The recap of top 10 key important updates that you might have missed this Sunday evening, 1st February, 2026
FG to arraign suspects in Benue killings Monday
The Federal Government has confirmed that suspects linked to the recent killings in Yelwata, a town in Benue State, will be formally arraigned in court on Monday, February 2, 2026.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by Kamarudeen Ogundele, the Special Assistant to the President on Communication & Publicity in the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
The statement indicated that the arraignment is the culmination of a thorough investigation carried out in collaboration with multiple government agencies.
“Some suspects arrested and strongly linked to the killings in Yelwata, a town in Benue State, will be arraigned tomorrow (Monday, February 2) to answer for their crimes”, the statement partly read.
Fearless voice of the people, Tinubu salutes Fela’s posthumous Grammy recognition
President Bola Tinubu has paid tribute to Fela Anikulapo Kuti, hailing the legendary musician as a fearless voice of the people and a revolutionary force whose music confronted injustice and reshaped the global soundscape.
Tinubu’s Sunday tribute came as Fela was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award by the Recording Academy of America, making him the first African to receive the honour.
“Fela was more than a musician.
He was a fearless voice of the people, a philosopher of freedom, and a revolutionary force whose music confronted injustice and reshaped global sound,” the President said in a statement he personally signed on Sunday.
Tinubu described Fela’s courage, creativity, and conviction as defining qualities that shaped a generation and continue to inspire the world.
Burna Boy, Davido, Ayra Starr, Tyla battle for Grammy glory
African music’s A-listers are set for Sunday’s Grammy Awards, the industry’s biggest global night, with superstars Burna Boy, Davido, Ayra Starr and Tyla hoping to make history in Los Angeles.
All four are angling to add to their trophy cabinets by taking home the gala’s most coveted African award, Best African Music Performance.
On November 7, 2025, Burna Boy received two nominations — Best African Music Performance for “Love” and Best Global Music Album for No Sign of Weakness — making him the highest-nominated African artist in the cycle.
Other Nigerian stars on the list include Davido, Omah Lay, Ayra Starr and Wizkid, alongside continental heavyweights such as Angélique Kidjo (Benin), Eddy Kenzo (Uganda), Tyla (South Africa) and Youssou N’Dour (Senegal).
PAP distributes 900 laptops to Niger Delta students
The Presidential Amnesty Programme has handed out “an additional 900 laptops to beneficiaries of its scholarship scheme at Nigerian universities”, marking the third batch of distributions within the country.
The latest recipients include students from partnering institutions, Nigeria Maritime University and Admiralty University of Nigeria, as well as non-partnering schools, Dennis Osadebey University, Southern Delta University, and the University of Delta.
The laptops were presented on Friday following the directive of PAP Administrator Dennis Otuaro.
PUNCH Online reports that the programme had previously distributed 663 laptops in May 2025 and 1,857 units in November 2025.
2027: RTEAN backs Tinubu’s re-election bid, vows mass mobilisation
The Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria has endorsed President Bola Tinubu for the 2027 presidential election, pledging to mobilise support for his re-election across all 774 local government areas of the country.
The President of the association, Musa Maitakobi, made the pledge on Sunday while hosting a delegation of the All Progressives Congress Jagaban Squad on a courtesy visit to Abuja, during which he was formally crowned Life Patron of the group.
As part of its commitment, Maitakobi announced that the association would donate a fully branded bus to the Jagaban Squad to enhance the group’s visibility and operational mobility within the Federal Capital Territory.
According to him, the bus will be branded with the Jagaban Squad’s identity alongside photographs of President Tinubu, with the Abuja-based coordinator of the group using it as a mobile platform to showcase the squad’s activities.
Insecurity: Ebonyi gov shuts schools, declares curfew in community
Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State has ordered the immediate closure of all schools in Amasiri clan in the Afikpo Local Government Area and imposed a 20-hour daily curfew following a deadly attack allegedly carried out by assailants from the clan in Okporojo village, Edda Local Government Area.
PUNCH Online gathered that the attack led to the killing and beheading of four people and the burning of over nine houses.
The measures were part of resolutions reached at an emergency meeting of the Ebonyi State Security Council on Saturday night, convened in response to the mayhem in Okporojo village, Oso Edda community.
Earlier on Saturday, Nwifuru visited the affected community, commiserated with residents, and directed security agencies to ensure the arrest and prosecution of those responsible.
February 2 sit-at-home sacrosanct – IPOB
The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has reminded Ndigbo and lovers of Biafra that the sit-at-home it declared on Monday, February 2, 2026, will still hold, saying it has not cancelled it.
The pro-Biafra group, in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary Emma Powerful, titled Monday, February 2, 2026 sit-at-home is sacrosanct and will hold, adding that no All Progressives Congress, APC government will stop it.
According to IPOB,
“Biafrans are advised to beware of charlatans, ignore misinformation, and comply with the sit-at-home order on Monday, warning them never to be deceived by the agents of the APC government masquerading as Nnamdi Kanu’s close associate.
Powerful disclosed that those agents of APC wanted to deceive Biafrans with fake news of his resignation as the spokesman of IPOB, and non existent as human being, but that plan failed, and they resorted to calling him on the phone, asking him to call off the Monday, February 2, 2026, sit-at-home.
Nigeria’s problems stem from politicians, not poverty – Peter Obi
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi, has acknowledged that Nigeria’s political leaders are at the heart of the country’s problems, criticising the political class for mismanaging the nation’s abundant resources.
Speaking on Sunday during a Thanksgiving service marking the 50th anniversary of Oyo State at St Peter’s Cathedral, Aremo, Ibadan, Obi appealed to Nigerians to pray for politicians, that God may guide them to use public funds responsibly.
“I make a request to Nigerians. Please do remember us politicians in your prayers.
We are the problem of Nigeria. Nigeria is not a poor country, it is poorly governed.”
“Remember us in your prayers that God should touch our hearts to use public money for the public good. If we do this, Nigeria will be good. May God bless all of you and bless your family always,” he said.
Oke-Fia flyover closure exposes project’s irrelevance – APM tells Adeleke
The Allied Peoples Movement, APM, in Osun State has told the State Governor, Ademola Adeleke that his administration refusal to open the Oke-Fia flyover for public use has shown that it is not a priority for the area.
The party, in a statement issued by its Chairman, Adewale Adebayo on Saturday, said the free flow of traffic at Oke-Fia despite closure of the flyover since its completion last year exposed the project as “an expensive mistake and a grand waste of public funds”.
The party chairman, who is also its governorship candidate for 2026 poll, said he had warned the State in 2023 that Governor Adeleke’s administration’s N150billion infrastructure plan was a spree of needless projects.
“Today, Osun people can see clearly. The N100 billion plan has not achieved up to 15 per cent meaningful impact.
Then came the N150 billion plan, whose most visible results are concentrated in Ede, the governor’s hometown, with over 80 kilometres of roads, while the rest of the state is left behind,” the party said.
ADC accuses APC of forcing civil servants into party registration
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has raised the alarm over reports that civil servants across several states are being forced to register for the All Progressives Congress (APC) ongoing e-registration exercise, warning that the alleged practice amounts to economic coercion and forced political membership
In a statement signed by Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, the opposition party said the reports suggest a coordinated effort, allegedly linked to the APC’s national leadership, to pressure public servants to join the ruling party as a condition for job security, career progression or continued access to livelihood
“These reports, which are consistent and widespread, suggest a coordinated attempt to compel public servants to surrender their freedom of association as a condition for job security, career progression, or continued access to livelihood. This is unacceptable in a democratic society,” the ADC said.
