Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, a former governor of Delta State is Dead. He died after a brief illness at the age of 71.

The Uduaghan family announced his death in a statement signed by Toju Andre Uduaghan, on Monday.

The statement, titled, ‘ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE PASSING OF HIS EXCELLENCY, DR. CHIEF EMMANUEL EWETA UDUAGHAN’, read:

“It is with hearts weighed down by immeasurable grief and profound sorrow that we announce the passing to glory of our beloved Father, Brother, Uncle, and Patriarch, His Excellency, Dr. Chief Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, former Governor of Delta State, who departed this world on the morning of 19th October 2026.

“His passing has left us devastated. Words can hardly express the depth of our sorrow at the loss of a man who meant so much to our family and whose life and service touched countless others across Delta State and Nigeria.

“He was a source of strength, a father figure, a beloved brother and uncle, and a respected elder. We will deeply miss his presence and forever cherish the memories and legacy he leaves behind.

“He served as Commissioner for Health from 1999 to 2003, Secretary to the Delta State Government from 2003 to 2007, and Governor of Delta State from 2007 to 2015. Throughout his years in public service, he demonstrated a commitment to the human and infrastructural development of Delta State.

“His passing is a profound loss to our family, the people of Delta State, and Nigeria at large. We are grateful to Almighty God for his life, his service, and the legacy he leaves behind.

“We pray that Almighty God, in His infinite mercy, will grant his soul eternal rest and comfort our family, friends, associates, former colleagues, and all who mourn this painful loss.

“Rest well, our beloved Father, Brother, and Uncle. Your memory will forever remain in our hearts, and your legacy will endure in the lives of those you touched.

“May your gentle soul rest in perfect peace. Amen.”

By Akin Samuel Kayode.

For several months, the political trajectory of Otunba Segun Showunmi has baffled even his closest allies in the opposition. A man who was once the official spokesman to Atiku Abubakar and a self-acclaimed crusader for a new opposition movement under the platform of The Alternative, Showunmi suddenly metamorphosed into one of the most vociferous defenders of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. He has been on every television station justifying policies he once condemned, and attacking opposition figures with a ferocity that suggested a new paymaster had been found.

In political analysis, we are taught to ask a simple question: cui bono — who benefits? What changed? Was it ideological conviction, was it a Damascene conversion on the road to Aso Rock, or was it mere transactional convenience? For weeks, the public debated this question in the realm of speculation. Yesterday, that speculation ended, because the answer walked itself into the public square wearing an INEC staff identity card.

Consider the woman in the photograph above. Her name is Oluyemi Titilayo Adeyemi-Showunmi. She is not just any civil servant. She is the legally wedded wife of Segun Showunmi. This is not rumour, this is not innuendo; it is a verifiable family fact that both parties have never denied.

This same woman, a career INEC officer who previously served as Administrative Secretary in Lagos State, has now been redeployed to head one of the most consequential departments in the entire Nigerian state — the Department of Electoral Operations and Logistics. To understand why this matters, one must understand the organogram of INEC.

Electoral Operations is not a back-office administrative unit. According to INEC’s own operational structure, it is the nerve centre of every election in Nigeria. It is responsible for the printing and distribution of sensitive materials, the recruitment and deployment of ad-hoc staff, the coordination of logistics for 176,846 polling units, and the direct operational interface with the 774 Local Government Areas. In short, whoever controls Electoral Operations controls the veins and arteries through which election materials flow.

Crucially, at the exact same time that his wife now sits atop this sensitive operational artery, her husband, Segun Showunmi, has publicly declared support for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027, even going as far as setting up a political support group for that purpose.

The question therefore is no longer moral, it is legal and institutional. Section 7 of INEC’s own Code of Conduct for its officials explicitly prohibits any conduct that creates the appearance of bias, conflict of interest, or partisanship. Furthermore, Paragraph 1 of the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution as amended deals with conflict of interest for public officers. How can this glaring conflict be ignored?

It is intellectually lazy to reduce this to an argument about Mrs. Showunmi’s personal qualifications. No one is questioning her civil service record of over a decade in INEC. The issue in election management worldwide is not just competence, but perception of neutrality. The International IDEA’s Electoral Management Design guidelines are clear: an electoral body must not only be impartial, it must be seen to be impartial by all stakeholders.

This principle of recusal is standard practice globally. In the United States, in the United Kingdom, in Ghana and Kenya, any electoral commissioner or senior official whose spouse or immediate family member declares partisan support for a contestant is immediately reassigned from sensitive operational duties. Why should Nigeria be different?

Therefore, we must ask the new INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, a Professor of Law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria: did the Commission conduct a basic conflict-of-interest audit before this redeployment? Or are we witnessing a deliberate and systematic capture of the electoral umpire ahead of 2027?

The pattern is consistent with how democracies die in the 21st century. As documented by political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt in “How Democracies Die,” modern democratic erosion does not happen through military coups, but through the quiet, incremental colonization of supposedly independent institutions — the courts, the central bank, and most importantly, the election management body.

