Saturday’s governorship election held in Anambra State was riddled with complaints of poor preparation by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) despite the commission's earlier promise of ensuring a hitch-free election.
As a result of this and other irregularities, the election was cancelled in 65 polling units of the state. The units have not been named at the time of this report; but confirming the development, INEC said the action was taken following some irregularities discovered and the threat by some parties to reject the declaration of any result if the election is not concluded in some of the areas where voting could not hold as a result of the delay in getting voting materials to some of the units.
Huhuonline.com learnt that voting did not hold in Akpakaogwe, Ogidi because thugs hired by one of the political parties in the election stormed the places, scared the voters away, dragged electoral officers to a bush and beat them up mercilessly before snatching ballot boxes and election materials. It was learnt that the security officials at the affected polling units looked on as the thugs reigned.
In Obosi, election materials only got to units at 3.30pm, resulting in mass protest by voters who prevented the election from taking place. Many of them accused the electoral body of trying to create confusion in favour of a favoured candidate. It was learnt that the electoral officer left with the materials when accreditation was supposed to begin only to return the materials at noon. INEC put the blame on the electoral officer for Obosi, saying he had been arrested, but the people refused.
Some monitors observed that the total turnout was low because many of the voters left the polling units when materials did not get to the units on time. "
“There are polling units which had 500 voters in the register but at the end, only 40 people were accredited and voted. This was so in many of the units and this would call to question the outcome of the polls”, one of them told Huhuonline.com, confirming that materials did not reach some of the units. But some others said there were unprecedented turnouts in some areas of the state.
In Nnewi, as in many other parts of the state, many voters did not find their names in the register, thus resulting in their inability to vote. Ihiala, Nnewi, Ekwulobia, Aguata and Obosi also witnessed late takeoff of the voting exercise at about noon, Willie Obiano, candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), said he was looking forward to a landslide victory in his own favour. Huhuonline.com learnt that there was no single security agent at his Aguleri hometown. It could best be described as a free day in the area.
While the challenges and complaints lingered, APGA remained unperturbed by whatever others claimed were hitches. Obiano also denied the rumour that he had withdrawn from the race
Chris Ngige of the All Progressives Congress (APC) described the late arrival of materials to Anambra Central Senatorial District as a ploy to rig the election. Materials did not get to Idemili North and South of the state till about noon.
Ngige, who had his accreditation at Nkwo Ide Public Square in the Idemili South Local Government Area of the state, further accused security agents of barring some of his party agents from polling units. He also alleged that many of his supporters were not allowed for accreditation all over Nnewi South Local Government Area.
Tony Nwonye, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his family could not vote as he and members of his family did not find their names in the voters' register in their unit in Nsugbe, Anambra North Local Government Area. While raising alarm, however, he wished he would emerge winner of the election.
The Labour Party candidate, Ifeanyi Uba, came out to conclude accreditation modalities at Nnewi, his home town at about 10.30am.
Many residents of the state confirmed that the election was marred by logistic problems. Idemili area of Anambra, a stronghold of APC candidate, witnessed the consequence of a late start of election.
Resident Electoral Commissioner for INEC in Anambra State, Professor Chukwuemeka Onukogu confirmed the delay in the arrival of materials to Idemili LGA and two others, but said this was because of the arrest of some National Youth Service Corps members who were on election duty by security agents. He said the commission would not hesitate to extend election where issues are discovered.
Nasir El-Rufai Detained
Heavily armed security agents on Saturday stormed the Finotel Hotel in Awka, Anambra, where top APC member and former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai was lodged. El-Rufai was in the state to monitor the exercise. Confirming the incident, El-Rufai said the SSS had barricaded the gates of the hotel and prevented reporters or his lawyers from having access to him.
Defending El-Rufai's detention, Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi said he did not understand what the former minister, who hails from Katsina State, was doing in Anambra on election day. El-Rufai was not allowed to move throughout the period of the election.
APC Raises Alarm
The All Progressives Congress (APC) raised alarm over the late or non-delivery of voting materials to the party's strongholds, describing the action as a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise its supporters and make the election anything but free and fair.
In a statement issued from the party's election situation room in Lagos on Saturday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party noted early reports from the state, which indicate a pattern of harassment of its members and the violation of INEC guidelines, among others, asking Nigerians to take note.
