The United States Drug Enforcement Administration has given fresh reasons for keeping parts of investigative records linked to President Bola Tinubu away from public view, citing the protection of confidential sources and sensitive law-enforcement techniques. The latest development is part of an ongoing Freedom of Information Act battle before the US District Court for the District of Columbia over records sought by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan. In a September 23 filing, the US government defended the DEA’s decision to redact or withhold portions of the documents, arguing that disclosure could expose people who provided information to investigators and reveal…
Author: National Update
The Lagos State Police Command has arrested an inspector identified as Osumah Frank after a video of him making political and ethnic remarks against Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi went viral. The command said on Friday that disciplinary proceedings had commenced against the officer over comments it described as inappropriate and inconsistent with the standards expected of police personnel. Frank was reportedly captured in the video, while dressed in police uniform and travelling in what appeared to be a public transport vehicle, making comments about Obi and the possibility of an Igbo person becoming President of Nigeria.…
Former Kogi Governor Ibrahim Idris was buried in Abuja on Friday, as Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo and former governors Yahaya Bello and Idris Wada gathered to pay their final respects. Idris, who died at the age of 77 in the United Kingdom on September 20, was buried at the Gudu Cemetery, Apo, Abuja, after Islamic funeral rites. The burial brought together the incumbent governor and two of his predecessors, alongside family members, government officials, political leaders, traditional rulers and sympathisers who gathered to honour the former governor. The remains of Idris arrived at the International Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe…
By Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko For a media practitioner and a Catholic, Thursday, September 24, 2026, will remain a remarkable day. It was the day the Catholic Church formally beatified Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, one of the world’s best-known Catholic clerics and one of the pioneers of using modern mass media as an instrument of evangelisation. The significance of the occasion, however, went beyond the beatification of an eminent American churchman. To me, the event represented something much broader: a moment when the Church appeared to remind the contemporary media world of the enormous responsibility that accompanies the power of communication.…
Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, has disowned his reported inclusion in former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s policy team for the 2027 presidential election. Moghalu said he was neither consulted nor asked for his consent before his name was published as a member of the policy team backing the African Democratic Congress presidential campaign. The former CBN deputy governor, in a statement on Thursday, described the development as surprising and made it clear that he had no role in Atiku’s campaign structure. “For the record, I was not consulted and did not give my consent…
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has announced plans to personally lead President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign machinery in the FCT and Rivers State. Wike disclosed this on Friday in Abuja, declaring that he would soon inaugurate campaign teams for the two territories as political parties intensify preparations for the 2027 elections. The announcement further defines Wike’s role in the Tinubu re-election project, despite his continued membership of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party. “Very soon, I will inaugurate the campaign team for Tinubu in the FCT and Rivers, which I will lead,” Wike said. He added that…
The Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, has asked the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to choose between joining the All Progressives Congress and remaining outside the party. Lawal said Wike could not operate on both sides of the political divide while supporting President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid and simultaneously backing a coalition involving opposition parties. The governor spoke amid the growing disagreement between Wike and some APC governors over the Rainbow Coalition. Lawal said the Progressive Governors Forum, the umbrella body of APC governors, had already made its position clear on the matter. According to him,…
Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, Dr. Mariya Mahmoud has contended that a government cannot declare success merely because its citizens are free from armed conflict. She pointed out that insecurity persists among citizens due to issues such as hunger, unemployment, illness, displacement, or inadequate access to essential services. Mahmoud presented this perspective at the Resilience in Leadership and Governance Roundtable, coinciding with the 2026 United Nations General Assembly. In her discussion titled “Catalyzing Effective Governance and Human Security,” she asserted that true governance should be evaluated based on the lived experiences of citizens. The minister stressed the…
The battle over the control of campaign structures within the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, has taken a new turn as the Obidient/Kwankwasiya (OK) Movement rejected attempts to bring its organisation under the control of the party. The movement insisted that its 59-member Presidential Campaign Council remains intact, setting the stage for a fresh confrontation with NDC National Leader, Senator Seriake Dickson. The latest development followed Dickson’s warning that political support groups cannot compete with the party or establish structures performing the functions of the NDC’s official campaign machinery. The disagreement began after the OK Movement unveiled its Presidential Campaign Council…
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has alleged that about 75 per cent of government funds released for Christian and Muslim pilgrimages was stolen by officials entrusted with managing the programmes. Olukoyede made the explosive disclosure in Abuja while speaking at the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council meeting and the presentation of the EFCC’s Interfaith Manual to religious bodies. The EFCC boss said the alleged diversion was uncovered during investigations into the Christian and Muslim pilgrimage boards when he served in the commission. He described the findings as “mind-boggling”, alleging that officials of the pilgrimage agencies diverted…