Let no one insult our intelligence by calling this a coincidence. In Nigerian politics, coincidence is often the pseudonym for undeclared interest. The chronology is too neat to be accidental: a vocal opposition figure suddenly becomes a presidential cheerleader, and months later, his wife is elevated to manage the logistics of the very election her husband wants his principal to win. The correlation is too direct, the optics too damaging.

If this is allowed to stand, what signal are we sending? Today it is Showunmi. Tomorrow, how many other struggling opposition figures will be offered a similar transaction — a directorship for your wife, a lucrative contract for your brother, an ambassadorial posting for your cousin — in exchange for abandoning the opposition and joining the chorus of “continuity”?

Consequently, we make three specific demands. First, INEC must immediately reassign Mrs. Showunmi from Electoral Operations to a non-sensitive department like Library, Archives or Research. Second, the Senate and House Committees on INEC must summon the INEC Chairman to explain this posting. Third, civil society organisations, the Nigeria Labour Congress, and the Nigerian Bar Association must not remain silent.

Nigerians are watching, and we have a long memory. We have not forgotten the controversies of the 2023 general elections and the logistical failures that defined it. We will not walk into 2027 with our eyes closed. Segun Showunmi is free to support whomever he wishes, that is his democratic right, but he cannot be allowed to eat his cake and have his wife keep the bakery where our national votes will be baked.

Akin Samuel KAYODE.
Member, The Narrative Force.

Senator Ireti Kingibe

Senator Ireti Kingibe has warned Nigerians about a possible increase in their tax burden after the 2027 general election, claiming that a policy requiring citizens to pay 25 per cent of their earnings in tax has already been passed by the National Assembly.

Kingibe made the allegation in a recent video while addressing her supporters in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

She expressed concern that many Nigerians were unaware of the policy and suggested that its implementation could be delayed until after the next general election.

According to the senator, the timing of the proposed implementation could have serious implications for Nigerians already struggling with the high cost of living, rising prices of goods and services, and declining purchasing power.

“They passed the policy, but fear won’t let them implement it until after the elections,” she said.

The senator further claimed that the tax measure had passed through the National Assembly and would take effect after the election.

She warned that citizens could face financial pressure if the policy was implemented as she described it.

“Nigerians are not aware that a tax law has been passed, which requires everyone to pay 25% of their earnings as tax. The National Assembly has already passed this law, and it will swing into action after the election,” Kingibe said.

Her comment have raised questions about the country’s tax reforms, the actual provisions of the law she referenced, and the possible impact of future tax changes on workers, business owners and other income earners.

income and the rising cost of living remain important issues for Nigerians ahead of the 2027 general election.

Her warning is likely to draw further attention to how the new laws are being explained to the public and whether taxpayers understand the changes affecting them.

Nonetheless, the senator’s allegation that the implementation of the policy is being delayed until after the election also raises questions about the basis for that claim, given that the new tax framework commenced in January 2026.

‘It is becoming clearer,’ the human rights lawyer says as HURIWA demands answers over redeployments at the electoral commission

Human rights lawyer Chidi Anselm Odinkalu has questioned the reported appointment of Oluyemi Titilayo Adeyemi-Showunmi, wife of political figure Segun Showunmi, to head the Electoral Operations Department of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), adding to concerns over the commission’s personnel changes ahead of the 2027 general election.

Odinkalu raised the issue on October 18 in response to a Leadership report on the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria’s (HURIWA) concerns over the redeployments. “Oh, so @SegunShowunmi’s wife is now in charge of electoral operations in @inecnigeria? It is becoming clearer….!” he wrote on X.

He did not specify what, in his view, the appointment reveals. But his comment has drawn attention to the political connections surrounding a senior assignment at the electoral commission, at a time when Nigerians are watching how INEC prepares for the next presidential election.

Adeyemi-Showunmi’s husband is a prominent political commentator and former spokesperson for Atiku Abubakar’s 2019 presidential campaign. He has since publicly expressed support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid. The combination has prompted questions about the appointment, although neither the marriage nor Showunmi’s political position establishes that his wife is compromised or that INEC intends to favour any candidate.

The issue is whether INEC can explain the decision, demonstrate that it was based on professional considerations and show how it prevents personal or political interests from affecting the work of its officials.

A key department ahead of 2027

Reports say Adeyemi-Showunmi was moved from her previous role as Administrative Secretary of INEC’s Lagos office to head Electoral Operations at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja. Isah Magaji Gummi, who previously headed the department, was reportedly redeployed to Voter Registry.

Electoral Operations handles important aspects of election preparation, including the planning and distribution of election materials, recruitment and training of ad hoc personnel, polling arrangements and coordination involving collation and returning officers. Its work helps determine how election plans are carried out across the country.

The department’s director cannot independently determine an election result. However, the position carries substantial operational responsibility, making the reasons for the reported changes a legitimate matter for public examination.

INEC should explain why Gummi was moved, what qualifications and experience informed Adeyemi-Showunmi’s appointment, and whether the changes followed established procedures. The commission should also describe the controls governing election materials, staff assignments and operational decisions, including how those controls prevent individual officials from bypassing established processes.