It specifically decried the continued harassment of its Deputy National Secretary, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai by armed State Security Service (SSS) personnel since his arrival at Awka on Friday night for the election.
APC disclosed that apart from restricting Mallam el-Rufai to the Finotel Hotel where he is staying, the SSS personnel also barged into the hotel's restaurant while he was eating and collected the phones of everyone there, apparently to prevent their pictures from being taken as they laid a siege on the hotel.
“These SSS personnel claimed to be acting on orders from above. Whoever gave them the order, we in the APC believe it is illegal to prevent a duly accredited top official of a party involved in an election from moving around to monitor the election. He has a right to be at the election as our Deputy National Secretary”, the party said.
It also decried a situation in which a polling unit is situated right under the billboard bearing the pictures of APGA candidate, Willie Obiano, and his running mate in Aguleri, in clear violation of INEC guidelines. APC condemned a situation in which voting materials were delivered late or not delivered at all to the party's strongholds, including Idemili North and South, Akwa South, Dunukofia, Onitsha North and South, Orumba North and South, Oyi, Ogbaru and Nnewi North.
“As at the time of issuing this situation report, election materials have not yet arrived at Idemili North and South, Ogidi ward 1, Nkpor ward 1, Abatate, Booth 012 of Ward 2 Nibo and one booth at umunnakwe hall. There is no INEC or Police presence at Obi Ilo Okoye polling unit in Awada, Onitsha; INEC register for 2011 were not brought to Palm Site Market 1&2; INEC is refusing to accredit voters
in Awka South LG Ward 8; In Nnwei north Otolo ward 03, polling unit 14, only six people out of 77 were accredited and others couldn't find their name; In Ward 8, Awka Government House, PDP agents are openly soliciting for votes in exchange for money, just as it is happening in Onitsha North Ward 100 and in CKC Adazi Nnukwu, and at Nteje Unit 004 in Oyi LG, APGA and PDP are negotiating how to share votes.
“These are just a few of the examples of the shenanigans going on right under the nose of INEC, and we demand an immediate rectification so that no citizen will be disenfranchised, and so that all the parties will have a level playing ground. If this is not done urgently, the promise of a free, fair and transparent election in
Anambra by the President and INEC would have been nothing but a ruse”.
APC warned that it will not accept the results of the governorship election in the state if voting did not hold in all local governments, especially in the party's strongholds of Idemili North and South as well as Akwa South. It also condemned INEC for “its apparently-contrived logistic nightmare” that left thousands of voters unable to exercise their franchise, and demanded the immediate removal of the incompetent and conniving Resident Electoral Commissioner for Anambra, Prof. Chukwuemeka Onukogu.
APC expressed astonishment with INEC’s confirmation that materials meant for Idemili North Local Government, which has 180,000 voters, had been hijacked, without saying who hijacked the ballot papers and why, and without explaining why the materials meant for APGA and PDP strongholds were not hijacked.
The party said equally astonishing was the fact that the voter's registers for Idemili South, the direct Local Government of the APC candidate, Dr. Chris Ngige, did not contain the names of voters in the local government, despite the assurances by INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega.
Before the election, political parties were given voter's registers that largely contained the names of most voters. However, about four days to the election, Prof Jega said at an interactive stakeholders’ forum that there were problems with the registers, which would be rectified before the election.
“However, when the supposedly-corrected registers were brought back, most of the authentic names in them have disappeared, without explanation”.
APC recalled that it also complained about the partiality and unprofessionalism of Resident Electoral Commissioner for Anambra, Prof Onukogu when he conducted the 2011 election, saying:
“In 2011, when Prof. Onukogu conducted the general elections in the state, he was very partial. During the Onitsha South 2 House of Assembly constituency and Idemili South House of Assembly polls, he declared the results of both inconclusive, only for him to announce the results at 12 midnight. After we challenged the results in court and a rerun was ordered, we won both constituencies.
“We subsequently petitioned INEC and the Commission assured us that the same person will not be allowed to conduct subsequent election. Alas, he was left in place to do another damage to INEC as an institution through his glaring incompetence and partiality, which have seriously affected the credibility of this governorship election”.
