Nigeria’s young people and women are powering a surge in voter registration as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) confirmed more than 3.5 million sign-ups in just three weeks of its Continuous Voter Registration (CVR). Figures released on Monday show that of the 3,544,850 online pre-registrations recorded since August 18, youths aged 18–34 account for nearly two-thirds (64.65%), while women make up 51.76%. Students alone contributed almost a quarter of the total. Physical registration, which began August 25, has also attracted nearly 289,000 Nigerians, again dominated by young people and women. INEC hailed the enthusiasm but cautioned against underage registration,…
Author: National Update
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, has refuted media reports suggesting that he condemned Nigeria’s borrowing practices, stressing that his comments at a regional conference were misrepresented. At the 11th Annual Conference of the West Africa Association of Public Accounts Committees (WAAPAC) in Abuja, Abbas had warned that Nigeria’s debt profile—₦149.39 trillion in Q1 2025, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 52 per cent—posed serious fiscal risks. His remarks were widely reported as an outright rejection of borrowing. In a clarification issued through his Special Adviser on New Media, Jowosimi Enitan, the Speaker maintained that he did not…
House of Representatives Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen, has raised the alarm over Nigeria’s spiralling debt, warning it has surpassed legal limits and now poses a serious threat to fiscal sustainability. Speaking at the 11th Annual Conference of the West Africa Association of Public Accounts Committees (WAAPAC) in Abuja, Abbas disclosed that Nigeria’s total public debt climbed to N149.39 trillion (about US$97bn) in Q1 2025, up from N121.7 trillion a year earlier. The debt-to-GDP ratio now stands at 52 percent, breaching the 40 percent ceiling prescribed by law. “This breach is a red flag for our economy. Oversight must ensure every naira…
Former Kogi State Deputy Governor, Chief Edward Onoja, has reconciled with his predecessor, Elder Simon Achuba, in a move analysts describe as a symbolic gesture capable of reshaping the political climate in the state. Onoja, who visited Achuba at his Abuja residence, said the meeting was a “strictly brotherly” engagement aimed at ironing out differences and fostering unity. Both men hail from the same senatorial district, with Onoja succeeding Achuba after his controversial impeachment in 2019. The reconciliation has sparked public interest, given the long-standing speculation that Onoja played a role in Achuba’s removal — an insinuation he firmly rejected.…
By Ehichioya Ezomon “Behind every successful man, there is a woman,” is the catchphrase a woman deploys to stress her importance and relevance in a man’s life. Is there also a woman behind an unsuccessful man? Perhaps not! Because, an unsuccessful man is alone in his failure. A woman credits herself for the success of a man. But she ascribes the man’s failure to refusal to take her advice. The 2027 General Election is renewing the debate about the place of a woman (wife) in the success or failure of a man (husband). Nigeria’s former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan,…
By Fatima Ndagi Nigeria’s youth face a deepening crisis of joblessness, insecurity, and dwindling faith in governance, according to a new report by Plan International Nigeria. The State of the Nigerian Youth Report 2025, launched Thursday at a dialogue hosted by the House of Representatives Committee on Youth in Parliament to mark International Youth Day, revealed that 80 million young Nigerians—53 percent of the youth population—are unemployed, while more than 1,500 schools have been shut in the past two years due to insecurity. “With over 200 million people and one of the largest youth populations in the world, Nigeria should…
Fatima Ndagi Indigenous contractors across the country have lauded the House of Representatives and its Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, PhD, CFR, for successfully intervening in the lingering dispute over unpaid project execution fees. The President of the All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria (AICAN), Jackson Ifeanyi Nwosu, in a letter of appreciation to Kalu, praised the Deputy Speaker’s leadership and “thoughtful approach” which led to a breakthrough with the Federal Government after weeks of tension. The development followed protests in Abuja last week by contractors demanding payment for projects executed. In response, the Speaker of the House,…
By Barisi Thompson, Port Harcourt Rivers State is a land of diversity. From the creeks of Bonny and Opobo to the urban expanse of Port Harcourt and the rich farmland of Ogoni, the state is blessed with people, cultures and resources that stand out in the federation. Yet, over the years, that same diversity has often been manipulated to sow division, pit communities against each other and fracture the political soul of the state. Now more than ever, there is an urgent task before us: to rebuild unity in Rivers. The past few months have tested the foundations of our…
A coalition of Nigeria’s most prominent political leaders, civil society figures and labour activists has sounded the alarm over the future of the country’s democracy, warning that without urgent electoral reforms, the 2027 general elections could collapse into another crisis of legitimacy. The warning came at the weekend during a high-level consultative meeting in Lagos, convened by the National Consultative Front (NCFront) in collaboration with the Labour and Civil Society Front (LCSF). The gathering resolved to convene a National Dialogue on Electoral Reforms on October 1, 2025 — a platform expected to galvanise nationwide action. According to NCFront spokesperson Mallam…
***Says Nigeria’s safety depends on empowering states to fight banditry Former presidential candidate Peter Obi has warned that Nigeria’s security system is failing, stressing that citizens will remain exposed to violence until state governors are granted real powers to protect their people. Obi’s remarks came in response to Zamfara Governor Dauda Lawal’s revelation that he knows the hideouts of bandit leaders but cannot act without clearance from federal authorities. The former Anambra governor said the admission exposes the deep flaws in Nigeria’s centralised security model. “What kind of country are we running where a federating unit lacks the coordination and…