Compilations of top 10 key latest happenings that you need to know this Saturday morning, 13th December, 2025
Planned Christmas Day attacks uncovered
A humanitarian organisation, Equipping The Persecuted, has raised the alarm over what it described as a plot to kill many people in some northern communities on Christmas Day.
But the Presidency, in a swift reaction, questioned the motive of the group, saying the alert was doubtful and could create unnecessary fear among Nigerians.
The founder of the organisation, Judd Saul, spoke during a roundtable meeting convened by the International Committee on Nigeria and the African Jewish Alliance.
The meeting, which was held on Wednesday in Washington DC, United States, was chaired by a former congressman, Frank Wolf.
According to Daturday PUNCH, the meeting was also attended by Congressmen Riley Moore and Chris Smith, Senator James Lankford, and members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, alongside some Nigerian delegation.
Saul said terrorists had started regrouping for the planned attacks.
No Christian, Muslim genocide in Nigeria – Tinubu
President Bola Tinubu has again dismissed claims that there is a Christian genocide in the country, insisting that neither Christians nor Muslims are being targeted for killing.
The President said the insecurity bedevilling the country is rooted in historical, economic and criminal factors, not religious persecution.
He spoke on Friday in Abuja while declaring open the Nasrul-Lahi-l-Fatih Society 8th Biennial Conference and Annual General Meeting, themed “Building Resilience in a Changing World: The Role of Faith and Community.”
Tinubu, who was represented at the event by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, said Nigeria was battling terrorism driven by criminality and extremism.
Police withdrawal: DSS officers lobby for VIP escort roles
Following President Bola Tinubu’s withdrawal of police escorts from VIPs, some officers of the Department of State Services have started lobbying influential Nigerians to take them on as personal security details, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.
President Tinubu had, on November 24, ordered the withdrawal of all police officers attached to VIPs and politicians as part of an aggressive push against escalating nationwide threats, including kidnapping spikes in Kwara, Kebbi, Niger and other parts of the North.
A statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said Tinubu directed armed operatives from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to take up the VIP protection duties from the police.
In fulfilment of the President’s directive, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, three days later, said a total of 11,566 personnel had been withdrawn from VIP duties and redeployed.
“Our first Christmas together” – Toke Makinwa shares cute video with daughter as they count down to Christmas
Nigerian media personality Toke Makinwa is one of the many Nigerians counting down to the Christmas season.
The former OAP, who is set to celebrate her first Christmas as a mother, shared a cute video of her daughter dressed in matching pyjamas standing beside their Christmas tree on her Instagram page
Guess who is getting into the festive season with mommy….Our First Christmas together.
Yakira did so well shooting this with me; don’t worry, guys, she got paid for her appearance too.Christmas is coming”.
PHCs: Yobe tops national rankings, wins $1.2m as govs boost healthcare budgets
Yobe State has emerged as the overall best performer in the 2025 Primary Healthcare Leadership Challenge, earning a $1.2 million prize, as governors across Nigeria collectively increased their health budgets to ₦2.36 trillion to strengthen primary healthcare delivery nationwide.
Yobe State emerged as the winner at the prestigious Award Night held in Abuja from Friday night to the early hours of Saturday, securing a grand prize of $700,000 in recognition of its exceptional commitment to advancing primary healthcare services across the state.
In addition to this top award, Yobe also claimed the Zonal Best Performing State accolade for the North-East, which carried an additional prize of $500,000.
With both awards combined, the state’s total winnings amounted to $1.2 million.
NDA denies negligence in case of missing cadet
The Nigerian Defence Academy has issued a clarification following reports circulating online alleging that a cadet, Stephen Gani, went missing from the institution without adequate response from authorities.
In a Friday statement released and signed by the Academy Public Relations Officer, Major Reuben Kovangiya, the school said the reports were misleading and did not accurately reflect the circumstances surrounding the cadet’s absence.
“The report alleged that the Cadet mysteriously went missing from the Academy without appropriate actions taken by NDA to ascertain his whereabouts,” the statement partly read.
Providing details, NDA stated that the cadet was admitted into the institution as a member of the 76 Regular Course and resumed training on 26 August 2024.
NYSC adds AI, App development to revamped skill acquisition programme
The National Youth Service Corps is set to overhaul its Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development training for corps members through the standardization of its curriculum to achieve deeper impact.
In a post via its official X handle on Saturday, the NYSC said its Director-General, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, disclosed this in his address at the 2025 second SAED stakeholders’ summit held in Abuja on Friday.
Nafiu said the scheme had embarked on a comprehensive digital transformation of the SAED programme as a pathway to combating youth unemployment.
The NYSC boss noted that the new curriculum now includes skills such as artificial intelligence and mobile application development, among others
Gov Bago advocates single-term tenure for governors
Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago of Niger state has supported a single term in office for state governors for good governance.
The governor who has spent two years in his first term in office did not however recommend the duration of the single term or the effective year for the take off.
Bago who was speaking at the swearing in of newly appointed Commissioners and new local government council chairmen and their deputies as well as some permanent secretaries and members of some Boards and Agencies observed that looking for a second term in office is a hindrance towards taking some decisive decisions that would move the state forward.
“There are some steps I ought to have taken to move the state forward but I dare not because of fear that taking such decisions would affect my victory in 2027.
For example, some people who failed examinations and should have been sanctioned one way or the other could not be punished because of second term ambition.
How new thinking can rescue Nigeria from decline — Pat Utomi
Professor of Political Economy, Pat Utomi, in this monitored interview, gave reasons Nigeria has failed to reach its potential and proffered solutions to the country’s problems. Excerpts:
What’s your assessment of where we are?
What’s your view about where we seem to be headed?
I think the Tony Uranta Memorial lecture was an appropriate place to get into this, because in ways, Tony Uranta, who I walked a path with, represented an era of optimism about Nigeria.
When we were young kids, youth corps members, back in 1977, the optimism was extraordinary. We thought we would change the world.
Nigeria was at the epicenter of a rise of the dignity of the black man. Now, you and I know that this is not how Africans even feel about us anymore.
The question is, what went wrong? We can delve into so many tracks of what went wrong and how it went wrong.
The problem is that we are not given, unfortunately, in public culture in Nigeria, to rational analysis of how we got to where we are.
I fall for you every day in new and deeper ways” – Actress Seiilat tells husband as they celebrate 5th wedding anniversary
Nollywood actress Adeyemo Adebola, better known as Seiilat, is celebrating her 5th wedding anniversary with her husband, Peju Adeyemo.
In a lengthy post on her Instagram page, she said the past five years feel like five minutes and a lifetime at the same time.
She noted how her husband had become part of her soul and expressed gratitude to him for choosing her every day.
Seiilat appreciated him for loving her the way he does and expressed gratitude for their journey and for the beautiful years ahead.