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Tinubu Meets Bolloré in Paris Over Expanded Investment in Nigeria’s Creative, Digital Economy
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has held talks with French businessman Vincent Bolloré in Paris on plans to expand investment in Nigeria’s creative and digital economy.
The meeting, held during the President’s working vacation, focused on opportunities to deepen the localisation of operations by the Bolloré Group and increase investment in sectors including film, entertainment, fibre-optic infrastructure and digital services, according to a statement issued by the presidency.
Bolloré and members of his executive team outlined proposed investments centred on Nigeria, highlighting the country’s growing influence in global entertainment through Nollywood and Afrobeats.
The group also expressed interest in expanding its operations and local presence in Nigeria, with the presidency saying the plans could support increased production, investment and employment opportunities in the country.
Tinubu reaffirmed his administration’s focus on economic growth, job creation and digitalisation, while welcoming the group’s reported plans to deepen its activities in Nigeria.
The President said the government would continue to support investments aimed at developing the creative and digital economy, strengthening infrastructure and creating opportunities for Nigerian talent.
According to the statement, Tinubu also emphasised the potential for Nigeria to serve as a base for companies seeking to operate across Africa and international markets.
The meeting comes as Nigeria continues to promote its entertainment and technology sectors as areas of economic opportunity, with the government seeking to attract investment while expanding employment opportunities for young Nigerians.
Tinubu said his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda seeks to harness Nigeria’s talent, entrepreneurship and growing global cultural influence to create greater economic opportunities and improve livelihoods.
News
Banks Shut 476 Branches as Nigeria’s Banking Landscape Goes Digital
Nigeria’s banks are rapidly abandoning the traditional banking model, shutting down hundreds of branches and cash centres as customers increasingly move to digital and electronic channels.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria show that banks closed a net 476 branches and cash centres between 2022 and 2025, cutting the country’s physical banking network by 8.8 per cent in just three years.
The number of bank branches and cash centres plunged from 5,410 in 2022 to 4,934 in 2025, signalling a dramatic shift away from brick-and-mortar banking.
The contraction has gathered pace in recent years.
Banks closed 37 locations in 2023, followed by a much steeper reduction of 229 locations in 2024. Another 210 branches and cash centres disappeared in 2025.
In effect, more than nine out of every 10 locations lost during the three-year period were closed in 2024 and 2025.
The figures, contained in the CBN’s 2025 Statistical Bulletin for the Financial Sector, cover branches and cash centres operated by commercial, merchant and non-interest banks. The data were sourced from the CBN and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Lagos bears the biggest hit Lagos, Nigeria’s financial powerhouse, recorded the largest decline.
The state had 1,602 bank branches and cash centres in 2022. That figure dropped to 1,532 in 2023, 1,521 in 2024 and just 1,444 in 2025.
That represents a loss of 158 locations, or nearly 10 per cent, in three years.
Despite the closures, Lagos remains overwhelmingly dominant, accounting for almost 29 per cent of all physical banking locations in Nigeria.
The Federal Capital Territory also suffered a significant contraction. Abuja went from 400 locations in 2022 to 362 in 2025, a decline of 38, or 9.5 per cent.
But some states experienced far more dramatic cuts.
Ekiti lost almost half of its banking locations, falling from 107 in 2022 to just 57 in 2025 — a staggering 46.7 per cent decline.
Enugu lost 44 locations, dropping from 162 to 118, while Oyo shed 41, falling from 237 to 196.
Other notable declines were recorded in Ondo, Plateau, Osun, Cross River and Rivers.
Northern banking centres also feel the squeeze
The contraction was not confined to the South.
Kano, for instance, initially expanded its banking footprint, rising from 164 locations in 2022 to 183 in 2024. But the reversal was sharp in 2025, when the figure crashed to 157.
Kaduna followed a similar pattern. Its locations climbed from 148 in 2022 to 164 in 2024 before falling back to 146 in 2025.
Yet not every state is losing branches.
Delta recorded the strongest expansion among the states highlighted, adding 23 locations and rising from 173 in 2022 to 196 in 2025.
Edo added 10, while Jigawa and Kogi gained six and five locations respectively.
A widening banking divide
The figures expose a striking disparity in access to physical banking infrastructure across Nigeria.
While Lagos had 1,444 branches and cash centres in 2025, Yobe had only 23, Taraba 26 and Zamfara 28.
