Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State, has called out Peter Obi and Rotimi Amaechi for pledging to serve only one term if elected president, arguing that such promises are dubious and not credible. He made his remarks on Sunday Politics, a Channels Television program.

Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential contender, has consistently stated that four years is sufficient to reset the nation, even stating that “purposeful leadership is not defined by how long one stays in office, but by the impact made.” Amaechi, too, has offered to serve for a single term under the African Democratic Congress (ADC), suggesting rotation could benefit political stability.

In response, el-Rufai countered: “I don’t think anyone believes [one-term promises]. You should not constitutionally give up what is yours. And frankly, as someone who has been governor for eight years—and Amaechi and Peter Obi have both been governors—they know the time it takes to make meaningful change in government. Four years is not enough.”

He continued: “So, I want to appeal to everyone to stop making these commitments of ‘I will do four years’ or ‘I will do eight years’, because nobody believes you.”

A court in Equatorial Guinea has sentenced Baltasar Ebang Engonga, a senior government official, to eight years in prison for embezzlement, following months of notoriety over leaked sex tapes involving him and the wives of other officials.

According to the country’s supreme court press office, the Bioko provincial tribunal found Engonga guilty of diverting public funds by claiming false professional travel expenses. The funds, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, were instead used for personal benefit.

Engonga, widely known by his nickname “Bello”, was formerly head of the national financial investigation agency. He and five other senior officials faced charges of embezzling large sums in the oil-rich Central African nation.

In November 2024, Engonga made international headlines after sex tapes — some reportedly recorded in his finance ministry office — surfaced on social media while he was already in detention. The scandal sparked widespread online parody, including satirical songs, dances, and memes referencing a spoof virility drug dubbed “Balthazariem.”

The court also imposed a fine of $220,000 in addition to his prison sentence.

Nigeria’s non-oil exports reached $3.225 billion in the first half of 2025, reflecting a 19.59% growth from $2.696 billion in the same period of 2024, according to the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).

The NEPC Director-General, Nonye Ayeni, announced this in Abuja on Sunday while presenting the H1 2025 Non-Oil Export Performance Report.

She stated that export volumes rose to 4.04 million metric tonnes in H1 2025, compared to 3.83 million metric tonnes during the same period last year.

Ayeni recalled that Q1 2025 exports alone were valued at $1.791 billion, representing a 24.75% increase from $1.436 billion in Q1 2024, while volumes grew by 24.3% to 2.416 million metric tonnes.

She revealed that Nigeria exported 236 different products in the first half of the year, representing a 16.83% increase from the 202 products exported in H1 2024.

The exports consisted of agricultural commodities, extractive industry products, manufactured goods, and semi-processed items. Ayeni observed that non-oil exports are shifting from traditional agricultural goods towards higher-value semi-manufactured products.

Based on data from Pre-shipment Inspection Agents (PIAs), cocoa beans ranked first among the top 20 products exported in the first half of 2025, accounting for 34.88% of the total export value compared to 23.18% in 2024.

Urea/fertiliser followed in second place with 17.65%, up from 13.78% in the same period of 2024.

Ayeni attributed part of the growth to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which she said has expanded market access and lowered tariffs for Nigerian exporters.

She also pointed to NEPC’s intervention programmes — covering quality, standards, packaging, export documentation, and certifications — as vital to supporting export expansion.

According to her, rising demand from emerging markets such as India, Brazil, Vietnam, and various African countries has also contributed to the increase in non-oil exports.

She noted that the rise in value-added exports has enhanced earnings as more Nigerian exporters adopt product transformation before shipment.

Ayeni restated NEPC’s dedication to working with the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment, along with other stakeholders, to further grow export value and volume in line with the President Bola Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the ministry’s policy objectives.

Credit: Nairametrics