On Tuesday, the Senate moved to safeguard Nigerian farmers from plunging produce prices and rising input costs, calling on the Federal Government to subsidise fertilisers and reinstate commodity boards to stabilise agricultural markets.

The resolutions followed a motion by Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central), which highlighted the growing gap between declining farm-gate prices and persistently high costs of inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides, and insecticides. Goje warned that this widening disparity threatens the livelihoods of millions of farmers across the country.

While acknowledging the government’s efforts to lower consumer food prices through import waivers and special import permissions, Goje pointed out a significant unintended consequence: cheaper imports have depressed domestic produce prices, squeezing farmers’ profits and causing substantial post-harvest losses.

Lawmakers emphasized that continued declines in farm-gate prices could discourage farmers from planting in future seasons, weakening domestic food production and rural economies. They also cautioned that excessive reliance on imported food could undermine Nigeria’s food sovereignty and expose the economy to global price shocks.

To tackle these issues, the Senate called for an emergency intervention package to support affected farmers, the establishment of benchmark minimum prices for key commodities, and a guaranteed off-take programme in which public agencies would purchase produce at agreed rates.

The resolutions additionally recommended investment in storage facilities, irrigation systems, processing centres, and rural roads, while enhancing coordination among ministries, state governments, commodity boards, and cooperatives to ensure fair pricing, efficient transport, and improved market access.

Senators also proposed a review of import waiver policies to enable local produce to compete fairly with imported goods, thereby safeguarding the sustainability of Nigeria’s agricultural sector.

In a separate development, the Senate on Tuesday approved the nomination of three ambassadorial nominees—Ayodele Oke, Colonel Kayode Are (rtd), and Amin Dalhatu—for appointment as envoys.

The approval followed the consideration and adoption of a report by the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, presented during plenary by its chairman, Senator Abubakar Sani Bello.

Oke, a former Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and ex-Nigerian Ambassador to the Commonwealth Secretariat in London; Are, a former Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS); and Dalhatu, Nigeria’s immediate past Ambassador to South Korea, were unanimously endorsed by lawmakers after Senate President Godswill Akpabio put their nominations to a voice vote.

In his remarks, Akpabio urged the ambassadors-designate to draw on their extensive experience in performing their diplomatic responsibilities.

The Nigeria Police Force has announced plans to recommence nationwide enforcement of the tinted glass permit policy from January 2, 2026, attributing the move to rising security threats associated with the abuse of unauthorised tinted vehicle glass.

This was disclosed in a statement released on Monday by the Force Public Relations Officer, Chief Superintendent of Police Benjamin Hundeyin.

According to the police, the decision followed an assessment of evolving security challenges and the need to strengthen public safety, while awaiting the final outcome of a related case currently before the court.

The Force clarified that no court order exists preventing it from enforcing the law regulating the use of tinted glass on vehicles.

It explained that the earlier suspension of enforcement was done in the interest of transparency and public convenience, giving motorists ample time to regularise their documents and complete the permit application process without undue pressure.

The statement noted that recent security patterns have shown an increase in criminal activities involving vehicles fitted with unauthorised tinted glass.

The police said such vehicles are often used by criminals to hide their identities while carrying out crimes such as armed robbery, kidnapping, and other violent offences.

In light of these developments, the Force said resuming enforcement has become both necessary and urgent as a proactive measure to protect lives and property nationwide.

“Recent trends, however, reveal a disturbing rise in criminal activities perpetrated with the aid of vehicles fitted with unauthorised tinted glass.

“Some individuals and organised criminal groups have exploited this gap to conceal their identities and facilitate crimes ranging from armed robbery to kidnapping and other violent crimes.

“In view of this, the Nigeria Police Force has found it both necessary and urgent to resume full enforcement as a proactive measure to safeguard our communities. Consequently, enforcement of Tinted Glass Permit will resume on 2nd January, 2026,” the statement read.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has described 2025 as a defining year in Nigeria’s anti-corruption campaign, following unprecedented recoveries and expanded enforcement actions. In its 2025 annual report, the Commission announced the recovery of ₦37.44 billion and $2.353 million through asset seizures and forfeitures—one of the largest hauls in its history.