Bayelsa and Gombe had 31 each, while Ebonyi had 32.
The imbalance underscores how heavily physical banking infrastructure remains concentrated in Nigeria’s major commercial and economic centres.
The bank branch may be losing its battle
The shrinking branch network comes despite the number of banks operating in Nigeria initially increasing.
The country had 32 banks in 2022, 33 in 2023 and 35 in 2024, before the figure slipped slightly to 34 in 2025.
That means the branch closures cannot simply be explained by a shrinking number of banks.
Instead, the figures point to a much bigger transformation: Nigerian banking is moving away from physical locations and towards digital platforms.
The CBN has itself been pushing greater adoption of alternative payment channels, particularly among farmers, traders, small businesses and informal-sector operators who may have limited access to conventional banking services.
Speaking at the 2026 CBN Fair in Lokoja, the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Hakama Sidi-Ali, stressed the importance of alternative payment channels in expanding financial access and stimulating economic activity.
The message from the numbers is even clearer.
The era of banking halls on every major street may be fading.
With hundreds of branches disappearing in just three years — and the pace of closures accelerating — Nigeria’s banking industry is betting increasingly on phones, apps, electronic payments and other digital channels rather than physical walls and counters.
For millions of Nigerians, the next bank branch may no longer be a building. It may be sitting in their hands.
Business
In The Spotlight
Dangote: OPM Made You 36th Globally—How Many Investors Will Become Billionaires?
Alhaji Aliko Dangote has done what very few Africans have ever done. He has built a business empire of extraordinary scale, crossed the $50 billion mark in personal wealth, and reportedly risen to the 36th position among the world’s 3,397 billionaires.
That is an achievement Nigerians can acknowledge. But today, I want to ask a different question. Alhaji Dangote, how many of the Nigerians who are now investing their hard-earned money in your businesses will you help turn into millionaires—and eventually billionaires? That, in my view, is the more important question. Because behind every great fortune is an army of people whose money, labour, patronage, trust and participation helped create that wealth. And that brings us to OPM—Other People’s Money.
Other People's Money Built More Than One Fortune
Let us be honest: no business empire is built by one person alone. Investors provide capital. Banks provide financing. Workers provide labour. Consumers provide revenue. Suppliers provide goods and services. Governments provide infrastructure and an operating environment. And ordinary Nigerians have been buying Dangote products for decades. Now, Nigerians are being invited to take another step—from being customers to becoming owners.
The public offering of shares in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery gives ordinary Nigerians an opportunity to put their money into one of the country's biggest industrial projects. That opportunity comes with risk, of course. Nobody should invest money they cannot afford to lose, and nobody should assume that buying shares automatically guarantees wealth.
But there is a bigger principle here.If Nigerians are going to put their money into Dangote's business, Nigerians should also have a meaningful opportunity to participate in the wealth that business creates.
Don't Take Nigerians for Granted
Alhaji Dangote, Nigerians have supported your businesses.They have bought your cement.They have bought your sugar. They have bought your flour. They have bought countless other products connected to your business empire.Nigerian workers have built factories, transported products, operated plants, sold products and provided services.
Now, ordinary Nigerians are being asked to invest directly. That creates a responsibility—not merely to shareholders, but to the broader Nigerian public.
Don't take Nigerians for granted. Treat the small investor with the same seriousness you would give the institutional investor. Give shareholders transparency. Give them accountability. Give them information. Give them confidence that their money is being managed responsibly. And when the business succeeds, shareholders should have the opportunity to benefit from that success.
Your Greatest Legacy Should Be Bigger Than Your Net Worth
There is nothing wrong with becoming extraordinarily wealthy by building successful businesses.But there comes a point when the conversation should move beyond “How much is Dangote worth?" The more interesting question becomes:How many people became wealthy because Dangote built these businesses?
Imagine the impact if hundreds of thousands of Nigerians who invest today eventually build substantial wealth from their investments. Imagine a young Nigerian who starts with a modest investment and, over decades, builds an investment portfolio capable of paying school fees, buying a home, funding a business or securing retirement. Imagine Nigerian families passing shares from one generation to another. That is how an ownership culture is created.And Nigeria desperately needs an ownership culture.
