1. Many leaders of the African Democratic Congress in the South-West have expressed dissatisfaction with what they described as the marginalisation of the party’s structure in the region by the ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

The ADC leaders, including some state chairmen and governorship candidates, alleged that Atiku had been conducting his political activities in the region through his friends and allies, while leaving the party structure sidelined as presidential campaign activities prepared to gather momentum.

2. A United States federal court has rejected an attempt to obtain discovery from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and DCI Group in an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). 

3. The Zamfara State Commissioner of Police, CP Muhammad Bello, has confirmed the “rescue of three of the six Islamic clerics kidnapped on September 12 while travelling to Talata Mafara, Zamfara State.” Bello gave the confirmation in an interview with select reporters in Gusau. He said the rescue followed a multi-agency collaboration and seamless synergy between the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, the Department of State Services, DSS, and police operatives.

4. The Grand Patron of the PBAT Door-to-Door Movement, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, and the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, have set a target of at least 1.5 million votes for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election. According to a statement, the target was announced on Saturday in Osogbo during the inauguration of the movement’s state and local government structures.

5. Nigerians lose no less than N75bn annually to visa application expenses across foreign missions, with rejected Schengen visa applications alone accounting for an estimated €11.5m, equivalent to about N19bn in 2025.
This is according to a visa-cost analysis report obtained by Sunday PUNCH from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

6. With one accord, the governors of Enugu, Imo, Ebonyi, and Anambra States yesterday urged the people of the Southeast to avoid political distractions, and vote massively for President Bola Tinubu in next year’s presidential election. Governors Peter Mbah, Hope Uzodimma, Francis Nwifuru and Charles Soludo, said it was necessary for the zone to support Tinubu’s re-election bid to enable him consolidate the gains of his administration’s economic reforms

7. Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has said Nigeria’s security challenges predate the administration of President Bola Tinubu, noting that terrorism, insurgency and banditry had been entrenched in the country before 2023 when Tinubu assumed office. He said the country’s security problems were rooted in years of porous borders, illegal arms proliferation, youth unemployment and the spread of extremist ideologies.

8. Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike has directed supporters of President Bola Tinubu to deliver their polling unit in the forthcoming 2027 general elections. Addressing the supporters, Wike framed the upcoming general elections as a critical opportunity for residents of the nation’s capital to rectify past electoral missteps and unite under a strategic development banner.

9. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has removed the name of the Kano State governorship candidate of the National Democratic Congress, NDC, Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, from its updated list of candidates for the 2027 general elections. A check on the commission’s website shows that the names of Gwarzo and his deputy were conspicuously missing from the updated list.

10. Four young men have been arrested by the Bauchi State Police Command for allegedly abducting and gang-raping a 12-year-old girl in Sakwa District, Zaki Local Government Area of the state. The suspects were arrested following a complaint by the victim’s 50-year-old father, who reported the incident at the Sakwa Divisional Police Headquarters on Thursday.

Abba Abubakar, son of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has promised to deliver Adamawa, his father’s state, for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 elections.

He spoke on Friday at the All Progressives Congress (APC) national secretariat in Abuja during the Haske Bola Tinubu Organisation (HBTO) unveiling and the launch of its subsidised public transportation support scheme.

Abubakar, HBTO founder, said his decision to back Tinubu is not an attempt to antagonise his father, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate.

“I recognise that political decisions, particularly those that differ from the positions of individuals with whom one shares personal and family relationships, often attract considerable public attention,” he said.

“However, political conviction is a matter of personal judgment, conscience, and the freedom of every individual to make independent choices.

“My decision to establish and lead the HBTO is a deliberate political choice made with a firm belief in the direction we have chosen.”

He said democracy is strengthened when individuals can make independent political choices, engage in constructive dialogue, and support the leadership and political platforms they believe best represent their aspirations.

“It is within this spirit that HBTO was established,” he said.

He commended the economic reforms introduced by the Tinubu administration, citing the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), national infrastructure investments, increased statutory allocations to state governments, and transport support schemes as some of the key social intervention programmes.

