Author: News Room
Taylor Swift’s “Cancelled” perhaps has a new meaning amid her friend Blake Lively’s legal battle with It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni. “I think this bitch knows something is coming because he’s gotten out his tiny violin,” Swift allegedly wrote to Lively in a December 2024 text message, presumably referring to Baldoni. Swift then used a similar phrase in her song “Cancelled” from her 2025 album, The Life of the Showgirl. Baldoni directed and starred in 2024’s It Ends With Us, based on Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel of the same name. Less than a year after the film’s release,…
The Oyo State High Court in Ibadan, on Wednesday, adjourned until March 4 and March 5, the continuation of hearing in the trial of Mukaila Lamidi, widely known as Auxiliary, a former chairman of the state Park Management System. Trial judge O.A. Adetujoye on Tuesday adjourned the alleged armed robbery and murder case against Mr Lamidi due to the defendant’s purported ill health. The judge consequently summoned the medical doctor at the Agodi Custodial Centre of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) to appear before her to speak on the health status of Mr Lamidi. He once chaired the Oyo State…
Former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has denied claims that arms or ammunition were discovered in any residence linked to him. In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Special Assistant on Media, Mohammed Bello Doka, Malami described the claims as false, unsubstantiated and unsupported by any official record or lawful disclosure. The statement said no security agency has formally communicated to Malami, his family or legal representatives that any arms or ammunition were recovered from his residence. It also decried what it described as a media trial, accusing sections of the press…
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday ordered Bauchi State Commissioner for Finance, Yakubu Adamu, and three others to report weekly to the Department of State Services until the end of their ongoing terror financing trial. Justice Mohammed Umar gave the order as part of the conditions attached to the N100m bail he granted the defendants on Wednesday. While ruling on their bail applications, the judge held that the defendants placed sufficient materials before the court to warrant the exercise of its discretion in their favour judicially and judiciously. He ordered each defendant to produce two sureties who must…
The suspects linked to the killing of a security guard in the Bursari Local Government Area of Yobe State, Musa Mohammed, are still at large. PUNCH Metro learnt that Mohammed’s body was discovered in a community river. The state police command spokesperson, Dungus Abdulkarim, confirmed the incident to PUNCH Metro during an exclusive interview on Wednesday. A post on X by counter-insurgency expert Zagazola Makama stated that the attack occurred on Monday. According to Makama, unidentified assailants confronted Mohammed while he was on duty, tied his hands and legs, and threw him into the river. Makama wrote that residents of…
In recent days, Nigerians have been inundated with reports suggesting that the Federal Government has introduced Value Added Tax on banking services such as electronic transfers, fees and commissions. Understandably, this has triggered anxiety among citizens already grappling with economic pressures. However, the truth is far less dramatic than the headlines suggest. Contrary to widespread claims, VAT on banking services is not new. It was not introduced by the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025, and it does not represent an additional financial burden on bank customers. For decades, Nigeria’s VAT framework has applied to fees, commissions and charges for services rendered…
Nigerians spent an estimated N1.58tn on petrol in December 2025, based on official fuel consumption data released by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority. According to the NMDPRA December fact sheet, average daily petrol consumption stood at 63.7 million litres per day throughout the month. With 31 days in December, nationwide petrol use totalled 1.97 billion litres. Petrol consumption in the month remained consistently high, perhaps driven largely by increased travel, festive movements and higher commercial activities associated with the Yuletide. Using the total volume of petrol consumed in the month and applying the average pump price of…
Ghanaian coach and pundit Christopher Nimley has criticised his compatriot, referee Daniel Laryea, for poor officiating during Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations semi-final defeat to Morocco. Nigeria lost 4-2 on penalties after a goalless draw following extra time at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat on Wednesday night. Laryea’s performance has drawn widespread condemnation from Nigerian fans and now from a fellow Ghanaian, with Nimley rating the referee three out of 10 in a video posted on X. “He did so bad. Who spoke to him before the game? We want our referees in such big games, and if…
US stocks and the crypto market showed signs of life on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump stood down on tariffs tied to his efforts to claim Greenland.The S&P 500 closed the trading day up 1.16% on Wednesday, hours after Trump said on Truth Social that he had held a “very productive meeting” with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and would not be moving forward with tariffs scheduled for Feb. 1. The tariffs had targeted eight European countries, including Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland.“We have formed the framework of a future deal with respect…
New court documents are shining a light on what some Sony executives allegedly think of the ongoing It Ends With Us legal drama. According to unsealed court documents obtained by Us Weekly on Wednesday, January 21, multiple Sony executives privately observed that the negative publicity around Blake Lively may have been the result of her own conduct. Court documents allege that Sony President Sanford Panitch wrote in August 2024 that “the hair sell at the same time was epic level stupid,” referring to Lively’s Blake Brown line. “She wouldn’t listen. She knows better,” Panitch allegedly continued. “She did it to…
