ICPC arrests El-Rufai’s doctor, alleges abuse of court-approved medical visit

ICPC arrests El-Rufai’s doctor, alleges abuse of court-approved medical visit

 

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has arrested Professor Bello Abubakar, the personal physician to former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, alleging that a court-approved medical visit was used for purposes outside those authorised by the court.

 

In a statement on Tuesday, the anti-graft agency said the development followed a medical visit granted to El-Rufai, who is currently in ICPC custody and standing trial on criminal charges before the Kaduna State High Court.

 

According to the commission, El-Rufai failed to appear in court on July 6, the first day of the accelerated hearing, after declining to leave custody for the court, insisting he wanted to see his personal doctor.

 

The ICPC said it informed the court that El-Rufai had not previously requested the consultation and that its medical officer reported he had no immediate medical complaints, but stated that his wife and legal counsel, Asia El-Rufai, requested the visit.

Following the court proceedings, which were adjourned until July 15 to determine an application seeking the trial judge’s recusal, the commission said it approved the medical visit under security escort in compliance with the court’s directive.

 

However, the ICPC alleged that photographs later posted on Facebook by one of El-Rufai’s political associates, Isa Ashiru Kudan, showed the former governor meeting with political associates, including Professor Bello Abubakar, during what was meant to be a private medical consultation.

 

The commission said the images suggested the hospital visit was used for activities beyond the purpose approved by the court, describing the development as a violation of the court order.

 

It said Professor Bello Abubakar was subsequently arrested for allegedly making false statements and has been taken into custody for further investigation.

 

The ICPC also said it would bring the alleged breach of the court order to the attention of the court, warning that it would no longer tolerate what it described as abuse of the professional courtesies extended to suspects and defendants in its custody.

 

The commission reaffirmed its commitment to operating within the law while insisting it would take appropriate action against any attempt to undermine judicial processes or abuse its goodwill. Conclaveng.

Kwankwaso fires back at Ali Sheriff, says Peter Obi has strong northern support

 

 

Former Kano State  Governor and national leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has dismissed claims by former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, that Peter Obi lacks significant political support in Northern Nigeria. Government

 

Kwankwaso responded on Tuesday in a post shared on X, saying he was disappointed by Sheriff’s comments during a Channels Television interview on Monday.

 

“I watched with disappointment the recent interview granted by Senator Ali Modu Sheriff to Channels Television on Monday,” Kwankwaso wrote.

 

“After a prolonged absence from public discourse, one would have expected that time away might have sharpened Senator Sheriff’s judgment. Regrettably, that does not appear to be the case.”

Sheriff had reportedly stated that Obi could not command sizeable support across the North. Kwankwaso rejected that position and said Sheriff was speaking for himself, not for Northern voters.

 

“In the interview, the former governor claimed that Peter Obi cannot command sizeable support in Northern Nigeria. It is curious that he has appointed himself spokesperson for the Northern masses. For the record, in his first outing on the presidential ballot, Mr. Obi secured approximately 2.8 million votes in the region — a remarkable achievement that cannot be dismissed lightly,” he said. Africans& Diaspora

 

Kwankwaso argued that current economic and security challenges, combined with public frustration with the ruling APC administration, could alter voting patterns in the next election. He also referenced a potential joint ticket with Obi.

 

“Given the current national hardships, the widespread consensus on the failure of the APC administration, and the addition of a strong Northern figure to the ticket who previously garnered 1.45 million votes in the region, the OK ticket remains a formidable force in Northern  politics,” he added.

 

He further faulted Sheriff’s comment that voters in Kano would not support Obi. According to him, Kano electorates have consistently backed the Kwankwasiyya movement irrespective of ethnic or religious lines.

 

“Even more surprising was Senator Sheriff’s assertion that the people of Kano would not vote for Mr. Obi. Let me state clearly: the good people of Kano are neither bigoted nor xenophobic. They have consistently demonstrated strong trust in the Kwankwasiyya movement and will support any credible ticket presented under its banner.”

