Nigeria’s federal government has instructed the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to stop all enforcement actions connected to the proposed ban on sachet alcohol and 200 millilitre polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle alcoholic products. The order was announced in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital, by Terrence Kuanum, Special Adviser on Public Affairs to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. He said the government also warned NAFDAC to stop sealing factories and warehouses over the matter. Kuanum said the directive followed a joint intervention by the Office of the Secretary…
Author: Oluwadara Akingbohungbe
Ikechukwu Emetu, the Deputy Governor of Abia State in south-east Nigeria, says Nigeria’s Labour Party is open to anyone who wants to join, regardless of status or background. Emetu, who also chairs the Labour Party’s National Steering Committee on Membership, Revalidation and Electronic Registration, spoke during the presentation of a report on a new membership drive by the party’s National Caretaker Committee, led by Nenadi Usman, a former Nigerian senator and former federal minister. He said the party’s position is that it is a broad national platform and not a closed organisation. “The Labour Party is a party for all,…
Nigeria’s Labour Party, a major opposition party, slid into fresh internal tension late on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, after the group loyal to Julius Abure said it had retaken the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, less than 24 hours after a caretaker committee led by Senator Nenadi Usman moved into the same building. Obiora Ifoh, the National Publicity Secretary of the Abure faction, said in a statement issued in Abuja that the group had regained control of the headquarters in Utako, a district of the city. He alleged the premises had been “forcefully” invaded earlier on Tuesday and…
Senator Seriake Dickson, a member of the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters in Nigeria, says the decision to remove the words “real time” from the Electoral Act Amendment Bill does not reduce election transparency or weaken the plan for electronic transmission of results. In an interview on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, Dickson said the Senate’s latest decision still makes it compulsory for results to be sent electronically from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Result Viewing Portal (IREV). The Senate reviewed Clause 60(3) after public criticism and restored electronic transmission of results, but kept a proviso that…
Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice President, met behind closed doors on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, with General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, the former military ruler who led Nigeria between 1985 and 1993. The meeting took place at Babangida’s residence in Minna, the capital city of Niger State in north central Nigeria. According to details available at the time of reporting, Atiku arrived in Minna at about 1:30 pm West African Time (WAT, GMT+1) and proceeded directly to Babangida’s home. Seyi Makinde, the Governor of Oyo State in south western Nigeria, later joined the visit at about 2:10 pm WAT (GMT+1). After…
Nigeria’s Labour Party says its National Secretariat in Abuja, the country’s capital, was forcefully entered and occupied early Tuesday, with party officials alleging that valuables and party materials were taken away. In a statement issued by Obiora Ifoh, the Labour Party’s National Publicity Secretary, the party accused Ikechukwu Emetu, the Deputy Governor of Abia State in south-east Nigeria, and Senator Nenadi Usman, a Nigerian politician, of being involved in the incident. The party said security personnel at the headquarters reported that hoodlums arrived around 1:00 in the morning on Tuesday and removed Labour Party billboards. It added that the billboards…
In a significant turnaround amid mounting public protests and criticism, the Nigerian Senate reconvened for an emergency plenary session today and passed an amended version of the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Amendment Bill 2026, incorporating a clause mandating the electronic transmission of polling unit results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Result Viewing Portal (IReV). This move comes after widespread backlash following the Senate’s initial passage of the bill on February 4, which retained discretionary language on e-transmission from the 2022 Electoral Act, without making real-time uploads compulsory. The emergency session was prompted by protests led by…
Nigeria’s Senate has chosen 12 senators to work with Nigeria’s House of Representatives on the Electoral Amendment Act, a set of proposed changes that has attracted strong public attention. The President of the Senate of Nigeria, Godswill Akpabio, announced the list on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, during an emergency plenary session in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. The committee is expected to engage with the House of Representatives as lawmakers consider how to proceed on the planned electoral reforms. Nigeria’s National Assembly is made up of two chambers. When both chambers are handling the same major bill, they often set up committees…
Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, a former Governor of Kaduna State in north-west Nigeria and a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has tried to shut down talk of a personal feud with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s president. Still, his latest comments have revived arguments inside Nigeria’s ruling party about whether he is resentful over not being part of Tinubu’s government. Reports has it that El-Rufai spoke during an interview aired on Trust Television on Monday, February 9, 2026, where he insisted his relationship with Tinubu was never personal. “I was never Tinubu’s friend. We never had a personal relationship…
Armed security officers were deployed on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, at the national secretariat of the Labour Party, a Nigerian opposition political party, in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, as Senator Nenadi Usman moved to take charge as acting National Chairman. Reporters who visited the office in Utako, a district in Abuja, observed police officers positioned inside and around the premises. Party banners and billboards carrying images of Julius Abure and his executive team were removed and replaced with those of Usman. Supporters, party members, and journalists were screened at entry points and were asked to identify themselves before they were allowed…