February 2023

28 February 2023
BusinessDay
Unease over election results dampens business activities
The anxiety surrounding the outcome of Saturday’s presidential election in Nigeria has dampened business activities, especially in the informal sector…

Joy News
PM Express with Evans Mensah: The Nigeria Verdict; Implication for the sub-region
Head of Research at SBM Intelligence, Ikemesit Effiong joined a panel to discuss the implications of Nigeria’s federal elections on the wider West African region…

Washington Post
Bola Tinubu of Nigeria’s ruling party wins presidential election
Former Lagos governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu has won Nigeria’s presidential election, officials said early Wednesday, marking a victory for the ruling party despite the unpopularity of its outgoing president, Muhammadu Buhari…

27 February 2023
AP
Nigeria opposition rejects early vote lead for ruling party
Tensions rose Monday during the counting of Nigeria’s hotly contested presidential election when representatives from the parties of the two main opposition candidates walked out in anger from the center where state-by-state results were being announced…

BusinessDay
UK student visas to Nigerians soar 769% in four years
The number of Nigerians granted sponsored study or student visas by the United Kingdom increased by over eightfold in four years, according to a new official immigration data…

Democracy Digest
Flawed poll queries Nigeria’s ‘democratic self-correction’
Opposition parties today walked out of the venue where results from Nigeria’s tightly contested presidential elections are being announced…

Financial Times
Outsider Peter Obi wins key state of Lagos in Nigeria’s presidential election
Outsider candidate Peter Obi took an early scalp in the battle to become Nigeria’s president as he won victory in Lagos, the country’s economic powerhouse and home state of his main rival, as a tense wait for the full results continued two days after voters went to the polls…

Joy News
Nigeria Election: INEC did not put its best foot forward – SBM Intelligence
Head of Research at SBM Intelligence, Ikemesit Effiong has indicated that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has not put up its best performance in the ongoing presidential election…

2023 Nigerian General Election: APC takes the lead in early results announcement
SBM Intelligence Analyst, Sonia Yeboah discussed the latest results from the 2023 Nigerian federal elections…

Plus TV Africa
Security Situation Across Nigeria
Stanley Ikechukwu, Head Of Operations, SBM Intelligence, Joined Discuss…

Semafor
Nigeria election tech problems raise fears of disputed outcome
Nigeria’s tightest presidential election in a generation — Africa’s biggest democratic exercise — faces a credibility crisis after a series of technology problems…

26 February 2023
France 24
Présidentielle au Nigeria : le dépouillement et le décompte des suffrages continuent
Les opérations de décompte se poursuivent dimanche au Nigeria, où une course serrée oppose les trois favoris à la présidentielle de samedi, qui s’est globalement déroulée dans le calme malgré quelques incidents sécuritaires et des couacs logistiques…

RFI
Elections au Nigeria: le vote se poursuit par endroits en raison de retards et problèmes techniques
Nigeria voted yesterday Saturday, a logistical challenge for the West African giant with the largest electorate on the continent (93.4 million officially registered), and more than 170,000 polling stations to open across the country…

Silverbird News24
BVAS concerns and the 2023 election
Head of Research at SBM Intelligence, Ikemesit Effiong shared insights on SBM’s report on the 2023 election and perspectives on concerns about the reliability of the BVAS…

25 February 2023
Nairametrics
How cash crunch may disenfranchise many ‘eager-to-vote’ Nigerians
As millions of Nigerians look forward to voting today, there is palpable worry that many who are eager to cast their votes may be disenfranchised due to the lingering cash crisis…

New York Times
After 8 Lost Years, a Wide-Open Election in the Giant of Africa
Upon winning independence from its British colonizers in 1960, thousands of Nigerians watched as their new green and white flag was raised over the capital at the time, Lagos, at midnight. As fireworks lit up the streets, hope and promise filled the air…

Nigeria Info
The Mandate ’23: Presidential Election Coverage
Ikemesit Effiong of SBM Intelligence joins Maryann Okon in the #NIMandate23 Studio…

