...Leave Ekiti within 24 Hours, APC Tells Police Boss
Members of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ado-Ekiti were early Sunday, attacked by suspected People’s Democratic Party (PDP) thugs and mobile Policemen led by the State Mopol Commander, Selenkere Michael.
The attack resulted in the death of an APC member from ward 12 in Ado-Ekiti while several others were seriously injured.
The APC members, who were led by the Interim Chairman of the party, Chief Jide Awe, had gathered at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in the state capital for a sensitisation rally round the major streets of the town.
The peaceful procession turned bloody when mobile policemen led by Selenkere, an indigene of Bayelsa State, pounced on the APC members with tear-gas and gun shots.
One APC member, who was shot in the head by the Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mopol lost his life in the process while many sustained varying degrees of injuries. Three APC campaign buses were badly damaged while the Commissioner for Integration and Inter-governmental Affairs, Mr. Funminiyi Afuye, a lawyer, was assaulted and arrested.
Also, everyone wearing APC branded t-shirts in sight were arrested by the Police. This emboldened PDP thugs who were given, police protection, to unleash terror on APC members in sight.
Awe and two members of the National Assembly from the state, Senator Babafemi Ojudu and Hon. Oyetunde Ojo, who were part of the rally, tried to dialogue with the OC Mopol, but he shrugged them off, warning that he was acting on orders and would not hesitate to shoot them.
The Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, arrived the scene where the rally had earlier been disrupted 45 minutes later to intervene, but was also tear-gassed and his convoy shot at by mobile policemen.
Selenkere was involved in an altercation with the governor, saying he had orders from above and threatened that he could even arrest the governor. For more than an hour, the mobile policemen shot in the direction of the governor's convoy, while the OC Mopol kept uttering obscenities, one of which was that President Goodluck Jonathan is his brother and that he was protecting his interest.
When told that the governor was in the convoy under attack, the OC Mopol, in apparent fit of anger, retorted that “Who is the governor when the Vice President is in town? I am acting on orders; I can arrest the governor.”
During the attack, one of the governor's security aides was hit by tear-gas canister, he was seriously wounded in the process, while the windshield of the governor's official vehicle was also damaged.
Ekiti State Police Commissioner, Mr. Felix Iyanna, surfaced over an hour later after he was reportedly intimated of the action of his OC Mopol by the governor.
Apologising profusely, Iyanna denied knowledge of the OC Mopol’s action.
"I am here to protect you," Iyanna told the governor.
But the governor expressed doubt at the Police commissioner’s assurance.
"You are here to protect me and your men were shooting at me. I am the Chief Security Officer of this state and your men were firing at me. You have killed someone now! You have killed someone! Whose interest are you protecting? Whose interest are you protecting?" asked the governor who could not hide his disdain and anger at the top of his voice.
Ojudu said the presidency was desperate to impose Fayose on Ekiti people.
"They want to impose Fayose on us. We will not allow this! We will fight back," Ojudu warned.
Awe and the Director-General of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation, Hon. Bimbo Daramola, later jointly addressed a press conference where both the Commissioner of Police and OC Mopol were given 24 hours to leave the state, otherwise the people may be tempted to rise against them.
Awe said he, Ojudu and Ojo tried to no end, to dialogue with the OC Mopol whose eyes were bloodshot and was clearly out of control.
"He warned us that he was not ready to listen to us and that it was the order of Mr. President that we should disperse. We wanted to dialogue with him but he replied us with bullets. One of his bullets hit one of our members and the person died immediately. Three of our vehicles were badly damaged,” Ojudu said.
"The governor came about 45 minutes later and got his own treatment. One of his security aides was forcefully arrested by the OC Mopol who struggled to snatch his gun from him. All efforts to reason with the OC Mopol failed. He went ahead to tear-gas the governor who stood his ground.
The trio told pressmen at the conference that even if the Mopol Commander has the order of the president, the governor of Ekiti still holds sway in his state.
