A wave of public criticism has greeted the Niger State Government’s decision to construct a new Government House near Zuma Rock in Suleja Local Government Area, with many residents and stakeholders describing the project as a misplaced priority amid pressing developmental challenges. The proposed complex is to be located behind the iconic Zuma Rock, about 100 kilometres from Minna, the state capital, and less than five kilometres from Abuja, a location that has sparked widespread debate across the state. Since the proposal became public, citizens have taken to social media to question the rationale behind siting the seat of government…
Author: National Update
Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin has said the proposed constitutional framework for state police includes safeguards that would allow the President to assume control of any state police formation if it is abused by a governor. Barau, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, disclosed this during Hannu Da Yawa, a live Hausa programme on Radio Nigeria Kaduna, explaining that the proposed amendment was carefully designed to balance the benefits of decentralised policing with measures to prevent political misuse. According to him, the Senate’s constitutional amendment bill provides for a dual policing system in which the Nigeria Police…
Families of pupils abducted from Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State have appealed to the Federal Government to intensify efforts to secure the release of their children, saying they feel abandoned two months after the incident. The appeal follows the recent rescue of teachers and pupils abducted from three schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State. Both the Borno and Oyo abductions occurred on May 15, 2026. More than 40 pupils and teachers, including children as young as two years old, were kidnapped during the attack on the Mussa school.…
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has rejected Monday’s Court of Appeal judgment on its ward, local government and state congresses, insisting the ruling will not affect its candidates for the 2027 general elections. In a statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC assured members that the judgment has no impact on the direct primaries through which its candidates emerged for various elective offices. The party announced that it has begun the process of appealing the decision at the Supreme Court, describing the appellate court’s verdict as legally unsustainable. It also expressed confidence in the dissenting…
The Senate Committee on Finance has opened a fresh scrutiny of the Federal Government’s import duty waiver regime after the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) disclosed that the value of Import Duty Exemption Certificates (IDECs) issued since March 2020 rose to about ₦34 trillion by 2025. The committee also threatened sanctions against the heads of several Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi, for failing to appear before its investigative hearing on revenue remittances.…
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called on the Federal Government to abandon what it described as routine condemnations of mass killings in Benue and Plateau states and launch sustained operations to dismantle terrorist networks responsible for the recurring attacks. The rights group made the call on Monday while reacting to the latest killings in Otukpo-Nobi and Akpachi communities of Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State, where at least 16 people, including women and children, were reportedly killed in coordinated pre-dawn attacks. In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA described the incident…
The Federal High Court sitting in Makurdi, Benue State, has summoned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Labour Party (LP), and Hon. Blessed Emmanuel Onah over a legal challenge to the party’s House of Representatives ticket for the Oju/Obi Federal Constituency ahead of the 2027 general election. The suit, marked FHC/MKD/CS/69/2026, was filed by Jonah Ihie Onah, who is asking the court to declare him the lawful Labour Party candidate for the constituency after claiming he was endorsed as the party’s consensus candidate on May 8, 2026. In the originating summons dated June 11, 2026, the court directed the…
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has paid glowing tribute to Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, on his 92nd birthday, describing him as the nation’s enduring conscience whose unwavering commitment to justice and democracy has shaped Nigeria’s moral and political landscape for decades. In a statement issued on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Araba Rufus Aiyenigba, the party said Soyinka’s remarkable life has been defined by fearless advocacy, intellectual excellence and an uncompromising defence of truth, earning him admiration both within Nigeria and across the world. According to the SDP, the playwright, essayist and human rights advocate has remained one…
The Nigerian Army has disclosed that security forces suffered casualties during the month-long operation that secured the release of 44 pupils and teachers abducted from Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, underscoring the heavy price paid to end the victims’ 56-day captivity. The victims, kidnapped on May 15, regained their freedom on July 10 after what the military described as an intelligence-driven, multi-agency operation that dismantled the criminal network responsible for the abduction. In a statement issued by the Acting Deputy Director of Army Public Relations, 2 Division, Lieutenant Colonel Danjuma Jonah Danjuma, the Army said troops, working alongside…
Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has said the suspension of the newly introduced examination fees should mark a turning point in government’s approach to education, urging policymakers to prioritise access to learning over revenue generation. Reacting to the policy reversal on Monday, Obi described the suspension as a welcome development but insisted that the charges ought not to have been introduced at a time when millions of Nigerians are battling severe economic hardship. He argued that government should be concentrating on reducing the country’s out-of-school population instead of introducing financial obligations that could discourage children…