We Need More Than One Dangote
Nigeria does not simply need another Dangote. Nigeria needs 10,000 Dangotes in different industries.
We need Nigerians who build technology companies, manufacturing companies, agricultural businesses, energy companies, financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies and global brands.But we also need millions of Nigerians who can become shareholders in those businesses. A country becomes economically stronger when wealth creation spreads beyond a handful of extraordinarily wealthy individuals.
The refinery therefore presents an interesting test. Can a Nigerian industrial giant create not just a massive fortune for its founder, but also a new generation of Nigerian investors? Can ordinary Nigerians who put their money into the company eventually look back and say:I was there when it started, and I benefited from its growth”?
That would be a powerful story.
From Billionaire to Wealth Creator
Dangote has already demonstrated that he knows how to create enormous corporate value. The next challenge is different.Can he help create enormous shareholder value for ordinary Nigerians?That is where the conversation about his $51.3 billion fortune becomes relevant.
If one man's wealth can grow by tens of billions of dollars, Nigerians are entitled to ask whether the people who invest alongside him can also experience meaningful wealth creation. Not necessarily overnight.Not necessarily without risk. But over time.That is what investing is supposed to be about.
The Question Nigerians Should Keep Asking
So, Alhaji Dangote, congratulations on reaching another extraordinary milestone.But don't stop at building your own fortune. Build an ecosystem in which others can build theirs. Don't let Nigerians remain merely consumers of Dangote products. Make them owners. Don't let the story end with one Nigerian becoming one of the world's richest people. Let the next chapter be about thousands, perhaps millions, of Nigerians building meaningful wealth through ownership and investment. Because the real measure of an economic giant is not only how high the founder climbs. It is how many people rise because of the platform he created.
So here is the question Nigerians should be asking: Aliko Dangote, OPM has helped take you to the 36th richest person in the world. Now that Nigerians are putting their own money into your empire, how many of those investors will you help turn into millionaires—and, ultimately, billionaires? That is the legacy question.
By Emmanuel Emeke Asiwe (EEA) Publisher/Editor-in- Chief)
In The Spotlight
Mixed metaphors: Eating them young
On this page, I have praised former Minister Nasir el-Rufai for his work in the Federal Capital Territory.
As governor, I praised some of his work, including when he fired state teachers. I also criticised him when he became arrogant and presumptuous.
Powerful people tend to misjudge distance, in terms of how long they will remain powerful, as well as the depth of their relevance, measuring how power, once in the hands of others, can remain in their favour.
El-Rufai made both miscalculations. Following over two decades of untouchability in power from Olusegun Obasanjo to Muhammadu Buhari, he has now spent 200 days in pre-trial detention on ICPC and DSS charges.
This should not happen to a citizen, any citizen. But some citizens, when fate grants them the winning lottery ticket, become Cronus, the Titan in Greek mythology who, to maintain his power, swallowed five of his six children soon after birth.
But not Zeus, his youngest son, who miraculously survived and, becoming the supreme ruler of the Olympian gods and the “Father of Gods and Men, “would exact vengeance.
In power, el-Rufai forgot not only the principle of right and wrong, but also the concept of justice.
But it was right there the whole time: on the flip side of injustice. The truth is that wearing glasses to be able to see arms, nobody to see through clouds.
Last Tuesday’s disruption by political thugs of the visit to Benue State of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, is an early reminder of the temptations of power in a Nigerian election year.
The ruling party controls the state, which is in the thick of Nigeria’s insecurity crisis. Its governor, Hyacinth Alia, is a Catholic priest. Having, in 2025, been involved in trying to prevent the same Obi from a humanitarian visit, claiming that his intervention was purely on security grounds, Mr Alia is trying to persuade the country that his are not the hands behind the crude attempt to stop, particularly Mr Obi, from travelling freely and safely in the state.
As Minister Festus Keyamo wisely said, this kind of menace is not a part of our democracy. Mr Alia, show the world your strengths, not your limitations.
Big news: the 2024 Auditor-General’s Non-Compliance report, published last month, identified over N1.34trn in audit lapses.
It found that the National Cash Transfer Office paid N33.751 billion to 3,295,207 households in 35 states in 2023 with no evidence that the money reached genuine beneficiaries.
