Category: Nigerian Tribune

Oyo State House of Assembly has called for the establishment of Special Criminal Divisions within the state High Court to fast-track the trial of serious offences, including kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery, murder, rape and cultism.

The call followed a motion sponsored by the lawmaker representing the Ibadan North-West Constituency, Hon. Dawood Olalere, who raised concerns over prolonged criminal proceedings, congested court dockets and the growing number of awaiting-trial inmates.

Olalere said increasing cases of violent and organised crimes, particularly kidnapping, banditry and attacks in parts of northern Oyo, required a more responsive criminal justice system.

He noted that although judicial officers had remained committed to their duties, the handling of both civil and criminal matters by the High Courts had contributed to frequent adjournments and delays in the determination of criminal cases.

According to him, speedy adjudication is essential to maintaining public confidence in the judiciary, strengthening the rule of law and ensuring that perpetrators of serious crimes are brought to justice without undue delay.

Olalere said the proposed Special Criminal Divisions would allow designated judges and courtrooms to focus on criminal matters, improve case management and accelerate trials.

He also warned that delays could discourage victims and witnesses from cooperating with security agencies, weaken the deterrent effect of prosecution and contribute to overcrowding in custodial facilities.

The lawmaker urged the Chief Judge of Oyo State and the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice to establish dedicated Criminal Divisions across the state’s judicial divisions.

He also called on the state government to provide adequate funding, judicial personnel and technology, including digital case-management systems and electronic recording facilities, to support the initiative.

The motion proposed greater coordination among the Judiciary, Ministry of Justice, Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services, Nigerian Correctional Service, Nigerian Bar Association and other stakeholders to accelerate investigations and prosecution.

Olalere further advocated funding for witness protection, victim-support services and free legal aid for indigent defendants, stressing that speedy trials must be balanced with the right to a fair hearing.

He urged the Attorney-General to establish and adequately staff a specialised unit within the Directorate of Public Prosecutions to handle cases before the proposed Criminal Divisions and provide regular training for prosecutors.

Security agencies were also urged to speed up investigations and promptly transmit case files to the Ministry of Justice to prevent delays in prosecution.

The Nigerian Correctional Service, Oyo State Command, was asked to provide regular records of awaiting-trial inmates and facilitate virtual hearings where appropriate to expedite arraignment and trial.

The Assembly’s Committee on Public Petitions, Justice and Judiciary was tasked with liaising with the Ministry of Justice and the Judiciary on implementation and reporting progress to the House.

The Chairman of the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the alleged Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, has raised questions over the role of officials in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) in allocating an office at the Federal Secretariat to the head of the agency under investigation.

Gagdi said the committee was examining how Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who allegedly headed the PFIPC, secured an office within the Federal Secretariat despite questions over the legal existence of the agency.

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Gagdi said accommodation for public servants at the Federal Secretariat ordinarily falls under the authority of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), making the allocation of the office through the SGF’s office a matter requiring further investigation.

He said the committee was particularly interested in correspondence from the SGF’s office to the Head of Service requesting office accommodation for presidential special assistants.

According to Gagdi, some permanent secretaries in the SGF’s office had been suspended over issues connected with such requests, adding that the committee was examining the circumstances surrounding the allocation.

He said the committee would seek further clarification from the Head of Service on the process through which the office was allocated and the identities of those who authorised or facilitated the arrangement.

Gagdi also disclosed that the committee was investigating whether the office occupied by the alleged PFIPC head had previously been assigned to another presidential official.

He said security sources informed the committee that the same office may previously have been occupied by a Special Adviser on Economic Affairs during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The committee, he added, had written to the Head of Service to provide information on the history of the office, its allocation and previous occupants.

The lawmaker said the issue was part of a wider investigation into how an agency whose legal status was in dispute managed to secure government facilities and become embedded in the administrative structure of the Federal Government.

Gagdi said the committee had also uncovered documents allegedly used to establish and operationalise the agency, some of which he described as forged or questionable.

He alleged that Adeyemi used a State House letterhead to create the nomenclature ‘Office of the Director Administration and Support Service’, despite the committee’s finding that such an office did not exist in the Presidential Villa.

He further alleged that an individual identified as Akambi Adewale, described in one of the documents as a director, could not be found on the State House nominal roll.

Gagdi said the committee obtained the nominal roll from the State House and found no such staff member from the creation of the institution to date.

The committee chairman said it had also examined an alleged appointment letter, State House approval, request for a budget code, a purported Act of the National Assembly and other documents connected with the agency.

He said the purported Act was not authenticated or gazetted and lacked what he described as a ‘springboard number’.

The committee is also examining alleged discrepancies in State House letterheads, logos and reference numbers appearing on some of the documents.

