Politics, propaganda and the fight over the 76 oil wells
By ETIM ETIM Gov. Bassey Otu of Cross River State arrived Margaret Ekpo Airport, Calabar, from an official trip to Abuja last week and addressed a large crowd of APC…
FCT Polls: APC wins Bwari, AMAC as PDP takes Gwagwalada
Isaac Samuel The All Progressives Congress (APC) has secured victories in Bwari and Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) clinched Gwagwalada in the February 21,…
World Cup: any hope for Nigeria?
The Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NShC), Shehu Dikko, met with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa today (Thursday 19th of February), where he briefed him on the…
WHAT IS TERRORISM?
Prof Lawrence ETIM Two days ago, I shared the understated poser on Facebook and on selected WhatsApp groups: MORE AXIOMATIC FACTS “Most if not all terrorist groups are from Muslim…
Nigeria’s Declining Oil Output and Soaring Foreign Portfolio Investment Inflow
By Marcel Okeke It is most intriguing that at a time Nigeria’s capital importation (hence, external reserves) is rising in leaps and bounds, the country’s crude oil production (output) remains…
How Akpabio’s Leadership Secured Nigeria’s Electoral Future
By Rt Hon Eseme Eyiboh mnipr In the evolving story of Nigeria’s democratic consolidation, few issues have provoked as much intensity as electoral reform. The signing into law of the…
Tinubu, German Chancellor Merz to collaborate on security, power
President Bola Tinubu and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have resolved to improve bilateral relations between their two countries and to strengthen collaboration in the security, power, and railway sectors. In…
EL RUFAI’S PUBLIC CONFESSION ON TELEVISION AND THE BURDEN OF PROOF: Why a Conviction May Not Follow
Prof Lawrence ETIM EL-RUFAI agreed on TV that he illegally listens to Ribadu’s phone calls, but he may not be found guilty: Here is why. 1) BELOW ARE ASPECTS OF…
Electoral Act: We’ve Met Aspiration Of Nigerians, Not Few People Who Make Noise — Akpabio
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has expressed strong satisfaction with the newly signed Electoral Act, describing it as a historic and painstaking piece of legislation that reflects the genuine aspirations of…
Tinubu Signs Electoral Act 2026: What Has Changed?
Isaac Samuel President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday formally signed the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) into law, just days after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released the timetable for the…
Senate Passes Electoral Act Amendment Bill
The Senate on Tuesday passed the Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill 2026. Before the passage, the upper chamber resumed proceedings with a demand for division over Clause 60…
Providus-Unity Bank merger stalled over insider credits
By ETIM ETIM Negotiations over the proposed merger of Providus Bank and Unity Bank have been stalled over the huge amount of insider credits owed by the directors of Unity…
Reps back senate, approve electronic, manual transmission of results
Isaac Samuel The House of Representatives has aligned with the Senate in approving electronic transmission of election results, while also retaining manual collation as a safeguard in cases of technical…
Electoral Act: Rowdy session in Reps
Isaac Samuel The House of Representatives on Tuesday descended into a rowdy session after it moved to rescind its earlier decision on the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025, following a…
Welcoming The American Troops
By Reuben Abati It should come as no surprise to anyone that American troops are now effectively on the ground in Nigeria to assist the country to fight Boko…
Electoral Bill: Other Side of Clause 60(3)
By Opeyemi Bamidele I have been inundated with messages from many concerned and well-respected stakeholders in the last fortnight. The contents of their messages are virtually the same. In all,…
Jet Bridges Arrive Victor Attah International Airport in Akwa Ibom
Passenger Boarding Bridges, also known as jet bridges, for the international wing of Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo, arrived on Sunday, 15 February 2026. The equipment reached the airport after…
El-Rufai writes Ribadu over alleged procurement of toxic substance from Poland
Isaac Samuel Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, has written to the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, seeking clarification over reports that the Office of the National Security Adviser…
Akwa Ibom estate in Abuja
By ETIM ETIM Gov. Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State announced recently that the state government is acquiring a large parcel of land in Abuja to develop a housing estate…
Ramadan: INEC to consult lawmakers over 2027 election timetable controversy
…Reps hold emergency session Tuesday Isaac Samuel The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it will consult the National Assembly over the controversy trailing the 2027 general election timetable,…
National Assets’ Sale: Another of Nigeria’s Deferred Hope Agenda?
