Vice President Kashim Shettima has knocked former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, describing him as “the master of bogus statistics and incoherent economic prescriptions”.

Shettima made the remark on Wednesday at the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council at the State House Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Calling Obi “my very good friend”, the Vice President mocked his habit of comparing Nigeria with other countries, especially Bangladesh.

Shettima stated. “He seems convinced that a size 36 shirt tailored for Bangladesh will somehow fit Nigeria’s size 52 frame.”

He said Obi’s “fascination with foreign comparisons overlooks the peculiarities that distinguish one nation from another”.

According to Shettima, “Governance is an art that demands mastery of context, whether social, economic, political or institutional.

“What succeeds in Bangladesh cannot simply be transplanted to Nigeria without accounting for the differences in our population, economic structures, institutions and national circumstances.

“A country of over 250 million people cannot be governed through borrowed statistics and economic prescriptions detached from its peculiarities.”

The VP said he respected Obi but accused him of making a “bogus claim” about winning the 2023 presidential election without evidence to support the assertion.

“This is called delusion of grandeur.
Our contest is with the politics of yesterday dressed as tomorrow’s deliverance,” he said.

Obi has frequently cited Bangladesh in his criticism of the Tinubu administration’s economic management, including its borrowing.

In February, he said Nigeria’s challenge was fund mismanagement, not borrowing.

Obi ran as the Labour Party candidate in 2023 and finished third behind Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar.

He challenged Tinubu’s victory in court, and the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal and affirmed Tinubu’s election in October 2023.

Obi is seeking the presidency again in the election on January 16, 2027, on the platform of the Nigeria Democratic Congress.

The APC will flag off its campaign in Kaduna on October 24.

A forensic investigator with the Department of State Services (DSS), Segun Kayode, has told a Kaduna state high court, sitting in Kawoa, that Nasir el-Rufai, former Kaduna state governor, and some of his associates earmarked $600,000 to pay officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and intermediaries.

Kayode, who is the first prosecution witness in the ongoing trial, made the allegation on Tuesday while testifying before the court presided over by Justice Darius Khobo.

According to the witness, $500,000 and $100,000 were allegedly set aside for the payments, adding that forensic audio recordings captured conversations involving el-Rufai and some of his suspected associates.

According to Kayode, the recorded conversations centred on alleged efforts to frustrate an EFCC investigation into a company identified as Singularity.

He said a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), another individual and Bashir el-Rufai, were among those allegedly mentioned in the conversations.

Kayode told the court that the SAN and the other individual were allegedly directed to meet one Ahmadu Sule to obtain a template previously used to liquidate another company, with the intention of applying a similar process to Singularity.

The investigator further alleged that the discussions included plans to liquidate the company in Nigeria and Mauritius, where it was reportedly under investigation by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.

He also alleged that the recordings contained discussions about preventing the EFCC from investigating a company he said was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

The allegations formed part of the prosecution’s evidence against the former governor and have yet to be established by the court.

Proceedings lasted nearly eight hours, from 12:26pm to 8:18pm, with about two hours devoted to playing the recorded conversations.

After Kayode submitted a hard copy of his findings to the court clerk, the defence objected, saying the document should have been served earlier to allow the legal team to study its contents.

The judge ruled that the defence could obtain a certified true copy of the document admitted as Exhibit One for examination.

The court adjourned the case until November 30 and December 1, 2026, for the continuation of cross-examination, following agreement by the prosecution and defence.

Recall that El-Rufai is facingtrial over alleged money laundering and conversion of public property.

The DSS is also prosecuting the former governor before the federal high court in Abuja over allegations of wiretapping.

He has been in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) since February 19, after being released by the EFCC.

On April 13, the ICPC arraignedthe former governor at the Kaduna high court on an amended nine-count charge bordering on alleged fraud and abuse of office.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has given  political parties October 24 deadline to report candidates whose names were omitted from the final list for the 2027 governorship election.

INEC’s commissioner and chairman of the information and voter education committee, Mohammed Haruna, in a statement on Tuesday, saidparties have 14 days from the date of publication to report such omissions to the commission.

Haruna said the deadline is in accordance with section 32(2) of the Electoral Act (2026).

“The general public is aware of the recent decision of the Supreme Court in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party, Appeal No. SC/CV/495/2026 delivered on 24th September, 2026,” the statement reads.

“The decision arose from INEC’s appeal against the judgement of the Court of Appeal, which nullified the provisions of Section 77(5)-(7) of the Electoral Act, 2026 requiring the submission of membership registers as a prerequisite for the conduct of valid party primaries.

“However, the Supreme Court, in the aforementioned judgement, held that the provisions of Section 77(5)-(7) of the Electoral Act, 2026 are constitutional and mandatory for all political parties.

“In particular, the Court upheld the constitutionality of Item No. 2 of INEC’s Timetable and Schedule of Activities, which mandated political parties to submit their membership registers between 21st April and 10th May, 2026.

“Furthermore, the Court held that failure to comply with the provisions of Section 77 (5)-(7), renders the defaulting political parties ineligible to sponsor any candidate for the election.

“In accordance with Section 287(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the Commission, while finalizing the list of candidates for the Governorship election applied the above decision of the Supreme Court and excluded political parties that failed to comply with Section 77(5)-(7) of the Electoral Act, 2026, in relation to fielding of candidates.”

Haruna also said the final list of presidential and national assembly candidates was published on September 12, 2026, 13 days before the supreme court judgement.

Recall that in September, a seven-member panel of the supreme court upheld an appeal filed by INEC and restored sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act.

The supreme court, in its lead judgment delivered by Adamu Jauro, held that the provisions voided by the appeal court in July are not inconsistent with the 1999 constitution.

The apex court set aside the appellant court’s verdict and restored the federal high court’s ruling, which had dismissed the suit filed by the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) challenging the provisions.

Section 77(5) of the Electoral Act provides that only members whose names are contained in a political party’s membership register, submitted to INEC at least 21 days before a primary, congress, or convention, can participate in the exercise.

Section 77(6) states that a party cannot use any membership register other than the one submitted to the electoral commission for its primaries, congresses, and conventions.