Speaking at the Commission’s End-of-Year Engagement, Send-Forth for Retiring Staff, and Annual Merit Awards Ceremony held in Abuja on December 14, ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN), said the achievements reflect renewed resolve across enforcement, prevention, and public enlightenment.

The Latest Report

According to the report, the ICPC investigated 263 cases in 2025, surpassing its annual target of 250. Out of these, 61 cases were filed in court, resulting in a conviction rate of 55.74 per cent.

Dr. Aliyu noted that the asset recoveries were driven largely by high-impact forfeitures, representing a significant increase from the over ₦20 billion recovered in 2024.

Last year’s recoveries also included proceeds from the auction of 23 forfeited assets valued at ₦1.87 billion.

Beyond enforcement, the Commission intensified its preventive work across the public sector. Preventive assessments were carried out in 344 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) using the Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard.

In addition, the ICPC conducted 66 corruption-monitoring exercises, tracked 1,490 projects nationwide, and completed Systems Study and Corruption Risk Assessments in 12 MDAs to address structural weaknesses.

Public enlightenment remained a key focus, with 644 sensitisation programmes reaching more than 235,000 Nigerians and generating about 3.5 million digital engagements.

The Commission also established 86 Anti-Corruption Clubs and Vanguards, trained 2,707 participants at its Academy, and launched 15 collaborative initiatives with partners, while civil society organisations contributed 57 complementary engagements.

The High Profile convictions and ongoing probe

A major highlight of the 2025 report was the securing of high-profile convictions and the advancement of several landmark corruption cases.

Among the most prominent was the conviction of Professor Cyril Ndifon, former Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Calabar, who was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for offences linked to sexual harassment and cyberbullying.

Dr. Aliyu described the judgment as a strong signal of the Commission’s determination to confront abuse of office in all sectors, including academia.

The report also detailed ongoing investigations and prosecutions involving several high-ranking public figures.

Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, remains under investigation over alleged $20 billion fraud, with efforts continuing to forfeit assets traced to the United States, including luxury properties and a superyacht.

Former Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, is facing multiple corruption-related charges in courts in Lagos and Abuja, involving alleged unauthorised financial allocations running into billions of naira.

Other notable cases include the prosecution of former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye, over the alleged $6 billion Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project scam, and former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who is facing graft-related allegations.

Several former governors—Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Darius Ishaku (Taraba), Theodore Orji (Abia), Willie Obiano (Anambra), and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), are also standing trial or under investigation for alleged large-scale fraud and money laundering involving tens of billions of naira.

In Plateau State, former Governor Jonah David Jang is reportedly wanted by the ICPC for allegedly evading interrogation over a ₦5.6 billion diversion case.

The report further revealed investigations involving military retirees, including Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin and former Brigadier General Ishaya Bauka Gangum, who are accused of diverting public funds through 92 alleged shell companies.

Many of these cases are being pursued alongside the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), reflecting a strategy focused on high-impact prosecutions.

Implications for Governance

The size of the funds recovered and the prominence of those facing investigation highlight a significant shift in governance and accountability in Nigeria.

Analysts note that these outcomes send a clear message that no public office is beyond scrutiny, irrespective of rank, influence, or sector.

The successful prosecution of senior officials and professionals reflects a declining tolerance for impunity and is likely to discourage abuse of office, particularly within the public service.

However, the report also highlights the depth of systemic corruption, particularly in sectors involving large public expenditures such as energy, infrastructure, finance, and defence.

While recoveries strengthen public finances, experts note that corruption prevention remains critical, as funds lost to graft often translate into delayed projects, poor service delivery, and weakened public confidence in institutions.

Civil society groups have welcomed the increased transparency reflected in the report, but stress that sustained convictions, timely trials, and consistent asset recovery are essential to restoring trust and ensuring long-term impact.