 

Kwankwaso advised Sheriff to focus on issues in Borno State rather than make remarks that could deepen political divisions.

 

“I respectfully advise Senator Sheriff that, in future national television appearances, he would do better to speak to the serious insecurity and humanitarian challenges facing his home state, rather than making divisive and poorly considered remarks.”

He concluded by expressing confidence in the “OK ticket” as a viable alternative for Nigerians. Africans& Diaspora

 

“The OK ticket currently represents the best opportunity for Nigerians to reset the country and place it on a path of competence, unity, and progress.” Conclaveng.

 

Tinubu orders 30-day ICPC probe into fake presidential council scandal

 

 

President Bola Tinubu has ordered the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to carry out a comprehensive investigation into the activities of the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), giving the anti-graft agency 30 days to conclude its probe and submit a detailed report.

 

The directive was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, following the discovery that the PFIPC was never created by the Federal Government.

 

According to the Presidency, the organisation has no legal foundation and was not established through any law, presidential instrument, executive approval or any other lawful government process.

 

The statement alleged that one Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew falsely presented himself as the Director-General of the organisation while claiming to be a presidential appointee.

 

Tinubu directed the ICPC to investigate allegations surrounding forged appointment letters and other government documents allegedly used to project the organisation as an official federal institution.

 

The Commission is also expected to examine claims that the false presidential appointment was used to obtain official recognition, diplomatic support and visa facilitation from government institutions and foreign missions.

 

In addition, investigators have been tasked with probing the opening and operation of multiple bank accounts in the names of purported government agencies using allegedly forged official documents.

 

According to the Presidency, the investigation will also determine the origin and use of the fake government documents, the processes through which official recognition or diplomatic support may have been sought or obtained, the source and movement of funds connected to the alleged scheme, and the roles played by any public official, private individual, financial institution, intermediary or organisation that may have facilitated the operation.

 

The President further instructed the anti-corruption agency to investigate the circumstances that enabled the alleged fake organisation and its claims of presidential backing to appear legitimate.

 

The ICPC is also expected to identify weaknesses in government and institutional procedures that may have been exploited and recommend reforms to prevent similar incidents in the future.

 

To ensure a thorough investigation, Tinubu directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government to provide the Commission with all relevant records, documents and assistance required upon lawful request.

 

Reaffirming his administration’s commitment to accountability, the President stressed that the integrity of the Presidency and federal institutions must be protected against impersonation, forgery, abuse of official identity and exploitation of weaknesses within the public service.

 

Tinubu also ordered that every person found culpable at the conclusion of the investigation should face prosecution in accordance with the provisions of the law. Franktalknow.

 

