Nnenna Kalu-Ude, a former Chorister at Commonwealth Of Zion Assembly (COZA), Abuja, has accused founder of the church, Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo, of owing salaries of church workers. In a social media post, Kalu-Ude said many of the persons affected were afraid to speak up. She accused the pastor and his wife of being responsible for the death of her friend, Tega, who was also a choir member, saying she was maltreated. She also accused the cleric of suppressing his critics through occultic power, claiming that people who want to speak up about the “evil” going on in the church either fall ill or die mysteriously. “Dearest Tega, your death was so unnecessary but it will not go unchecked or unpunished. I’m so broken. “@BiodunFatoyinbo@ModeleFatoyinbo@BnbLadies and all your sycophants who move at your command. “People may not speak because they are afraid of you, I don’t blame them. I was like them too. But I’m no longer afraid. I left my fear by your gate on the day of my last worker’s meeting in your cult. “I’ve never seen such cruelty; not paying workers’ salaries for months but expecting them to still show up every day. Driving them out of the house even to point of nearly putting Catherine on the streets. Clearing the entire house of every furniture and appliance so that those that were still left would leave.” When Daily Trust contacted the church for reaction, one Eyitayo Fatogun, a COZA official, who answered the call requested for a written note before any response would be given. “Write to us, we will respond,” said the voice on the other end. Fatoyinbo is not new to controversies. In 2019, Busola, wife of popular singer, Timi Dakolo, accused the cleric of raping her several times when she was a member of the church.

Popular Nigerian actor, Yul Edochie, is in a celebratory mood today as he turns 40. Taking to his verified Instagram page, the iconic actor noted that so far, God has answered all his prayers except one which is for him to become the president of the country. He stated that he hopes to become the president of the country so that he can “wipe away the tears of people”. Yul, who is the son of legendary actor, Pete Edochie, wrote, “Happy 40th birthday to me. Happy birthday to a man of peace and love. I thank God for letting me see this day in my life. I thank God for all His blessings. “All the prayer points and wishes I had many years ago God has answered all of them and even more. And I’m grateful to Him. I have just one more prayer point, one more birthday wish as I turn 40 today. Dear God, please make me the President of Nigeria in 2023 so I can wipe away the tears of my people. Thank you Lord for answering my prayer.”

Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, says the Buhari administration has greatly improved power generation in the country. He said though the administration has been constrained by “situations on ground”, the government has been able to generate more than 13,000 megawatts of power. Shehu said this on Friday in an interview on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, adding that the government has also doubled power availability in the country. He said the government inherited a reckless privatisation of the power sector, done by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, but that it has been able to up its uptake by 5,000 megawatts. In 2013, the power sector was privatised as the electricity distribution and generation sub-sectors were sold to core investors, while the federal government held the transmission sub-sector. “The situation on ground constrained the government and the party from delivering as much more than what we have. As we speak today we have doubled power availability in the country,” he said. “In terms of generation, it has improved 200 times. We have the capacity to generate more than 13,000 of power. The uptake is up to 5,000 as we speak now. That is not the best but it’s an improvement on the 2,500 megawatts that we inherited. We aspire to do 20,000 or 30,000 megawatts of power, we haven’t done that but we have launched 19,000 availability. It’s remarkable, why don’t we look inwards and use out the 13,000 that are available. A lot of power is generated and wasted in some cases. “This government inherited a reckless privatisation process, which the president said in the interview that it was largely driven by the need to gratify political interest.”

The Spiritual Director of the Adoration Ministry Enugu, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, has warned the Muhammadu Buhari-led government that Nigeria may cease to exist if the north retains power in the forthcoming 2023 general elections. Speaking during a sermon at the adoration ground in Enugu State, the popular Catholic priest warned Buhari against planning to hand over power to the north. According to Mbaka, the Northerners should forget about leadership in the coming political era, saying there may be a disaster if the north tries to impose the next President on Nigerians. He said, “The issue of after Buhari, the North should lead again, President Buhari should better plan well and hand over to the South, but if the north wants to take over, this country will collapse. “There may be no Nigeria again if the President, because of whatever, tries to hand over power back to the north. After Buhari, the Northerners should forget about leadership in this coming political era. “If they try to make a northerner next President, disaster will happen, going forward will be impossible, going back will be a dream. Anyhow they want to do the political maneuvering, they should make sure that justice prevails. “The spirit of the Lord has asked me to say this because they have what it takes to plant a northerner. Buhari should remember that Nigerians trusted him when he came in and he should remember that one day, he is leaving that place.”