Author: user user

The Independent Media and Policy Initiative has challenged opposition presidential candidates to present Nigerians with alternative economic blueprints capable of growing the economy to $1trillion within four years.

The think-tank said presenting such plan ahead of the 2027 presidential election would be a better campaign strategy for opposition parties than engaging in mudslinging, personal attacks and criticism of the government.

In a policy brief by its Chairman, Omoniyi Akinsiju, IMPI advised the presidential candidates to focus on economic policies that could be subjected to measurable and verifiable tests rather than what it described as populist rhetoric.

The organisation said the candidates should make a $1trillion economy a central commitment in their manifestos.

It said, ‘We challenge the larger political class, especially presidential candidates, to headline their manifestos with a commitment to growing Nigeria’s economy to $1 trillion over the next four years.

‘This is the only logical path forward for Nigeria. It ensures that any candidate who wins the 2027 presidential election will move the country past the era of managing scarcity and distributing handouts.’

According to the IMPI, achieving a $1trillion economy would expand national production and help transform Nigeria’s growing population from an economic burden into a major productive asset.

The group said meeting the target would, however, require clearly defined sectoral milestones rather than wishful thinking.

‘To demonstrate true readiness for national leadership, alternative presidential candidates must anchor their economic agendas to a single, measurable, and uncompromised destination: propelling Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy by 2031,’ it said.

The IMPI argued that any manifesto that failed to provide a pathway to the target would amount to an intention to manage poverty rather than create sustainable wealth.

The think- tank said the administration of President Bola Tinubu had already set a target of achieving a $1trillion economy and challenged opposition candidates to explain how they would achieve a better outcome.

‘Having officially anchored the administration’s current medium-term target around a highly realistic $1 trillion economy by 2030, the federal administration has shown clarity, execution capacity, and the momentum to scale national wealth.

‘Therefore, the burden of proof now shifts entirely to the opposition,’ the IMPI said.

It also challenged the candidates to identify the productive sectors they would reform and explain how they would do so without dismantling what it described as critical foundations, including unified foreign exchange windows and improved fiscal discipline.

IMPI also enjoined Nigerians to reject presidential candidates who fail to provide a clear pathway towards building a larger economy within four years of assuming office.

‘Any alternative candidate who refuses to commit to a $1 trillion manifesto headline admits a lack of vision to lead a modern Nigeria, and an intention to govern through fiscal rationing and poverty distribution rather than systemic wealth generation,’ it said.

‘Nigeria cannot afford another election cycle dominated by tribal sentiments, personal grievances, or vague manifestos. If the opposition truly represents a better alternative for the Nigerian people, they must step up, show their calculations, and give us a granular roadmap to a $1 trillion economy,’ the IMPI said.

Accord chieftain Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has declared that no administrative action by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can extinguish his candidacy for the 2027 presidential election.

Hashim was reacting to his exclusion from the final list of presidential candidates published by INEC at the weekend.

In a statement in Abuja, yesterday, Hashim described the development as a matter that remains subject to judicial determination, insisting that he remains the duly nominated presidential candidate of the Accord.

‘I am the candidate of the Accord. No one can exclude me from the 2027 presidential election. The court will do justice,’ he said.

Hashim said Nigeria’s constitutional democracy does not confer on INEC an overriding power of ‘finality’ over disputes concerning who emerges as a political party’s candidate.

According to him, the adjudicatory powers vested in the courts exist precisely to prevent administrative decisions from becoming instruments of impunity or a means of foreclosing legitimate political rights.

‘Our democracy does not give INEC any right of finality over who stands as the candidate of a political party. Where there is a dispute over the emergence or exclusion of a candidate, the adjudicatory functions of the courts are provided precisely to prevent impunity and to ensure that no administrative process becomes a pre-planned mechanism for keeping particular candidates off the ballot.

‘We have seen this before. In the last Osun governorship election, the courts intervened in circumstances where candidates initially excluded from INEC’s processes were subsequently restored to the ballot. That is why nobody should assume that an administrative publication by INEC is the final word in a matter that is before the courts.’

