News

Bagos Hails Mutfwang’s Leadership, Says Governor Will Be Nigeria’s Most Formidable to Challenge in 2027

Published

9 months ago

August 1, 2025

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Former Member of the House of Representatives for Jos South/Jos East Federal Constituency, Hon. Dachung Musa Bagos, has declared that Plateau State Governor, Barr. Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, will be the most difficult governor to unseat in the 2027 general elections.

Speaking in Jos, Bagos lauded the Governor’s performance since assuming office, describing his leadership as people-focused and results-driven, with tangible impacts cutting across party lines.

“It is increasingly clear that His Excellency, Barr. Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, is redefining governance and setting an unprecedented pace of development across all sectors of Plateau State,” Bagos said. “2027 will be about the candidates, not party affiliations or national influence. On that basis, Mutfwang will be the most formidable governor to challenge.”

Bagos, who represented the federal constituency from 2019 to 2023, credited the Governor’s popularity to bold infrastructural strides—including road construction in rural and urban areas—as well as reforms in health care, education, and job creation.

He praised the Mutfwang administration for restoring hope through strategic investments in human capital, especially in youth empowerment and technical education, which he said are yielding visible results across communities.

Quoting Governor Mutfwang’s recent remarks during a media engagement, Bagos said:

“We are not here for politics. We are here to serve. Our eyes are on the future, and we will not be distracted by cheap political noise. The people of Plateau deserve nothing but the best.”

According to Bagos, this mindset has distinguished the Governor as a leader focused on impact, not rhetoric. “These are not just political statements,” he said. “They reflect the Governor’s sincerity, and the people are witnessing the difference firsthand.”

He further commended the administration for reviving long-abandoned projects, improving rural infrastructure, enhancing water supply systems, and attracting investments from both local businesses and the diaspora.

“Plateau is no longer begging for development—it is experiencing it,” Bagos asserted. “By 2027, Governor Mutfwang’s track record will speak louder than propaganda. His performance is his campaign.”

Concluding his remarks, the former lawmaker emphasized that Mutfwang has become a unifying figure whose leadership is appreciated even beyond Plateau State.

“2027 is not about political parties. It’s about leadership and impact. Plateau people want His Excellency, Barr. Caleb Mutfwang—and the facts on the ground support that,” he said.

Business

Lasaco Assurance’s ₦18.47bn Rights Issue Closes May 13

Published

20 seconds ago

April 21, 2026

Preport

BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR—Lasaco Assurance Plc has announced that v will officially close on May 13, 2026, marking the end date for eligible shareholders to participate in the capital raising exercise.

The offer is part of the company’s strategy to strengthen its financial base, boost underwriting capacity, and support its expansion plans within Nigeria’s insurance sector.

The offer comprises 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each, priced at ₦2.00 per share, on the basis of five (5) new shares for every six (6) existing shares held. The Rights Issue is open to shareholders whose names appeared on the Company’s register as at the close of business on February 20, 2026.

The exercise is expected to raise approximately ₦18.47 billion, which will be strategically deployed to strengthen the Company’s capital base, enhance underwriting capacity, and support the expansion of its market presence within Nigeria’s competitive insurance landscape.

Meristem Capital Limited is acting as Lead Issuing House, while PAC Capital serves as Joint Issuing House on the transaction.

Commenting on the development, the Managing Director of Lasaco Assurance Plc, Ademoye Shobo, reaffirmed the Company’s commitment to maintaining a robust capital position to meet its obligations and deliver sustained value to policyholders and stakeholders.

This initiative aligns with broader efforts across the Nigerian insurance industry to meet evolving regulatory capital requirements, strengthen balance sheets, and position operators to underwrite larger and more complex risks across key sectors of the economy.

The post Lasaco Assurance’s ₦18.47bn Rights Issue Closes May 13 appeared first on Business Today NG.

News

AI research lab NeoCognition lands $40M seed to build agents that learn like humans

Published

47 minutes ago

April 21, 2026

Preport

Investors are aggressively courting AI researchers to build startups that can make AI more reliable and efficient.

Yu Su, an Ohio State professor leading an AI agent lab, said he initially resisted the pressure from VCs to commercialize his work. He finally took the leap last year and spun out his work into a startup when he saw that foundational model advances could make agents truly personalized.

NeoCognition, a startup Su describes as a research lab developing self-learning AI agents, has just emerged from stealth with $40 million in seed funding. The round was co-led by Cambium Capital and Walden Catalyst Ventures, with participation from Vista Equity Partners and angels, including Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan and Databricks co-founder Ion Stoica.

“Today’s agents are generalists,” Su (pictured left) told TechCrunch. “Every time you ask them to do a task, you take a leap of faith.”

According to Su, the issue lies in a lack of consistency. Current agents, whether from Claude Code, OpenClaw or Perplexity’s computer tools, successfully complete tasks as intended only about 50% of the time, he said.

Since agents are still so unreliable, they are not ready to be trusted, independent workers, Su told TechCrunch. NeoCognition intends to change that by developing an agent system that can self-learn to become an expert in any domain, similar to how humans learn.

Su argues that while human intelligence is broad, its real power is our ability to specialize. When we enter a new environment or profession, we can rapidly master its unique rules, relationships, and consequences.

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NeoCognition is building agents to mirror this exact approach.

“For humans, our continued learning process is essentially the process of building a world model for any profession, any environment,” Su said. “We believe for agents to become experts, they need to learn autonomously to build a model of any given micro world.”

Su views this capacity for rapid specialization as the critical missing link to getting AI to work reliably on its own.

While it is possible to train agents for autonomous tasks, they must be custom-engineered for a specific vertical. NeoCognition is different because it’s building agents that are generalists capable of self-learning and specializing in any domain.

NeoCognition intends to sell its agent systems primarily to enterprises, including established SaaS companies, which can use them to build agent-workers or to enhance existing product offerings.

Su highlighted that an investment from Vista Equity Partners is especially valuable for this reason. As one of the largest private equity firms in the software space, Vista can provide NeoCognition with direct access to a vast portfolio of companies looking to modernize their products with AI.

NeoCognition currently has about 15 employees, the majority of whom hold PhDs.

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