The Federal Government has convened the first Steering Committee meeting for the National Community Food Bank Programme, a flagship initiative of the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu. RoundReports understands that the committee was designed to combat malnutrition and food insecurity among Nigeria’s most vulnerable citizens.   Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, explained that the scheme will utilise primary healthcare centres nationwide. READ ALSO : FG Approves Biometric Passenger Verification at Domestic Airports Pate stated that the scheme will deploy vouchers and digital platforms to connect women and children in need with food and nutrition support.   Borno State has been chosen as the pilot location, with plans to roll out the programme across all six geopolitical zones and the 36 states.   Notably, the initiative has attracted strong backing from development partners, traditional and religious leaders, al...

President Bola Tinubu has commissioned a 60-megawatt gas-fired Independent Power Plant (IPP) at Elebele in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.   The facility, executed under Governor Douye Diri’s administration, is designed to strengthen electricity supply in Yenagoa and surrounding communities.  Powered by gas turbines, the plant is expected to stimulate investment, support small and medium-scale enterprises, and reduce dependence on the national grid.   During the commissioning, Tinubu toured the plant’s infrastructure, including turbines, transformers and distribution systems, to assess its operational readiness.  READ ALSO : Former Borno Senatorial Hopeful Jailed for Selling Fuel to Boko Haram The project is seen as a strategic intervention to tackle Bayelsa’s long-standing electricity challenges, which have forced businesses and households to rely heavily on costly diesel and petrol generators.   Governor Diri described the initiati...

Nigeria’s election management body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has postponed its planned nationwide voter revalidation exercise until after the 2027 General Election. The decision was taken on Friday following a meeting between the Commission and its Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), where a range of electoral and administrative issues were reviewed. In a statement issued after the meeting, INEC said the exercise, earlier scheduled to begin in April 2026, would no longer hold before the next general election.  The statement was signed by Mohammed Haruna, National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee. “ Following deliberations, the Commission resolved to postpone the exercise until after the 2027 General Election ,” the statement said. READ ALSO : INEC Rejects Calls to Remove Chairman INEC explained that voter revalidation remains a core part of its mandate to maintain a credible National Register of Voters....

A former senatorial candidate, Babagana Habeeb, was sentenced on Friday to 10 years in prison after a Federal High Court in Abuja found him guilty of supplying petrol to Boko Haram insurgents. Trial Justice Peter Lifu convicted Habeeb on a one‑count charge of aiding and abetting terrorism, saying the Federal Government had proved its case.  Habeeb, a fuel dealer from Maiduguri, admitted in open court that insurgents had obtained fuel from his station but told the court his attendants had carried out the sales. It was said that throughout the hearing Habeeb knelt before the bench and pleaded for leniency, telling the court he had two wives and six children who depended on him.  He said he had been unable to see or communicate with his family for more than a decade while held in detention. The prosecution, led by Mr David Kaswe of the Federal Ministry of Justice however opposed any reduction in sentence.  READ ALSO : Wind Damages Wike's Newly Built Kugbo Bus Terminal Kaswe ...

Katsina State Government has announced plans to stage its maiden mass wedding, bringing together at least 1,000 couples from across the state’s 34 local government areas.   The initiative, scheduled for 25 April 2026, is designed to ease the social and economic challenges faced by widows, orphans, and other vulnerable residents who wish to marry but lack the means.   Speaking during a counselling and livelihood support session on Thursday, the Director General of the Katsina State Hisbah Board, Malam Abu-Ammar, explained that the programme aims to curb social vices by supporting individuals who are otherwise unable to start families due to financial hardship.   “ These 1,000 couples, comprising 2,000 individuals, were drawn from the 34 local government areas of Katsina State . READ ALSO : Blessing CEO Faces EFCC Petition over Alleged N300m Fraud “ This forthcoming mass wedding is one of the state government’s initiatives to reduce the burden of social vices...