“The governor called the Commissioner of Police who reluctantly came an hour later. We have been hearing this...The information at our disposal is that the June 21 election in Ekiti is not just going to be against the PDP, but against the Police and the Nigerian Army,” they disclosed.
"What we witnessed this morning has confirmed this. That is why we are calling on Nigerians to prevail on the President. He was here yesterday (Saturday). While leaving, he stationed some of his men here. “
Awe said if the president wanted to go to war, he should go to Chibok to battle Boko Haram.
"When a good president visits, it is to commission people-oriented projects. That is not the case with President Jonathan. He was here yesterday (Saturday) to commission his men to kill Ekiti people. We advise him to go to Chibok if he wants to wage war. If they are looking for a state to hijack, it is not Ekiti. If we are forced to the wall, we will bite,” Awe said.
"We use this medium to tell the Police Commissioner and the OC Mopol, who have been instructed to shoot Ekiti people and who have demonstrated that this morning to leave Ekiti State within 24 hours. The people's army are greater than the Police or the Nigerian Army. The nonchalant attitude of the commissioner is to say the least unfortunate. If we are going for election in 14 days' time and we are witnessing this, it is unfortunate."
Daramola recalled how the OC Mopol had harassed three members of the APC who were arrested a couple of months ago in their cells.
His words: "You would recall that I said that this same OC Mopol, not only is he from Bayelsa, not only is he well-acquainted with Mr. President, he also went into the cell to tell these people that he has a matching order to hunt us down. The experience of our people this morning has shown that there is a script. They even said they anticipated that we would come out this morning. We call on Mr. President to be indeed responsible. Leadership demands responsibility.
"We are used to adversity. Nobody should test our will. Neither Selenkere nor President Jonathan has a stake in Ekiti."
It would be recalled that Vice President Namadi Sambo at a PDP gathering in Abuja had few weeks ago said his party was going to the war front in Ekiti and Osun states.
It was said that the Vice President waited behind in Ado-Ekiti after the Satrurday's PDP rally where he reportedly spent the night in a hotel.
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The EFCC chairman, Olu Olukoyede, however, said that after concluding the investigation, he invited Eze, who is also the convener of the New Season Prophetic
Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has said that he investigated the Lead Pastor of Streams of Joy International, Jerry Eze, for six months for alleged money laundering.
Olukoyede disclosed this at the Jerry Eze Foundation Business Grant Award Ceremony in Abuja on Wednesday.
He said that the agency observed that there was a domiciliary account where dollars and pounds were “dropping like raindrops” from different countries.
“I am going to embarrass you today. I never wanted to say it, but I just felt that was my little way of making this contribution.
“I investigated this man for six months for money laundering. We work by intelligence, we work by petitions.
“At some point, there was an account, a domiciliary account; dollars, pounds were dropping like raindrops from Colombia, from America, from Sri Lanka, even from Togo.
“I said, ‘Who is this man?’ Yes, I have been hearing about his name. I have seen his face a couple of times. I never bothered about what he was doing; he is a pastor,” Olukoyede said.
“So, they said it’s one Pastor Jerry Eze of Streams of Joy. Go and investigate him. So, we went into investigation; we combed the books. Yes, we saw the money coming in.
“So, my investigating officer came to me one day and said, ‘Sir, this is the preliminary report.’ I said I would like to see this man. Go and invite him.
“So, he (Eze) came to my office. I saw him. I had seen that face, but I didn’t know it was him, because I saw somebody who came in with baggy trousers, a T-shirt, and some punk with a parting.
“I was almost going to say, ‘Go and call your pastor, my friend; go and bring your bishop,’” the EFCC chief said.
Olukoyede, however, said that after concluding the investigation, he invited Eze, who is also the Convener of the New Season Prophetic Prayers and Declarations (NSPPD), and commended him.
“So, he told me what happens, how the money came, and how he has been helping people and all of that. I told him, ‘I didn’t call you here to explain to me. We’ve already done our work. I called you here to commend you,” he added.
Olukoyede said that the EFCC also has a preventive mandate, adding that the agency should also identify with righteous people with integrity.