Hashim has taken the matter before the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking, among other reliefs, an order compelling the Accord to recognise him as its presidential candidate and transmit his name to INEC. The case has been heard and reserved for judgment.

His case is based on his contention that he was the winner of Accord’s presidential primary conducted on May 30, after paying the prescribed nomination fee, with the exercise monitored by INEC officials.

Hashim said his legal battle, therefore, goes beyond his personal political ambition, describing it as a test of the integrity of political party primaries, internal democracy and the constitutional right of Nigerians to freely choose their preferred presidential candidate.

He called on his supporters and Nigerians who believe in democratic choice to remain calm, assuring them that he would continue to pursue the matter through constitutional and legal means.

‘We will not be intimidated, we will not be distracted and we will not surrender a legitimate democratic right because somebody has published a list.

‘The court will speak, and when it does, we will abide by the judgment.’

The Accord had disputed Hashim claim, saying he did not conduct any presidential primary and could not have had a presidential candidate.

The party added that the nomination fee paid by Hashim after nomination had closed, was returned to him.

During its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting hosted by Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke in July, the NEC of Accord reaffirmed that the party had no presidential candidate.

The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda will lead a high-level delegates to the 7th Africa Public Sector Conference (APSCA 2026).

Tagged: ‘Governance 2030: Delivering Resilient Institutions for a Digital, Green and Secure Africa.’, the conference will place from 14-16 October 2026 at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City in Accra, Ghana.

A statement by the organisers said: ‘Prof. Yilwatda is expected to deliver the keynote address and spearhead the session titled: ‘The Party as Platform: How Governing Parties Can Architect Digital, Green and Secure Governance for 2030,’ with a broader focus on ‘Beyond Elections: The Strategic Mandate of Political Parties in Building Resilient Institutions.’

‘In a formal response to the invitation, the APC National Chairman expressed strong interest in the continental dialogue: ‘I look forward to joining African and international leaders at APSCA 2026 and to sharing Nigeria’s experiences, perspectives, and aspirations as we collectively examine the governance architecture required to build a more resilient, digitally enabled, environmentally sustainable, secure, and prosperous Africa by 2030.

‘The APC considers APSCA 2026 an important opportunity to contribute to a continental dialogue on a question central to sustainable development: how political parties can evolve beyond their traditional role as electoral vehicles to become enduring institutions capable of providing strategic policy direction, sustaining reform agendas, strengthening democratic governance, and helping to build institutions that deliver measurable and lasting improvements in the lives of citizens.’

‘The former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction further affirmed that APSCA 2026 offers a fitting stage to project Nigeria’s development trajectory under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to a continental and global audience.

‘We see this as an opportunity to present Nigeria not only as a market of immense potential, but also as a country actively developing ideas, institutions, and solutions capable of contributing to Africa’s broader development journey,’ he said.

‘Reacting to the APC’s official acceptance, Akin Naphtal, Convener and Host of APSCA, Group Chief Executive Officer of InstinctWave Group, welcomed this development as a defining moment for the conference’s 2026 edition.

‘Having the All Progressives Congress and Prof. Nentawe Yiltwada on the APSCA 2026 platform is exactly the calibre of engagement this conference was built for,’ Naphtal said. ‘This is not just about Nigeria showing up in Accra, it is about a governing party stepping forward to say that institutions, not just elections, are the real currency of development. That conversation deserves a continental stage, and we are proud to build it.’

Naphtal further noted that this reflects the very theme of the year’s conference. ‘Governance 2030 is about resilient institutions for a digital, green and secure Africa. When a party as significant as the APC chooses to engage that conversation directly, and back it with a Pavilion, a documentary and real institutional participation, it validates why we created APSCA in the first place: to give African governance its own stage, on its own terms,’ he said. ‘We look forward to welcoming Prof. Yiltwada and the Nigerian delegation to Accra.’

‘With the previous six editions done across Rwanda, Botswana, South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya, APSCA 2026 will be graced by top public sector leaders from more than 10 African nations, at which there will be twelve (12) forums covering governance and institutional leadership, women in the public sector, energy, public procurement, public finance, trade, digital government, education, public-private partnerships, ESG and sustainability, customer experience, and youth empowerment, to examine how continent institutions can deliver coordinated, future-ready public value.’

