General
Osun NUJ Disowns Vice President
The Nigeria Union of Journalists’ (NUJ) Osun State Council on Thursday passed vote of no confidence on the National Vice President B Zone, Mr Cosmos Oni and called on the National President Mr Waheed Odusile not to delegate him on any assignment in Osun.
The union at the Congress attended by all Chapel Chairmen and Secretary held at the Olu-Osungboun Hall, NUJ Press Centre Osogbo on Thursday, alleged that the Cosmos Oni is “supervising criminality and fuelling unassay crisis in the state council of the union.
NUJ congress presided over by the Acting Chairman; Mr Kehinde Ayantunji condemned in its totality the violent posture of some individuals who are claiming to be caretaker members of the union and urged the members of the public to disregard them saying that they are still on indefinite suspension since May.
In a communiqués issued after the congress, the union accused the vice president of double standard, dishonesty, deliberate degrading of the union and supervision of criminal activities.
According to the communiqué, “The conduct of the NUJ Vice President has become a source of concern to the right thinking individuals in Osun and we challenged him to explain his interest in Osun, and why he want to destabilise our union, during Ramadam, the same man came to press centre, and asked the thugs to break offices of our union carted away valuable documents that are nowhere to be found.
“No Trade or Professional union in Osun was known for this criminality in the past not to talk of the prestigious NUJ, until the recent involvement of Cosmos Oni who introduced the idea of burglary, as at the period of this congress, the 22 seater NUJ Bus is nowhere to be found and further investigation revealed that some car theft syndicate and the purported caretaker committee with the support of Cosmos Oni, forcefully broke the ignition of the bus valued at N8 Million donated by the state government and charted it away.”
The union said it is very sure that the National Secretariat of NUJ never delegated Cosmos to be perpetrating criminal activities with intent to drag the name of the union into the mud and we have to inform the people of the state that he is at no period representing the interest of NUJ rather his own selfish interest.”
The congress also said the vice president should be blamed for the crisis in Osun NUJ after the February 11 election.
“To understand the inconsistency of the Mr Comos, he was the one who signed all the delegate lists for the last election, he supervised the election and administered oath of office to elected Chairman and Secretary, Mr Abiodun Olalere and Bola Bamigbola respectively and he was the same person that wrote a report that the election he conducted was flown, then where is Mr Cosmos integrity.”
“ He also singlehandedly scuttled the rescheduled election, the Deputy National Sectary had pasted the list of delegate for the second elections until the arrival of Mr Cosmos who insisted to smuggled some names into the list which eventually led to the rescheduled election.”
The union however urged its members to be law abiding and resist all provocations that will further drag the image of the union into the mud
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has explained why it initiated a move to freeze the bank account of the Osun State government.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Governor of Osun State, Mr Ademola Adeleke, claimed that the anti-money laundering agency asked one of its bankers, First Bank, not to release funds to the state government.
According to the Governor, this was part of the strategies to frustrate his administration ahead of the August 15, 2026, governorship election in the state.
Reacting to the issue on Wednesday night, the EFCC, in a statement, said it has been investigating the state government since March 2026 over an alleged “fraudulent handling of Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) account to the tune of N11.0 billion.
The organisation noted that some officials of the state government, especially the Accountant General of the State, have had interview sessions with investigators of the EFCC.
“These ongoing investigations of the state government would not have warranted any placement of Post No Debit order on its account but for the precipitate and unwarranted movement of funds from the accounts to different suspicious accounts since August 2, 2026.
“The commission noticed huge transfers of funds into different corporate entities and had to swiftly halt the trend by freezing the accounts from which such heavy funds are being moved,” parts of the statement said.
In the disclosure, the agency noted that its preventive mandate is a public-inclined framework of safeguarding public funds, assets and resources, stressing that it cannot “watch idly while a state government’s account is being pillaged.”
