The ministry further clarified that the appointments are non-political and are intended to improve the operational efficiency of both institutions through stronger governance structures. It added that the newly inaugurated boards are expected to provide strategic direction, enhance oversight responsibilities and promote greater accountability in the discharge of their mandates

An investigation has also been launched to determine what led to the accident, but authorities have confirmed that everyone aboard the aircraft is safe.

The vice-president had been in the northern district on official duties before the incident.

In other news, a Zambian court has sentenced Leonard Phiri and Mozambican Jasten Mabulesse Candunde to two years in prison for attempting to use witchcraft to kill President Hakainde Hichilema.

The two men were arrested in December 2025 after being found with charms, including a live chameleon, which prosecutors said were intended for a deadly ritual.

Delivering judgment, Magistrate Fine Mayambu described the convicts as a danger to society.

“It is my considered view that the convicts were not only the enemy of the head of state but were also enemies of all Zambians,” he said.

The court heard that a fugitive former MP allegedly hired the men. Despite claiming to be traditional healers, they were convicted on two counts under the Witchcraft Act.

Magistrate Mayambu said the accused admitted owning the charms and even demonstrated how they intended to use them.

Source: Naija News

He argued that the inclusion of the agency in official budget documents raised questions about the integrity of the budget process.

“The question becomes unavoidable: At what point in this process did references to a non-existent agency allegedly enter the official record? And if they are indeed present in official documentation, what does that imply about the integrity of the process that produced and approved those documents?” he asked.

Adeyemi further claimed that the agency maintained several accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“The same acclaimed non-existent agency has a domiciliary account, a pounds sterling account and a Treasury Single Account, all domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria. Is it even possible to open an account with fictitious documents in a commercial bank in Nigeria today, let alone the Central Bank of Nigeria?” he said.

He also alleged that the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, demanded 48 per cent of the agency’s proposed ₦27.4bn take-off grant and referenced an alleged demand for ₦12.5bn.

The Presidency has, however, consistently denied the allegations.

The Office of the Chief of Staff has maintained that the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council has no legal backing and was never established by the Federal Government.

According to the Presidency, Adeyemi forged official documents, including appointment letters bearing the names and signatures of senior government officials, to portray himself as the Director-General of the purported council.

Authorities also alleged that he operated from an office inside Phase III of the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja, where he hosted meetings with government officials, diplomats, foreign investors and members of the public while presenting himself as a senior government official.

The controversy deepened after it emerged that an entity listed in the 2026 Appropriation Act as the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council received more than ₦1.3bn in budgetary allocations, sparking widespread public scrutiny over how a body the Presidency now describes as fictitious appeared in the federal budget.

The reported allocation comprised about ₦803m for personnel, ₦200m for overhead and ₦300m for capital expenditure.

Adeyemi is facing an eight-count charge bordering on forgery, impersonation, false personation and operating a fictitious government agency before the Federal High Court in Abuja.