Nigeria senior men’s volleyball head coach Ryan Masajedi has named a 14-man squad for the 2026 African Men’s Volleyball Nations Championship in Tunisia.

The continental championship runs from September 13 to 27 in Tunis and forms part of the qualification pathway towards the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

Masajedi’s squad comprises two setters, two opposites, four outside hitters, four middle blockers and two liberos, with two new players breaking into the team.

Bruno Ibeh and Adeniyi Favour are the setters, while Armstrong Udoka and Okonkwo Ebuka have been selected as opposites.

Captain Abdulquadri Jaiyeola leads the outside hitters alongside Ogunshina Obayemi, Emmanuel Udah and Faruk Lucky.

Anele Timothy, Pascal Ozokoye, Kaseem Mutiu and Army Ferdinand make up the middle-blocker department, with Abednego Hassan and Tiamiyu Ismail selected as liberos.

Masajedi will be assisted by Taiwo Oladipupo as first assistant coach, while Jonah Adamu serves as second assistant.

Nigeria will be hoping for a strong showing in Tunisia as the team continues its push to become more competitive on the continent while keeping its long-term Olympic ambitions in view.

Nigeria and India have moved to rebuild their bilateral trade towards the $15 billion mark, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking renewed purchases of Nigerian crude oil as both countries pursue deeper economic and investment ties.

A statement issued on Monday by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, said the renewed push followed a bilateral meeting between Vice President Kashim Shettima and Modi on the sidelines of the just-concluded BRICS Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi, India.

India’s request for increased crude imports comes amid efforts by the two countries to reverse the decline in bilateral trade, which stood at $14.95 billion in the 2021/2022 financial year before falling sharply after India reduced its purchases of Nigerian oil.

Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Abhishek Singh, said trade between the two countries dropped to $7.13 billion in 2024/2025 before recovering to about $9 billion in the 2025/2026 financial year.

During the meeting with Shettima, Modi made a case for India to resume significant purchases of Nigerian crude, arguing that stronger energy trade could help restore commercial exchanges between the two countries to previous levels.

Responding, Shettima said Nigeria would examine the request as part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration’s broader efforts to attract investments and build strategic partnerships capable of expanding the country’s productive capacity.

The Vice President, however, stressed Nigeria’s interest in moving the relationship beyond commodity trade to investments that would promote domestic production, value addition, job creation and technology transfer.

He identified pharmaceuticals, defence, digital technology, and the creative industries as priority areas where Nigeria sought stronger partnerships with India, particularly investments capable of creating jobs and opportunities for the country’s large youth population.

‘The President Tinubu administration is particularly interested in moving Nigeria’s relationship with India beyond the traditional exchange of commodities towards investments that support domestic production and value addition’, Shettima said.

The two leaders also discussed opportunities for expanded cooperation in renewable and clean energy, power, healthcare, capacity building, financial technology and other emerging sectors.

Crude oil has historically accounted for a significant proportion of India’s imports from Nigeria, making energy trade a major component of the longstanding economic relationship between the two countries.

Both leaders agreed that stronger private-sector participation would be critical to the next phase of Nigeria-India economic relations, particularly in sectors where Indian businesses possess considerable expertise and where demand and investment opportunities in Nigeria remain substantial.

Discussions also focused on fintech and digital technology, building on the two countries’ rapidly expanding digital economies and previous agreements on digital public infrastructure.

Shettima said the Tinubu administration’s objective was to ensure that Nigeria’s international engagements produced tangible economic benefits through investments, industrial expansion, and technology transfer and job opportunities.

The Vice President said the administration was particularly interested in partnerships that would build skills and create opportunities for young Nigerians, rather than relationships centred primarily on exporting raw commodities.

Modi, on his part, expressed appreciation for Nigeria’s hospitality towards the sizeable Indian community living and doing business in the country.

Nigeria and India also reaffirmed their commitment to sustain high-level political and economic engagements through bilateral channels, the India-Africa partnership framework and other multilateral platforms.

