Eve Afrique Business and News

21/07/2025

When vision meets storytelling, magic happens.

Abuja Investments Company Limited, proudly partners with Jim Iyke on “SIN” – a bold cinematic journey exploring truth, redemption, and society.

We’re investing in more than business, we are investing in culture.
Abuja Film Village International Limited Jim Iyke

21/07/2025

Nobel Peace Prize Nomination: His Excellency Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR

It is with immense pride and gratitude that we announce the joint nomination of His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2010–2015), for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. This nomination is put forth by the National Think Tank Nigeria, the International Society of Comparative Education, Science and Technology (ISCEST), and the International Institute for Policy & Strategic Studies.

We extend our heartfelt appreciation to President Jonathan for his exemplary service and unwavering dedication to the ideals of peace, democracy, and nation-building. Throughout his remarkable political journey—from his early days as Deputy Governor, where I had the privilege of serving as Secretary to the Government, to his ascent as President and now a global statesman—he has consistently embodied the values of humility, integrity, and visionary leadership.

President Jonathan stands as a beacon of hope for democracy in Africa. His legacy is defined by an extraordinary respect for democratic principles, the rule of law, and human rights. In a moment that will forever remain etched in Nigeria’s history, he made the courageous and selfless decision to concede defeat in the 2015 presidential election—an unprecedented act that preserved national unity and strengthened democratic institutions. This singular act of statesmanship reinforced his deep belief that leadership is not about clinging to power, but about serving with honor and safeguarding the future of one’s nation.

Under his administration, Nigeria witnessed significant progress in infrastructure, education, and healthcare. His commitment to elevating Nigeria’s image and promoting African interests on the global stage earned him admiration worldwide. Much like the great Nelson Mandela, President Jonathan has continued to advocate for peace, dialogue, and democratic governance across the continent.

As Co-Chairman of the Goodluck Jonathan/Yar’Adua Committee of Friends, I have witnessed firsthand his relentless passion for youth empowerment, sustainable development, and collaborative governance. He remains a mentor, a unifier, and a visionary, whose influence transcends borders and inspires generations.

Your Excellency, we celebrate you. Your life of service has left an indelible mark not just on Nigeria, but on Africa and the world. Your nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize is a fitting recognition of your enduring legacy. We are proud of you, and we stand united in honoring your contributions to peace, democracy, and human dignity.

Congratulations on this well-deserved honor.

Source: Steve Azaiki

21/07/2025

Retired police officers protest for a better welfare at the National Assembly.

Amid rain, some retired police officers on Monday staged a protest at the entrance gate of the National Assembly in Abuja.
The protesters are demanding their removal from the Contributory Pension Scheme.

21/07/2025

21/07/2025

Troops Arrest 62 Suspected Oil Thieves, Confiscate Over 350,000 Litres

In a sustained military operation against oil theft and pipeline sabotage in the Niger Delta, troops of the 6 Division, Nigerian Army, have intensified their clampdown on illegal refining activities, recording major successes across four states—Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, and Akwa Ibom.

Rivers State saw the most significant breakthrough, with the deactivation of six illegal refining sites around an abandoned wellhead in Joinkrama 4, Ahoada West Local Government Area.

The troops also seized six ovens, reservoirs, and receivers containing over 300,000 litres of stolen crude oil and 21,000 litres of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO).

The development was disclosed in a statement signed by the Acting Deputy Director, 6 Division, Army Public Relations, Lieutenant Colonel Danjuma Jonah Danjuma.

The statement noted that the operation was part of joint efforts with other security agencies between July 14 and 20, 2025.

“Our troops have not only disrupted illegal refining operations but also dismantled their critical supply networks,” the statement read.

In Obiafor, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area (ONELGA), troops uncovered multiple dug-out pits—two containing over 5,700 litres of stolen crude oil and one with unquantified AGO.

Two boats laden with ten sacks of condensates were also intercepted at the riverside.

At Elele Town in the Ikwerre LGA, a Sienna vehicle without a license plate was intercepted while transporting 32 sacks filled with over 1,920 litres of stolen AGO.

On the same axis, troops discovered an illegal connection point and a dug-out pit with 1,200 litres of condensate, alongside hoses, drums, and metal ovens.

Reaffirming the Army’s commitment, Danjuma stated, “With continued support and intelligence from locals, we will defeat the enemies of Nigeria’s economic stability.”

He said in Bayelsa State, four illegal refining sites and four dug-out pits were dismantled around Biseni in the Yenagoa LGA.