On the financial aspect of the investigation, Gagdi disclosed that the committee had uncovered 12 agencies allegedly operating under one Bank Verification Number (BVN), as well as 58 active bank accounts.

‘When a man can have 12 agencies with one BVN, knowingly well that it can be traced and it can be found, 12! If a man can have 58 accounts that are active, active, 58, that money comes in and goes, you can’t underestimate what such a person can do,’ he said.

He said the committee was conducting forensic analysis of thousands of pages of bank statements to establish the sources and destinations of funds that passed through the accounts.

Gagdi stressed that the committee had not found evidence that government funds were released to PFIPC, despite the agency securing a budget code.

He said the agency only appeared in the 2026 budget and that no appropriated funds had been released to it.

‘It has not been released… no one Naira as far as appropriation is concerned,’ he said.

The lawmaker, however, said the financial records contained transactions involving individuals, contractors, companies and family members.

‘There was a financial transaction not from government, from individuals, contractors, companies, from brothers, from family members that come in and go out,’ he said.

Gagdi also disclosed that the committee identified about three accounts allegedly operated by the agency with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He said the Accountant-General of the Federation had communicated with the CBN to open the accounts based on representations that necessary documentation and approvals had been completed by relevant government offices.

‘They were misled,’ he said.

The committee chairman further said the investigation had established that Adeyemi did not operate alone, describing the alleged operation as involving ‘a lot of accomplices’.

He said the committee was examining the roles of various individuals and officials who may have facilitated the agency’s operations.

Gagdi also disclosed that the committee had interrogated Adeyemi while he was in police custody after the police informed lawmakers that he was being held pursuant to a court order.

He said the committee chose not to compel the police to produce him before the lawmakers, noting that doing so could undermine judicial supremacy and separation of powers.

Instead, members of the committee visited him at the police facility and conducted a closed-door interrogation.

Gagdi declined to disclose details of the interrogation because Adeyemi was still facing investigations by the ICPC, EFCC and the police cybercrime unit.

He said the committee had received three petitions concerning the matter, none of which was against former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu.

One petitioner, according to Gagdi, alleged that he was defrauded of N400 million after being brought from Ibadan to Abuja and shown a residence.

He said the petitioner presented evidence of four separate transfers totalling N400 million, allegedly representing Adeyemi’s share for facilitating the release of N2 billion for a contract awarded to an Ibadan-based contractor.

On former Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, Gagdi said the committee had not ruled out inviting anyone if evidence warranted such action.

He said a document purportedly signed by Gbajabiamila had been presented to the committee, but comparison with other official documents raised questions about its authenticity.

According to him, between 19 and 22 government agencies submitted exhibits and correspondence that did not tally with the disputed appointment letter.

Gagdi said the committee therefore considered the document questionable and did not invite Gbajabiamila at that stage.

‘If the evidence relevant before us have warranted inviting Femi, if we have invited Secretary to the Government of the Federation, why can’t we invite Right Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila?’ he asked.

He said the committee’s ultimate task was to establish how an agency whose legal status was in dispute became incorporated into the Federal Government’s administrative and budgetary system.

Gagdi disclosed that the committee had asked the House to expand its mandate to conduct a legislative audit of government agencies across the country.

‘If you check our press briefing, we have asked the House to expand the mandate of the committee to do like a legislative auditing of all legitimate agencies that are existing in Nigerian Federation,’ he said.

He said the audit would help determine which agencies were created by military proclamation, presidential orders or legislation by the National Assembly and identify institutions whose legal foundations require further scrutiny.

Gagdi stressed that the committee’s findings were preliminary and that a final report would be presented before the House with recommendations for consideration and possible implementation.

SINCE the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, released the Official Campaign Timetable for the 2027 General Elections, all attention has shifted to Abuja. In the timetable, campaigns for Presidential and National Assembly Elections begin on Tuesday, 19 August 2026 and end on 15 January 2027, exactly 24 hours before the elections scheduled for 16 January 2027.

Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Elections campaigns begin on Wednesday, 9 September 2026 and end on Friday, 5 February 2027, a day before the 6 February 2027 elections.

Political parties and candidates are expected to begin public campaigns – including rallies, media advertisements, voter engagement, and grassroots mobilization within the respective periods.

This development has again brought to the fore the need for the Supreme Court to speedily resolve the judicial hijack of the Labour Party, LP as the lower courts overstepped by wading into LP’s internal affairs and misapplying the April 4, 2025 precedent.

Instructively, LP was not registered in Abuja boardrooms but built in wards, unions, and at polling units by ordinary Nigerians who believed a people’s party was possible. Millions of ordinary Nigerians ranging from workers, artisans, traders, students, transporters, etc. joined the LP movement not because of its popularity, but because they saw it as theirs and decided to own it, promote it and protect it to the extent of waking up to be at polling units as early as 6am during elections.

