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The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau State, led by Abudulrahman Mohammed, has successfully screened three senatorial and 131 House of Assembly aspirants. Aspirants for the House of Representatives were chosen by consensus. Speaking with reporters in Jos, Plateau State, the Chairman of the Screening Committee, Tyem Gideon Nanden, announced that with the completion of […]

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The member representing Darazo-Ganjuwa Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Mansur Manu Soro, has announced that he will not participate in the 2027 general elections.

His decision was conveyed in a statement dated May 11, 2026, and signed by his Legislative Aide, Safiyanu Ibrahim Darazo. 

According to the statement, the lawmaker will neither contest for the Bauchi Central Senatorial seat nor seek re-election for the Darazo-Ganjuwa Federal Constituency.

The statement noted that Manu Soro expressed appreciation to the people of Darazo-Ganjuwa, the Peoples Democratic Party, and Bala Mohammed for the support and confidence reposed in him during the 2023 elections, which led to his return to the National Assembly.

Despite stepping away from electoral politics, the lawmaker assured constituents of his continued commitment to the development of the constituency, particularly in the areas of education and healthcare.

He highlighted some of his projects, including gifted primary and secondary schools, a National Open University of Nigeria study centre, and four pediatric hospitals established across the constituency.

It would be recalled that Manu Soro resigned from the PDP on May 1, 2026, blaming persistent internal crises and unresolved divisions within the party over the past two years.

Following his exit from the PDP, he defected to the Allied Peoples Movement, fueling speculation that he planned to contest either the Bauchi Central Senatorial seat or return to the House of Representatives under the platform of the party.

Attempts to obtain the reaction of the APM State Chairman, Auwal Isah, were unsuccessful, as calls placed to him were not answered and text messages sent to his phone had not been replied to as of the time of filing the report.

Rep Manu Soro bows out of 2027 elections

The threat credited to the Director of Research of Afenifere, Dr Akin Fapohunda, that the Igbo Nation could face a Rwanda-style ethnic cleansing should an Igboman win the presidential election in 2027 is a vindication of the call by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, for a referendum in Nigeria.

This is the position of the Eastern Nigeria Development Association in a statement signed by its President, Dr Obinna Chukwunaru, made available to THE WHISTLER.

Chukwunaru said the statement was beyond a “marginal political commentary”, adding that it “represents a functional articulation of deep seated structural hostilities within the ruling establishment”. He said, “The timing of this provocative statement operates as a calculated psychological assault on Eastern Nigerians. It was intentionally delivered just days before the solemn global commemoration of the 1966 anti-Igbo pogroms and the subsequent genocidal civil war (1967–1970).

“By invoking frameworks of mass annihilation precisely when millions of Ndigbo mourn over three million lives lost to historic state sponsored violence, this discourse actively weaponizes historical trauma to enforce political subjugation through the explicit threat of renewed physical erasure.”

He expressed sadness that the federal government has not valued the assertion a threat enough to demand the arrest of Mr Fapohunda. He said the silence implied complicity.
According to him, “President Bola Tinubu’s refusal to arrest, investigate, or publicly denounce this overt threat of ethnic cleansing signals executive validation. Under international jurisprudence, when a sovereign state fails to penalize direct incitement to eliminate a protected group, it transitions from a passive observer to an active accomplice. This calculated silence converts democratic participation into an existential hazard for Ndigbo and Eastern Nigerians in general, proving that the contemporary state architecture remains indifferent to the targeted destruction of its Igbo citizens.”

The group said Fapohunda’s threat validated the alarms raised by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu regarding the vulnerability of Ndigbo within the current quasi-federal framework of Nigeria.

“The precise existential threats he forecast are now openly declared by political elites operating with total statutory impunity. This systemic vindication amplifies the legal and moral necessity for his immediate and unconditional release from his punitive life-sentence isolation at the Sokoto Correctional Centre. His ongoing detention far from his homeland represents a political weaponization of the judiciary designed to decapitate the voice of an endangered population,” the group said.

ENDA said a political entity that uses the explicit threat of a Rwanda-type genocide to maintain power cannot claim legitimacy as a modern nation-state. It said the structural architecture of Nigeria was broken since the catastrophic pogroms of 1966 for “failing to provide the primary goods of security, equity, and judicial neutrality to Eastern Nigerians and Ndigbo in particular”.

Quoting the group, “Under Article III of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, direct and public incitement to commit genocide is a distinct international crime, making the Nigerian state’s failure to prosecute an act of international law non compliance. Article 1 of both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) explicitly protects the right of all peoples to self-determination. This is supported by Article 20 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which Nigeria has fully ratified, guaranteeing oppressed peoples the lawful right to free themselves from domination.”

The group said when peaceful democratic alignment “is met with threats of physical liquidation, the forced amalgamation of Nigeria ceases to be a viable political option and becomes an active security threat”, adding that, “This structural decay indicates that the impending collapse of the Nigerian state by 2027 is a predictable historical trajectory for a project that failed since 1966.”

