A devastating incident unfolded Tuesday night at Awhum Market in Enugu State when a massive tree suddenly collapsed, killing several people and injuring others.
Video footage obtained by our reporter shows local residents rushing to assist, pulling victims from beneath the fallen tree as rescue efforts began immediately.
Authorities have not yet released an official statement on the exact number of casualties. The cause of the tree’s collapse remains unknown.
Watch the footage here.
The Kano State Censorship Board has directed the shutdown of all entertainment facilities across the state during the holy month of Ramadan.
In a statement on Tuesday, the board’s spokesperson, Abdullahi Sani Sulaiman, said the suspension affects event centers, gala houses, and DJ operations.
The directive takes effect from 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 18 February 2026, and will last until the end of Ramadan.
“The closure will remain in force throughout the fasting period. The date for reopening, especially during Eid celebrations, will be announced at the appropriate time,” the statement added.
A former Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mike Igini, has blamed the Supreme Court of Nigeria for what he described as the lingering confusion in Nigeria’s electoral system.
Igini made the remarks on Wednesday while speaking on The Morning Show, a program on Arise Television. He traced the history of electoral reforms in the country and highlighted what he considers judicial decisions that have undermined technological innovations introduced to improve transparency.
According to him, members of the National Assembly had, under Section 52 of the Electoral Act at the time, prohibited the use of electronic voting machines due to fears surrounding the introduction of technology into the electoral process.
“The members of the National Assembly under Section 52, they were scared, and they prohibited the use of any electronic thing. In fact, they use the word “no electronic voting machine.” That was the language that was used,” he said.
Igini explained that reform efforts later targeted provisions such as Section 49, which he described as enabling election manipulation by granting presiding officers wide discretion in accrediting voters.
“But we came in, we saw Section 49, Section 52, and Section 68, and we declared election rigging provisions. And for 20 years, we fought to get those provisions removed,” he stated.
He noted that during the tenure of former INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega, biometric accreditation was introduced, beginning with the Temporary Voter Card (TVC), later replaced by the Permanent Voter Card (PVC), and eventually the smart card reader.
“By the time Attahiru Jega came in, we started with what he called biometric… From TVC, we moved to PVC. From PVC, we moved to the smart card reader to deal with section 49,” Igini said.
He explained that the smart card reader was introduced to authenticate voters and curb malpractice but was later ruled by the Supreme Court as subordinate to manual accreditation because it was not expressly provided for in the Electoral Act.
“Painfully, the Supreme Court declared that all—oh, the smart card reader, beautiful device. However, it should have been written in the Electoral Act,” he added.
Igini also criticized the court’s position on INEC’s Result Viewing Portal (iReV). He said INEC guidelines mandated the upload of polling unit results to the portal to enhance transparency and prevent alteration.
“The Supreme Court tribunals declared that the regulation and guidelines of INEC stated clearly… that where the results that have been declared at the polling unit are expected or mandated to be sent to the iReV… The Supreme Court said that iReV is an amusement center, is a viewing center, is of no effect, and all that,” he said.
He argued that earlier judicial authorities had recognized three principal legal frameworks governing elections: the Constitution, the Electoral Act, and regulations and guidelines issued by INEC pursuant to constitutional provisions.
“The question now is, what happened to the lineup of authorities… when the Court declared that in any elections, there are three principal legal frameworks that govern the election, which are the Constitution, the Electoral Act, and indeed regulations and guidelines made pursuant to both in the Constitution,” Igini queried.
According to him, recent decisions of the apex court have thrown Nigeria’s electoral system into disarray and fueled ongoing debates about the credibility and legal status of technological innovations in the country’s elections.
Vinicius Junior on Tuesday surpassed Kaka’s UEFA Champions League goal tally after netting the winner in Real Madrid’s 1-0 victory over Benfica.
The Brazilian winger scored the decisive goal in the second half of the Round of 16 playoff first-leg encounter in Portugal, handing Madrid a slim advantage ahead of next week’s return leg in Spain.
The victory came against a Benfica side managed by Jose Mourinho.
According to OptaJose, the strike took Vinicius’ Champions League career tally to 31 goals, moving him ahead of Kaka, who scored 30 goals during his time in the competition.
With the milestone, Vinicius now ranks as the second-highest Brazilian goalscorer in Champions League history. He trails former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar, who tops the list with 43 goals.
Top three Brazilian scorers in Champions League history:
Neymar—43 goals
Vinicius – 31 goals
Kaka—30 goals
Nigerian music stars Burna Boy and Tems have emerged as the African artists with the highest number of entries on the Billboard U.S. Hot 100 chart.