FG  begins tsetse fly surveillance, control in prevalent communities

The Federal Ministry of Livestock Development (FMLD) has flagged off a Tsetse fly surveillance, community sensitisation, and vector control operations across livestock settlements and markets in parts of Akwa Ibom, with a call for renewed zeal to fight the hazardous nature of tsetse fly infestation in the state’s livestock industry.
The State Coordinator, FMLD, Mrs Ikankeabasi Ukpong, made the call when she hosted the vector surveillance and control team in her office in Uyo.
According to her in a statement by the Deputy Director Press and Public Relations, Henrietta Okokon, on Tuesday, about 12 species of Tsetse fly (genus Glossina) have been identified in Nigeria.
Glossina is the biological genus of tsetse flies, notorious for transmitting African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness).
Ukpong said these groups of tsetse flies often transmit the parasites to humans and animals.
She added, “The name Glossina is a Greek word which means tongue as seen in their proboscis. They are the causative agent of human sleeping sickness in humans and African Animal Trypanosomiasis (AAT) in livestock. AAT is commonly known as Nagana.
“This leads to severe economic losses due to weight loss, anaemia, reduction in milk or meat production.
“Nagana affects cattle, sheep, and goats; advanced symptoms are drowsiness.”
She said that ,of the identified groups of tsetse flies, the Glosdina palpalis had been endemic to the South South geopolitical zone of Nigeria.
Ukpong said that, since Akwa Ibom lies within the humid tropical zone, the palpalis group usually thrives around the numerous rivers
“In this survey, we will intensify efforts to cover riverine areas like Itu, Mbo, and Oron Local Government Areas.
“We will also work on the cattle domain in Itam. With God on our sides, we will have a successful surveillance to curb tsetse infestation in Akwa Ibom State,” she said.
In his remarks, the State Director of Veterinary Services, Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Teddy Essien, expressed the state government’s appreciation to the Federal Government and the FMLD for giving priority to the area.
He added that the state had been collaborating with the federal government in key areas of its agric programmes, adding that no fewer than six collaborations had been undertaken so far this year.
 He also assured that the team would be taken around the key areas to actualise its advocacy against the spread of the zonotic disease.
“There is no doubt that this vision will further benefit the people of Akwa Ibom and impact on the state’s economy.
“Please we also require feedback. Let’s know what happened in the field, the location you went to ans so on,” Essien said.
Similarly, the Team Leader, Mr Gilbert Okoro, who addressed the ‘entry meeting’, also expressed appreciation for the opportunity to be in Akwa Ibom for the exercise, which would go a long way to boost animal health and that of farmers in the endemic areas.
He said that the exercise was a nationwide project against the spread of the transboundary sickness affecting both humans and animals.
He said that it was the desire of the federal government to curtail the transboundary pest in all the geopolitical zones of the country.
He said the team would set traps and later harvest the trapped flies in areas where the surveillance occurred.
The team will visit Itu, Mbo, and Oron Local Government Areas, including the cattle domain in Itam,  to curb tsetse infestation in those areas. Authority.

NNPC seeks stronger energy partnerships, unveils one-year performance scorecard

 The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Engr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari, has called for stronger collaboration across Nigeria’s energy industry, saying strategic partnerships are essential to unlocking Africa’s vast energy potential, attracting investment and driving sustainable industrial growth.
Speaking during the opening ceremony of the 25th NOG Energy Week at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja on Tuesday, Ojulari outlined NNPC Ltd’s achievements over the past year and presented the company’s strategic vision for Nigeria’s energy future.
He said NNPC recorded an average 98 per cent operational recovery across its five crude oil export terminals between April 2025 and May 2026, a significant improvement from the operational low of about one per cent recorded at the Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal in June 2022.
Ojulari also announced that Nigeria’s crude oil production has increased to 1.71 million barrels per day, the highest level in five years, while NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL) achieved a record output of 365,000 barrels per day.
According to him, gas production has risen to 7.5 billion standard cubic feet per day following the completion of the River Niger crossing on the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline and the commissioning of the ANOH Gas Processing Plant.
He disclosed that NNPC maintained 100 per cent compliance with all Joint Venture cash call obligations throughout 2025 and up to June 2026, while sustaining efforts to increase crude oil production to two million barrels per day.
Ojulari further revealed that the company signed landmark Gas Sale and Purchase Agreements (GSPAs) since the last NOG Energy Week, covering 1.29 billion standard cubic feet per day for long-term LNG feed gas and 750 million standard cubic feet per day for domestic industrial gas supply to DFL FZE and Dangote Refinery.
He said the agreements are expected to unlock more than $20 billion in investments, with seven additional commercial transactions currently in the pipeline.
On corporate governance, the NNPC boss said the company resumed full monthly remittances to the Federation Account in July 2025, reinstated monthly business performance reporting and held its first-ever earnings call in November 2025 as part of efforts to strengthen transparency, accountability and investor confidence.
Ojulari urged stakeholders across the energy value chain to move beyond transactional relationships and embrace strategic partnerships capable of building integrated value chains and competitive industrial economies.
“At NNPC Limited, we see ourselves not just as an energy producer but as an ecosystem builder—connecting capital, technology, policy, talent and markets to create lasting value for Nigeria and Africa,” he said.
He noted that fragmented collaboration remains one of the major obstacles to Africa’s energy transformation, citing weak linkages among resource owners, operators, investors, policymakers and technology providers as factors limiting growth.
Despite Africa holding about 17 per cent of global natural gas reserves alongside abundant oil and renewable energy resources, Ojulari said the continent continues to attract only a fraction of global energy investment.
He called on governments, national oil companies, regulators, investors, financiers, academia and service providers to work together to position Africa as a global hub for energy investment, innovation and value creation.
“The future of African energy will not be determined solely by the resources beneath our soil, but by the quality of the partnerships we forge above it. The opportunity before us is extraordinary. The responsibility is ours. And the time to act is now,” he said.
The 25th NOG Energy Week, regarded as Africa’s leading oil, gas and energy conference and exhibition, brings together global energy leaders, policymakers, investors and innovators to discuss the future of energy, sustainability and industrial development across Nigeria and the continent.
Authority