The Mandate ’23: Presidential Election Coverage
SBM Intelligence’s Head of Research Ikemesit Effiong and Senior Security Analyst Confidence McHarry join Joyce Onyemuwa live in the #NIMandate23 Studio…

24 February 2023
AFP
In Southeast Nigeria, Election Revives Igbo Hopes
Ashes and charred metal are what mostly remain of the electoral office in Ojoto in southeastern Nigeria. Holes gape in the walls that are still standing, its roof blown away…

Mistrust in Nigeria’s electoral body ‘weaponised’ online ahead of polls
Nigeria’s electoral body faces a tough task ahead of Saturday’s poll as public trust in the organisation has plunged over accusations of corruption, vote-rigging and malpractice, fuelling disinformation…

Christian Science Monitor
Can Nigerian ‘new broom’ candidate sweep the youth vote?
It’s mid-morning on Wednesday in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, as Prosper Uka sidles up to a group of women standing in a crowd outside a bank…

CNN
Many talented young Nigerians are leaving. Halting the exodus will be a task for the next president
May Nigeria not happen to you,” is a common prayer in Africa’s largest economy and most populous nation. It is a heartfelt wish born out of the frustration of living in a country so dysfunctional that even wealth cannot insulate you from the wahala (troubles) of Nigeria and its systemic failures. So those who can leave, leave…

New York Times
Ahead of Crucial Election, Security Crises and Kidnappings Plague Nigeria
A 61-year-old civil engineer was supervising a digging project on a farm in southern Nigeria when five young men carrying AK-47s stormed the place and dragged him into the bush…

Premium Times
ANALYSIS: How Nigeria’s presidential candidates plan to fight corruption
It is hours before the 2023 presidential election which has 18 candidates jostling to take over from outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari in May…

23 February 2023
America Magazine
Catholic bishops in Nigeria raise up security and common good concerns before presidential elections
Ahead of upcoming general elections on Feb. 25 and March 11, Nigerian Catholics want their next national leaders to address the difficult political and socio-economic issues facing the country…

Bloomberg
Nigeria is in turmoil. Can a new president fix it?
As Nigerians decide on a new president, the country’s economy is reeling. Nigeria’s public debt is growing, inflation is soaring, and half of adults can’t find steady work…

Without Gas and Cash, Fed Up Nigerians Head to Polls
In Nigeria last year, 20 million children did not go to school, the currency hit an all-time low, half of adults were under or unemployed, oil production — the lifeblood of the economy — fell to a 40-year low, and gangs of heavily armed bandits had free reign over large swathes of the country…

Coda
Nigeria plunges into a cash crisis on the eve of presidential elections
Just past noon on Friday, February 17, George Chinedu, a trader, was in a lengthy queue in front of Guaranty Trust Bank in Palmgrove, a suburb of Lagos…

Le Monde
Nigeria’s Igbo hesitate to vote in presidential election
“Nigeria doesn’t bring us anything, so we are better off leaving Nigeria!” Sitting behind a small desk in the darkness of his workshop, Paul, 46, cannot find words harsh enough against his country and its leaders…

The Nation
Naira redesign: A policy somersault
Any public policy put forward should be to solve societal problems and any policy devoid of that (not put in place to solve a societal problem or people-oriented policy) can be tagged anti-people because a public policy must centre around issues, activities, events and matters that are for the generality of the people…

The Sun Nigeria
Presidential poll: How Atiku, Obi, Tinubu, Kwankwaso, others stand
Finally, the long-awaited general election is here as Nigerian voters would on Saturday file out to exercise their franchise in electing those to pilot the affairs of the nation in the next four years…

22 February 2023
AFP
Nigeria to vote in most unpredictable election in years
Nigerians will vote for a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday in an unprecedented race between three frontrunners battling to govern Africa’s most populous democracy…

Al Jazeera
Tight fiscal leash awaits winner of Nigeria presidential election
For Nneka Ekpenisi, a physics teacher in Nigeria’s southern Delta state, remaining committed to the country’s public education system can be difficult, especially as skilled professionals continue to leave the country in high numbers..

