News

2027: INEC publishes final names of governorship candidates across states [FULL LIST]

Published

3 weeks ago

October 11, 2026

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has published the final list of all governorship candidates across the federation.

INEC unveiled the list on Saturday ahead of next year’s general elections.

Below is the final list based on the various states participating in the 2027 polls:

ABIA
AAC – Umezurike Doris Uzumma – 39 Yrs
ADC – Kalu Kalu Agu – 53 Yrs
ADP – Ikechukwu George Nwachukwu – 43 Yrs
APC – Opah Eric Chinemeucheya – 55 Yrs
APGA – Ijioma Uchechukwu Charles – 52 Yrs
APM – Umunnah Victor Jireh – 51 Yrs
APP – Ijioma Nwokoro Ijioma – 63 Yrs
LP – Otti Alex Chioma – 61 Yrs
NDC – Ogah Iroetugo Ndubuisi – 53 Yrs
NDP – Leo Onyekwere – 61 Yrs
NNPP – Anthony Kelechi Apugo – 56 Yrs
NRM – Jerry Jerry – 61 Yrs
PDP – Anosike Kelechi – 52 Yrs
SDP – Obasi Uba Ekeagbara – 55 Yrs
ZLP – Onukwue Prince Chibunna – 50 Yrs

ADAMAWA
A – Cholli Yahaya – 43 Yrs
AA – Dawa Philip B – 44 Yrs
AAC – Hussaini Sulaiman Tahir – 71 Yrs
ADC – Modibbo Hammantukur Ribadu – 59 Yrs
ADP – Umaru Babangida Bajabure – 46 Yrs
APC – Aminu Ahmed Galadima – 62 Yrs
APGA – Bashir Suleiman Alhaji – 47 Yrs
APM – Abdulrahman Bashir Haske – 36 Yrs
APP – Aliyu Suleiman – 53 Yrs
DLA – Tame Vadlya Tizhe – 50 Yrs
LP – Ishaku Elisha Cliff – 46 Yrs
NDC – Dahiru Aishatu Ahmed – 55 Yrs
NNPP – Bundi Ahmadu Pius – 39 Yrs
NRM – Samuel Faith Monday – 41 Yrs
PDP – Vunobolki Maurice Michael – 54 Yrs
SDP – Nathaniel Christopher Osim – 64 Yrs
YPP – Theman Wafarninyi – 55 Yrs
ZLP – Alahirah Maimako – 68 Yrs

AKWA IBOM
A – Akpan Ignatius Cyril – 43 Yrs
AA – Otong Edidiong Effiong – 46 Yrs
AAC – Udoh Stephen Mfon – 46 Yrs
ADC – John James Akpanudoedehe – 62 Yrs
ADP – Archibong Inimbom Nsikak – 39 Yrs
APC – Eno Umo Bassey – 62 Yrs
APGA – Jimmy Stella Monday – 41 Yrs
APM – Udokpan Nsidibe Sampson – 61 Yrs
APP – Umoh Emem – 36 Yrs
BP – Ekpenyong Akaninyene Efiong – 52 Yrs
DLA – Akpan Jeremiah Udoh – 48 Yrs
LP – Mbaba Michael Bush – 55 Yrs
NDC – Enyong Michael Okon – 57 Yrs
NDP – Akpan Michael Udo – 58 Yrs
NNPP – Inemesit Edem Akpan – 50 Yrs
NRM – Ekong Mfon Udo – 52 Yrs
PDP – Brownson Ibanga Akpan – 48 Yrs
PRP – George Mfonobong Edet – 45 Yrs
SDP – Effiong Asuomo Rosemary – 49 Yrs
ZLP – Umo Blessing Okon – 48 Yrs

BAUCHI
AAC – Adamu Abdullahi – 61 Yrs
ADC – Halliru Dauda Jika – 50 Yrs
ADP – Shehu Jinda Yunusa – 41 Yrs
APC – Abubakar Mohammed Abdullahi – 69 Yrs
APGA – Naziru Usman – 42 Yrs
APM – Adamu Yakubu – 46 Yrs
APP – Abdulhamid Kabiru Shuwa – 54 Yrs
LP – Aliyu Idris Muhammad – 36 Yrs
NDC – Kashim Ibrahim Muhammad – 65 Yrs
NDP – Haruna Muhammad Ningi – 53 Yrs
NRM – Zaharaddin Muhammad Muhammad – 37 Yrs
PDP – Adamu Usman Ahmed – 48 Yrs
PRP – Umar Shehu Buba – 50 Yrs
YPP – Aliyu Umar A.g – 37 Yrs
ZLP – Babageidam Lami – 56 Yrs