HURIWA demands an explanation

HURIWA has called on INEC Chairman Professor Joash Amupitan to explain the reported redeployments and address concerns that the changes could undermine public confidence before the 2027 elections. Its concerns include Adeyemi-Showunmi’s appointment, Gummi’s transfer and the safeguards against political interference in sensitive election operations.

The association has not established that Adeyemi-Showunmi has acted improperly. Its concern is that the circumstances of the appointment could create doubts about impartiality if INEC does not explain its decision and the safeguards governing the department.

That concern must be handled fairly. A public servant should not be judged guilty of bias because of a spouse’s political choices. At the same time, an institution responsible for administering elections must be willing to explain appointments that raise reasonable questions about conflicts of interest.

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has also called for disclosure of the criteria used for appointments and redeployments in key INEC departments. He has raised broader questions about the production, printing and custody of sensitive election materials ahead of 2027.

Other civil society groups have cautioned against treating allegations of ethnic favouritism or political interference as proven facts without independent evidence. That caution is warranted. Neither a person’s regional origin nor a family member’s political affiliation establishes wrongdoing. But asking INEC to explain its decisions and publish the relevant criteria is a reasonable demand, not an accusation of guilt.

What INEC needs to clarify

The commission should confirm the appointments and their effective dates, explain the administrative reasons for the changes and state the criteria used to select the officials. It should also outline the safeguards that govern the handling and distribution of election materials, the assignment of personnel and the reporting of operational irregularities.

If Adeyemi-Showunmi was selected on the strength of her experience and qualifications, INEC should provide the relevant information. If Gummi’s redeployment formed part of a routine reshuffle, the commission should explain its purpose. Where conflict-of-interest rules apply, INEC should clarify how they are enforced.

Such disclosure would help Nigerians assess the decision on its merits and protect the officials concerned from speculation. It would also show that INEC recognises the importance of public confidence as it prepares for a consequential election.

Odinkalu’s post has brought a political relationship into focus, but the decisive issue is how INEC made the appointment and whether its procedures are strong enough to keep political interests out of election administration. The commission should answer those questions with facts, not expect Nigerians to accept its decisions without explanation.

(Law & Society Magazine)

By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

The annual ritual of the opening of the judicial year at Nigeria’s Supreme Court is an occasion for pomp, ceremony, and celebration. It usually marks the admission of a new set of lawyers into the sequined ranks of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs). This year, 68 made the cut. On Monday, 12 October, in the Supreme Court’s main courtroom in Abuja, they formally joined the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN).

Amid the backslapping and celebration, there was also room for sobriety as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, delivered what has become the customary State of the Administration of Justice (SOTAJ) report.

The context of the Chief Justice’s report this year was defined by both expectation and transition. There is expectation of an inevitable deluge of election petitions and political disputes as the country hurtles towards the 2027 general elections. Concurrently, the courts must also adapt to what CJN Kekere-Ekun described as an inevitable “process of renewal” as senior judges retire and younger ones take their place in what she called “the most consequential of responsibilities” jointly exercised by the Judicial Service Commission and the National Judicial Council (NJC).

This SOTAJ report was the penultimate by this Chief Justice on a judiciary in rapid transition.

In the month preceding it, Ibrahim Mohammed Saulawa retired from the Supreme Court. For at least three of the Justices, this was their last attendance at such a ceremony. At the end of the first week of next month, Uwani Abba-Aji will retire. Four months thereafter, on 23 March 2027, Helen Ogunwumiju will follow. Stephen Adah will be next on 13 June 2027.

It is unlikely that any of these vacancies will be filled before the swearing-in of the winners in next year’s elections. For guidance, 12 new Justices of Appeal recommended for appointment in the middle of May 2026 still await the consent of the President over five months after the NJC transmitted its recommendations to him.

In the middle of the active season of dispute resolution following the elections in January and February 2027, therefore, the bench of the Supreme Court will be short by at least four Justices.

This set the stage for the meat of the report delivered by the Chief Justice. It outlined some innovation, contained evidence of some progress, and also acknowledged challenges with hopeful candour.

Case management emerged as a major site of attention for this Chief Justice. It is a field that could define her signature legacy. The numbers tell some of the story.

In the 2025-26 judicial year, the Supreme Court received 2,456 matters. These included 1,179 civil motions; 573 criminal motions; 13 Sharia-related motions; and 676 appeals. Of the last category (appeals), there were 433 civil appeals; 212 criminal appeals; 19 political cases; 12 Sharia appeals; and 10 originating motions.

The fact that this list omits any mention of death penalty cases is perhaps the best evidence of why the category of “political cases” remains both interesting and curious. That category first entered the lexicon of the SOTAJ under late Chief Justice Tanko Muhammad in 2021. In that year, two years ahead of the 2023 elections, it accounted for 33 or nearly five per cent of the 681 cases reported. Two years later, following the 2023 elections, political cases had become a mainstay of the docket of a Supreme Court that “heard 388 political appeals, 215 criminal appeals and 464 civil appeals.”

