Nigerian newspapers review: How we escaped assassination in Benin — Obi, Oyegun

2026-02-25 - 09:08

In today’s Nigerian newspapers review programme, Today in the News, Vanguard leads with fear gripping Benin City in Edo State on Tuesday after the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, former Edo State Governor John Odigie-Oyegun, and other African Democratic Congress (ADC) leaders narrowly avoided an assault by armed men. Another headline features President Bola Tinubu approving the resignation of the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, after he tendered his letter, attributing his decision to urgent family matters. Vanguard also reports that after the 304th Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Abuja, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced a 50-basis-point reduction in the Monetary Policy Rate from 27 per cent to 26.5 per cent, a decision disclosed by its Governor, Olayemi Cardoso. Moving to the next paper, The Guardian leads with the United States ramping up diplomatic and security pressure on Nigeria after a sharply critical congressional report was presented to President Donald Trump, while at the same time strengthening military cooperation with Ghana to expand its operational presence in West Africa. Next paper, The Punch reports that Akintunde Oyebode, who chairs the Forum of State Commissioners of Finance, said President Tinubu’s Executive Order 9 would yield only about N1.5tn in additional funds, maintaining that the priority should be enforcing constitutional control over federation revenues and plugging gaps created under the Petroleum Industry Act framework. Lastly, The Nation leads with President Tinubu charging the ‘Renewed Hope Ambassadors’ to carry his administration’s reform agenda to the grassroots so more Nigerians can better understand his policies and programmes. Vanguard News