BENUE
ADC – Hembe Iorwase Herman – 51 Yrs
ADP – Nyibiam Kwaghshir – 44 Yrs
APC – Alia Hyacinth Iormem – 60 Yrs
APM – Adagba D. Iorhen – 37 Yrs
APP – Ujah Mercy Engole – 43 Yrs
DLA – Ochenehi Dominic – 44 Yrs
LP – Byuan Mathias Terwase – 51 Yrs
NDC – Shija Terhemba – 65 Yrs
NRM – Wombo Terese Paul – 35 Yrs
PDP – Aondoakaa Michael Kaase – 64 Yrs
PRP – Chenge Roseline Ada – 55 Yrs
ZLP – Ogbe Simon Ocheme – 35 Yrs

BORNO
AA – Goni Bulama – 37 Yrs
ADC – Babagana Buhari – 58 Yrs
ADP – Monguno Rufai Alhaji – 56 Yrs
APC – Gubio Alhaji Mustapha – 52 Yrs
APM – Ahmad Tijjani Isah – 46 Yrs
APP – Garga Bukar – 46 Yrs
LP – Konto Umar – 56 Yrs
NDC – Ibrahim Sanusi Kashim – 50 Yrs
NNPP – Muhammad Bukar – 58 Yrs
NRM – Mustapha Umar Mustapha – 39 Yrs
PDP – Abba-Gana Ibrahim Baba – 53 Yrs
SDP – Abba Alhaji Modu – 48 Yrs
ZLP – Abdulhakeem Muhammad – 39 Yrs

CROSS RIVER
AA – Ali Patrick – 58 Yrs
ADP – Joelyne Ita Hogan-Bassey – 39 Yrs
APC – Otu Bassey Edet – 66 Yrs
APM – Esege Ntami Nkanu – 46 Yrs
APP – Nya Basil Bassey – 35 Yrs
LP – Obu Ogar Osim – 49 Yrs
NRM – Chigbe Chioma Vivian – 46 Yrs
PDP – Archibong Arthur Javis – 64 Yrs

EBONYI
ADC – Ukpai Mba Udeh – 44 Yrs
ADP – Okorie Ogochukwu – 39 Yrs
APC – Nwifuru Ogbonna Francis – 51 Yrs
APGA – Nwodom Lucy Chinwe – 44 Yrs
APP – Nwankwo Martha Ebere – 54 Yrs
DLA – Ubasinachi Destiny Chimeremeze – 41 Yrs
LP – Eze Oko Splendour – 46 Yrs
NDC – Igwe Nwagu Paulinus – 67 Yrs
NNPP – Ojeogu Ifeanyi Stephen – 47 Yrs
PDP – Chukwuma Odii Ifeanyi – 51 Yrs
SDP – Agbo Kingsley Obinna – 49 Yrs
ZLP – Nwinyinya Juliet – 50 Yrs

ENUGU
A – Alor Edwin Ikechukwu – 62 Yrs
ADC – Ocho Obodoeze Chukwuma – 53 Yrs
ADP – Ayogu Sam Ayogu – 62 Yrs
APC – Mbah Peter Ndubuisi – 54 Yrs
APM – Ikeh Ken – 54 Yrs
APP – Ani Afamefuna Samuel – 49 Yrs
BP – Nnamani Obioma Nnaemeka – 43 Yrs
DLA – Ugwu Nnamdi – 52 Yrs
LP – Ugwu Okwudilichukwu Chukwudera – 59 Yrs
NDC – Ohaa Chinyeaka Christian – 65 Yrs
NNPP – J. Nnaji – 58 Yrs
NRM – Okonkwo Christopher Ndubuisi – 61 Yrs
PDP – Nnaji Uchechukwu Geoffrey – 63 Yrs
SDP – Iloka Friday – 44 Yrs
YPP – Udeani Anthony Ifeanyi – 52 Yrs
ZLP – Ugwoke Elvis Chinazam – 40 Yrs

