Nollywood actress and filmmaker Funke Akindele has once again redefined box office success with her latest movie, Everybody Loves Jenifa.

The film has made history as the fastest Nollywood production to gross N500 million, achieving the milestone in just 12 days.

The blockbuster had earlier set another record for the highest-grossing one-day performance of all time, raking in N87.8 million on its best day.

Announcing the milestone through her Instagram account, Akindele expressed heartfelt gratitude to her fans for their unwavering support.

Sharing a celebratory graphic highlighting the movie’s N511 million earnings, she wrote, “Thank you, Lord!! Thank you everyone!!! I couldn’t have done this without your love and support!!!! God bless you all!!”

Everybody Loves Jenifa is the latest installment in the popular Jenifa series, chronicling the comedic yet relatable escapades of the titular character, Jenifa, played by Akindele.

The movie features a star-studded cast, including Falz, Nancy Isime, Stan Nze, and Layi, who bring depth and charm to the production.

Akindele’s achievements in the film industry continue to set new standards. Her 2023 movie, A Tribe Called Judah, still holds the title of the highest-grossing Nigerian film of all time.

Fans and critics alike have hailed Everybody Loves Jenifa for its humor, relatability, and stellar performances, making it a must-watch in Nigerian cinemas. With this latest feat, Funke Akindele reaffirms her position as a trailblazer in Nollywood.

A former US lawmaker who was Donald Trump’s first pick to run the Justice Department paid for sex numerous times, including with an underage girl, according to a congressional report released Monday.

Matt Gaetz also regularly used cocaine and ecstasy, and bought marijuana from his Capitol Hill office, according to the 37-page document, the culmination of a long-running probe by the House Ethics Committee.

“The committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” panel investigators wrote, according to reports.

Gaetz has repeatedly denied wrongdoing — pointing to the Justice Department’s decision not to bring charges against him in 2023 after a criminal probe — and the report came out despite him suing the committee to block its release.

Congressional investigators found that the 42-year-old broke multiple Florida laws on sexual misconduct, although they cleared him of federal sex trafficking violations.

The report listed payments by Gaetz totaling more than $90,000 to 12 women “likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use” between 2017 and 2020.

They focused on a 2018 trip to the Bahamas during which Gaetz is alleged to have had sex with four women and took the ecstasy.

The ex-congressman is an incendiary figure with few friends on Capitol Hill, but was a staunch Trump loyalist and a favorite of the president-elect’s ardent supporters.

He resigned from Congress in November after Trump nominated him for US attorney general.

– ‘High school’ victim –

The allegations had been openly discussed for years and Gaetz withdrew from consideration when it became clear he lacked sufficient backing from Republicans to win Senate confirmation.

Gaetz posted a series of tweets refuting some of the allegations in the report, including that he paid for sex.

“Giving funds to someone you are dating — that they didn’t ask for — and that isn’t ‘charged’ for sex is now prostitution?!?” he posted on X.

“There is a reason they did this to me in a Christmas Eve-Eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses.”

Women told congressional investigators they were paid for sex at parties and other events by Gaetz and his friend Joel Greenberg, a former tax collector in Florida who was jailed for 11 years.

One encounter allegedly involved a 17-year-old girl, who told the committee she had sex with Gaetz twice at a July 2017 party.

“Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex. At the time, she had just completed her junior year of high school,” the report says.

All the women who testified said the sexual encounters with Gaetz were consensual. Gaetz denied having sex with a minor in written responses to the committee.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Nentawe Yilwatda, has announced the Federal Government’s plan to reach 15 million households, representing 75 million people, through its conditional cash transfer scheme.

Speaking on Monday during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, Yilwatda explained that the initiative is part of President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to mitigating the economic hardships faced by vulnerable Nigerians.

“The president was so specific,” Yilwatda noted.

“There are policies that he brought in to see if that can ease those challenges for people at the lower end of the pyramid. One of those policies is to reach out to 15 million beneficiaries under the conditional cash transfer, targeting households rather than individuals. Each household will receive ₦25,000 monthly, paid three times a year.”

Yilwatda further clarified that the 15 million households being targeted translate to 75 million Nigerians, assuming an average of five persons per household.

So far, the Federal Government has reached five million individuals but is facing challenges in fully sanitizing the social register, particularly with the implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) policy mandating digital identities for transparency and traceability of payments.

“Currently, only 1.4 million people on the social register have digital identities. Many of those we are targeting are outside the formal banking system,” the minister disclosed.

Yilwatda emphasized that women are specifically targeted as household leaders under the program to ensure the funds are used effectively for the benefit of children and other vulnerable members of society.

The conditional cash transfer programme, which is administered under the National Social Investment Programme, had earlier been suspended by President Tinubu in January due to allegations of corruption. However, the scheme was reinstated in February, with plans to extend the initiative to an additional 12 million households.