President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday evening told Nigerians that he was not consulted before the country's electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) postponed the general elections earlier scheduled for February this year. This is against insinuations that the election postponement had some political undertone.
Jonathan, who answered questions from journalists at a special edition of his Media Chat, also expressed confidence in INEC as is currently composed and further expressed optimism that the INEC would conduct free and fair elections in the country.
Jonathan further promised that he remains resolute that a new government would be formed in May this year whether he lost or won the presidential election. He warned Nigerians against believing all stories they hear and read about his alleged plot to truncate the country's democracy.
"Let me reassure Nigerians that elections would be conducted and an inauguration would be made this year. Let them not be perturbed by statements like the President wants to send INEC chairman on a three months leave...it is better for INEC to conduct elections that we all believe to be free and fair," the President said.
He said he understood that Nigerians are concerned about the shift in the election date, but that during the Council of State meeting, "we met and discussed. They emphasised issues of security, which details they did not tell everybody. When INEC came up with the date for the election, there was no much issues until we began our campaign," he said complaining also that most people in the country do not have their Permanent Voters Cards. "In Lagos for example, only about 38 percent have their PVCs. There are some states where you have up to 68 percent and some states 38 percent and there are security implications to it," he said, adding that he wants a situation where eligible voters would be able to vote.
He said though he was not assuring that Boko Haram, being a major reason for the shift, would be totally wiped out in the six weeks demanded by the service chiefs, the government would make substantial progress in the confrontation and ensure that elections hold in the states currently being ravaged by Boko Haram.
"Adamawa, before this time, there were seven Local Governments taken over by Boko Haram. But as we talk now, it is Madagali that it left," he said promising that enough progress would be made and the internally displaced people could then go back to their villages where they can vote and that the government would build tents for those whose houses were destroyed.
Asked about what he would do differently if re-elected, President Jonathan gave the impression of not being satisfied with those currently working around him. He said would take seriously the impression people have of those working around him.
"We will need to adjust the way we do certain things because I have realised that in the society, what people assess you of is not the things you do, but how those things are done. The common things that people say is: 'oh! The President means well for this country'. Yes I mean well for this country because I am passionate about Nigeria. But they say: 'oh! People around the President are not good'.
"Then of course you must be very watchful of the actions and inaction of people around you so that they don't continue to drive the name of the government...it is not like many of them have done anything wrong, but the perception is worse...sometime you who are sitting there know the exact thing but if the perception is poor, then...
"Of course, we will manage the perception better. Most of the problems we are having is the perception. If you talk about concrete things that this government has done, I can challenge any group; if you look at the PTDF, the number of youths we are taking for technical training at the graduate level, masters and PhD, the number we have trained within this five years is more than the number we have trained from inception of that institution," he said.
Concerning the abducted Chibok girls, Jonathan promised that some of them would be recovered during this military onslaught. He however said Nigerians would begin to see the result of the confrontation from three weeks even though he does not want to make a specific promise.
He noted that it was not possible that all the abducted girls could be recovered and added that people had played much politics with the issue of the girls.
The President who confessed that he was always weighed down by the lack of support from Nigerians, noted that in other countries where terrorism reigns, people collapse political boundaries to find solutions to the challenge, but that in Nigeria, people take advantage of their contacts abroad to disgrace the country.
"Now that we are working with Chad and Cameroon, the story of the Chibok girls would get better. At least we can be able to rescue some of them. We have mapped out our configuration, just give us sometime.
"People try to misinform the world, play politics with the issue of Chibok girls. In most countries where you experience issues of terror, political boundaries collapse and people work together, but in this case, we have terror and you think the best way is to go to US and the others to celebrate.
"It is a collective responsibility. Is it by going to carry flags that you can bring back the girls? Those who have links outside used them negatively instead of positively.
"We will recover them alive. These girls have been in the hands of criminals. About 200 girls were kidnapped and you do not expect that the President would say he would bring back all the girls," he said while lamenting that some people even claim he is the one who has allowed the Boko Haram insurgency to fester.
Asked what would happen if the war against Boko Haram is not won in six weeks, the President answered: "in 2011, when we conducted elections, there was Boko Haram. Nobody is saying they must wipe out Boko Haram completely before conducting the elections. Definietly in the next six weeks or so, serious advancements would be made, we are not saying we would wipe out Boko Haram. Elections would be done."