BusinessDay
Nigeria’s economy slows in 2022 as agric, industry sectors disappoint
The Nigerian economy grew at a slower pace last year compared to 2021 owing largely to the poor performance of the agriculture and industry sectors, official data released on Wednesday show…

Guardian Nigeria
Currency swap: National security dimensions and legal perspectives
Policy, within this article’s precinct, implies the deliberate actions of governments and the objective intentions underpinning those actions, which accord with the public interest…

New poll reveals impact of ethnicity, religion on Nigerian voter turnout
A recent poll conducted by SBM Intelligence in partnership with Enough is Enough (EiE) Nigeria sheds light on the impact of ethnicity and religion on Nigerian voter turnout…

Le Monde
Election présidentielle au Nigeria : dans le sud-est, les Igbo hésitent entre le boycott et Peter Obi
Le Nigeria ne nous apporte rien, donc il vaut mieux que nous quittions le Nigeria ! » Installé derrière un petit bureau dans la pénombre de son atelier, Paul, 46 ans, n’a pas de mots assez durs contre son pays et ses dirigeants…

New Telegraph
Presidential Election: Can Opinion Polls Determine Outcome?
For the first time since Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1999, the forthcoming presidential election is likely to be a threehorse race between the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP)…

Vice
‘People Just Want a Life’: Why These Young People are Bailing on Nigeria
In 2021, Olufemi Fadahunsi was working as a writer at one of Nigeria’s most popular online magazines before he decided to join a tech startup as a content marketer…

21 February 2023
BusinessDay
Preparing for elections ought not to be a risky business
The Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa has shown in its portal that not less than 20 African countries will have elections in 2023. Gabon, Liberia, DR Congo, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Zimbabwe and Nigeria are some of the countries that will have elections at various times during the year…

China Dialogue
Nigeria’s surprise presidential hopeful promises bold change on climate
Last October, Nigeria was ravaged by flooding that killed more than 600 people and displaced 1.3 million. It was the deadliest floods since at least 2012 for Africa’s most populous nation and largest economy…

CNN
Nigeria is about to hold Africa’s largest democratic exercise. Here’s what to know about its presidential election
Nigerians will head to the polls Saturday in a fiercely-contested presidential vote that analysts say is too close to call. It will be the largest democratic exercise on the continent as Africa’s most populous nation picks a new president…

ICIR Nigeria
How to keep safe during elections in Nigeria
Nigerians will go to the polls on February 25 and March 2023 to elect their leaders at various levels. Presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on February 25, while Governorship and State House of Assembly elections will hold on March 11…

Le Monde
Nigeria election: A disillusioned nation struck by economic frailties
Once the hope of an entire continent, the economy of Africa’s most populous country is plagued by favoritism, bad politics and institutionalized banditry. Its large and disillusioned youth expect little from the February 25 presidential election…

Semafor
The race is on for votes in northern Nigeria’s economic hub Kano
Kano, the country’s second most populous state, is the site of one of the most fiercely contested election battles. The rising cost of living and unpopular policies that led to cash and fuel shortages have eroded the APC government’s popularity in a stronghold of outgoing president Muhammadu Buhari that traditionally has a high voter turnout…

20 February 2023
Arise News
SBM Intelligence: Economic & Security Stressors Will Motivate Nigerians to Vote
Head of Research, Ikemesit Effiong discussed the findings of the latest Enough is Enough Nigeria and SBM Intelligence 2023 presidential election poll on Arise News’ Thisday Live programme…

The Cable
Hope, excitement as #NigeriaDecides2023
After a protracted military interregnum, Nigeria’s democracy appears to be on a cruise with fears of a potential military incursion almost non-existent. Since 1999 when the democratic rule was restored, Nigeria’s democracy has continued to grow in leaps and bounds with power changing hands in quadrennial elections at the ballot…

Legit
2023 Presidency: Possibilities, Facts on Peter Obi’s Chances as Chatham House Expert, Political Observer Spill
There is no doubt that Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, is already upsetting Nigeria’s political status quo going by support from Nigeria’s young population and the results of recent online polls…

