Headlines

A political analyst has described the local government financial autonomy being promoted by President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration as a “scam,” alleging that state governors have continued to control funds allocated to Nigeria’s 774 local government areas.

According to him, despite the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment granting financial autonomy to local governments, there is still no effective system through which council chairmen receive their statutory allocations directly from the Federation Account.

He alleged that funds meant for local governments continue to pass through structures controlled by state governments, allowing governors to retain significant influence over the finances and operations of the third tier of government.

The claim comes amid growing concerns over the slow implementation of the Supreme Court’s July 11, 2024 judgment, which ordered the Federal Government to pay allocations due to local governments directly to democratically elected councils.

The Supreme Court, in the case of  Attorney-General of the Federation vs  Attorney-General of Abia State and 35 others, held that state governments had no constitutional authority to retain, spend or control funds standing to the credit of local governments. The court also declared the use of caretaker committees to administer local governments unconstitutional.

However, almost two years after the judgment, the practical implementation of financial autonomy remains unresolved.

Recent investigations found that local governments received about N10.48 trillion in Federation Account allocations between July 2024 and June 2026, yet there was still no clear evidence of nationwide compliance with the Supreme Court’s order that the funds be paid directly to the councils.

Another report published in May 2026, said local governments were allocated N1.46 trillion in the first quarter of 2026, but the money was still processed through the existing Federation Account distribution structure rather than being transferred directly to individual councils.

The man further criticised the conditions attached to the implementation of direct allocations, alleging that local governments were being subjected to difficult requirements, including the provision of bank accounts and tax-related documentation.

He specifically alleged that a three-year tax clearance requirement had become one of the obstacles preventing councils from opening the accounts required to receive funds directly.

He also alleged that the Federal Government has used the issue of local government allocations as a bargaining tool in its relationship with state governors, claiming that political negotiations between the Presidency and governors have allowed the old system to continue.

Foreign investors are increasingly retreating from the Nigerian equities market despite a powerful rally that has pushed the NGX All-Share Index to gains of about 60 per cent at its 2026 peak.

The development has seen foreign portfolio participation plunge to just 5.6 per cent of total transactions on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) in July 2026, even as domestic investors, particularly institutional players, continued to channel trillions of naira into the market.

Market analysts have attributed the foreign investors’ retreat to a combination of factors, including growing uncertainty ahead of the 2027 general elections, relatively attractive yields in the fixed-income market and concerns over the implementation of the new T+1 settlement cycle.

Lingering concerns over Nigeria’s political and security environment have also continued to weigh on foreign investor sentiment.

Despite the strong performance of Nigerian equities, the country remains excluded from major global benchmarks, including the FTSE Russell Frontier Markets Index, where its planned reclassification remains under review. Nigeria has also yet to regain full inclusion in key MSCI benchmarks.

Analysts said the decline in foreign participation is not entirely unexpected, noting that foreign investors typically become more cautious during election cycles and the second half of the year.

The Head of Research at GTI Securities, Abiodun Ogunniyi, said pre-election uncertainty often triggers a seasonal pullback by foreign portfolio investors.

According to him, foreign investors tend to reduce their exposure to Nigerian equities during the second half of election cycles and may remain on the sidelines until closer to November or December.

“There tends to be a lot of uncertainty in the pre-election period and second half of the year, especially more so for foreign investors. There tend to be foreign portfolio outflows from the equities market in the second half of the year, at least until November, December,” Ogunniyi said.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has arrested a Lagos-based socialite, Afolabi Kazeem, popularly known as KC Luxury, in connection with a 184.5kg cocaine consignment valued at about N39 billion.

Kazeem was arrested on August 13 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, while allegedly attempting to flee Nigeria for Paris on a business class flight.

The NDLEA Chairman, Buba Marwa, disclosed this on Tuesday during a press briefing, saying the socialite was arrested alongside Lawal Kehinde, an employee of a logistics company.

According to Marwa, the operation resulted in the largest cocaine seizure ever recorded from a courier company by the agency.

He said operatives arrested Kazeem at the boarding gate of the Lagos airport as he attempted to leave the country.

“This cartel leader did not walk into our custody voluntarily; he intended to flee the country on a business class flight to Paris. Our operatives apprehended him at the boarding gate of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, just as he attempted to escape the reach of the law,” Marwa said.

The NDLEA boss added that operatives recovered expensive jewellery, N100,000, £2,800 and €7,750 from Kazeem at the time of his arrest.

He further disclosed that exotic vehicles were also recovered from the suspect’s apartment in Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos.

The agency said the arrest and seizure formed part of its ongoing efforts to dismantle drug trafficking networks operating in the country.