He further lamented the rate at which politicians cross-carpet, saying it was not the best for Nigeria's politics. "In politics, there is no permanent friend or enemy but permanent interest. If you look at even the carpet crossing that is so much abused...some governors moved from the PDP to other parties and some moved to the PDP. It is not good.
"I know two presidents who have asked me what is wrong. It is because the courts have not taken a decision," he said.
Asked if this would not affect his support base, he said elections are about convincing people especially as history had shown that it is more difficult to win elections for a second term in office than in one's first term.
He also accused some unnamed politicians of instigating youths to pelt him with stones, saying it was a treasonable offence that could earn the perpetrators death, but that many of those who took part in the act were ignorant.
"You could be killed. The President is the only person that is guarded by soldiers. The Vice President is guarded by the police," he said maintaining that such actions and the provocative statements people have been making were not helping the electioneering.
He confessed that he got aggressive at the flag-off of his presidential campaign in Lagos because he was provoked by statements that the opposition had been making before that day.
Reminded that some people close to him have said there would be war if he lost, President Jonathan insisted that he was concerned about the people around the candidates. He recalled that it was the same Muhammadu Buhari, his main rival, that also contested against him in 2011 and the electioneering was not as bad as it is now.
He also insisted that the country was bigger and more important than any of their ambitions and that while other candidates could do what they liked, he cannot because he takes all the blames for whatever goes wrong including poor conduct of the elections where that happens.
"Within this campaign period, there are some instigations which are necessitated by some politicians. We are noticing some traces and no chief security would take it lightly," he noted.
Asked about the adverts of character assassination against some candidates contesting against him as well as those like chief Edwin Clark making provocative statements, President Jonathan said in most cases, he does not know those sponsoring such adverts adding that in politics, one must have friends and enemies but that for the friends, it is difficult to know what they do or say.
"One thing about politics is that you have a number of people who support you, but you do not know what they do or say. More than 80 percent of those who carry adverts about Jonathan, you may not even know," he said.
He however noted that hate speeches come from the two major candidates, "but we will do it in such a way that people do not go war. We must protect this country and those who are supporting us."
Asked why he visited churches and would not visit mosques, he said most of the pastors and churches invite him when they have events but that that it was not the same with the Muslims who prefer to invite the Vice President instead while he (President) only attends youth events but has not visited mosques because it is a purely religious issue.
Jonathan used the opportunity to clarify his much talked about controversial distinction between stealing and corruption. Jonathan who had said stealing was not corruption, said he was actually quoting a former Cheif Jistice of Nigeria, Dahiru Mustafa who had said when he checked the files, 80 percent of what people call corruption are stealing.
Explaining in details, he said many Nigerians do not know the difference and that as a result, they cover issues of stealing with the word 'corruption'. He said that in most villages and towns in the country, people saw stealing as more grievous than corruption.
"The good thing is that those who are making the statement did not say the President said stealing is good. I used that statement because I quoted Mustafa, a former ICPC chairman. Justice Mustafa said he took most of the files and more than 80 percent are just stealing. Our people hate thieves more than they hate people who are corrupt.
"If you say some people are corrupt, some people do not even know what you are talking about. A thief should be called a thief, ole should be called ole. If somebody is a thief, call him a thief. If somebody is ole, call him ole. Don't cover it with corruption. Let us communicate properly," he said adding that the ICPC is the legally authorised agency among the anti-corruption agencies that is saddled with the fight against corruption.
He also said in terms of prosecuting people, his government had achieved more conviction, "but even if you convict one million people, it won't stop it." He said the government was now making use of information technology to combat corruption just like the government had successfully done in the agricultural sector.
He disclosed that his government had not started drawing the $1b loan approved for security and the issue of the $9.3 billion seized by the South African government was in court. He said money had been paid to the company for the supply of arms and ammunition but that the company did not handle the cash well. He however said the arms for which the money was paid had been delivered.
The President further explained that the US refused to sell arms and hardware to Nigeria because of human rights concerns but that Nigeria was dealing with other countries even though some of the hardware were not as powerful as the ones needed for the battle.
He insisted that his government would not stay more than May 29 if he lost the forthcoming election. He however said the campaigns would continue since the elections had been postponed.
Concerning the failed ceasefire with the Boko Haram, the President said it was not that the government was swindled, but that though people actually met with the government, the Boko Haram seemed divided and factionalised, that was the reason the negotiation did not work.