The FG begins installation of 3.5 MW solar farm in Ambursa, Kebbi State

The Federal Government has begun the installation of 3.5 MW Solar Farm at Ambursa, Kebbi State.
The project will generate 3.5 million watts of power that will provide live electricity to 1,500 households.
At the flag off ceremony in Ambursa this Sunday, the Managing Director of the Federal Rural Electrification Agency, Dr. Abba Abubakar Aliyu, said the scheme would stretch to three kilometres distribution network.
“31 transformers along the line would be refurbished, over 5,000 solar plants with battery capacity and inverter, would be installed, while solar street lights would also be provided”,
“The sum of six million dollars has been earmarked as subsidy for the project, while the developer will also bring in another six million dollars”,
“Timeframe for the completion of work is eight months unfailingly”,
“The gesture is at the behest of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in line with the mandate of the Agency to address electricity challenges of communities without electricity, and ensuring reliability of supply for communities under served”, the MD said.
In a remark, Governor Nasir Idris of Kebbi State, thanked President Tinubu for effectively addressing the issue of electricity to communities by providing the necessary financial support to the Rural Electrification Agency to perform its functions with efficacy.
“Solar Power is a complementary factor in ensuring regularity in electricity supply”,
“Kebbi will continue to partner with the Federal Government to enjoy the full dividends of democracy, we sincerely thank President Tinubu for bringing the project to Ambursa”,
“I want to sound a word of caution to the beneficiaries to protect the installation from tampering and vandalism after completion of the project”, Idris warned. Authority

Grand corruption reason Tinubu should resign — Obi insists

 

By Okey Muogbo

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential flagbearer in the 2027 election, Peter Obi, has said that the grand corruption being revealed daily in this regime supports why the President should resign.

 

Obi, who had earlier called on the President to resign for failing to improve the welfare of the citizens, declared at the weekend that the country should be concerned about the rising level of corruption under President Tinubu.

Writing on his X handle while responding to the barrage of corruption cases during this administration, Obi said that “grand corruption has become Nigeria’s greatest threat.”

 

According to the former Anambra State governor, “The recent report from the IMF consultation further raises concerns about the scale of grand corruption under the Tinubu government. The IMF now reveals that about N8.83 trillion in expenditure undertaken in 2025 is not reflected in the budget. This expenditure is not budgeted and is therefore outside legislative oversight or administrative scrutiny.”

Giving a breakdown of the unaccounted amount in the budget, he said, “This is horrible. N8.83 trillion is approximately 2% of our GDP and over 35% of Nigeria’s 2025 N23.96 trillion capital project budget. In fact, the amount exceeds the actual capital funding released for 2025. It is more than the total combined budget for education (N3.52 trillion) and health (N2.38 trillion).”

 

“If such an amount were properly utilised and accounted for, it could transform Nigeria’s health and education sectors. It could also foster the creation of hundreds of small industries, creating jobs for thousands of graduates and laying a solid foundation for economic development. But we cannot account for it.”

