News
Akpabio to World Conference of Speakers: *Don’t surrender to despair, commit to peace, justice
From Godswill Akpabio, Nigeria’s Senate President of the 10th National Assembly, came a message on Wednesday to parliamentarians all over the world – stand in partnership, committed to peace, justice, and shared destiny.
To the Nigerian leader of the legislature and Chairman of the National Assembly, who spoke at the ongoing 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments hosted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in collaboration with the United Nations, in Geneva Switzerland, nations must not surrender to despair.
Hear him: “As parliamentarians, let us commit to collaboration and the courageous pursuit of solutions that transcend borders and partisan divides. I bring you greetings from the Senate and the resilient people of Nigeria. I come from a nation that has endured fire and risen from ashes. A nation that finds clarity in confusion and keeps sailing through storms and rough weather.
Dwelling on the bloody conflicts that confront the world today, Akpabio lamented, the ugly situation, insisting that the world must not be defined by what it faced currently, but by how but must rise above them, urging nations not to surrender to weapons of evil.
A statement by Jackson Udom, his spokesman, quoted Akpabio as saying in reference to the theme of the parley: “This conference – A World in Turmoil: Multilateralism for Peace, Justice and Prosperity for All‘ – meets the moment. Across the globe, conflict drowns out the songs of peace. War consumes not only homes but the hopes of families. And while science surges, millions – especially in developing nations – remain trapped in cycles of fear and want.
“With the world now a global village, these are not distant crises. I urge affected nations not to surrender to despair. We in the Nigerian Senate have chosen to legislate in the storm, reform in the furnace, and lead with courage.
“We face armed conflict, climate disruption, and youth disillusionment. Terrorists exploit poverty and displacement. Farmer-herder clashes and small arms proliferation threaten our unity. But we are not defined by what we face, but by how we rise. In the furnace of turmoil, we are becoming stronger, wiser, and more determined to build a greater nation.
“In parliament, we are legislating to secure the future. In partnership with the Executive, we have passed laws to confront insecurity and rebuild trust: the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons Act, the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act, and the Out-of-School Children Education Act etc.
“We are investing in innovation, through a 10-year National Digital Strategy, to equip our youth to bridge the divide. Through the Start-Up Act, expanded credit access, and digital training, we unlock potential long caged by poverty.
“We are also advancing inclusion. The Not Too Young To Run Act was a summons to a new generation. Women and persons with disabilities are no longer on the margins. And legislation is underway to institutionalize gender quotas—because inclusion, not exclusion, must be our standard.”
Informing on how Nigeria has been battling the current global malaise, he stated: “We have devised strategies to fight poverty: education loans, vocational training, tax reforms for the vulnerable, and cash transfers to the poorest households—all aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.
“Multilateralism must not become a rhetoric. It must rise as a movement of resolve. The Nigerian Parliament believes in international solidarity as a shared responsibility. For humanity is a single tapestry and when one corner is torn by conflict or injustice, the whole fabric is weakened. Let us therefore stand in partnership, committed to peace, justice, and shared destiny. We must not simply convene; we must command.
“Let us bind our futures not only in treaties, but in tenacity and remain paragons of purpose. As parliamentarians, let us commit to collaboration and the courageous pursuit of solutions that transcend borders and partisan divides.”
Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Governor of Oyo State, on Thursday, finally threw his hats into the ring by declaring his intention to run for president in 2027, with a message – history beckons.
The governor, whose ambition has been a matter of speculations for months now and who had teamed up with forces angling to force President Bola Tinubu, out of power, told a teeming crowd in Ibadan on Thursday that time had come to reset Nigeria.
At a mega-rally to announce the alliance between the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and the Allied Peoples’ Movement, (APM), Makinde, expressed worry over the dwindling fortunes of Nigerians, vowing to engage Nigerians to end the drift.
Hear him: “Without a multi-party system, there is no democracy. Where is our multi-party? Where do we go from here? We have been pushed to the wall.
“They calculated and self-opposition cannot unite but I am here to say that the opposition is the everyday Nigerian. This is the time for all us to ensure Nigeria works for us. This is the time to confront it fears. It is time to engage as citizens and not spectators.
