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The Big Story
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Senate Leader Says Lawmakers Propose 74 Reserved Seats for Women
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“The special seat initiative is not a partisan endeavour.” Opeyemi Bamidele, Senate Leader
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The National Assembly’s Constitution Review Committee has proposed 74 additional seats reserved for women, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said on Monday at the Ekiti chapter’s 2026 Law Week of the International Federation of Women Lawyers. The plan would add 37 seats in the Senate and 37 in the House of Representatives, giving each state and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) one extra seat in each chamber. It would also reserve three seats for women in every state House of Assembly, without removing any existing seat. Bamidele said the arrangement would run for 16 years, or four election cycles, before a full review. He argued that a democracy that leaves out more than half its people is flawed. Because state assemblies must agree to any constitutional change, he said federal lawmakers have begun talks with them. Premium Times notes that supporters point to the high cost of elections, party nomination practices and gender-based violence as barriers for women, while critics question whether reserved seats could undermine equal representation. [Premium Times]
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What Else Is Happening
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Bandits Abduct 14 Islamic School Pupils in Niger State
Suspected bandits abducted 14 pupils of an Islamic school while they were helping harvest maize on a farm in Tungan-Bako village, Pandogari district of Rafi Local Government Area, on Saturday 31 October, police have confirmed. Police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun said joint security teams have begun a rescue operation. In November 2025, gunmen abducted 230 pupils, students and staff from St Mary’s Catholic school in Papiri, in the same state. [Premium Times]
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Health Agency Says Nigeria Needs NGN104 Billion a Year for Outbreak Readiness
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) says its health security plan for 2025 to 2029 costs about NGN522 billion, or an average of NGN104.4 billion a year. Director-General Jide Idris said the agency’s 2026 budget is NGN22 billion, plus a NGN10 billion emergency fund approved in June. He cited a benchmark of $1 to $2 per person a year, or $240 million to $480 million for Nigeria. [Premium Times]
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EFCC Finds Deserted Chinese-Run Illegal Refinery in Ogun
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it found an illegal oil refinery, allegedly run by Chinese nationals, deserted in Ogere, Ogun State, when its officers raided the site on 31 October. [Premium Times] It traced the sludge oil found there to Delta and Rivers states. [Nairametrics] The raid followed an earlier operation against four illegal lithium processing plants in the same area. [Sahara Reporters]
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Lagos Island Residents Protest Blackouts as Heat Warning Spreads
Residents of Lewis, Okesuna, Beecroft, Simpson and Sandgrouse streets on Lagos Island protested power cuts on Tuesday, chanting in Yoruba that the heat was killing them. The protest came two days after the state urged residents to stay hydrated, avoid prolonged sun and wear light clothing as El Niño strengthens. Excel Electricity, which serves the area, had not responded, Pulse reports. [Pulse]
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Afreximbank Lends $81.9 Million to Expand Ogun Tile Factory
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has lent $81.9 million to Veenocks Limited for a $145 million expansion of its porcelain tile plant in Sagamu, Ogun State. Output would rise from 3.3 million to 9.9 million square metres a year, with 300 new direct jobs on top of the more than 200 people employed now. Veenocks plans to sell in eight other African countries, including Ghana and Senegal. [Nairametrics]
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Market Watch
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Strengthened 0.07%, with the official rate at NGN1,346.93 per US dollar on 3 November against NGN1,347.94 on 2 November, a drop of NGN1.01, and now 8.68% stronger than the NGN1,475.00 on 31 December 2025. [CBN]
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| Equities |
Rose 0.02%, with the All-Share Index at 254,289.35 on 3 November against 254,245.21 on 2 November, a gain of 44.14 points, and up 63.41% from 155,613.03 on 31 December 2025. [NGX Group] The gain follows Monday’s 0.02% fall, which cut about NGN35.25 billion from market value. [Nairametrics]
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| Macro |
Businesses are growing, but prices are rising too. A Stanbic IBTC survey of company purchasing managers scored October at 55.7, down from 56.4 in September, where anything above 50 means conditions improved. Hiring rose in farming and manufacturing but fell in services and trade, and over 29% of firms raised their prices, citing fuel and transport costs. Food and building materials also cost more. [ThisDay]
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Quick Hits
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| → The UK has dropped its plan to make migrant care workers wait 15 years for permanent residency. The Home Secretary said care workers who arrived before May 2025 and earn at least £25,000 can still settle after five years, while most foreign workers face 10. [Nairametrics] |
| → Super Falcons players have each received about NGN134 million as President Tinubu completes his $100,000-per-player pledge for the team’s 3-2 comeback win over Morocco in the 2025 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final, Pulse reports. It was Nigeria’s 10th continental title. [Pulse] |
| → Two scholars from Makoko in Lagos, Sisianu Melawakou and Oseni, have graduated with First-Class Honours from Benson Idahosa University on Slum2School Africa scholarships. Oseni finished second in his class with a 4.89 grade point average despite losing his mother in his final year. [Pulse] |
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On a Lighter Note
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Adanne, an independent film about three generations of Igbo women, screened at the Africa International Film Festival in Lagos on Tuesday, after winning the Special Jury Award at Kigali’s All African Independent Film Festival. Written and produced by Gold Gerry and directed by Orobosa Ikponmwen, it took three years, funded by the filmmakers’ day-job savings. [QNC News]
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Why It Matters
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Businesses are growing and prices are rising at the same time. A survey of company managers found more hiring in farming and factories in October, but over 29% of firms raised prices, blaming fuel and transport costs. In Lagos, residents on Lagos Island protested blackouts in rising heat. A tile factory in Sagamu plans 300 new jobs and more use of locally sourced raw materials. In Niger State, 14 pupils were taken while helping harvest maize, a reminder of how risky farm work remains in some communities, and police say a rescue operation is under way. If you are weighing a move to the UK, care workers who arrived before May 2025 can still settle after five years, not 15. If you rely on public health services, the NCDC says its readiness plan needs NGN104.4 billion a year, against a NGN22 billion budget for 2026. And if you want more women in lawmaking, the Senate Leader’s plan would add 74 seats, but state assemblies must still agree.
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Around the Community
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Wishing our reader Anurag Gupta a very happy birthday! From all of us at Frontier Brief Media.
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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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