By Eze Okechukwu, Abuja

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio has said that Nigeria was long overdue for a national census, adding that the exercise would assist the country in national planning.Akpabio made the remarks while playing host to members and management of the National Population Commission(NPC) who visited him in his office to update him on the preparation for the next Census for the country.

Akpabio told his guests: “I don’t want to call it a national disgrace but can I say it’s a national embarrassment that even Nigerians who go outside to represent us in different fora do not know the number of Nigerians. ”Sometimes you will go to some places and they will say 250 million Nigerians. At another place, they will say you people are over 270 million. Some African countries think we are over 300 million.”If you go to places where they are holding retreat now, they are now shrinking from 250 million to 220 million. I think it’s time to bring that confusion to an end.”Any country that fails to know its population has already started to fail in its planning. You cannot truly plan for the future if you don’t know the number of mouths you want to feed. You do not know the number of children that you want to put in schools. You can’t know the number of classroom blocks you will build.”We must plan. Any country that does not plan for its future has already accepted failure. We will be failing the future generation of Nigerians if we do not begin to plan for the future and start the planning of this Census. This Census is important so that we know how many people we are planning for.”Akpabio assured members of the NPC that the National Assembly would support the Commission to succeed.”It is very important that we support you. The National Assembly will support you to succeed. I have no doubt, with the calibre of men and women that I have seen here, that the task that Mr President has given to you, once the proclamation is done, you will rise to the occasion. And I know that the National Assembly, the Senate in particular, will stand by you all the way,” he said.Earlier, the NPC chairman, Nasir Isa Kwarra who led the delegation said the visit was to keep the Senate President abreast of the stage of preparation and seek continued support of the National Assembly for the next Census.”We cannot conduct this Census without your support. So we will continue to count on your support and we want to make Nigerians proud by conducting a very thorough Census that will yield a lot of data that will assist in planning policy formulation and tracking our development,” Kwarra said.

By David Torough, Abuja

Former Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido has called on President Bola Tinubu to show courage by closing the chapter of June 12 once and for all.According to him, the payment of the N45 billion debt owed to the family of the late presumed winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, would serve as a symbolic and moral closure to the June 12 struggle and Abiola’s unjust treatment following the annulment of the election, widely believed to have been won by the late business mogul.

The former Minister of Foreign Affairs made the call while delivering his closing remarks at the launch of his autobiography, “Being True to Myself,” held yesterday in Abuja.“When (General) Murtala (Muhammed) died, Abiola came in with a claim that he was owed, I think, about N45bn for contracts executed by International Telephone and Telecommunication for the Ministry of Communications. The military high command at that time said no.“He went around the Emirs in the North to lobby, and the Emirs asked that they (the military) should please pay the money. They (the military) said they annulled the June 12 elections because if they made him President, he would take his money, and the country would become bankrupt. Those who were close to Abacha should know this because Abacha was then one of the big shots; they were all aware.”“Before I end my remarks, I want to appeal to President Tinubu to finally close the chapter of June 12. In his book, General Ibrahim Babangida acknowledged that Abiola won the election. When I visited him, he also confirmed that Abiola is owed N45 billion. He was doubly punished: first, denied the presidency; second, denied what is owed to him.”Lamido urged the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammad Idris Malagi, who represented President Tinubu at the event, to deliver the message to the President.“Please tell the President to pay the Abiola family the N45 billion. Once this is done, the June 12 chapter will be closed. It is very important,” he stated.

By David Torough, Abuja

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu has stated that for Nigeria to achieve functional, reliable, and stable electricity, the country requires no less than 10 billion dollars annually for the next ten to twenty years.Adelabu made the disclosure yesterday during the commissioning of the 600kW and 3MW Solar PV Power Plant at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.

He maintained that there are foundational bottlenecks that have been experienced in the past, which must be addressed for this level of investment to be meaningful. “Number one is the legislative and policy foundation, which this administration has achieved by signing the Energy Bill into law.“This bill has ensured the liberalisation and decentralisation of the power sector, enabling all levels of government to legally and morally play roles in the power sector for the benefit of their citizens at sub-national levels.“This has granted autonomy to more than eleven states, with more expected to follow. These states can now participate in the power sector, from generation to transmission, distribution, and even metering.”“Secondly, we must address the infrastructure deficit, which has accumulated over the last 60 years due to a lack of maintenance and insufficient investment to revitalise our transmission grid.”The Minister also emphasised the need to bridge the over 50 percent metering gap, stating that the Presidential Initiative aims to achieve this through the installation of 18 million meters over the next five years.He said the commissioning of the 600kW and 3MW Solar PV Power Plant at the prestigious Nigerian Defence Academy underscores the Federal Government’s resolve to tackle the electricity deficit.“These projects, implemented by the Federal Ministry of Power and the Rural Electrification Agency, not only underscore our commitment to improving electrification across key institutions in Nigeria, but they are also part of our broader mandate to diversify energy sources, expand access to clean and reliable electricity, and support critical sectors of national development, including education and security.“As an institution that combines academic rigour with military excellence, the Nigerian Defence Academy represents a strategic national asset that must be strengthened through sustainable infrastructure.“Powering the Academy with renewable energy aligns with our vision for a secure, self-reliant, and energy-efficient Nigeria.“It also reflects our commitment to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritises accelerated national development through universal energy access.”The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Abba Abubakar Aliyu, described the commissioning of the 2.5MW solar project as “a turning point in Nigeria’s journey towards energy access for learning institutions.”He noted that “the agency is not just commissioning a project, but rather commissioning social impact, research, and sustainable development.”