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President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio has assured Nigerians that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu – led administration will do all within its powers to ensure that the problems of insecurity currently confronting the country became a thing of the past.

Akpabio gave the assurance on Wednesday, while receiving in courtesy, members of the Ladies Golf Association of Nigeria led by its National President, Dr Lima Ahmed at the National Assembly.

A statement by the Special Assistant on Media to the President of the Senate, Jackson Udom, quoted Akpabio as saying,
” On behalf of the Nigerian Senate, I welcome you to the National Assembly. I am equally very happy to receive you in my office. As Nigerians we are all aware of the insecurity challenges we are currently facing and all I can say is that President Bola Ahmed is giving the situation its utmost attention and that is what led to the recent release of the school children that were abducted in Oyo State.

” The current administration is doing a whole lot and I can assure you that very soon, the issue of security would be a thing of past. Don’t rely on what you hear or see in the social media, they are not true reflection of what is happening in our country”

Speaking further, Akpabio traced the refusal of women in supporting themselves during elections for political offices, to the toxic behaviour of those who had in the past been given the opportunities for such positions, only to misuse it to the future detriment of other women.

Akpabio assured the golfers of his support and that of the Senate for their forth coming international Ladies tournament to be hosted at the IBB International Golf Course in Abuja.

Earlier in her speech, Dr Lima Ahmed thanked the Senate President for accepting to receive her and her team. She formally invited the Senate President to the planned tournament and subsequently decorated him as their grand Patron of the group.

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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has uncovered 908 ghost workers across several federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), recovering about ₦942 million allegedly paid out through the fraudulent payroll scheme.

ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, disclosed the findings while speaking on the outcome of the commission’s investigation, according to BBC Pidgin. He explained that the probe began in 2024 after irregularities were detected in pension payments.

Aliyu said investigations revealed that some senior public officials allegedly inserted the names of relatives and associates into government payrolls and diverted the salaries for personal use.

He disclosed that one suspect allegedly enrolled his wife, son and mother-in-law as government workers while also collecting the salaries of 12 other fictitious employees.

According to him, the investigation covered at least 50 federal MDAs, with the Nigeria Police Force recording the highest number of ghost workers at 570.

He said the National Water Resources Authority had 80 ghost workers, while the Federal Ministry of Works recorded 56.

Aliyu added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had 24, the Ministry of Defence 19, while both the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment recorded 17 each.

He further disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Health had 15 ghost workers, while the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation recorded 12.

The ICPC chairman also said ghost workers were uncovered in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Ministry of Interior, although he declined to disclose the figures for those institutions, noting that investigations are still ongoing.

The commission described ghost workers as individuals whose names are illegally added to government payrolls despite not being legitimate employees, allowing fraudsters to siphon public funds through fictitious salary payments.

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The crisis in the Ondo State House of Assembly remains unresolved as the majority of lawmakers have issued a Sunday ultimatum to the Speaker, Olamide Oladiji, to resign from office or face impeachment.

Twenty-one of the 26 members of the House have signed an impeachment notice against the Speaker over alleged financial misconduct.

The Speaker was accused of diverting N44m from funds allocated for the reordering of the budget of the Ondo State Oil-Producing Areas Development Commission.

Speaking with our correspondent by telephone on Wednesday, the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Olatunji Fabiyi, said the lawmakers had given the Speaker a few more days to resign, failing which he would be removed at the next plenary sitting.

He stressed that the governor had intervened in the matter but had allowed the lawmakers to carry out their legislative duties.

Fabiyi said, “We have resolved that Mr Speaker should go. But in the wisdom of the leadership of the House, we felt we should meet with Mr Governor.

“And we have taken the resolution of the members to Mr Governor. Because the one we did before, they were castigating us, saying somebody was sponsoring us.”

“So, to avoid that, the leadership of the House went to Mr Governor to tell him that this one is not about him. This is what Mr Speaker has done, and we don’t want him anymore. He is the one leading us, and we don’t want him to lead us again.

“Twenty-one members have signed for his removal. But in the wisdom of the leadership of the House, not to make it appear as if we are striking too quickly, we went to Mr Governor.

“Mr Governor requested some time. On this issue, we don’t have any problem with Mr Governor. It is about the OSOPADEC budget. A resolution was written in the name of members without our knowledge. It was stated that members had sat down and agreed to it, and that it was our resolution, which it was not.

“It is a criminal offence. You cannot shave our heads behind our backs. That is what we are fighting for.

“So, if somebody is protecting him, it means that person is aiding and abetting him. We are giving him till Sunday. If he fails to resign, we will remove him.”

The House spokesman said the lawmakers would reconvene at the next plenary sitting to decide the Speaker’s fate.

On Monday, a member of the House, who spoke on condition of anonymity, alleged that the Speaker and his deputy had diverted N44m meant for the reordering of the budget of OSOPADEC.

He also alleged that the Speaker reordered the OSOPADEC budget without carrying other members along.

The lawmaker confirmed, “Yes, we are removing him. We just want him to resign honourably and, if he fails to do so, we will impeach him on the floor of the House. We have initiated an impeachment notice, and 21 members have already signed.

“We started the process about three weeks ago, but the governor has been talking to us, which is why we delayed it. But now, the governor has advised him to resign when we met with him. So, we are removing him.”

In his reaction, when contacted by telephone, the embattled speaker denied the allegations, saying he was not aware of any impeachment notice.