Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Abubakar, on Friday, rejected suggestions that there were plans to Islamise the country. He said Muslims had been canvassing to make Islamic Religious Knowledge a compulsory subject in schools. Abubakar spoke at a national symposium and launching of 2025 Vision by Da’awah Coordination Council of Nigeria. The Sultan said, “When Umar Yar’Adua was President, Christians and Muslims leaders wrote, asking him to make Islamic and Christian Religious Knowledge core and compulsory subjects in schools. “When Goodluck Jonathan took over, we presented a paper making the same demand, which was approved, but the then minister of education…

PRESS RELEASE The Federal Government has appointed a director general for Debt Management Office, DMO. She is Patience Oniha. Ms. Oniha, whose appointment took effect from July 1, succeeds Abraham Nwankwo who retired from service last week. DMO is the government agency responsible for coordinating government strategy for the management of public debts. Until her appointment, Ms. Oniha served as the pioneer Head of the Efficiency Unit created by the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, to help government cut costs of governance, moderate overhead expenditure and generate savings from the procurement processes. While in office, Ms. Oniha brought her experience,…

Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, has warned Governor of Kaduna State Nasir El-Rufai against “persecuting journalist in the state”. The warning came following the trial of a journalist, Luka Binniyat. A Kaduna State High Court on Wednesday remanded Mr. Binniyat, a former reporter with Vanguard Newspapers, over allegations of false publication brought by the Kaduna State Government. The government says Mr. Binniyat’s report in Vanguard in February falsely claimed that five students were killed at a road block erected by Fulani herdsmen, compounding the state’s already poor security situation at the time. Authorities said the journalist fabricated the name of…

Wife of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has suffered minor injuries in an accident involving the presidential motorcade after the 93-year-old leader's return from a trip for medical treatment. State broadcaster ZBC reported that Grace Mugabe was taken to a hospital on Saturday to be treated for bruises on her right ankle following a "freak car incident," and was later discharged. State media have provided no further details on the accident, which happened after the Mugabes left the airport in Harare, the capital. The couple had left for Singapore on July 7 in what Zimbabwean authorities described as a routine medical…