Asked to assess Buhari, he said it was not a fair demand since they were both contesting for the same position.
"If I should assess Buhari, it is not fair of me. I think the garbage on me is much more than the one on Buhari. I don't even have the time to do social media. Some of the things I have observed I feel sad...I remember that the APC started their campaigns before me. If you listen to the way I spoke in Lagos, I was a bit aggressive because of the statements that have been made," he said.
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Tinubu Meets Bolloré in Paris Over Expanded Investment in Nigeria’s Creative, Digital Economy
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has held talks with French businessman Vincent Bolloré in Paris on plans to expand investment in Nigeria’s creative and digital economy.
The meeting, held during the President’s working vacation, focused on opportunities to deepen the localisation of operations by the Bolloré Group and increase investment in sectors including film, entertainment, fibre-optic infrastructure and digital services, according to a statement issued by the presidency.
Bolloré and members of his executive team outlined proposed investments centred on Nigeria, highlighting the country’s growing influence in global entertainment through Nollywood and Afrobeats.
The group also expressed interest in expanding its operations and local presence in Nigeria, with the presidency saying the plans could support increased production, investment and employment opportunities in the country.
Tinubu reaffirmed his administration’s focus on economic growth, job creation and digitalisation, while welcoming the group’s reported plans to deepen its activities in Nigeria.
The President said the government would continue to support investments aimed at developing the creative and digital economy, strengthening infrastructure and creating opportunities for Nigerian talent.
According to the statement, Tinubu also emphasised the potential for Nigeria to serve as a base for companies seeking to operate across Africa and international markets.
The meeting comes as Nigeria continues to promote its entertainment and technology sectors as areas of economic opportunity, with the government seeking to attract investment while expanding employment opportunities for young Nigerians.
Tinubu said his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda seeks to harness Nigeria’s talent, entrepreneurship and growing global cultural influence to create greater economic opportunities and improve livelihoods.
News
Banks Shut 476 Branches as Nigeria’s Banking Landscape Goes Digital
Nigeria’s banks are rapidly abandoning the traditional banking model, shutting down hundreds of branches and cash centres as customers increasingly move to digital and electronic channels.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria show that banks closed a net 476 branches and cash centres between 2022 and 2025, cutting the country’s physical banking network by 8.8 per cent in just three years.
The number of bank branches and cash centres plunged from 5,410 in 2022 to 4,934 in 2025, signalling a dramatic shift away from brick-and-mortar banking.
The contraction has gathered pace in recent years.
Banks closed 37 locations in 2023, followed by a much steeper reduction of 229 locations in 2024. Another 210 branches and cash centres disappeared in 2025.
In effect, more than nine out of every 10 locations lost during the three-year period were closed in 2024 and 2025.
The figures, contained in the CBN’s 2025 Statistical Bulletin for the Financial Sector, cover branches and cash centres operated by commercial, merchant and non-interest banks. The data were sourced from the CBN and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Lagos bears the biggest hit Lagos, Nigeria’s financial powerhouse, recorded the largest decline.
The state had 1,602 bank branches and cash centres in 2022. That figure dropped to 1,532 in 2023, 1,521 in 2024 and just 1,444 in 2025.
That represents a loss of 158 locations, or nearly 10 per cent, in three years.
Despite the closures, Lagos remains overwhelmingly dominant, accounting for almost 29 per cent of all physical banking locations in Nigeria.
The Federal Capital Territory also suffered a significant contraction. Abuja went from 400 locations in 2022 to 362 in 2025, a decline of 38, or 9.5 per cent.
But some states experienced far more dramatic cuts.
Ekiti lost almost half of its banking locations, falling from 107 in 2022 to just 57 in 2025 — a staggering 46.7 per cent decline.
Enugu lost 44 locations, dropping from 162 to 118, while Oyo shed 41, falling from 237 to 196.
Other notable declines were recorded in Ondo, Plateau, Osun, Cross River and Rivers.
Northern banking centres also feel the squeeze
The contraction was not confined to the South.
Kano, for instance, initially expanded its banking footprint, rising from 164 locations in 2022 to 183 in 2024. But the reversal was sharp in 2025, when the figure crashed to 157.
Kaduna followed a similar pattern. Its locations climbed from 148 in 2022 to 164 in 2024 before falling back to 146 in 2025.
Yet not every state is losing branches.
