National Publicity Secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Saturday, said “the freezing of the Adelekes’ accounts by an agency of the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government, a week to the governorship election, underscored the fact that the APC ” is mortally afraid of our candidate and has been seeking ways to undermine his electoral fortunes.”

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President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, approved that the Minister of State Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, oversee the Ministry of Finance, following the resignation of ex-Minister, Kemi Adeosun. The appointment was announced by President Muhammadu Buhari in an official statement posted on the official Twitter account of the Presidency.

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In a statement by the Spokesman of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP is “demanding an immediate open inquest into the records of the Finance Ministry under Mrs. Adeosun, to unravel all improprieties by the Buhari Presidency cabal, including alleged diversion of oil proceeds, fraudulent oil subsidy deals, leading to high fuel price; depletion of our foreign reserves, embezzling of funds returned by Switzerland and other huge sleazes in the ministry.”

The opposition party stated that the situation confirms the decadence and lack of due diligence in the Buhari Presidency, adding that the President must be held responsible for all infractions in the finance ministry under Adeosun, as he appointed and retained her despite having information on the certificate forgery.

According to the report published on Friday, the rate at which prices of goods and services increased in August rose to 11.23% from 11.14%.

“The consumer price index, (CPI) which measures inflation increased by 11.23 percent (year-on-year) in August 2018. This is 0.09 percent points higher than the rate recorded in July 2018 (11.14) percent and represents the first year on year rise in headline inflation following eighteenth consecutive disinflation in headline inflation,” the report read.

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And stories from around the world:

A strong typhoon tore across the northern tip of the Philippines on Saturday, killing at least three people, wrecking homes and triggering landslides before heading toward Hong Kong and southern China by evening. (Reuters)

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Turkish police on Saturday arrested at least 20 people as they broke up a protest against work-related deaths and poor conditions at the construction site of Istanbul’s third airport, touted to be the world’s largest airport when completed. (AFP)

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Zimbabwe has launched a crowdfunding campaign to deal with an outbreak of cholera that has so far killed 25 people, mostly in the capital, Harare.

New Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube sent an appeal on Twitter, sharing a mobile payment account number. (BBC)

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Brazilian far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, who is in intensive care after being stabbed at a rally last week, is leading the race in the country’s most polarised and unpredictable election in recent history. (Al Jazeera)

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