By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

Nigeria and Türkiye have agreed to establish a major military training facility in Nigeria as part of a defence partnership aimed at strengthening the country’s security architecture.

The agreement was reached during bilateral talks between Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, and his Turkish counterpart, Yasar Guler, on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum 2026.

According to a statement on Sunday by the Ministry of Defence’s Chief Information Officer, Queeneth Iheoma-Hart, the planned training centre will serve as a long-term hub for capacity development, with Nigeria already identifying a suitable coastal location for the permanent facility.

She said a temporary site is also expected to be provided to kick-start operations.

Under the arrangement, Nigerian Armed Forces personnel will undergo specialised training in areas such as Special Forces operations, counterterrorism, intelligence integration, counter-drone and counter-IED operations, as well as United Nations pre-deployment exercises.

The statement partly read, “The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Gwabin Musa (retd.), led a high-level Nigerian delegation to productive bilateral talks with the Turkish Minister of Defence at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum 2026.

“The delegation included the Chief of the Air Staff, the Chargé d’Affaires of the Nigerian Embassy, the Defence Adviser and senior officials from the Ministry of Defence and the Nigerian Embassy in Türkiye.

“Training and capacity development: Türkiye proposed structured, scalable training programmes for Nigerian Armed Forces in areas including Special Forces operations, counterterrorism, intelligence integration, counter-drone and counter-IED operations, and UN pre-deployment training.

“Immediate deployment of an initial cohort to Türkiye was agreed, alongside Turkish language instruction and participation in field training exercises.

“Both parties agreed to establish a major military training facility in Nigeria as a long-term centre of excellence; Nigeria will provide a temporary training site and has identified a suitable coastal location for permanent infrastructure.”

Beyond training, she said the partnership includes provisions for technology transfer, defence industry collaboration, and co-development of military capabilities.

By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

A former Kano State Governor, Sen. Ibrahim Shekarau, has dumped Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for All Progressives Congress, APC.

Available records show that he is joining the party for the third time since its formation.

Mr Shekarau announced the decision while addressing supporters at his Mundubawa residence in Kano on Sunday.

The two-term former governor said that the decision followed wide consultations with his political group and after weighing so many options.

“We took the decision after wide deliberations and weighing several options which include joining the APC after realising that PDP is facing so many challenges.

“We cannot align with ADC, a party filled up with people of personal interests, a party struggling to gain its feet,” Mr Shekarau said.

He called on his supporters to formally resign their PDP membership from their wards and go to their APC leaders on how to register with the party in order to meet the deadline for registration.

Mr Shekarau is expected to communicate the date he will be leading his teeming supporters to visit his Giginyu ward in Nassarawa Local Government Area of the state to carry out his APC party membership registration.

The APC National Chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, had, on April 8, visited Kano to plead with Shekarau to join the party and work for its victory in the 2027 general elections.

By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has announced the arrest of two candidates and a parent for falsifying 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination results using Artificial Intelligence and other electronic tools.

The disclosure came as the board released scores for 632,788 candidates who sat the examination on Thursday, April 16.

JAMB spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, in a statement, said the suspects were apprehended for manipulating official SMS result notifications to fabricate or alter scores with the intent to deceive others, including parents and guardians.

“Currently, two candidates and one parent are in custody for engaging in result falsification using AI and other electronic means,” the statement read.

Benjamin warned that such conduct constituted a serious criminal offence and that the board would pursue all culpable persons to the full extent of the law.

He also cautioned candidates against tampering with result messages from JAMB’s official SMS platforms, 55019 and 66019.