The Office could not produce REMITA records to authenticate the payments. SERAP has written to President Tinubu demanding a published audit trail and investigation of the flagged N78.8bn in total irregularities.
Similarly, Femi Falana (SAN) has called on the EFCC to investigate and prosecute officials.
Given that we are dealing with a specific regime of governance coated in colours of ruthlessness, it is doubtful that these calls will yield anything.
The truth is that the situation is worse than what we know so far, and so, I have a different call: that Nigerians pay close attention to what is actually a long-running looting spree of our poorest and most vulnerable. There is a scorched-earth assault going on.
I begin in 2019, the start of the second term of the fake anti-corruption champion Muhammadu Buhari:
The Auditor-General’s 2019 report on the FGN Consolidated Financial Statements discovered that 36 MDAs made individual transfer payments,totalingN15,534,467,561.26, without identifying the beneficiaries, ignoring the relevant budget lines for “Transfers–Payment to Unemployed” and “Transfers–Payment to Aged/Vulnerable Group.” The Auditor-General flagged the risk of “diversion of public funds” and “misapplication of funds.”
The 2020 report is more curious. In the MDA-by-MDA budget-performance schedule, the National Social Investment Office shows: Approved Budget N0.00, Supplementary Budget N0.00, Total Budget N0.00, but the actual spending is N275,010,764,595.02! That is, the NSIO somehow recorded spending N275bn with no budgetary authorisation at all.
Surely, somebody has an explanation?
The 2021 Non-Compliance report, Volume II, found under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs that N54,630,000,000 in N-Power Batch C1 stipends (the August–December 2021 backlog) was recorded as paid but, per the Auditor-General’s own field visits, “was not actually effected to the beneficiaries.”
The same section found N2,617,090,786 paid for the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (COVID-19 period), the Auditor-General recommending full recovery to the Treasury: a combined N58.05bn flagged in that one ministry in that one year.
Surely, somebody has an explanation?
The 2022 Non-Compliance file is titled as Volumes I and II merged, but despite that filename, Volume II appears to be absent, as it excludes Humanitarian Affairs, NSIPA, NCTO or NASSCO, meaning that their work was either not audited at all, or that that specific audit has yet to be published.
Again, and similarly, despite examining the two volumes of the 2023 Non-Compliance report, neither the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, NSIPA, NCTO, NASSCO, N-Power, GEEP nor school feeding appears anywhere, although many other agencies were thoroughly audited.
Surely, somebody has an explanation?
That brings us to the 2024 itemised findings SERAP has publicized: N33.751bn in cash transfers with no beneficiary confirmation; N36.744bn paid in December 2023 without prepayment audit; N4.616bn in unsupported expenditure which the Auditor-General says “may have been diverted”; N350.18m in enrolment payments to state coordinators with no supporting documentation; N89.51m for store items never delivered or logged; N17.42m in diesel cash advances with no traceable purchases; and at NASSCO, N2.24bn paid through 158 vouchers without prepayment audit.
These appear to be the patterns that Nigerian MDAs exhibit in their work every year, with vulnerable Nigerians exploited every year.
But the first challenge is for journalists to track Humanitarian Affairs/NSIPA through every audit year to establish the full carnage.
There is another crisis: that despite all of this, a lot of MDAs still fail to submit audited accounts to the Auditor-General, representing one of Nigeria’s worst accountability challenges. This is a problem that worsened significantly under the Buhari administration despite his anti-corruption rhetoric. According to the Auditor-General, the 2016 audit year saw the highest number of non-submissions (324) in modern Nigerian history: more than double the previous 22-year high of 148. In 2016-2017 alone, 436 agencies failed to submit accounts. Think about that.
President Bola Tinubu is in the middle of a three-week foreign trip, departing without formally informing the National Assembly or handing over to Vice President Shettima, violating the constitution.
For a man who is seeking a second term of office, this is a stark reminder of how little the rules, or for that matter, Nigeria, really matter to Mr Tinubu. Keep in mind that when he headed north, Mr Shettima headed south, to Angola.
The general debate of the 81st United Nations General Assembly will begin on 22 September. Mr Tinubu is scheduled to speak the following morning.
At a time of chaos and doubt in his leadership, and in democracy under his watch, he will confront the theme: “Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all.”
By Sonala Olumhense