“For the opposition political parties, this is the time to unite and work in unity and give our nation the much reset it needs. The time to reset Nigeria is now. Ibadan is the city of warriors. The first grand alliance is formed. The PDP and APM is formed. This handshake will allow us to field candidates from presidency to state Assembly. And so, I declare my candidacy for office of the president of Nigeria.”
Eyo Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), on Wednesday, gave a detailed account on how operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) manhandled him on Monday.
He told reporters that he was at sea on why he should fall victim to the assault against his person and eventually arrested given that was not right person directly involved in the information the agency sought.
Some operatives of the EFCC who invaded the hospital, had whisked Ekpe away after firing teargas to scare away the workers, patients and visitors to the hospital, following what appeared like a fracas the ensued over what it claimed was a routine duty in the facility.
Ekpe, Deputy Chairman of the hospital’s Medical Advisory Committee (MAC), described how an operative had first entered his office to make inquiries on why the hospital was yet to give a response to an EFCC inquiry over a medical report linked to a suspect facing trial.
He detailed how he briefed the operative that the said response was being prepared and even went ahead to show him the draft of a letter in that regard, which needed to go through the gamut of official endorsement before being released.
Hear him: “The head of that internal medicine department looked at the report and also discovered that the name of the doctor that signed the report is not a member of staff of that department.
“I had prepared prepared a response to the EFCC on Monday, May 11, 2026, based on the findings. When the EFCC operative visited my office the next morning to collect the document, I told him that the response was ready in draft. I even showed him the draft, but told him that the document still needed approval from the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital before it could be officially signed and released.
“He pretended to have accepted that. He left, but later later returned with another armed operative and informed me that I was under arrest. I asked him why. I was not the one that issued the medical report. My name is not on the medical report. The report was not issued from my unit.
“But he said I would get the answer when I get to their office. I then asked him to at least wait for my staff member who I sent on an errand before joining them. But they refused.
“They started pushing me. They dragged me out of the office. Then I began to cry while they were dragging me. They had warned me not to speak. They had taken my phone. My cry as they were dragging me, attracted the workers to the scene, who enquired what was going on, but because they ordered me not to speak, I couldn’t say anything. They had their guns.
The members of staff of the hospital initially blocked them from taking me away. They then made a call. After that I saw many masked and armed men came violently, broke the protector, threatening the people that were around and people ran away.
“They picked some staff that were still by me. they dragged me and other staff, five of us into their van downstairs. By that time they discovered that the gate of the hospital were locked. So, they drove towards the gate and packed and the commotion continued. We were inside the van.
“I was so emotionally and psychologically traumatised that I couldn’t even look out of the vehicle to see what was happening outside. But I know that teargas and live bullets were shot. That’s all I can say for now.”
Joyce Abdulmalik, of the Federal High Court, Abuja, heard on Wednesday, how Zenith Bank raised alarm over the huge transaction in one of its branches by Abubakar Malami, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF-MoJ).
The bank said it immediately filed a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) in respect to the transactions, during its appearance in the ongoing trial of Malami, his wife, and son over allegation of massive looting of funds belonging to the Federal Government during his tenure.
Mashelia Bata, a compliance officer with the bank, who appeared as witness in the case, where Malami, et al, are facing a 16-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering to the tune of N8.7 billion, to which they pleaded not guilty, gave the testimony while being questioned on the bank’s roles in the matter.
Details of the testimony conveyed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), stated how the compliance officer who was cross-examined by Adebayo Adedeji, lawyer to the defendants admitted that the deposits in the account statements complied with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Arguments had stretched when Adedeji, opposed Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), lawyer to the EFCC, who had asked the witness to explain the meaning of a suspicious transaction report, stressing that there was no ambiguity in the term.
However, Okutepa, in response, maintained that section 215(3) of the Evidence Act did not preclude him from re-examining the witness while urging the court to allow the question for proper explanation.
After Abdulmalik, agreed and overruled Adedeji, the witness told the court that banks were required to alert the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) about fund deposits coming in a repetitive pattern, adding: “Any deposition of funds seen in a pattern or repetitive, you must escalate it to the NFIU.”
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