From Ifeanyichukwu Nwannah, Gusau

A concerned citizen of Zamfara State, Aminu Muhammad has deeply expressed concern over the way Zamfara State government has been attacking the minister of State for Defense, Hon. Bello Mohammed Matawalle, saying that the State Government has chosen to focus its attention on attacking the image and integrity of the Minister.

According to him, rather than giving more emphasis on fulfilling their campaign promises, they were busy finding faults to crucify Bello Mohammed Matawalle while they had unfinished works.

“First and foremost I want to make a loud and clear call on Sulaiman Bala Idris, the spokesperson to the Governor of Zamfara State, to immediately come out and tender an apology to the Hon.

Minister for the false and defamatory allegation he initially made, claiming that Matawalle was responsible for the arrest of Saleem Abubakar, a technical Assistant to Governor Dauda Lawal”, he added.

 “This allegation was later disproved, and the Hon Minister was vindicated when the Nigerian Police clarified that they were responsible for the arrest and clearly stated the reasons behind the arrest”

“For clarity, Saleem Abubakar, whose arrest the Zamfara State Government falsely linked to Bello Matawalle by claiming that he used the office of the National Security Adviser to harass opposition and other baseless and malicious allegations they made against the Minister”

“The arrest of Saleem Abubakar was later confirmed by the Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, who announced that: “A petition was received against Salim Abubakar at the Central Police Station, Abuja, on 19 December 2025. Salim ignored several police invitations. He was thereafter arrested, investigated, and arraigned today, 8th January 2026”

The court adjourned till 13th January 2026 and ordered his remand till the adjournment date”

“He was not detained at the Abattoir. Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police FCT, PoliceNG, CP Miller Dantawaye is already looking into the matter.

Rest assured that this matter will be handled properly. Further updates will follow”

“Definitely, it is truly astonishing how the Zamfara State Government appears to be constantly living in fear and panic over the Honourable Minister Matawalle”

“This fear is the reason why they resort to malice, lies, and false accusations, which, in the end, their evil schemes always come back to haunt them. As the Hausa proverb: “The truthful person is always with God,” and “Evil is a messenger that always returns to its sender”

In a nutshell, the Zamfara State government must know that, in his statement, the Nigeria Police Public Relations Officer explained that a petition was submitted against Saleem Abubakar at the Abuja Central Police Station, based on certain allegations made against him”

“The police repeatedly sent invitations to Saleem Abubakar to report to their office, but he refused to honour those invitations. As a result, the police had no option but to arrest him and arraign him in court on Thursday, January 8, 2026, after conducting an investigation”

“The court subsequently ordered that he be remanded in custody after hearing the case against him until 13th January 2026”

“Therefore, anyone who truly wants to know who petitioned against Saleem Abubakar, the Technical Assistant to the Governor of Zamfara State, should go to the court to seek the truth. As there is nothing wrong with seeking justice through lawful means, rather than listening to fabricated stories spread by liars, slanderers, and conspirators who are bent on maligning an innocent servant of God and a man of integrity”

“These people have neither peace nor rest as they persist in their attempts to destroy Matawalle’s reputation, yet Almighty God continues to protect him from their evil plots”

“It is only right and proper that the spokesperson to the Governor of Zamfara State, Sulaiman Bala Idris, come out openly to seek an apology and forgiveness from the Hon. Minister, for attempting to drag his name into an issue that he neither instigated nor had any knowledge of whatsoever.”

The Federal Government on Sunday inaugurated the N40 billion Close Circuit Television Camera (CCTV) Centre of the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos State.

The CCTV centre was built by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).

Inaugurating the centre, the Minister of Works, Sen.

Dave Umahi, said that the current administration met a ‘very terrible Third Mainland Bridge’.

‎”When we came on board in 2023, we met a very terrible Third Mainland Bridge, Carter Bridge and Iddo Bridge both on the pavement, surface, infrastructure above the water and even infrastructure below the water.

‎”The president, therefore, directed total re-evaluation and rehabilitation of the surfaces of the Third Mainland Bridge and changing the expansion joints.

‎”Lagosians were very happy with the President for that beautiful work, and that work completed and commissioned is still succeeding because of the quality,” he said.

He said the ministry would be handing over a boat and two Hilux vans, which were part of the contract, to the police for monitoring of the bridge.

“If they need to incorporate other security agencies, they can do that, but the idea of this project is that we have a lay-by on the bridge, so we view everything going on this bridge.”