That is why this moment hurts. Not because of names or factions, but of what is at stake: whether a party built, supported and promoted by ordinary Nigerians can be taken away by court orders and elite bargains? That is why the dispute now before the Supreme Court is about whether our courts will protect the rule of law, or normalize judicial hijacking of political parties?

As the Supreme Court prepares to speak again, one enjoins it to revisit its earlier verdict of April 4, 2025 when it said: ‘We will not be used to hijack a party.’ That day, their Lordships did three critical things that the lower courts blatantly ignored or overlooked.

First, they protected jurisdiction. The Court reminded everyone that judges do not run parties and pointed everyone back to the Constitution and the party’s own rules.

Second, it affirmed that membership, discipline, and leadership of a political party are its internal matters. It did not declare anyone the national chairman. It did not dissolve any NEC. It said, in essence: ‘This house has its own landlord. Go settle it there first.’ That is judicial wisdom.

Third, it preserved the status quo ante. The Supreme Court neither declared Abure’s seat vacant nor installed a new leadership. By refusing to make that declaration, it technically left things as they were before the litigation and told the parties to go back to their constitution.

That was the law.

As we await a balanced ruling expected to address the areas where the lower courts missed it, four legal pillars demand the Supreme Court’s attention.

First, jurisdiction was breached when the Federal High Court, per Justice Lifu, issued an order directing INEC to recognise the Nenadi-LP faction. That directive crossed from adjudication into administration. Section 6 of the Constitution vests judicial power in courts to interpret laws, not run political parties. Section 82(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 also places the conduct of party congresses and leadership succession within party constitutions. Therefore, a court without jurisdiction is like a driver without a license – no matter the intention, the act is void. If this stands, any member can run to court tomorrow to install a national chairman or executives in any party. That is nothing more than judicial endorsement and a judicial hijack, not rule of law.

Second, internal affairs was inverted: The Court of Appeal described the Nenadi-LP NEC as a product of ‘doctrine of necessity.’ With respect, necessity cannot override a party’s constitution. You cannot use a legal phrase to break into a house and then call it renovation. April 4, 2025 told us to stay out. The lower courts walked in. The Supreme Court has consistently held that matters of party membership, discipline, and leadership are non-justiciable internal affairs. The purpose is simple: judges are not delegates of party conventions.

Yet the lower courts cited internal affairs and then did the opposite. The Court of Appeal, in its ruling described the Nenadi-LP faction’s NEC as arising from a ‘doctrine of necessity’ thereby constituting a label used to justify stepping into the internal management of the party and validating a parallel structure. That is not deference. That is intervention. You cannot use the shield of ‘internal affairs’ to justify the very intrusion the doctrine forbids.

Third, the April 4, 2025 status quo precedent was destroyed by misapplying the Supreme Court decision. By giving recognition and directives, the lower courts did what the Supreme Court deliberately refused to do on April 4, 2025. They declared a winner. They altered the status quo. They turned judicial restraint into judicial action. On April 4, 2025, Nigeria’s highest Court reminded us that courts must exercise restraint where party constitutions provide internal mechanisms. The principle was to prevent forum shopping and judicial overreach. Both the Lifu order and the Appeal Court’s ‘doctrine of necessity’ reasoning stand in direct tension with that guidance. This creates a dangerous contradiction. The Supreme Court is the final custodian of its own pronouncements. Only it can reconcile the record and ensure the April 4, 2025 judgment is applied as intended: hands off internal leadership, unless a clear constitutional breach is shown. Here, no such breach was proven, only competing claims that deliberately shifted attention away from the sanctity of the 2024 Owerri LP convention to the issue of claiming INEC leadership recognition within the party.

Fourth, the need to protect the ordinary people against the elites. The LP was founded, funded by workers, students, and market people. They have legitimate expectations that it will not be taken from them through technical court orders.

If the judiciary becomes the route for late-coming rich and powerful elites to bypass party structures, we incentivize litigation over organisation. That kills grassroots democracy. The Supreme Court has always guarded against that in many landmark political cases past and recent; it chose substance over technicality and the people over powerful interests.

Why this matters to ordinary Nigerians now:

Going by the Supreme Court landmark decision of April 4, 2025, courts are not allowed to choose party leaders. If not, no party is safe and democracy will be in danger as the future of any political party can be re-written in a courtroom.

The ordinary Nigerians, the owners of LP, now look up to the judges again with honour, respect and with hope that they will consider all grounds of the new appeal awaiting ruling holistically: the Lifu order; the doctrine of necessity; how April 4, 2025 Supreme Court ruling was misapplied and the helpless situation of LP proprietors – the ordinary people now at the mercy of powerful late comer elites.

