Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, on Monday, presented a ₦1.43 trillion Appropriation Bill for the 2026 fiscal year to the Imo State House of Assembly. The proposed budget represents a 78 per cent increase over the 2025 budget of ₦807 billion and is titled “Budget of Economic Breakthrough.” Presenting the budget, Uzodimma said it comprises 83.4 per cent capital expenditure and 16.6 per cent recurrent expenditure, reflecting his administration’s focus on infrastructure-driven economic growth. He explained that the proposed recurrent expenditure of about ₦238.499 billion would cover personnel costs, overheads, and statutory subventions, while capital expenditure was projected at slightly…
Author: Abdoulaye Kay
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has launched a dedicated nationwide hotline for Nigerians to report any MRS Oil Nigeria Plc filling stations selling Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) above the approved pump price of ₦739 per litre. The refinery said the move is aimed at promoting transparency, affordability, and consumer protection in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum market. In a statement, Dangote Refinery announced that the hotline — 0800 123 5264 — is now active nationwide, allowing consumers to promptly report price violations across more than 2,000 MRS filling stations. The initiative follows the refinery’s recent commencement of nationwide PMS sales at ₦739 per litre,…
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 39-year-old female drug kingpin and recovered 23.5 kilograms of cocaine concealed in her children’s room in Surulere, Lagos. The arrest followed months of intelligence tracking after NDLEA operatives dismantled a cocaine trafficking syndicate in May 2024 across Lagos and Ogun states. According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the suspect was a key member of the cartel that attempted to smuggle cocaine to Ghana. Earlier operations led to the arrest of a couple with 57.5kg of cocaine. Babafemi said the latest seizure, estimated at over ₦5 billion in street value, was…
President Bola Tinubu has warned state governors that he would issue an executive order to enforce direct financial allocations to local governments if they fail to comply with the Supreme Court ruling granting financial autonomy to Nigeria’s third tier of government. The president issued the warning on Friday while addressing the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja. “The Supreme Court has capped it for you again, saying give them their money directly,” Tinubu said, adding that he would act if governors continue to delay implementation. ALSO READ FG pragmatically…
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has forecast predominantly sunny and hazy weather conditions across the country from Sunday to Tuesday. In its three-day weather outlook released on Saturday in Abuja, NiMet predicted sunny skies over the northern region throughout the period, with hazy atmospheric conditions expected across the North-Central states. According to the agency, parts of the South-South will experience weather disturbances, with localised morning thunderstorms and light rainfall forecast for areas of Rivers, Bayelsa, and Delta states on Sunday. Later in the day, isolated thunderstorms are expected over Rivers, Delta, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, and Bayelsa states. For Monday,…
Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has accused the Federal Government of presiding over the alleged fabrication of laws following the presentation of the 2026 national budget, warning that the development poses a grave threat to constitutional governance and public trust. In a statement titled “Migrating from Padded Budgets to Forged Laws,” posted on his X handle on Saturday, Obi alleged that documents passed by the National Assembly were materially altered before being published and enforced by the executive arm of government. President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the 2026 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National…
The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Nigeria’s chapter of Transparency International, have raised the alarm over allegations that the Presidency assented to a tax law that is materially different from the version passed by the National Assembly (NASS), warning that such an act, if confirmed, would constitute a grave breach of the Constitution. In a statement signed by its Executive Director, Comrade Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, CISLAC said any alteration of a bill after parliamentary passage undermines legislative authority, violates the principle of separation of powers, and erodes public trust in democratic governance. The organisation stressed that Nigeria’s law-making process…
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Business Expectations Survey for November 2025 has identified insecurity, high taxation, and poor power supply as the most severe challenges confronting Nigerian businesses, even as overall confidence in the economy continues to improve. According to the survey, insecurity ranked as the leading constraint with an index score of 70.1, reflecting its persistent impact on production costs, logistics, and investment decisions. High or multiple taxes followed closely at 69.7, underscoring long-standing concerns over the cumulative burden of levies imposed by different tiers of government. Insufficient power supply ranked third with an index of 69.3, highlighting…
A Lagos-based socio-cultural organisation, De Renaissance Patriots Foundation, has accused the Nigerian Senate of disregarding formal objections to the confirmation of some ambassadorial nominees allegedly linked to Lagos State. In a press statement issued on Friday, December 19, 2025, the group said it had repeatedly petitioned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senate President Godswill Akpabio over the nomination of Femi Pedro and Lola Akande, whom it described as non-indigenes of Lagos State. The organisation said it was reacting to reported remarks credited to Senate President Akpabio, suggesting that the confirmation of the nominees went ahead because the Senate did not…
Nigeria’s business environment is expected to strengthen steadily over the next six months, with business confidence projected to rise to one of its highest levels in recent years, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Business Expectations Survey (BES) for November 2025. The survey shows that business confidence stood at 37.5 index points in November 2025, reflecting moderate optimism among respondents about the macroeconomic environment. This confidence is projected to accelerate sharply, rising to 52.8 index points within the next six months, signalling expectations of stronger economic activity by mid-2026. “The confidence index in November 2025 stood at 37.5…