This year, political cases were a mere 2.8% of the cases heard, a fall of about 45% in comparison to five years ago. It is unlikely to remain so as the country heads into active election season. Progress in the reduction of political cases working their way up to the Supreme Court reflects the consequence of judicial doctrine that absolves courts from judicial oversight of internal management of political parties.

The demands on Nigeria’s Supreme Court, however, remain unsustainable. During the year, the apex court rendered 411 judgments in total. This is 16.73% relative to the total case intake for the year, a modest improvement on the 16.18% recorded in the previous year. This represents a crippling workload that worryingly sometimes reflects in the quality of judgments issued by the court.

By contrast, during the same period, the United Kingdom Supreme Court considered 295 applications for Permission to Appeal (PTA), and issued 56 judgments. In its capacity as the highest court of the dominions in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the court received another 58 cases and issued 54 judgments.

Across the Atlantic, the Supreme Court of the United States heard a mere 74 cases. Of these, it took oral arguments in 58 and delivered 67 judgments.

These numbers explain some of the innovations in managing judicial throughput reported by the CJN. For instance, the court began the implementation of the Nigerian Case Management System (NCMS), an electronic platform which will eventually be rolled out to cover all superior courts of record across Nigeria. It also now houses a Mediation Centre to encourage alternative dispute resolution where possible.

According to the CJN, 125 matters which were already concluded were discovered to still be in the court’s active pool. Another 178 “moribund matters”, she reported, were “disposed of in chambers.” She did not elaborate on the criteria that would render a case moribund. She may wish to clarify this in her next report as it could hold the key to understanding the possibility for expanding the scope of matters that can be disposed of in chambers.

Additionally, the report disclosed that the court has established expedited panels for cases involving the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON); Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS); Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC); and Sharia. One hundred and forty-one cases fell into this category, including 52 EFCC cases; 43 Sharia; 21 AMCON; 17 LPDC; and 10 NRS cases.

Five other issues flagged by the CJN in her SOTAJ report are important.

First is the withholding by the executive of funds budgeted for the judiciary, especially at the state level. This makes a mockery of judicial financial autonomy. In Edo State, a new law assented to by the governor in August 2026 turns back the clock on the financial autonomy of the judiciary.

Second is the “continuing need to safeguard the integrity of judicial appointments, particularly at the State level.”  She can count on public support in implementing her insistence on “merit, competence, integrity and experience” in judicial appointments.

Third is the establishment of an Election Petition Proceedings Centre with a dedicated litigation registry at the Supreme Court. This is welcome and the CJN deserves credit for it.

Fourth is judicial well-being. In this connection, it is notable that during the past year, the Supreme Court upgraded attention to “healthcare and other essential support services… intended to provide the institutional conditions necessary for judicial officers and staff to discharge their responsibilities effectively.”

Fifth, in a year in which women established themselves at the highest levels of Nigeria’s legal profession, it was fitting for the CJN to acknowledge the continuing need for equality of opportunities to ensure a country “in which talent is recognised, merit is rewarded, and no young lawyer is discouraged from aspiring to leadership because of gender, background or circumstance.”

These then frame the underlying challenges as this Chief Justice searches for legacy in the 19 months before the curtain falls on her tenure in May 2028. Her next report in 2027 will be the last of her tenure. By then she would hopefully have led the judiciary through the headwinds of the 2027 election season.

Curiously, this time, the CJN’s report was inexcusably silent on judicial discipline. The CJN is also the Chair of the NJC, and reporting on one office without the other is incomplete.

Equally, the omission of death penalty cases from the categories to which her court accords priority says something not entirely complimentary about the priorities and philosophies that currently underpin the work of Nigeria’s judiciary. It suggests a system inclined to prioritise power over people and property over dignity. That is a foundational flaw that the leadership of the judiciary and the legal profession must address urgently.

A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at chidi.odinkalu@tufts.edu

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has advocated the adoption of clean energy to reduce hazardous emissions, protect public health and promote economic growth.
 
The Director, Lagos Operations, SON, Mrs Theresa Ojomo, made the call on Saturday in Lagos, during a health walk organised by the organisation, toward promoting awareness of affordable and clean energy.
 
Ojomo, who spoke on behalf of the Director-General, SON, Dr Chukwunonso Okeke, said that the campaign was aimed at encouraging individuals and industries to embrace cleaner and more affordable energy sources.
 
She said that the growing adoption of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and solar energy provided opportunities to reduce pollution and improve environmental sustainability.
 
“That is why we are campaigning and creating awareness to let people know that energy is available and clean.
 
“You can see CNG, solar and other energy sources becoming more available and affordable,” Ojomo said.
 
According to her, SON is responsible for developing standards, regulating and certifying products and systems, including those related to energy, to ensure compliance with applicable requirements.
 
She said that adopting cleaner energy sources could reduce exposure to hazardous emissions and other pollutants associated with health risks.
 