The issue at stake is not about Abure or Nenadi but the Constitution. The judges should pick the law; set aside orders that overreach; reaffirm jurisdictional limits. Most importantly, reaffirm that by not openly declaring the national chairman’s seat vacant on April 4, 2025 the Supreme Court intended the status quo ante to remain until the party’s internal organs, procedures and processes are reorganised to decide otherwise.

Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat (ARDS) of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has carried out a field evaluation of its ongoing two-week mass rabies vaccination exercise across the 62 wards of the six area councils in the FCT.

The assessment follows the rollout of the initiative aimed at containing a recent rabies outbreak recorded in Gwagwalada and Kuje Area Councils, following directives from the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to curtail the spread of the disease.

Monitoring the exercise on Wednesday in Kuje and Gwagwalada Area Councils, the ARDS Mandate Secretary, Comrade Abdullahi Suleiman Ango, evaluated the field operations and expressed confidence that the Secretariat would reach its target of 15,000 to 20,000 vaccinated dogs within the two-week timeframe.

Ango emphasised that direct field supervision is necessary to evaluate the efficacy of the deployment and ensure data integrity.

‘One of the cardinal tenets of efficiency, efficacy, and a result-oriented exercise is supervision and monitoring.

‘When you represent the Honourable Minister, you have to be physically present to inspect and see what exactly is being done to report accurately,’ Ango said.

Assessing the reach of the intervention, Ango noted that outside the initial cases in Gwagwalada and Kuje, no further outbreaks have been recorded across the Territory.

‘Our target is 15,000 to 20,000 dogs. We have the firm conviction that with this, we are going to stop whatever we are scared or afraid is going to happen.

‘We have over 100 experienced veterinary officers on the field, so two weeks is sufficient to cover the FCT,’ he stated.

Evaluating the technical aspects of the campaign, the Director of Veterinary Services, Dr. Karnak Dandam, noted that over 100 veterinary personnel and an initial batch of 12,000 vaccine doses are currently deployed to ensure coverage across all wards.

‘Rabies is a deadly disease. If a rabid dog bites a human and post-exposure treatment is not administered immediately, death is inevitable once clinical symptoms manifest.

‘However, it is 100 percent preventable if the primary vectors, specifically dogsare vaccinated,’ Dr. Dandam stated, adding that vaccinating dogs eliminates the risk of human transmission.

Feedback collected from beneficiaries during the inspection showed strong community participation, particularly among local hunters and dog owners.

Nation Yusuf, a dog owner who brought his animals for their first rabies shot, noted that the exercise replaced his previous reliance on unverified home treatments.

Similarly, Bashir Yusuf, a local hunter presenting three dogs for immunisation, stated that the ongoing exercise provided timely veterinary care for his hunting animals.

Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has raised the alarm over rising activities of fraudsters, warning teachers, school owners and prospective applicants against falling victim to individuals and groups allegedly using the council’s name and identity to defraud members of the public.

Registrar and Chief Executive of TRCN, Dr. Ronke Soyombo, while expressing concerns over the development in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, said the council had become aware of fraudulent activities involving the use of its name, logo and reputation to deceive and extort money from unsuspecting members of the public.

Soyombo denied authorising agents, consultants, third parties or its staff to collect money or process registration, certification, licensing, employment or promotion outside its approved procedures and official channels.

The council said, ‘It has not authorized any individual, agent, consultant, third party or any member of staff to collect money, process registration, secure employment, facilitate certification, licensing, promotions, or render any TRCN service outside the Council’s officially approved procedures and channels.’

It also warned that its official website, www.trcn.gov.ng, is the only approved online platform for information on its programmes and services.

‘The Council DOES NOT own or operate any other portal other than our official website: www.trcn.gov.ng,’ the statement said.

The council further cautioned members of the public against making payments into personal bank accounts, stressing that it does not collect payments through such channels.

It also warned that certificates and licences obtained through unofficial processes would not be recognised.

‘Certificates and Licenses issued outside our official process are FAKE, INVALID and NOT RECOGNISED by the Council,’ it stated.

The warning comes amid the proliferation of online platforms and messages purporting to offer access to TRCN registration, Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE), certification and other services.

The council urged members of the public to disregard unverified information circulated through social media, WhatsApp, emails and websites claiming to represent it.

It advised anyone who had already made payments to suspected fraudsters, or received suspicious calls, messages or payment requests in its name, to report the matter to security agencies and notify the council through its official communication channels.

TRCN said it had also directed its legal advisers and relevant law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute persons found impersonating the council or defrauding members of the public.

‘Such fraudulent acts constitute criminal offences and will be dealt with in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,’ it said.

