The National Assembly has started the debate on the 27.5 trillion naira 2024 budget preparatory to passage for Second Reading.

Leading the debate on the general principles of the budget, was the House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere.

He commended President Bola Tinubu, noting that national security and education which got significant allocations, will be enhanced if implemented.

Ihonvbere says as a teacher, he is impressed by the emphasis on basic education, adding that he is sure that education will be better off this time.

Also, at the Upper Chamber, Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, harped on the need for proper implementation of the budget.

The House of Assembly in Ondo State and its Speaker has withdrawn its appeal filed before the Court of Appeal, Abuja, against the ruling of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which stopped the planned impeachment of the Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

The Assembly and the Speaker had challenged the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, Abuja to handle the matter and appealed against the court’s ruling halting the planned impeachment of the Deputy Governor.

At the proceedings, counsel for the Speaker and the Assembly, Remi Olatobura, told the three-member panel of Justices of the appellate court that he has the instructions of his clients to withdraw the appeal.

The Senior Lawyer told the court that parties in the matter have found a political solution to their problems and have signed an agreement to withdraw the appeal in the interest of peace and, as part of the agreement reached by the parties.

Respondents in the appeal confirmed that they were served with the notice of withdrawal adding that, they were not objecting to the notice of withdrawal.

Justice Haruna Tsammani, who led the three-member panel, subsequently dismissed the appeal, having been withdrawn by the appellants.

Olatubora later addressed Journalists after the case withdraw.

Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has promised that killers of the late Director of Finance and Administration in the Governor’s Office, Taiwo Oyekanmi, will be caught and brought to justice.

Abiodun also disclosed that his administration would take full responsibility for the welfare and well-being of the family he left behind.

An emotional Governor who stated this during a condolence visit he paid to the late Oyekanmi’s family, described the deceased as diligent, hardworking, honest, and God-fearing.

Responding on behalf of the family of the deceased, his younger brother, Tayo Oyekanmi, thanked the Governor for the visit, and called on him to ensure justice is done over the gruesome killing of their son.

Taiwo Oyekanmi was attacked and murdered on Wednesday, November 29, in Abeokuta while on an official assignment.

As a mark of honour for him, Governor Abiodun ordered that flags in the state should be flown at half-mast for a week.

Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has said that he cannot determine the fate of his Deputy, PHILIP SHAIBU, who declared on Monday, to run for the governorship seat of the state.

He said that supporters of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state can determine his fate.

Obaseki stated this at the end of a closed-door meeting he, alongside the former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Emmanuel Udom, had with Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, at the State House in Bauchi.

He said they were in Bauchi to discuss issues relating to the PDP Governors’ Forum with Governor Bala Mohammed, who is the Chairman of the Forum, and to congratulate him on his recent victory at the court.

According to Obaseki, their discussion was partly on his relationship with his Deputy, Philip Shuaibu, just as he stressed that he is free to run for governorship.

He equally decried the hardship Nigerians presently face, saying PDP Governors are working to bring succor.

After months of bickering between the executive and legislative arms, the Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has presided over a State Executive Council meeting in Akure, the state capital.

The executive meeting occurred after months of political wrangling between the Deputy Governor and Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s loyalists.

The crisis was occasioned by the absence of the Governor, who has been out of the state for months due to ill health.

Akeredolu has been under intense pressure from opposition parties to resign or hand over power to his Deputy in line with the 1999 Constitution.

Last Friday, President Bola Tinubu summoned the warring factions to a meeting in Abuja where it was agreed that the Deputy Governor should continue to perform his duties as Deputy Governor.

Speaking on the latest development, the State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, said everybody has agreed to work together.

No fewer than 50 suspected bandits terrorising communities across the Bali Local Government Area of Taraba State have been killed in what is a breakthrough in the fight against banditry.

Spokesperson of the Taraba State Police Command Abdullahi Usman, said the bandits were killed by Police operatives in collaboration with other security agencies.

He said the coordinated operation followed an outcry by locals which led to the ambush and killing of the bandits.

According to him the Command received information that some unknown gunmen suspected to be kidnappers in their hundreds, invaded the village when Muslims were saying their morning prayers, and started shooting sporadically.

On receipt of the information, the State Commissioner of Police, Joseph Eribo, ordered the deployment of a tactical team to the area in collaboration with the Army, vigilantes, and hunters. On arriving at the village, the bandits engaged the joint team in a gun duel.

The PPRO stated that in the process, many of the bandits were neutralized due to the firing power of the operatives, while others escaped with various degrees of injuries as a result of gunshots.

However, 12 locals were shot dead by the bandits before the arrival of the security personnel, he added.