Also speaking, Ms Folasade Aderoju, the Special Adviser to the Director-General, Lagos and South-West Operations, said that the health walk aligned with the organisation’s vision of promoting a healthier environment and supporting sustainable development.
 
Aderoju said that the annual exercise was part of a global campaign to raise awareness of affordable and clean energy, in line with the United Nations’ sustainable development agenda.
 
She said that access to cleaner energy could improve public health, reduce environmental hazards and contribute to economic growth.
 
“When clean energy is available to everyone, it will improve public health across industries and reduce substances that have hazardous effects on health,” the special adviser said.
 
She said that the organisation would continue to promote awareness of cleaner energy and its benefits to individuals, industries and the economy.
 
Similarly, the State Coordinator, Lagos 2 Office, Maryrose Ugwueche, said that SON was committed to promoting standards that supported the adoption of clean energy.
 
Ugwueche said that industries needed to embrace cleaner alternatives to conventional energy sources, to minimise pollution and protect the environment.
 
She said that the organisation brought companies within the Lagos region together to sensitise them on the importance of complying with standards and adopting cleaner energy solutions.
 
“We need to ensure that the environment is clean and that industries adopt energy sources that do not pollute the environment,” Ugwueche said.
 
Mr Thompson Onuorah, a salesperson with Blue World Cosmetic Ltd., said that his organisation prioritised standards and worked with professionals to ensure product quality.
 
Onuorah said that the theme of the walk was timely, as it highlighted the need to maintain a healthy environment for everyone.
 
Also, the Managing Director of Togas Oil, Mrs Victoria Oke, said that adopting clean energy could improve health and environmental conditions.
 
Oke said that the use of CNG could also help manufacturers reduce operating costs and improve profitability.
 
She commended SON for promoting awareness of clean energy, added that her organisation supported the initiative.

By Otunba Rotimi

There is a frightening report that has just been updated, and it’s contents are as sorrowful as they are sobering. It is a report that finally given a statistical validation to what majority of Nigerians have been complaining about in the markets, parks, streets, places of worship and at homes. According to the latest findings of the United Nations Development Programme in collaboration with Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative at the University of Oxford, Nigeria has tragically emerged as the world’s headquarters of multidimensional Poverty phenomenon under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The report, which depicts the 2026 update of the World’s Multidimensional Poverty Index, revealed with painful clarity that Nigeria’s descent in extreme poverty was not only real but unprecedented among nations evaluated in the period under review. It was also reported that Multidimensional Poverty increased in only five countries in the world, namely Nigeria, Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Kyrgyzstan and Gunea. Of these five nations, Nigeria recorded the highest increase, a distinction that is as shameful as it is heartbreaking.

It was further reported that Nigeria’s Multidimensional Poverty Level rose from 33% in 2021 during the twilight of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to 38.7% in 2024 after President Tinubu assumed office. This represents a staggering reversal of gains painstakingly recorded in the previous decade, when the Country had made a significant progress in reducing the phenomenon of Multidimensional Poverty. The report noted that Nigeria is now among the Countries where earlier progress has reversed, with both Poverty rate and the number of people living in Multidimensional Poverty increasing in the 2020s. f61f727b

What makes this report particularly destitution is its true definition of Multidimensional Poverty means. According to the UNDP, Multidimensional Poverty represents not only the lack of income but also the deprivation of good life based on indices such as education, health, housing, nutrition, sanitation and accessibility to basic services. In other words, this not merely about whether his child can go to school, whether his family can access health care, whether his home has electricity, whether household can afford basic nutrition, whether he lives affluence or in squalor. f61f

The report found out that many Nigerians still lacked electricity and that households owns nothing apart from necessities such as only one television, only one mobile phone, bicycle or motor cycle evidencing a dimension of Poverty. It was explicitly stated that the household does not own more than one of these assets. This clinical description of a people who have been reduced to the bearest minimum of human existence.

The global picture painted by the report is even more reprehensible. It was manifested that the number of people living under the vicious cycle of Multidimensional Poverty worldwide has increased from 51.5 million to 1.2 billion, marking the first increase since the world’s index was launched in 2010. The UNDP Administrator, Alexander De Croo, was quoted as describing the increase as an admonishment that requires renewed global action, lamenting that behind these figures are 1.2 billion people confronting hardships that reinforce one another: hunger, starvation, insecurity, school drop outs and lack of clean water. More than half of those affected, or 617 million, are children, while 83% live in rural areas. 727b

For Nigeria, the situation is compounded by the paradox of a government that is richer than ever while its people grow poorer. The report contextualised that removal of fuel subsidy has driven the majority of already struggling Nigerians into destitution. President Tinubu’s naira devaluation and after float, which allowed market forces of demand and supply to determine the foreign exchange rates, caused the naira to free-fall into dire straits and trade above N1,000 to a dollar for the first time. f61f

This analysis aligns with the findings of other reputable global institutions. The World Bank, in its newly approved Country Partnership Framework for Nigeria covering 2026 to 2032, revealed that about 79% of the Nigerians remain poor or vulnerable to falling Poverty in spite of the fact that almost three years of sweeping economic reforms. The Bretton Woods institution noted that 61% of Nigerians currently live below poverty trend, while 33% are categorised as ultra poor and unable to meet up the standard minimum necessities required for daily needs.