The council urged teachers and other stakeholders to verify information before making payments or taking action on purported TRCN services.

The Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig- Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), has charged investigators and prosecutors of the Agency to intensify efforts at tracing, seizing and recovering the proceeds and instrumentalities of narcotics trafficking.

Marwa, who gave the charge on Wednesday while declaring open an Advanced Capacity Building Programme on Financial Investigations, Asset Tracing, Forfeiture, Recovery and Management of the Proceeds and Instrumentalities of Narcotics Trafficking and Related Organised Crime, organised by the Agency in Abuja, noted that the war against drug cartels can no longer be won by arrests and seizures alone.

In his welcome address, the NDLEA boss noted that the depth of participation at the programme reflects a shared commitment to the understanding that drug trafficking is fundamentally an economic enterprise, sustained by financiers, facilitators, money launderers and professional enablers operating behind every drug shipment.

‘If we arrest the courier but leave the financier untouched, seize the drugs but allow the proceeds to remain with the criminal enterprise, or secure a conviction without recovering the illicit wealth, we have addressed only part of the problem’, he said.

He observed that criminal organisations are increasingly exploiting technology, cryptocurrencies, complex corporate structures and legitimate businesses to conceal the ownership and origin of illicit wealth, stressing that the Agency’s response must evolve with equal sophistication.

According to Marwa, NDLEA investigators and prosecutors must be equipped to analyse complex transactions, trace assets across borders, establish beneficial ownership, exploit digital evidence and build financial cases capable of supporting forfeiture and recovery.

He disclosed that the NDLEA’s next imperative, having made significant progress in seizing narcotics and prosecuting traffickers, is to dismantle the economic foundations of the drug trade and make narcotics trafficking a high-risk, low-profit enterprise.

‘The sophistication of organised crime demands a corresponding sophistication in our response. We must move from crime detection to crime disruption; from arresting offenders to dismantling criminal enterprises; and from confiscating drugs to depriving traffickers of the wealth that motivates and sustains their activities.

‘The drug trafficking ecosystem intersects with money laundering, corruption, cybercrime, human trafficking, illicit arms trafficking and other forms of organised crime. These intersections make sustained cooperation, within the NDLEA and among our partner institutions, not merely desirable, but indispensable’, he stated.

He called for stronger synergy among the Agency’s Directorates: intelligence, investigation, prosecution, forensics, asset and financial investigation, describing them as interconnected links in one enforcement chain that must work as one Agency rather than in isolation.

The NDLEA boss extended the same call to inter-agency collaboration, noting that no single institution possesses all the information, expertise or capacity required to confront sophisticated criminal networks.

In his goodwill message delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo at the programme, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, commended Marwa for the great strides the Agency has been recording under his leadership, adding that collaboration between the Federal High Court and the NDLEA, as well as other law enforcement agencies, will put Nigeria in good standing in the international community.

According to him, ‘His Lordship, the Chief Judge, expresses his delight to be part of this programme, which is designed to strengthen institutional capacity in financial investigation, asset tracing for future recovery, and management of proceeds and instrumentalities of narcotic trafficking and related crimes, including cryptocurrency-enabled money laundering.

‘He thinks that this topic shows how extensive and multifaceted drug crimes are and can be, and their ever-expanding frontiers, which ought to be tackled by effective and sophisticated law enforcement.

‘His Lordship appreciates and commends you, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, for your commendable strides since the assumption of office as the Chairman and Chief Executive. His Lordship believes that collaboration between the Federal High Court and law enforcement agencies, especially the NDLEA, will put this nation on a proper spotlight when it comes to law enforcement in the international circle.’

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barr. Nyesom Wike, has assured that all capital projects started under President Bola Tinubu’s administration will be completed before the end of the tenure.

Wike gave the assurance during a routine live media chat in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, saying the administration has recorded unprecedented progress in infrastructure development across the FCT.

He said the Tinubu administration commissioned 107 capital projects in the territory, of which 76 have been completed.

‘The President’s administration under Bola Tinubu commissioned 107 capital projects. We have completed 76. Before the January election, we will commission 10, and before the end of his tenure, we would have commissioned all the projects,’ he said.

The Minister added that the FCT Administration has also made significant progress on inherited projects.

According to him, of the 25 projects inherited from the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, 23 have been completed while two are ongoing.

‘We inherited 25 projects from President Buhari and completed 23, while two are currently ongoing,’ Wike stated.

He further disclosed that six out of eight projects inherited from the administrations of former Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Umaru Musa Yar’Adua have been completed, with work ongoing on the remaining two.

‘We inherited eight projects from the administrations of President Jonathan and President Yar’Adua. We have completed six, while two are ongoing,’ he said.

Wike said the Tinubu administration remains committed to delivering all projects under the Renewed Hope Agenda in the FCT within the President’s tenure.