“While the commission is fully aware of the impending governorship election in Osun State, it has a responsibility to act in defence of the sanctity of the funds of the state. It will be uncharitable for the commission to allow an excuse of an upcoming election to fold its arms to perform its legally-assigned functions,” it pointed out.
The EFCC disclosed that it is “keeping watch over the finances of other states like Osun State. Many of these states are on the investigative radar of the commission to ensure accountability and probity. The commission has always pointed out that it is non-partisan and non-sectarian but always working in the overall interests of Nigerians. The Osun State government account was frozen to save public funds from being looted.”
The organisation urged the public “to ignore false narratives and deliberate demonisation of the works of the EFCC. The interests of all Nigerians are greater and will always be protected by the commission.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has launched a mobile application designed to monitor fuel consumption patterns in real time across retail outlets nationwide.
The NMDPRA, established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, is responsible for the technical and commercial regulation of Nigeria’s midstream and downstream petroleum operations. The deployment of the mobile application aligns with the authority’s broader efforts to leverage technology to improve regulatory compliance and strengthen accountability.
The pilot phase of the project began on August 1 in Abuja and its six Area Councils, the authority said in a statement published on X.
As part of the rollout, the Executive Director for Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure (DSSRI), Mr Ogbugo Ukoha, led a team alongside officials from the Abuja Regional Office to assess the readiness and operational performance of the digital platform at participating retail outlets.
According to the NMDPRA, the application captures inventory and compliance data in real time, enabling regulators to monitor fuel distribution more effectively while improving operational efficiency across the sector.
The authority said the platform would generate reliable, data-driven insights to support evidence-based decision-making, strengthen national energy security planning and enhance transparency in the downstream petroleum industry.
It added that the initiative is expected to provide significant value to government, investors, operators and other stakeholders by improving access to accurate fuel consumption and compliance data.
Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector has undergone significant changes since the deregulation of the petrol market and the removal of fuel subsidies, with regulators placing greater emphasis on data-driven supervision to ensure product availability, prevent supply disruptions and discourage sharp regional disparities in distribution.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
No doubt, moving money among African markets remains a slow, fragmented process that relies on multiple intermediaries and prolonged settlement cycles.
To solve this issue and drive the development of stablecoin-enabled payment services for businesses across the continent, Onafriq has joined forces with a leading stablecoin infrastructure provider, Privy.
The collaboration will enable Onafriq to create and manage embedded digital asset solutions for its partners and, in time, institutional clients where regulation allows. The initial phase focuses on cross-chain stablecoin transfers and treasury and settlement workflows, creating the foundation for future cross-border payment and liquidity solutions.
Integrating Privy’s secure infrastructure enables Onafriq to build the capabilities required to support a new generation of efficient digital payment services for banks, fintechs, and mobile money operators.
This partnership is a key component of Onafriq’s broader strategy to modernise pan-African payment infrastructure, enabling secure multi-modal wallets and more efficient movement of value across the continent.
The outcome will support a range of future institutional use cases, including stablecoin-enabled settlement, treasury management and liquidity services, as it reflects Onafriq’s commitment to driving Africa’s digital transformation agenda by investing in technologies that make financial services more efficient, connected and accessible.
It was gathered that Onafriq selected Privy for its enterprise-grade infrastructure to enable the seamless integration of digital asset wallet capabilities into its products, subject to regulatory approval, and deliver a simple user experience while abstracting the complexity of blockchain technology.
“At Onafriq, we keep investing in technology that makes payments faster and more accessible. Privy gives us a building block for faster settlement and better liquidity management. As demand for digital asset services grows, our goal is to ensure Africa’s payment ecosystem benefits securely and in line with regulatory frameworks,” the Group Chief Product and Innovation Officer at Onafriq,” Mr Luke Kyohere, said.
The chief executive of Privy, Mr Henri Stern, said, “Stablecoins will play an increasingly important role in the future of global payments, but real-world adoption depends on infrastructure that is secure, scalable and simple to implement. Working with Onafriq allows us to help build that foundation across Africa and beyond.”
