Barely two months into its new status as the opposition political party, having governed the country for sixteen years, the Peoples Democratic Party, has started struggling with the challenge of being an opposition, as it yesterday announced that the party will reduce allowances, staff strength by 50%.

A 44 year-old man who was arrested by anti-narcotic agents with 1.185kg cocaine has blamed his indulgence on wrong counsel, disclosing that he invested N2 million in the botched trip to China.

The Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Tukur Buratai has carried out a massive shake-up in the hierarchy of the Nigerian Army that affected 95 generals. This came as President Muhammadu Buhari declared that Nigeria has taken the International Court of Justice ruling on Bakassi Peninsula in good faith.

Lagos—A member of the House of Representatives and former Oyo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Bosun Oladele, yesterday, in Lagos took a swipe at Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State over what he described as his persistent unfortunate comments against President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption programme, dismissing the governor as a rabble rouser.

The new Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig-Gen Paul Boroh (rtd), yesterday, assumed duty with a promise to strengthen the programme and make it more efficient and beneficial to the people.

National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Oyegun has debunked insinuations in some quarters that the party or any of its members were responsible for the current travails of the wife of the Senate President, Toyin Saraki in the hands of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

THE pan Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohaneze Ndigbo, said yesterday that it was not surprised at the way the appointments of President Muhammadu Buhari were going, insisting that it had shown the president’s deep rooted hatred for the Igbo nation.

Enugu cleric, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, yesterday, celebrated his 20th priesthood anniversary, describing it as victory over enemies of truth and blackmailers.

Mr. Yinka Odumakin is the National Publicity Secretary of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere. In this interview, Odumakin declares that he has no regrets supporting former President Goodluck Jonathan in the last general elections. He, however, calls on Nigerians, irrespective of party affiliation, to unite against the Boko Haram terrorist group. Excerpts:

Ile-Ife—Despite the widespread report, the Royal Traditional Council, RTC, of Ife has refuted the news making the rounds that Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Ooni of Ife, was dead.

WHEN President Muhammadu Buhari set out with his 32-man official delegation to the United States of America for an official visit to President Barack Obama, top on his shopping list was the quest to procure weapons and sundry support from the world’s sole superpower to flush out the Boko Haram jihadists from our embattled North East.

SENATE President,Bukola Saraki, yesterday, vowed that the 8th Senate under his watch, must do everything within the ambit of the law to re-invigorate the dwindling nation’s economy and make it compete with that of developed nations.

EVALUATED from whichever direction, it is now clear, that President Goodluck Jonathan’s defeat in the last election was one of the greatest things that happened to Nigeria in recent times. With hindsight now, it would have been the ultimate disaster to continue what we experienced from 1999 that culminated in the sordid and most absurd of the last five years under Jonathan.

The Director of Monetary Policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Moses Tule, disclosed, yesterday, that Ghanaian businessmen and other African countries are invading the Nigerian foreign exchange market.

EVERY society has its stock of critics and cynics. Quite often, the former are preferred to the latter because in the course of their criticism, some critics would throw in alternatives or proffer solutions to problems; while the cynics never see anything good in a situation.