Court papers in Italy claim that international oil companies, investment banks and top politicians benefited from a multi-billion dollar oil scandal
Six months into the court hearings into the purchase of an offshore oil block licence in Nigeria by Royal Dutch Shell and Italy's ENI, Giuseppina Barbara, the presiding...
Two familiar veteran candidates are failing to strike a chord with the voters ahead of a critical presidential race next February
As political leaders loudly debate the ethics of signing up to a code of conduct and President Muhammadu Buhari throws back, for the fourth time, an electoral reform...
Hold-ups in promised action against pollution in Ogoni region in the Niger Delta are multiplying and tension is rising
A long-delayed environmental restoration programme in Ogoni is finally in the works after decades of oil spills and fires left it one of the most polluted places in...
Both main presidential contenders pledge millions of jobs and billions on infrastructure but there are real differences in their policies and strategies
With ninety days to go before national elections in February, formal campaigning started on 18 November with a flurry of extravagant pledges and policies, almost all of them...
African politicians and business people are getting drawn into the shenanigans surrounding Britain’s exit from the European Union
A criminal investigation by Britain's National Crime Agency, announced on 5 November, into businessman and Brexit campaigner Arron Banks could touch on some of his diamond interests in...
The challenger Atiku Abubakar has built a new coalition, but strong northern support for President Buhari will give him staying power
Hell froze over in Nigeria on 11 October. That's when former President Olusegun Obasanjo endorsed his once Vice-President and newly crowned leader of the opposition People's Democratic Party...
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The leader of the supposed Igbo independence movement, Nwannekaenyi 'Nnamdi' Kenny Okwu Kanu, seems to have turned up in Israel after going on the run from a trial...
A string of corporate fraud cases is stirring up partisan rivalries ahead of next year’s presidential vote
Prosecutors in Milan began to set out their case against oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and Italy's ENI in court on 26 September. Both companies are charged with...
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After ten years of drafting, the National Assembly has produced an unworkable bill to restructure the petroleum industry
Plans to modernise the national oil industry have been derailed again by partisan politics and vested interests in a debacle that could cost Nigeria tens of billions of...
A wave of defections to the main opposition party have President Buhari looking anxiously over his shoulder as elections approach
The All Progressives' Congress, whose leader President Muhammadu Buhari is taking a holiday in London, has been under political siege for weeks while its senior members contemplated a...
Long-delayed legislation promises to free the oil industry from state control – but will the government want to surrender this trump card?
Nigeria's governments come and go but its oil and gas governance legislation keeps rolling on. The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) was conceived during Olusegun Obasanjo's first elected term...
To convince voters of his hard line on corruption, President Buhari’s prosecutors will have to win some cases at last
With primaries for the 2019 election fast approaching, President Muhammadu Buhari is under pressure to push ahead with his anti-graft campaign. The Fulani herder-farmer killings and splits in...
Vol 59 No 15 |
- NIGERIA
- ITALY
Royal Dutch Shell and ENI claimed a minor victory on 20 July when the judge in the OPL 245 trial in Milan ruled that the natural resource lobbying...
A new grand opposition coalition and fresh splits in the President’s party are changing calculations about next year’s elections
The latest round of defections and manoeuvrings in Abuja give weight to the opposition People's Democratic Party announcement that it will lead a new Coalition of United Political...
In the oil-rich south-east, new wars are being swapped for old as politics gets murky in the run-up to the election
Oil industry sources murmur that President Muhammadu Buhari's initiatives to sustain peace in the restive Niger Delta may not prevail as political dirty tricks accelerate in the run-up...
The governing party is tested as factions jostle for power and settle old scores with Buhari’s placemen
Bola Tinubu's appointment to lead the reconciliation committee of the All Progressives' Congress was meant to signal that the APC hierarchy was ready to salve wounds of aggrieved...
As the government’s problems mount, plans for a new opposition alliance with several odd bedfellows are taking shape
Suddenly, President Muhammadu Buhari's All Progressives Congress (APC) has got a fight on its hands with elections due next March. In fact, it has several fights on its...
Despite communal violence, a shaky economy and a faltering anti-corruption campaign, the APC looks set to win another term
The national coalition that propelled Buhari to power four years ago has lost energy and direction. In its place is a ruling party, the All Progressives' Congress (APC),...
Bola Tinubu – the Lagos kingmaker – holds the key to plans for President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election next year
It was smiles all round as the happy band of politicians encircled a giant green and white birthday cake. Centre-stage at this grand party in Lagos on 27...
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Timing is everything for top politicians waiting for clearer signals from the President before they launch their own campaigns
It was a clear enough announcement on 15 February from the Secretary to the Federal Government, Boss Mustapha, that President Muhammadu Buhari would certainly seek a second term...
Vol 59 No 5 |
- NIGERIA
- ITALY
Grandly billed by anti-graft lobbyists as the biggest corporate bribery trial in history, Italy's attempt to prosecute its national oil company ENI and Royal Dutch Shell for paying...
US authorities say bogus litigation is being used to try to prevent the seizure of Nigerian oil traders' assets
A string of unusual lawsuits is frustrating law-enforcement agencies' attempts to seize assets belonging to oil traders accused of becoming extraordinarily wealthy because they were cronies of Diezani...
If aspiring candidates want to know which way the political wind is blowing, they watch Bola Tinubu, the former governor of Lagos State. After several months of froideur...
Veteran soldier-politicians, agitated by the clashes between farmers and herdsmen and a poor economy, urge Buhari not to run again
Do not adjust your almanacs. The succession of statements from retired generals and civil war veterans, most of whom held power in the 1980s, may make it look...
The US sale of ground-attack aircraft is hugely expensive and is of doubtful strategic value in the fight against Boko Haram
President Donald Trump's decision to unfreeze export approval for weapons for Nigeria, mainly combat aircraft, is under fire. Not only does the Nigerian air force (NAF) have a...
The government will struggle to kick-start the economy and deal with security threats as electioneering begins
Politics and everyday life in Nigeria in 2018 will be dominated by concerns about security, corruption and the still sluggish economy. All three core issues will weigh heavily...