President Bola Tinubu congratulates Chief Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on his birthday, December 13.

President Tinubu celebrates with the Minister and former governor of Rivers State, giving thanks to God Almighty for enriching him with a life defined by purpose, service, and courage.

The President describes Chief Wike as an audacious top performer who defies obstacles and delivers results.

President Tinubu acknowledges the ongoing transformation of the Federal Capital Territory through infrastructure expansion, highlighting the Minister’s recent intervention that broke the 14-year logjam in the construction of the Apo-Karshi road.

The President commends Chief Wike for his resilience, can-do attitude, and commitment to excellence in all assignments.

President Tinubu thanks the Minister for his consistent efforts in delivering results and wishes him a happy birthday and strength to further his good work in the FCT.

“Nyesom Wike has been one of the shining stars in the cabinet, an exceptional performer, developing infrastructure in the Federal capital as never seen before and proving that his moniker as ‘Mr Project’ is not limited to his home state of Rivers.

“I commend him for being one of the champions of our Renewed Hope Agenda, even though he belongs to another party and wish him well as he marks another year in his life journey”.

Bayo Onanuga
Special Adviser to the President
(Information and Strategy)
December 13, 2025

The Cross River State House of Assembly has sacked Theresa Ushie from her position as Chairperson of Bekwarra Local Government Council.

The decision followed the adoption of a report by the House committee on Judiciary and Public Petitions.

During a plenary session, 19 out of 25 lawmakers voted in favour of her removal.

The action was based on allegations of misconduct and poor administration.

Earlier, eight councilors had submitted a petition against Ushie in June, accusing her of corruption, misuse of authority, withholding salaries, and not following proper procedures.

Following the vote, the assembly directed the vice chairman, Egbung Odama, to take over the administration of the council temporarily.

The lawmakers also instructed the Cross River Independent Electoral Commission to organize a by-election within 30 days to fill the vacant position.

The House committee that investigated the allegations reported that Ushie’s administration raised serious concerns over financial management.

Their findings were confirmed through a detailed inquiry.

The assembly reiterated its commitment to enforcing the law and ensuring proper governance in local councils.

Imo State Government, in conjunction with the State Police Command, has demolished Jessy Best Hotel and Ugwudi Cottage Hospital mortuary services, all situated on the Owerri-Aba Road in the Ngor Okpala local government area.

Also demolished were two expensive houses, a bungalow and duplex with large compounds and a smaller apartment in Ngor Community in the Council area, which was said to be a shrine where fetish articles were discovered and burnt by the enforcement teams.

Unclaimed corpses were evacuated from the mortuary to another body preservation centre before the demolition.

Speaking to journalists at the scene before the commencement of the demolition exercise, the State Commissioner of Police, Aboki Danjuma, disclosed that the order to demolish the properties was issued by the State Governor, Hope Uzodinma.

The CP said that the owner of the properties, Stanley Oparaugo, popularly known as Morocco, has been declared wanted by his command, following his refusal to honor several police invitations.

The Police Chief disclosed that credible intelligence gathered revealed that the properties were haven for alleged criminal infractions.

Danjuma stated that the demolished mortuary was suspected to be a spot for organ harvesting activities as most of the bodies were mutilated.

The CP added that “the suspect can only run but can’t hide for too long as the long arm of the law would catch up with him”.

Danjuma reiterated that under his watch, users of the Owerri-Aba Expressway would continue to witness safe trips, even as he urged members of the public to provide his Command useful information that would lead to the arrest and prosecution of the fleeing suspect.

In the same vein, Commissioner for Health in the State, Chioma Egu, said that the essence of the demolition of the mortuary as directed by the Governor was to prevent further health and security crises in the State.

Egu said that apart from the fact that the facility was not registered and licensed to operate, the discoveries made by her ministry showed that most vital organs from the deposited corpses were missing.

She revealed that going forward, her ministry would commission a taskforce team that would clamp down on preservative centres that do not meet up with the standard requirements of operation.

Lending her voice, the Chairman of the Local Council, Chika Ibekwe, said that the people of the area were grateful to the State Governor for being courageous in fighting insecurity in the LGA.

She promised that under her watch, the LGA would continue to be a safe environment for residents and visitors.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Monitoring and Compliance, Chinasa Nwaneri, and his team were also on ground during the demolition exercise.