The European Union has ruled out deploying a full election observation mission to Nigeria for the 2027 general elections, citing worsening insecurity and what it described as the hostile treatment of its observers and officials following the 2023 polls.

The decision brings to an end more than two decades of full-scale EU election observation missions to Nigeria.

The EU conveyed its position in response to a letter from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, inviting the bloc to observe the 2027 general elections.

In its correspondence, the EU reportedly cited the deteriorating security situation across the country and the treatment of its observers and officials after the publication of its final report on the 2023 elections as reasons for its decision.

Rather than the large-scale deployment seen in previous election cycles, the EU is expected to station only a small number of officials in Abuja to monitor developments and report back to Brussels.

Sources familiar with the correspondence said the number of officials could be about three.

There would be no deployment of long-term observers to the states, no short-term observers on election day and no chief observer, unlike previous EU election observation missions in Nigeria.

INEC had invited the EU to observe the 2027 elections, continuing a practice that has been in place since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999.

The EU observed Nigeria’s general elections in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023.

The 2023 mission was the bloc’s seventh election observation mission to Nigeria since 1999, according to its then chief observer and Irish member of the European Parliament, Barry Andrews.

For the 2023 elections, an 11-member core team of experts arrived in Abuja on January 11, six weeks before the presidential election.

The mission later deployed 40 long-term observers across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

Short-term observers were subsequently deployed ahead of election day, bringing the total number of accredited observers to 110 from the 25 EU member states, as well as Norway, Switzerland and Canada.

A delegation of the European Parliament also joined the mission for the presidential and National Assembly elections.

The observers remained in Nigeria until April 11, weeks after the February 25 presidential election and the March 18 governorship and state assembly polls.

The EU mission presented its final report in Abuja in June 2023, making 25 recommendations across six priority areas.

The report identified what the mission described as enduring systemic weaknesses in Nigeria’s electoral process and said shortcomings in electoral law and administration had hindered the conduct of well-run and inclusive elections while damaging public trust in INEC.

The report sparked protests at the EU delegation’s office in Abuja, with demonstrators accusing the bloc of interfering in Nigeria’s internal affairs and demanding the withdrawal of the report.

At the time, opposition figures and civil society groups alleged that the protests were sponsored by supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, an allegation that was denied.

The EU’s decision comes amid persistent security challenges across parts of the North-West and North-East, the Middle Belt and the South-East.

Sit-at-home enforcement and attacks on electoral facilities disrupted the conduct of the 2023 elections in several states.

Large-scale election observation missions require personnel to travel to polling units, including those in rural and remote communities where security support may be limited, making such deployments increasingly difficult.

The decision could have implications for international scrutiny of the 2027 elections, given the scale and duration of previous EU observation missions.

Other international bodies, including the National Democratic Institute, NDI, International Republican Institute, IRI, Commonwealth and African Union, have also observed elections in Nigeria, although none has matched the EU in the scale and duration of its presence, according to stakeholders.

The EU had committed €39 million in 2022 under the second phase of its Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria programme, covering the 2022 to 2027 electoral cycle.

It also committed a further €13 million specifically for technical support to INEC ahead of the 2023 elections.

However, the EU’s correspondence did not indicate whether its decision not to deploy a full observation mission for the 2027 polls would affect those funding arrangements.

The development could also raise concerns about the level of international scrutiny of the 2027 elections amid declining public confidence and voter participation.

Voter turnout in the 2023 presidential election stood at about 27 per cent, the lowest recorded since Nigeria returned to democratic rule in 1999.

Stakeholders have argued that the presence of credible international observers provides an additional layer of scrutiny and helps strengthen public confidence in the electoral process.

The 2027 general elections are scheduled for February, with INEC already making preparations, including continuous voter registration and a review of polling unit distribution.

When contacted, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Oketola Oriye, declined to comment, saying the information available to him was at variance with the claims.

Similarly, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kemiebi Ebiemfa, declined to comment. Messages sent to her active phone line were delivered but unanswered.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has alleged that the privacy of his banking information may have been breached after an unexplained payment was made into one of his personal bank accounts.

The 2027 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) made the allegation in a statement issued on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.

According to the statement, the transfer originated from an unidentified individual and was accompanied by the narration, “Contribution Electioneering Campaign.”

Atiku said neither he nor his campaign team requested, approved, or had prior knowledge of the payment, describing the transaction as unauthorised.

“Neither His Excellency nor his campaign solicited, authorised or has any knowledge of the individual or entity behind the unauthorised payment,” the statement said.

The former vice president expressed concern that the incident suggests his confidential banking details may have been exposed, raising questions about the security of his personal financial information.