NigeriaInfo
What Does SBM’s Poll Say?
Head of Research, Ikemesit Effiong discussed the findings of the latest Enough is Enough Nigeria and SBM Intelligence 2023 presidential election poll on the Hard Facts show with Sandra Ezekwesili…

Nigeria Politics Weekly
SBM’s Poll & Buhari’s Speech
Partner Tunde Ajuileye joined the Nigeria Politics Weekly podcast to discuss the recently published polling results by SBM Intelligence and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s address to the country…

19 February 2023
Le Monde
Nigeria, un géant d’Afrique à la dérive
Naguère espoir de tout un continent, le pays le plus peuplé d’Afrique voit son économie rongée par le favoritisme, les mauvaises politiques et le banditisme institutionnalisé. Sa jeunesse nombreuse et désabusée attend peu de l’élection présidentielle qui se tiendra le 25 février…

Premium Times
PT State of the Race: Who wins Nigeria’s presidential election?
It is not the election week that Nigerians anticipated or that anyone foresaw. As the clock counts down to 25 February, normal pre-poll excitement about who may win has been overtaken by a not unreasonable fear, especially among Nigerians who were adults before the last of the military despots were ushered out in 1999, that the election may not even hold…

Vanguard
Tension over RECs, BVAS, court cases, 7 other issues
The 2023 election cycle is consequential. Nigeria is literally on the ballot. 96.2 million voters are poised to decide their collective future in one of the most high-stakes elections ever witnessed in the country…

18 February 2023
DailyPost
POS Terminals: Inside Nigeria’s new oil money
Looking out of a shuttle window going into the campus from Ogige market Nsukka, the incredibly long queues at the banks along University market road, had no real meaning for me until recently…

Tinubu, Obi, Atiku won’t win on Feb 25 – Poll predicts second round
Enough is Enough, EiE, has rated frontline presidential candidates Bola Tinubu, Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar and Rabiu Kwankwaso. The civil society organisation earlier commissioned SBM Intelligence to do a nationwide survey of likely voters on salient issues regarding the 2023 polls…

Nairametrics
New poll suggest 2023 Nigeria presidential election could be decided in a run-off election
According to a recent survey commissioned by Enough is Enough Nigeria (EiE Nigeria) and conducted by SBM Intelligence, the country’s upcoming 2023 presidential election is set to be highly competitive, with no clear front-runner…

17 February 2023
AFP
Insecurity risks test Nigeria election preparations
In rural northwest Nigeria, the area of Birnin Gwari often hits the headlines for attacks and abductions by bandit militias who terrorise its communities…

BusinessDay
Presidential election likely to end up in a run-off — SBM poll
Nigerians should expect a runoff to decide its next president, according to SBM Intelligence, a geopolitical research consultancy firm. This was in its latest report on a poll commissioned by EiE Nigeria to forecast the outcome of next Saturday’s presidential election…

The Cable
Tinubu likely to win popular vote | run-off possible
A survey by Enough Is Enough (EiE), a civil society organisation (CSO), and SBM Intelligence, a research firm, has predicted a likely victory for Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC)…

CNBC Africa
Nigeria elections: How technology is driving voter education
A report by SBM Intelligence says that voter awareness and education through the use of technology have played a unique role in driving voter interest…

Legit
2023 Presidency: New Survey Holds Strange Prediction for Tinubu, Obi, Atiku
A survey by a civil society organisation known as Enough Is Enough (EiE) and SBM Intelligence, a research firm, favours Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the possible winner of the presidential election…

News Central
Nigeria Elections 2023: Less Than 20% Care About National Assembly Polls – New Survey
A new survey has been carried out by civic tech organizations, EiE Nigeria and SBM Intelligence, that shows that since 1999, Nigerians after the presidential election always had lessening interest in down-ballot elections such as governors and house of assembly elections. This survey has led to the call on Nigerian electorates to show significant interest in all levels of elections in the country and not just on one – that is the presidential elections…

