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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to challenge the exclusion of its Kano State governorship candidate, Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, from the list of contestants published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), raising fresh questions about the party’s participation in the forthcoming governorship election.

The party is seeking an order compelling INEC to restore Gwarzo’s name to the list, insisting that its candidate has fulfilled all the requirements for participation in the electoral contest.

Yusuf Kofarmata, an NDC chieftain in the Kwankwasiyya movement, disclosed the filing of the suit, urging party supporters not to lose hope but to remain committed to the campaign while awaiting the court’s decision.

Kofarmata expressed optimism that the court would deliver a favourable judgment that would enable Gwarzo to participate in the governorship race, despite his omission from the commission’s published list of candidates.

The legal action comes amid growing political uncertainty surrounding the NDC’s participation in Kano State’s governorship contest, with the party seeking judicial intervention to resolve the dispute over its candidate’s eligibility and inclusion on the ballot.

For the NDC, the case represents an effort to protect its electoral interests and ensure that its chosen candidate is not shut out of the contest before voters have the opportunity to decide among the aspirants.

The dispute also highlights the importance of compliance with electoral procedures and the role of the courts in resolving disagreements involving political parties and the electoral commission. Where a party believes that its candidate has met the stipulated requirements but has been omitted from the official list, judicial intervention may provide a means of seeking clarification and redress.

Gwarzo’s omission is particularly significant given the political competition in Kano, one of Nigeria’s most politically influential states, where governorship contests often attract considerable attention because of the state’s large voting population and its strategic importance in national politics.

The NDC’s court action could therefore become an important test of the party’s ability to sustain its governorship campaign while seeking legal clarification over its candidate’s status.

However, details of the suit, including the specific grounds on which the party is challenging INEC’s action, the reliefs sought beyond the request for reinstatement, and the date fixed for hearing, were not provided in the available information.

INEC’s explanation for excluding Gwarzo from the published list was also not contained in the statement announcing the legal action. The commission’s position, as well as the court’s eventual determination, will be important in establishing the circumstances surrounding the omission.

Meanwhile, Kofarmata has urged supporters to maintain their confidence in the party’s legal strategy and continue with their political activities as the case proceeds.

The NDC is hoping that a favourable ruling will secure Gwarzo’s inclusion on the list and allow him to pursue his governorship ambition. Until the court determines the matter, however, the question of his participation remains a subject of legal contest.

Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, Enugu State Governor, has pledged to sign into law a proposed amendment to the state’s Landlord and Tenant Law aimed at curbing excessive agency commissions and legal fees charged to prospective tenants.

Governor Mbah gave the assurance during a recent town hall meeting, where he outlined his administration’s plans to address housing challenges through legislative reforms and increased housing supply.

The governor said his administration is working with the Enugu State House of Assembly to ensure the passage of the proposed legislation within four weeks, promising to sign it immediately upon transmission to him.

He explained that while the government could effectively regulate agency commissions and legal fees, imposing a ceiling on rents charged by landlords could discourage investment in residential properties, worsen housing shortages and ultimately drive up rental costs.

‘One thing that government can regulate effectively is controlling the cost an agent charges as commission, controlling the legal fees. You can clearly make laws to guide that,’ Mbah said.

He argued that rent control could have unintended consequences if property owners were discouraged from investing in housing because of restrictions on the amounts they could charge.

‘It is extremely difficult to make laws to cap the fee or the rent a landlord charges because once you do that, what you’re going to see is scarcity,’ he added.

According to the governor, his administration is pursuing a supply-driven approach to addressing the housing challenge by expanding the city, developing new residential areas and increasing the number of available housing units.

‘So what we do as government is to try and push supplies in the market to see that we build new houses to ensure that there are enough homes so that that supply would drive down the rent,’ he stated.Read Economics

Reaffirming his commitment to protecting residents from excessive tenancy-related charges, Mbah said his administration would work closely with the legislature to ensure the proposed amendment was passed without unnecessary delay.

‘I’m committing to you that we’re going to work with the House of Assembly to ensure that within the next four weeks we’ll ensure that bill is passed into law, and I’ll be in a hurry to sign it so that we can protect Ndi Enugu,’ he said.