Umahi expressed worry at speeding by motorists on the bridge, urging adherence to traffic rules and regulations.

Earlier, the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Olufemi Dare, said that the centre was the first of its kind in Nigeria.

‎”I doubt if there is any bridge in Nigeria that has what we have deployed here today, where you have CCTV to monitor both the underwater and even the bridge itself.

”We have a boat that has been bought for surveillance of the bridge. There are two Hilux vans, too.

”We have 240 solar panels in this environment, and that is not enough.  The whole place is fully air-conditioned. We have 10 inverters inside the building.

‎”We have the power units. We have a transformer, a 300KVA transformer. We have a standby generating plant and monitoring screens,” he said.

He expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu for the provision and   thanked Umahi for ensuring that due process was followed in establishing the centre.

‎”We have about 1268 solar street lights that are part of this contract,” he said.

He added that a bore was part of the project.

Dare said that the project’s contract sum was 40.17 billion.

He said that the Federal Government had paid N36 billion to the contractor handling the project.

“This is the first level of commissioning. We are still going to come back here to do even for the extension of the bridge which is about to be completed.

‎”We pray that very sooner than later, we will come back to do a full-blown commissioning.”

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has signalled plans to introduce tougher sanctions against domestic airlines over repeated flight delays and poor passenger handling, warning that recurrent inefficiencies will no longer be tolerated in the sector.

This was announced on Thursday via the official X handle of the NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu.

He said, “We will be pushing for stiffer penalties against domestic airlines for chronic delays.

We have protected operators, stood for them, explained for them, been insulted for them, and supported them because it is the right thing to do.

“The majority of flight disruptions are not caused by the airlines, but recent events justify the need for heavier ramifications where there is recurrent inefficiency.

”

He noted that the level of support extended to airline operators by the current administration and aviation authorities should reasonably translate into improved service delivery.

He said, “The natural law of nature is that when an industry is supported by government in the way that His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done; in the way that the Honourable Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, SAN has done; in the way that the DGCA, Capt. Chris Najomo has done, in the way that our Consumer Protection Department has done, the least expectation of reciprocity is for remarkable improvements to reflect in flight operations and some other aspects.”

While acknowledging the challenging operating environment faced by airlines, he insisted that certain lapses could no longer be excused. Achimugu stated, “One understands, and has reiterated the challenging operating environment that operators have to meander in an industry that is starting to improve in terms of policies driven by the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development (read the CTC Practice Direction, IDERA, Consumer Protection awareness, etc), but there are some lapses that are inexcusable.”

He emphasised persistent failures in communication with passengers during disruptions, noting that this had worsened tensions at airports.

“Immeasurable times, I have stressed the need for airlines to improve communication during flight delays and cancellations. I have stressed the need to comply with the regulations in the areas of HOTAC and First Needs Compensation,” he said.

According to him, mishandled passenger information has fuelled many of the confrontations seen at terminals. “The failure to manage information properly, as well as poor passenger handling, has been responsible for the majority of passenger violence at our airport terminals.”

Citing international precedent, he pointed to a recent sanction in the United States, saying, “Not too long ago, the US authorities fined JetBlue airline to the tune of two million dollars for ‘chronic delayed flights,’ the first of its kind in the US.”

He added that regulations may need to evolve in response to emerging challenges. “Regulations may evolve as challenges take expression and impact the industry.”

Reassuring both passengers and operators, Achimugu maintained that the NCAA remained committed to fairness and accountability in the aviation sector. “The NCAA is committed to protecting the rights of all stakeholders, and a review that strengthens the Authority to enforce compliance for both passengers and operators has to be done.”

The move comes against the backdrop of growing passenger complaints over widespread delays in the country’s aviation sector.

The NCAA said domestic airlines operated 17,731 flights between July and September 2025, up from 15,989 flights in the same period of 2024. Total cancellations fell sharply to 80 flights in the third quarter of 2025, compared with 251 cancellations recorded a year earlier.

In April 2025, Air Peace temporarily suspended flight operations following a strike by Nigeria Meteorological Agency staff, affecting departures at major airports, including Lagos and Abuja, and leaving passengers stranded for hours.

In May 2025, passengers reported multiple delays on Max Air flights, with several flights out of Kaduna and Kano rescheduled late into the night without clear communication, sparking complaints on social media.

In June 2025, United Nigeria Airlines faced backlash after a flight from Lagos to Abuja was delayed by more than 10 hours, with many customers saying they received no official updates from the carrier during the wait.