 

“This is not an isolated incident; it is part of a pattern of grand corruption that characterises this administration.”

 

We have much to worry about concerning the state of corruption under President Tinubu. The type of corruption that involves blatant disregard for fundamental rules of public finance management poses a severe threat to national security and the stability of Nigeria.

 

“The capture of the Nigerian state and the plunder of its resources undermine the foundation of state stability, deepening poverty, and risking failure.”

 

This recent revelation demonstrates that the APC government is immensely corrupt, inept, and insensitive. With increasing poverty and an urgent need for major improvements in social and physical infrastructure, a responsible and responsive government would ensure that N8.83 trillion is wisely used to address these issues. But this is not the case with the Tinubu administration.

 

A few days ago, I called on President Tinubu to resign from office due to incompetence, lack of capacity, lack of compassion, and failure to deliver on his campaign promises. Some people thought this call was excessive, but with the daily revelations of widespread corruption in this administration and its total lack of commitment to the welfare and security of Nigerian citizens, the only reasonable action is for President Tinubu to resign.

 

The breakdown of basic due process under Tinubu and the continuous evidence of rampant looting of Nigerian finances highlight the urgent need for greater accountability. It is now time for Nigerian citizens to step up within the law and hold this administration responsible. A new Nigeria is possible. Sunrisereporters.

Atiku accuses Tinubu of cornering Nigeria’s money for 2027 election while citizens suffer

