Author: Our Reporter

By Tanimu Yakubu The seduction of the wrong conclusion An increasingly familiar claim in Nigeria is that widespread poverty, nearly three years into the reform programme, is itself proof that the reforms have failed. Poverty remains widespread. Hardship is visible. From those facts comes the claim that the reforms undertaken since 2023 stand condemned. The pain is real; the conclusion does not follow automatically. Nigeria carried deep economic weaknesses into the reform period. Their continued presence does not show that the policies now being used to correct them created them. The PUNCH report of 16 July 2026 leans on this…

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Benjamin Kalu has launched a four‑month vocational training programme for 150 youths in Abia State. The move is part of the government’s desire to upscale the role of skills development in harnessing Nigeria’s demographic dividend. The initiative, called “An Artisan Training on Building Projects,” is funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and run by Family Homes Funds Ltd., with logistical support from Mr. Kalu’s office. The pilot, which runs from August through November, targets participants in Abia and Enugu states. Of the 150 trainees, 130 were selected from 13 wards in Bende…

By Tunde Rahman With just a few days before the August 15 Osun State governorship election, the political calculus is already shifting. The election is a two-way horse race between incumbent Governor Ademola Nurudeen Jackson Adeleke of the Accord Party and his challenger, the All Progressives Congress candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji – popularly branded as AMBO.  While no election is won on paper, three key factors – party structure, voter disenchantment with the incumbent, and the imperative of alignment with the centre – will likely determine where the pendulum swings. APC in Osun has spent the last two years…

Allies of Honourable James Abiodun Faleke have accused political rivals of manufacturing a state‑level campaign around the long‑serving lawmaker, calling recent honours, endorsements and media reports a calculated effort to pull him into Kogi State politics and away from national priorities. In a statement signed by Otunba Olukayode Biobaku, the group described a string of ceremonial tributes and “courtesy visits” and an online article they said falsely claimed a “one‑term” deal involving Faleke as part of a broader manoeuvre by “self‑serving political actors.” The statement said Faleke promptly denied the report and urged the public to disregard it. According to…

By Temitope Ajayi There is something fundamentally inappropriate about Cardinal John Onaiyekan granting a television interview to offer his own account and interpretation of what transpired during the private meeting between the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria and President Bola Tinubu. It is, in my view, an abuse of clerical privilege. The bishops requested an audience with the president. He granted the audience graciously. They presented, as was their right, a catalogue of the country’s economic, social, and security challenges as they saw them. Except for their grudging acknowledgement of the benefits of NELFUND, they were dismissive of the other…

President Bola Tinubu’s newly appointed Homeland-Security Adviser has laid out four priority reforms aimed at tightening the country’s security architecture, signaling the government’s drive to pair military operations with technology and better inter-agency coordination. Adeyinka Famadewa, a retired Major General appointed in May this year, presented the measures after his first formal meeting with heads and representatives of key Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Among attendees included senior officials from Nigerian Customs Service, Nigeria Correctional Service,  the Federal Road Safety Corps, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and the…

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has ordered the razing of an illegal settlement he said had become a refuge for criminals, in a drive to guarantee security in and around the nation’s capital  city. The Minister directed the FCT Department of Development Control to demolish the site known as Ruga, located near Karmajiji in the Kukwaba district, after leading security officials to the encampment on Friday. The visit followed a meeting of the FCT Security Committee, Minister Wike said. “Intelligence reports indicate suspected criminals often retreat to that location after carrying out attacks in parts…

The Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu on Wednesday approved the postings of General Officers Commanding (GOCs) to lead the new formations and oversee the reworked divisional boundaries. The move to expand its footprint and command structure, appointing senior officers to lead four newly created divisions is part of a broader reorganisation intended to boost its response to mounting security challenges. President Bola Tinubu approved the creation of four additional divisions earlier this Month. Colonel Appolonia Anele, Acting Director of Army Public Relations in a statement said, the changes take effect in phases. She said new divisions will…

American Senate confirmed Jay Clayton as Director of National Intelligence Tuesday, installing a seasoned regulator and prosecutor after lawmakers rejected an earlier Trump choice that alarmed lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The vote, 51 to 47, elevates Clayton from his role as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he oversaw high-profile prosecutions, to lead an intelligence community that has been operating without stable leadership. He replaces acting DNI Bill Pulte, a Trump loyalist whose brief tenure drew bipartisan concern because of his lack of intelligence experience and his use of a separate federal role…

President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday dismissed critics who have accused his administration of bias ahead of the 2027 elections, saying the complaints amounted to “crying wolf” and reflected opponents’ fears rather than substance. Speaking at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Tinubu said those raising alarms were “afraid of their own shadows and uncertainty in the companies they keep,” describing  the charges as political posture rather than evidence of wrongdoing. The President made the remarks while receiving leaders of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, led by Archbishop Matthew Ndagoso of Kaduna. Archbishop Ndagoso and 19 other members of the conference attended…