The International Monetary Fund corroborated this languishing reality in its 2026 Article IV Consultation on Nigeria.
The IMF acknowledged that reforms have strengthened economic stability and built resilience, but warned that conditions for many Nigerians remain difficult, with Poverty climbing to 63% of the population based on the national Poverty line, while an estimated 27 million Nigerians experienced food insecurity. It was reported that the Nigerian Poverty level climbed to 46%, with an estimated 104 million Nigerians living below poverty trend, while headline inflation increased from from 22.4% in May 2023 to 34.8% in December 2024, with food inflation hitting 39.9%, the highest in decades. f38d

The sorrowful irony is that while government accounts swelled with unprecedented fiscal windfall, household accounts emptied. It was documented that Nigeria’s Revenue Service collected N28.3 trillion in 2025, surpassing its target by 12% with monthly revenue jumping from N711 billion in May 2023 to N3.6 trillion in September 2025. The removal petroleum subsidy alone mobilised N15.8 trillion between June 2023 and December 2025. In aggregate, the federal government gained N20.4 trillion in incremental resources over the period. Yet this macroeconomic progress was paired with mas impoverishment, a disconnect that defines the Mr Tinubu’s Presidency.

What we are witnessing, therefore, is not justa statistical anomaly. It is a human catastrophe, artificially inseminated into our economy by a cocktail of ill – conceived policies implemented without empathy. It is a nation where children hawks in traffic instead of learning in classrooms, where mothers are forced to choose between school fees and food, where graduates roam the streets with certificates that have almost become mere papers, where small and medium scale enterprises that are the bedrock of developing economy are facing extinction.

History will record that at a time when Zambia, Egypt, Nepal, Angola and Tajikistan recorded significant reductions in their Poverty level, Nigeria, a nation blessed absolute human and natural resources chose the path that led it to the summit of global poverty. This is the painful reality that confront us as rogue if not most corrupt nation on planet, and it requires not denial or propaganda, but sincere introspection.

For people who have endured so much Poverty, hunger, starvation and chronic inflationary situations due to illicit removal of subsidy on petroleum product, the ballot remains the last hope for saving the economy of the brink of total destruction.
Any irresponsible government that inflicts this level of hardship and expects to be rewarded with continuity lives in illusion. The final decision of the masses will be as definitive as the decision of the UNDP report.

Corps Members have been charged to be sources of light for people to see wherever they go through the promotion of healthy cultural practices.

The Rivers State Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC ) Mr. Moses Oleghe gave the charge during the inter-platoon cultural carnival competition for 2026 Batch C stream I Corps Members deployed to the state.

Oleghe advised them to be vanguards of positive culture by the promotion of peace in the communities, engendering national unity and integration in the process.

“This also include building cultural harmony amongst Nigerians of diverse cultural background and orientation.

“Cultural carnivals are opportunities to celebrate Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and diversity, as well as platforms to strengthen the bonds of unity amongst corps mlembers.

“I commend the corps members for their active participation at the event as they are ambassadors of peace and harmony,”.

He charged the corps members to make their service year impactful for the benefit of the society.

The carnival featured colourful cultural displays by the 10 platoons, representing different ethnic groups across Nigeria.

At the end of the competition, platoon 3 which presented Bini culture emerged 1st, platoon 9 which presented Ibibio culture came 2nd while platoon 7 that presented Tiv culture, came 3rd.

Cash prizes and other gift items were presented to the winners and runners-up by the event sponsors which include AddMe, Crown Premium Pasta, Mama’s Pride Groundnut Oil, Premium Semolina and Peak Milk.

What A Big Shame To Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, As “Davido’s Camp” Declares Full Allegiance And Support For Atiku Abubakar, For The 2027 Presidential Election

By Otunba Rotimi

Davido And His Camp Completely Rejects President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Federal Government Of “Corruption” For A Second Term In Office; Affirms That “It Is Always Far Better, When A Northern Nigerian Rules”

The camp of Nigerian Music Superstar, David Adeleke, globally known as Davido, led by his closest Ally, Israel Afeare, popularly known as Israel DMW, on the social media, has on Friday, declared full support for the 2027 Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, amid the ongoing political controversy surrounding the recent endorsement by the Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, of President Bola Tinubu, despite Atiku’s role in ensuring he had a free and credible Governorship election in his State, a few months ago, where he emerged winner.

Israel made his position known in a post on his Instagram account, where he shared a picture of Atiku, and openly declared his intention to vote for the ADC Presidential Candidate in the 2027 Presidential election.

Explaining his decision, he questioned the reported controversial ₦15 trillion Pipelines Security Contract awarded to Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, a Company associated with Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, an Ally of President Tinubu; arguing that, such a huge amount going to one individual, raises serious corruption concerns.

His exact words: “It is always far better, when a Northern Nigerian rules. N15 trillion contract to one person alone?”