The Way Forward

Looking ahead to 2026, the ICPC says it will deepen its focus on prevention, institutional reforms, and strategic partnerships. Dr. Aliyu urged staff to uphold ethical conduct, professionalism, and unity of purpose, while calling for stronger inter-agency collaboration to fast-track prosecutions and asset forfeiture processes.

Stakeholders have also called for enhanced judicial efficiency, improved whistleblower protection, and expanded use of technology in tracking public spending.

Strengthening public awareness, particularly at the grassroots level, is expected to remain central to the Commission’s strategy, alongside continuous engagement with MDAs to close corruption-prone loopholes.

Amid Nigeria’s ongoing challenges with corruption, the 2025 ICPC report highlights progress while reminding that sustained political will, independent institutions, and active citizen involvement remain crucial in the fight against graft.

President Bola Tinubu has sanctioned a major boost to the Code of Conduct Bureau’s budget, elevating it from approximately ₦3 billion to close to ₦20 billion.

Dr. Abubakar Bello, Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau, shared this development during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Abuja.

Bello explained that the funding hike aims to modernize the country’s obsolete asset declaration process, enhance verification mechanisms, and improve enforcement capabilities, thereby increasing the bureau’s overall efficiency.

He stated that the additional resources are essential for financing technological advancements, upgrading the bureau’s operational facilities, bolstering verification procedures, and expanding enforcement abilities.

The CCB chairman reflected that upon taking office, he found the asset declaration process was predominantly manual, dependent on physical paper forms that were in short supply, costly to produce, and challenging to store, analyze, and verify.

He pointed out that public servants from various ministries, departments, and agencies frequently demanded tens of thousands of forms, which the bureau was unable to supply.

According to him, the situation was worsened by the fact that the 2025 budget made provision of only about ₦70 million for printing forms.He said the amount could only produce about 50,000 to 60,000 forms for more than 4.5 million public servants nationwide.

To tackle this issue, Bello noted that the bureau implemented a provisional solution modeled after Kenya’s approach, by making asset declaration forms available for download on its website.

However, he emphasized that this method merely resolved the issue of accessibility and did not address the fundamental limitations of a primarily manual process.

Bello announced that the bureau has progressed significantly in creating a comprehensive online asset declaration system, after thorough discussions with relevant parties.

He mentioned that the platform, anticipated to launch in the first quarter of 2026, will enable public servants to submit their asset declarations remotely from any location worldwide.

The CCB chairman described the digital platform as a “game changer” because it would be linked directly to key databases.

According to him, the platform would be linked to the Corporate Affairs Commission, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Bank Verification Number system, land registries and other government records to enable instant verification.

He further stated that artificial intelligence will be utilized to examine asset declarations and assess changes in net worth between the start and end of a public servant’s term in office.

The AI platform, according to him, would flag unexplained wealth or possible breaches of the Code of Conduct for further review.

Within these ongoing reforms, Bello indicated that the bureau has started summoning ministers, permanent secretaries, and other high-ranking officials for asset verification, emphasizing that “verification is not investigation.”

He revealed that the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, personally appeared to verify his assets, sending what he described as a strong signal of leadership by example.

The CCB chairman reported that the verification exercises have resulted in interim forfeiture orders for instances where public servants either omitted asset declarations or failed to justify their origins, encompassing properties both domestically and abroad.

According to him, some recovered funds had already been transferred to the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He cautioned public servants that non-declaration of assets or ignoring verification summons may lead to probes and potential trials at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

Bello encouraged adherence to the bureau’s core motto, “Declare or Forfeit.”

The Federal Inland Revenue Service’s newly signed Memorandum of Understanding with France’s Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFiP) has been presented as a step toward improving Nigeria’s tax administration. But behind the official statements lies a troubling reality: this agreement risks placing Nigeria’s sovereign tax infrastructure within the influence of a foreign government. If allowed to stand, it may become one of the most hazardous strategic concessions Nigeria has made in recent years.

This concern has long been raised by policy experts, including Dr. Segun Adebayo, Executive Director of the Centre for African Policy Research & Advocacy (CAfPRA), who has consistently warned that Nigeria’s tax data should be treated as a national security asset.

