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The Big Story
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Tinubu Returns to Nigeria After Four-Week Working Vacation
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“I’m healthy, ready to work.” President Bola Tinubu
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President Bola Tinubu returned to Nigeria on Tuesday evening after four weeks abroad on a working vacation that began 30 August, first in London and later in Paris. His plane landed in Lagos at about 6:22pm, where he was received by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Deputy Senate President, and the governors of Kwara and Lagos states. Responding to a journalist's question about his health, Tinubu dismissed concerns as rumour, saying rumour will always emanate from politics. The presidency said he chose to land in Lagos first to honour the memory of MKO Abiola, and that he will attend a film premiere on Independence Day before holding political meetings ahead of 2027. His absence had drawn scrutiny for exceeding the original three week schedule and for a third consecutive missed UN General Assembly, with Vice President Kashim Shettima again representing Nigeria at the 81st UNGA. [Premium Times] [Premium Times]
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What Else Is Happening
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National Assembly Extends 2025 Capital Budget Deadline to December 31
The House of Representatives approved a fourth extension of the deadline for implementing the capital component of the 2025 budget, from 30 September to 31 December, following a motion by majority leader Julius Ihonvbere. Senate leader Opeyemi Bamidele said the extension protects ongoing public investments and allows ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to complete procurement and project rollout. The deadline has now moved four times in less than a year. [TheCable]
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Anti-Graft Agencies Begin Financial Crime Stocktake Ahead of 2027 Evaluation
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) began a three day review of Nigeria's readiness for the 2027 Financial Action Task Force (FATF) mutual evaluation, a year after exiting the FATF grey list. EFCC chairman Ola Olukoyede warned it is unimaginable that Nigeria returns to the grey list, while NFIU officials said assessors will examine effectiveness, not just laws on paper. [Premium Times]
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Dangote Defiant After Kenyan Court Halts Lamu Refinery Construction
Aliko Dangote reacted to a Malindi Environment and Land Court order suspending construction at his proposed $17 billion Lamu refinery, after 133 Chandavai residents challenged the project over ancestral land claims. “We don't care, we are ready for them,” Dangote said at an investor event in Nairobi, comparing the case to a year long factory shutdown his group faced in Senegal. The court is due to give further direction on 14 October. [Nairametrics]
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State Oil Firm's Profit Rises 33% to NGN7.2trn in 2025 Despite Revenue Decline
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited's profit after tax rose to NGN7.2 trillion in 2025 from NGN5.4 trillion in 2024, even as revenue fell 24% to NGN34.5 trillion on lower crude prices and reduced fuel volumes after 2024's market deregulation. Crude oil and condensate output reached a five year high of 1.77 million barrels per day, and the company declared a NGN5.8 trillion dividend, up 35% from the prior year. [Nairametrics]
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1,800 Delegates From 54 African Countries Head to Abuja for Raw Materials Summit
The Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) said 1,800 delegates from 54 African countries will attend the second African Raw Materials Summit (ARMS) in Abuja on 19 and 20 October, themed “From African Feedstock to African Factories.” Director general Nnanyelugo Ike Muonso said Nigeria's subsoil alone holds over $582.4 billion in documented natural resources, and pointed to a pending Raw Materials 30% Mandatory Value Addition Bill as key to local processing. [Guardian]
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Market Watch
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The naira strengthened slightly to NGN1,330.47 per dollar on 29 September from NGN1,331.33 on 28 September, a 0.06% gain, holding well inside its recent narrow trading band of roughly NGN1,330 to NGN1,332. [CBN]
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The NGX All-Share Index fell 0.26% to 251,913.20 on 29 September from 252,566.84 on 28 September. [NGX Group] Nairametrics put the loss at NGN468.63bn in market value, with the NGX Banking Index down 0.91% and 32 decliners against 27 gainers on the day. [Nairametrics]
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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) offered NGN2.5trn in a fresh Open Market Operations (OMO) auction on 29 September, almost matching the NGN2.433trn in OMO repayments maturing the same day. Banks had already placed more than NGN6.2trn at the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF), and September's four OMO auctions drew NGN20.58trn in total bids against a NGN3.9trn offer, more than five times the amount on offer. [Nairametrics]
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Quick Hits
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| → The federal government said it will use the creative sector to help grow Nigeria's economy to $1 trillion, as it prepares to host CANEX WKND 2026 in Lagos from 5 to 8 November, with all 36 states and the FCT taking pavilions. [TheCable] |
| → A federal high court in Lagos ordered the final forfeiture of 431 mobile phones to the federal government, linked to Chinese nationals earlier convicted in a Lagos romance and investment scam operation. [TheCable] |
| → Nigeria's foreign exchange (FX) turnover on the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) plunged 56% to $196.7 million on Monday, its lowest level in seven weeks, even as the naira held within a narrow range. [Nairametrics] |
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On a Lighter Note
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Nigerian dancer Benjamin Daniel, known as Ben Dancer, completed a 168 hour marathon dance at Lagos' Freedom Park, aiming to break the Guinness World Record of 127 hours. The 33-year-old moved through Afrobeats, fuji, jazz and zouk, wearing agbada and dashiki along the way. Guinness World Records confirmed his application is active and under review. [Vanguard]
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Why It Matters
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Tinubu's return closes one open question just as several others stay open. His health denial and the presidency's framing of a working vacation do not erase that Nigeria went a third straight year without its president at the UN General Assembly, or that questions about Section 145 were left unanswered rather than resolved. The capital budget deadline has now moved four times in under a year, saying less about any single crisis than about a system that keeps promising delivery it cannot yet meet. Dangote's defiance in Kenya and NNPC's stronger profit despite falling revenue point the same way: Nigerian capital operates confidently abroad and at scale, even while domestic institutions struggle to hit their own dates. The FATF stocktake captures that gap precisely, since assessors will not grade Nigeria's laws but whether they actually work. None of this is resolved by a president landing in Lagos. What matters now is whether the next stretch, before 2027, is spent closing these gaps or simply extending more deadlines.
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Produced with AI assistance using open-source web content. 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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