General
Group Threatens Uzodinma With N10bn Suit Over ISOPADEC
By Dipo Olowookere
If Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State does not make moves to remedy an alleged brazen violation of the law establishing the Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ISOPADEC) within seven days, his administration will be slammed with a N10 billion suit at the court.
This threat was made by a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) known as Media Initiative against Injustice, Violence and Corruption (MIIVOC).
The group, in a statement issued on Sunday, said it will no longer sit back to watch the agency fade away and “called on well-meaning sons of the state to rise to the challenge of condemning the anomaly.”
According to the Executive Director of MIIVOC, Dr Walter Duru, the N10 billion will cover “exemplary damages from the Imo State government, among other demands.”
“Seven months into the present administration, no board has been inaugurated for the oil commission and everything about its operations is opaque.
“Seven months into the administration, statutory funds of the commission, being 40 per cent of the 13 per cent derivation funds, amounting to over N3 billion cannot be accounted for.
“About N600 million left in ISOPADEC coffers by the last managers of the commission has disappeared from the commission’s account,” he alleged in the statement made available to Business Post.
“In spite of the billions, the present administration has concluded plans to slash the salaries and allowances of staff of the commission, by placing them on the same salary structure with the state civil service.
“ISOPADEC Staff are also being owed about four months of salary arrears. The total wage bill of the commission is less than 10 per cent of the statutory 40 per cent from the 13 per cent derivation funds.
“Majority of the commission’s staff are indigenes of the two oil-producing Local Government Areas of the state; Ohaji/Egbema and Oguta LGAs,” Mr Duru further said in the statement.
He claimed that, “We have it on good authority that the Governor has directed the Head of Service of the state to take over the running of the oil commission in administration and process.
“The government has also enrolled staff of the commission in the purported automated salary system for state civil servants, slashing their salaries by about 80 per cent. These are obvious infractions to the law establishing the commission.”
According to him, “Having failed in his vexatious bid to smuggle in his native Oru East, being a part of his grand design to expropriate ISOPADEC FAAC allocation, he has now resigned himself to reducing ISOPADEC staff remuneration by 80 per cent; reduce its workforce by more than 50 per cent, while drawing up a shortlist of the potential new staff made up of his kinsmen from his native Omuma and surrounding Oru villages to replace the oil landlords who makeup ISOPADEC workforce.”
“The oil-producing communities have been returned to the old days of darkness. No electricity; no water; no good roads, with poverty building empires on the people, yet, billions meant to cushion the effects of oil exploration are diverted,” the group leader said.
Continuing, Mr Duru argued that “similar oil commissions in other parts of the Niger Delta region are not faced with any such fate, warning that the mismanagement of ISOPADEC funds is a recipe to crises in the oil-producing areas,” calling on Mr Uzodinma to do the right thing within the speculated period.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
On Monday, January 26, 2026, President Bola Tinubu will leave Abuja for Türkiye for a state visit aimed at “strengthening the existing cordial relations between the two countries and exploring further areas of cooperation in security, education, social development, innovation, and aviation.”
This is according to a statement issued on Sunday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga.
The president’s spokesman disclosed that the visit is to reciprocate an official two-day visit of Turkish President, Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to Nigeria on October 19, 2021.
Mr Tinubu, according to the statement, will be going to European nation along with other senior government officials, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Yusuf Tuggar; the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi (SAN); the Minister of Defence, Mr Christopher Musa; and the chairman of the House Committee on Defence, Mr Jimi Benson.
Others on the entourage of the president are the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Ms Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim; the Minister of Interior, Mr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo; the Minister of Culture and Creative Economy, Ms Hannatu Musawa; the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mr Nuhu Ribadu; and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mr Mohammed Mohammed.
During the visit, both countries will engage in strategic political and diplomatic discussions on shared values in finance, communication, trade and investment.
The agenda will include meetings between high-ranking officials of both nations and the signing of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) in scientific research, energy, technical cooperation, media and communications, military cooperation and protocol, among others.