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar accused President Bola Ahmed of cornering public funds to prosecute the upcoming presidential election while the ordinary Nigerians suffer from hunger.
Atiku made accusation on Saturday in a statement released in Abuja in which he cited recent “deeply troubling report by the International Monetary Fund, published on July 1, 2026 by Reuters, which reveals that the Tinubu-led APC administration failed to record public expenditures amounting to approximately 2 percent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product in recent official budgets.”
Below the full text of the statement:
“My attention has been drawn to a deeply troubling report by the International Monetary Fund, published on July 1, 2026 by Reuters, which reveals that the Tinubu-led APC administration failed to record public expenditures amounting to approximately 2 percent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product in recent official budgets. At the current valuation of Nigeria’s economy at approximately ₦441.5 trillion, this figure translates to a staggering ₦8.8 trillion in public funds spent entirely outside the statutory framework of Nigeria’s official budget documents, unaccounted for, unaudited, and hidden from the Nigerian people.
I view this revelation with the gravest alarm and call upon all Nigerians –  the media, civil society, the National Assembly, and every democratic institution in this country – to set aside every distraction and direct their full attention to what is, by any reasonable standard, the most consequential act of fiscal impunity in Nigeria’s recent democratic history.
A pattern of conduct, not an isolated incident, the IMF’s latest Article IV consultation, articulated by its resident representative in Nigeria, Christian Ebeke, confirmed that this staggering discrepancy arises from large-scale government projects executed entirely off-budget. Let us be absolutely clear about what this means: The Tinubu administration is awarding multi-trillion naira contracts, moving massive public capital, and commissioning infrastructure projects entirely beyond the reach of the Auditor-General, the nation’s procurement laws, and the legitimate oversight of the National Assembly. It is a parallel fiscal universe, one governed by executive whim, shielded from the constitutional accountability that the Nigerian people are owed.
This conduct follows a pattern that is unmistakably familiar to anyone who has studied the fiscal governance of Lagos State under Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Governor. For years, Tinubu operated what has become widely known as the Alpha Beta arrangement, a revenue management structure under which between 10 and 30 percent of Lagos State’s internally generated revenue disappeared into private pockets before it was ever captured in the official budget. Revenues were siphoned at the point of collection, before they could be subjected to legislative appropriation, public scrutiny, or statutory accountability. The money simply vanished upstream, and what arrived in the treasury was already a fraction of what Lagosians had paid.
What the IMF has now documented at the federal level is that same Lagos playbook, replicated at national scale and with national consequences. The man who perfected the art of the off-budget economy in Lagos has brought that “Beta” form to Abuja, and the price is being paid by 220 million Nigerians.
This shadow economy does not operate only through unrecorded expenditures. It also operates through illegal extractions. We draw the attention of Nigerians to the ₦800 billion that has been illegally deducted from the statutory allocations of state governments, funds belonging to the federating units of this republic, unlawfully withheld and diverted without the authorisation of the National Assembly, without a court order, and without any constitutional basis whatsoever.
State governments across Nigeria under the aegis of the Progressives Governors Forum have had their allocations raided to fund projects and purposes that have never been disclosed to the Nigerian public. We state clearly and without equivocation that this ₦800 billion, combined with the ₦8.8 trillion in unrecorded federal expenditures, points unmistakably to the construction of a massive, multi-source political war chest being assembled ahead of the 2027 general elections.
When a government operates a secret treasury of this scale at precisely the moment it needs to purchase electoral outcomes, the conclusion is not difficult to reach. The Tinubu administration is not reforming Nigeria’s economy. It is financing its own political survival with money that belongs to the Nigerian people.
The recent public controversy over the ₦1.3 billion inserted into the 2026 Federal Budget for the so-called Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, an agency the administration itself was forced to acknowledge did not exist, is now rendered far less surprising in this broader context. When a government can move ₦8.8 trillion in public money entirely outside its own official bookkeeping, the boundary between what exists and what is a phantom, between what is appropriated and what is stolen, ceases to have any practical meaning. The ghost agency and the shadow budget are not separate scandals. They are two expressions of the same governing philosophy: that public money belongs to those in power, to be deployed as they see fit, beyond the reach of the law and the knowledge of the public.
The moral obscenity at the heart of this scandal demands to be named plainly. For three years, the Tinubu administration has subjected ordinary Nigerians to an unrelenting programme of economic austerity without precedent in our democratic era. The removal of the fuel subsidy, executed without preparation, without social safety nets, and without honest public accounting of the savings, detonated the cost of living across every stratum of Nigerian society. The Naira has been serially devalued, wiping out the purchasing power of workers, traders, small business owners, and pensioners. Interest rates have been driven to levels that have effectively shut small and medium enterprises out of the credit market, strangling the productive base of the economy and accelerating unemployment at a time when Nigeria’s youth population is growing faster than any other demographic on earth.