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The proposed amendment to the Landlord and Tenant Law, Cap. 101, Revised Laws of Enugu State, 2004, was disclosed by Uche Ugwu, Speaker of the House of Assembly.

Ugwu said the executive bill seeks to establish clearer rules for tenancy transactions, regulate estate agents, limit agency and legal fees, and provide a structured framework for the handling and refund of caution fees.

The proposed legislation also aims to reduce disputes between landlords and tenants over property damage through joint inventories and professional valuations where necessary.

Other provisions seek to check arbitrary rent increases and promote transparency in tenancy-related charges.

The renewed legislative effort follows an earlier bill sponsored by Okey Mbah, representing Nkanu East State Constituency, which had passed its first and second readings, with a public hearing also conducted by the House.

While advocating the earlier proposal in March 2025, Okey Mbah expressed concern over the additional financial burden imposed on prospective tenants through agency commissions, legal fees, caution fees and other charges beyond the rent demanded by landlords.

He argued that inadequate regulation had created opportunities for exploitation, with some individuals allegedly posing as property agents to collect money from unsuspecting accommodation seekers without providing the promised services.

The proposed reform comes amid persistent complaints about rising accommodation costs in Enugu, where prospective tenants often face substantial additional charges before securing rented properties.

There is the rush to beat traffic, the school run, a lengthy commute and the pressure to arrive at work on time. Breakfast may become a cup of tea and bread eaten hurriedly, a pastry bought on the way, or nothing at all. Lunch gets postponed because of meetings. By mid-afternoon, fatigue sets in and a soft drink, sweetened coffee, biscuits or another quick snack becomes the easiest way to keep going.

Then comes the journey home and a large late-evening meal after a day of inconsistent eating.

Repeated five days a week, these seemingly small habits can become more than an inconvenient routine. Combined with prolonged sitting, inadequate physical activity, poor sleep and chronic stress, an unhealthy workplace eating pattern can contribute to poor diet quality, excess energy intake and, over time, increased cardiometabolic risk.

Workplace nutrition, therefore, should not simply be about what is packed in your lunchbox. It is part of preventive healthcare.

Your Body Does Not Stop Needing Nutrition Because You Are Busy

One common workplace mistake is allowing meetings and deadlines to determine when or whether we eat.

Skipping a meal occasionally is not automatically harmful for everyone. The problem arises when irregular eating leaves you excessively hungry and repeatedly reaching for whatever is quickest and most convenient.

For the Nigerian office worker, that may mean meat pies, sausage rolls, doughnuts, biscuits, instant noodles, fried snacks and sugar-sweetened beverages. Planning ahead makes a significant difference. Nigerian Banking Launch

A practical work lunch does not have to be expensive or foreign. Rice with vegetables and grilled fish, beans with vegetables, boiled yam with egg or vegetable sauce, moi-moi with an appropriate accompaniment, or a well-portioned traditional meal can all form part of a balanced workday diet.

The principle is more important than the particular dish: aim to include a source of protein, fibre-rich carbohydrate, vegetables or fruit and an appropriate amount of healthy fat.

Beware of the 3 P.M. ‘I Need Sugar’ Moment

That familiar afternoon slump deserves attention.

Fatigue at work is not always evidence that your body ‘needs sugar’. Poor sleep, dehydration, stress, prolonged sitting, an inadequate meal or simply normal fluctuations in alertness can all contribute.

Before reaching automatically for a soft drink or sweet snack, ask yourself: Am I hungry, thirsty, tired or simply mentally exhausted?

If you are genuinely hungry, choose a snack that offers more nutritional value and satiety. Depending on your individual needs, options might include small portion of fruit with nuts, unsweetened yoghurt, boiled eggs or garden eggs.

And do not underestimate water. Keeping a refillable bottle within sight can be a remarkably simple workplace-health strategy.

Your Chair Matters Too

Many office workers spend several hours seated-in the car or bus, at the desk, in meetings and later in front of a television or phone.

Prolonged sedentary behaviour is associated with adverse cardiometabolic health outcomes. A gym session is valuable, but movement throughout the day matters too.

Stand when appropriate. Walk to a colleague’s desk instead of sending every message. Take the stairs where practical. Use part of your lunch break for a brief walk. Even short movement breaks can interrupt long periods of sitting.

