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Tories select councillor Louie French for Old Bexley and Sidcup byelection

Tories select councillor Louie French for Old Bexley and Sidcup byelection
The Conservatives have selected a candidate to contest the Old Bexley and Sidcup byelection after the death of MP James Brokenshire.
Louie French, a councillor for eight years and the former deputy leader of Bexley council, will face candidates from Labour and the Reform party in a byelection, the date of which has not yet been announced.
The announcement on Saturday comes after former Cabinet minister Brokenshire, who had lung cancer, died aged 53 earlier this month.
French, to whom Brokenshire was a friend and mentor, is likely to be viewed as the favourite to win the seat, which has been held by the Conservatives since its creation in 1983.
“It’s an honour to have been selected as the Conservative candidate for Old Bexley and Sidcup, where I hope to carry on his [Brokenshire’s] excellent work,” he said. “I will campaign to ensure that outer London areas like Old Bexley and Sidcup are not forgotten or left behind by the mayor of London and City Hall.”
He also pledged to improve access to GPs and other healthcare services and build on Brokenshire’s work with Queen Mary’s hospital.
Oliver Dowden, the Conservative party chair, praised French’s appointment, saying: “Louie will build on James’s exceptional record as a strong voice tirelessly standing up for the people of Bexley.”
French will run against Daniel Francis, a Bexley councillor for Labour, and Richard Tice, the leader of Reform, formerly known as the Brexit party.
Francis, a former leader of Bexley’s Labour group on the council who has lived in the area for his entire life, claims residents are “fed up of being taken for granted by the Tories”.
He tweeted from the campaign trail today: “Only Labour can provide the change our constituency needs.”
Meanwhile, Tice said he will be standing on a ticket of low taxes and pledged to campaign for a referendum on the 2050 net zero emissions target.
The former MEP described the seat as “traditionally Conservative”. He said: “Voters here did not expect the prime minister to deliver con-socialism, a highly taxed, highly regulated nanny state.”
The south-east London seat, which was previously held by former prime minister Ted Heath, was won by Brokenshire with a majority of close to 19,000 in the 2019 general election.
He served as secretary of state for Northern Ireland and for communities and local government under Theresa May and held multiple junior government positions under David Cameron and Boris Johnson. He was MP for Hornchurch from 2005 to 2010 and then for 11 years as MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup.
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Police foil N14m ransom payment, rescue kidnap victim, arrest suspects

A kidnap victim, Semiu Ogunniyi, who was abducted from a hotel in Ikare-Akoko, Akoko North-East Local Government Area of Ondo State, has been rescued by police operatives and local hunters.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Wilfred Afolabi, who disclosed this, revealed that one of the suspected kidnappers involved in the abduction of Ogunniyi, Muhammed Babuga, was arrested in the course of the rescue operation.
According to Afolabi, the kidnappers had demanded a ransom of N14 million for the release of the victim, after which the movement of the suspects was trailed through actionable intelligence.
The police boss disclosed that during the interception, the suspects engaged the operatives in a fierce gun duel, with several suspects sustaining gunshot injuries during the exchange of gunfire.
While speaking with newsmen at the headquarters of the state police command, Afolabi added that two suspected kidnappers, Ibrahim Umar, 25, and Paul Osanyinduro, 38, were arrested in Owo, headquarters of Owo Local Council Area of the state. Abubakar Bamoh, 30, a logistics provider for the kidnappers terrorising various parts of the South-West, was also arrested.
He said, “Command also arrested 3 suspected kidnappers who have confessed to their involvement in various kidnapping cases across the state. This operation marks yet another success in the Command’s ongoing offensive against kidnapping and violent crime in the state.
“Acting on credible intelligence regarding the activities of one Abubakar Bamoh, male, aged 30 years, an indigene of Bunza Local Government Area of Kebbi State, operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of the Command swung into action and successfully apprehended the suspect at one of the Fulani camps in Igbara-Oke, Ondo State.”
(Daily post)
News
SERAP demands explanation over missing N500bn oil revenue from NNPCL

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has asked the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mr Bayo Ojulari, to immediately account for and explain the whereabouts of the N500 billion oil revenue the company allegedly failed to remit to the Federation Account between October and December 2024.
In a letter dated May 17, 2025, and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP cited recent revelations by the World Bank which showed that out of N1.1 trillion earned from crude oil sales and other income in 2024, only N600 billion was remitted by the NNPCL, leaving a staggering N500 billion unaccounted for.
The organisation is demanding full disclosure and recovery of the missing funds, and has threatened legal action should the company fail to act within seven days.
“SERAP is writing to request you to use your good offices and leadership position to promptly account for and explain the whereabouts of the missing N500 billion, which the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited failed to remit to the Federation Account,” the letter stated.JAMB’s
SERAP also urged Ojulari to identify and surcharge those responsible for the missing funds and hand them over to anti-graft agencies for investigation and prosecution.
“SERAP urges you to promptly identify those suspected to be responsible for the alleged missing oil money, surcharge them for the full amount involved, and hand them over to the ICPC and the EFCC,” the group wrote.
Citing the World Bank report, the group noted that revenue from oil sales and other sources was expected to be fully paid into the Federation Account and shared by all tiers of government, but the NNPCL failed to comply.
“Nigerians have the right to know why the NNPCL is remitting only 50 per cent of the gains generated from the removal of petrol subsidies to the Federation Account,” SERAP said.
“The failure by the NNPCL to remit the money is a grave violation of the public trust and the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, national anti-corruption laws, and international obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption.”
SERAP warned that the alleged disappearance of such a large sum has serious implications for economic development, poverty alleviation, and the provision of basic public services at a time of national hardship.
“Despite the country’s enormous oil wealth, ordinary Nigerians have derived very little benefit from oil money primarily because of widespread grand corruption, and the entrenched culture of impunity of perpetrators,” the group added.
It stressed that the failure of the NNPCL to uphold transparency and accountability standards has worsened the country’s fiscal crisis.
“The missing oil revenue reflects a failure of NNPCL accountability more generally and is directly linked to the institution’s continuing failure to uphold the principles of transparency,” SERAP noted.
Citing paragraph 3112(ii) of the Financial Regulations 2009, the group said any public officer who fails to account for government revenue “shall be surcharged for the full amount involved and handed over to either the EFCC or the ICPC.”
News
Security Operatives Nab ‘Wanted’ Kidnapper In Abuja Hajj Camp

Security operatives have reportedly arrested a wanted kidnapper at the hajj camp in Abuja.
A security source at the camp confirmed the arrest to our correspondent, on Sunday.
He said the suspect was nabbed during screening of pilgrims who were preparing to be airlifted to Saudi Arabia. He disclosed that the suspect identified as Yahaya Zango resided at Paikon -Kore in Gwagwalada area council of the FCT.
The source said security agencies had declared him wanted, following his alleged involvement in some kidnappings.
He said the suspect presented his passport alongside other Muslim contingent from Abuja who were on their way to observe this year’s hajj. “It was this afternoon during the screening at the hajj camp in airport when the DSS operatives apprehended him and whisked him away,” he said
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