Historic Awolowo House Demolished for Tech, ICT Mall

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August 25, 2025
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Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The rationale behind demolition of the historic Awolowo House, a multi-story building, in Ikeja, Lagos, that has been a symbol of innovation since 1978 has been explained.

The iconic building managed by Wemabod, a subsidiary of Odu’a Investment Company Limited, owned by the six South West states of Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Ondo and Ekiti, was demolished and is being rebuilt into a modern and magnificent technology haven called Awolowo Technology Mall.

The new Awolowo Technology Mall, is being developed to commemorate and immortalize legendary nationalist, Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s legacy of innovation, quest for knowledge, spirit of discovery, and excellence; qualities the leading technology companies taking up spaces at the Awolowo Technology Mall are globally famous for.

The new Awolowo Technolgy Mall will more than double the previously available commercial space of Awolowo House from 4,800 sqm to over 9,000 sqm.

On the rationale for the demolition of the former edifice, the managing director of El-Salem Nigeria Limited, Mr. Ben Gbade Ojo, whose company is in partnership with Wemabod to develop the Awolowo Technology Mall, told journalists in Abuja at the weekend, that “the Awolowo Technology Mall, now famously called A.T Mall, is a place where top-notch information technology companies will set up shops and offices to exhibit and market the latest information communication technologies and systems.”

He added it would be a place where latest ICT products from global technology companies can be found in Nigeria.

“It is a place where leading ICT experts congregate and set up shops and offices, a place where ICT training is carried out by global ICT geniuses and where ICT puzzles find ready answers, and ICT problems find well-tailored solutions.

“You will likely find at the A.T Mall, any ICT product or electric product available in the world, and you may not need to travel outside Nigeria for the product. Whatever technology products or services you are in need of, come to A.T Mall, Ikeja, and you will get them”.

He noted that recently, a comprehensive report by data analytics firm, Statisense ranked Lagos as the world’s fastest-growing emerging technology ecosystem in 2025.

The report published on X placed Istanbul in second position, followed by Pune, Belo, Horizonte, Mumbai, Curitiba, Riyadh, Johannesburg, Chennai and Ho Chi Minh City completed the top ten.

Analysts say the ongoing development of the magnificent Awolowo Technology Mall, now sought after by world-class technology firms, will further solidify Lagos’ now globally acknowledged status as a leading technology hub in the world.

Statisense is a leading artificial intelligence data analytics company known for its annual ecosystem intelligence reports across emerging markets

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August 25, 2025
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Atiku Abubakar: ADC Leading Potent Coalition, Will Shock the World in 2027

*’We will upstage the status quo in a way that will leave doubters dumbstruck’*Insists he will contest presidential election

*Disowns statement insinuating he may not run
*Says there’s nationwide degeneration, unprecedented thievery under current administration

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday vowed that despite efforts by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to ridicule and play down the current momentum in the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the coalition will shock the world in the 2027 presidential election.
Atiku also laid to rest insinuation that he might not contest the presidential poll two years from now, stressing that he will run for the nation’s top job in the next election cycle.
One of the politician’s spokespersons during the 2023 presidential election, Tunde Olusunle, disclosed this to THISDAY last night, quoting his ex-principal as maintaining that Nigeria needs to be decisively rescued from the ‘intensive care’ unit it has been consigned to under the Bola Tinubu government.
Atiku, until recently a prominent figure in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has often sought broad coalitions to strengthen his presidential bids. In that light, the ADC, a hitherto relatively smaller party has brought together some heavyweight politicians, positioning itself as a third-force alternative outside the dominance of the APC and PDP.
Besides, the former Nigeria’s number two man decried what he described as the unprecedented ‘thievery’ in the current administration, highlighting the need to ‘rescue’ the country from its current leaders.
He pointed out that the ADC will mobilise Nigerians to upstage the status quo in 2027, emphasising that he will be offering himself for election.
“The accompanying deceit, the loss of values, the mega-scale, unimpeded thievery and the absolute lack of accountability must disturb every concerned patriot. I will be offering myself to lead the reclamation and reconstruction of our traumatised homeland,” Olusunle quoted Atiku as having said, after conferring with him.
Atiku explained that the coalition which he is leading under the ADC is to galvanise popular support for the liberation of Nigeria, but said that a platform which was adopted just a few months ago cannot be expected to engender upsets in by-elections that just held.
“ADC is leading a potent mass movement which will shock the world. We will upstage the status quo in a way which will leave doubters dumbstruck,” he maintained.
In the same vein, contrary to recent reports to the effect that he may opt out of the 2027 presidential contest, the former Vice President Atiku restated that he will run for the nation’s top job.
However, apart from Atiku, ex-Anambra Governor, Peter Obi, and former Rivers Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, have made public their intentions to jostle for the ADC’s presidential ticket as part of a coalition of opposition figures seeking to challenge President Bola Tinubu at the polls in 2027.
While the former vice president has positioned himself as the most experienced hand, Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), has insisted he will not play a secondary role to anyone. Also, Amaechi, a former Minister Of Transportation, has hinted on plans to throw his hat into the ring.
But Atiku was quoted to have said at the weekend that his commitment to the evolution of a better Nigeria far outweighed his quest to be President. Prof Ola Olateju of the Achievers University, Owo, Ondo state, who represented him at the defection of several top political figures to ADC in Lagos, suggested that Atiku was not enamoured about occupying Aso Rock at all costs.
“Atiku Abubakar’s plan is to build a better Nigeria, it’s not about being President. It’s about establishing a government that works for Nigerians. That’s why some of us are with him, not because Atiku must be President at all costs,” Olateju was widely reported to have said at the event he stood in for Atiku.
But Olusunle stated that after reading the report from his holiday home in the United Arab Emirates, (UAE), Atiku disowned the statement, insisting that the message conveyed during the event was not sanctioned by him.
“I did not issue that statement,” he said. “When people stand in for me at events, we preview my thoughts on the instant subject and what my contribution or intervention will be, so we are on the same page. In this particular instance, there was no engagement with me to distill my thoughts. Prof Olateju was not speaking for me,” he stated.
The elder statesman added: “I will run in 2027. Nigeria needs to be decisively rescued from the intensive care unit it has been consigned. The degeneration in our country, the level of poverty and pain, the anguish, is unacceptable.”
Atiku’s statement is also coming as the presidency has often seized every opportunity to ridicule the ADC, claiming that the coalition only exists on paper and portraying it as inconsequential as well as lacking real electoral weight.