‘Before this tenure expires, every project started under Bola Tinubu would have been completed,’ he added.

The Minister challenged critics to compare the performance of the current administration with previous ones, insisting the FCT has witnessed unprecedented development under Tinubu.

‘In the history of the FCT, no government has done what we have done in Abuja. I challenge anyone to come out,’ he said.

Residents of Kebbe town in Kebbe Local Government Area of Sokoto are facing heightened security concerns following a reported demand by suspected bandits for a N40 million levy.

The gunmen allegedly threatened to attack and set the town ablaze if residents failed to raise the money within a stipulated deadline.

According to local sources, the bandits conveyed the demand through a farmer, who delivered a telephone handset to the District Head of Kebbi, Mallam Lawal Labbo.

The bandits reportedly initially gave the community five days to raise the money but later extended the deadline following appeals from residents.

The telephone was subsequently handed over to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the area.

The gunmen allegedly instructed that the phone must remain charged and reachable, warning that failure to answer their calls could trigger an attack on the community.

Confirming the development, the Sokoto State Police Command spokesperson, DSP Ahmed Rufai, said the command was aware of the reported threat and had commenced efforts to address the situation.

‘We are aware of the information and we, together with our Anti-Kidnapping Unit (AKU), are already working on the information,’ Rufai said.

He added that the bandits had reportedly given the community an ultimatum extending to Sunday to raise the demanded N40 million.

The development has heightened anxiety among residents, with fears of a possible attack if the demand is not met.

Reacting to the report, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate in Sokoto, Hon. Manir Muhammad Dan’iya, described the situation as ‘grave’ and urged the state and Federal Governments to take immediate action to protect the community.

In a statement issued by his media aide, Aminu Abdullahi, Dan’iya said the reported levy demand indicated an alarming level of criminal control over the lives and economic activities of residents.

‘What has happened to those promises? What has the APC Government in Sokoto done differently to stop bandits from dictating terms to our communities?’ he asked.

Dan’iya said the reported threat should serve as an urgent warning to the government, stressing that communities should not be left to negotiate their survival with criminal groups.

He called on Governor Ahmed Aliyu and the Federal Government to urgently deploy additional security personnel, intelligence resources and operational support to Kebbi and other vulnerable communities.

‘Sokoto is under siege and the people cannot afford another tragedy. Government must stop treating insecurity as a political talking point and start treating it as the emergency it is,’ he said.

The ADC candidate also urged security agencies to strengthen collaboration with traditional rulers and local communities to prevent any possible attack, while calling on residents to remain vigilant and cooperate with security personnel.

Efforts to obtain the reaction of the District Head of Kebbi, Mallam Lawal Labbo, were unsuccessful, as calls to his telephone number were not answered as of the time of filing this report.

The reported threat comes amid continuing insecurity in parts of Sokoto, where several communities have experienced attacks, abductions, cattle rustling, and displacement linked to banditry.

The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to the Paris Agreement and a low-carbon, climate-resilient development pathway to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060.

The Director General, National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), Dr Tenioye Majekodunmi, stated this at the Justice and Energy Transition Roundtable organised by the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation in conjunction with the Ford Foundation, which was held on Tuesday at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja.

The Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change, was adopted by 195 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, on 12 December 2015. It entered into force on 4th November 2016, and as at 27th January 2026, there are 194 Parties to the Paris Agreement. Its overarching goal is to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

The NCCC DG, who spoke on the topic ‘Government Perspective on Nigeria’s Energy Transition’, said climate action must not only give room for development but expand energy access, create jobs, strengthen industries, improve productivity and raise living standards.

She said government aimed to strengthen coordination, policy coherence and institutional alignment to allow climate action across the economy to contribute to the country’s national commitments. She charged the private sector, development partners, financial institutions, the civil society and other stakeholders to join hands with the federal and state governments to move from commitments to implementation.

Dr Majekodunmi also called for concessional climate finance, development finance, private capital, blended-finance instruments and innovative mechanisms capable of turning climate ambition into investable opportunities.

She said, ‘The framing of this discussion matters. Around the world, the energy transition is accelerating. Countries are confronting the need to reduce emissions, transform energy systems and build economies that are more resilient to a changing climate.

‘Nigeria remains firmly committed to the objectives of the Paris Agreement and to a low-carbon and climate-resilient development pathway, including our ambition to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060. But our transition is taking place within a very particular development context.

We are a rapidly growing country with significant energy-access needs, rising demand for infrastructure, a young population requiring millions of economic opportunities and legitimate aspirations for industrialisation and improved standards of living.