Do Not Save All Your Eating for Night-Time

After under-eating through a demanding day, arriving home extremely hungry makes portion control considerably harder.

This can create a familiar pattern: little food during working hours, repeated snacking to stay alert, followed by a very large dinner shortly before bed.

A better strategy is to distribute nourishment more intentionally across your day according to your schedule, health status and nutritional requirements.

For someone managing diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease or another medical condition, meal timing and composition may require individualized guidance rather than generic workplace advice.

Build Your Workplace Nutrition Toolkit

A healthier workweek does not require carrying a complicated ‘diet meal’ to the office every morning.

Start with five practical habits:

Plan: Decide what you will eat at work before hunger makes the decision for you.

Balance: Build meals around vegetables, protein, fibre-rich carbohydrates and appropriate portions rather than making refined carbohydrates the entire meal.

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Hydrate: Make water your default workplace drink and reduce habitual reliance on sugar-sweetened beverages.

Prepare: Keep sensible snacks available for genuinely hungry moments instead of depending entirely on vending machines, canteens or roadside purchases.

Move: Break up prolonged sitting and create opportunities for physical activity throughout the working day.

Employers Have a Role Too

We should also stop treating workplace nutrition entirely as an employee’s personal responsibility.

An organisation cannot promote employee wellness while creating a culture where workers routinely skip lunch, sit continuously for hours or have easy access to sugary drinks and pastries but few healthier options.

Employers can support better health through protected meal breaks, accessible drinking water, healthier catering choices, nutrition education, movement-friendly work practices and evidence-based workplace wellness programmes.

These are not merely ‘wellness perks’. A healthier workplace environment can support employee wellbeing and potentially contribute to better engagement and productivity.

For employees, meanwhile, healthy eating at work does not require perfection.

It requires preparation and consistency.

Before another demanding workday begins, ask yourself three questions:

What will I eat? What will I drink? When will I move?

Your answers may seem insignificant compared with the deadlines waiting on your desk. But repeated across weeks, months and years, those everyday decisions form part of your metabolic health.

Your job may require you to sit at a desk. It does not require you to leave your health there.

Adaeze is a Clinical Nutritionist and Corporate Wellness Consultant passionate about helping organizations improve employee health, energy, and productivity through practical nutrition solutions. She is the founder of Noureesh Nutrition, a wellness company delivering tailored corporate meal plans, workplace nutrition audits, and employee health programs across Nigeria. Learn more at www.noureesh.com or follow @noureesh on Instagram. Nigerian Banking Launch

esentry, a managed security services provider, has taken its cybersecurity awareness campaign to communities in Lagos, as effort to promote digital safety as businesses and individuals face growing exposure to cyber threats.

The 10-kilometre walk through Yaba and surrounding areas, brought together cybersecurity professionals and enthusiasts as part of the company’s activities for Cybersecurity Awareness Month, an annual campaign observed every October to encourage safer online behaviour.

The initiative was designed to move cybersecurity conversations beyond corporate offices and into public spaces, highlighting how everyday digital habits can help reduce exposure to cybercriminals.

Under the theme ‘Don’t Make It Easy for Them,’ this year’s campaign emphasised the importance of consistent security practices in making it harder for attackers to exploit individuals, businesses and digital systems.

Gbolabo Awelewa, chief business officer at esentry, said the walk was intended to make cybersecurity more accessible to people outside the technology industry.

‘Cybersecurity awareness works best when it reaches people where they live and work. This walk was our way of taking the conversation out of the workplace and into the open, where cybersecurity leaders and enthusiasts could walk the streets together and engage the communities around them,’ Awelewa said.

He added that esentry was working towards a business environment where organisations of all sizes understand their cybersecurity risks and have appropriate protection.

The campaign comes as cybersecurity awareness becomes increasingly important to organisations that depend on digital systems to deliver services, process payments, store information and communicate with customers. Weak security practices can expose individuals and businesses to threats, including account compromise, data theft and financial fraud.

However, awareness campaigns alone cannot address the full range of cybersecurity risks facing organisations. Businesses also need effective monitoring, threat detection, incident response and compliance measures to identify and manage attacks.

esentry provides these services to clients across financial services, healthcare, government and telecommunications in West, East and Southern Africa. Its offerings include offensive security, automated threat detection, compliance advisory and artificial intelligence-powered defensive tools.