Over 10,000 litres of stolen AGO were recovered, while five cooking ovens used for processing were destroyed during the raid.

Troops in Delta State, acting on credible intelligence, moved from Javel Sharp Sand Waterside to Gana Road in the Sapele LGA, where they apprehended two suspected oil thieves.

The suspects were caught with two boats loaded with 30 bags containing more than 1,500 litres of illegally refined AGO.

The statement further confirmed that in Akwa Ibom, the troops “continued to dominate the operational landscape,” effectively deterring illegal refining operations and ensuring criminals were denied freedom of movement.

Commending the troops for their efforts, the General Officer Commanding, 6 Division, Major General Emmanuel Emekah, urged them to maintain the pressure on saboteurs and criminal elements in the region.

“The troops must sustain the operational tempo to continue denying economic saboteurs any freedom of action,” Emekah said.

The army encouraged members of the public to remain vigilant and to support ongoing operations by providing timely, credible information to security operatives.

21/07/2025

Kaduna Sweeps Gold Medals At Gumel North West U-17 Volleyball Championship

The Kaduna male and female teams showcased exceptional skills and dominance as they triumphed over their competitors, securing gold medals in both categories at the inaugural Engr. Habu Gumel North West Under-17 Volleyball Championship.

The Kaduna male team bested the hosts, Jigawa, in the final with a score of 3-1, while their female counterparts also defeated Jigawa to claim gold. The Jigawa female team settled for silver, with Kano taking home the bronze.

Speaking on the achievement on Sunday, the Secretary of the Kaduna State Volleyball Association (KADSVA), Adamu Mohammed, commended both teams for their stellar performances and for bringing pride to the state.

“This championship, aimed at grassroots development in the North West region, served as an exciting opportunity for the KADA Team to shine.

The KADA Team won gold medals in both male and female categories,” he remarked.

He also praised the Chairman of the Kaduna State Volleyball Association, Engr. Musa Ni**od, and his board members for their support.

“I extend my congratulations to the coaches, Hilary Barwa and Matthias L. Philemon, as well as the Kaduna State Ministry of Sports Development.”

The championship was sponsored by the President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Engr. Habu Gumel, and took place in Gumel, Jigawa State.

Chairman of the Kaduna State Volleyball Association, Engineer Musa Ni**od, single-handedly sponsored the state’s teams to the competition, which commenced on July 15 and concluded on July 20, 2025.

21/07/2025

Appeal court orders CAC to revoke registration of KPMG Professional Services.

The court of appeal in Lagos has asked the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to revoke the certificate of registration of “KPMG Professional Services”.

In a unanimous decision delivered on Thursday, the appellant court granted the reliefs sought by KPMG Nigeria against CAC and KPMG Professional Services.

The judgment was read by Abdullahi Mahmud Bayero, the judge.

The two other judges are Abimbola Obaseki-Adejumo and A.M. Talba.

In 2002, KPMG Professional Services was registered as a company with CAC despite the existence of KPMG Nigeria, comprising its audit, tax, and consulting arms.

The KPMG Nigeria has long been registered in Nigeria before 2002.

KPMG Audit was registered in 1969, KPMG Tax Consultants in 1990, and KPMG Consulting in 1969.

Displeased with the registration of KPMG Professional Services, KPMG Nigeria approached the federal high court.

The consulting firm had argued that the name “KPMG Professional Services” was deceptively similar to its long-established identity.

In 2005, the lower court dismissed KPMG Nigeria’s case, citing an alleged merger between KPMG Nigeria and Akintola Williams Deloitte as reason the company could no longer assert rights to the name.

The lower upheld the second respondent’s (KPMG Professional Services) counterclaim and ordered that KPMG Nigeria’s name be struck off the CAC register.

The lower court had premised its decision on newspaper articles stating that KPMG Nigeria reportedly merged with Akintola Williams Deloitte.

APPEAL COURT’S JUDGMENT

Delivering the judgment, Bayero ruled that the lower court erred by relying on newspaper articles to ascertain that KPMG Nigeria allegedly merged with another company.

The judge said the documents showing the alleged merger were not presented before the lower court, and the form of the alleged merger could not have been known.

“In any event, the only branch of KPMG, if any, that entered into a merger with Akintola Williams as stated in the newspaper articles 18, is KPMG Audit,” the judge ruled.

“The other spheres were totally unaffected. It would therefore be wrong to state that the merger (which has not been shown to this Court) of KPMG Audit with Akintola Williams means all the other areas of business, including KPMG Consulting and KPMG Tax Consultants, also ceased to exist.

