President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) have scrapped the Niger Delta Ministry, and the Ministry of Sports Development.

The decisions were taken on Wednesday at the meeting of the FEC in Abuja, as seen on the X handle of the Special Adviser Information and Strategy to President Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga.

There will now be a Ministry of Regional Development to oversee all the Regional Development Commissions, such as the Niger Delta Development Commission, North West Development Commission, South West Development Commission, and the North East Development Commission.

The National Sports Commission will take over the role of the Ministry of Sports.

The FEC also approved the merger of the Ministry of Tourism with the Ministry of Culture and Creative Economy.

Despite the announcement, Onanuga did not state what would happen to the ministers in charge of the scrapped ministries, or how they would function henceforth.

The Niger Delta Ministry is being headed by Abubakar Momoh, with John Enoh being in charge of the Ministry of Sports Development.

The development comes following recent clamour for a reduction in the number of ministries and political officers in the country to reduce governance costs.

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has confirmed the arrest of controversial crossdresser Idris Okuneye also known as Bobrisky at the Seme Border.

The Service in a statement on Monday night said the social media sensation was arrested while trying to flee Nigeria.

A spokesman for the Service, DCI KT Udo, described Bobrisky as a person of interest over recent issues of public concern.

Udo said, “He is undergoing interrogation and will be handed over to the appropriate authorities for further action.

“The Service assures the public that it will continue to be civil and professional in its statutory responsibility of manning the country’s borders.”

A blogger, Martins Otse, known as VeryDarkMan, had alleged in viral videos that some officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) collected ₦15 million from Bobrisky during his naira spraying ordeal in April for the anti-graft agency to drop money laundering charges against him.

After that, a court sentenced the crossdresser to six months imprisonment and he was released in August.

The blogger also alleged that Bobrisky paid some millions of naira to secure a choice place in prison.

Bobrisky has since denied the allegations while the EFCC and the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) had ordered investigations into the allegations by the blogger.

The House of Representatives also waded in and invited those involved for a probe while the Federal Government suspended some NCoS senior officers.

On September 30, 2024, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, inaugurated a committee to probe allegations of gross misconduct against the NCoS.

The panel submitted its report on Monday saying the social media sensation served his six-month jail term in prison but he enjoyed several privileges including access to television and a fridge.

…As Nation’s Parliament Gets New Serjeant-at-arms Boss

A yet-to-be identified thief entered the National Assembly premises on Wednesday 9th October, 2024 between 8:00am and 8:30 am, and successfully stole the car of a parliamentary staff member, Collins Osenun.

Osenun, who works with the Committee on Petroleum Resources (Midstream) in the House of Representatives, told THISDAY on Saturday that all efforts to recover his car since then had been futile.

According to Osenun, the wine coloured Toyota Camry Car with Registration Number ABJ 740 AE and chassis No: 4T1BG22KXYU731374 was stolen at the National Assembly premises despite the full security checks put in place by the various security agencies there.

He explained that he drove into the car park at the National Assembly Arcade around 6:50am on the fateful day and went to his office.

Osenun said, “I went to the office early to clear my table in preparation for a 9am event I had outside the complex.

“It was when my colleagues drew my attention to the fact that I was running late for the event that I hurriedly left the office around 8:30am.

“I was traumatised and shocked when I did not see my car. I raised the alarm immediately.

“I reported the matter to the heads of the Nigeria Police Force, Directorate of State Service, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Federal Road Safety Corps and the National Assembly Serjeant-at-arms.

“The police authorities in the National Assembly told me that signals had been sent out.

“The information I got at the DSS office was that the Close Circuit Television (CCTV) camera mounted in the National Assembly revealed that the thief was captured on camera when he entered around 8am, and pretended to be one of the numerous cleaners employed by private firms.

“I was also told that when the thief got to the car park, he attempted to snatch a Sport Utility Vehicle RAV4 but could not open the door.

“The secret police also told me that the camera captured when the man abandoned the RAV4 and went for my car and opened it, obviously with a master key manufactured by him and left.”

Osenun showed THISDAY, a print out of the CCTV camera which revealed the picture identity of the thief.

Investigation by THISDAY on Saturday revealed that the head of Serjeant-at-arms department, the constitutionally recognised outfit meant to provide security at the National Assembly, had retired along with his deputy.

The outfit, whose personnel had yet to be bearing arms had over the years, been relying on the police and other security agencies to protect lives and property in the nation’s apex legislative institution.

It was learnt that the former head of the Serjeant-at-arms department, a retired airforce general, Air Commodore Abdullahi Sanni Zakari (retd) retired from the service of the National Assembly recently.

He was said to have retired along with his deputy, Mr. Adedeji Alabi, a fellow of security studies (fss).

The management of the federal legislature had subsequently, appointed in acting capacity, Mr. Vincent Idike, a fellow of the Security Institute (fsi) and a Knights of Saint Molumba, to head the Serjeant-at-arms department pending the appointment of a substance head.