Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has recounted how he narrowly escaped an alleged assassination attempt in Maitama, Abuja, while pursuing his ambition to become governor of the state. Otti said about 12 armed men arrived at a location in July 2015 with the intention of killing him, but their plan failed because he had left the premises shortly before their arrival. The governor disclosed this on Thursday in Umuahia during a solemn assembly and covenant renewal service organised by the Abia State Government to rededicate the state to God. According to Otti, the attackers believed he was still inside the…
Author: National Update
The future of Kogi East is sitting in classrooms, workshops, farms, markets, offices and homes across the nine local government areas. They are young graduates searching for their first opportunity. They are artisans trying to build businesses with limited tools. They are farmers looking for better ways to produce and sell. They are young women running small businesses from their homes. They are technology enthusiasts trying to work with inadequate internet access. They are young people with ideas, energy and ambition who simply want a fair opportunity to make something of their lives. High Chief Peter Ojonugwa Ameh believes Kogi…
Lagos State generated more Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in 2025 than 22 other states combined, as the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory recorded a combined N5.15 trillion during the year. The figure represents a 40.93 per cent increase from the N3.65 trillion generated by the states and the FCT in 2024, according to the 2025 Internally Generated Revenue Report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Lagos accounted for N1.77 trillion of the total, making it the highest-earning jurisdiction in the country. The combined IGR of the 22 states ranked below the top 15 jurisdictions stood at N909.35…
The Federal High Court sitting in Gombe has ordered the Peoples Democratic Party to conduct a fresh governorship primary election in Gombe State. Justice Amina Aliyu Mohammed gave the order on Thursday in a suit filed by Usman Aliyu Garry challenging the emergence of Prof. Isa Ali Pantami as the party’s candidate. Garry had challenged Pantami’s emergence after the PDP announced him as its sole candidate on June 26, 2026. He argued that the party failed to conduct the required governorship primary in accordance with its rules and applicable electoral laws. Pantami, a former All Progressives Congress governorship aspirant, defected…
The Kano State Chairman of Jama’atu Izalatil Bidi’a Wa Ikamatus Sunnah, Prof. Abdullahi Saleh Pakistan, has called for stronger prosecution of drug offenders, saying enforcement must go hand-in-hand with community intervention to tackle the state’s growing social challenges. Pakistan said the failure to ensure that drug offenders face appropriate legal consequences could further undermine efforts to curb drug abuse, violence and other social vices. He spoke when the Chairman of the Kano State Multi-Agency Task Force on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Barrister Muhuyi Magaji Rimin Gado, visited him in Kano. The former Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of…
The Federal Government has introduced a new framework for calculating interest on late payment of taxes, with the Nigeria Tax Administration Order 2026 taking effect from October 1, 2026. The Order was signed by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, and announced by the Federal Ministry of Finance on Thursday. Under the new framework, interest on overdue naira-denominated taxes will be based on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Rate plus one percentage point. However, the applicable rate cannot fall below the yield on 364-day Treasury Bills. For tax liabilities denominated in foreign…
Senior lawyer, Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, has warned that Nigeria’s legal profession is facing a grave crisis of confidence, saying partisan, sectional and personal interests are increasingly undermining professional integrity. Okutepa made the remarks in a statement posted on his X handle, where he expressed concern over what he described as the weakening of law, integrity and professional courage within the legal profession. He alleged that disciplinary processes were, in some instances, being misapplied to harass lawyers who seek to promote what they consider to be the proper course for the profession. According to him, some lawyers entrusted with leadership responsibilities…
The spokesperson for the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign, Kenneth Okonkwo, has accused President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly of failing to discharge their constitutional responsibilities over the President’s prolonged absence from Nigeria. Okonkwo, who spoke during an interview on Arise TV, argued that Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution does not make the President’s obligation to transmit a written declaration dependent on an absence lasting 21 days. President Tinubu has been outside Nigeria since August 30 on what the Presidency described as a working vacation, while Vice-President Kashim Shettima has been representing Nigeria at the United Nations General Assembly…
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has rejected the reported directive by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to decorate the First Niger Bridge with photographs of President Bola Tinubu, describing the move as an attempt to personalise public infrastructure. HURIWA argued that the bridge, having been constructed and rehabilitated with public resources, belongs to Nigerians and should not be converted into a platform for promoting the personality of an individual political office holder. In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, on Thursday, the rights group said the directive raised fundamental questions about…
By Olaide Ahli There is a difference between making noise and winning a political argument. In the unfolding confrontation between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and Kwara State Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, that difference is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Wike has talked. He has attacked. He has named AbdulRahman publicly. He has questioned his political position and accused him, alongside Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma and Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, of working against his Rainbow Coalition. But what has AbdulRahman done? Almost nothing publicly. And that, in my view, is precisely where the political significance…