Good morning. Nigeria’s leading developments include President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s assertion on Saturday that opposition figures and former governments bear responsibility for the hunger and poverty affecting citizens. Launching the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential campaign in Kaduna, Tinubu said critics of his administration’s handling of the economy were among those who had created the underlying problems through years of poor economic management, which his government is seeking to correct. The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, meanwhile, has alleged that some candidates protesting their omission from the 2024/2025 recruitment process tried to obtain jobs through unauthorised means, as accusations of flaws in the selection exercise continue. In security developments, motorcycle-riding gunmen attacked Binnari, a rural community in Taraba State, shortly after Friday prayers, killing no fewer than 20 people, survivors said; the incident is the latest violence reported in northeastern Nigeria. In Minna, Niger State, 28-year-old Safiya Tukur has been held in custody over allegations that she used a sharp instrument to cause a serious cut to her husband’s genitals in a domestic confrontation at their Darusalam residence in Kpakungu at about 10 a.m. on October 15, 2026. Secretary to the Government of the Federation Senator George Akume said any northern politician seeking the presidency in 2027 would be acting against the interests of the region. Atiku Abubakar, the African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, is the sole leading northern politician seeking to defeat Tinubu in next year’s election. In Zamfara State, bandits reportedly killed seven members of a community vigilante group and took an unspecified number of people hostage in Kaura Namoda. The assailants entered through a river route at around midnight on Friday and were said to have remained active in the town for more than three hours. On the corporate front, Shoprite Nigeria intends to establish standalone local-neighbourhood outlets as it seeks to restore operations after financial pressure led to a business restructuring. Adekunle Adebiyi, an investor in the company, outlined the supermarket operator’s financial problems and turnaround strategy during Friday’s Nairametrics Drinks and Mics programme. Infrastructure Minister David Umahi has said that the 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway does not yet have a single integrated engineering blueprint, despite work having begun in March 2024 more than two years ago. He said the scheme is instead being designed and priced in separate segments. Elsewhere, Delta State Police Command said it freed a 23-year-old kidnapping victim on October 20, 2026, through an operation by Owa-Oyibu Division officers working with local volunteer groups. Eight suspects were arrested, while police recovered three guns, 26 live cartridges and material believed to be Indian hemp, spokesman SP Bright Edafe said Saturday. Finally, Operation Hadin Kai troops killed 15 terrorists in a targeted airstrike northwest of Pulka in Borno State’s Gwoza Local Government Area. The Nigerian Army said the mission took place at roughly 11:50 p.m. on October 23, 2026, a development confirmed Saturday by Captain Mohammed Goni, acting military information officer for the Northeast Joint Task Force, Operation Hadin Kai.