Delta recorded the strongest expansion among the states highlighted, adding 23 locations and rising from 173 in 2022 to 196 in 2025.
Edo added 10, while Jigawa and Kogi gained six and five locations respectively.
A widening banking divide
The figures expose a striking disparity in access to physical banking infrastructure across Nigeria.
While Lagos had 1,444 branches and cash centres in 2025, Yobe had only 23, Taraba 26 and Zamfara 28.
Bayelsa and Gombe had 31 each, while Ebonyi had 32.
The imbalance underscores how heavily physical banking infrastructure remains concentrated in Nigeria’s major commercial and economic centres.
The bank branch may be losing its battle
The shrinking branch network comes despite the number of banks operating in Nigeria initially increasing.
The country had 32 banks in 2022, 33 in 2023 and 35 in 2024, before the figure slipped slightly to 34 in 2025.
That means the branch closures cannot simply be explained by a shrinking number of banks.
Instead, the figures point to a much bigger transformation: Nigerian banking is moving away from physical locations and towards digital platforms.
The CBN has itself been pushing greater adoption of alternative payment channels, particularly among farmers, traders, small businesses and informal-sector operators who may have limited access to conventional banking services.
Speaking at the 2026 CBN Fair in Lokoja, the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Hakama Sidi-Ali, stressed the importance of alternative payment channels in expanding financial access and stimulating economic activity.
The message from the numbers is even clearer.
The era of banking halls on every major street may be fading.
With hundreds of branches disappearing in just three years — and the pace of closures accelerating — Nigeria’s banking industry is betting increasingly on phones, apps, electronic payments and other digital channels rather than physical walls and counters.
For millions of Nigerians, the next bank branch may no longer be a building. It may be sitting in their hands.
Business
In The Spotlight
Dangote: OPM Made You 36th Globally—How Many Investors Will Become Billionaires?
Alhaji Aliko Dangote has done what very few Africans have ever done. He has built a business empire of extraordinary scale, crossed the $50 billion mark in personal wealth, and reportedly risen to the 36th position among the world’s 3,397 billionaires.
That is an achievement Nigerians can acknowledge. But today, I want to ask a different question. Alhaji Dangote, how many of the Nigerians who are now investing their hard-earned money in your businesses will you help turn into millionaires—and eventually billionaires? That, in my view, is the more important question. Because behind every great fortune is an army of people whose money, labour, patronage, trust and participation helped create that wealth. And that brings us to OPM—Other People’s Money.
Other People's Money Built More Than One Fortune
Let us be honest: no business empire is built by one person alone. Investors provide capital. Banks provide financing. Workers provide labour. Consumers provide revenue. Suppliers provide goods and services. Governments provide infrastructure and an operating environment. And ordinary Nigerians have been buying Dangote products for decades. Now, Nigerians are being invited to take another step—from being customers to becoming owners.
The public offering of shares in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery gives ordinary Nigerians an opportunity to put their money into one of the country's biggest industrial projects. That opportunity comes with risk, of course. Nobody should invest money they cannot afford to lose, and nobody should assume that buying shares automatically guarantees wealth.
But there is a bigger principle here.If Nigerians are going to put their money into Dangote's business, Nigerians should also have a meaningful opportunity to participate in the wealth that business creates.
Don't Take Nigerians for Granted
Alhaji Dangote, Nigerians have supported your businesses.They have bought your cement.They have bought your sugar. They have bought your flour. They have bought countless other products connected to your business empire.Nigerian workers have built factories, transported products, operated plants, sold products and provided services.
Now, ordinary Nigerians are being asked to invest directly. That creates a responsibility—not merely to shareholders, but to the broader Nigerian public.
Don't take Nigerians for granted. Treat the small investor with the same seriousness you would give the institutional investor. Give shareholders transparency. Give them accountability. Give them information. Give them confidence that their money is being managed responsibly. And when the business succeeds, shareholders should have the opportunity to benefit from that success.
Your Greatest Legacy Should Be Bigger Than Your Net Worth
There is nothing wrong with becoming extraordinarily wealthy by building successful businesses.But there comes a point when the conversation should move beyond “How much is Dangote worth?" The more interesting question becomes:How many people became wealthy because Dangote built these businesses?