During a public hearing on tax reforms in March 2025, Adebayo delivered a keynote address titled “Protecting Our Tax Sovereignty”. He argued that Nigeria’s rise as a fintech powerhouse — home to PayStack, Flutterwave, Interswitch, PiggyVest, Bamboo, and NIBSS — makes its financial and tax data one of its most strategic national resources. “Taxpayer data is national power,” he warned. “Allowing foreign control over this data is a threat to national security.”

Adebayo repeated this caution later that month in the Senate Pressroom, where he told journalists that giving foreign actors access to Nigeria’s tax system amounts to “handing the keys to your house and bedroom to a visitor.” His position was clear: no nation that values its independence should entrust its tax backbone to a foreign government.

His advocacy also influenced ongoing engagements with Senator Ned Munir Nwoko on strengthening the Nigerian Data Protection Act (Amendment) Bill. Adebayo proposed several amendments aimed at protecting Nigeria’s financial and GPS data by classifying them as sensitive personal data and restricting foreign involvement in the processing of tax information. Senator Nwoko welcomed these recommendations and instructed his team to study them further.

However, the tax reform bills ultimately passed without including any of these critical safeguards. In that vacuum, the FIRS–France MoU quietly emerged — without broad debate, without legislative scrutiny, and without the protection of data-sovereignty provisions that would have prevented such an agreement.

Why Experts Consider the FIRS–France MoU a National Security Risk

According to Dr. Adebayo and other data-sovereignty advocates, the risks extend far beyond technology cooperation.

1. Loss of Economic Autonomy

A country that outsources tax data management gives foreign powers visibility into its economic vulnerabilities and strengths — insight that can easily translate into leverage.

2. Exposure to Digital Surveillance

Foreign-developed tax systems provide built-in pathways for monitoring, espionage, and digital exploitation. Modern economic colonization often begins with data, not soldiers.

3. Geopolitical Dependence

With access to Nigeria’s tax ecosystem, France could gain an upper hand in trade, loans, and diplomatic negotiations. No serious sovereign state gives another nation such influence.

Adebayo and other observers also question why Nigeria bypassed its own digital innovators. As he asked during a House of Assembly address nine months ago: Why choose a foreign government agency over homegrown giants like Flutterwave, PayStack, NIBSS, Interswitch, and Bamboo — companies already trusted with billions of dollars in financial transactions across Africa?

Safeguards That Should Have Been Implemented

In his submission to Senator Nwoko earlier this year, Adebayo outlined precise amendments that would have prevented the current predicament:

• Classifying tax and financial records as sensitive personal data under the NDPA.
• Requiring at least 80% Nigerian ownership for any entity processing tax data.
• Mandating heightened security and local ownership requirements.
• Disclosing nationality and ownership of all subcontractors handling tax information.
• Extending cross-border data restrictions to foreign-owned entities operating within Nigeria.
• Empowering the Data Protection Commission to set Nigerian-ownership thresholds for data processors.

If adopted, these safeguards would have made the FIRS–France partnership impossible without National Assembly approval.

A Call for Immediate Action

Dr. Adebayo insists — as he did earlier this year — that Nigeria must act swiftly and decisively:

1. All digital tax reforms must remain 100% under Nigerian control.
2. No foreign entity should access Nigeria’s tax data, financial transactions, or national digital records.
3. Nigerian institutions — NIBSS, PayStack, Flutterwave, Interswitch, Bamboo, and others — must build and operate Nigeria’s tax infrastructure.
4. The FIRS–France MoU and all similar arrangements must be terminated immediately.
5. The National Assembly must urgently pass data-sovereignty amendments before the Nigeria Revenue Service becomes fully operational in January 2026.

Adebayo warns that tax data is the heartbeat of Nigeria’s economy. No nation surrenders its heartbeat and expects to remain sovereign.

The National Assembly, the Presidency, and all patriotic Nigerians must now rise to safeguard the nation’s digital and economic future. Nigeria’s sovereignty is not a commodity — and it cannot be outsourced.