‘Our energy transition therefore cannot be separated from our development transition. For Nigeria, climate action must enable development, not constrain it. It must help us expand energy access, create jobs, strengthen industries, improve productivity and raise living standards. Energy transition is complex. It sits at the intersection of climate science, energy security, economics, finance, technology, geopolitics, employment and social justice.

She added, ‘Our responsibility is therefore not climate policy in isolation. It is to strengthen coordination, policy coherence and institutional alignment so that climate action across the economy contributes to Nigeria’s national commitments while advancing our broader development priorities.

‘And we are increasingly moving from commitments to implementation.

That implementation cannot be delivered by government alone. It requires Federal and State Governments, the private sector, financial institutions, development partners, academia, civil society, communities and, importantly, our young people.’

In their separate presentations, Dr Priscilla Achapka and Dr Marcel Mbamalu, Founder, Women Environmental Programme, and Publisher/Editor-in-chief, Prime Business Africa, respectively, called for a just transition that will make a difference among the poor, the urgent need to balance the promise of renewables against Africa’s continuing dependence on fossil fuels, as well as indigenous solutions to the continent’s problem.

Dr Achapka said, ‘A just transition should make a practical difference in the woman’s kitchen, a child’s classroom, in rural health centres, a small business, the mobility of a person with a disability and the land. These are not side issues, they are the human meaning of energy policy. The transition should move Nigeria from exclusion urgently, from position to repair and from scarcity to dignity. Government must be placed for public value, investors must accept social and environmental accountability, civil societies must support reform participation, communities must have real negotiating power and journalists must keep asking. The truth test is not whether technology changes, it’s whether lives improve fairly, visible and accountable.’

Dr Mbamalu, who presented a paper titled, ‘Beyond Headlines: How Nigerian Media can Report Energy Transition Through a Justice Lens’, tasked journalists with five ethical commitments of energy-transition reporting, which include accuracy and verification, fairness and balance, accountability, public interest, and responsible sourcing. He said for Nigeria to achieve its net zero Energy Transition Plan, it will spend approximately $410 billion between 2021 and 2060.

The Director General of the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation, Amara Nwakpa, earlier in his welcome remarks, said the event was designed to engage with the media and build capacity around the reporting of justice in energy transition, particularly in Nigeria, and also to equip the media with a lens for measuring energy transition through that lens of justice.

As investors, trying to build lasting wealth in Nigeria can be daunting. Oftentimes, it comes with the hardest question of where and where not to invest, and how to avoid putting too much money into one type of asset. Real estate has long been a favorite because Nigerians understand property ownership, rental income and land appreciation.

Agriculture, meanwhile, is attracting attention from investors looking beyond traditional property and seeking exposure to food production, processing and other parts of the agribusiness value chain.

That makes the real estate and agriculture investment Nigeria debate more complicated than simply asking which one pays more. The better question is: which investment matches your capital, time horizon, tolerance for risk, liquidity needs and ability to manage unexpected losses?

Undoubtedly, both sectors have genuine opportunities, but neither comes with guaranteed returns. Real estate can suffer from vacancies, maintenance costs and weak demand in the wrong location. Agriculture can be hit by weather, disease, input costs, security problems, and unstable commodity prices. The difference is how those risks affect your money and how quickly you can recover from them.

Real estate offers tangible assets and multiple ways to make money

Property has a psychological advantage that many investments do not. It is something you can see, visit, and establish ownership through documentation. A commercial building, apartment, warehouse, or other income-producing property can generate rental income while potentially increasing in value over time.

Nigeria’s real estate market continues to benefit from substantial underlying demand. PwC’s 2026 Nigeria Economic Outlook says population growth, urbanization and continued residential and commercial development are supporting the sector, while the country’s housing deficit remains a major demand driver.

Similarly, Knight Frank’s 2026/27 Africa Report identifies strong underlying residential demand in Nigeria, although affordability remains a major constraint.

However, investors need to look beyond the selling price and advertised rent. Suppose you purchase a commercial property for ?100 million and receive ?8 million in annual rent. That produces an 8% gross rental yield, but it is not your actual return.

If vacancy, maintenance, insurance, management and other operating costs consume ?2 million, your net income falls to ?6 million. Your net rental yield is therefore 6%, not 8%.

That distinction becomes crucial when comparing property with agricultural investments whose promoters may advertise projected profits without clearly explaining all expenses.

Agriculture can offer attractive opportunities, but the business risk is real

Agricultural investment covers a wide territory. You could invest directly in farmland, livestock, crops or aquaculture, or put money into processing, storage, logistics or a professionally managed farm.

Nigeria’s agricultural fundamentals are compelling. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) stated that agriculture contributed about 28% of GDP between 2021 and 2024 and employed roughly 40% of the country’s labor force. Yet the organization also identifies serious structural constraints, including limited irrigation, climate change, high production costs, inadequate financing, weak input distribution, post-harvest losses and poor market access.

