1. Five officials in the Benin Kingdom have been suspended for allegedly engaging in sacrilegious conduct against Benin custom. The Benin Traditional Council, BTC, said their suspension was because they visited the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, where they “falsely” claimed to be emissaries of the Oba of Benin and rendered inaccurate account of the connection between the Benin Royal Dynasty and the Ooni-ship of Ife.

2. The executive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede has appointed Michael Nzekwe as his chief of staff. He also appointed zonal directors for each of the 14 zonal commands of the commission.

3. One person died on Saturday when a gas tanker explosion occurred after an accident at Ita Oshin area of Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State. Chief Route Commander and Education Officer for Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Florence Okpe, who confirmed the incident, on behalf of the sector commander, Anthony Uga, said the accident occurred at about 4:16 pm.

4. The Naira yesterday recovered against the US dollar at the parallel market as it appreciated to N1280/$, according to market information obtained by Nairametrics from currency traders. This implied that the Naira appreciated by N120, representing a gain of 8.57 per cent when compared to the N1,400 to a dollar at which it traded on Friday.

5. Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State has said there is a fierce fight to destroy the state. He said this at the country home of Sir Celestine Omehia in Ubima community, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers, on Saturday.

6. A resident of Osogbo, simply identified as Seun and the motorcyclist conveying her have been crushed to death in a road accident that occurred in Osogbo, Osun State. Seun was said to be a fashion designer and was also working with a real estate firm. It was gathered that the accident occurred Friday evening around OgoOluwa Area of Osogbo.

7. The All Progressives Congress has demanded the cancellation of the just conducted local government election in Oyo State. The party claimed that the election was a “sham”, warning that if allowed to proceed, it may damage the state’s reputation.

8. The retired Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Aderemi Adeoye has recounted how he fought the dreaded Niger Delta militants, the Book Haram terrorists in the North East and the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, insurgents in the South East and survived all of them without a scar. Speaking during his pullout ceremony at the Alex Ekwueme Square in Awka, Adeoye said it was the grace of God that saved him during the dangerous moments.

9. Tragedy struck in Rivers State on Friday night when fire from a fuel-laden tanker consumed four persons and about 100 vehicles at the Eleme section of the East-West Road in Rivers State. It was learnt that the tanker collided with another vehicle, exploded and burst into flames that spread to other tankers and many other vehicles trapped in the gridlock.

10. The Anambra State Police Command has arrested 16 notorious cultists and declared 21 others wanted. In a statement by the command’s spokesman, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, in Awka on Saturday, the feat was achieved following intensified efforts to end the resurgence of cult-related killings in Awka, the state capital.

Ola Olukoyede, chair of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has appointed Michael Nzekwe as his chief of staff.

As part of a restructuring drive, Olukoyede upgraded all the zonal commands of the EFCC to departments and appointed 14 new directors.

A statement by Dele Oyewale, EFCC spokesperson, said the security unit of the agency has been upgraded to a department with a chief security officer at the helm.

“To this effect, 14 new directors have been appointed to head each of the zonal commands,” Oyewale said.

Additionally, to bolster and fortify the security architecture of the commission, the security unit of the EFCC has been upgraded to a department with a seasoned officer appointed as director, security and chief security officer.

“A new department has also been created in the executive chairman’s office and it is headed by former Makurdi zonal commander of the EFCC, Mr. Friday Ebelo who also doubles as director and coordinator, special duties at the corporate headquarters of the commission.”

Nzekwe was the commander of the Ilorin zonal command and a course one officer.

Nzekwe, a lawyer and an investigator, has served in various departments in the anti-graft agency — including legal and prosecution, operations (now department of investigations), internal affairs (now department of ethics and integrity), Servicom, and asset forfeiture.

The new chief of staff has attended trainings and courses at home and abroad, including the Advance Defence Intelligence Officers Course organised by Defence Intel Agency (DIA).

 Sierra Leone’s minister of energy, Kanja Sesay, has resigned after weeks of electricity crisis in the West African nation.

According to BBC, in his resignation letter on Friday, Sesay said he took full responsibility for the crisis.

In a statement, the government said the energy ministry has been placed under the direct supervision of President Julius Maada Bio, who will be assisted by two other officials.

Sesay’s resignation came hours after the government paid $18.5 million to two power providers, Turkish Karpowership and Transco-CLSG group.

Sierra Leone owed the two producers $40 million.

After two months of outages, power was restored in Freetown after the payments were announced.

Since mid-April, Freetown and the cities of Bo, Kenema and Koidu have experienced multi-day stretches without electricity.

Karpowership confirmed the payment in a statement.

“We are pleased to confirm that the electricity supply has returned to full capacity in Freetown,” the statement reads.

The company has been supplying electricity to Sierra Leone since 2018 from a floating offshore unit, but it had reduced its capacity from 65 megawatts to just five in recent months due to payment issues.

It had previously cut supplies to Sierra Leone in September over unpaid bills.

In October, it briefly cut power to Guinea-Bissau, saying it had been left with no option “following a protracted period of non-payment”.