Today’s Headlines:Vote Tinubu Or lose Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway-Umahi, US hails progress in Venezuela transition talks

Minister of Works, David Umahi, says the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway may not be completed if President Bola Tinubu fails to secure a second term in 2027.

Umahi disclosed this on Friday while speaking in an exclusive interview on Arise Television.

According to him, the 750-kilometre road is a personal initiative of President Tinubu and needs continuity to be fully delivered, saying that only Tinubu’s return can guarantee the completion of the project and other legacy roads across the country.

The former Ebonyi State governor also dismissed reports that the coastal highway had been abandoned for the East-West Road.

The United States on Thursday praised the conclusion of the latest round of talks towards a democratic transition between Venezuela’s interim government and opposition representatives.

The US-sponsored talks on transitioning from the hardline socialist rule of ousted ex-president Nicolas Maduro began in August.

Washington is under pressure to organise democratic elections following its January ouster of Maduro.

It nudged interim President Delcy Rodriguez, a former Maduro loyalist who was his vice president, to negotiate with an opposition delegation led by Dinorah Figuera.

Talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States are planned to resume in November in the United Arab Emirates, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

Russia indicated its readiness to resume the talks, which have been at a standstill since the beginning of the year, following a meeting this week in Saint Petersburg between President Vladimir Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

The next round of talks towards ending the Ukraine war, which is grinding through its fifth year, are “planned for the first half of November in Abu Dhabi”, and “will take place in a trilateral format”, Peskov told reporters.

The announcement came amid intensified diplomatic efforts by US President Donald Trump’s administration, with Witkoff first meeting on Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders in Oslo, before meeting with Putin on Wednesday.

The Bauchi State Police Command has arrested two suspected drug dealers and recovered suspected Indian hemp, Colorado, tramadol and other illicit tablets during separate operations in the state.

The suspects were arrested by operatives of the Violent Crimes Response Unit on October 21, 2026, following credible intelligence.

The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Nafiu Habib, disclosed this in a statement made available to PUNCH on Friday, saying the arrests were part of the command’s sustained crackdown on illicit drug trafficking and other criminal activities.

Habib said the first suspect, Dahiru Muhammad, 29, was arrested at Mararaban Liman Katagum at about 5pm on the same day.

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