Ripples Nigeria
2023: Fresh poll expects Tinubu to win popular vote, run-off possible
A survey carried out by a civil society organization, Enough Is Enough (EiE) and a research firm, SBM Intelligence, has predicted a possible victory for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in the February 25 election…

16 February 2023
The Africa Report
Nigeria: Clergymen bear the brunt as insecurity woes persist
On the weekend of 5 February, information filtered into a southern Kaduna village, in Nigeria’s north-west, of an impending attack by bandits during Sunday Mass at the local Catholic Church…

Al Jazeera
Nigeria election: Women denounce poor political representation
On June 8, 2022, millions of Nigerians were glued to their phones, televisions, and other devices, watching the presidential primaries of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)…

Start Here: Who could be Nigeria’s next president?
Nigeria votes for a new president on February 25th. And this election is looking very different from previous ones. #AJStartHere with Sandra Gathmann explains why it’s being seen as such a crucial vote…

Mail & Guardian
Nigeria’s military is broken
Late last week, more than a hundred people were killed in fighting between armed bandits and a vigilante group in Nigeria’s northern Katsina state. The Nigerian military, tasked with maintaining security in this part of the country, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, citizens were told to fend for themselves…

15 February 2023
AFP
Former Nigeria VP rolls dice for sixth presidential run
The first time Atiku Abubakar ran for Nigeria’s presidency, his country was still under military rule and Nelson Mandela was about to win a Nobel prize for ending apartheid. Three decades later, Abubakar is attempting his sixth run for the presidency, touting his experience as vice president and his business acumen to “rescue” Africa’s most populous democracy…

Al Jazeera
Nigeria election triggers deluge of ‘fake news’ on social media
Since last November, Felix Oyewole has watched an avalanche of political content descend on his social media newsfeed ahead of Nigeria’s forthcoming presidential and parliamentary election on February 25…

Foreign Policy
Will Nigeria’s Cash Chaos Impact Elections?
In the run-up to elections on Feb. 25, Nigerians are having to wait in hours-long lines for money and fuel amid an acute cash and gasoline shortage in a country that was once Africa’s largest producer of petroleum…

The News Guru
Vigorous pre-election campaigning in Nigeria
In light of the upcoming elections in Nigeria, scheduled for February 25, the political situation in the country is heating up. The Peoples Democratic Party nominated former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, while the All Progressives Congress nominated former Governor of Lagos State Bola Tinubu. For the less politically represented Labour Party and New Nigeria Peoples Party, former Governor of Anambra State Peter Obi was nominated…

Sahara Reporters
Most Nigerians Only Interested In Presidential Election; Less Than 20% Care About National Assembly Polls
A survey carried out by civic tech organisations, EiE Nigeria and SBM Intelligence, has called on Nigerian electorates to show significant interest in all levels of elections in the country. The group which fosters courtroom openness,advancing social justice and promoting quality reminded Nigerians that all the elections play a crucial role in determining the quality of life within their communities…

14 February 2023
Al Jazeera
Analysis: Scars of annulled 1993 vote trail Nigeria 2023 election
On February 25, Africa’s largest democracy will hold its sixth election since the return to civilian leadership in 1999. The polls in Nigeria will be held a few months shy of the 30th anniversary of the annulled 1993 presidential elections, widely seen as the “freest and fairest” in the country’s history…

BusinessDay
Lagos, Kano, Rivers among flashpoints as election draws closer
Lagos, Kano, Rivers, Kaduna, Ebonyi and Imo have been listed as the states with high violent attacks since electioneering began in October 2022…

13 February 2023
Al Jazeera
How Nigerian youth are galvanising for upcoming presidential vote
Onyinye Odinmah is excited about voting for the first time as Nigeria’s presidential election nears. After two months of long waits at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Shomulu, Lagos, she secured a biometric Permanent Voters Card (PVC), becoming one of a record 10 million new registered voters ahead of the February 25 election…