The EFCC chairman urged him to continue to keep his hands clean, because the anti-graft agency, according to him, “will always come for you”.
“The only thing that is remaining now is to give you a letter of validation, but I’m not going to give you because I’ll still continue to monitor your finances,” he told the pastor.
News
Lagos, Nigeria – April 2026 – United Bank for Africa Plc, leading Pan-African financial institution, has released its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026, demonstrating resilient operating performance and continued balance sheet strength despite a moderated profitability environment.
Gross earnings increased by 5% to ₦801.5 billion, driven by growth across key revenue lines. Interest income also rose 6.9% to ₦641.1 billion, while non-interest income grew 17.3% to ₦137.1 billion, highlighting the Group’s expanding and diversified revenue base.
Net interest income advanced 10.5% to ₦383.7 billion, supporting a 12.2% increase in operating income to ₦520.8 billion, demonstrating sustained momentum across core banking operations.
UBA recorded notable improvement in key profitability and efficiency metrics, reflecting a more sustainable earnings profile.
While return on average equity rose to 13.7%, return on assets improved to 1.77%, signalling stronger earnings efficiency. Cost of risk declined significantly to 2.02%, underscoring improved asset quality and disciplined risk management. Cost of funds moderated to 3.73% from 3.83% in Dec 2025, reflecting improvement in funding cost.
Profit before tax moderated to ₦160.7 billion, while profit after tax moderated to ₦146.6 billion, representing declines of 21.4% and 22.8% respectively, consistent with the Group’s guidance on earnings normalisation.
The bank also did well in maintaining a strong and resilient balance sheet with total assets of ₦33.1 trillion and customer deposits of ₦26.2 trillion.
Commenting on the results, Group Managing Director/CEO, Oliver Alawuba, said: “UBA’s Q1 2026 performance underscores the strength of our diversified Pan-African model and the resilience of our core banking franchises. While profitability has moderated in line with our expectations for a transition year, we are seeing strong underlying momentum across our markets, supported by improved earnings quality and disciplined risk management.
Our continued investments in digital capabilities and regional expansion are enhancing revenue resilience and positioning the Group for sustainable long-term growth. We remain firmly committed to driving financial inclusion, enabling intra-African trade, and delivering superior value to our stakeholders.”
Also speaking, Executive Director, Finance & Risk Management, Ugo Nwaghodoh, added: “The Group’s Q1 performance reflects a deliberate shift towards a more sustainable and scalable earnings profile following our successful recapitalisation. Key profitability indicators, including return on equity and return on assets, show improvement on a year-to-date basis, despite the normalisation of headline earnings. Our balance sheet remains robust, supported by a diversified funding base and disciplined loan growth. With stable funding costs and improving asset quality, we are well positioned to drive operating leverage and long-term value creation.”
UBA expects 2026 to remain a transition year characterised by continued investment in digital transformation and operational scalability; strengthened risk management and provisioning frameworks; enhanced focus on high-quality, sustainable earnings and deeper penetration across African markets.
The Group remains strongly capitalised, highly liquid, and strategically positioned to execute its long-term growth agenda.
United Bank for Africa Plc is a leading Pan-African financial institution, serving over 45 million customers through 1,000 business offices and customer touchpoints in 20 African countries. With operations in New York, London, Paris, and Dubai, UBA connects people and businesses across Africa through retail, commercial, and corporate banking, payments, trade finance, and cross-border solutions.
Business
In The Spotlight
Once upon a time, elections in Nigeria were fought in town halls, party secretariats, and the noisy arenas of Abuja and Lagos where political legitimacy was earned through persuasion, coalition building, and the unpredictable alchemy of Nigerian democracy. Today, the political class has discovered a more glamorous battlefield and a grotesque new theatre has emerged: Nigerian politicians now conducts its fiercest battles not at home, but in Washington, London, Brussels, and any foreign capital willing to rent out its influence for a fee. What used to be a domestic contest for legitimacy has mutated into a transcontinental lobbying war; one that threatens not only Nigeria’s sovereignty but the very idea that Nigerians, not foreign policymakers, should determine their own future.
