By Our Correspondent

Mr Milton Dick, Speaker of Australia’s House of Representatives, has been elected as the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly for the 2026–2029 term.

Mr Dick was in Abuja last week to consult with the Nigerian parliament and sought their support. The Chairman of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and an Executive Member of the IPU, Godswill Akpabio had assured him of the support of Nigeria and to mobilize the support of the Africa Group of the IPU to support him.

Announcing the results in Arusha on Friday, the outgoing IPU leader, Dr. Tulia Ackson, said Milton Dick secured 56 percent of the total votes. His fellow candidates, Ms Sahiba Gafarova (Speaker of the Milli Majlis, Azerbaijan) and Mr Rojo Edwards Silva (Senator, Chile), received 38 percent and 6 percent of the votes respectively.

Dr Tulia stated that Gafarova got 124 votes while Mr Milton Dick collected 182 votes and Mr Edward Silver received 21 votes.

“So dear colleagues, let me now announce the winner please. Allow me to announce the winner please. The winner of the election of a President for the term 2026 to 2029 is Mr. Milton Dick, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Australia,” she announced.

Prior to his election, Milton Dick said there was the need for inclusive leadership that takes account of countries and parliaments that may have limited influence in international discussions.

By George Mgbeleke
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has described the Tinubu administration’s proposed petrol price intervention as a loan to the Nigerian people, calling it a cynical and deceitful arrangement that insults common sense, even as an electoral gimmick.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said the proposal operates on the principle of deferred payment, with Nigerians eventually paying the costs suppliers agree to absorb today.

“This is not subsidy. Calling it subsidy would be dignifying it. It is another announcement this government has made without thinking through what it means for the Nigerian people.

“The principle is straightforward: what suppliers forgo today, Nigerians will pay later. The government wants to announce a discount, collect the applause and leave the Nigerian people to settle the bill.

“Even as an electoral gimmick, it insults common sense. Nigerians know the difference between a discount and a debt. A payment postponed is still a payment owed.”

The party added that the separate 30-day waiver of NNPC’s retail profit margin offered no lasting answer to the cost-of-living crisis.

“Food bills and transport fares will not disappear after 30 days. Nigerians need lasting relief.

“President Tinubu wants gratitude now and repayment later. He cannot claim to have lifted a burden while making arrangements to put it back after 30 days.”

By our correspondent

Disturbed by the persistent high cost living in the country,the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has given the federal government a two-week ultimatum, beginning from Friday, the 9th of October, 2026 to address hardship it said its policy has slammed on Nigerians.

NLC’s communique from its Joint Meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) and Central Working Committee (CWC) held in Abuja, said, if at the end of the two-week ultimatum, government fails to tackle the issues brought before it, the congress would have no option than to mobilise for action that would paralyse the activities of the country.

The communique signed by the NLC president, Joe Ajaero called on government to: “Take measures to reduce the price of petrol across the nation to what it was at the signing of the current national minimum wage in 2024 to cushion the impact of the energy crisis on workers and masses as being done by other nations of the world;

“Commence the process of renegotiating a new national minimum wage;

“Implement the dictates of the Terms of Settlement reached with Joint Health Sector Unions and Assembly of Healthcare Professionals (JOHESU) on the 5th day of February, 2026, and other new demands that have arisen since then.

“Implement the demands of the Joint Public Sector Negotiating Council (JPSNC)”

It said: “Failure of which the NLC will be compelled to take remedial steps as would be directed by the relevant Organs”.

The communique reaffirmed the historical responsibility of the NLC to resist all forms of exploitation and oppression, calling on all affiliates, and progressive allies to remain on high alert and fully prepared to engage in decisive efforts against all anti-people policies.

It reiterated that the Nigerian working people must remain resolute, organised, and uncompromising in the collective struggle for a fair and equitable Nigeria.

Part of the communique reads: “The National Executive Council (NEC) and the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) convened a joint meeting at the Olayitan Oyerinde Hall, Labour House, Abuja, to deliberate on the state of the nation, the existential threats facing Nigerian workers and the downtrodden masses, and the urgent tasks confronting the trade union movement in Nigeria.

“Having extensively discussed the grave economic, political, and crises of survival ravaging workers and the nation at large, NEC-in-session, in conjunction with the CWC, resolves as follows:

“The joint meeting-in-session notes with profound alarm the deepening misery inflicted on the Nigerian working class and the broader masses by the neo-liberal policies of the federal government and its state institutions. Inflation continues to soar unabated, the naira remains traumatised, wages have been rendered worthless, and the cost of living has become unbearable. The ruling elite, acting as enforcers of global monopoly capital, have demonstrated a worrying indifference to the suffering of the people, choosing instead to transfer the burden of their fiscal negligence onto the already impoverished working masses thus abandoned the people to the dictates of comprador fat cats.

“NEC-in-session declares that no society can sustainably develop under a regime of corporate plunder and neo-liberal enslavement. The Nigerian working people must therefore remain resolute, organised, and uncompromising in the collective struggle for a fair and equitable Nigeria.

“The joint meeting observes with grave concern that the current national minimum wage has been rendered worthless by the relentless depreciation of the naira and the astronomical rise in the cost of living. Nigerian workers can no longer afford the basic necessities of life; food, shelter, healthcare, transportation, and education; on their current wages.

“Consequently, NEC-in-session demands that the federal government commences the renegotiation of the national minimum wage before the end of this month. The Congress demands a living wage that reflects the true cost of living and the dignity of the Nigerian worker. Any further delay by the federal government remains unacceptable.

“The joint meeting reiterates its call on the federal government to work with relevant agencies to immediately reduce the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol. The exorbitant pump price of petrol has had a cascading effect on the cost of transportation, food, and other essential goods, further deepening the hardship of workers and the masses. The government must abandon its insensitive policies that have allowed for indiscriminate hikes in the price of petroleum products which has only served to enrich a handful of oil marketers while pauperising the masses.

“The joint meeting demands that the federal government grant tax relief to workers as agreed and immediately provide Wage Awards to workers to cushion the impact of the rising cost of living. These measures are the bare minimum required to alleviate the suffering of Nigerian workers and restore a measure of dignity to their lives. The government cannot continue to demand sacrifice from workers while not offering any relief to the suffering masses and workers”.

END