Punch
Upsurge in pre-election violence worrisome
Disturbing reports of politically-related violence across the country continue to cast a dark pall over the 2023 elections. Reckless, desperate, and increasingly disdainful of the law, politicians are sponsoring killings, attacks and arson to subdue and overawe opponents…

12 February 2023
AFP
Nigeria’s ‘outsider’ rallies in Lagos for final election sprint
Appealing to Nigeria’s youth to come out and vote, outsider candidate Peter Obi on Saturday rallied thousands of supporters in Lagos in his last stage of campaigning before this month’s presidential election…

Daily Independent
CACOL: Sensitising Media On Evils Of Corruption, Electoral Fraud
With the 2023 general elections few days away, the nation’s foremost anti-fraud civil society organisation (CSO), the Centre For Anti-Corruption And Open Leadership (CACOL) on Tuesday January 31, 2023, held a media event to sensitise the media on the state of the nation, especially as it pertained to the coming general elections…

10 February 2023
AFP
Uncertainty in Nigeria as cash, fuel shortages bite ahead of vote
With under three weeks to go until Nigeria’s presidential elections, major shortages of cash and fuel have plunged Africa’s most populous country into crisis…

Pulse
Nigerian Air Force jets have mistakenly killed 300 civilians in 6 years
Operations by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) targeting terrorists in the northern region of the country have resulted in the accidental killing of more than 300 civilians in the past six years, according to a recent report by SBM Intelligence…

RFI
Au Nigeria, la réforme monétaire entraîne des scènes de chaos devant les banques
Au Nigeria, la vaste réforme monétaire engagée depuis octobre entre dans sa phase finale. La Banque centrale a décidé de changer les anciens billets de 200, 500 et 1000 nairas…

9 February 2023
Guardian
World attention on Nigeria, I hope nothing tampers with elections, Obasanjo warns
Ahead of tomorrow’s emergency meeting of the Council of State conveyed by President Muhammadu Buhari, where major decisions are expected to be taken to douse tension over scarcity of naira notes, former President Olusegun Obasanjo is optimistic that nothing will interfere with the successful conduct of the general elections scheduled for February 25 and March 11…

Ikenga
SBM Intelligence faults S’Court verdicts on Lawan, others
SBM Intelligence, a research organisation and one of the leading consulting outfits in Nigeria, has berated the Supreme Court over its rulings in high-profile cases leading to the 2023 general election…

Thisday
Emefiele and the New Naira Policy
The Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, is being buffeted by a platoon of vested interests in Nigeria. His ‘sin’ is that he redesigned the naira, thus rendering the old notes invalid from a particular date…

8 February 2023
BusinessDay
Insecurity may mar 2023 polls
The 2023 general election could reverse the trend of low voter turnout which has characterised Nigeria’s elections in the last two decades, but the elections may be marred by insecurity, a new study report by Nigeria’s geopolitical Intelligence platform, SBM has revealed…

The Niche
Treasury generates ₦11.5tr corporate tax on Buhari’s watch
Company Income Tax (CIT), also called corporate tax, has fetched ₦11.5 trillion into federal coffers since Muhammadu Buhari became President in 2015, based on data published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)…

7 February 2023
Al Jazeera
Can Atiku Abubakar succeed in sixth run for Nigerian presidency?
Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s main opposition party’s presidential candidate, has always had an appetite for big battles. During his tenure as Nigeria’s vice president between 1999 and 2007, Abubakar opposed the wave of adoption of Islamic law across parts of the country’s Muslim-majority north, the highest-profile Muslim politician from the region to do so…

Financial Times
Pollsters aim to bring public insight to Nigeria’s elections for the first time
In an office in an upscale part of Lagos, a group of young economists and analysts fine-tune a data set they say will produce the most comprehensive publicly available election polling in Nigeria’s history, ahead of the country’s presidential vote this month…

ICIR
Accidental NAF airstrikes kill over 300 civilians in 5 years
SBM Intelligence has reported that over 300 civilians were killed by accidental airstrikes by the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) in five years…