Imagine the impact if hundreds of thousands of Nigerians who invest today eventually build substantial wealth from their investments. Imagine a young Nigerian who starts with a modest investment and, over decades, builds an investment portfolio capable of paying school fees, buying a home, funding a business or securing retirement. Imagine Nigerian families passing shares from one generation to another. That is how an ownership culture is created.And Nigeria desperately needs an ownership culture.
We Need More Than One Dangote
Nigeria does not simply need another Dangote. Nigeria needs 10,000 Dangotes in different industries.
We need Nigerians who build technology companies, manufacturing companies, agricultural businesses, energy companies, financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies and global brands.But we also need millions of Nigerians who can become shareholders in those businesses. A country becomes economically stronger when wealth creation spreads beyond a handful of extraordinarily wealthy individuals.
The refinery therefore presents an interesting test. Can a Nigerian industrial giant create not just a massive fortune for its founder, but also a new generation of Nigerian investors? Can ordinary Nigerians who put their money into the company eventually look back and say:I was there when it started, and I benefited from its growth”?
That would be a powerful story.
From Billionaire to Wealth Creator
Dangote has already demonstrated that he knows how to create enormous corporate value. The next challenge is different.Can he help create enormous shareholder value for ordinary Nigerians?That is where the conversation about his $51.3 billion fortune becomes relevant.
If one man's wealth can grow by tens of billions of dollars, Nigerians are entitled to ask whether the people who invest alongside him can also experience meaningful wealth creation. Not necessarily overnight.Not necessarily without risk. But over time.That is what investing is supposed to be about.
The Question Nigerians Should Keep Asking
So, Alhaji Dangote, congratulations on reaching another extraordinary milestone.But don't stop at building your own fortune. Build an ecosystem in which others can build theirs. Don't let Nigerians remain merely consumers of Dangote products. Make them owners. Don't let the story end with one Nigerian becoming one of the world's richest people. Let the next chapter be about thousands, perhaps millions, of Nigerians building meaningful wealth through ownership and investment. Because the real measure of an economic giant is not only how high the founder climbs. It is how many people rise because of the platform he created.
So here is the question Nigerians should be asking: Aliko Dangote, OPM has helped take you to the 36th richest person in the world. Now that Nigerians are putting their own money into your empire, how many of those investors will you help turn into millionaires—and, ultimately, billionaires? That is the legacy question.
By Emmanuel Emeke Asiwe (EEA) Publisher/Editor-in- Chief)
In The Spotlight
Mixed metaphors: Eating them young
On this page, I have praised former Minister Nasir el-Rufai for his work in the Federal Capital Territory.
As governor, I praised some of his work, including when he fired state teachers. I also criticised him when he became arrogant and presumptuous.
Powerful people tend to misjudge distance, in terms of how long they will remain powerful, as well as the depth of their relevance, measuring how power, once in the hands of others, can remain in their favour.
El-Rufai made both miscalculations. Following over two decades of untouchability in power from Olusegun Obasanjo to Muhammadu Buhari, he has now spent 200 days in pre-trial detention on ICPC and DSS charges.
This should not happen to a citizen, any citizen. But some citizens, when fate grants them the winning lottery ticket, become Cronus, the Titan in Greek mythology who, to maintain his power, swallowed five of his six children soon after birth.
But not Zeus, his youngest son, who miraculously survived and, becoming the supreme ruler of the Olympian gods and the “Father of Gods and Men, “would exact vengeance.
In power, el-Rufai forgot not only the principle of right and wrong, but also the concept of justice.
But it was right there the whole time: on the flip side of injustice. The truth is that wearing glasses to be able to see arms, nobody to see through clouds.
Last Tuesday’s disruption by political thugs of the visit to Benue State of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, is an early reminder of the temptations of power in a Nigerian election year.
The ruling party controls the state, which is in the thick of Nigeria’s insecurity crisis. Its governor, Hyacinth Alia, is a Catholic priest. Having, in 2025, been involved in trying to prevent the same Obi from a humanitarian visit, claiming that his intervention was purely on security grounds, Mr Alia is trying to persuade the country that his are not the hands behind the crude attempt to stop, particularly Mr Obi, from travelling freely and safely in the state.
As Minister Festus Keyamo wisely said, this kind of menace is not a part of our democracy. Mr Alia, show the world your strengths, not your limitations.
Big news: the 2024 Auditor-General’s Non-Compliance report, published last month, identified over N1.34trn in audit lapses.
