A Bankrupt State, a Billionaire’s IPO and a Very Quiet Appropriation Bill by Lawson Akhigbe

Every so often a state government invents a policy so novel that the law has not yet had time to catch up with it. Zamfara has done this and, with admirable efficiency, skipped the part where anyone checks whether the law would permit it.

When Journalists Become Political Courtiers and Interviews Become Political Theatre By Lawson Akhigbe

A democracy does not always die at the barrel of a gun. Sometimes, it dies beneath television studio lights, while journalists entrusted with holding power accountable sit silently as politicians explain why nobody can hold them accountable.

David Umahi’s Bridge to State Capture: Christian Prayers, Tinubu’s Portraits and the Privatisation of Public Power By Lawson Akhigbe

The First Niger Bridge belongs to Nigeria. It does not belong to David Umahi, Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress or any religious congregation.

The Fire Brigade That Lit the Fire: Shettima and the Great Implosion That Never Was by Lawson Akhigbe

In 2015 the APC unseated the PDP and has governed Nigeria ever since. That is eleven years, which in political terms is not so much a tenure as a tenancy with squatter's rights. Mr Tinubu spent the first eight as the party's national leader, with Osinbajo, reportedly his nominee, installed as vice president. Since 2023 he has been president, with Kashim Shettima beside him. Whoever invented the phrase "continuity of government" clearly never imagined it applied this literally.

The fight to uncover the Nigerian president’s FBI files by Adrian Elimian

Nigeria’s president is locked in a fierce reelection battle — one that is not just playing out among voters ahead of January polls, but pitting teams of lawyers and lobbyists against a lone litigant half a world away in California. Remarkably, this latter-day David just won a significant victory over Goliath.