Legit
Expert Lists Akwa Ibom, Kano, Other Top States in Nigeria to Invest Outside Lagos
According to an expert, Cheta Nwanze, the lead partner at SBM Intelligence and the head of the organisation’s research desk, Akwa Ibom, Kano, Ogun, Nasarawa, Onitsha, and Port Harcourt are places in Nigeria, apart from Lagos, that offer opportunities to investors…

PM News
Fitch predicts winner of Nigeria’s presidential election
Fitch Solutions Country Risk and Industry Research, a renowned international body has predicted the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to win this month’s presidential election in Nigeria…

Presna Latina
Mistaken airstrikes in Nigeria leave trail of deaths
More than 300 civilians died in Nigeria from 2017 to date as a result of accidental airstrikes that occurred while government troops were pursuing terrorist groups, an official agency disclosed…

Punch
Accidental airstrikes kill 300 Nigerians since 2017
Over 300 civilians have been killed in accidental airstrikes by the Nigerian Air Force since 2017, a report by SBM Intelligence has said. In the report titled “Air Force Mishaps,” released on Monday, SBM said the airstrikes happened while the Nigerian Air Force was in pursuit of terrorists…

Reuters
Nigerian rights panel, underfunded and overmatched, begins probe of powerful military
A special panel named by Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission launched an investigation Tuesday into recent Reuters reports on rights abuses by the country’s army. Those familiar with the commission’s past work say it faces stiff challenges…

6 February 2023
Africa Intelligence
How kidnapping became an industry in Nigeria’s wild northwest
Since Muhammadu Buhari became Nigeria’s president in 2015, the kidnapping industry has become more structured in northern Nigeria. In the northwestern states, highway bandits now carry out kidnappings that generate tens of millions of dollars in ransoms…

The Cable
Over 300 civilians killed since 2017 by NAF mishaps
Accidental strikes by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) have killed over 300 civilians in the country, says a new report by SBM Intelligence…

Nairametrics
Top States to invest in Nigeria outside of Lagos & Abuja
Akwa Ibom, Kano, Ogun, Nasarawa, and the Onitsha to Port Harcourt corridor are areas in Nigeria outside the main commercial centers of Lagos and Abuja that offer opportunities in Nigeria at sub-national level for investors as there is a lot of entrepreneurial activity going on in those states which most analysts overlook…

The Nation
PwC Chief Economist advocates services export for Nigeria
Advisory Partner & chief Economic, PwC West Africa, Andrew Nevin, has called on Nigeria to expands its export of services, saying services remain a segment of the economy that presents great potential for dollar inflows…

Nigeria Politics Weekly
Naira Scarcity, Buhari Endorses Tinubu & Elrufai attacks Obi
Ikemesit Effiong, Head of Research at SBM Intelligence joined the Nigeria Politics Weekly podcast to discuss the country’s currency crisis and salient issues in Nigerian electoral politics, including a no-brainer endorsement and a sitting governor attacking one of the presidential candidates…

Tekedia
Telecom Consumers Drag Nigerian Government to Court Over Plans to Increase Tax on Telecom Services
Telecommunications consumers in Nigeria under the aegis of the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS) have taken the Federal Government to court over a plan to impose a five percent excise duty on telecom services…

Zikoko
PVC Collection Is Over. Here’s Why I Didn’t Get My PVC
In case you missed it, February 5, 2023 was the “final” deadline for collecting permanent voters cards (PVC) ahead of the general election. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) twice extended this deadline from January 22 to January 29 and, most recently, February 5…

5 February 2023
Nairametrics
ICYMI: Watch Nairametrics Economic Outlook Feb 2023
Nairametrics held its first Economic Outlook for 2023 termed ‘Economic Opportunities to mitigate the impact of headwinds” on the 4th of February 2023…

NAN
Diversify investment portfolios to hedge against inflation – Experts urge Nigerians
Economic experts have urged Nigerians to diversify their asset classes and investment portfolios to hedge against the country’s inflationary pressures in order to enhance profitability…