Meanwhile, Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, said Nigeria was adapting lessons from India’s women-led self-help group model to strengthen grassroots entrepreneurship and improve women’s access to finance.

She said the model was being incorporated into the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale-Up through Women Affinity Groups designed to connect women with finance, skills and markets.

According to her, the initiative forms part of the Federal Government’s broader strategy to increase women’s participation in productive economic activities while strengthening social protection and interventions against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.

‘Women’s economic empowerment is fundamental to our ambition of building a $1 trillion economy. We must deliberately bring millions more Nigerian women into productive economic activity’, Sulaiman-Ibrahim said.

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and its Benin Republic counterpart have commenced work on a digital interconnection system to facilitate faster clearance of goods, improve risk management and strengthen coordination at the Sèmè-Kraké Joint Border Post.

The initiative is aimed at establishing real-time exchange of customs declarations, manifests, transit information, risk profiles and enforcement alerts between the two countries.

Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this at the assessment and commissioning of the Joint Border Post at Sèmè-Kraké on the Nigeria-Benin border.

Adeniyi said the proposed interconnection would address the major gap preventing the facility from operating as a truly joint border post.

He said although Nigeria and Benin had shared the facility for years, the two Customs administrations were still operating separate systems.

According to him, the buildings and infrastructure at the border were completed, but what remained was the integration of the systems used by both administrations.

He said, ‘Without interconnectivity, this is not a joint border post. It is two border posts sharing a car park.’

Adeniyi said work was already underway to connect the two Customs administrations through a common data exchange arrangement, building on their experience with regional transit systems.

He explained that the system would enable a declaration lodged on one side of the border to become visible to the other side in real time.

It would also allow transit consignments to be tracked from their point of origin to destination, while risk profiles and enforcement alerts generated by one administration could be transmitted to its counterpart before they became outdated.

The Customs boss said the reform was necessary because Sèmè-Kraké sits on the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor, which carries about 70 per cent of the sub-region’s transit trade.

He described the crossing as one of the busiest land borders in West Africa, operating round the clock throughout the year.

Adeniyi said delays at the border had consequences beyond the immediate crossing point, as every hour lost affected consignments, travellers and the prices of goods in markets from Cotonou to Lagos.

He said the two Customs administrations had also identified other measures required to make the border more efficient, including the restoration of scanning facilities, improved access control, surveillance and lighting.

He added that there was a need for a standing Nigeria-Benin enforcement and intelligence mechanism for coordinated patrols and rapid response.

The NCS chief also called for harmonised bilingual standard operating procedures covering cargo, passengers, inspection, and transit and incident escalation.

He said joint risk management would enable the Customs administrations to focus resources on high-risk consignments rather than subjecting all cargo to the same level of intervention.

Adeniyi further called for an empowered joint management structure for the shared infrastructure, a preventive maintenance framework and better organisation of the border yard through dedicated lanes, holding areas, signage and a regulated market space.

He said the objective was to transform Sèmè-Kraké into a technology-enabled Joint Border Post based on Customs interconnectivity, joint risk management, coordinated enforcement, secure infrastructure, harmonised procedures and accountable joint governance.

The Comptroller-General said the experience could provide a model for other border crossings within the region.

He noted that the move was in line with commitments made by the governments of Nigeria and Benin to deepen bilateral trade and integration.

The Director-General of Benin Customs, Colonel Raouf Malèhossou, said the two administrations must move beyond sharing experiences to implementing coordinated border management techniques.

Malèhossou said the objective was to determine whether a truck, trader or traveller could be processed only once and whether the two countries’ data and risk-management systems could communicate before the movement reached the border.

He stressed the importance of risk management in facilitating legitimate trade while protecting the border against illicit activities.

According to him, modern roads, scanners and other infrastructure alone cannot guarantee an efficient border.

He said institutional coordination, digital interoperability, clear lines of responsibility and continuous investment in customs personnel were equally important.

Malèhossou said the reforms would help Nigeria and Benin take advantage of the opportunities presented by intra-African trade, particularly under the African Continental Free Trade Area.