GOMBE
A – Madaki Auwal Haruna – 46 Yrs
AAC – Benson Bobo Bagwiba – 38 Yrs
ADC – Bala Bello – 58 Yrs
ADP – Adeh Nuhu Milah – 72 Yrs
APC – Gwamna Jamil Isyaku – 60 Yrs
APM – Lemela Lenos Silas – 67 Yrs
APP – Yahaya Bappaji – 53 Yrs
DLA – Sani Muhammad – 51 Yrs
LP – Muazu Zubairu Halilu – 66 Yrs
NDC – Ardo Babayo Kumo – 62 Yrs
NDP – Aliyu Adamu Danmacca – 38 Yrs
NNPP – Abdullahi Maikano Umar – 48 Yrs
NRM – Yahya Bashir – 46 Yrs
PRP – Ibrahim Abubakar Jalo – 35 Yrs
SDP – Ma’aji Adamu Muhammed – 58 Yrs
ZLP – Gana Aliyu Muhammad – 57 Yrs

JIGAWA
AA – Usman Ismail – 50 Yrs
ADC – Sabo Mohammed Nakudu – 66 Yrs
ADP – Sulaiman Ibrahim – 63 Yrs
APC – Namadi Umar A. – 63 Yrs
APGA – Yero Ahmed – 66 Yrs
APM – Umar Ahmad – 35 Yrs
APP – Musa Mubarak – 44 Yrs
LP – Abdul’aziz Aminu – 51 Yrs
NDC – Dutse Aminu Sani – 58 Yrs
NRM – Aminu Hassan Ibrahim – 58 Yrs
PDP – Sule Mustapha Lamido – 43 Yrs
PRP – Ahmed Adamu Kaugama – 76 Yrs
SDP – Musa Namadori Garba – 60 Yrs

KADUNA
AA – Adamu Alhaji Ahamed – 65 Yrs
ADC – Isa Mohammed Ashiru – 63 Yrs
ADP – Solomon John Yayock – 38 Yrs
APC – Sani Uba – 55 Yrs
APGA – Tukur Rabiu – 39 Yrs
APM – Haruna Yunusa Saeed – 66 Yrs
DLA – Chado Adamu Idrisu – 43 Yrs
LP – Rilwanu Muhammad Lawal – 52 Yrs
NDP – Ali Godday – 39 Yrs
NNPP – Abubakar Abdullahi – 47 Yrs
NRM – Kallah Yahaya Musa – 41 Yrs
PDP – Bawa Shehu Usman – 53 Yrs
PRP – Abdulfattah Muhammad Aminu – 66 Yrs
SDP – Idris Adamu Abubakar – 62 Yrs
YPP – Mohammed Jamila – 44 Yrs
ZLP – Makama Yahaya – 40 Yrs

KANO
A – Gashash Mukhtar – 56 Yrs
AA – Haruna Abdullahi – 52 Yrs
AAC – Sharif Abba – 52 Yrs
ADC – Ibrahim Ali Amin – 62 Yrs
ADP – Muhammad Abdullahi – 48 Yrs
APC – Yusuf Abba Kabir – 63 Yrs
APGA – Tijjani Sukairaju Tijjani – 47 Yrs
APM – Muhammad Bashir Galadanchi – 47 Yrs
APP – Tukur Aliyu Malam – 54 Yrs
BP – Ahmad Furera – 45 Yrs
DLA – Bari Mustapha Bello – 56 Yrs
LP – Santuraki Hamisu – 52 Yrs
NDP – Abdullahi Mustapha – 41 Yrs
PDP – Abacha Muhammed Sani – 59 Yrs
PRP – Koguna Nasiru Hassan – 56 Yrs
SDP – Hussaini Bello Ado – 52 Yrs
ZLP – Nuhu Isa – 60 Yrs

KATSINA
AAC – Kado Mashi Babangida – 56 Yrs
ADC – Ahmad Babba Kaita – 58 Yrs
ADP – Ahmed Murtala – 51 Yrs
APC – Umaru Dikko Radda – 57 Yrs
APM – Abdullahi Nura – 62 Yrs
NDC – Ilu-Barde Aliyu – 44 Yrs
NDP – Ahmad Tijani – 43 Yrs
NRM – Sade Salisu – 60 Yrs
PDP – Garba Yakubu Lado – 64 Yrs
PRP – Kabir Hassan Yar’adua – 46 Yrs
SDP – Dansarai Mni Magajio Aliyu – 67 Yrs

