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Russian Duma ratifies annexation of Ukrainian regions as West rallies
The Russian lower house of parliament ratified the incorporation of four occupied Ukrainian regions on Monday and fast-tracked the relevant legislation as the West rallied further to Kiev’s aid.
More than 400 deputies in the Russian Duma, in a move unrecognised by most of the international community, voted unanimously in favour of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson becoming part of the Russian Federation as well as enacting various laws.
“The laws fully strengthen the main social and economic guarantees of people living in the territories and create a system of legal protection for citizens,” Pavel Krasheninnikov, head of the Duma legal committee, said according to the Interfax news agency.
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Russian citizenship is to be granted to all residents of the occupied regions who apply for a passport and take an oath to the country’s constitution, which will prompt pension payments and health care.
The Russian rouble will be introduced as the currency, but until the end of the year residents will still be able to pay with Ukrainian hryvnia.
By June 1, 2023, new administrative bodies will be created.
President Vladimir Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine in February, signed the treaties of accession on Friday with the Duma having to approve them.
A similar rubber-stamping by the upper house – the Federation Council – is considered a formality.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was a guest at the Duma and accused the United States of moving against Russia just like Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler once did against the Soviet Union.
“The U.S. has subjugated practically the entire collective West and mobilised it to make Ukraine an instrument of war with Russia – just as Hitler gathered the majority of the countries of Europe for an invasion of the Soviet Union,” Lavrov said.
International condemnation in recent days included several European countries – including Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, and Belgium – summoning the Russian ambassador to condemn Moscow’s illegal land grab.
Meanwhile, the European Union on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding on providing Ukraine with another €5 billion ($4.9 billion) in macro-financial aid.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also said her country was well aware Putin’s threat of nuclear war could be real but would not allow itself to be blackmailed by Moscow.
“We take his words very seriously; anything else would be negligent,” she told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung newspaper.
Ukraine has been backed by massive Western arms and Putin has mentioned the possible use of nuclear weapons in the conflict, with his quest to capture the whole country having stalled.
Further nuclear worries have been exacerbated by fighting near the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. On Monday, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi tweeted that he had “received confirmation” that plant director Ihor Murashov had been “returned to his family” after having been abducted.
On the battlefield, Ukrainian troops again recorded successes in their counter-offensive, advancing against Russian invaders in the east and south.
In the Luhansk region, Ukrainian soldiers have already established themselves near the city of Lysychansk, a military spokesperson for the Moscow-controlled Luhansk separatists wrote on Monday on the Telegram news service.
But the Ukrainian units are nevertheless under constant fire from the Russian army.
Previously, President Volodymyr Zelensky had also confirmed an advance of Ukrainian forces in the southern region of Kherson and the recapture of the local towns of Archanhelske and Myrolyubivka
Faced with stiff Ukrainian resolve, Putin has called for a partial mobilization of new Russian troops. But the mobilization is plagued by organizational problems and a lack of enthusiasm among potential conscripts.
The Defense Ministry in Moscow said first recruits called up as part of the mobilization have been transferred to Donetsk and Luhansk.
“Mobilized servicemen are undergoing their combat training in the Donetsk People’s Republic,” the Defence Ministry said on its Telegram channel. It also posted a video showing soldiers conducting live-fire exercises.
But in the Khabarovsk region in Russia’s far east, Governor Mikhail Degtyarev said that half of the “several thousand” conscripts had returned home.
The men in question had been called up for duty even though they did not meet criteria. The governor did not explain how the mistakes could have happened.
The responsible head of the district military office had been dismissed, Degtyarev wrote on Telegram.
Meanwhile Putin loyalist Ramzan Kadyrov said he wants to send three of his underage sons to the war against Ukraine.
Kadyrov, the notorious head of the Russian republic of Chechnya, said that his boys Achmat, Selimchan and Adam – aged 14 to 16 – are ready to put the combat skills they have trained for to the test in Russia’s current “special military operation” in Ukraine.
“And I’m not joking,” he wrote on Telegram. “(…) Soon they will be sent to the front and will be in the most difficult sections of the contact line.” He also published a video showing his sons doing target practice.
At least 300,000 reservists are to be drafted from across Russia to fight in the occupied Ukrainian territories. Hundreds of thousands of Russians have fled abroad to avoid being sent into military service.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has disclosed its support for healthcare infrastructure in Sokoto State through the donation and subsequent handover of an Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) to the state government.
The development was contained in the company’s September 2026 Monthly Operations and Financial Report, which also highlighted its financial performance, oil and gas production, pipeline infrastructure and other operational activities.
According to the report, the Sokoto State Commissioner for Health visited the NNPC Foundation and NNPC Limited on September 1, 2026, to present a letter of appreciation to the Foundation for donating the Infectious Diseases Hospital and handing it over to the Sokoto State Government.
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The engagement provided an opportunity for the state government to formally acknowledge the Foundation’s intervention and support towards strengthening healthcare infrastructure in Sokoto State.
The report identified the engagement as part of the NNPC Foundation’s public impact initiatives.
NNPC Records ₦509bn September Profit
On its financial performance, NNPC recorded a profit after tax of ₦509 billion in September 2026, representing an 18.1 per cent increase compared with the previous month.
The company’s revenue also rose to ₦4.608 trillion from ₦3.74 trillion recorded in August, representing an increase of approximately 23.2 per cent.
Cumulative statutory payments to the Federation increased by 17.4 per cent, rising from ₦9.49 trillion between January and August to ₦11.14 trillion between January and September 2026.
