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Reps approve $347m loan for Lagos-Calabar highway, others

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The House of Representatives, on Wednesday, approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to the National Assembly, seeking approval to borrow $347m under the 2025–2026 borrowing plan.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, read the President’s correspondence on the floor of the Green Chamber during Wednesday’s plenary.

According to the President, the loan is necessary due to a rise in the funding needs for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, whose cost increased by $47m, from $700m to $747m.

Justifying the loan request, the President said that when the borrowing plan was transmitted to the parliament, the lead arranger for financing only had financing commitments of up $700m from lenders, stressing that the shortfall in the financing was covered by export credit agencies.

“It is, therefore, necessary to increase the value of the financing for the project by $47m to ensure it aligns with the loan size agreed in the finance documents for the project,” the President said in the letter.

He noted that $300m is needed for the Nigerian universal communications access project, a landmark telecommunications initiative aimed at bridging the digital divide through the deployment of 7,000 telecommunications towers across hard-to-reach rural dwellings.

Recall that in May, Tinubu sought the approval of the parliament to approve the 2025-2026 borrowing plan of $21.54bn, €2.19bn and ¥15bn, in addition to a €65m grant.

With the extra $47m for the Lagos-Calabar road project and $300 million for the universal communication access project, the initial $21.54bn has witnessed a marginal increase to $21.89bn.

On Wednesday, the House adopted the report presented by the Nasarawa lawmaker, Abubakar Nalaraba, who chairs the House Committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management.

The lawmaker noted that despite increased borrowing, Nigeria’s debt portfolio “remains sustainable.”

He said, “At over N145tn, the debt-to-GDP ratio of about 50 per cent is within the international threshold (56 per cent).

“The current administration has succeeded in reducing the high debt service to revenue ratio from over 90 per cent to less than 70 per cent.

“The Federal Government’s capacity to service the new debt is bolstered by the anticipated revenue gains from the Nigerian Tax Act 2025, projected to grow by over 18 per cent year-on-year starting from 2026.”

The Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, who took over the plenary after the Speaker had left midway into the session, then approved the request.

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Mohbad’s father demands prosecution of daughter in law, auxiliary nurse, others

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Joseph Aloba, father of the late Nigerian singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad, has urged the Lagos State Government to prosecute his son’s widow, Omowunmi Aloba, alongside others indicted by the Coroner’s Inquest into the artist’s death.

The demand was contained in a petition addressed to the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro, SAN, and signed by Aloba’s legal counsel, Wahab Shittu SAN.

In the letter, Aloba specifically called for the prosecution of Feyisayo Ogedengbe, the auxiliary nurse who administered an injection to the singer shortly before his death in September 2023.

He also requested that other individuals present in Mohbad’s apartment at the time, particularly those who invited the nurse or failed to seek immediate medical help, to be brought to justice.

The petition referenced the Coroner’s verdict delivered in July 2025 by Magistrate Taofikat Shotobi, who found the nurse’s actions both “unlawful and professionally negligent”, citing her administration of injection without a doctor’s prescription.

Magistrate Shotobi further faulted Mohbad’s wife for opting to treat her husband at home rather than taking him to a medical facility.

Despite these findings, Aloba’s lawyer, Shittu expressed concern that more than two months after the Coroner’s report, the Lagos State Government has yet to initiate criminal proceedings against the indicted parties.

“Our client, as a bereaved father who seeks justice, is deeply troubled by the fact that, despite the clear indictments contained in the Coroner’s verdict, no prosecutorial steps have been taken since July 11, 2025,” the letter read in part.

The lawyer urged the Attorney-General to commence prosecution within 14 days, given the high sensitivity as well as the public interest surrounding the case.

Shittu further requested that if the state declines to act, the Attorney-General should grant his legal team a formal authorization to prosecute the matter on behalf of the state under the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State.

 

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Alleged killing of Christians: Onanuga warns Senator Cruz as US lawmakers move to sanction Nigerian politicians

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Bayo Onanuga, spokesperson to President Bola Tinubu, has issued a stern warning to Senator Ted Cruz representing the State of Texas in the United States Senate.

Onanuga warned the lawmaker against propagating malicious lies against Nigeria on the issue of Christians being targeted in the country.

The presidential aide was reacting to Senator Cruz’s post on X where he accused officials in Nigeria of ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists.

The lawmaker said that his “Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act would target these officials with powerful sanctions and other tools,” he wrote on X.

The lawmaker added, “It’s time to hold those responsible accountable.”

In a response, Onanuga wrote, “Senator, stop these malicious, contrived lies against my country. We do not have a religious war in my country.

“The degraded Boko Haram terrorists operating on the fringes of Nigeria’s North east target everyone. They attack farmers, our soldiers. The bandits in the North west kill worshippers in their mosques.

“Christians are not targeted. We have religious harmony in our country. Stop these malicious lies.”

 

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Police yet to receive court order on tinted-glass permits – FPRO

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The Nigeria Police Force has said it is yet to be served with the order of the Federal High Court stopping the enforcement of tinted-glass permits.

Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed this on Saturday while reacting to reports that the court had restrained the police from arresting or prosecuting motorists over tinted glasses.

PUNCH Online reports that a Federal High Court had on Friday granted an order in Suit No. FHC/WR/CS/103/2025: John Aikpokpo-Martins v. Inspector-General of Police & Nigeria Police Force, directing the police to suspend enforcement of the permits pending the determination of the substantive case. https://punchng.com/court-suspends-police-tinted-glass-permit-enforcement/

The order asked the police to maintain the status quo, halting any action against motorists until the matter is concluded.

But Hundeyin, on X, said the police had not been formally served.

“While we have not been officially served the court order you’re making reference to, let me, in the meantime, show point number eight (of the same order) since you left that part out and focused only on point number six. Nigerians deserve a complete picture, not a skewed one,” he wrote.

The clarification followed claims by human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, who had circulated a portion of the ruling restraining the police from enforcing the regulation.

The police had in April 2023 announced the resumption of the permit scheme under the Police Specialised Services Automation Project after suspending it in 2022.

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