By Friday Idachaba Lokoja — Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo has praised the people of Ekirin-Adde in Ijumu Local Government Area for their commitment to community-driven development, describing their self-help initiatives as a model for grassroots participation in governance. Represented by his deputy, Joel Salifu Oyibo, at the 2026 Ekirin-Adde Day celebration, Ododo endorsed the launch of a N750 million community development fund aimed at financing critical infrastructure and social projects in the town. He said the initiative reflected the community’s determination to shape its future through collective responsibility and urged other rural communities across Kogi State to emulate…
Author: National Update
_Douglas Baye-Osagie_ Nigeria and Morocco share a footballing history defined by talent, passion, and periods of underachievement. For years both were seen as African giants on paper. Yet in the last decade, their trajectories have diverged. Morocco rebuilt quietly while Nigeria debated and speculated about getting things started. The difference is not talent. It is simply process. Morocco had a decent domestic league for decades. Clubs like Raja and Wydad were continental names, and individual players thrived in Europe. But from France ’98 to Russia 2018, the Atlas Lions missed four consecutive World Cups. That is 20 years in the…
By Ajuluchukwu Brown, Abuja Public life often presents a paradox. The higher an individual rises in service to the nation, the more vulnerable they become to allegations that may or may not bear any relationship to the facts. For retired Major-General Barry Tariye Ndiomu, former Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), the recent allegation by an anonymous social media account claiming he paid ₦4 billion in bribes to retain his appointment belongs squarely in that category—an accusation that, on close examination, appears devoid of substantiation and inconsistent with the life and career of the man at its centre.…
Fresh legal trouble has hit the ruling APC in Niger State as the Federal High Court sitting in Minna has fixed July 9, 2026, to commence hearing in a suit challenging the nomination of Prof. Yakubu Mohammed Auna as the party’s candidate for the Magama/Rijau Federal Constituency ahead of the 2027 general election. The suit, marked FHC/MN/CS/54/2026, was instituted by Alhaji Shehu Samaila Auna, who is asking the court to nullify the outcome of the APC primary on the grounds that no valid primary election was conducted in the constituency as required by law. Named as defendants in the suit…
Fresh concerns are being raised about the strength of Nigeria’s electoral legal framework ahead of the 2027 general elections, following warnings that recent amendments to the Electoral Act may have weakened safeguards intended to protect the integrity of election results. The concerns were raised by retired High Court judge and electronic evidence expert, Justice Ajileye, who said the amended law expands the use of technology for voter accreditation but still leaves significant gaps in the transmission and collation of results. Speaking in Abuja at the public presentation of his books, Electronic Evidence (Second Edition) and Compendium of Cases on Electronic…
The controversy surrounding the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), an agency the Presidency has repeatedly said does not exist, took a fresh turn on Saturday as lawyer and public affairs analyst Frank Tietie called for a full-scale legislative inquiry, alleging that the development points to a disturbing failure of governance and public institutions. Speaking on Newsnight on ARISE Television, Tietie argued that the issues raised by the controversy transcend the actions of any individual and instead expose what he described as serious institutional lapses that require independent scrutiny. According to him, if the allegations surrounding the PFIPC are…
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dealt a major blow to transnational drug trafficking networks with the seizure of 6,778.5 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a high-grade strain of cannabis, intercepted in two containers at the Apapa Port in Lagos. The agency formally took custody of the illicit consignment on Wednesday, saying the operation was the outcome of months of intelligence gathering and international collaboration aimed at dismantling organised drug syndicates operating across continents. Chairman and Chief Executive of the NDLEA, retired Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, said the seizure reflected the agency’s resolve to go beyond drug interceptions by…
Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on Sunday renewed his call for President Bola Tinubu to resign, alleging that revelations of N8.83 trillion in off-budget expenditure expose what he described as a pattern of “grand corruption” that threatens Nigeria’s economy and democratic institutions. Obi, in a statement titled “Grand Corruption: Nigeria’s Greatest Threat,” cited the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest Article IV consultation report, claiming it showed that about N8.83 trillion spent by the Federal Government in 2025 was not captured in the national budget and therefore escaped legislative oversight and administrative scrutiny. He argued that the alleged expenditure…
Former Jigawa State Governor and founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sule Lamido, has condemned the controversy surrounding the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), saying the saga underscores the collapse of public institutions and accountability in Nigeria. Lamido spoke at his Bamaina country home while receiving the PDP governorship candidates for Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi and Yobe states, as well as former Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba (retd.), who formally defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP. The controversy over the PFIPC followed allegations reportedly made by Prince Mathew Adeniyi Adeyemi, who claims…
The Federal Government has dismissed claims that it operates a “shadow budget” or spent about ₦8.8 trillion outside the country’s fiscal plan, insisting that all public expenditure is undertaken within the constitutional and statutory framework governing public finance. The government said assertions that approximately two per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was expended outside approved budgets misrepresented the findings of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) 2026 Article IV Consultation and risked misleading the public. In a statement issued on Sunday, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said every expenditure of the Federal…