Crude Oil and Gas Production
The report showed that average crude oil and condensate production stood at 1.70 million barrels per day during the period.
Natural gas production increased to 7,789 million standard cubic feet per day, while total hydrocarbon production reached 3.04 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
The monthly operational summary also presented production and sales trends for crude oil, condensate and natural gas.
Pipeline Infrastructure Records Progress
On infrastructure development, NNPC reported 100 per cent availability of its upstream pipelines.
The company also disclosed that the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) Gas Pipeline had reached 100 per cent completion, while the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline stood at 95 per cent completion.
According to the report, the OB3 River Niger Crossing pipeline had been commissioned and operationalised.
For the AKK pipeline, NNPC said sustained collaboration with stakeholders was helping to accelerate construction and pre-commissioning activities towards achieving early gas delivery to Abuja in 2026.
NNPC Reports 54% Retail Station Availability
The report also highlighted the availability of petrol at NNPC retail stations across the country, putting the nationwide Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) availability level at 54 per cent.
A geographical map showing retail station availability across different parts of Nigeria was included in the monthly operational summary.
NNPC Outlines Strategic Production Efforts
On efforts to sustain production growth, NNPC listed accelerated restoration of shut-in wells and facilities, production optimisation and well interventions among its priorities.
The company also highlighted efforts to strengthen facility reliability and preventive maintenance, address infrastructure and operational constraints, improve community engagement and resolve storage, tank-top and export infrastructure challenges.
These measures, according to the report, are aimed at sustaining production growth and improving operational efficiency across its oil and gas assets.
Former General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), John Ejoha Odah, has urged the Federal Government to develop a comprehensive employment strategy that provides jobs for young Nigerians before they graduate from educational institutions.
Odah said the government must adopt proactive employment planning by projecting the number of graduates expected to enter the labour market annually and making adequate arrangements to absorb them.
He made the call during an appearance on NTA’s Good Morning Nigeria on Wednesday, where he blamed the country’s persistent unemployment challenge on the failure of successive administrations to sustain national development plans.
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According to him, Nigeria’s political leadership has abandoned young people to their fate by failing to implement deliberate policies that create employment opportunities.
“The fundamental problem that we have in this country is the fact that our ruling elite have abandoned the Nigerian youth to their fate,” Odah said.
He explained that Nigeria previously operated five-year national development plans, which enabled the government to anticipate future employment needs and make arrangements for young people expected to graduate within two to five years.
The former NLC leader traced the worsening unemployment situation to the abandonment of national development plans between the late 1970s and 1985.
He also recalled the establishment of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), explaining that the agency was created as a stopgap measure to provide employment and self-employment opportunities for young Nigerians.
Odah, however, stressed that the NDE was never intended to serve as the country’s primary driver of employment.
“What we need is a comprehensive employment scheme based on development programmes and industries,” he said.
He further disclosed that during his time in the labour movement, efforts were made to establish a national job summit involving the Ministry of Labour, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and other government institutions.
According to him, the initiative produced an employment plan presented to the National Executive Council, targeting the creation of at least four million jobs within four years across the federal, state and local governments.
Odah said the proposal was developed around 2005 but was abandoned after the administration under which it was initiated left office.
He expressed concern that Nigeria has yet to establish a coherent employment strategy capable of addressing the needs of young people entering the labour market.
The former labour leader warned that failure to address youth unemployment could further encourage social challenges, including irregular migration, as Nigerians continue to seek better opportunities abroad.
NEWS
Sanusi Lists Tinubu’s Economic Gains, Reveals What Could Restore Nigeria’s 2005 Living Standards
The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has highlighted improvements in Nigeria’s economic performance under President Bola Tinubu, saying the administration deserves credit for bringing the country back from the brink of economic collapse.
Sanusi made the remarks at the Oxford Global Think Tank conference, where he assessed the impact of the Tinubu administration’s economic reforms and acknowledged progress in key economic indicators.
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The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) pointed to the country’s 4.48 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the second quarter of 2026, describing it as an improvement compared with the economic performance recorded during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to him, Nigeria’s economy grew by approximately 0.9 per cent during the Buhari years, while the latest growth figures indicate a stronger economic performance.
Sanusi also highlighted the decline in inflation, saying it had dropped from 30 per cent to 14.6 per cent, with projections indicating a possible reduction to 12.5 per cent by the end of 2026.
He further disclosed that Nigeria’s GDP per capita, measured in dollar terms, had increased by 47 per cent since 2023.
The Emir said sustaining the current growth trajectory could return the country’s GDP per capita to its 2005 level by the end of 2027.
“If we continue at this rate, by the end of next year, GDP per capita will be back to where it was in 2005,” he said.
On the country’s external reserves, Sanusi disclosed that they had reached $55 billion, although he cautioned that a significant portion of the inflows was driven by foreign portfolio investments, which he described as volatile.
He attributed some of the investor interest to high oil prices linked to the conflict around the Strait of Hormuz, alongside the attractive returns available in Nigeria’s financial market.
Sanusi also identified the Dangote Refinery as part of the country’s growing economic diversification, claiming that 20 per cent of Nigeria’s exports were coming from the facility.
According to him, the developments suggest that the country is laying the foundations for economic stability, although more work remains to be done.
“I’m not a fan of politicians, but we need to give credit to President Tinubu’s administration for bringing us back from the brink,” Sanusi stated.
He stressed that the progress recorded should be recognised as an initial step towards stability rather than an indication that Nigeria’s economic challenges have been fully resolved.
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