The latest episode - Atiku Abubakar’s $1.2 million contract with the Washington lobbying firm Von Batten–Montague–York, illustrates the scale of the problem. According to publicly available filings, the firm is tasked with “counterbalancing” the Nigerian government’s messaging in Washington, briefing members of Congress, shaping US policy narratives, and even taking concerns about INEC’s internal decisions directly to President Donald Trump. This is not subtle diplomacy. It is a direct appeal to a foreign power to intervene in Nigeria’s internal affairs. And Atiku is not alone. Abuja itself has long maintained its own lobbying presence in Washington.
The implications for Nigerian sovereignty are profound. When political actors outsource legitimacy to foreign capitals, they implicitly concede that domestic institutions - INEC, the courts, the legislature - are insufficient arbiters of political competition. Every time a Nigerian politician hires a K Street firm to “shape narratives,” they reinforce the perception that Nigeria’s democratic institutions are too weak, too compromised, or too distrusted to manage their own affairs. This is not merely embarrassing. It is dangerous. Foreign governments, including the United States, act according to their own interests. Their priorities - counterterrorism, energy security, migration, geopolitical competition - rarely align neatly with Nigeria’s democratic aspirations. When Nigerian politicians invite foreign actors into the electoral arena, they risk turning domestic politics into a bargaining chip in someone else’s strategic calculus.
The internationalization of Nigerian elections is unmistakable. Nigerian elections are no longer fought solely in Abuja, where institutions are contested; Lagos, where money and media converge; Kano, Port Harcourt, Enugu, where political blocs mobilize. They are now fought in Washington, through lobbyists and congressional briefings; London, through diplomatic signaling and media narratives; Brussels, through human rights reports and EU statements, and global think tanks, which increasingly shape elite opinion. This internationalization is not inherently new. Nigeria has always been entangled in global politics, but the scale and brazenness are unprecedented. Lobbying contracts worth millions, public statements aimed at foreign leaders, and strategic leaks to international media have become routine tools of political warfare.
Three forces drive this trend. First, elite signaling: Nigerian elites - governors, financiers, power brokers, watch Washington closely. A photo op with a US senator or a favorable mention in a congressional report can shift alliances faster than any manifesto. Second, institutional distrust: When domestic institutions are perceived as compromised, politicians seek validation abroad. This is a symptom of democratic fragility, not strength. Third, narrative power: International narratives shape domestic legitimacy. A critical report from a foreign government can damage a candidate more than any local scandal. But the revelation that Atiku’s lobbyists intend to brief President Trump directly on Nigeria’s internal political disputes marks a new frontier. It suggests that Nigerian actors now view foreign leaders not merely as observers but as potential arbiters of domestic political legitimacy. Even if Trump takes no action; and there is no evidence he will, the symbolism is corrosive. It signals to Nigerians that their political destiny is being negotiated in rooms they cannot enter, in conversations they cannot hear, by actors they did not elect.
It would be naïve to pretend that only opposition figures engage in this behavior. Successive Nigerian governments have spent millions on lobbying firms to burnish their image abroad, counter criticism, and influence foreign policy circles. Abuja’s own lobbying footprint in Washington is well documented. The Tinubu administration entered a significant lobbying contract with the DCI Group in Washington DC, with payments totaling $9 million per annum. The lobbying effort is designed to improve the image of the Nigerian government, particularly in countering reports of religious persecution and Christian killings, which led to the US designating Nigeria as a "country of particular concern." An initial $4.5 million was paid as an upfront retainer. Thus, the problem is not partisan. It is systemic.
