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 Oyo State Police Command has arrested a 17-year-old male, Usman Dauda, over the alleged defilement of a three-year-old girl in Saki, Oyo State.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Olayinka Ayanlade, disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday, saying the suspect was arrested following a distress report lodged at the Saki Divisional Police Station on September 17, 2026.

According to Ayanlade, the child reportedly went missing while she was being picked up from school that afternoon. A search was subsequently launched, leading to her recovery by the roadside in a distressed condition.

He said preliminary investigations indicated that the suspect allegedly took the child to his apartment, where the alleged offence occurred.

Ayanlade said detectives later visited and secured the scene, leading to the arrest of the suspect and recovery of physical evidence relevant to the investigation.

He added that the child had been taken to a medical facility in Saki, where she was receiving medical treatment and psychosocial support.

The police spokesperson said the case had been transferred to the Gender Desk of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Iyaganku, Ibadan, for further investigation and possible prosecution.

Ayanlade said the command remained committed to combating child abuse and sexual violence in the state, assuring that the privacy and dignity of the child and her family would be protected in line with child-protection guidelines.
He urged the public to promptly report suspected cases of violence against children and other vulnerable persons to the nearest police station.