By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

The Federal High Court sitting in Gombe has ordered the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to conduct a fresh primary for its governorship ticket in Gombe State.

Justice Amina Aliyu Mohammed gave the order in a suit filed by Usman Aliyu Garry challenging the emergence of Prof. Isa Ali Pantami as the PDP governorship candidate.

Garry had challenged Pantami’s emergence after the party announced him as its sole candidate on June 26, 2026, arguing that the required primary election was not conducted.

Pantami, a former APC aspirant, defected to the PDP after the APC settled on Jamilu Gwamna as its consensus candidate. He subsequently secured the PDP ticket through a voice vote during the party’s governorship primary held in May.

In its judgment delivered on Thursday, the court ordered the PDP to conduct a fresh primary election in accordance with the party’s guidelines and relevant electoral laws.

By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has declared former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Abdullahi Maina, wanted over an alleged case of receiving stolen property.

Mr Maina, 61, was listed in a wanted notice issued by the anti-graft agency, which described him as an indigene of Biu, Borno State.

The EFCC urged members of the public with information about his whereabouts to contact any of its offices across the country or provide information through its designated telephone line and email address.

The commission said information on Mr Maina could be passed to its offices in Ibadan, Uyo, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Benin, Makurdi, Kaduna, Ilorin, Enugu, Kano, Lagos, Gombe, Port Harcourt and Abuja.

It also advised members of the public to contact the nearest police station or other security agencies with any useful information.

The notice was signed by the EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale.

The latest development comes against the backdrop of Mr Maina’s long-running legal troubles over allegations relating to pension funds.

Mr Maina was previously declared wanted by the EFCC after he failed to appear for his trial in a case involving alleged N2 billion fraud linked to the pension reform programme.

He was subsequently arrested in Niger Republic in 2019 and brought back to Nigeria to face trial.

In November 2021, a Federal High Court in Abuja convicted Maina and sentenced him to eight years in prison for money laundering offences. Reports on the case said the prosecution had linked him to the handling of funds allegedly derived from unlawful activities.

The Nigerian Correctional Service later disclosed that Mr Maina was released from custody on February 25, 2025, after serving part of his sentence.

The service attributed his release to good conduct in prison and said the decision was made in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

More recently, investigations by the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa, PPLAAF, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, OCCRP, and Premium Times linked properties in the United States and Dubai to Mr Maina.

The investigation reported that some of the properties were acquired between 2010 and 2013.

A separate investigation published in September 2026 also identified Mr Maina among former Nigerian officials linked to properties in the United States.

The report said 61 current and former Nigerian officials, their families, associates and affiliated companies were connected to 284 properties valued at nearly $271 million.

However, the EFCC’s latest notice specifically identifies the allegation for which Mr Maina is currently wanted as receiving stolen properties.

The commission did not disclose in the notice the value or nature of the property allegedly received by Maina, nor did it state when the alleged offence occurred.

The EFCC appealed to anyone with credible information that could assist in locating him to contact the commission through its hotline, 08093322644, or email, info@efcc.gov.ng.

The agency’s official website also provides channels for members of the public to submit petitions and other information to the commission.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Zamfara State University, Talata Mafara Branch, has issued a two-week ultimatum to the Zamfara State Government to implement the December 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement and settle other outstanding financial obligations owed to its members.

The union disclosed this in a statement signed by its Acting Secretary-General, Abdussamad Muhammad Usman, following its second congress meeting held on September 21, 2026, under the leadership of the branch chairman, Comrade Anas Dogo.

According to the union, its members have reached a point where they can no longer guarantee the uninterrupted provision of academic and intellectual services in the university if the state government continues to delay the implementation of the agreement.

The ASUU branch said the December 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement remains a major part of its demands, insisting that academic staff of Zamfara State University should enjoy the same conditions and benefits being implemented for their counterparts in other states of the federation.

Comrade Anas Dogo said the union had exhausted what it described as all available political, diplomatic and administrative avenues to persuade the state government to address the concerns of its members without resorting to industrial action.

Dogo, according to the statement, said repeated engagements with the relevant authorities had failed to produce the desired outcome, leaving the union with the option of issuing a formal ultimatum before taking further action.

The union leadership said its demands go beyond the implementation of the Federal Government-ASUU agreement, adding that it is also demanding the payment of outstanding promotion arrears and other financial obligations incurred by the state government.

According to ASUU, the unresolved promotion arrears have continued to constitute a financial burden for affected academic staff, while the non-implementation of the December 2025 agreement has created disparities between lecturers at Zamfara State University and their counterparts in other universities.

The union said its decision to give the government a two-week ultimatum followed a series of meetings and consultations with stakeholders connected to the university and the state education sector.

The statement said the union had engaged the chairperson of the university’s governing council and the university management in an effort to resolve the issues internally before escalating the matter to other authorities.

ASUU further said it subsequently wrote letters requesting meetings with the Commissioner for Education, the Head of Service and the Secretary to the Zamfara State Government, but alleged that its efforts to secure meaningful engagement with the officials were unsuccessful.

The union described the failure of the various engagements as the reason for its decision to set a two-week deadline for the government to respond to its demands and take concrete steps towards implementation.

Dogo said the union was still committed to dialogue and would prefer an amicable resolution of the dispute, but stressed that its members could not continue to provide uninterrupted academic services indefinitely without the outstanding issues being addressed.

According to the union, failure by the state government to meet its demands within the two-week ultimatum would trigger a warning strike by academic staff of Zamfara State University, Talata Mafara.

The union leadership further warned that if the warning strike failed to produce a resolution, it could proceed to a total and indefinite industrial action, which would have wider implications for academic activities at the institution.

Abdussamad Muhammad Usman, Acting Secretary-General of Zamfara State University ASUU Branch, said the union was communicating its position to the government and the public in the interest of resolving the dispute before it escalates.

The union urged the Zamfara State Government to use the two-week period to address the implementation of the December 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement, promotion arrears and other outstanding financial obligations in order to avert disruption of academic activities at the university.