Jimoh Ibrahim, Nigeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, has defended President Bola Tinubu’s absence at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Ibrahim spoke on a Television program, on Thursday, noting that Tinubu cannot attend the event just to deliver a 15-minute speech.

Mohammed Idris, minister of information and national orientation, had said Tinubu would not attend the 81st UNGA because he is currently on annual leave.

Idris said Tinubu had mandated Vice-President Kashim Shettima to lead Nigeria’s delegation to the high-level session in New York, United States.

The minister’s comment followed criticism from former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), who faulted the president’s absence at the gathering.

Atiku had questioned Tinubu’s decision to stay away from the general debate for the third consecutive year, saying the president’s “persistent avoidance” of the United States raises questions.

The former vice-president also questioned why Tinubu did not show up after Ibrahim reportedly said arrangements had been made for the president to sit close to US President Donald Trump at the general assembly.

Atiku further linked Tinubu’s absence to his past legal history in the US and asked: “Is Tinubu afraid that he could become Donald Trump’s next Nicolás Maduro?”

However, Ibrahim said Tinubu’s absence should not be taken as a big deal because many presidents of other countries did not attend the gathering in person.

“What do you think President Tinubu is coming to do?” he queried.

“The presidents are allowed in the UN under UNGA for 15 minutes. Is that the reason why he should board the flight and be here for 15 minutes?”

He said Shettima had, in Tinubu’s absence, attended high-level meetings and met with Nigerians in the diaspora, describing the engagement as ideal.

“This is the kind of engagement we want, not that the president will just be inside the plane and be coming to UNGA for a 15-minute speech. What is the meaning of that? We don’t want that,” Ibrahim said.

Ibrahim, who was appointed chairman of the budget and administration committee for UNGA’s Fifth Committee in June, said 60 percent of those on the speaking list at the gathering were foreign affairs ministers and vice-presidents.

“As permanent representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, if I’m to do a memo to the president at the last minute of boarding the plane to go to UNGA, do you think I will recommend the president to be on his way when 60 percent of the speaking list of 193 countries are ministers and vice-presidents representing their countries?” he queried.

“There are exigencies. If the speaking list is 90 presidents, maybe of course, the president can come. I don’t think the president should come and be where his equivalent is a minister of foreign affairs of another country.”

The envoy also said the country occupied a prominent position at UNGA, arguing that Tinubu’s physical presence was not necessary.

“I promise that Nigeria will be on the front-row seat at UNGA. Are we not on the front-row seat? Nigeria is sitting at number eight seat in the UN under UNGA and America is at number 26th seat at the back of Nigeria’s seat,” he said.

“And you know, Donald Trump didn’t go to sit on his own seat. He came in to give a lecture at the UNGA and went back from there.
“Are you saying that Nigeria is making the impact it is supposed to make globally? Must we have President Tinubu here before we can make the impact?”

Speaking on what the composition of the speaking list implied, Ibrahim said reforms were being planned to increase the impact of the organisation on member-states.

“That is the reform we are taking on effective from October 1st. When I chair the budget and administrative committee, 90 percent of UN resources is spent at the headquarters, while 10 percent goes to member-states,” he said.

“So legitimacy is reduced because member-states are not seeing impacts of the United Nations. We are going to reverse that.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has begun deploying artificial intelligence (AI) to detect discrepancies and administrative errors in election results before their final validation.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this yesterday at the 24th All Nigeria Editors Conference in Enugu, warning that AI-generated disinformation could also threaten public confidence in the 2027 general elections.

Amupitan said the commission had established a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Division within its Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Department and developed an AI Roadmap and Governance Framework based on human oversight, transparency, accountability, data protection and cybersecurity.

“We have commenced deploying intelligent AI tools directly within our results management process. This technology automatically scans and detects discrepancies or administrative errors in result records before final validation,” he said.

The INEC chairman stressed that AI would not replace human officials, saying every automated result check would remain subject to human auditing and legal verification.

