By Augustine Akhilomen

National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has launched a scathing attack on President Bola Tinubu, accusing him of running Nigeria aground ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Baba-Ahmed’s remarks came in response to comments made by President Tinubu during the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council in Abuja, where the President stated that he would prioritize governance over extensive campaign travel because of pressing national liabilities.

“You’ve warned me not to allow the rigour of the campaign to distract me from governance, I hear you. I am in full agreement with your decision. Nigeria needs more attention now. So, you will excuse me from going everywhere with you, we have bills to pay. The American creditors cannot wait,” Tinubu had said.

Weighing in on the President’s stance via a post on X (formerly Twitter), the PRP national chairman dismissed the justification, arguing that citizens have no desire to see the incumbent leader on the campaign trail given the current economic climate.

“@PBAT says Nigerians should not expect to see him extensively hustling for votes,” Baba-Ahmed wrote.

“He will be busy running a country he had run aground, while his appointees run around the country begging Nigerians to elect him again. Nigerians are not expecting to see him, nor are we surprised.”

The sharp rebuke highlights the intensifying political rhetoric as opposition leaders position themselves against the ruling administration’s record ahead of the 2027 polls.

The Department of State Services has arrested Faisal, son of the former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, and handed him over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Security sources disclosed that Faisal’s arrest followed intelligence indicating that he had secretly returned to Nigeria.

“His arrest followed credible intelligence which indicated that Faisal had secretly returned to the country,” a source said.

The source added that DSS operatives tracked and arrested him in the Karsana area of Abuja before handing him over to the EFCC.

Faisal had been on the run since 2020 after being arraigned by the EFCC on a three-count charge bordering on money laundering.

In October 2021, the Federal High Court in Abuja convicted him on money laundering charges and sentenced him to 14 years’ imprisonment.

The trial judge, Okon Abang, held that the EFCC had established that Faisal operated a fictitious bank account with the United Bank for Africa through which his father allegedly laundered N58.1m.

The court said the money was deposited into an account operated in the name of Alhaji Faisal Farm 2 and withdrawn by Faisal and his father between October 2013 and June 2019.

In November 2022, the Court of Appeal upheld Faisal’s conviction but reduced his sentence from 14 years to seven years, ruling that the trial court should not have imposed the maximum sentence on a first-time offender.

His father, Maina, served a prison sentence for laundering pension funds before his subsequent release and later troubles with the law.

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has launched an investigation into the separation of an aircraft door involving a Challenger 604 operated by Triton.

In a statement, the Bureau said the aircraft, with registration number T7-SEI, was flying from Abuja to Lagos when its crew declared a mayday after the door separated at an altitude of 3,500 feet.

The aircraft subsequently returned to Abuja and landed safely on Runway 22. All nine persons on board, comprising three crew members and six passengers, were accounted for.

The NSIB said the separated door had been recovered and secured as investigators began work to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.

The Bureau said further updates would be provided as the investigation progresses.

The incident comes less than two weeks after a Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 aircraft crashed near Igbokoda in Ondo State on October 5, killing all 25 people on board. The aircraft was on a routine mission from Benin City to Lagos when it crashed in a swampy area.

The Nigerian Air Force has since set up a 12-member board to investigate the crash, while the Senate and House of Representatives have moved to examine aircraft maintenance and safety concerns.

In July, an Enugu Air aircraft also veered off the runway after landing at Benin Airport. The Embraer E170, which was flying from Lagos to Benin, had 68 people on board, all of whom survived without injuries. The NSIB launched an investigation into the incident, which it later linked in a preliminary report to several factors, including an inoperative autobrake system.

The latest incident adds to renewed attention on aviation safety and the need for thorough investigations into aircraft occurrences in Nigeria.