In 2019, the company became the first Nigerian company to earn ISO certification for its security operations centre, according to the company. The centre provides round-the-clock security monitoring and advisory services to clients.

The company also tracks cyber threats through its Eye of Horus Threat Intelligence Report, which examines the threat landscape in Nigeria and across Africa.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month was launched in 2004 through a partnership between the National Cybersecurity Alliance and the United States Department of Homeland Security. It promotes practical measures that individuals and organisations can adopt to strengthen their digital security.

For esentry, the Lagos walk represents an effort to extend those conversations beyond technical teams and corporate environments, placing greater emphasis on public understanding of digital risks.

The company said its broader objective was to encourage businesses, regardless of size, to understand their exposure to cyber threats and adopt security measures suited to those risks.

Nigerian medical doctor and visual artist FolaDavid is set to bring together more than 1,000 children in Lagos for a Guinness World Records attempt involving the largest fabric marbling painting, in a project designed to promote creative education, inclusion and youth development.

In a statement, the organisers disclosed that the initiative, titled ‘Colors of Possibility,’ is scheduled for November 11, 2026, at Onikan Stadium, Lagos, with support from the Lagos State Government, the Lagos State Ministry of Education and three federal ministries.

‘The project will bring together children from public and private schools, vocational centres and the wider community, including children with additional needs, to contribute to a single collective artwork under David’s artistic direction,’ the statement reads.

The initiative positions young participants at the centre of the record attempt, allowing them to contribute individual patterns and colours to a larger composition while learning about collaboration, creative expression and inclusion.

The Lagos State Ministry of Education is among the government institutions supporting the project, alongside the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Federal Ministry of Youth Development and Federal Ministry of Education.Read Economics

The involvement of state and federal institutions highlights the initiative’s focus on expanding creative opportunities for children and connecting artistic participation with education and youth development.

Foladavid, who gained international recognition through a previous Guinness World Records achievement, is now directing his attention towards a collective creative undertaking that places children at the forefront of an ambitious artistic project.

Rather than centring the attempt solely on an individual achievement, ‘Colors of Possibility’ seeks to demonstrate what young people can accomplish when their individual contributions are combined towards a shared goal.

The coordinated fabric marbling activity will allow children to experiment with colour and patterns, make creative decisions and observe how their contributions become part of a larger artwork.

Organisers say the project is also intended to encourage patience, coordination, confidence and respect for the ideas of others, while offering participating schools an opportunity to connect classroom learning with practical creative experience.

The initiative will also feature a N10 million Creative Fund dedicated to children, with 78MFB serving as the event’s sponsor.

The fund introduces a financial support component to the project, linking participation in the creative exercise with efforts to nurture children’s artistic potential and future opportunities.

The organisers have positioned the fund as part of the initiative’s broader objective of ensuring that its impact extends beyond the event itself.

By bringing together children from different educational, social and personal backgrounds, the project also seeks to create a shared environment where participants can experience inclusion and belonging through art.

The event is expected to bring together children, educators, parents, guardians, volunteers, partners, and invited guests at Onikan Stadium.

For Foladavid, the undertaking represents a shift from an individual record achievement towards a collective experience in which children can discover the value of their own creativity while contributing to something larger than themselves.

Discussions on artificial intelligence (AI) will continue to dominate global conversations as the technology continues to reshape business operations and redefine the workplace across sectors.

AI is actually driving innovations in operations from finance to manufacturing, education, health, the creative industry, and media.

As the technology becomes increasingly adopted by organisations, African Brands Congress is set to bring together business executives, marketing professionals, technology experts, policymakers and brand owners from across Africa and beyond to explore how AI can transform brand development, consumer engagement and business competitiveness.

The conference, scheduled for the end of this month in Lagos and themed ‘The Future of Brands in the Era of Artificial Intelligence,’ is designed to provide industry stakeholders with practical insights into the opportunities and challenges of integrating AI into branding, marketing, communications and customer experience, while preserving the authenticity and cultural identity of African brands.

‘As AI increasingly influences how consumers discover products, how businesses personalise marketing messages and how organisations manage customer relationships, African brands face growing pressure to adapt to technological changes without compromising public trust, creativity and cultural relevance,’ the organisers said.