ENDA therefore appealed to the United Nations Security Council, the African Union, and international defence observers to intervene immediately to protect the lives, properties, and economic investments of Ndigbo in Nigeria.

“The international community must move beyond Westphalian diplomatic deference and recognize Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s call for a peaceful, democratic referendum as the only rational, non-violent mechanism to avert an engineered humanitarian catastrophe and secure the self-determination and preservation of the peoples of Eastern Nigeria/Biafra,” it said.

Interrogating Fapohunda’s position

Checks show that Mr Fapohunda aired his opinion during an interview on Symfoni, an online TV station. He had said the closing ranks of Senator Musa Kwankwaso and Mr Peter Obi to possibly oust the Yoruba presidency would be disastrous.

Quoting him, “Obi/Kwankwaso winning will cause the greatest damage to the polity. Let’s not sugar-coat it; let’s go raw. What we have now is the turn of the South and South-West. If Obi and Kwankwaso are to obliterate the second term of the south, the war between the Yoruba and Igbos will go to the highest level: that the Igbo connived with the North to cut out Tinubu. But Tinubu is not performing. No sane Yoruba person will defend Tinubu.”

The Rwanda allusion

The Afenifere chieftain warned that the Igbo orchestrating Tinubu’s loss would be genocidal. “We will be playing with Rwanda between the Igbo and the Yoruba; that the Igbo will make efforts to uproot what is called the Yoruba prize! It is not deserving, but on the streets, people should think about the implications. I am worried about what will happen if an Obi gets northern support and forces out Tinubu for a second term which Yorubas wrongly, not on merit, believe it is their turn. Whatever you sow, you reap.”

How Igbos rejected Yoruba offer in 1959

The elder statesman traced the rift between the Yoruba and the Igbo to 1959 when Chief Obafemi Awolowo offered the Igbo to be finance minister, which Zik rejected and later aligned with the North to form the national government. “We have to go back to that history. If Zik rejected Awolowo then, we are now in 2026, and it takes an Obi to knock out Tinubu, it is a dangerous thing.”

Tinubu should step down

The Afenifere doyen advised President Tinubu to sacrifice his second-term ambition, and save Nigeria. According to him, “That is why many of us canvass that one term is enough for Tinubu. Leave honourably. Restructure Nigeria. October 1 is a good time where we focus on good governance. If we continue this way, people will still be talking on primordial sentiments. Let’s prevail on Tinubu to bring the temperature down. Let him do the Mandela card. From now up to October 1, let’s have the blueprint to restructure Nigeria into modules so that we don’t fight to finish to take over Abuja and be borrowing money to be awarding N16trn contracts.”

Ndigbo are entitled to presidency

He said the Igbo are legitimately entitled to become president of Nigeria. “Ndi Igbo are not getting one penny from Tinubu. Igbos want to award their own contracts if Fulani and Yoruba have done it; unless they are no longer Nigerian citizens. The damage Tinubu will do to Nigeria to make sure that the Igbo do not have a chance (to become president) will be too much. If he loses, there will be problems. If Obi wins the ticket, the Igbo have come, and they will be ruthless because for the first time, they have been angling for this power.”

Final appeal

“My appeal: Mr Tinubu, you have amassed all the arsenal of states to yourself. The next election should be modular: not one president again. Let Yoruba and others fight within themselves. On merit, APC government has run the country aground.”

“I will support the Igbo”

He however declared his support for an Igbo presidency. “I will support them. We have no mouth to talk when they come. North vs South is a fact. If North prevails and knocks Tinubu out, all the South will unite to say we have been let down, and the North is in control… And Yoruba, Igbo problem will emerge again in a ferocious manner.”
He told Tinubu to demystify the presidency in Abuja. “It’s a thief that can buy a presidential form with N100m, for a position that requires just a school certificate to occupy”.

2027: Group Attacks Afenifere Chieftain Over Genocide Threat On Igbo is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

The Academic Board of Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, has sanctioned the withdrawal of 229 students for poor academic performance and approved the first semester examination results for the 2025/2026 academic session. The decision was reached during the institution’s Academic Board meeting, held on May 12, 2026, under the chairmanship of Professor Salihu Sanusi Avidime, the […]

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Operatives of the Katsina State Police Command have repelled suspected bandits and recovered 70 rustled livestock during security operations in Jibia and Musawa Local Government Areas of the state.

The development was contained in a post shared on X on Thursday by security analyst, Bakatsine.

“Katsina State Police Command says its operatives repelled bandits and recovered 70 rustled livestock during security operations in Jibia and Musawa LGAs of Katsina State,” Bakatsine wrote. 

According to the post, the operation was carried out under the directive of the Commissioner of Police, Aliyu Umar Fage, as part of efforts to tackle banditry and related crimes in the state.

