The Federal Government has confirmed full payment of the sum of $3.4 billion loan received from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, confirmed this while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting at the State House, Abuja on Monday.
A former presidential candidate and activist, Omoyele Sowore, has dismissed the proposal by Professor Pat Utomi to establish a “shadow government,” calling the idea an ineffective symbolic gesture that lacks real-world impact on Nigeria’s pressing challenges.
Speaking on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels TV on Sunday, Sowore argued that the idea of a shadow cabinet was futile in a country where the existing government is itself opaque and largely unaccountable.
“Well, how do you replace a shadow government with another set of shadowy governments?” he asked rhetorically, criticising the concept of mimicking such democratic traditions, which is the practice in parliamentary systems like the United Kingdom.
“I would not begrudge anybody who thinks of solutions that can bring awareness to the people… But I do not think that setting up a government with names of people who call themselves a shadow government makes any difference.”
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Sowore, who has been a long-time advocate for radical democratic change, said Nigeria’s problems could not be solved with symbolic gestures.
He challenged the feasibility and utility of Utomi’s idea, which suggests creating an alternative governing structure to mirror the functions of the current administration led by President Bola Tinubu.
“What is the shadow government going to be doing? So, they’re supposed to provide an alternative to each of the existing government portfolios—the parastatals, the ministries, and departments. How does that work, really?
Apart from the fact that it sounds esoteric, nothing beyond the creation of that shadow government will have any impact on the situation that is affecting Nigeria today,” Sowore said.
The publisher emphasised that the current Nigerian government already operates as a “shadow government,” characterised by opacity, corruption, and a disconnect from the needs of ordinary citizens.
Creating another similar body, even in the name of accountability, he said, merely duplicates dysfunction.
“My attitude towards this is that the government in place is already a shadow government. So to now go and create another superstructure named shadow government—that’s not going to have any impact on what these guys are doing,” the former presidential candidate said.
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Sowore’s remarks come as Nigerians grapple with worsening economic conditions, deteriorating governance, and the lack of credible opposition voices.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, has disclosed that Nigeria is set to receive telecommunications equipment and fibre optic infrastructure worth $3 billion in June 2025.
Speaking during a panel session at the Nigeria Development Update (NDU) organised by the World Bank, Tijani revealed that the equipment valued at $1 billion was expected to arrive in the country by mid-2025.
He added that an additional $2 billion worth of fibre optic cables would soon be delivered to boost Nigeria’s telecommunications infrastructure.
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According to him, the initiative aims to significantly enhance communication services across the country and bridge the connectivity gap.
Tijani also noted that a pilot phase targeting over 20 million Nigerians who currently lack access to any form of telecommunications would soon be launched.
President Bola Tinubu on Monday swore in two newly appointed commissioners of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as its Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, dismissed widespread speculation that he had been removed from office.
Speaking with State House correspondents shortly after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Yakubu affirmed his position and clarified that no such action had been taken by the President.
“I don’t think we need to waste time on unnecessary speculation. As far as the law is concerned, and to the best of my knowledge, I remain the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Chief Electoral Commissioner of the federation under the Constitution, and the Returning Officer for the presidential election under the Electoral Act,” Yakubu said.
The INEC chairman also revealed that the Commission had forwarded 142 recommendations to the National Assembly as part of ongoing efforts to reform Nigeria’s electoral process following its internal review of the 2023 general elections.
“We reviewed the 2023 general elections on our own. We engaged with stakeholders and came up with 142 recommendations. Out of these, eight require constitutional or Electoral Act amendments, and we have already discussed them with members of the National Assembly,” he said.
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Yakubu expressed satisfaction with the lawmakers’ response and pace of action.
“So far, so good. We are happy with our discussions with them and the speed at which they want to proceed to ensure necessary amendments are made ahead of the 2027 general elections,” he said.
He added that INEC’s collaboration with the National Assembly was progressing steadily.
“Two weeks ago, we held a retreat in Lagos with the joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on electoral reform. Thereafter, the National Assembly will conduct a public hearing, after which a new bill will be introduced,” he explained.
The submission of recommendations and continued legislative engagement, Yakubu said, are part of the Commission’s commitment to ensuring more credible and transparent elections in the future.
The UK government has announced an end to overseas recruitment for social care visas, as part of immigration policies unveiled by the, Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, in a White Paper to help Britain strengthen control of its borders and reduce migration.
“In line with our wider reforms to skills thresholds, we will close social care visas to new applications from abroad,” the UK Home Office said on its website on Monday.
“For a transition period until 2028, while the workforce strategy is being developed and rolled out, we will permit visa extensions and in-country switching for those already here. This will be kept under review,” it added.
It said the measures would reshape Britain’s immigration system towards “those who contribute most to economic growth, with higher skills standards for graduates and workers”.
It explained that new requirements on employers to boost domestic training would end the reliance on international recruitment, restoring order to a “failed system” that saw net migration quadruple between 2019 and 2023.
