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Lagos Assembly Schedules Second Public Hearing on LG Administration Bill; Attorney-General to Interpret Supreme Court Ruling

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The Lagos State House of Assembly on Monday agreed to conduct another public hearing on a bill that seeks to review the Local Government Administration law of the state.

 

In a statement made available to the column.ng by the speaker’s spokesperson Eromosele Ebhomele stated that he House also invited the Attorney-General of the State, Lawal Pedro, for an interpretation of the recent Supreme Court judgement on financial autonomy for local governments.

 

The resolutions came at a sitting presided over by the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa.

 

Dr. Obasa said the review of the Local Government Administration law is not aimed at scrapping the LCDAs but to further strengthen them.

 

“I agree on the need for us to schedule a second allotted day for the public hearing,” the Speaker said while adding that he had been inundated with calls by people who wanted to know the fate of the LCDAs.

 

“We are not scrapping the LDCAs. Rather, what we are trying to do is to look at the recent Supreme Court judgement in terms of Lagos and local governments joint account and fashion out a way where the parent local governments and the LDCAs work together without the LDCAs shortchanged,” he added.

 

The Speaker also agreed on the need to work for the formal listing of the LCDAs by the National Assembly.

 

“Kano has 44 local governments and out of Kano, Jigawa was created and has 27,” he said as he suggested a review of the revenue sharing formula by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission.

 

Chairman of the Committee on Local Government, Hon. Sanni Okanlawon, had, while giving a report on the public hearing earlier conducted by the committee, said that many of the stakeholders invited for the event could not make it.

 

He attributed the poor attendance to the weather condition of the day just as he prayed the House to approve a second allotted day for the exercise.

 

Supporting Hon. Okanlawon’s request, his colleague, Hon. Ladi Ajomale said: “A lot of people are saying they do not understand what is going on and maybe the government is trying to wipe some people out of the local government system,” he said.

 

He also called for a liaison and better collaboration with the National Assembly with the aim of making the upper legislature understand why the LDCAs should be listed as substantive local governments.

 

On his part, Hon. Desmond Elliot noted that because of the size of Lagos in terms of population and its economic importance to Nigeria, it was imperative to work for the listing of the LCDAs.

 

“Anambra state has 21 local governments and it is nowhere close to what Lagos has in terms of resources, economic importance and dividends of democracy,” he said.

 

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Transfer: Real Madrid , Cucurella Reach Verbal Agreement 

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Chelsea reliable defender, Marc Cucurella may join Spanish giant, Real Madrid before the end of the current transfer window.if information from transfer journalist, Fabrizio Romano are anything to go by.

 

Romano In a latest transfer update, said Real Madrid has reached verbal agreement to sign Marc Cucurella from Chelsea.

“Verbal agreement in place between all parties, player too — he’s the left back wanted by Mourinho” the update read.

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Hakimi, Vinicius Barred From Speaking Spanish At World Cup

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FIFA has come under scrutiny after several high-profile players, including Achraf Hakimi and Vinicius Junior, were discouraged from speaking Spanish during media engagements at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States.

 

The issue first surfaced ahead of Morocco’s Group C clash with Brazil when a Spanish-speaking journalist attempted to question Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi in Spanish.

Despite Hakimi, who grew up in Madrid and speaks the language fluently, indicating he was comfortable answering in Spanish, event officials reportedly insisted that questions be asked in English.

Hakimi attempted to reassure organizers that language would not be a barrier, but officials maintained that no Spanish translator was available for the session. A compromise was eventually reached, with the reporter asking the question in Spanish while Hakimi responded in English.

The controversy intensified during Brazil’s media session when Vinicius Junior was also interrupted while responding to a question in Spanish.

The Real Madrid forward, who is more comfortable speaking Portuguese or Spanish than English, was reportedly asked by organizers to switch languages.

Rather than continue in Spanish, Vinicius opted to answer in Portuguese before turning his attention back to Brazil’s World Cup preparations.

The incidents sparked widespread debate among journalists and fans, many of whom questioned why Spanish—a language spoken by millions across North America—was effectively restricted at a tournament being hosted largely in the United States.

According to Spanish media outlet El País, FIFA only provides Spanish-language translation services at World Cup press conferences involving Spanish-speaking nations such as Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Ecuador, and Paraguay.

For all other teams, questions and answers are expected to be conducted either in English or the official language of the participating country.

The policy has generated criticism online, with many supporters arguing that multilingual communication should be encouraged at a global event like the World Cup.

The backlash was particularly strong in Vinicius’ case, as the Brazilian forward appeared visibly uncomfortable being asked to communicate in English.

The controversy overshadowed what was otherwise a highly anticipated encounter between Brazil and Morocco, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

With the issue now drawing international attention, FIFA may face increasing calls to review its media language guidelines as the tournament progresses.

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It’s Illegal’…Falana’s Bombshell Indicts Govs, FG.

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Human rights advocate, Femi Falana, has warned federal and state governments against negotiating with and rewarding terrorists.

 

According to Falana, the practice is illegal.

He stated this while delivering the keynote address at the Amnesty International Second Annual General Meeting in Abuja on June 13, 2026.

Falana claimed it is public knowledge officials of the Federal Government and some State Governments have been holding meetings and negotiating with terrorists and bandits, which has led to thousands of ‘repentant’ criminals being forgiven and given cash gifts of undisclosed sums of money.

Asserting that the “satanic Boko Haram sect and similar bodies have been proscribed” under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, Falana insisted that “their members and allies shall be prosecuted and not pampered and forgiven by the Nigerian State.”

Highlighting the legal consequences, he quoted Section 22 of the Act, stating: “A person who knowingly—(a) arranges, manages, assists in arranging or managing, participates in a meeting or an activity, which in his knowledge is concerned or connected with an act of terrorism or terrorist group, (b) collects, or provides logistics, equipment, information, articles or facilities for a meeting or an activity, which in his knowledge is concerned or connected with an act of terrorism or terrorist group, or (c) attends a meeting, which in his knowledge is to support a proscribed entity or to further the objectives of a proscribed entity, commits an offence, and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of at least 20 years.”

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