KEBBI
A – Muhammed Sani Abdullahi – 57 Yrs
AA – Garba Illo Kabiru – 43 Yrs
AAC – Nataala Nura – 49 Yrs
ADC – Malami Abubakar – 59 Yrs
ADP – Yahaya Ayuba – 56 Yrs
APC – Idris Nasir – 61 Yrs
APGA – Abubakar Suru Abdullahi – 43 Yrs
APM – Usman Kaoje Aliyu – 51 Yrs
APP – Abdullahi Nasiru Maiyaki Illo – 55 Yrs
BP – Umar Isah – 64 Yrs
LP – Usman Aliyu – 55 Yrs
NDP – Ahmadu Zumaru – 53 Yrs
SDP – Umar Faruk – 56 Yrs
ZLP – Basiru Musa – 57 Yrs

KWARA
AA – Kolo Ezekiel – 45 Yrs
ADC – Zakari Mohammed – 56 Yrs
ADP – Adeshina Ajisafe – 49 Yrs
APC – Yakubu Danladi Salihu – 41 Yrs
APGA – Sule Ajayi – 71 Yrs
APM – Jaiyeola Motunrayo – 46 Yrs
APP – Omotosho Bamidele Olaitan – 57 Yrs
NDC – Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia – 51 Yrs
NDP – Deacon Shola Victor Abioye – 69 Yrs
NNPP – Omokanye David Adetoyese – 52 Yrs
PDP – Kawu Sulaiman Bolakale – 57 Yrs
SDP – Apaokagi Ridwan Salahudeen – 53 Yrs

LAGOS
A – Sowore Otitoloju Robert – 58 Yrs
AA – Salawu Kamarudeen – 47 Yrs
AAC – Sol-Nuyi Oluwadamola Adesoca – 55 Yrs
ADC – Gbadebo Rhodes Vivour – 43 Yrs
ADP – Bolaji Nasir Adewale – 73 Yrs
APC – Hamzat Kadri Obafemi – 62 Yrs
APM – Adeoye Adelaja Azeez – 45 Yrs
APP – Adeyemi Abiola – 49 Yrs
LP – Odunaike Oluwapemilerin Olurotimi – 49 Yrs
NDC – Doherty Olufunso Adeshina – 58 Yrs
NDP – Obadia Akinola – 56 Yrs
NNPP – Onifade Ademoyegun Taiwo – 62 Yrs
NRM – Onigbokun Ademola Joseph – 53 Yrs
PDP – Doherty Adedeji Olugbemiga – 64 Yrs
SDP – Olaniyi Olufemi – 52 Yrs
YPP – Taiwo Temitope Elijah – 46 Yrs
ZLP – Peter Helen Ojotule – 36 Yrs

NASARAWA
ADC – Nuhu Angbazo – 59 Yrs
ADP – Christopher Mamman – 64 Yrs
APC – Aliyu Ahmed Wadada – 61 Yrs
APGA – Ibrahim Kasimu Aboh – 61 Yrs
APM – Onawo Mohammed Ogoshi – 74 Yrs
APP – Dahiru Musa Doma – 59 Yrs
LP – Gaza Jonathan Gbefwi – 51 Yrs
NRM – Khalid Muhammad – 55 Yrs
PDP – Emmanuel David Ombugadu – 48 Yrs
PRP – Abdullahi Omame Abisabo – 35 Yrs
SDP – Mohammed Abubakar Adamu – 65 Yrs
YPP – Kigbu Tanko John – 61 Yrs
ZLP – Giza Abubakar Abdu – 69 Yrs

OGUN
A – Okewole Shuaib Olaniyi – 53 Yrs
AA – Awofala Awolola Awoniyi – 60 Yrs
ADC – Lawal Jimi Adebisi – 66 Yrs
ADP – Anifowose Johncrownfit Kayode – 46 Yrs
APC – Adeola Solomon Olamilekan – 57 Yrs
APM – Babajide Rotimi Mathew – 47 Yrs
APP – Layi Labode Halima – 58 Yrs
BP – Adenuga Adekunle Dreher – 60 Yrs
NDP – Dasaolu Oluwaseyi Olamilekan – 42 Yrs
NNPP – Akinbola Hammed Rotham – 44 Yrs
NRM – Fayoyin Olujobi Ezekiel – 39 Yrs
SDP – Ola Willams Adeyinka Penuel – 35 Yrs
YPP – Johnson Cyrus Oluwaseun – 53 Yrs