The congress will examine how businesses can harness AI-powered tools to understand consumer behaviour, anticipate market demand, streamline content production and improve customer service, while addressing concerns about data privacy, intellectual property, algorithmic bias and misinformation.Read Economics

Julianah Michael, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of MedConnect Pharmacy, has urged stakeholders to invest deliberately in girls’ education, healthcare and confidence-building to protect them against child marriage and secure their future.

Michael made the call as Guest Speaker at the 2026 International Day of the Girl Child programme organised by the Organisation for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD), Lagos State University (LASU) Branch, held on Wednesday, 21st October 2026, at the Africa Centre of Excellence for Innovative and Transformative STEM Education (ACEITSE), Main Campus, Ojo, Lagos.

Themed ‘My Rights, My Voice, My Future: Empowering the Girl Child’ in line with the global theme ‘End Child Marriage and Invest in Girls’ Rights,’ the programme brought together female students of Lagos State University International School (LASUIS), Ojo, and DAMVIC Academy, Badagry.

Delivering her address, Michael stressed that access to quality education and healthcare remains critical to empowering the girl child to make informed decisions about her life. She noted that practical support interventions, such as payment of examination fees, provision of school uniforms, and structured mentorship, can prevent financial hardship and exploitation from truncating girls’ education.

She charged the students to take responsibility for their personal health, stay focused on their studies, and understand that their current circumstances do not define their future achievements.

Michael also called on OWSD and other development-focused organisations to deepen collaboration between families, professionals and communities to provide sustained support for vulnerable girls.

The event, chaired by Omolade Okwa, OWSD LASU Branch Chairperson, also featured goodwill messages reaffirming LASU’s commitment to ending child marriage.

Representing the Vice-Chancellor, Ayodeji Olawunmi Badejo, Professor Yomi Bello of the Department of Music described child marriage as a social and developmental challenge that undermines girls’ education, health, safety and economic independence, and called for stronger enforcement of relevant laws. Read Economics

Earlier, Anthony Ojekale, the Dean, Faculty of Science, represented by Professor Moses AKANBI, commended OWSD for advancing girls’ empowerment, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

The federal government has opened talks with the governors of 19 northern states as it moves to revive the long-delayed Mambilla hydropower project, Joseph Tegbe, Minister of Power, has said.

Tegbe disclosed this while presenting the administration’s power sector roadmap, saying President Bola Tinubu directed that work on the project must begin.

‘Yesterday we discussed the Mambilla power project, and Mr President told me we need to start fixing it,’ he said. He added that Lanre Babalola, special adviser to the President on power, and himself were jointly given the charge, and that ‘we’ll have to get the 19 northern state governments in the game.’

The minister said he met with the president until 11 pm on Monday to discuss the sector, and that he was also with the Kaduna State governor in the president’s presence.

Tegbe said the Electricity Act 2023 was the most far-reaching reform of the century in the sector. He said it creates 37 state-level market domains under a single power system, rather than 37 separate systems. Read Economics

He described the sector’s problems as present at every link of the value chain. Gas supply to plants is constrained by limited volumes, pipeline vandalism and weak commercial terms. The transmission network is overstretched, and a frequent target of vandals, with a tower or major facility brought down almost every fortnight. Aggregate technical, commercial and collection losses in distribution run between 30 and 40 percent.

On debt, he said the sector owed about N3.3 trillion, of which N1.23 trillion has been paid. The government is now working to block new liabilities through options that include payment assurance mechanisms.

The action plan runs in three phases. The first, to stabilise, began in June 2026 and runs to February 2027. The second, to scale, covers March 2027 through 2028. The third, to transform, follows from 2028.

The government will prioritise three energy corridors: Lagos-Ogun, a southern corridor through Port Harcourt, and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano. Tegbe said the Lagos-Ogun corridor accounts for 50 percent of national energy demand. He said it, together with the Abuja franchise area, will serve as a proof of concept for the wider programme.

A technical audit of the country’s power infrastructure is under way, he said. It is in its fourth week and needs a few more weeks to finish. ‘The intention is for us not to throw money at the wrong things,’ he said.

He said the corridor approach reflects the fact that a 50-year problem cannot be fixed overnight. The government will start where demand is highest, and revenue is most likely to come in.

