Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has dissolved the State Executive Council. The decision was announced on Thursday in a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Onwuka Nzeshi. Governor Fubara expressed appreciation to the outgoing members of the Executive Council for their service to the state and wished them well in their future endeavours. The minister said President Bola Tinubu met with key political actors from Rivers State, including Governor Fubara and his predecessor, in a renewed attempt to ease tensions arising from the power struggle in the oil-rich state. He said the President took the initiative to broker peace between Governor Fubara and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun described the former Chairman of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria in the state as a major loss to both Ogun and the wider media industry. “As a media professional, Alhaji Akeem Akintunde was an outstanding personality, pleasant to be with and completely dedicated to his job. Similarly, the Ogun State Football Association said the death of the seasoned journalist, who also served as Public Relations Officer of the All Stars Football Association in Abeokuta, had left a void in the sporting community. Ogun football and the entire sports community have lost a strong voice and a dependable ally. Colleagues said his legacy of integrity, service and commitment to the growth of sports journalism would continue to inspire generations in Ogun State and beyond.

The Independent National Electoral Commission on Thursday informed the National Assembly that it requires N873.78bn to conduct the 2027 general elections. The N873.78bn proposed for the 2027 elections represents a significant increase from the N313.4bn released by the Federal Government for the conduct of the 2023 general election. The country will hold general elections in 2027, while Ekiti and Osun states will conduct governorship elections this year, alongside the Federal Capital Territory election and by-elections. According to Amupitan, the N873.78bn election budget covers the full conduct of the 2027 general elections, while the N171bn proposal for 2026 is to support routine activities, including by-elections and off-season polls. He recalled that during the 2023 general election, INEC made assurances about uploading results to the INEC Result Viewing portal, creating the impression that results could be monitored in real time.

Former Nigeria coach José Peseiro believes Ademola Lookman has grown to rival Victor Osimhen’s influence with the Super Eagles and insists the forward has the qualities to become a central figure at Atlético Madrid. Although Osimhen has long been regarded as Nigeria’s leading figure, Peseiro said Lookman’s performances, particularly at the Africa Cup of Nations, have been equally decisive. If you give him freedom and accept his boldness and creativity, Lookman has the potential to produce outstanding seasons and make an era at Atlético,” Peseiro said. He did not understand it and believed he had a future there, but he had to accept it,” Peseiro revealed. Now approaching his peak years, Lookman has added defensive discipline and physical strength to his attacking qualities, according to his former coach.

Sussan Ley’s troubled tenure as the leader of the federal liberal party has come to an end, with her loss to Angus Taylor. But how does she rank against other Liberal party leaders? The only leader to have had a shorter tenure than Ley was Alexander Downer, leader of the Liberal party from 23 May 1994 to 30 January 1995. Downer was replaced by John Howard in his second, and longest, stint as leader. Note: we have used dates listed in the parliamentary handbook to calculate tenures, and these can differ from dates listed elsewhere.

Osimhen currently sits joint 14th on the list with Serbia’s Aleksandar Mitrović, with both players recording 27 international goals since 2021. At the summit of the IFFHS rankings is Norway’s Erling Haaland, who has scored 49 international goals since 2021, ahead of England captain Harry Kane on 46 and Argentina legend Lionel Messi on 44. Beyond the decade statistics, Osimhen’s overall impact for Nigeria continues to grow. In 2025, Osimhen was the joint-fifth highest scorer worldwide in all competitions with a total of 46 goals for both his club and country. This made him the top African scorer of the year and represented the highest single-year tally for an African player since 2019.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has proposed a budget of N873.78 billion for the conduct of the 2027 general elections, with significant allocations to election operations, technology and capital expenditure. The INEC chairman noted that the capital component was higher than in previous budgets because several capital items that had not been adequately captured in earlier appropriations had now been consolidated into the 2027 election budget. The breakdown includes N109 billion for personnel costs; N18.7 billion for overheads; N42.63 billion for election-related activities; and N1.4 billion for capital expenditure. He recalled that during the last general election, INEC made strong assurances about uploading results to the INEC Result Viewing (IREV) portal, creating the impression that results could be monitored in real time. “Meanwhile, the IREV was not even in the Electoral Act; it was only in INEC regulations.

The Ukrainian Defence Intelligence (UDI) has identified two Nigerian men, Hamzat Kazeem Kolawole and Mbah Stephen Udoka, killed as Russian mercenaries during assaults in Luhansk. UDI announced their deaths in a statement on Thursday, with photographs revealing their pre-death military poses and one family image. According to the statement, both men served in the 423rd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (military unit 91701) of the 4th guards kantemirovskaya tank division of the armed forces of the Russian federation. UDI said that they signed contracts with the Russian Army in the second half of 2025: Kolawole on August 29 and Udoka on September 28. Both Nigerians, the report added, were killed in late November during an attempt to storm Ukrainian positions in the Luhansk region.