The result is a grotesque spectacle: Nigerian factions fighting proxy battles on American soil, each hoping that a congressional hearing, a think tank panel, or a raised eyebrow from a US official will tilt the balance of power back home. Every time a Nigerian politician hires a foreign lobbying firm to “shape narratives,” they send a clear message: Nigeria’s institutions are not trusted to referee Nigeria’s politics. This is not merely a symbolic problem. It is a structural one. When domestic actors outsource legitimacy to foreign capitals, they weaken INEC’s authority, judicial independence, public trust in elections, and the principle that Nigerians, not foreign policymakers, should determine Nigeria’s future.
The cost to democracy and the consequences are severe; not the least of which is the delegitimization of domestic institutions. If foreign capitals become the ultimate referees, INEC’s authority erodes. Courts lose credibility. Elections become performative rather than decisive. Besides, it can engender voter alienation. Ordinary Nigerians, already skeptical of political elites, see foreign lobbying as proof that elections are elite games played on foreign turf. In addition, there is policy distortion. When foreign approval becomes a political asset, leaders prioritize external optics over domestic needs. Finally, there is sovereignty erosion. A nation that allows foreign actors to shape its electoral outcomes, directly or indirectly, risks becoming a client state in all but name.
Foreign governments can issue statements, hold hearings, or express concern. But they cannot, and should not determine Nigeria’s political future. The real contest will still be decided by economic performance, institutional credibility, voter mobilization, coalition building, and public dissatisfaction or approval. No amount of lobbying can substitute for legitimacy earned at home. Nigeria’s political class must rediscover a basic democratic principle: sovereignty is not merely territorial; it is political. A sovereign nation does not subcontract its political disputes to foreign capitals. It resolves them through its own institutions, however imperfect. If Nigerian leaders want stronger institutions, they must build them. If they want international respect, they must earn it domestically. And if they want credible elections, they must stop treating foreign governments as political referees. Until then, Nigeria’s democracy will remain vulnerable; not because of foreign interference alone, but because its own leaders keep inviting it.
Opinions
In The Spotlight
When President Bola Tinubu announced that Nigeria would extend the 2025 budget implementation deadline to June 30, 2026, three months beyond the original March 31 closure, the decision barely registered as a scandal.
Instead, it was packaged as practical governance: a mere extension to “allow for full utilisation of funds for ongoing infrastructure projects.”
But within 48 hours, three events revealed the ruse: Tinubu fired Finance Minister Wale Edun. Just hours later, on April 23, he requested Senate approval for another $516.3 million external loan.
Read together, these moves tell a story of institutional collapse so profound it should terrify every Nigerian who believes governance matters.
Edun’s removal was not sudden. According to Premium Times’ exclusive reporting, tension between Tinubu and Edun stemmed from “widespread complaints about low capital budget releases and slow budget planning,” which had “serially disrupted the country’s January-to-December budget cycle.”
In February, lawmakers accused Edun of recording “zero implementation” of the 2025 capital budget despite approving N1.15 trillion for capital components.
By December 2025, tensions erupted. At a Federal Executive Council meeting, Edun and Tinubu allegedly clashed so severely over capital releases that a presidential aide had to advise the Minister against raising his voice at the president.
One official present said, “From that point, it seemed that his goose was cooked.”
We know better now: Edun was not fired for releasing money recklessly. He was fired for not releasing it. He had resisted the “unsustainable” practice of “printing money” to pay contractors and instead prioritised debt servicing.
In a government committed to borrowing without limit, Edun represented a constraint. Now, that constraint is gone.
On April 23, Tinubu requested Senate approval for a $516.3 million external loan for the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway.
This loan, like many before it, was swiftly approved by a Senate that has abandoned any pretence of fiscal scrutiny.
This follows a pattern that alarmed even opposition figures.
In early April, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar issued a searing critique after the Senate approved $6 billion in external loans in less than four hours.
The loans comprised $5 billion from Abu Dhabi Bank (for budget deficit coverage and debt financing) and $1 billion from London Citi Bank (for port rehabilitation).
Four hours. For $6 billion. Not even the most elementary debate.
Atiku condemned the Senate for reducing itself to “a conveyor belt, processing requests of grave national consequence without due diligence. Borrowing decisions that will bind generations yet unborn cannot, and must not, be treated with this level of casual urgency.”