He said a four-hour meeting was held with the Lagos State governor on a strategy for 24/7 supply in the corridor, attended by the leadership of the national power sector institutions.

Tegbe stressed that the federal government will not act alone. ‘The federal government is not going to do this alone,’ he said, adding that national, subnational and private sector initiatives will be aligned.

FirstBank’s N1.4 trillion in cumulative digital loan disbursements highlights the growing scale of Nigeria’s fintech opportunity, as financial institutions increasingly use technology to expand access to credit and deliver financial services to millions of customers. Nigerian Banking Launch

The bank’s digital lending figures illustrate the growing role of technology in the delivery of financial services, Olusegun Alebiosu, managing director and chief executive officer of FirstBank Group, disclosed, adding that the bank’s digital lending business reached N30 billion in monthly disbursements as of August 2026, while cumulative disbursements since inception stood at N1.4 trillion.

The bank also recorded more than 26 million customer sign-ups across its digital channels, including FirstMobile, FirstOnline, LIT App, FirstMonie, USSD banking and other self-service platforms.

These figures underscore the scale at which established financial institutions are deploying digital platforms to deliver banking services, including credit, beyond conventional branch-based operations.

Speaking on the theme, ‘From Enduring Legacy to Digital Leadership: Powering Nigeria’s Next Financial Renaissance,’ he said banks offered institutional trust, financial strength and risk-management expertise, while fintech companies brought agility, innovation and customer-focused solutions. Nigerian Banking Launch

‘The next chapter of Nigeria’s financial services story will not be written by banks alone. It will not be written by fintechs alone. It will be written through purposeful collaboration among banks, fintechs, regulators, telecommunications operators, technology providers and other ecosystem participants,’ he said.

However, the expansion of digital financial services also increases the importance of cybersecurity, identity verification and consumer protection, particularly as more transactions and customer interactions move online.

Alebiosu identified cybercrime, inadequate infrastructure, low digital literacy and fragmented financial platforms as major constraints to the sustainable growth of Nigeria’s digital financial ecosystem.

He warned that phishing, identity theft and account takeovers required financial institutions to move beyond isolated security measures towards coordinated industry-wide responses.

‘Fraudsters collaborate. The industry must collaborate even faster,’ he said.

He urged banks and fintech companies to strengthen intelligence sharing, develop industry-wide fraud-monitoring mechanisms and improve digital identity verification to protect customers and sustain confidence in electronic transactions.

The emphasis on coordinated fraud prevention reflects a challenge for an increasingly interconnected financial system, where customers may move money across banks, payment service providers and fintech platforms, while fraudulent transactions can exploit weaknesses across multiple points in the payment chain.

Alebiosu also called for shared payment infrastructure, responsible artificial intelligence adoption and stronger financial literacy programmes to improve access to financial services, particularly for underserved communities and small businesses.

Nigeria’s expanding internet and mobile connectivity presents opportunities for financial institutions to reach customers who have limited access to conventional banking services. According to Alebiosu, more than 107 million Nigerians were connected to the internet, while mobile connections exceeded 150 million nationwide.Nigerian Banking Launch

He said, however, that access to technology alone would not guarantee meaningful financial inclusion without customer education, reliable infrastructure and services designed around the needs of different communities.

‘Technology alone will not create inclusion. People create inclusion,’ he said.

The bank is also investing in technology-enabled customer service through its Digital Xperience Centres, which feature humanoid robots, artificial intelligence, video banking, contactless banking and automated self-service facilities.

The investments form part of FirstBank’s effort to adapt its operations to changing customer expectations while building on its 132-year institutional history.

Alebiosu said the bank would continue investing in responsible artificial intelligence, secure digital platforms and strategic partnerships, with a focus on solutions for small businesses, entrepreneurs, rural communities and other underserved segments.

For Nigeria’s financial services industry, the challenge is increasingly about translating the growth of digital transactions and platforms into wider access to affordable credit, safer payments and services that meet the needs of businesses and households. Nigerian Banking Launch

Stronger collaboration among banks, fintech companies, telecommunications operators and regulators could help address shared infrastructure gaps and security risks, while improving the ability of financial providers to serve customers across different platforms.