Ademola Lookman scores for Atlético against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey semifinal clash. Credit: BeinSportsAtletico Madrid delivered a 4-0 win over Barcelona in the Copa del Rey semifinals at the Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday. He has now been directly involved in four goals in just three appearances for Atlético, including a goal and assist in his debut Copa del Rey outing against Real Betis. Atlético continued to press in the second half, with Julian Alvarez and Lookman creating chances and keeping Barcelona on the back foot. The defeat leaves Barcelona with a mountain to climb in the return leg, while Atlético Madrid look set to progress comfortably to the Copa del Rey final.

By Boye OyeyemiThe Ondo State Police Command has reunited Baliki Azeez, who was earlier declared missing, with her verified guardian, bringing relief to her family and the community. Akibu informed the police that the child’s parents were deceased, a claim that was also confirmed by the girl during questioning. The Command said it conducted the necessary assessment and verification before releasing the child to the guardian to ensure that due process was followed. Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, CP Femi Haruna, has cautioned parents and guardians to properly monitor and supervise their children to prevent cases of missing persons. He stressed that vigilance, awareness of children’s whereabouts and constant communication could significantly reduce such incidents.

Arsenal's English midfielder #07 Bukayo Saka (C) celebrates with teammates after his corner kick is diverted into his own net by Wolverhampton Wanderers' English goalkeeper #31 Sam Johnston during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Emirates Stadium in London on December 13, 2025. /Arsenal missed the chance to extend their Premier League lead to six points as Brentford rattled the Gunners in a 1-1 draw on Thursday to give Manchester City hope in the title race. However, the visitors were guilty of trying to hold onto their advantage rather than continuing to take the game to Brentford. The Brazilian’s best chance for an 18th Premier League goal of the season came in stoppage time but he smashed inches over. But Arsenal also had a chance to snatch victory at the death when Kelleher raced off his line to save from Gabriel Martinelli.

The development comes amid heightened public interest in the fate of the Electoral Amendment Bill, following recent disagreements over provisions relating to the electronic transmission of results. If we change ‘transmit’ to ‘upload’ in the Electoral Bill, 2026, will it change anything? “In Akure, for instance, the presiding officers will upload election results at polling units at 4pm because voting is concluded as scheduled. He said, “The National Assembly must act decisively to embed mandatory real-time electronic transmission of results in the Electoral Act. “The court was clear that because electronic transmission is not expressly provided for in the Electoral Act 2022, it is not legally binding,” he stated.

As Gary Vaynerchuk famously said, “Every company is a media company.” Yet most creators covering AFCON 2025 followed the same playbook. At AFCON 2025, most Nigerian journalists and content creators pitched similar offerings: on-the-ground coverage, press conferences, team updates, behind-the-scenes footage, analysis, cuisine, fan interactions, and Moroccan cultural experiences. Everyone appeared to be deploying the same “Jab, Jab, Jab, Hook” formula—throwing multiple jabs of access-driven content in the hope that one hook would land. Until journalists and content creators stop following the motley and begin swimming against the tide, access will continue to be treated as king—when in reality, differentiation, aided by strategy, is king. When every journalist and content creator is using Gary Vaynerchuk’s “Jab, Jab, Jab, Hook” template while covering major sporting events, thinkers among them must learn to replace one jab with a counterpunch—and a bit of head movement—to stay ahead of the herd.

In a message posted on his official X handle on Thursday, Otedola hailed the refinery’s achievement, commending the Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, for what he described as a landmark industrial breakthrough. ALSO READ: Dangote makes history, becomes first refinery in the World to hit 650,000bpd capacity“I congratulate my friend and brother, Aliko Dangote, on the remarkable achievement of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery reaching its full 650,000 barrels per day capacity,” he said. Supplying up to 75 million litres of PMS daily changes our energy narrative and conserves foreign exchange,” he stated. “With domestic refining now firmly underway after decades of reliance on imports, pressure on the foreign exchange market should ease significantly,” Otedola said. The Dangote Refinery, valued at about $20 billion, recently reached its full operational capacity following the successful optimisation of key processing units, marking a major turning point for Africa’s largest refinery project.

He noted that leadership requires unusual stamina and resilience, arguing that younger leaders are better positioned to withstand the pressure. Reflecting on the legacy of General Murtala Muhammed, Jonathan said the late leader demonstrated that age was not a barrier to decisive and visionary leadership. “His leadership sent a clear message: leadership was to serve the national interest, not personal ambition,” Jonathan said. He urged African leaders to view governance as stewardship rather than entitlement and encouraged young people to see leadership as service. Calling on Nigerians and Africans to draw lessons from history, Jonathan said leadership should be measured by impact rather than duration in office.