The pair surpassed South African rock band Seether after previously being tied at seven entries each. Their latest milestone comes following new appearances on the chart through features on J. Cole’s album, The Fall-Off.
‘Bounce Road Blues,’ featuring Tems and Future, debuted at No. 34, while ‘Only You,’ featuring Burna Boy, entered at No. 78. The new entries bring both Nigerian stars to a joint total of eight Billboard Hot 100 appearances—the highest ever recorded by African artists.
Burna Boy, made history as the first African artist to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 for six consecutive years. His charting songs over the years include “Loved By You” (2021), “Last Last” (2022), “Sittin’ On Top Of The World” and “Talibans II” (2023), “Just Like Me” and “We Pray” (2024), “WGFT” (2025), and now “Only You” (2026).
on her part, Tems has now secured three Billboard Hot 100 entries in 2026 alone, thanks to ‘Raindance’ with Dave, ‘What You Need,’ and the newly charting ‘Bounce Road Blues.’ She currently holds the record for the most Hot 100 entries by any African artist this year.
The Nigerian naira appreciated to its strongest level in almost two years against the United States dollar across both the official and parallel foreign exchange markets on Tuesday.
Data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria showed that the local currency strengthened further to N1,335.96 per dollar on Tuesday, compared to N1,347.78 recorded on Monday. The figure marks the naira’s highest level since October 2024.
This represents a day-on-day gain of N11.82 at the official foreign exchange market.
At the parallel market, commonly referred to as the black market, the Naira also recorded significant appreciation, gaining N10 to close at N1,490 per dollar on Tuesday, up from N1,500 traded the previous day.
The appreciation comes amid a steady increase in Nigeria’s foreign reserves, which rose to $48.37 billion as of February 16, 2026, according to data from the apex bank.
Recall that Nigerian Newsphere had earlier reported that the Naira rebounded strongly against the Dollar at the start of the week.
The identities of the 15 senators who voted for compulsory real-time electronic transmission of election results during deliberations on the Electoral Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill, 2026, have emerged.
The lawmakers rejected the retention of a contentious provision that permits manual collation of results as a fallback option.
However, the majority of senators, amounting to 75, supported the bill, and therefore it was passed on Tuesday.
It would be recalled that the Senate, during plenary on Tuesday, approved electronic transmission of election results but retained manual collation as a backup measure.
The decision followed a heated session in the red chamber of the National Assembly, culminating in a dramatic division.
During the vote, majority senators supported the clause allowing manual backup, while 15 lawmakers stood firmly against it, insisting that electronic transmission should be mandatory and exclusive.
Leading the dissenting group was Senators:
Enyinnaya Abaribe who is minority caucus leader,
Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi Central)
Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central)
Aminu Tambuwal (PDP, Sokoto South)
Ireti Kingibe (ADC, FCT)
Seriake Dickson (PDP, Bayelsa West)
Onawo Ogwoshi (ADC, Nasarawa South)
Tony Nwoye (ADC, Anambra North)
Victor Umeh (ADC, Anambra Central)
Ibrahim Dankwambo (PDP, Gombe Central)
Austin Akobundu (PDP, Abia Central)
Khalid Mustapha (PDP, Kaduna North)
Sikayo Yaro (PDP, Gombe South)
Emmanuel Nwachukwu (APGA, Anambra South)
Peter Jiya (PDP, Niger South).
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has deployed WorkflowPro as its official platform for the digital submission and management of correspondence.
In furtherance of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the Federal Government’s commitment to institutionalizing a paperless public service, the
In a statement by the Commission’s spokesperson, Dr. Kayode Adegoke, the adoption of WorkflowPro marks NIMC’s formal transition to a paperless operating environment and reflects the Commission’s resolve to strengthen governance, improve administrative efficiency, and standardize records management in line with approved public sector reforms.
“The platform provides a secure, structured, and traceable system for managing both internal and external communications, thereby enhancing accountability and operational transparency.
“Under the new framework, all external correspondence to NIMC will be processed electronically through WorkflowPro. The system enables end-to-end tracking of submissions, accelerates internal routing and response timelines, and ensures secure electronic archiving of official records.
“This approach eliminates the risks associated with manual handling of documents while reinforcing compliance with established information management standards.