Declaring his support for Atiku, Israel stated: “I am voting Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

INEC, should please allow Nigerians to freely choose whoever they want to govern them, in January 2027.

A good name is far better than money.

Israel’s decision is particularly noteworthy, because he is regarded as one of Davido’s closest and most loyal Aides; yet, he appears unwilling to let his Boss’ family and political relationships, determine his Presidential choice.

Also, Israel’s public endorsement of Atiku, highlights how millions of Nigerians are keen to have a great nation in 2027, and fully trust in the policies that the ADC Presidential Candidate has revealed so far, that will make life easy once again for ordinary Nigerians.

His comments have added another dimension to the political discussions surrounding Atiku’s anticipated 2027 Presidential Campaign; particularly as Nigerians demand for a free, credible and fair election, to choose the Candidates of their choice.

By Aare Amerijoye DOT.B

There is a story among the Fulani elders that when the hyena plots in the dark, it still trembles at the roar of the lion. Adamawa has now produced its own hyena. He wears a governor’s cap, eats from a governor’s plate, and sleeps in a Government House he could never have reached without the lion he now hunts. His name is Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri.

Let us not mince words. Fintiri betrayed. And history will not record it as a defection. It will record it as a desertion.

He did not slip away in the night like an ordinary traitor. He staged it. In February 2026, he rounded up his commissioners, his Assembly members and even his party chairman, herded them like sheep into the APC pen, and called it leadership. By April, he stood at the APC congress in Yola, chest puffed, voice raised, promising to deliver Adamawa to Tinubu and christening his treachery an “onslaught.” By August, his deputy was in Yola cutting the ribbon on Tinubu’s presidential campaign, singing praises to the very policies that have turned Nigerian kitchens into mortuaries of hope.

But the tape does not lie. Fintiri’s tongue has a long memory, even if his conscience has none. So let us press play.

In November 2020, when Atiku turned 74, Fintiri’s own household, through the office of the Adamawa First Lady, published his tribute hailing Atiku as “the greatest” and celebrating the tough political style that made him the strongman of Nigerian politics.

In October 2021, before the whole nation on live television, Fintiri bowed his head and said of Atiku: “He is my father; he is a leader to everybody in PDP. He is our last presidential candidate and if given the opportunity again, I will support him.” In the same breath, he swore that Atiku had the intelligence to win the presidency and had all it takes to rule Nigeria.

In April 2022, in Yola, he prophesied like a man at the altar: “I think he will be there, In-shaa Allah. It is a matter of time and one step.” He boasted that politics is local and that he had locked down the home base for “our leader.” He declared that Atiku had the experience to close the gaps tearing Nigeria apart.

When the Wike storm battered the party that year, it was Fintiri who begged to chair Atiku’s reconciliation team, grinning that he was “an embodiment of both men.”

And to this very day, on the official website of the Adamawa State Government, his own words still hang like an indictment: “Happy birthday to our distinguished elder statesman, Waziri Adamawa… Your contributions to our nation and our dear Adamawa State remain a source of pride.”

Father. Leader. The greatest. Waziri. A source of pride. One step from Aso Rock.

Every one of those words came out of Fintiri’s own mouth. Every one of them is now a witness against him.

Today, that same mouth says the presidency should remain in the South. Read that again. A Northern governor, from Atiku’s own Adamawa, standing on a podium to campaign against the son of his own soil, the man he once called father on national television. In Yoruba land we have a word for a child who slaps the father who fed him. We do not call him ambitious. We call him an abomination.

If ingratitude ever needed a portrait, Adamawa has finally commissioned one. It is Fintiri, framed in APC green, hung on Tinubu’s wall.

Let the ledger speak. Atiku nurtured this man with the milk of trust. He protected him with his own political spine. He resourced him to the tune of over ₦2 billion to become governor in his first tenure. When the APC machinery came roaring for him in his second term, Atiku stood in front of him like a human shield, even when the APC candidate was an unapologetic Atiku loyalist. Atiku spent loyalty he did not owe. Fintiri pocketed it, and then sold the receipt to Tinubu.

That is the whole difference between a statesman and a tenant of power. A statesman builds the house. A tenant sells the furniture and hands the keys to the landlord’s enemy.

Now look at the two households. When Fintiri crossed to the APC, Atiku’s son, Adamu Atiku Abubakar, resigned from his cabinet the very next week. No insults. No drama. No press war. He thanked the governor, thanked the people, and walked out with his head high and his honour intact. That is breeding. That is home training. That is what a principled father produces. And what did Fintiri produce? A defection, a pledge to Tinubu, and a political autobiography whose only chapter is titled “Ingratitude.”

We now understand what the June 2025 circular from the Adamawa Department of Chieftaincy Affairs truly was. They dressed it in the robes of administrative reform, a simple rule on which districts could produce kingmakers and council members of the Adamawa Emirate. How convenient that the only casualty worth celebrating was the Waziri, the same Waziri Fintiri once saluted on his own government’s website. The APC propagandists danced as if they had found a dagger. Months later, Fintiri marched into the APC. The circular was the knife. The defection was the confession. The man sharpened the blade in June 2025 and showed his face in February 2026.