A business forum will bring together investors from both countries to explore areas of interest during the visit, with Mr Tinubu expected to return to Nigeria afterwards.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Over 120 malnourished children in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State have been given nutritional support, medical screening, and caregiver education.
This was made possible through an initiative known as the Project BLOOM (Bringing Life to Our Overlooked Minors) put together by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc in partnership with the Lagos State government and the Health Emergency Initiative (HEI).
NGX Group staff volunteers worked alongside Lagos State health workers and HEI facilitators during the outreach, assisting with screenings and data recording. Structured follow-up visits are scheduled after four weeks to monitor recovery and provide extended care where necessary.
The Alimosho programme was the third under the initiative. The beneficiaries were hosted at the Lagos State Health District I.
Earlier, the initiative benefitted residents of Yaba and Ajegunle. Over 320 children and 300 caregivers were reached, with monitoring data showing that more than 50 per cent of beneficiaries in the first two phases entered recovery.
The chief executive of NGX Group, Mr Temi Popoola, linked the initiative to broader economic resilience, saying, “Sustainable capital markets are built on strong social foundations. The recovery rates we see with Project BLOOM prove that targeted, collaborative action between the public sector, civil society, and the private sector can deliver tangible impact.”
Also, the Executive Director of HEI, Achunine Pascal, said child malnutrition remains a major contributor to under-five mortality in Nigeria, adding that Project BLOOM is designed to go beyond immediate food support through structured follow-up and continued care.
On his part, the chairman of Alimosho Local Government Area, Mr Akinpelu Ibrahim Johnson, said the initiative supports the council’s long-term strategy for improving child nutrition through early detection, prevention, and effective management of malnutrition.
Representing the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Health District I, Dr. Solomon Adeyanju commended NGX Group for its commitment to child health, describing Project BLOOM as a valuable complement to the state’s primary healthcare efforts.
With additional outreaches planned, the partners reaffirmed their commitment to reducing preventable child mortality while strengthening the social foundations required for sustainable economic growth.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has dragged the Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc before a Federal High Court in Abuja over their failure to account for an alleged missing N128 billion public funds.
The group in a statement on Sunday by its Deputy Director, Mr Kolawole Oluwadare, said the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/143/2026, was filed last Friday following allegations contained in the Auditor-General of the Federation’s report published on September 9, 2025.
In the lawsuit, SERAP is seeking an order of mandamus compelling Mr Adelabu and NBET to account for what it described as “the missing or diverted N128bn from the Ministry of Power and NBET.”
The organisation is also asking the court to direct the defendants to disclose “details of how the missing or diverted N128bn was spent, including the dates of disbursement and the purported beneficiaries or contractors who received the money.”
SERAP further urged the court to compel the disclosure of “the full names, official designations and offices of all public officers who authorised, approved or otherwise participated in the release of the missing or diverted N128bn.”
According to the group, Nigerians have continued to suffer the consequences of corruption in the electricity sector, particularly amid recurring grid collapses and erratic power supply.
“Nigerians continue to pay the price for the widespread and grand corruption in the power sector,” the group said, adding that “there is a legitimate public interest in ensuring justice and accountability for these grave allegations,” arguing that granting the reliefs sought would help tackle systemic failures in the sector.
“Granting the reliefs sought would contribute to tackling corruption in the power sector and addressing the persistent breakdown of transmission lines in the country, as well as improving access of Nigerians to regular and uninterrupted electricity supply,” it stated.
The group further warned that corruption has deepened hardship for electricity consumers, noting that “ordinary Nigerians continue to pay the price for corruption in the electricity sector—staying in darkness, but still made to pay crazy electricity bills.”
The suit, filed by SERAP’s lawyers, Mr Kolawole Oluwadare, Ms Kehinde Oyewumi and Mr Andrew Nwankwo, relied heavily on findings from the Auditor-General’s 2022 audited report, which detailed multiple alleged financial irregularities involving the Ministry of Power and NBET.
The organisation stressed that public institutions are legally bound to ensure transparency, accountability, and the abolition of corrupt practices.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
Business Post had reported earlier that Mr Adelabu claimed that the missing money happened prior to his appointment as the minister of power.
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