New Telegraph
Entrenched Interests Will Oppose Fuel Subsidy Removal, Says SBM Intelligence
Lead Partner at SBM Intelligence, Cheta Nwanze, has raised the alarm that many entrenched interests will kick against the removal of subsidy payment on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol or fuel in Nigeria. Many experts and international bodies, including the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund(IMF) have warned Nigeria against the continuation of the petrol subsidy…

ThisDay
Catholic Priests as Endangered Species
At about 3am on Sunday, January 15, 2023, suspected terrorists in a renewed attack, invaded the Parish residence of Reverend Father Isaac Achi of SS Peter and Paul Catholic Church, along Daza Road, Kafin-Koro, Paikoro Local Government Area, LGA, of Niger State…

4 February 2023
Bloomberg
Chaotic cash shortage at ATMs force Nigerians to wait hours for $43
Nigeria is staring at chaos as ATMs in Africa’s biggest economy run out of new notes, days before a deadline that will render high-value currency illegal. Hundreds of people were stranded at a popular electronics market in the heart of Lagos, Nigeria’s biggest city, Thursday night — victims of the chaotic rollout of a policy to redesign the naira…

Nairametrics
Experts explain why fuel subsidy removal will not resolve issues in Nigeria’s downstream sector
During the Economic Outlook webinar organized by Nairametrics on Saturday, February 4, economic experts discussed the issue of fuel subsidy removal and how the policy could resolve challenges in the country’s oil industry…

Increased migration can create remittance opportunities for Nigeria in the future
Cheta Nwanze, the Lead Partner at SBM Intelligence, said the japa wave currently sweeping through Nigeria can be perceived as both good and bad. He explained that though the trend portends negative consequences in the short term due to a skilled class of Nigerians leaving, it will become very beneficial to the economy in the long term through remittances and foreign policy collaborations with politicians of Nigerian blood in the West…

3 February 2023
Legit
Bandit Leader Flaunts New Naira Notes in Video as CBN Expects ₦4.18bn Ransom in Old Notes in Banks
A Bandit kingpin, Kachalla Baleri, intimidating Kaduna communities has released a video showing him displaying the newly redesigned naira notes. In the video posted on social media, the terrorist could be seen alongside armed men showing off ₦1,000 and ₦200 naira notes…

Ripples Nigeria
Empty ATMs, long queues as banks sell new notes, frustrate Nigerians
Hours after the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) Godwin Emefiele announced a 10-day extension of the initial 31 January deadline for the collection of old notes on Sunday January 29, Ikechukwu Samuel walked into a First Bank branch in Enugu state and deposited his old naira notes…

2 February 2023
Al Jazeera
I was nearly lynched in Nigeria. Here’s how I survived
A few months ago, I survived a lynching: This is how I remember it. I was out on a walk with a friend in Uyo, one of Southern Nigeria’s fastest-growing cities, when four young men accosted us…

Joy News
Nigeria facing fuel and currency shortages
The country is currently grappling with two major problems, fuel and currency shortages. This has caused some widespread inconvenience for citizens in many parts of the West African nation…

1 February 2023
Al Jazeera
How Rabiu Kwankwaso became wildcard in Nigerian presidential race
In April 2003, four years after Nigeria’s return to democracy, 11 of the 36 state governors were defeated at the polls after serving just one of two constitutionally allowed four-year terms…

BusinessDay
Ransom worth ₦4.18bn among old notes expected back in banks
About ₦4.18 billion ransom paid to kidnappers in four years, is seen as a fraction of the currency outside banks that is expected to be returned within the new deadline, findings showed, using the data from SBM Intelligence, an Africa focused geopolitical research and strategic communications consulting firm…

Nairametrics
How non-remittance of petrodollars affects the Nigerian economy
Across the world, oil is bought and sold for petrodollars as a form of payment. No, petrodollars are not another form of currency. It is all about the trading of oil for US dollars…

Sahara Reporters
Lagos Government Vows To Prosecute, Sanction Driver, Owner Of Container That Falls On The Road After Many Tragedies
The Lagos State Government has warned owners and drivers of articulated vehicles against recklessness while driving. It also condemned the incessant truck accidents happening within the state, which are often fatal…