It found that the National Cash Transfer Office paid N33.751 billion to 3,295,207 households in 35 states in 2023 with no evidence that the money reached genuine beneficiaries.
The Office could not produce REMITA records to authenticate the payments. SERAP has written to President Tinubu demanding a published audit trail and investigation of the flagged N78.8bn in total irregularities.
Similarly, Femi Falana (SAN) has called on the EFCC to investigate and prosecute officials.
Given that we are dealing with a specific regime of governance coated in colours of ruthlessness, it is doubtful that these calls will yield anything.
The truth is that the situation is worse than what we know so far, and so, I have a different call: that Nigerians pay close attention to what is actually a long-running looting spree of our poorest and most vulnerable. There is a scorched-earth assault going on.
I begin in 2019, the start of the second term of the fake anti-corruption champion Muhammadu Buhari:
The Auditor-General’s 2019 report on the FGN Consolidated Financial Statements discovered that 36 MDAs made individual transfer payments,totalingN15,534,467,561.26, without identifying the beneficiaries, ignoring the relevant budget lines for “Transfers–Payment to Unemployed” and “Transfers–Payment to Aged/Vulnerable Group.” The Auditor-General flagged the risk of “diversion of public funds” and “misapplication of funds.”
The 2020 report is more curious. In the MDA-by-MDA budget-performance schedule, the National Social Investment Office shows: Approved Budget N0.00, Supplementary Budget N0.00, Total Budget N0.00, but the actual spending is N275,010,764,595.02! That is, the NSIO somehow recorded spending N275bn with no budgetary authorisation at all.
Surely, somebody has an explanation?
The 2021 Non-Compliance report, Volume II, found under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs that N54,630,000,000 in N-Power Batch C1 stipends (the August–December 2021 backlog) was recorded as paid but, per the Auditor-General’s own field visits, “was not actually effected to the beneficiaries.”
The same section found N2,617,090,786 paid for the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (COVID-19 period), the Auditor-General recommending full recovery to the Treasury: a combined N58.05bn flagged in that one ministry in that one year.
Surely, somebody has an explanation?
The 2022 Non-Compliance file is titled as Volumes I and II merged, but despite that filename, Volume II appears to be absent, as it excludes Humanitarian Affairs, NSIPA, NCTO or NASSCO, meaning that their work was either not audited at all, or that that specific audit has yet to be published.
Again, and similarly, despite examining the two volumes of the 2023 Non-Compliance report, neither the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, NSIPA, NCTO, NASSCO, N-Power, GEEP nor school feeding appears anywhere, although many other agencies were thoroughly audited.
Surely, somebody has an explanation?
That brings us to the 2024 itemised findings SERAP has publicized: N33.751bn in cash transfers with no beneficiary confirmation; N36.744bn paid in December 2023 without prepayment audit; N4.616bn in unsupported expenditure which the Auditor-General says “may have been diverted”; N350.18m in enrolment payments to state coordinators with no supporting documentation; N89.51m for store items never delivered or logged; N17.42m in diesel cash advances with no traceable purchases; and at NASSCO, N2.24bn paid through 158 vouchers without prepayment audit.
These appear to be the patterns that Nigerian MDAs exhibit in their work every year, with vulnerable Nigerians exploited every year.
But the first challenge is for journalists to track Humanitarian Affairs/NSIPA through every audit year to establish the full carnage.
There is another crisis: that despite all of this, a lot of MDAs still fail to submit audited accounts to the Auditor-General, representing one of Nigeria’s worst accountability challenges. This is a problem that worsened significantly under the Buhari administration despite his anti-corruption rhetoric. According to the Auditor-General, the 2016 audit year saw the highest number of non-submissions (324) in modern Nigerian history: more than double the previous 22-year high of 148. In 2016-2017 alone, 436 agencies failed to submit accounts. Think about that.
President Bola Tinubu is in the middle of a three-week foreign trip, departing without formally informing the National Assembly or handing over to Vice President Shettima, violating the constitution.
For a man who is seeking a second term of office, this is a stark reminder of how little the rules, or for that matter, Nigeria, really matter to Mr Tinubu. Keep in mind that when he headed north, Mr Shettima headed south, to Angola.
The general debate of the 81st United Nations General Assembly will begin on 22 September. Mr Tinubu is scheduled to speak the following morning.
At a time of chaos and doubt in his leadership, and in democracy under his watch, he will confront the theme: “Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all.”
By Sonala Olumhense