Key policies in the 82-page blueprint, titled ‘Restoring Control over the Immigration System,’ include reversing the long-term trend of increasing international recruitment at the expense of skills and training.
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It also includes the establishment of the labour market evidence group to make informed decisions about the state of the labour market and the role that different policies should play, rather than always relying on migration, and the engagement of sector bodies by departments across government.
The UK government will also lift the level for skilled workers back to RQF 6 (Graduate level) and above, while salary thresholds will rise.
It further noted that the immigration salary list, which gives people discounts from salary thresholds, would be abolished.
“Access to the points-based immigration system will be limited to occupations where there have been long term shortages, on a time limited basis, where the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has advised it is justified, where there is a workforce strategy in place, and where employers seeking to recruit from abroad are committed to playing their part in increasing recruitment from the domestic workforce,” it added.
The government also said it would strengthen the requirements that all sponsoring institutions must meet to recruit international students.
“We will introduce new interventions for sponsors who are close to failing their sponsor duties, including placing them on an action plan designed to improve their compliance, and imposing limits on the number of new international students they can recruit while they are subject to those plans. We will reduce the ability for graduates to remain in the UK after their studies to a period of 18 months,” it said.
It, however, said it would go further in ensuring that the very highly skilled have opportunities to come to the UK and access its targeted routes for the brightest and best global talent.
According to the government, this includes increasing the number of people arriving on its very high-talent routes, alongside faster routes for bringing people to the UK who have the right skills and experience to supercharge UK growth in strategic industries.
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As part of efforts to strengthen its border, the UK government said the new policies would apply to individuals who claim asylum where conditions in their home country have not materially changed, “particularly where they have claimed asylum after arrival”.
“Tighter visa controls, restrictions, requirements, or scrutiny will be applied where we have evidence of abuse, based on a clear assessment of the risks,” it added.
The new policies came more than three months after UK opposition leader, Kemi Badenoch, said her Conservative party would make it more difficult for regular migrants to settle permanently in Britain.
She had said in an interview on February 5 that migrants would have to prove they had made a net contribution to the UK economy in order to settle indefinitely in the country, by working and paying taxes.
Ivory Coast’s main opposition leader, who has been barred from standing in an October presidential vote, said Monday that he was resigning as party leader but would still lead the fight to win the election.
Six months before voters choose a new head of state, political tensions are running high in the west African country where several opposition figures have been declared ineligible to stand.
For months, Tidjane Thiam’s campaign for the presidency has been mired in tussles over his nationality.
A court in Abidjan struck him off the electoral list last month, saying the 62-year-old politician had lost Ivorian nationality when he acquired French citizenship in 1987.
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Thiam, who has not been in Ivory Coast for more than a month, also faces a legal case against his election as head of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI).
That case was brought by a party member who also contests Thiam’s Ivorian nationality at the time he was chosen.
“In the interest of the party, I’ve decided to place my mandate as president of the party in your hands, the activists,” Thiam said in a speech published on social media.
But the former banker, who remains the party’s deputy president, made it clear his decision to step down did not mean he was withdrawing from the battle for the presidency.
“This decision does not change the commitment I made in December 2023 to personally lead our party to victory in October 2025,” he said.
“I know that after electing me in 2023, you will give me your trust again,” he added.
Presidential candidates are not allowed to hold dual citizenship. Thiam was born in Ivory Coast and renounced his French passport in March to enable his run for the top job.
In removing him from the electoral list, the court based its ruling on article 48 of the nationality code, which dates back to the 1960s.
It states that acquiring another nationality means forgoing Ivorian citizenship.
Following Thiam’s announcement, PDCI deputy president Ernest N’Koumo Mobio assumes the party’s interim leadership.
The 92-year-old appealed for “cohesion, serenity and discipline” and called a party meeting early Monday due to “the urgency linked to the political situation”.
A senior PDCI member said the meeting would allow them to “reaffirm the party’s total support for” Thiam.
Around 100 supporters gathered early Monday at the party’s headquarters where riot police had been deployed. The supporters carried placards with slogans such as: “Don’t touch my right to vote”, an AFP journalist saw.
“Thiam made the right choice. He’ll no longer have any problems with the law as party president,” activist Cynthia Koua told AFP.
Three other opposition figures have also been excluded from the presidential race, including former president Laurent Gbagbo due to court convictions.
“While we had the right to hope for inclusive, transparent and peaceful elections, it is clear that the unjustified removal of the PDCI candidate is part of the logic of eliminating the leaders of the main opposition parties to ensure tailor-made elections and a certain victory,” Thiam said Monday.
The authorities regularly reject claims of any political intervention in the electoral process, saying decisions are taken by an independent judiciary.
President Alassane Ouattara, 83, who has been in power since 2011, has yet to say whether he plans to run again but has said he is eager to “continue serving my country”.