Nigerian newspapers review: [2027] INEC laying landmines to prevent us from fielding candidates — ADC

In today’s Nigerian newspapers review programme, Today in the News, Vanguard’s lead headline states that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has kept mum after the opposition African Democratic Congress, ADC, accused it of laying landmines to stop it from fielding candidates in the 2027 polls.

Another headline features the circumstances that led to the regulatory intervention in the Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN), with a forensic audit report alleging wide-ranging financial irregularities under the bank’s former owners and directors.

Vanguard also reports that the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has deepened, with presidential aspirant and founding member, Gbenga Hashim, weighing the option of leaving the party as reconciliation efforts collapsed and concerns mount over its future ahead of 2027.

Moving to the next papers, The Guardian’s lead headline states that with 10 months to the 2027 general elections, Nigeria’s opposition landscape appears increasingly fractured, disorganised and strategically weakened.

The Punch leads with the Federal Government proposing N135.22bn in the 2026 budget for what it described as “Electoral Adjudication and Post Election Provision,” pointing to a fresh multi-billion-naira commitment to managing disputes and obligations that typically trail Nigeria’s elections.

Finally, The Nation reports that Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has increased exports of petrol and urea to African countries as part of a deliberate plan to ease supply disruptions caused by the United States-Israel-Iran war.

Vanguard News