The post Atiku Abubakar: ADC Leading Potent Coalition, Will Shock the World in 2027 appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

*’We will upstage the status quo in a way that will leave doubters dumbstruck’*Insists he will contest presidential election *Disowns statement insinuating he may not run*Says there’s nationwide degeneration, unprecedented
The post Atiku Abubakar: ADC Leading Potent Coalition, Will Shock the World in 2027 appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

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August 25, 2025
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FAAC Reconciliation: NNPC, FIRS, Others Remit N1.49 Trillion Arrears to Federation in Six Months

*No agreement on $78.2m, N6.7tn outstanding payments yet

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Nigeria’s Federation Account received a major inflow of N1.49 trillion in the first half of 2025 from arrears reconciled and paid by the country’s revenue generating agencies, fresh data from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shown.
A report by the FAAC Post-Mortem Sub-Committee (PMSC), which reviews remittances from key agencies, indicated that the cumulative inflows into the Federation Account between January and June 2025 came from reconciled outstanding arrears previously owed by key agencies.
These included: The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and other statutory bodies.
According to the report seen by THISDAY, the total arrears inflows amounted to exactly N1,490,778,578,480.61 over the six-month period, averaging over N248 billion monthly and providing additional fiscal space for the government at a time of government’s mounting debt service obligations.
The figures released showed that in January 2025, reconciled arrears worth N367.37 billion were remitted to the Federation Account, the highest single-month inflow during the period. This was followed by N227.15 billion in February and N175.99 billion in March. In April, arrears payment rose to N259.85 billion, before dropping to N247.05 billion in May and N213.37 billion in June.
Specifically for June 2025, FAAC recorded a reconciled arrears payment of $41.07 million, equivalent to N213.37 billion at the official Central Bank exchange rate of N1528.705 as well as local currency reconciliation of N150.589 billion.
This payment included $5.19 million (N7.92 billion) from the FIRS in respect of Petroleum Profit Tax value arrears; $35.43 million (N54.15 billion) from NUPRC’s royalty value arrears, and $459,226 (N702.9 million) from NNPC joint venture outstanding royalty. The N150.59 billion came from NUPRC on other royalty receipts.
But while the N1.49 trillion inflows were welcomed as a boost to the Federation Account, the FAAC report warned that much larger sums remained outstanding.
At the inter-agency reconciliation meeting held in August 2025, additional outstanding amounts undergoing reconciliation were put at $78.23 million and another N1.72 trillion from FIRS/NNPC and another N2.32 trillion, to hit 6.75 trillion.
The bulk of this figure was attributed to the NNPC, which accounted for $11.24 million and N164.7billion, and NUPRC/NNPC jointly, which made up $66.99 million.
In the same vein, FIRS/NNPC reconciliation added N1.72 trillion, while other government agencies owed N2.03 trillion, to hit $78.2 million and N6.7 trillion, which had yet to be reconciled.
Beyond these, arrears of about N2.54 trillion from before June 2023 are still unresolved, the document showed. These older payments have now been referred to the Stakeholders Alignment Committee and the FAAC Sub-Committee for further reconciliation.
“Members should note that the above outstanding amounts are still being reconciled at the monthly reconciliation meetings between the agencies and the Sub-Committee.
“Furthermore, the sum of N2,535,352,533,190.87 outstanding payments from the revenue generating agencies before June, 2023, were referred to the Stakeholders Alignment Committee and the sub-committee awaits the outcome of the technical reconciliation meeting conveyed by the Ministry of Finance. All outstanding between January 2023 and December 2024 was taken to the Alignment Committee,” the report reiterated.
The reconciliation exercise is part of government efforts to improve accountability in the management of public finances and close loopholes in remittances by revenue generating agencies.
For years, FAAC allocations to the federal, state, and local governments have been undermined by remittances underpayments, with NNPC especially frequently accused by states and civil society groups of withholding funds or making delayed remittances.
In the past, FAAC meetings have ended in deadlock over disagreements about what NNPC declares as gross revenue and the deductions it made for subsidy, pipeline repairs, and joint venture obligations before passing the balance to the Federation Account.

The issue worsened in 2022 and 2023, when huge amounts were carried as unremitted arrears. The ongoing reconciliation exercise seeks to address those backlogs, ensuring that revenues due to the Federation are captured and distributed among the three tiers of government.

The post FAAC Reconciliation: NNPC, FIRS, Others Remit N1.49 Trillion Arrears to Federation in Six Months appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

*No agreement on $78.2m, N6.7tn outstanding payments yet Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Nigeria’s Federation Account received a major inflow of N1.49 trillion in the first half of 2025 from arrears
The post FAAC Reconciliation: NNPC, FIRS, Others Remit N1.49 Trillion Arrears to Federation in Six Months appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

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