Nigerians have been told, repeatedly and firmly, that the treasury is empty, that there is no alternative to the pain being administered, and that sacrifice today is the price of prosperity tomorrow. The government has borrowed at punishing interest rates on international markets, adding to a debt burden that will constrain the fiscal choices of Nigerian governments for a generation, all the while telling the public that every kobo of expenditure is being carefully accounted for and prudently managed.
The IMF has now exposed that narrative as a big fat lie. While the poor were told to bleed, the government maintained access to a ₦8.8 trillion shadow treasury, entirely outside public view, entirely beyond legislative oversight, and entirely at the disposal of those who hold executive power. The interest rates crushing Nigerian businesses, the weak Naira destroying Nigerian savings, and the economic stagnation hollowing out Nigerian households are not the unavoidable consequences of global headwinds. They are, at least in part, the direct result of a government that has removed from the productive economy ₦8.8 trillion that should have been transparently appropriated, competitively allocated, and deployed in ways that create jobs, reduce the cost of capital, and strengthen the naira. This explains why contractors are owed and civil servants are not paid their salaries.
I wish to place this figure in concrete human terms. In the 2023 presidential election, I presented to Nigerians a comprehensive economic recovery programme anchored on a $10 billion stimulus package, an intervention designed to recapitalise the productive economy, restore exchange rate stability, reduce the cost of borrowing for Nigerian businesses, and create millions of jobs across the agricultural, manufacturing, and technology sectors. Critics and supporters of the Tinubu administration dismissed that proposal as ambitious, even unrealistic, asking where the resources would come from. The IMF has now answered that question. ₦8.8 trillion, the equivalent of approximately $5.5 billion at current exchange rates, was available. It was not unavailable. It was not non-existent. It was simply being spent in the dark, by unaccountable hands, on undisclosed purposes, beyond the reach of the Nigerian public and their elected representatives. Had that money been transparently appropriated and deployed as part of a structured economic stimulus programme, Nigerian businesses would not be drowning in 35 percent interest rates. The naira would not be trading at levels that make the importation of basic inputs prohibitively expensive for manufacturers. Unemployment would not be at the catastrophic levels that are fuelling insecurity, emigration, and social despair across every geopolitical zone of this country.
The poverty of Nigerian citizens today is not fate. It is policy, or more precisely, it is the consequence of the absence of transparent, accountable, productive economic policy, replaced by the private management of public resources for political purposes under the Tinubu-led APC administration.
I hereby demand the following immediate actions from all relevant institutions:
One, the National Assembly must convene emergency investigative hearings on the IMF’s findings without further delay. The revelation of ₦8.8 trillion in unrecorded public expenditures is a constitutional emergency, not a matter to be managed through ministerial press conferences or diplomatic qualifications.
Two, the Auditor-General of the Federation must be immediately empowered and directed to conduct a full, independent audit of all off-budget expenditures referenced in the IMF’s Article IV consultation, and those findings must be published in their entirety and placed in the public domain without redaction.
Three, the Federal Government must provide a full and transparent public account of every Naira spent outside the official budget, identifying every project, every contractor, every procurement process followed, and every individual who authorised and benefited from these transactions.
Four, the Federal Government must immediately restore to state governments the ₦800 billion unlawfully deducted from their statutory allocations and provide a complete account of how those funds were deployed.
Five, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, and every relevant law enforcement and anti-corruption agency must open formal investigations into both the unrecorded expenditures and the unlawful deductions from state allocations, independent of any political direction from the Presidency.
Six, Nigeria’s civil society, the professional community, the business sector, and the international community, particularly the international financial institutions whose credibility is implicated when their findings are ignored, must respond to this disclosure with the urgency it demands.
A government that governs in secret spends in secret. A government that spends in secret does not govern, it plunders. The Tinubu administration has been exposed, not by its political opponents and not by partisan advocacy, but by the International Monetary Fund, the most authoritative multilateral financial institution in the world, whose Article IV consultations carry the full weight of international economic credibility. The evidence is on the record. The figures are not in dispute.
The only question that now confronts every Nigerian citizen, every elected representative, and every democratic institution in this republic is whether we will summon the collective will to demand accountability, or whether we will allow ₦8.8 trillion in unrecorded public expenditure, built on the same architecture of fiscal concealment that defined Lagos under Tinubu to become the accepted, unremarkable condition of governance in Nigeria.
We will not accept it. And we call on every Nigerian who believes in the integrity of the public treasury, the sovereignty of the Nigerian people over their own resources, and the future of this republic to refuse to accept it as well. Sunrisereporters.

