Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian newspapers:
1. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has welcomed the International Chamber of Commerce, ICC, ruling on the $2.35 billion claim brought against Nigeria by Sunrise Power over the Mambilla hydropower project. The tribunal dismissed Sunrise Power’s claims against Nigeria and ordered the company and its promoter, Leno Adesanya, to reimburse the Nigerian government for 75 per cent of the legal fees and expenses it incurred in the arbitration.
2. Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has tackled the Federal Government over the cost-of-living crisis, asking how long it will take for citizens to endure it. In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described Nigeria’s worsening child malnutrition figures as one of the most disturbing manifestations of the country’s cost-of-living crisis.
3. A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday sentenced a South African woman identified as Jessica Ann to 25 years in prison for importing 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin into Nigeria. Justice Obiora Egwuatu convicted and sentenced Ann after she pleaded guilty to unlawfully importing the heroin. He stated that crime does not pay and that the law is not influenced by “emotions.”
4. No fewer than 20 persons, including women and children, are feared dead or trapped after an illegal mining pit collapsed on Thursday afternoon at Mayo-Kam community in Bali Local Government Area of Taraba State. The disaster occurred while artisanal miners were carrying out excavation activities at the site, triggering widespread panic and grief across the rural community.
5. The OK Movement, a political platform established to mobilise support for the joint ticket of the Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and his running mate, Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso, has put in place a 59-member Presidential Campaign Council comprising zonal and state coordinators. The group has also unveiled directors for mobilisation, women’s affairs, strategy, security, legal affairs and other key areas.
6. The Ogun I Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has seized contraband with a total Duty Paid Value of N2.469 billion between August and September, including a 2026 Range Rover Sport Autobiography P530 valued at N417.01 million. The acting Area Controller of the command, Deputy Comptroller Oladapo Afeni, disclosed this on Thursday during a press conference at the command’s headquarters in Idiroko, Ogun State.
7. The palace of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oyo State, is mourning the death of Baba, a tortoise believed to have lived for about 420 years and become a treasured relic of the ancient Oyo Kingdom. Baba reportedly died on Monday after falling ill and was later buried, bringing an end to what the palace described as a centuries-old presence that had survived through the reigns of successive Alaafins.
8. Governor Alex Otti of Abia State says he does not want to be a political godfather and has assured that, after his second tenure in 2031, his successor will be determined by Abia voters. Otti stated this at the Labour Party State Secretariat in Umuahia on Thursday when he formally received the 2023 governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Dr Ngozika Gladys Johnson-Chukwunenye, into the party.
9. The Nigeria Police Force has repatriated a Chinese national, Zhang Shijie, to China following his arrest in Nigeria over alleged large-scale smuggling of endangered African rosewood. Zhang was wanted by the Yangpu Sub-Bureau of the Anti-Smuggling Bureau of Haikou Customs District in China over allegations of involvement in the smuggling of about 1,400 tonnes of Pterocarpus erinaceus, commonly known as African rosewood.
10. Nigeria’s Falconets have reached the quarter-finals of the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup after beating England 3-0 in their Round of 16 clash in Poland on Thursday. Tosin Rafiu put Nigeria ahead in the eighth minute before Seimeyeha Janet Akekoromowei doubled the advantage shortly after half-time.
