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The Big Story
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Inflation Slows to 14.63% in September, but Core Prices Are Rising
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Nigeria’s headline inflation rate fell to 14.63% in September from 15.39% in August, the National Bureau of Statistics said, the fourth monthly decline in a row. A year ago it was 20.98%, so the rate has fallen 6.35 percentage points. Prices rose just 0.06% on the month, against 0.71% in August. Food inflation, the yearly rise in food prices, stood at 19.59%, but food prices fell 1.55% from August, helped by cheaper grains, rice, eggs, onions, palm oil, vegetables, potatoes, plantain and tomatoes. The picture is less comfortable underneath. Core inflation, which leaves out food and energy, rose 1.11% on the month after a 0.06% fall in August, and urban prices rose 0.53% while rural prices fell 0.89%. Annual core inflation was 12.95%, down from 22.11% a year earlier. Urban inflation stood at 15.64% a year, against 12.46% in rural areas. The average food inflation rate over the 12 months to September was 15.72%, down from 28.37% a year earlier. [Nairametrics]
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What Else Is Happening
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NLC Rejects FG’s Reply to Its 14-Day Ultimatum on Pay and Fuel Prices
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) rejected the Federal Government’s response to its 14-day ultimatum in a letter dated 13 October. The government says the NGN70,000 minimum wage is not due for review until 1 June 2027. The NLC argues a review is already overdue and wants talks to start by 17 October, along with a petrol price cut, tax relief and a wage award. The letter does not declare a strike. [Vanguard]
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93% of Children Hit by Diphtheria Outbreaks Were Not Fully Vaccinated
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) said about 93% of children affected by recent diphtheria outbreaks had not had the full vaccine doses, and some had none or only one of the three recommended doses. Executive Director Muyi Aina said misinformation and false rumours are keeping some families away from vaccination, and that the vaccines are available. [Premium Times]
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FG Opens Fresh Round of Mass Trials for Terrorism Suspects
The Federal Government began a new round of mass trials of terrorism suspects at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, before eight judges in separate courtrooms. Thirty-four defendants were listed before one judge and 25 before another, and hearings are expected to run for a few days. The two earlier rounds, in April and June, ended in about 386 and 479 convictions. [Premium Times]
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Nigerians Spent $1.44 Billion on Foreign Education in First Half of 2026
Nigerians spent $1.44 billion on education-related travel abroad in the first half of 2026, up 3.51% from $1.39 billion a year earlier, according to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) balance of payments data analysed by Nairametrics. That was 50.5% of all travel-related foreign exchange outflows of $2.85 billion, and more than four times the $341.28 million spent on medical travel. Spending rose in the first quarter and fell in the second. [Nairametrics]
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Market Watch
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The naira strengthened marginally, with the official rate at NGN1,331.61 per dollar on 15 October, down 0.07% from NGN1,332.59 on 14 October, and down 9.72% from NGN1,475.00 on 31 December 2025, so a dollar costs fewer naira than at the start of the year. [CBN]
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The NGX All-Share Index rose 0.01% to 247,707.13 on 15 October from 247,673.65 on 14 October, and is up 59.18% since 31 December 2025. [NGX Group] Investors gained NGN21.74 billion in value, lifted by Aradel Holdings, up 7.14% to NGN1,499.90, according to Nairametrics. [Nairametrics]
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The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), which meets monthly to divide the revenue the government collects, shared NGN2.43 trillion for September: NGN832.24 billion to the federal government, NGN799.87 billion to states and NGN560.66 billion to local councils, with oil-producing states getting NGN236.05 billion more as derivation. Revenue from oil and other statutory sources rose 8.6% from August, while value-added tax (VAT) fell 2.2%. [Nairametrics]
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Quick Hits
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| → Repairs on Lagos Island’s Independence Bridge begin at night on Friday and run through Sunday, with each section partly closed in turn and one lane kept open. The Lagos State Government urged motorists to plan alternative routes, and traffic officers will manage movement. [Nairametrics] |
| → The First Niger Bridge between Onitsha and Asaba reopened on Thursday after 38 days of closure, following repairs to vandalised steelwork around its expansion joints. The closure ran more than three weeks past its 21 September target because of heavy rain. [Vanguard] |
| → Senators declared the Senate presidency seat for the next assembly “not vacant” and backed Godswill Akpabio’s return in a voice vote on Thursday. The 11th Senate will be inaugurated in June 2027, after the general elections. [Premium Times] |
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On a Lighter Note
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Spotify Brings Audiobooks to Nigeria. Spotify has brought audiobooks to Nigeria, so a Lagos go-slow can now double as story time. Free and Premium users can add Audiobooks+, which gives 15 hours of listening a month for NGN2,300, and Nigerian authors and publishers can upload their own titles through Spotify for Authors. [Pulse Nigeria]
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Why It Matters
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Prices fell in September, and the market stall may not show it yet. Food cost 1.55% less than in August, helped by cheaper rice, eggs, tomatoes and palm oil, but it still costs 19.59% more than a year ago. Underneath, core prices, which leave out food and energy, rose 1.11% in a month. That is the squeeze the Nigeria Labour Congress describes when it says the NGN70,000 minimum wage has lost value. It wants talks on a new one to start now, while the government says the law sets June 2027. Elsewhere in the numbers, Nigerians spent $1.44 billion on education abroad in six months, more than four times what they spent on medical travel. And one health risk is simpler to fix than most: 93% of the children hit by diphtheria were not fully vaccinated, and the vaccines are available. The headline rate has now fallen four months in a row, while food prices are still about a fifth higher than a year ago.
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Elsewhere Today
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World Food Day is marked every 16 October, with people in nearly 150 countries taking part, and this year’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) theme is “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow.” [FAO] In Nigeria, a ThisDay column by food manufacturer Oluyemi Oloyede, of Chivita Hollandia, notes the country ranks 115th of 123 on this year’s Global Hunger Index and loses an estimated 35 to 40 million tonnes of food a year, often before it reaches buyers, because of weak storage, transport and cold chains. He points to a tomato scheme in Kaduna State that links about 500 smallholder farmers to a processor and plans to reach 1,500. [ThisDay]
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Produced with AI assistance using open-source web content. Edited by Tomiwa Afolabi. Sources have not been independently verified by Frontier Brief Media. Readers are encouraged to consult original sources before acting on any information herein.
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