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The Big Story
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APC Adds Wike, Soludo and Adeleke to Tinubu’s Campaign Council
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“…the re-election of Mr President should not just be APC” Nyesom Wike [Vanguard] |
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The All Progressives Congress (APC) has expanded President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 campaign council to include three figures from outside the party. Nyesom Wike, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister and a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), will coordinate the campaign in Rivers and the FCT. Governor Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) takes Anambra, and Governor Ademola Adeleke, re-elected in August under the Accord party, takes Osun. The revised list also names all 32 APC governors as coordinators in their states, makes Senate President Godswill Akpabio and House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas deputy vice-chairmen, and adds 14 advisers. Tinubu inaugurates the council at the presidential villa on Wednesday. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) opened campaigns on 19 August, and the window runs to 14 January 2027. Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) are among the other major contenders. [TheCable]
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What Else Is Happening
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US Places Nigeria on Child Soldiers Prevention Act List
The United States has placed Nigeria among 14 countries on its 2026 Child Soldiers Prevention Act list, which names governments whose forces or supported militias recruit or use child soldiers. The listing can restrict some US military training, financing and equipment sales unless President Donald Trump grants a waiver. Premium Times noted that it does not establish that Nigeria’s military recruits children. [Premium Times]
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FG Defends Lagos-Calabar Highway Route Change as Critics Ask Questions
Works Minister Dave Umahi said the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is being realigned because of flooding and climate risks, using the existing East-West Road from the Ondo boundary into Edo instead of a new coastal route. Senior Advocate Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa asked Tinubu to say which coastal communities will be bypassed, and Atiku Abubakar alleged lawmakers are under pressure to approve a loan of up to $20 billion linked to the project. [Guardian]
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Dangote Refinery Reports $4.73 Billion Nine-Month Profit After Last Year’s Loss
Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE reported a net profit of $4.73 billion for the nine months to 30 September, against a net loss of $117.2 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 144.47% to $22.48 billion, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) reached $5.52 billion from $627.6 million. The refinery moved from net debt of $1.73 billion to net cash of $650.8 million. The results are unaudited. [Nairametrics]
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Bandits Kill at Least 22, Including Four Soldiers, in Zamfara
At least 22 people, including four soldiers, were killed in a bandit ambush on Sunday along the Gwashi-Nassarawa axis of Bukkuyum Local Government Area in Zamfara State, according to local lawmaker Hamisu Faru and the military’s Operation Fansan Yamma. Separately, more than 400 residents fled three communities in Maru after attacks in which over 12 vehicles were burned, and bandits imposed a NGN50 million levy on the communities. [Guardian]
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Market Watch
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The naira weakened marginally, with the official rate at NGN1,332.97 per dollar on 13 October, up 0.06% from NGN1,332.20 on 12 October. It is still down 9.63% 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 fell 0.09% to 247,513.63 on 13 October from 247,736.24 on 12 October, and is up 59.06% since 31 December 2025. [NGX Group] Investors lost NGN144.54 billion in value as the banking index slipped 0.79%, according to Nairametrics. [Nairametrics]
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Nigeria pumped 1.53 million barrels of crude oil a day in September, up 2.0% from 1.50 million in August, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). It stayed within its OPEC production quota, the limit on how much each member can pump, for a fifth month running. Third-quarter output averaged 1.512 million barrels a day, below the second quarter’s 1.525 million. [Nairametrics]
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Quick Hits
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| → Nigeria has been elected to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council for a three-year term starting 1 January 2027, one of 15 countries chosen by the UN General Assembly. The 47-member council can investigate abuses and make recommendations, but cannot enforce them. [Premium Times] |
| → A Federal High Court in Abuja fixed 20 November to rule on Atiku Abubakar’s bid to amend his suit seeking to disqualify Tinubu from the 2027 election over an alleged forged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate. Tinubu, the APC and INEC oppose it. [Vanguard] |
| → Nigeria’s Super Falcons beat Comoros 5-0 in Ikenne to win their Olympic qualifier 7-0 on aggregate, and will face Morocco in the third round in March 2027. Toni Payne and Uchenna Kanu scored twice each. [Pulse Sports] |
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On a Lighter Note
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ARISE News Drops Analyst Anthony Kila After Premium Times Credentials Investigation. ARISE News said analyst Anthony Kila will no longer appear on its channel after a Premium Times investigation alleged he falsified his academic credentials. The network said he asked for more time after being contacted on 3 October and had not responded ten days later, so his contributions were “no longer tenable.” [ThisDay]
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Why It Matters
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A highway planned along the coast will now use an existing inland road for part of its route, and communities that depend on the water for fishing and transport are asking whether it will reach them at all. Today has other examples of that distance between a decision and the people it was meant for. In Zamfara, more than 400 residents fled three communities after attacks, and the bandits still demanded NGN50 million from them. Nigeria won a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council on the same day the United States listed it over child soldiers, a listing that does not say the military recruits children but could limit training and equipment sales. A refinery reports a $4.73 billion profit, the naira holds near NGN1,333 and oil output stays inside its quota. Those are real numbers. None of them shows what reaches a household’s fare, rent or light bill. Each is a decision that looks different from where it is made than from where it lands.
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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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