Welcome to today’s roundup of Nigerian newspaper headlines, accompanied by our advocacy-focused calls for government action on pressing issues that impact citizens.
1. Daily Trust: Protest in Kogi Community over Bandits’ Attack
Daily Trust reports that a protest erupted in Isanlu community on Sunday following the killing of a popular elderly woman, Elizabeth Olorunshola, at Ilafin-Isanlu community in Yagba East LGA of Kogi State by bandits.
Gunmen suspected to be bandits had killed the elderly woman in a fresh attack on the Ilafin-Isanlu community on Saturday night.
Our Take: It is troubling that in Kogi State, citizens now protest for the right to simply stay alive. The government must move beyond condolence statements and take action, because it seems ‘bandits’ have better access to our roads than farmers or traders. The security agencies must urgently track down those responsible for the gruesome killing of Olorunshola and ensure justice is not treated like one of Nigeria’s missing infrastructure projects, always promised, rarely delivered.
2. The Guardian: Anambra: SERAP, Booth Party Urge INEC to Prosecute Vote Buyers
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, to urgently refer the allegations of vote buying and undue influence during the just concluded governorship elections in Anambra state to appropriate anti-corruption agencies and the police for investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators and their sponsors.
Our Take: Nigeria cannot keep holding elections where cash seems to vote more than citizens. INEC must stop treating vote-buying as a side attraction and start treating it as a crime, because democracy cannot run on ‘stomach infrastructure’. INEC should work with the EFCC, ICPC, and police to expose and prosecute both buyers and sellers of votes.
3. Vanguard: Federal Government Exceeds 2025 Borrowing Target by 55.6 Percent
Vanguard reports that the federal government has borrowed N17.36 trillion from domestic and foreign sources in the first 10 months of this year.
This represents N6.06 trillion (55.6 per cent) in excess of the N10.9 trillion stipulated in the 2025 Appropriation Act on 10 months prorate bases. The total borrowing in 2025 approved budget is N13.08 trillion for the entire fiscal year.
Our Take: At this rate, Nigeria’s debt profile is growing faster than its economy, and maybe it is time the Federal Government applied for a loan to learn fiscal discipline. The administration must immediately halt its binge borrowing, strengthen revenue generation through real reforms (not new taxes on struggling citizens), and publish a transparent breakdown of every naira borrowed and spent.