“Technology must complement, rather than replace constitutional institutions. AI must strengthen electoral integrity, improve public service, and always remain under human control,” he said.

Amupitan said INEC was also strengthening its defences against AI-generated fake result sheets, cloned voices of electoral officials, fabricated videos and forged official documents.

He disclosed that the commission had engaged senior executives of Microsoft and Google on cybersecurity resilience, cloud infrastructure protection and threat mitigation, while discussions with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems focused on technical capacity building and responsible AI integration.

According to him, synthetic disinformation could cause Nigerians to lose confidence even in genuine election results.

“The primary danger of synthetic disinformation is not merely that it tricks citizens into believing a specific falsehood, but it causes the systemic destruction of public trust,” he said.

Amupitan listed possible threats ahead of the 2027 elections as fake videos of electoral officials announcing results, cloned audio recordings allegedly directing manipulation of voting devices, forged letters announcing election postponements and manipulated result sheets.

He said the challenge would be greater in 2027 because the elections would take place across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

“Osun was a single-state exercise, 2027 will be across 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory,” he said.

Amupitan said the Presidential and National Assembly elections would hold on January 16, 2027, while the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections would take place on February 6.

He urged the media to make verification central to election reporting and resist the pressure to publish unverified claims simply because they were trending online.

“The pressure on modern newsrooms to be first is immense. But in national elections, it is vastly more important to be right than to be first,” he said.

He also urged media organisations to establish fact-checking desks and adopt deepfake detection software, digital verification tools and forensic image analysis ahead of the elections.

The Ogun State Police Command has warned motorists and vehicle dealers against the improper use of dealership number plates, saying proper vehicle identification is critical to preventing crime and tracing stolen vehicles.

The command said the warning was part of Operation Velvet, an initiative of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Olatunji Rilwan Disu, aimed at strengthening vehicle identification, intelligence gathering and public safety.

The Police Public Relations Officer in Ogun State, DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi, said proper registration and the use of valid number plates enable law enforcement agencies to establish vehicle ownership, trace vehicles and identify those reported stolen or linked to criminal activities.

According to him, effective vehicle identification can support efforts to tackle crimes such as car theft, one-chance robbery, abduction and the movement of stolen vehicles.

Babaseyi also clarified the circumstances under which dealership plates may be used, stressing that they were not intended to give motorists unrestricted access to unregistered vehicles.

He explained that a dealership plate was issued under a trade licence and could be used by an authorised motor-vehicle dealer for specific activities connected with the movement and sale of vehicles.

He said such uses included moving a newly arrived vehicle from its point of arrival to the dealer’s premises; testing a vehicle after it had been received, assembled or repaired; and allowing a prospective buyer to inspect or test-drive it.

The plate could also be used when a vehicle was being transferred in the normal course of the dealer’s business or delivered to a purchaser.

Babaseyi stressed that the use of a dealership plate must be by an authorised person, for an authorised purpose and in accordance with the conditions of the trade licence.

He said dealership plates should not be used for routine private activities, carrying passengers or goods for reward, or concealing the identity of a vehicle.

The police spokesperson added that once a vehicle had been registered for ordinary use, it should display its assigned registration number.

He said concealing, altering or improperly using number plates could create opportunities for criminals to evade identification and make stolen vehicles more difficult to trace.

“Identification is intelligence. Intelligence is prevention. Prevention is everybody’s business,” Babaseyi said.

He urged motorists and dealers to ensure that their vehicles were properly registered, appropriate number plates were displayed and all relevant documents remained valid.

The command also called on members of the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities to the police.

“See Something. Say Something,” the command advised, adding: “Vigilance is a virtue. Panic is not.”

The police said Operation Velvet was intended to strengthen the detection and recovery of stolen vehicles, support criminal investigations and improve intelligence gathering as part of efforts to enhance public safety.