News
Buhari To Investors: Capital Inflow Our Major Challenge

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that lack of capital inflow from investors, especially those outside the country, is a serious challenge for Nigeria.
He stated this yesterday while speaking at the Nigeria International Economic Partnership Forum on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 77) in New York.
In his keynote address delivered by his Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, Buhari said Nigeria’s economy was ripe for increased investment.
“But on the contrary, private capital flows into Nigeria, consisting mainly of Foreign Direct Investment, have slowed, hindering the financing of much-needed infrastructure and natural resource access projects.
He said a key strategy being adopted was the Integrated National Financing Strategy, which sought to identify ways to expand the financing envelope of the sustainable development goals in Nigeria and enhance the sustainable development impact of financing by seeking to integrate and align public and private financial policies, regulatory frameworks, instruments, and business processes with sustainable development. The private sector will play a significant role in this strategy.
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The president said: “The power sector is recognised as a major catalyst for Nigeria’s industrialisation. To this end, in July 2021, I launched the 614-kilometre Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline project to enhance our energy security.
“Our administration also provided the sovereign guarantee for this vital infrastructure project and when completed, this project will drive industrialisation across the country.
“Furthermore, the first phase of the Presidential Power Initiative will provide over 40 million people with more reliable electricity supply, create 11,000 direct and indirect jobs for Nigerians.”
Speaking on insecurity, Buhari said: “The level of insecurity on account of Boko Haram and other terrorist organisations such as ISWAP as well as banditry and kidnapping groups across Nigeria have also impacted negatively on our efforts. Happily, we are overcoming such bends with huge prospects for stability, which foreign direct investments can count upon. The advantages and disadvantages of investing in Nigeria far outweigh the challenges.”
Nigeria needs help to tackle debt burden- Adesina
Speaking at the event, the President of the African Development Bank (ADB), Akinwunmi Adesina has said Nigeria needs debt relief to tackle its debt burden.
Adesina argued that several African countries were at risk of high debt distress due to unstable and unsustainable debt levels. He said: “Nigeria’s debt level is N42.8 4 trillion, or $103 billion; external debt levels stand at N16.61 trillion naira or $14 billion.
“It is my firm belief that Nigeria needs to tackle its debt and international partnerships on debts will be needed to help Africa and Nigeria,” he said.
He said the National Integrated Infrastructure master plan showed that Nigeria will need total financing of $759 billion to support infrastructure over a 23-year horizon from 2020 to 2043.
According to the ADB president, “Nigeria holds impressive investments that are global reference. The newly constructed $10 billion Dangote Petrochemical and Fertiliser complex, the world’s largest ammonia plant in the free trade zone with a new port is exactly the kind of massive infrastructure and industrial manufacturing that is needed to make Nigeria a regional and global powerhouse gasoline, diesel and aviation for enterprise value chains.”
Categorise Nigeria’s stolen crude as ‘blood oil’ Kyari
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari called on the international community to label stolen oil from Nigeria as ‘blood oil.’
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Kyari said the international community needed to support Nigeria because oil thrift had signatures.
He also called on the AFRIEXIM Bank to consider partnering with the NNPCL to achieve its objectives.
FG considering review of tax incentives
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Economy, Zainab Ahmed said Nigeria had identified revenue leakages that were being systematically blocked by digitisation and the various tax systems.
She said: “There are some ineffective tax incentives that are currently in the process of being reviewed; some that have reached returning with maturity will not be renewed.
“There might be some rewards that have been introduced and we trying to make sure that we are getting value for the investments that they are providing,” she said.
Interest rate will continue to rise-CBN
Speaking at the forum, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele hinted that interest rates will continue to rise in a bid to check rising inflation.
Emefiele said: “I am not going to give any guarantee to anybody that we will not continue to tighten or raise rates as long as we continue to see inflation at the current levels that we have seen. We have seen how the issues of inflation have led to a significant slowdown in global growth.”
He said the Swedish Central Bank raised rates by their highest margin in the last 30 years and in the last couple of days, the fed also raised rates, the second time by about 3% already.
