Nigerian Newspapers: 10 things you need to know Saturday morning

Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:

1. All buildings marked as distressed around the collapsed 3-storey building at Alakija, will be demolished, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said on Friday. Speaking during an inspection tour of the site, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, who represented the governor, sympathised with the families of the victims and praised emergency responders for their swift intervention.

2. The National Democratic Congress, NDC, faces an uncertain fate barely six months to the conduct of the 2027 general election. A Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja yesterday reversed its earlier judgment directing the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to register it as a political party.

3. The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN, has expressed concern over what he described as Nigerians’ declining confidence in the legal profession, warning that lawyers must reclaim public trust by upholding integrity and ethical values.

4. Former Anambra State Governor and presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Peter Obi, has alleged that there are efforts by the Federal Government to prevent him from participating in the 2027 presidential election, expressing confidence that such attempts would not succeed. Obi made the remarks while speaking at Madonna University, Okija, Anambra State.

5. The naira remained relatively stable against the United States dollar on Friday, June 26, 2026, across both the official Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market and the parallel market, as traders continued to monitor liquidity conditions and foreign exchange inflows. Data from the Foreign Exchange Market showed that the naira traded at around N1,374.76 to the dollar on Friday.

6. Tension gripped parts of Benue State on Friday after gunmen killed the state chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Risku Muhammad, and his friend, Yakubu Isah, shortly after a peace meeting in Ohinmini Local Government Area of the state. The attack, which reportedly occurred at Okudu village in neighbouring Otukpo Local Government Area, has heightened fears of renewed violence in communities already troubled by recurring attacks and communal tensions.

7. Osun State Police Command has arrested three suspects over the alleged unlawful possession of a human skull exhumed from a family grave in the state. The command’s Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Ojelabi, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.

8. A fire outbreak on Friday engulfed a building on Biola Street in the Alapere area of Ketu, Lagos, causing panic among residents. The cause of the fire and the extent of damage could not be immediately ascertained as of the time of filing this report.

9. Two persons said to be members of the Accord Party were reportedly abducted in Ilesa, Osun State, by suspected hoodlums, leading to tension in the community. Videos of one of the abductions went viral on Friday, showing a man pleading with his abductors, who intermittently fired gunshots into the air, before he was forcefully bundled into a vehicle bearing the inscription “AMBO,” the acronym of the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Oyebamiji.

10. The Imo Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, says it seized 12,638.58kg of various hard drugs and arrested 475 suspects, 379 males and 96 females in one year. The NDLEA Commander in the state, Mr Alexander Nnyigide, said this at a news briefing to mark this year’s International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking, held in Owerri on Friday.