Meta Platforms is facing a class-action lawsuit in the United States (US) alleging that the company misled billions of WhatsApp users by overstating the privacy protections offered by its messaging service.   The case, filed in federal court in San Francisco, accuses Meta of allowing employees, contractors and third parties to access private WhatsApp messages without users’ consent.  According to reports, Plaintiffs argue that this practice contradicts Meta’s repeated assurances that WhatsApp conversations are safeguarded by end-to-end encryption, meaning only the sender and recipient can read them.   The complaint, brought by individuals from countries including Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa, cites violations of privacy laws and claims that WhatsApp’s marketing misrepresented the level of security available to its more than two billion users worldwide.  READ ALSO : CBN Alerts Nigerians to AI-Generated Currency Hoax Among the statutes re...

A fossil once hailed as the world’s oldest octopus has been reclassified after new research revealed it belonged to a very different creature.   The specimen, known as Pohlsepia mazonensis, was discovered at the Mazon Creek site near Chicago and dated to around 300 million years ago.  For decades, scientists believed it represented an early octopus, pushing back the origins of the group by more than 200 million years.   However, a study published this week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B has overturned that assumption.  Researchers at the University of Reading used advanced imaging techniques to uncover hidden anatomical features, showing the fossil was in fact a decomposed nautiloid, a relative of the modern nautilus, which has tentacles and an external shell.   Lead author Dr Thomas Clements explained that the fossil’s unusual appearance was the result of weeks of decay before burial.  READ ALSO : FDA Issues Recall of Peeled Garlic ov...

Senate Democrats are pressing Congress to reconvene urgently to impeach President Donald Trump after he warned that “ a whole civilisation will die tonight ” in reference to Iran.   Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts was among the first to demand immediate action, telling CNN that Trump’s comments amounted to planning war crimes. “ Congress must come back in session and impeach Donald Trump ,” he said.   Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey echoed the call, declaring Trump “ unfit to be Commander-in-Chief ” and insisting he had lost the trust of the American people.   According to reports, the push for impeachment has gathered momentum since Trump launched military operations against Iran, a conflict that has already claimed American lives and reshaped the political climate in Washington.  More than 60 Democratic lawmakers, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Jamie Raskin, Pramila Jayapal and Nancy Pelosi, have joined the demand ...

Pope Leo will set off on Monday for his first historic overseas journey of 2026, a ten-day tour across four African nations aimed at drawing global attention to the continent’s challenges and opportunities.  The visit, spanning April 13–23, will take him to 11 cities and towns in Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, covering nearly 18,000 kilometres and involving 18 flights. Cardinal Michael Czerny described the trip as a mission “ to help turn the world’s attention to Africa ,” revealing that the pope’s decision to prioritise the continent early in his pontificate shows its importance.  More than a fifth of the world’s Catholics live in Africa, where the Church is expanding faster than anywhere else. The 70-year-old pontiff, the first from the United States (US), has made only a handful of international visits since succeeding Pope Francis last May.  His African itinerary includes 25 speeches, meetings with political leaders, and encounters with local communi...

The president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Patrice Motsepe, has opposed allegations of corruption levelled by Senegal’s government following the body’s shock decision to strip Senegal of its Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) crown and award the title to Morocco.   Speaking in Rabat on Thursday, Motsepe insisted CAF had acted transparently and welcomed scrutiny. “ If anybody wants to initiate legal action alleging that there is corruption in CAF I don’t only welcome that, I encourage them . “ There’s nothing to hide. We respect enormously the judicial and legal sovereignty of every single one of our 54 nations on the African continent ,” he said. It would be recalled that the controversy stems from CAF’s ruling to overturn Senegal’s 1-0 victory over Morocco in the AFCON final on 18 January.  READ ALSO : Senegal FA Urges Calm as AFCON Final Dispute Heads to CAS The governing body later recorded a 3-0 win for Morocco, citing regulations after Senegalese player...