Hunger-free Nigeria requires leaders who prioritise citizens’ welfare’ – Peter Obi 

By Okey Muogbo
The 2027 Presidential Candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has said that the growing hunger of Nigerian citizens will get worse unless the people enthrone leaders who have citizens’ welfare at heart.
Reacting to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) alarm that over 17 million Nigerians in the North are at risk of acute hunger, Obi said that Nigeria is a food basket and only an incompetent leadership can drag the country into such a horrible situation.
Writing on his X handle this weekend, Obi said, “The recent report from the UN about the impending food crisis in northern Nigeria is disheartening, more so because it is avoidable. Northern Nigeria is the nation’s food basket, and nothing short of incompetent and irresponsible leadership could have created this tragedy.”
“In a recent post on his X handle, he urged our national leaders to reassess their priorities and address the dire circumstances facing our citizens. He called on the Federal Government and state leaders to move beyond mere political discourse and make transparent, upfront investments to secure agricultural corridors, support smallholder farmers with accessible resources, and collaborate vigorously with organisations like the World Food Programme (WFP) to bridge funding gaps before this crisis escalates and claims more lives, especially those of children.
“A prosperous Nigeria, free from hunger, is achievable, but it requires leadership that prioritises the welfare of its citizens.
“I am deeply troubled by the latest report from the UN’s World Food Programme, indicating that northern Nigeria is experiencing its most severe hunger crisis in nearly a decade. Over 17 million people in nine northern states face crisis-level hunger, with more than 35 million Nigerians nationwide at risk during this challenging season,”, he said.
The former Governor of Anambra State went further to say: “The fact that over 10,000 residents of Borno State have entered ‘catastrophic’ hunger conditions represents not only immense human suffering but also a profound national failure. Nigeria should not rank among the world’s hungriest nations, given its abundant resources, particularly the vast stretches of fertile, uncultivated land in the North.
“This food crisis stems from two critical structural failures: insecurity and farmers’ inability to access their lands. Banditry and insurgency have turned agrarian communities into displacement zones. Until we secure our agricultural areas, we cannot secure our future.
“Our global hunger ranking continues to worsen because of our proclivity for adopting superficial measures that do little to boost agricultural productivity or transform rural infrastructure. We need to adopt policies that address the structural barriers to agricultural productivity and transform our land resources into agro-industrial output.
“We can overcome hunger and poverty if we urgently shift our focus from consumption to production,” he insisted.
On an optimistic note, Obi assured that: “A new Nigeria, devoid of hunger and mass poverty – a Nigeria where we transform our arable land into productive acreage – remains attainable, but it demands leadership that values the lives and livelihoods of the Nigerian people above grandiose road dualisation projects.” Sunrisereporters.

PFIPC: NDC demands Gbajabiamila’s suspension over Alleged fake agency, appointment scandal

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has called for the immediate removal of the Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, over allegations linking him to an alleged corruption scandal involving a purported non-existent government agency and the alleged sale of public appointments.
Recall that one Prince Mathew Adeniyi Adeyemi, who allegedly presented himself as the Director-General of the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), an agency the Presidency has reported accused the Chief of Staff of financial malfeasance and abuse of office.
He claimed that he secured the appointment through the Chief of Staff after allegedly paying N600 million, of which N400 million was reportedly paid through intermediaries, while an outstanding balance of N200 million allegedly remained unpaid.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director on Friday, the opposition party urged President Tinubu to suspend the Chief of Staff to allow for what it described as a full, transparent and impartial investigation into the allegations.
According to the party, the allegations raise serious concerns over accountability within the Federal Government, particularly claims that the purported agency allegedly received budgetary allocations in the 2026 budget and opened several accounts, including a Treasury Single Account (TSA), a domiciliary account and a Pounds Sterling account with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The NDC questioned how an agency allegedly not recognised by the Presidency could have completed such financial processes, saying the development requires urgent public clarification.
The party also expressed concern over claims that the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation allegedly approved 314 staff positions for the purported agency, describing the allegation as one that raises questions about administrative oversight within government.
The party also cited allegations that Gbajabiamila demanded 48 per cent of the agency’s take-off grant, an allegation it said was rejected by Adeyemi and which allegedly triggered the dispute between both parties.
Describing the claims as serious, the NDC said they point to what it termed “institutionalised corruption” and alleged abuse of public office.
The opposition party also called for an investigation into the death of Babatunde Tanimola, described as an intermediary between Adeyemi and the Chief of Staff, who reportedly died in a hotel fire in Abuja in October 2025. It further urged security agencies to probe Adeyemi’s claims of multiple assassination attempts.
Among its demands, the NDC called on President Tinubu to constitute an independent investigative panel to examine all aspects of the allegations, including the operations of the alleged PFIPC, budgetary allocations, financial transactions, staff approvals and account openings.
It also urged the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Nigeria Police Force, officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to investigate the allegations.
The party maintained that Nigerians deserve a transparent investigation into the claims and insisted that anyone found culpable, regardless of status, should face prosecution in accordance with the law.