FirstBank was the headline sponsor of Nigeria Fintech Week 2026, the ninth edition of the annual gathering organised by the Fintech Association of Nigeria. The event brought together financial institutions, regulators, technology companies and innovators to discuss the future of financial services and Nigeria’s digital economy.

Alebiosu said FirstBank would continue working with industry stakeholders to support innovation and expand access to financial services.

Nigeria’s fixed-income market faces another test this week as the Debt Management Office (DMO) prepares to offer N800 billion in Treasury bills amid substantial liquidity inflows and continued efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to absorb excess funds from the banking system.

The DMO is scheduled to conduct the primary market Treasury bill auction on October 28, offering N100 billion in 91-day bills, N100 billion in 182-day bills and N600 billion in 364-day bills, with settlement due on October 29.

The auction comes as projected system liquidity inflows stand at N2.813 trillion this week, largely driven by N2.408 trillion in Open Market Operations (OMO) maturities, according to the Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA).

Other expected inflows include N263.58 billion in Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) bond coupons, N130.72 billion in Treasury bill maturities and N10.92 billion in corporate bond coupons.

The return of substantial OMO maturities could provide funds for banks and other investors to participate in the Treasury bill auction, although the extent to which the liquidity will remain available depends on further CBN operations and other market transactions.

The FMDA said system liquidity rose by 10.39 percent week-on-week to N6.936 trillion last week, from N6.283 trillion in the preceding week. However, the increase represented a sharp slowdown from the 69.39 percent surge recorded in the previous week.

The moderation followed significant liquidity absorption through government securities auctions, including the settlement of N2.024 trillion from the October 19 FGN bond auction on October 21 and the sale of N2.629 trillion in OMO bills by the CBN on October 22.

The OMO auction covered the 138-day and 180-day tenors at stop rates of 17.63 percent and 17.14 percent, respectively.

The transactions highlight the competing effects of maturing securities returning funds to the financial system and fresh government securities sales withdrawing liquidity from it.

With no further FGN bond auction scheduled until November 16, the Treasury bill sale represents the main scheduled government securities issuance expected to drain liquidity this week, alongside any additional OMO operations by the CBN.

Meanwhile, Treasury bill yields declined further last week, suggesting easing returns across much of the short-term government debt market.

The average Treasury bill yield fell by 59 basis points to 17.64 percent from 18.23 percent, led by a 198-basis-point decline in the one-month tenor to 16.85 percent and a 96-basis-point drop in the three-month tenor to 16.69 percent.

Yields on the six-month bills, however, rose by nine basis points to 17.79 percent, while the nine-month and 12-month tenors declined marginally to 18.52 percent and 18.35 percent, respectively.

The declines occurred in a week without a primary market Treasury bill auction, reflecting movements in the secondary market.

In the FGN bond market, average yields edged up by 10 basis points to 16.53 percent from 16.43 percent, as lower yields on shorter-dated securities offset increases at the longer end of the curve.

The two-year bond yield declined by 100 basis points to 16.50 percent, while yields on the 15-year and 30-year bonds rose by 68 basis points and 113 basis points to 15.18 percent and 15.73 percent, respectively.

Beyond the fixed-income market, the naira depreciated by 0.70 percent week-on-week to N1,341.67 per dollar in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM). The parallel-market rate was comparatively steadier, depreciating by 0.10 percent to N1,376.40 per dollar.

Consequently, the premium between the parallel and official market rates narrowed by 18.65 percent to N34.73 per dollar, from N42.69 in the preceding week.

Nigeria’s gross external reserves also increased by 0.12 percent week-on-week to $55.162 billion, extending their rise above the $55 billion mark to the highest level since December 2008, according to the report.

The external position received additional support from rising crude oil prices, with average Brent crude increasing by 4.27 percent to $111.40 per barrel during the week and briefly exceeding $116 per barrel on October 23 amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Globally, government bond yields generally declined, with the 10-year yields on US, Japanese, British and South African government bonds falling by nine, 13, three and seven basis points, respectively. Nigeria’s 10-year bond yield moved in the opposite direction, rising by five basis points to 17.10 percent.

The coming Treasury bill auction will therefore provide a fresh indication of investor demand for government securities as substantial maturities return funds to the financial system, while the CBN’s liquidity management operations continue to influence the amount of money available for investment.