During the operation, security operatives engaged the suspects in a gun battle, forcing them to flee and abandon the stolen animals.

Police were also said to have recovered two AK-47 rifles, ammunition, and six spent shells at the scene.

The recovered items are expected to aid ongoing investigations and help security agencies track those responsible for the attacks.

Authorities say the operation is part of sustained efforts to maintain pressure on criminal groups and improve security across Katsina State.

Police repel bandits, recover 70 rustled livestock in Katsina

The Oyo State Government, in collaboration with security and environmental enforcement agencies, has intensified efforts to restore environmental sanity and public order across Ibadan with a coordinated operation targeting destitutes and street beggars in major parts of the city. The enforcement exercise, carried out on Thursday evening, involved the Oyo State Rule of Law Enforcement […]

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U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have concluded their first bilateral meeting in Beijing after two hours and 15 minutes of talks, with both leaders agreeing that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support global energy needs.

The two sides discussed ways to enhance economic cooperation between their countries, including expanding market access for American businesses into China and increasing Chinese investment into U.S. industries, according to a White House readout.

Xi warned Trump during the talks that mishandling the Beijing-claimed island of Taiwan would cause “clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy,” according to Beijing’s foreign ministry. The American readout made no mention of Taiwan, focusing instead on trade, energy and the Iran war.

On the Strait of Hormuz, which has effectively closed since the start of the U.S. and Israel war against Iran, Xi made clear China’s opposition to the militarization of the strait and any effort to charge a toll for its use.

He also expressed interest in purchasing more American oil to reduce China’s dependence on the strait in the future, AP reported, citing a White House official.

Both countries agreed that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, according to a White House statement.

The presidents also highlighted the need to build on progress in ending the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals into the United States, as well as increasing Chinese purchases of American agricultural products.

When asked about the talks by reporters during a visit to the Temple of Heaven following the meeting, Trump said: “It’s great. Great place, incredible. China is beautiful.”

Leaders from many of the United States’ largest companies, including Apple’s Tim Cook, Tesla’s Elon Musk, and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, joined a portion of the meeting and held separate discussions with China’s Premier Li Qiang.

Trump will attend a state banquet with Xi later today. The two leaders will meet again tomorrow before Trump returns to Washington.

U.S. Says Trump, China Agreed Iran Can’t Have Nuclear Weapon is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has commenced the certification examination for beneficiaries of the Skill Up Artisans (SUPA) programme in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) marking another major milestone in the Federal Government’s drive to equip Nigerian artisans with globally competitive skills and internationally recognised certifications.

The examination, which Alberk QA Technic of Turkey will supervise, is scheduled to be held next week.

A total of 296 artisans trained under the SUPA initiative in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will participate across more than 20 high-demand vocational and technical skills, including Fashion Design, Welding and Fabrication, Cyber Security, Automechanics, Tiling, Bricklaying, Painting and Decoration, Electrical and Electronics, Carpentry, and several other trades critical to Nigeria’s industrial and economic development.

Speaking ahead of the examination, the Director-General of the Industrial Training Fund, Dr. Afiz Oluwatoyin Ogun, described the exercise as a significant step towards repositioning Nigerian artisans for global competitiveness and economic empowerment.

“This certification exercise, conducted under the rigorous standards of Alberk QA Technic, will validate the skills acquired by the artisans and provide them with internationally recognised certification,” the Director-General stated.

Ogun noted that the engagement of Alberk QA Technic further strengthens the credibility, transparency, and international acceptability of the certification process.

He recalled that some months ago, City & Guilds of London Institute, an internationally recognised certification body that had approved the ITF as an examination centre conducted a mock certification examination for SUPA trainees as part of preparations for global certification standards.

According to him, these deliberate efforts are aimed at ensuring Nigerian artisans acquire internationally accepted certifications that will improve their employability, mobility, productivity, and earning potential both locally and internationally.

“The era when artisanship was viewed as inferior is long gone. Today, technical and vocational skills are among the strongest drivers of industrial growth, innovation, entrepreneurship, and national development.

“Through SUPA, we are deliberately creating a new generation of highly skilled artisans that will contribute meaningfully to Nigeria’s economic transformation,” he added.

The ITF DG further disclosed that following the exercise in the FCT, Alberk QA Technic would proceed to other states across the federation for the certification of additional batches of SUPA artisans.

Ogun reiterated the commitment of the Fund to strengthening Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and ensuring that Nigerian youths and artisans are equipped with industry-relevant skills required to drive productivity, entrepreneurship, and national prosperity.

ITF Advances Skills Agenda With Global Certification For Artisans is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday dismissed claims that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a “secret meeting” with Emirati President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed during the Iran conflict, denying reports released by Netanyahu’s office about the alleged visit and talks. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office had earlier said Netanyahu travelled to the UAE […]

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