And right on cue, the Presidency’s chief cheerleader, Bayo Onanuga, climbed onto the stage Fintiri built and told Atiku to retire to Dubai. Imagine the audacity. A government that has made a bag of rice a luxury, the naira a joke and insecurity a daily obituary column is advising the most experienced reformer in the race to go and rest. The APC does not want Atiku in Dubai. It wants him off the ballot, because it has seen the numbers in its own nightmares.

But hear me clearly. Ten thousand Fintiris cannot undo what Atiku Abubakar represents. A thousand circulars cannot erase a lifetime. As Marcus Aurelius wrote, “What stands in the way becomes the way.” Atiku is not slowed by betrayal. He is sharpened by it. “They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds,” says the Mexican proverb. Fintiri thought he was digging a grave. He was only tilling the soil.

A man can be stripped of a seat on an emirate council. He cannot be stripped of a nation’s embrace. Atiku’s titles span every corner of this republic:

Waziri of Adamawa
Giwa Adamawa
Sardaunan Ganye
Zanna Adamawa
Turakin Sokoto
Rare Adimula of Yoruba Land
Rare of Ire-Ekiti (and what a blessing that I share that hallowed title with this iconic personality as Rare Atayese of Odo Oro Ekiti)
Enyi Ndigbo of Nigeria
Onyisi Abia
Ochiagha Ndigbo
Ebubedike of Oru East
Omekannaya of Anambra
Dike Di Ora Nma of Enugu
Dan Amanar Talakawa of the North
Kwararren Jagaban of the Middle Belt
Baban Gwamna of Niger
Ezedioramma of Owerri
Asiwaju of the Delta

From Sokoto to Aba, from Ire-Ekiti to Onitsha, the royal cloth of recognition has wrapped him, because Nigeria knows her own. Fintiri can redraw a district map. He cannot redraw the map of a people’s affection. He can remove a name from a council list. He cannot remove it from history.

And what will history say of Fintiri? Nothing beyond a footnote. A governor who was handed a crown by a giant and spent it buying a chair in the giant’s enemy camp.

Atiku is not only titled. He is tested, tried and triumphant. He turned personal wealth into public good. He did not just build schools. He built the American University of Nigeria and gave it to the community. He funds scholarships for indigent students across the country, has built hospitals, sponsored free health outreaches, empowered women, equipped farmers and backed small businesses. He feeds families. He raises dreams. He renews lives. Ask the APC to show you its equivalent, and it will show you a defection ceremony with free jollof.

That is the APC’s only surviving industry: importing governors because it cannot export results. A party that has weaponised the price of food against the poor, humiliated the naira and normalised funerals, now survives by harvesting the ambitions of men like Fintiri. It cannot win hearts, so it buys hands. It cannot win arguments, so it collects defectors. It is no longer a political party. It is a pawn shop, and Fintiri is the latest item on the shelf.

Not long ago, I sat with a ruling party senator from Ondo State, a man swimming in APC waters but drowning in his conscience. In an unguarded moment, he said:

“Don’t mind the noise makers on social media. The most feared person by Tinubu’s government ahead of 2027 is Atiku. We all discuss him in Abuja with trepidation. If we fail to prepare, he and his coalition group will defeat us.”

He never repeated that statement in my presence again. He knew. He knew that I was Atiku, not just in spirit, but in conviction, in loyalty, in action and in destiny.

So let it be thundered from every rooftop. I fear nothing. I fear no one. As Mandela taught, “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Gandhi warned that first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. The APC has stopped laughing. It is now fighting with borrowed governors and recycled insults. When your enemy starts recruiting your own children against you, it means he has run out of soldiers of his own.

The coalition is no longer a rumour. The African Democratic Congress is the platform. Atiku Abubakar is its candidate. And on January 16, 2027, Nigerians will have their chance to evict hunger from their kitchens and Tinubu from Aso Rock. Fintiri may shout in Yola. The people of Adamawa will answer at the polling unit, and they will remember exactly who called Atiku “father” and who sold him for a ticket.

To the mischief makers who believe stripping the Waziri title will erase his legacy, go and learn from the sands of time. Mandela needed no chieftaincy. Gandhi held no throne. Awolowo carried no sceptre. What they had was conviction. What Atiku has is a people who believe in him, a record that testifies for him, and a future that calls his name. As Cicero said, “The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk.” Atiku walks with the humility of greatness. Fintiri crawls with the guilt of a son who knows exactly what he did to his father.

Let the enemies gather. Let them conspire. Let them defect. They shall stumble, they shall scatter, they shall fall.

And for our leader, Atiku Abubakar, I leave us with Psalm 91:

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.”

May the Almighty guard him with angelic legions, guide him with prophetic clarity, and lift him beyond betrayal, above bitterness, into the fullness of destiny.

This is not the end. This is the rise.

Let’s correct the mischiefs.

Rare Amerijoye DOT.B
Director General,
The Narrative Force