What emerges is not disorganisation but a deliberate strategy: approve massive budgets, execute them poorly, extend deadlines to hide execution failure, and request external loans continuously, not to finance new infrastructure, but to service existing debt and plug gaps created by poor spending.
According to theWorld Bank data cited by Atiku, Nigeria’s exposure to the International Development Association had risen to $18.7 billion by February 2026, placing the country among the largest recipients of concessional loans globally.
In March, while Edun was still nominally Finance Minister, the government requested an additional $6 billion in external borrowing, even as the Debt Management Office pursued aggressive domestic borrowing through high-volume bond auctions.
The math is inescapable: Nigeria is now borrowing not to invest in growth, but to service prior borrowing.
Few writers can claim to have criticised Atiku more than myself in the past two decades, but he is certainly correct on this one: “Resorting to fresh borrowing to service existing debts, plug budget gaps, and meet routine obligations…reflects a troubling absence of fiscal discipline, clear prioritisation, and sustainable economic planning.”
Atiku posed the critical question: “What does a government that appears to be preparing for electoral rejection in 2027 intend to do with an additional $6 billion in borrowed funds, on top of the mounting obligations it has already accumulated in just the first quarter of 2026?”
This is why Edun’s removal makes perfect sense: He was an obstacle to a borrowing drive on steroids.
His insistence on debt servicing, his resistance to “printing money,” his refusal to release capital budgets when execution capacity was nil, all these made him expendable.
His firing signals that the path is now clear: borrow continuously, execute sporadically, extend budgets infinitely, and rotate out any official who asks uncomfortable questions.
If budget execution failure was the genuine problem, two evidence-based policies could have addressed it without the fiction of extension deadlines.
Policy One: Use-It-or-Lose-It Reversion with Mandatory Public Inquiry:
Under this mechanism, any funds unspent by March 31 would revert to a centralised contingency account, jointly overseen by the Budget Office and National Assembly. Before reallocation, these reverted funds would trigger mandatory public inquiry: Which ministries failed? Were procurement processes broken? Was deliberate underspending occurring to preserve cash for debt service?
This creates real consequences for non-performance and makes execution discipline a matter of institutional reputation. Several nations use variants of this approach. The result is visible accountability, and that visibility itself creates incentive for improvement.
Policy Two: Quarterly Budget Reviews with Automatic Reallocation:
Every 90 days, the Budget Office would assess spending velocity. Ministries on track continue spending; underperforming ministries have allocations immediately reallocated to performers. The underperforming ministry must justify failure publicly, in writing.
This makes execution visible in real-time. It rewards actual performance rather than optimistic projections. Ministries and contractors would have every incentive to execute, because underperformance is immediately visible and immediately punished through reallocation.
Budgetary discipline is foundational to democracy. When a government can spend money on undefined timelines under invisible oversight with no consequences for failure, it has exempted itself from accountability.
The National Assembly becomes ceremonial, as exemplified by the current one under Godswill Akpabio. Citizens lose the baseline to measure whether tax revenue was wasted or stolen.
In an election year, this matters intensely. A government seeking re-election should demonstrate efficiency and disciplined execution. Instead, the pattern—budget extension, Finance Minister removal, serial loan requests, Senate approval in hours, signals an administration so insulated from consequences that it need not demonstrate competence at all.
Atiku stated it plainly, “Nigeria is not a private enterprise to be leveraged at will. The future of our nation cannot be signed away in a matter of hours.”
He was right. That future is being mortgaged systematically, with institutional blessing. And the real scandal is that the one official who stood between the presidency and unlimited borrowing authority has been removed.
Between Tinubu, Akpabio and the man for whom the president holds out the federal hat, …Chagoury, it is party time at Aso Rock.
Now, Nigerians learn the truth, not because Edun is gone, but because of that “Anybody else?” glance around the room.
This moment is another reminder that, unlike every successful nation or endeavour, Nigeria is not run by rules or regulations, patriotism or principle.