“The implementation of WorkflowPro is consistent with the Federal Government’s Enterprise Content Management (ECM) policy, which mandates the digitization of official records and the elimination of physical file movements across all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
“Accordingly, all external correspondence addressed to the National Identity Management Commission must be submitted via the NIMC WorkflowPro platform, accessible through the official portal link or by scanning the designated QR code: Portal Link: https://workflowpro-nimc.com/Submit.
“To support effective implementation, NIMC has approved a 30-day transition period from the date of this announcement, during which stakeholders are expected to acquaint themselves with the new process. Upon the expiration of this period, the Commission will discontinue the acceptance of manually submitted letters and paper-based correspondence.
“WorkflowPro was developed by NIMC’s in-house technical team under the directive of the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, Engr. (Dr.) Abisoye Coker-Odusote.
“The platform forms part of a broader institutional reform agenda aimed at strengthening the security of official communications, reducing administrative delays, and entrenching digital governance within the public service.
“The National Identity Management Commission enjoins all stakeholders to take note of this policy directive and ensure full compliance,” NIMC stated.
Nigerian Afrobeats star Simi has stirred intense reactions on social media after calling for severe punishment for rapists amid rising concerns over sexual assault cases in the country.
Her comments come as Nigeria grapples with a wave of reported rape and sexual assault allegations across various states in recent weeks.
In a strongly worded post shared on X on Tuesday night, the singer, whose real name is Simisola Kosoko, expressed frustration over the prevalence of sexual violence and urged authorities and citizens to take decisive action.
“I’m sickkk of this. Stop raping women. They need to castrate rapists and burn them,” she wrote.
The post quickly generated widespread debate online. While some users supported her outrage and demand for stricter consequences for sexual offenders, others argued that similar penalties should also apply to individuals who make false rape accusations.
Responding to critics, Simi maintained that her advocacy was focused on supporting victims of sexual assault, not those falsely accused. She stressed that sexual violence remains a pervasive issue affecting many women.
The singer noted that nearly every woman she knows has experienced some form of sexual assault, insisting that conversations about the problem should not be silenced because of concerns over false allegations.
“How many of your friends have actually assaulted women as vibes?? Women are terrified to go out. Women in their homes are not safe either. Ask your sisters. Ask your female friends and your girlfriends. Ask your wives. We’re not all crazy. Stop raping women,” she added.
Simi also called on men to hold one another accountable, arguing that failure to confront inappropriate behavior among peers contributes to an environment that enables sexual violence.
Her remarks continue to generate mixed reactions across social media platforms, highlighting the broader national conversation on how best to address sexual assault and ensure justice for victims.
The Igwe of Ezema Olo in Ezeagu LGA of Enugu State, His Royal Highness, Ambassador Dr. Lawrence Agubuzo, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to release Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and repatriate him to Kenya or the United Kingdom if his continued stay in Nigeria is considered uncomfortable.
Kanu was arrested in Kenya during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari and returned to Nigeria to face terrorism-related charges. The IPOB leader was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment by a Federal High Court and is currently held at a maximum security facility in Sokoto.
Several prominent Igbo leaders had previously appealed to the late former President Buhari and have continued to urge President Tinubu to consider releasing the pro-Biafra agitator, but those calls have yet to yield results.
Speaking at the 2026 National Traditional and Religious Leaders Summit on Health held at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja, Agubuzo warned that Kanu’s continued detention was fueling anger and restiveness among youths in the Southeast.
“Having come now to Abuja and listened to His Royal Majesty, the Ooni of Ife, who was encouraging all of us to work as a family, to work as a team, to see Nigeria as one, I said, ‘Maybe this is good.’ But when you look at it, this same Ooni of Ife is planning to confer a very high honor on Sunday Igboho, who, in my own part of the country, we see as the Southwest counterpart of Nnamdi Kanu, and the Imperial Highness does not seem to understand the pain in my heart when Nnamdi Kanu is in Sokoto. So, sir, the ball is in your court.
“Bring this man out. If we don’t want him in Nigeria, send him back to Kenya or London, where he came from. Please do something about this,” Agubuzo told the President.
He added, “We can’t move forward in this country unless we face the truth.”
The monarch further stated, “I must tell you, Mr. President, that I don’t feel very happy because you weren’t here in the morning when the Ooni of Ife gave the opening speech and was encouraging everyone to work together as one.”
The summit, themed “The Role of Traditional and Religious Leaders in Advancing the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative,” was convened to strengthen community participation in health sector reforms. However, proceedings took an unexpected turn during the goodwill messages when the Enugu monarch directly raised concerns over Kanu’s continued incarceration.
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