“If the US Fed in history has raised rates this year, one year by 2 per cent, you could imagine what that means for the global economy.”
Daily Trust
News
Nigerian woman declared dead appears in UK court to reclaim her £350,000 home

Nigerian woman declared dead appears in UK court to reclaim her £350,000 home
A 55-year-old Nigerian woman, June Ashimola, who was falsely declared dead, has appeared via video link from Nigeria before the UK High Court to prevent a convicted fraudster from seizing her £350,000 home in Woolwich, southeast London.
Ashimola was wrongly declared dead in February 2019, sparking a long legal battle over her estate.
However, she has now presented herself before Deputy Master John Linwood, asserting that she is alive and a victim of fraud.
According to DailyMail on Wednesday, the court heard that following her wrongful declaration of death, power of attorney over her estate, which consisted primarily of a house, was granted to Ms. Ruth Samuel, acting on behalf of Bakare Lasisi, who falsely claimed to have married Ashimola in 1993.
However, the judge ruled that the supposed marriage was a fabrication and that Lasisi did not exist.
According to court records, Ashimola left the UK for Nigeria in 2018 and had not returned since.
By October 2022, power of attorney had been awarded to Samuel on behalf of the fictitious Lasisi, who laid claim to Ashimola’s estate.
The judge ultimately found that Tony Ashikodi, a convicted fraudster who served three years in prison in 1996 for obtaining property by deception, had orchestrated the elaborate scheme to seize her home.
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“This is an unusual probate claim in that the deceased says she is very much alive,” Deputy Master Linwood remarked, describing the case as a web of fraud, forgery, impersonation, and intimidation.
“The root of this claim is a long running battle or campaign waged by a Mr Tony Ashikodi for control and/or ownership of the property.
‘Ms Ashimola left the UK for Nigeria in about October 2018 and has not returned since. This claim involves wide-ranging allegations of fraud, forgery, impersonation and intimidation,” Linwood added.
Despite visa challenges preventing her from appearing in person, Ashimola’s identity was verified through passport photographs, leading the judge to dismiss the claims against her estate.
After reviewing the evidence, Deputy Master Linwood ruled, “’I find Ms Ashimola is alive and that the death certificate was forged and/or fraudulently obtained or produced or concocted.
“Her alleged death was part of Mr Tony Ashikodi’s attempts to wrest control of the property from her.
“The person who appeared before me and identified herself as Ms Ashimola was physically like her photographs in each passport.
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“I find that Ms Ashimola was not married to Mr Lasisi and that the marriage certificate is a concocted or fraudulent document for these reasons.
“I do not accept Mr Lasisi exists or if he does is aware of his identity being used. I do not accept that emails supposedly from him were actually from him.”
He further accused Ashikodi of attempting to mislead the court and found that both Ashikodi and Samuel were either directly involved in producing the fraudulent documents or knowingly relied on them.
He added, “I find that the probate power of attorney submitted supposedly by Mr Lasisi and Ms Samuel was a fraudulently produced or concocted document.
“The death certificate was not proven to the necessary standard in that only a copy was produced. The provenance was unknown. There was no evidence before me that it was a genuine document evidencing a real event.
“I find it was forged and/or fraudulently produced or concocted. The persons who relied upon it namely Mr Tony Ashikodi and Ms Samuel were either directly involved in its production or else knew it was false.’”
As a result, the power of attorney was revoked, safeguarding Ashimola’s rightful ownership of her £350,000 property.
The court also heard that legal costs incurred by both parties have exceeded £150,000, an amount that may surpass the property’s equity value.
Nigerian woman declared dead appears in UK court to reclaim her £350,000 home
News
Natasha: Senate writes IPU on her suspension

Natasha: Senate writes IPU on her suspension
The complaint filed by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan at the United Nations Inter-Parliamentary Conference in New York has continued to generate reactions from various quarters.
The Kogi Central lawmaker had taken her case to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), alleging injustice and harassment, including her recent suspension from the Nigerian Senate.
Following her presentation, the IPU assured her that it would take necessary steps to address her grievances but emphasized the need to also hear the other side before making any official pronouncement.
