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Akpabio to World Conference of Speakers: *Don’t surrender to despair, commit to peace, justice

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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.

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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.

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“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.”

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Nafiu Gombe: Yes, I have sponsors! *I can’t fight ADC big men alone!

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Nafiu Bala Gombe, the man on whose behalf the African Democratic Congress (ADC), is currently in a prostrate state, has admitted to getting outside help in prosecuting his legal matters against the David Mark camp.

Recall that Mark, former Senate President and Rauf Aregbesola were, last week, derecognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and had their names struck out based on the case filed by Gombe on September 2, 2025.

The commission had relied on the pronouncement of the Court of Appeal, which ordered parties in the case to maintain status quo ante bellum, which it interpreted to mean that it should not deal with either side.

Against the backdrop of the dust the matter had raised across the country, the embattled ADC leadership, had accused the former Deputy Chairman of being sponsored by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to play the spoiler role to enable President Bola Tinubu have no challenge in the 2027 presidential election.

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Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the Mark camp, had last week, stated this much when he wondered how Gombe, who on his own could not afford an ordinary lawyer, going by his financial status, would now be hiring more than three Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) to represent him, which would probably run into tens of millions of naira.

Reacting on Tuesday, Gombe admitted getting outside help, but added that such assistance was not coming from government quarters or the APC, but from public-spirited individuals and Nigerians averse to the injustice being meted out to him.

Abimuku Monday, spokesman to Gombe, who spoke during an appearance on Morning Briefs, a breakfast programme on Channels Television, on Tuesday, told his host: “Before now, they were saying these people are big weights and we’re light weights. Now, we’re suddenly being seen as human beings. Earlier, we were seen as nobodies – as boys who don’t have capacity to challenge this in court.

“They say Nafiu Bala does not even have money to pursue his case. You see, that’s how they reduce people by their own estimation. They don’t find out who people. They have forgotten that for you to seek legal actions, there are so many ways to go about it.

“It is either you use your own money or your personal relationship with people. Does it mean that somebody in politics cannot have his own friends or cannot have lawyers as his friend or cannot have other members of the society as his friends.

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“These are not members of the APC. They don’t belong to any party. They’re citizens of this country, who mean well for Nigeria. Nobody is scuttling the coalition. The fact remains that if you have a challenge, people will rally around you knowing it’s a good cause you’re fighting. People will rally around you to give you the necessary support that you need. They even called my principal a small boy.”

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Woman returns N1million discovered in purchased items to owner  

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Serah Luca, a Christian woman, has returned N1 million she unknowingly took along with goods purchased from a trader at Terminus market in Jos, Plateau state capital.

Luca, a petty trader, reportedly said she made the purchase on Friday and only discovered the hidden cash after getting home.

She said her decision to return the money was driven by fear of God and her belief that she could not keep what did not belong to her, especially knowing the hardship that comes with losing money in business.

“I am a petty businesswoman. I know what it means to suffer loss. If I put that kind of money into my business, I believe God would punish me,” Daily Trust quoted her as saying.

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The trader, Abubakar Dola, who deals in polythene bags at Terminus market, expressed surprise at the woman’s honesty, noting that he had no idea where the money went after mistakenly placing it inside the bag she bought.

Dola said he had planned to transfer the cash through a point of sales (POS) operator but became worried when he could not see the polythene bag where the money was kept.

“I mistakenly included it in what she bought. I didn’t realise until days later, and I had already given up hope. For her to return it after three days is remarkable. I pray Allah rewards her and gives us more people like her.”

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Strait of Hormuz: Comply now or you’ll be history – Trump warns Iran

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“The entire country could be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” were the words with which US President Donald Trump, flashed the redlight signal over what could be the fate of Iran in the coming hours, after a month-old war, which saw leaders of the Islamic nation, all but totally obliterated.

The POTUS, who on Saturday, gave Iran 48 hours to to open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic approaches, or comply or risk facing “hell,” later threatened that the US would blow up Iran’s power plants and bridges if Tehran failed to adhere to his warning.

However, in his latest threat on Monday, Trump told reporters that Iran had until Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET (1 am WAT) to make a deal, adding: “We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business – burning, exploding and never to be used again, I mean complete demolition – by 12 o’clock. And it’ll happen over a period of four hours if we want it to. We don’t want that to happen.”

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