Author: Citynews

​The Presidency has clarified that the ongoing Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, case involving records relating to President Bola Tinubu before a United States federal court is a civil records-disclosure dispute and not a criminal case. The clarification was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy. According to Onanuga, the case, filed before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, concerns requests for the disclosure of government records under the US FOIA. He said the matter originated from FOIA requests submitted in 2022 by Aaron…

The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has declared that he is prepared to stake his life in defending the votes of Nigerians in the 2027 general elections. Obi made the declaration in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during a town hall meeting with voters tagged “Obi Talks Nigeria,” where he assured supporters that his party would resist attempts to intimidate voters or manipulate election results. The former Anambra State governor said the era when voters could be intimidated at polling units must end, insisting that citizens must collectively stand up to protect their mandate. “Nobody will…

KEY TAKEAWAYS US policy advisory and lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, said its founder, Karl Von Batten, was offered $3 million to drop allegations against President Bola Tinubu. The firm said a highly placed individual linked to Tinubu made the offer and invited Von Batten to a confidential London meeting a few days ago. Von Batten-Montague-York said Von Batten rejected the offer, kept copies of the messages, and will submit them to the US Department of Justice and FBI. A United States-based policy advisory and lobbying firm linked to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has claimed that its founder, Karl Von…

Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has alerted security agencies to an alleged plan by purported Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, local government executives to invade council secretariats across the state. The APC, in a statement signed by its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, alleged that the purported PDP chairmen and councillors planned to take over the 30 local government council secretariats and the Area Office today, Thursday. According to the statement, “the alleged invasion was expected to be carried out with the assistance of political hoodlums allegedly recruited from within and outside Osun State.” The party said…

The Presidency has intensified its criticism of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, with President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, vowing that the opposition politician will suffer a defeat he will not forget in the 2027 presidential election. Olusegun made the remark in a post on X. “He will never forget it,” Olusegun wrote, warning that Atiku’s next presidential contest would end in a memorable loss. Olusegun made the remark in a post on X The statement comes amid a war of words between the Presidency and Atiku’s camp, with the recent being over reports attributed to…

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has expressed confidence that hunger and insecurity will not prevent Nigerians from re-electing President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election. Wike stated this on Wednesday during a media parley with selected journalists in Abuja, arguing that many voters depend on political leaders and are not entirely independent in making political choices. The minister was responding to concerns over the hardship and insecurity facing Nigerians, acknowledging that hunger and insecurity would remain issues in any Nigerian election. He, however, urged critics to be practical rather than theoretical in assessing how…

The Lagos State Police Command has denied allegations that officers fired tear gas at pensioners during a protest in Alausa, Lagos, on Monday, August 31, 2026. CityNews reports that the command said the protest by members of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Lagos State Council, ended peacefully and that no tear gas was used by security personnel deployed to the area. The denial followed reports and images shared on social media claiming that pensioners were tear-gassed during the demonstration. The development also prompted human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, to call for action against any police officers found to have used tear…

The Federal High Court in Abuja has cautioned lawyers handling a suit seeking to stop President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from contesting the 2027 presidential election against taking arguments from the courtroom to the public space. Justice Inyang Ekwo issued the warning on Tuesday. Judge Ekwo gave the warning while hearing preliminary issues in a suit brought by former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The judge warned that lawyers could face serious consequences if they discussed the case on social media or other media platforms. “This case is to be conducted in court and not in the…

The coordinated media blitz orchestrated around a Washington, D.C. advisory firm is not an intelligence breakthrough; it is a clinical demonstration of desperation. The bankruptcy of Atiku’s 2027 political agenda is writ large in the unmasking of the lobby firm he hired. Strip away the hyperbolic prose, the counterfeit urgency, and the grandiose invocations of classified espionage, and what remains is a textbook transactional hit job. At its core, the theatrical dispatches issued by Dr Karl-Marx Edward Okeke-Von Batten—a commercial lobbyist operating under a lavish, multi-million-dollar retainer funded by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Findings under the Foreign Agents Registration…

The Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned until September 28 a suit filed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar seeking to bar President Bola Tinubu from contesting the 2027 presidential election. CityNews reports that the case, filed under suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1888/2026, was brought by Atiku, a presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with the party listed as the second plaintiff. Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were named as the first, second and third defendants respectively. Atiku’s case centres on allegations that Tinubu submitted a forged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)…