The Nigerian Senate has however replied to Senator Natasha’s complaint to the IPU through a letter written by the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele.
The letter was read by the Chairperson of the House of Representatives committee on Women Affairs and Social Development, Honorable Kafilat Ogbara, who is attending the event in an official capacity representing Nigeria.
The Senate letter read in part, “Senator Natasha-Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended for gross misconduct and unruly behaviour and not as a result of allegation of sexual harassment or assault.
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“The authority of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria firmly refutes the deliberate misinformation and false narrative being circulated by certain media organisations regarding the sixth months suspension of Senator Natsaha-Akpoti-Uduaghan.
“Let it be unequivocally stated that Uduaghan was suspended solely for her persistent act of misconduct and disregard for the Senate Standing Orders.”
Honourable Ogbara, however, called for a thorough investigation into the allegation by Senator Natasha against the Senator President, Godswill Akpabio.
She maintained that procedures and necessary actions under the Senate rules were observed before Senator Natasha’s suspension.
Last week, the Senate suspended the lawmaker in a move that has continued to generate debates across the country.
She had initially submitted a petition to the Senate accusing Akpabio of sexual harassment. But the lawmakers threw it out before suspending her even after submitting another petition.
Senator Natasha vowed to continue the fight against “injustice”. But in the wake of the suspension, Akpabio denied the accusations and maintained he has never assaulted women.
Her altercation with the Senate president started on February 20, 2025, after her seat was changed during plenary.
That is not the first time both individuals had issues. In July 2024, Akpabio had while trying to correct her for misconduct told her to follow the rules and that the Senate is not a nightclub where anybody can talk anyhow. The Akwa Ibom lawmaker, however, later apologised to her for the remark.
Natasha: Senate writes IPU on her suspension
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Tinubu set to appoint new ambassadors after 18 months

Tinubu set to appoint new ambassadors after 18 months
President Bola Tinubu is finally taking steps to fill Nigeria’s diplomatic leadership positions after operating without ambassadors for a year and a half.
According to a credible source in the Presidential Villa, the government has completed the screening of potential candidates to head Nigeria’s over 100 diplomatic missions worldwide. A senior official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also confirmed that the appointments are expected “very soon.”
This move follows Tinubu’s decision in September 2023 to recall all Nigerian ambassadors shortly after taking office.
“The issue is being resolved,” the source said, indicating that the long diplomatic vacuum may be coming to an end very soon.
“Nigeria’s security services have conducted background checks on potential appointees and have shared their findings with relevant agencies in the presidency and legislature”, according to an intelligence official.
The foreign affairs ministry has previously blamed financial constraints for the delay in naming new diplomats.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation has budgeted N302.4 billion this year to operate its foreign missions.
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A former Nigerian ambassador who served in Africa and the United States noted that since taking office in May 2023, President Tinubu has focused primarily on addressing Nigeria’s struggling economy, with foreign policy taking a second priority.
The former ambassador, who requested anonymity, said government officials had informed him that several foreign leaders had raised concerns about Nigeria’s lack of ambassadors during discussions with President Tinubu. According to this source, the president has assured these leaders that appointments will be made soon.
Another official who asked to remain anonymous as he was not authorised to speak to the press confirmed that the appointment was imminent.
“Ambassadorial appointments require approval from the National Assembly. So, the list will be submitted to the Senate President, who will then announce it. But it has not been submitted yet. Yes, I can confirm that but it will be submitted shortly.
In April 2024, the government appointed 12 consuls-general and five chargés d’affaires to represent Nigeria in 14 countries, but these interim measures fell short of filling the leadership vacuum in key missions.
Consuls-general and chargés d’affaires can perform routine administrative duties and oversee the operations of an embassy. They, however, lack the diplomatic weight to engage at the highest levels, such as with heads of state or critical international negotiations.
This newspaper learnt that a founder of a tier-one bank, a former Deputy Governor of Lagos State and the Speaker of a House of Assembly in the North were considered for the ambassadorial roles.
Tinubu set to appoint new ambassadors after 18 months
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