The National Brands Development and Made-in-Nigeria Special Project Office, currently under investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over allegations that it operates without presidential approval, has reportedly held a national products exhibition in Abia State.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

The event, known as the National Products Fair 2026, took place at the International Conference Centre in Umuahia from September 21 to 25, 2026.

Photographs published on the organisation’s website showed activities from the exhibition, which was aimed at promoting locally manufactured goods and creating market opportunities for Nigerian businesses.

According to information obtained from the website on Monday, the fair was designed to showcase Nigeria’s innovation, creativity, entrepreneurial capacity and product quality.

The event’s promotional banner listed the promotion of indigenous products, support for local industries and the expansion of market opportunities among its key objectives.

The exhibition comes amid growing scrutiny of the project office’s legal status, with the ICPC describing it as an allegedly unauthorised government outfit.

The anti-corruption agency had claimed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ordered the immediate arrest of the project’s promoter, George Buchi Nwabueze.

The commission also said the President directed the suspension of three permanent secretaries following the discovery of the purported office within the premises of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).

According to the ICPC, the office had been allocated space within the OSGF complex without presidential authorisation.

The latest photographs suggest that the organisation has continued to promote and carry out activities under the Made-in-Nigeria banner despite the controversy surrounding its official status.

However, Nwabueze has rejected the ICPC’s characterisation of the organisation as a phantom or unauthorised government agency. He maintained that the project operates as a public-private initiative rather than a statutory government institution.

In a statement, the project’s management said the Made-in-Nigeria initiative was based on Executive Orders 003 of 2017 and 005 of 2018, which it said support the promotion of locally manufactured products and efforts to boost domestic production.

The management further disclosed that Nwabueze had approached the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja to challenge what it described as attempts to remove the project from the OSGF framework.

The Federal Government has blamed commodity middlemen and hoarders for worsening food scarcity and driving up prices, accusing them of purchasing produce directly from farmers, stockpiling the items in sealed warehouses and later selling them at excessively high rates.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, made the allegation on Monday during a media briefing on the state of the nation. He said the practice was disrupting the distribution of available food supplies and making it harder for traders and consumers to access essential commodities.

Idris recalled incidents in Kano State where security operatives reportedly had to force open warehouses after some traders allegedly hoarded food items.

“We had a situation in this country where some hoarders, you know, taking advantage of the situation, were buying off these commodities, putting them in warehouses, and even sealing the warehouses. In some instances, in Kano, I recall, that security agencies had to go there and force some of these warehouses open,” the minister said.

He questioned the motives of those allegedly taking advantage of food shortages to make excessive profits, warning that such practices could undermine government efforts to improve food availability and affordability.

Idris also stressed the need for Nigerians to support policies aimed at addressing the country’s food challenges. He argued that consumers should not be prevented from accessing available food supplies because middlemen were restricting the movement of commodities through the distribution chain.

The minister said the Tinubu administration had anticipated some of these challenges. He noted that the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security had been releasing food reserves, storing commodities in smaller silos and making them available when needed.

No Return To Fuel Subsidy

On the rising cost of petrol, Idris maintained that Nigeria was not the only country experiencing increases in fuel prices, attributing the trend partly to developments in the Middle East and their effects on international energy markets.

“If you follow what is happening in the Middle East now, you will have noticed that price of fuel has not gone up only in Nigeria. It has gone up in so many other places,” he said.

The minister also dismissed claims that the Federal Government had reinstated fuel subsidies. He explained that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had instead decided to reduce its profit margin to ease the burden of rising petrol prices on consumers.

“What the NNPC has done is they have looked at it and said, okay, we are making this much profit. Why can’t we forego some of the profit that we are making so that Nigerians will have, you know, some form of cushion?” Idris stated.

He described the decision as part of the company’s responsibility to ensure energy security, adding that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was responding to the economic pressures facing Nigerians.

“President Bola Tinubu is a listening president. He cannot just sit and see that countrymen are facing the pressure that they have not seen coming and they will not do anything about it,” he added.

FG Defends Economic Performance

The minister also defended the Federal Government’s economic policies, accusing critics of selectively interpreting reports from international institutions, including the World Bank, depending on whether the findings supported their positions.

Idris argued that some critics welcomed international statistics when they appeared favourable to their arguments but questioned their relevance when the figures suggested a different outcome.

“Whenever World Bank reports say something that is very favourable, you know, they will say, my statistics will go chop. But when there seems to be something that indicates otherwise, then we hold on those statistics as if they actually matter,” he said.

Providing figures to support his position, Idris stated that Nigeria’s economy grew by 4.2 per cent in the first half of 2026, compared with 3.9 per cent during the corresponding period in 2025 and 3.5 per cent in 2024.

Vice President Kashim Shettima has assured northern political leaders that the region has nothing to fear if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu wins re-election in the 2027 presidential election.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Shettima maintained that the North had benefited from the Tinubu administration through political appointments, infrastructure development and economic programmes, adding that the region stood to gain even more if the President secured a second term.

The Vice President made the remarks on Monday while receiving a delegation from Arewa for Tinubu (A4T), a northern political support group campaigning for Tinubu’s re-election.

He called on northern political leaders to unite behind the administration, arguing that another term for Tinubu would create more opportunities for prosperity, stability and development across the region.

According to Shettima, cooperation among political stakeholders would accelerate development and improve the welfare of people living in northern states.

He said, “Let’s unite as a people and work for the development of our region and the progress of our people through the re-election of this administration. We are benefiting and we stand to benefit more from this government in many ways.”

The Vice President also highlighted the administration’s agricultural interventions, disclosing that the Bank of Agriculture had disbursed ₦450 billion to 700,000 smallholder farmers across the country, with approximately 70 per cent of the beneficiaries coming from the North.

Shettima further noted that the Federal Government was working to complete major projects in different parts of the country. He assured the delegation that Tinubu remained committed to the development of the North.

“The present administration is working towards completing landmark and ground-breaking projects in parts of the country. I can assure you that the President loves the North and the President will work for the North,” he stated.

Earlier, the Director-General of Arewa for Asiwaju and former Jigawa State Governor, Abubakar Badaru, pledged that the group would continue its mobilisation efforts to secure Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.

Badaru explained that the organisation had held several engagements with influential political figures and that its Board of Trustees was preparing for further discussions to strengthen support for the President’s second-term ambition.

He said the group was also working with the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), particularly on grassroots mobilisation across local government areas and wards.

According to him, while the campaign council was handling broader political arrangements, Arewa for Asiwaju intended to concentrate on building support at the grassroots level.

The former governor said the organisation remained committed to engaging communities and political stakeholders to consolidate its support base ahead of the 2027 election.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the group’s Board of Trustees and former Kano State Governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, expressed confidence that the organisation would replicate its efforts in the 2023 general election to help Tinubu secure victory in 2027.

Shekarau also formally invited the Vice President to commission the organisation’s office complex.

Other prominent figures at the meeting included former Plateau State governors Joshua Dariye and Simon Lalong; former Taraba State Governor Jolly Nyame; former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello; former Katsina State Governor Ibrahim Shehu Shema; former Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda; the President’s Special Adviser on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman; and the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Buba Marwa.

Several government officials and members of the organisation’s Board of Trustees and secretariat were also in attendance.