Asked whether he would ensure the president gets maximum votes in Adamawa, Abubakar said: “Yes, yes, yes. We are going to deliver Adamawa state.”

He, however, said his decision should not be seen as a betrayal of his family ties or his father’s political aspiration.

“I’ve always supported my father since I started acting in politics, and I supported him because of what he has done for the country,” he said.

“But I believe that whenever a government comes out with policies that will help the people, I will join them.

“It’s not just because it’s my father. I don’t think I am antagonising him; I simply believe in the current government’s policies and the reforms taking place.”

Abubakar joined the APC in January 2026, vowing to mobilise support for Tinubu’s re-election.

1. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday  blamed some of its registration officers across the country  for the appearance of suspected artificial intelligence (AI)-generated photographs and other irregularities in its preliminary voters’ register.

The commission alleged  that some officials  exploited their authorised access to its registration system to introduce questionable records into the database.

2. Rising temperatures, compounded by erratic electricity supply, are forcing residents in many states to sleep outdoors, take repeated night-time baths and spend more on alternative power sources as households struggle to cope with the heat. While many Nigerians who spoke with Saturday PUNCH reported prolonged blackouts and inadequate water supply, others said the conditions had made nights uncomfortable.

3. Troops conducting internal security operations across the country killed more than 217 terrorists and other armed criminals in October, the Defence Headquarters, DHQ, has said. The operations, conducted between September 30 and October 30, also led to the rescue of hundreds of kidnapped victims, the arrest of suspected terrorists and their collaborators, and the surrender of more than 50 terrorist fighters and their family members.

4. A businessman, Akinbolusere Kayode, popularly known as Tolufe, has allegedly committed suicide at Igba town in Ondo State, after lamenting his personal and business challenges in a video that has gone viral on social media. Akinbolusere, 46, reportedly died in his office beside BOVAS Petrol Station, Igba Town, at about 3 pm on Thursday. The State Police Command confirmed his death in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Jimoh Abayomi, in Akure on Friday evening.

5. Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, and the Ekiti State Police Command have given conflicting accounts of an incident at a restaurant in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, on Friday. While Sowore insisted that he and members of his team were violently attacked, the police described the incident as an altercation with some individuals, saying the activist sustained a minor injury.

6. The Federal Capital Territory Police Command has arrested a pastor, Edwin Nwabueze, and another suspect, Sadiq Jamiu, over the alleged theft of a Toyota Camry in Abuja. The vehicle was reportedly stolen at UTC Plaza in the Garki area of the Federal Capital Territory. The police said Nwabueze, who identified himself as a pastor with Salvation Power Bible Ministry in the North Bank area of Benue State, was arrested, following investigations into the theft.

7. Kemi Badenoch, leader of Britain’s Conservative Party, says “racist attacks” against her are “not going to work”, after Raheem Kassam, a former aide to Nigel Farage, called her a “Nigerian scammer”. Badenoch spoke during an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Thursday, following a series of posts by Kassam criticising her.

8. Senator Adams Oshiomhole has defended President Bola Tinubu’s decision not to attend every campaign rally ahead of the 2027 general elections. He insisted that there is no contradiction between the President’s religious activities and his responsibility to govern the country. Oshiomhole said Tinubu’s decision to limit his participation in campaign activities was a matter of choice and the prerogative of the ruling All Progressives Congress.

9. The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Kano State Command, has busted an illegal diesel refining site at Panisau, Ungoggo Local Government Area of Kano State, leading to the arrest of five suspects. This was disclosed on Friday in a statement signed by the command’s Public Relations Officer, Ibrahim Abdullahi.

10. A 15-year-old Ghanaian boy, Javits Frimpong, has been shot and killed in the Bronx, New York, while on his way to school, with his father alleging that bullying at school may have contributed to the incident. Frimpong was shot in the stomach near East 171st Street and Third Avenue shortly after 9 a.m. on Thursday, according to law enforcement officials. The shooting happened just steps from his home.