“Even if the Appellants (KPMG Nigeria) had ceased to do business as the Court seemed to have held, the 2nd Respondents (KPMG Professional Services) should not have been carrying on business until the Appellant’s certificate of registration is withdrawn or set aside.

“They cannot use the name until the Appellant’s certification of registration is withdrawn or set aside. They cannot use the name until the name is removed from the 1st Respondent’s (CAC) Register of Names.

“The 1st Respondents can only assign the name to the 2nd Respondents after first taking it away from the Appellants.”

The court ruled that CAC erred by registering KPMG Professional Services despite the existence of a business name, which is already registered.

The judge reversed the earlier ruling of the lower court and reaffirmed the primacy of statutory protection for existing business names under Nigerian corporate law.

21/07/2025

Badenoch: UK should reject immigrants from countries that allow child marriages, criminalise LGBTQ.

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, says immigrants from countries whose cultures that do not align with the UK values should not be welcome.

Badenoch spoke on Sunday in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.

The UK opposition leader has been outspoken about her concerns over the countries immigrants come from and the cultures they bring.

Badenoch, born to Nigerian Yoruba parents, spent much of her childhood in Nigeria.

When questioned about her views in light of her background, she argued that allowing large numbers of immigrants could eventually erode British culture.

“Culture matters more,” she said.

“Certainly, in the UK, there is something that people from around the world are coming there to get.

“It is that system, you know, enlightenment values, equality under the law, freedom of speech, you know, freedom of association, women having equal rights, the rule of law, our legal systems—so much of that is what draws people from around the world.

“It is what has made us a successful country. But if you have a large number of people who don’t believe in those things, eventually your country will change.”

“NOT ALL CULTURES ARE EQUAL”

Badenoch said not all cultures are equal.

“Some people may not like to hear that, but cultures where there’s child marriage, where homosexuals, gay people are treated criminally and killed. Those are not equal cultures. I will not accept that,” she said.

“Cultures where women are less as citizens—those are equal cultures, and when we have large numbers of people coming into a country, that does change things.”

Many of the cultural practices Badenoch has criticised are, in fact, common in Nigeria.

The UK politician accused immigrants of exploiting the tolerance of the British system to secure citizenship with ease.

“We have people pretending, for instance, to be homosexual so that they can claim asylum, and then they go on to get married and have children. They’re abusing the laws that we have,” Badenoch said.

“We have people who go through false conversions. The parish priests, they’re very excited ‘Oh, these Muslims want to convert to Christianity.’ They convert so that they can claim asylum and say, ‘If I went back to my country, I can be persecuted.’

“This is exploitation of a system that was not designed for this sort of thing. You have to be honest about that.”

Badenoch added that she would not allow a Nigerian immigrant to come to the UK and try to create a “mini-Nigeria”.

She said under her leadership, the only immigrants that would be welcome to the UK are net contributors, not people who come and then need welfare or social housing.

21/07/2025

Air Peace Launches Direct Abuja–London Flights to Heathrow and Gatwick from October 26.

Air Peace has launched direct Abuja–London flights to Heathrow and Gatwick airports from October 26, becoming the first Nigerian airline to do so

Nigerian airline Air Peace has announced the launch of direct flights from Abuja to both London Heathrow and London Gatwick airports, effective October 26, 2025.

With this, the airline will become the first Nigerian carrier to operate direct services from the nation’s capital to both of the UK’s major international gateways.

The new services will be operated using Air Peace’s Boeing 777 aircraft. To mark the launch, the airline is offering round-trip tickets starting from just ₦1 million.

Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, said: “We are thrilled to launch these direct services from Abuja to Heathrow and Gatwick, which reflects our dedication to expanding international access for our valued customers.”

The service introduces a new model of connectivity, allowing passengers from any of Air Peace’s domestic destinations—such as Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kano, Owerri, and Asaba—to connect through Abuja to London using a single ticket. This eliminates the need for multiple bookings or baggage re-checks.

The airline says the route will not only facilitate business and tourism but also strengthen trade and cultural links between Nigeria and the United Kingdom. Tickets are available via the airline’s website and through accredited travel agencies nationwide.

20/07/2025

NDDC @25: Celebrating Impacts & Legacies

Late Ambassador Sam Edem served as the Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) from 2005 to 2008. He was honoured during the 25th Anniversary Gala/Award Night in the category of Former Chairman.

