Former Abia State governor and senator Orji Uzor Kalu has said he once sold weapons to individuals and countries.

What he said

Speaking in a television interview reported on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, Kalu said he sold arms to anyone willing to pay, and that he was interested only in making money at the time, not in how the weapons would be used. He said he stopped after his mother and father told him to. Asked whether he had supplied the African National Congress during the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, he said the ANC was not a specific customer and that he sold to anybody who wanted to buy. He did not say when the business took place or name any buyers.

Background

Kalu, a businessman and politician, governed Abia State from 1999 to 2007 and later served as senator for Abia North. He was convicted of fraud in 2019, but the Supreme Court later set the conviction aside on technical grounds. He has recently been in the news over comments on the Senate presidency and predictions about the 2027 election.

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, to produce President Bola Tinubu's nomination documents in the trial of activist Omoyele Sowore.

The order

The subpoena, signed by Justice Mohammed Umar, directs the INEC chairman to present Tinubu's Form CF001 from his 1999 Lagos governorship campaign, which includes an affidavit relating to lost certificates, as well as the equivalent form submitted before the 2023 presidential election. It followed a ruling on Monday, 9 November 2026, approving a defence request to call Amupitan and Joe Igbokwe, a former publicity secretary of the APC in Lagos, as witnesses.

The case

Sowore, the publisher of Sahara Reporters and a former presidential candidate, is being tried over social media posts in which he described the President as a criminal. His lawyers say they intend to call both men to testify. The trial is due to resume on 11 November.

Background

Questions about Tinubu's academic records and early life have been raised by critics for years, and were the subject of legal challenges after the 2023 election, which the Supreme Court dismissed. The President and his supporters have consistently rejected claims of wrongdoing. Sowore has also faced other legal cases, including a separate cyberbullying trial in which a court recently rejected his bid to subpoena a DSS lawyer.

President Bola Tinubu has mourned the death of Chief Unanawao Eteyen Amba, popularly known as Utrikang Oro, a former deputy national secretary of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

The tribute

In a condolence statement on Monday, 9 November 2026, the President described Amba as a committed progressive whose contributions to party building and Nigeria's democracy would not be forgotten. He recalled Amba's loyalty during the ACN's formative years and credited him with helping to shape the party's structures and political ideas, as well as offering wise counsel.

Background

Tinubu was a leading figure in the ACN, which was one of the main opposition parties before it merged with other groups in 2013 to form the All Progressives Congress (APC). Details of the circumstances of Amba's death were not given in the statement.

Socialite and businessman Cubana Chief Priest has replied Minister of Works David Umahi, a day after the minister mocked his famous "money na water" catchphrase and asked how many people he has given scholarships.

"Pharaoh, let my people go"

Borrowing from the Bible story of Moses and Pharaoh, Cubana Chief Priest gave the minister a new nickname, and accused him of making promises to President Bola Tinubu that he cannot deliver.

"Pharaoh, let my people go. Stop giving Tinubu fake promises on votes. What project are you using to convince South-East people to vote for him?" he said.

The governorship claim

He went further, claiming that Umahi is preparing his son to become governor of Ebonyi State after the current governor, Francis Nwifuru.

Speaking partly in Pidgin, he said, in effect: "You're busy preparing your son to be governor after Nwifuru. God won't let that happen. You want to use Ebonyi State to settle your child. Let the young man come and meet us on the street so we can teach him how to make 'money na water'."

This is Cubana Chief Priest's claim, and Umahi has not yet responded to this latest attack.

How it started

The exchange began weeks ago when Cubana Chief Priest described Umahi as the second-worst minister from the South-East. Umahi hit back by telling him he was "becoming very noisy", comparing him unfavourably with Dangote and Otedola, and asking, "How many people have you given scholarships?"

Now the socialite has turned the argument back to politics, questioning what Umahi has done to win South-East votes for the President.

Over to you

Who is winning this war of words: the minister or the socialite? And is Cubana Chief Priest right to question what the South-East has to show for supporting Tinubu?