Author: Maryam Sulaiman

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally written to the Senate to stop the consideration of his earlier October 26 request seeking approval for a $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion loan. In its place, the President has presented a scaled-down external borrowing proposal of $7.7 billion aimed at bridging part of the 2026 budget deficit. The adjustment was disclosed during Wednesday’s Senate plenary when Senate President Godswill Akpabio read an October 29 letter from the President. Akpabio informed lawmakers that the updated submission officially supersedes and cancels the previous foreign credit request. The newly proposed $7.7 billion loan is a component…

‎Some deaths are mourned and gradually consigned to history. Others leave a void that time cannot completely fill, not merely because of the circumstances surrounding them, but because of the extraordinary lives they brought to an end.‎‎Twenty years after the tragic ADC Airlines Flight 053 crash of October 29, 2006, the death of His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammadu Maccido, the 19th Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), remains a profound loss to Nigeria.‎‎The ill-fated aircraft crashed shortly after departing Abuja for Sokoto, claiming 96 lives, including the Sultan, his son, Senator Badamasi Maccido,…

Malam Aminu Bako, a teacher at an Islamiya school whose pupils were kidnapped from his farm over the weekend, has revealed that bandits reached out to community leaders demanding more than N100 million for their release. Bako also published the names of the kidnapped children and urged the military to intervene quickly to ensure their safe return. He expressed concern that, aside from the efforts of local vigilantes, neither the school nor the families of the victims have received any concrete assistance to aid in the rescue of the 15 students. Bako told LEADERSHIP that the acting chairman of Rafi…

The House of Representatives has resolved to invite Olayemi Cardoso, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to address allegations regarding breaches of pension agreements and the failure to pay benefits owed to retired employees of the bank. This decision followed the adoption of a motion titled, “Need to investigate the Central Bank of Nigeria for alleged breach of approved pension agreements, non-implementation of harmonisation policy and exclusion of pensioners from general pension increases.” The motion was introduced by Hussaini Jallo, the lawmaker representing Igabi Federal Constituency of Kaduna State, who voiced deep concerns over the apex bank’s…

‎Buckingham Palace announced on Saturday that King Charles III will speak about Great Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade with “unflinching honesty and sincere sorrow.” ‎Ahead of his major address to leaders of the Commonwealth, King Charles III engaged with local youth groups and artists at Government House in Antigua and Barbuda. ‎The royal couple is wrapping up a nine-day Caribbean tour that has rekindled scrutiny regarding Britain’s historical involvement in transatlantic slavery. ‎At the start of the trip, Charles acknowledged “the great suffering of the past.”‎However, several Caribbean countries continue to demand a formal apology from the British…

Ethiopian officials have indefinitely halted the operating licence of The Reporter, a prominent independent print and digital news publication, citing content that allegedly conflicts with national interests. The move marks another setback for press freedom in the country. Africa’s second most populated country, home to roughly 130 million residents, currently stands at 148th out of 180 nations on the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) press freedom index. The Reporter “has been ordered to remain fully suspended from publication and broadcasting indefinitely, effective Monday, November 2, 2026, until legal and professional ethical obligations are fully met,” stated the Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA)…

Tehran has revised its initial proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, shortening its previous timeline to a two-day plan during ongoing discussions mediated by Qatari officials, according to Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi. Araghchi clarified that the current framework mirrors the core conditions of the initial proposal, stating that the proposal currently on the table is basically the same as the “seven-day plan” previously proposed by Iran. Under the initial plan, Iran outlined conditions under which the waterway would reopen on the sixth day, followed by the resumption of direct U.S.-Iran negotiations on the seventh day. Mediators, including…

The Independent National Electoral Commission has launched a cleanup of its preliminary Register of Voters following the discovery of records featuring suspected AI-generated images and other discrepancies. Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, the commission’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Lawrence Bayode, revealed that the Automated Biometric Identification System had flagged 268 records for review. “What we are currently doing now is looking at all these 268 records that ABIS already flagged as AI-generated or even something of irregularities,” he said. Bayode noted that certain individuals allegedly utilized their official credentials to construct invalid profiles by exploiting a special…

The Associated Press was recently granted rare access to an upgraded reception camp near Nicosia, Cyprus, where several migrants have found shelter. Among them is 24-year-old Mbah Damaris Menemah, who shared that her family in Cameroon cast her out after discovering her secret. “In my country, lesbians are not accepted,” she told The Associated Press at Cyprus’ Pournara migrant reception center. “So when my family found out, they weren’t so happy with it…They cursed me over. They rejected me because of that.” Menemah expressed that if her family and local community could not accept her identity, she intended to seek…

A South African court has granted permission for the March and March movement to hold its planned demonstrations, though under significantly stricter guidelines following updates to a government application. Judge Peter Olsen ruled that the group is permitted to march strictly between 9am and 3pm. Under the revised conditions, demonstrators are prohibited from carrying weapons, covering their faces, damaging property, or setting fire to buildings. The legal matter is scheduled to return to court next year. The court action was initiated by acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia, who sought an outright ban on the rallies due to concerns over public…