Evening recap: Tinubu says reforms put Nigeria on path to $1 trillion economy as police rescue abducted corps members

President Bola Tinubu says Nigeria’s economy is headed toward the $1 trillion mark by 2030, even as Nigerians continue to face hardship and the effects of his administration’s reforms.

Tinubu made the claim at the second Asiwaju Scorecard Series and Policy Roundtable in Abuja. Represented by All Progressives Congress National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda, he said the reforms launched at his May 29, 2023 inauguration had strengthened the foundations for economic stability, growth and prosperity.

The evening’s other major story came from Kogi State, where police described a search-and-rescue operation that secured the release of 15 National Youth Service Corps members and six other abducted people. Commissioner of Police Naziru Kankarofi said military personnel, police, Department of State Services operatives, local vigilantes and hunters took part in the operation after authorities received an alert.

The Indigenous People of Biafra also issued an ultimatum to the Federal Government. The group demanded the immediate listing and hearing of detained leader Nnamdi Kanu’s appeal, threatening a boycott of the 2027 general election across the South-East and other parts of “Biafraland” if its demand is not met.

In a case involving the Nigerian diaspora, a United Kingdom-based Nigerian taxi driver, Kolawole Erunkulu, received a six-year prison sentence after falling asleep at the wheel and fatally hitting a man who had stopped in a lay-by for a break.