A former Commissioner for Lands and Urban Development in Nasarawa State, Hon. Mohammed Tanimu Sarki, popularly known as Tancy Al-Makura, has resigned from the All Progressives Congress (APC) with immediate effect.

The former commissioner announced his resignation in a letter addressed to the APC Chairman of Gayam Ward in Lafia Local Government Area and dated May 26, 2026.

In the letter, Tancy Al-Makura said his decision followed extensive consultations with political associates, stakeholders, supporters, and loyalists across the state.

Although he did not openly attack the party leadership, political observers linked his resignation to the growing discontent trailing the APC’s recently concluded governorship primaries, which have continued to generate controversy and defections within the party.

The former commissioner expressed gratitude to the APC leadership and members for the support, cooperation, and opportunities extended to him during his time in the party.

He noted that serving under the platform of the APC provided him the opportunity to contribute to the development of Nasarawa State and build lasting political relationships.

His resignation comes amid increasing political tension within the ruling party following allegations of irregularities and manipulation during the governorship primaries that produced Senator Ahmed Aliyu Wadada as the party’s candidate.

The development also comes barely hours after former Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar Adamu, resigned from the APC over what he described as irregularities and lack of transparency in the governorship primary election.

2027: Ex-commissioner, Tancy Al-Makura quits APC amid fallout from guber primaries