Those risks are not theoretical. In July 2026, FAO reported that projected climate shocks were expected to undermine agricultural production in parts of northeast Nigeria, while insecurity and economic pressures were disrupting livelihoods and markets.

This is why a seemingly impressive agricultural return deserves scrutiny. If a farm promises a 25% return, the investor should ask how that figure was calculated, whether it is guaranteed or projected, what happens if yields fall, who bears losses and whether insurance covers the relevant risks.

The headline ROI can be dangerously misleading

Imagine putting N20 million into an agricultural project that promises N5 million in profit after one production cycle. The simple calculation gives you a 25% return: N5 million ÷ N20 million × 100 = 25%

But if that production cycle lasts 18 months, the investment cannot be compared directly with an asset generating income every month or every year. You also need to establish whether the ?5 million is genuine net profit after labor, inputs, transportation, management fees, insurance, taxes, storage, marketing and expected losses.

The same principle applies to property. A real estate investor should calculate net rental income rather than relying on gross rent or an expected future selling price.

The meaningful comparison is therefore net ROI over time, not the largest percentage printed in an investment brochure.

Real estate may suit investors seeking longer-term wealth accumulation

Property can be attractive for investors who are willing to lock away capital for years. A well-located asset can provide rental income while giving the owner exposure to long-term appreciation.

But location is everything. Knight Frank’s latest Nigeria analysis showed that residential demand remains strong but increasingly sensitive to affordability. It also notes that tenants are becoming more cost-conscious and that demand is shifting toward smaller and more efficient units in some markets. In commercial property, occupier demand, building quality and location are similarly important.

So buying any property simply because ‘land always appreciates’ is not an investment strategy. An expensive building in a location with weak demand can produce disappointing returns, while a less glamorous asset serving a strong commercial or residential market may perform considerably better.

Property also has a liquidity problem. If you urgently need ?50 million, you cannot necessarily sell half of a building tomorrow at the price you want. Transaction costs, documentation, valuation and finding a suitable buyer can all extend the exit period.

Agriculture can turn capital faster, but losses can come faster too

Agriculture’s major attraction is the possibility of shorter production cycles. Depending on the enterprise, an investor may be able to put capital into production, harvest, sell and reinvest within a relatively short period.

That creates an opportunity for capital to circulate more quickly than it might in conventional property.

But the same characteristic increases exposure to operating risk. A failed crop, livestock disease, extreme weather event, security problem or sudden change in market prices can affect an entire production cycle.

FAO’s current assessment of Nigeria highlights these vulnerabilities, while its agricultural investment work identifies significant opportunities in value chains such as cassava, maize and tomato alongside challenges involving inputs, processing and post-harvest losses.

Turnkey does not mean risk-free

A professionally managed agricultural franchise or turnkey farm can appeal to investors who lack the expertise or time to run agricultural operations themselves. The operator handles production while the investor provides capital.

That arrangement can be useful, but it creates another layer of risk: management.

Before committing money, investigate who operates the project, how long they have been in business, whether financial statements or production records are available, how investors are paid, what happens when production fails and whether there is insurance.

Also verify the underlying assets. If the investment involves farmland, determine who owns the land, what rights the operator has and whether the relevant documentation is valid.

Diversification works when the risks are actually different

An investor who already owns several residential properties may not gain much diversification by buying another apartment in the same city. Their wealth remains heavily exposed to property prices, rental demand, interest rates, regulation and local economic conditions.

Agriculture can introduce a different set of risks: climate, biological production, commodity markets, input prices and agricultural management.

The reverse is also true. Someone whose portfolio is already concentrated in farms and agribusinesses could potentially reduce concentration by adding property or another asset class.

So, which investment is better?

Real estate may be more suitable for an investor who prioritizes tangible assets, rental income and long-term appreciation and can tolerate relatively low liquidity. Agriculture may appeal more to someone seeking exposure to productive businesses and potentially shorter capital cycles while accepting greater operating and environmental risks.

The smartest decision begins with mathematics rather than excitement. Calculate the full capital requirement, expected net income, realistic downside, investment period, taxes, management costs and exit options. Then compare the result with what you could earn from alternative investments carrying a similar level of risk.

Nigeria has substantial opportunities in both property and agriculture, but opportunities still require due diligence. PwC expects real estate demand to remain strong in 2026, while FAO continues to identify significant investment potential in agricultural value chains alongside substantial structural risks.

For an investor building generational wealth, the answer may ultimately be neither real estate nor agriculture alone. A carefully diversified portfolio can allow property to provide one source of income and wealth preservation while productive agricultural investments provide exposure to another part of the economy.