Ambassador Edem was a distinguished Nigerian diplomat and public servant. He hailed from Ndiya in Nsit-Ubium, Akwa Ibom State, and had a long and impactful career in diplomacy and national development. He was an alumnus of the University of Ibadan and the University of Montreal, and a participant in Course 3 of the National Defence College, Nigeria.

His tenure as NDDC Chairman was marked by bold and visionary initiatives. He is widely credited with conceptualising the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, a pivotal strategy aimed at addressing the root causes of militancy in the region. Drawing from direct interactions with youths in the creeks, Ambassador Edem championed a narrative that viewed them not as criminals but as aggrieved citizens. His approach emphasised reconciliation, rehabilitation, and reintegration, laying the groundwork for what would later become national policy under President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

Beyond peacebuilding, Ambassador Edem also championed agricultural development as a pathway to economic empowerment. He initiated large-scale rice and cassava farming projects across the Niger Delta, although much of this work did not receive the recognition it deserved.

He passed away in 2021. His legacy in diplomacy and regional development continues to inspire.

NDDC..Making a Difference

20/07/2025

SERAP, Others Sue FG Over Non-Release Of NDDC Forensic Audit Report

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and four concerned Nigerians have filed a lawsuit against the government of President Bola Tinubu over its failure to publish the report of the forensic audit carried out on the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC).

SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.

He said the forensic audit implicated top officials and politicians in the disappearance of N6 trillion from the agency between 2001 and 2019.

According to the statemen, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, recently alleged that the wife of a former minister received N48bn over 12 months “to train Niger Delta women.”

The plaintiffs in the suit include Prince Taiwo Aiyedatiwa, Chief Jude Igbogifurotogu Pulemote, Ben Omietimi Tariye, and Princess Elizabeth Egbe.

Filed last Friday before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja and marked ECW/CCJ/APP/35/25, the plaintiffs are seeking “a declaration that the failure of the Nigerian government to publish the NDDC forensic report amounts to a fundamental breach of the country’s international human rights obligations.”

The plaintiff want “an order directing and compelling the Nigerian government to publish and ensure access to information to the NDDC forensic report which has been submitted to the government but remains shrouded in secrecy,” and “an order directing and compelling the Nigerian government to adopt and ensure effective measures to address transparency and accountability gaps in the spending of public funds budgeted for the NDDC.”

“The Nigerian government has violated our right to know the truth about the corruption allegations documented in the NDDC forensic report.

“The obstruction of the publication of the report is perpetrating impunity and the cover-up of the allegations documented in the report.

“Implicit in freedom of expression is the public’s right to open access to information and to know what governments are doing on their behalf, without which truth would languish and people’s participation in government would remain fragmented and illusory,” they argued.

The plaintiffs claimed that the Nigerian government not only refused to release the NDDC forensic report but also failed to provide any explanation for withholding it from them and the general public.

They argued that the government is legally obligated to uphold transparency and grant access to the report, as part of the broader right to seek, receive, and share information.

The suit, filed by lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi, and Andrew Nwankwo on behalf of SERAP and the four citizens, stated, “There is an overriding public interest in the publication and disclosure of the NDDC forensic report.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari had in 2019 ordered the forensic audit following widespread allegations of grand corruption within the NDDC.

20/07/2025

Withdraw Threat, Apologise To Obi, Falana Tells Okpebholo.

Human rights lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has asked Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, to withdraw the threat against former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

During a public event on Friday, Okpebholo warned that Obi must not visit Edo without prior security clearance, alleging that violence followed the LP leader’s last visit to the state.

“That man who says he has no ‘shishi’ came and dropped N15 million. Where did he get it from? After he left, three people were killed. For this reason, Obi must not come to Edo without security clearance,” Okpebholo had said.

However, in a statement on Sunday, Falana condemned Okpebholo’s utterances, saying they violate the 1999 Constitzution.

“The threat to the life of Mr. Peter Obi issued by the “new sheriff in town” in Edo State, constitutes a violation of section 33 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended and article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples (Ratification and Enforcement) which guarantee the fundamental right of every citizen to life,” Falana said.

“In view of section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution, which stipulates that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government, Governor Okpebholo should withdraw the threat, apologise publicly to Mr. Peter Obi and assure him of the safety of his life in Edo State.

“However, if Governor Okpebholo does not withdraw the illegal threat because of sheer arrogance of raw power, Mr. Peter Obi should proceed to file an application in the Benin Judicial Division of the Federal High Court to secure the enforcement of his fundamental right to life. Mr. Obi should act with utmost urgency in view of the prevalence of mob justice and other forms of extrajudicial killings in the country.”