By Marcel Okeke For the umpteenth time, successive governments in Nigeria, including the sitting Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, have flaunted proposals to sale some of the nation’s ‘rotting’ assets in…
DAN AGBESE: Beyond 62 Oregun Road and 3 Billings Way…
By Soji Akinrinade Of the quartet that brought Newswatch magazine to life, Dan Agbese was the least known to me. He was the editor of the New Nigerian in Kaduna,…
El Rufai’s Mind Game with Ribadu
By Farooq Kperogi Nasir El-Rufai claimed in his interview with Arise News that someone intercepted and recorded his former friend Nuhu Ribadu’s phone call in which Ribadu allegedly instructed El-Rufai’s…
INEC fixes Feb 20, 2027 for presidential election
…Governorship election, state assemblies March 6 Isaac Samuel The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has officially fixed February 20, 2027 for Presidential and National Assembly elections. INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash…
‘Ribadu ordered my arrest, his phone was tapped,’ El-Rufai alleges
Isaac Samuel Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has accused the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, of ordering his arrest and alleged that the NSA’s phone conversation directing security…
Investment In Education, Best Achievement of Gov Eno, Says COE Acting Provost
The Acting Provost of the Akwa Ibom State College of Education, Afaha Nsit, Dr. Jeremiah Peter Iweh, has described Governor Umo Eno’s investment in education as one of his most…
Politics of privilege and the danger it portends
By ETIM ETIM Over the Christmas holidays, Nyesom Wike travelled the length and breadth of Rivers State, visiting all the local government areas, in what appeared as an early campaign…
Reps seek budget freeze for 22 MDAs over accountability breaches
Isaac Samuel The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has recommended that 22 federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) be denied budgetary allocations in the 2026 Appropriation. The lawmakers…
INEC proposes N873.78bn for 2027 elections
Isaac Samuel The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has proposed a budget of N873.78 billion for the conduct of the 2027 general elections, with significant allocations to election operations, technology…
Lawyer: How El Rrufai was harassed at airport
By ETIM ETIM Lawyers to embattled former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El Rufai have explained how he was almost arrested at Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport this afternoon as…
Lawmakers question agric minister on whereabout of 2,000 FG tractors
Isaac Samuel The National Assembly on Tuesday questioned the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, over the whereabouts of 2,000 tractors launched by the…
Senate makes u-turn, approves e-transmission of results
…retains manual collation as backup Isaac Samuel Succumbing to series of protests, the Senate on Tuesday approved the electronic transmission of election results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result…
Senate and the Electoral Act Amendment
By Reuben Abati The Senate returns from a two-week recess today to attend an emergency plenary session at noon to address the lingering and vexed matter of the ongoing amendment…
Appeal Court affirms Natasha’s suspension, says Senate Acted within law
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division on Monday, affirmed the suspension of the Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan by the Senate . The appellate court held that, the Senate has…
Rivers Crisis: Fubara, Wike meet Tinubu in Abuja
Isaac Samuel Fresh signs of reconciliation have emerged in Rivers State following a late-night intervention by President Bola Tinubu in the ongoing political crisis. A source at the Presidential Villa…
Obi leads protesters to NASS over Senate’s rejection of E-transmission
Isaac Samuel Former Anambra State governor and presidential aspirant, Peter Obi, on Monday led his supporters and members of the Civil Society Organisations on a protest to thee National Assembly…
Okoiyak is where Umo Eno demonstrates leadership
Iboro Otongaran Since 2021, Okoiyak (aka, Stubbs Creek Forest) has been a metaphor for leadership failure. Okoiyak is a swathe of land that is home to 10 villages in Akwa…
E-transmission: INEC cautions Nigerians against ‘unnecessary tension’
Isaac Samuel The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has cautioned Nigerians against “unnecessary tension” following the Senate’s rejection of a proposal to make electronic transmission of election results mandatory in…
APC replaces Uzodimma with Masari as convention committee chair
Isaac Samuel The All Progressives Congress (APC) has replaced Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, with former Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, as Chairman of the National Convention Central Coordination…
Are CBN Policies Crippling Banks, Private Businesses in Nigeria?
By Marcel Okeke The popular idiom: “The chicken has come home to roost,” seems to be playing out in the Nigerian financial services industry where the policies of the Central…
Nduese Essien: standing alone at 82
By Ibanga Isine Chief Nduese Essien, former Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development and one-time leader of the South-South Parliamentary Caucus of the National Assembly (1999–2007), has turned 82.…
EFCC Arraigns former University VC for N19.7million Fraud in Katsina
The Kano Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday, February 5 , 2026 arraigned a former Vice chancellor of the Federal University Dutsinma, Professor Armayau…
Paul Usoro retires from Access Bank
After 12 years of meritorious service as a director of Access Bank PLC, Paul Usoro, SAN, retired last week, ending one of the most glorious eras in the history of…
INEC registers two new political parties
Isaac Samuel The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has approved the registration of two new political parties, bringing the number of registered parties in the country to 21 ahead of…
Opposition, CSOs fault Senate over rejection of mandatory e-transmission of results
Isaac Samuel Opposition parties and civil society organisations have criticised the Senate for rejecting a proposal that sought to make real-time electronic transmission of election results mandatory in the ongoing…
76 Oil Wells: Akwa Ibom Must Pull Every Stop to Avoid High Jump
By Akpandem James I have a sneaking suspicion that the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC) is not decidedly intent on reallocating the controversial 76 oil wells situated in…
INEC engages NSA as Urhobo protests delay ward delineation
Isaac Samuel The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday said it is engaging the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) over the protracted issues surrounding the delineation of…
2027 election timetable ready, but awaiting Electoral Act amendment, says INEC chair
Isaac Samuel Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has disclosed that the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 General Election have already been…
Reps launch probe into airports, seaport concessions over revenue concerns
Isaac Samuel The House of Representatives on Tuesday inaugurated an ad-hoc committee to review and appraise the performance of concessionaires operating federal air and sea port terminals and related shipping…
Rivers truce: Tinubu halts impeachment plot, asks Fubara to recognise Wike’s authority
Isaac Samuel President Bola Tinubu has again intervened in the protracted political crisis in Rivers State, directing an immediate halt to impeachment moves against Governor Siminalayi Fubara while urging a…