OYO
A – Oriyomi Hamzat Abdulrahman – 46 Yrs
AAC – Oladele Saheed – 44 Yrs
ADC – Adegoke Taofeek Adegboyega – 62 Yrs
ADP – Olatunji Kunle James – 58 Yrs
APC – Alli Sharafadeen Abiodun – 63 Yrs
APGA – Salami Gbolagade Tajudeen – 58 Yrs
APM – Adekanmbi Abimbola – 53 Yrs
APP – Tijani Ismaila Akinboye – 64 Yrs
LP – Kareem Thompson Sola – 58 Yrs
NDC – Yusuf Akim Adebola – 57 Yrs
NDP – Taiwo Ibiyemi Otegbeye – 59 Yrs
NRM – Afolabi Taofeek Ademola – 60 Yrs
PDP – Gbolarumi Hazeem Ola – 69 Yrs
PRP – Yinusa Kazeem Ayandoye – 52 Yrs
YPP – Adeyemi Idowu Adedeji – 46 Yrs
ZLP – Azzan Waheed Olanrewaju – 66 Yrs

PLATEAU
A – Umaru Ankara Yakubu – 60 Yrs
AAC – Ayuba Adams Pangk – 47 Yrs
ADC – Sura John Sunday – 61 Yrs
ADP – Dawop Sani Sa’idu – 60 Yrs
APC – Mutfwang Caleb Manasseh – 61 Yrs
APGA – Jiga Isa Jarzuka – 61 Yrs
APM – Danauta Kyarshik Samuel – 50 Yrs
APP – Muhammad Aminu Hadi – 38 Yrs
DLA – Yusuf Sani Umar – 50 Yrs
LP – Nura Tanko – 55 Yrs
NDC – Akuns Jonathan Sunday – 64 Yrs
NDP – Yohanna Wilson Yilpan – 37 Yrs
NRM – Cosmas Jarlath – 53 Yrs
PDP – Ropshik Kefas Wungak – 50 Yrs
SDP – Dafup Simput Eagles – 38 Yrs
YPP – Jonathan Dalong Dogara – 37 Yrs
ZLP – Bingel Hurung Philomina – 46 Yrs

RIVERS
A – Chibuzor Israel Rain – 43 Yrs
AAC – West Ivy – 47 Yrs
ADC – Pidomson Gabriel Baritulem – 56 Yrs
ADP – Lawson Anyanate Angel – 50 Yrs
APC – Chinda Kingsley Ogundu – 60 Yrs
APGA – Idoniboye-Obu Omangima – 52 Yrs
APM – Whyte Churchill Dagogo – 48 Yrs
APP – Atata Okechukwu Kenneth – 56 Yrs
BP – Benjamin Abednego Oli – 44 Yrs
DLA – Warigbani Ezekiel Zebulun – 51 Yrs
LP – Boms Chima Ernest – 59 Yrs
NDC – Lilu-Briggs Dumo Owukori – 62 Yrs
NDP – Opusunju Silva – 68 Yrs
NNPP – Pepple Wari Dienye – 43 Yrs
NRM – Minaibim Harry – 61 Yrs
PDP – Ejekwu Samuel Soni – 60 Yrs
PRP – Kieghe Nature Dumale – 49 Yrs
SDP – Ben-Gurion J. Peter – 61 Yrs
ZLP – Hart Victor Godwin – 47 Yrs

SOKOTO
A – Bello Hassan – 52 Yrs
AAC – Abubakar Bello Dangaskiya – 51 Yrs
ADC – Manir Muhammad Dan’iya – 56 Yrs
ADP – Sarkin Larabawa Nasiru – 52 Yrs
APC – Aliyu Ahmed Sokoto – 56 Yrs
APGA – Ibrahim Mansur Gada – 67 Yrs
APM – Abubakar Haruna – 36 Yrs
APP – Sidi Almustapha Ahmed – 57 Yrs
LP – Haliru Abubakar Dikko – 64 Yrs
NDC – Aliyu Shamsudeen Ahmad – 45 Yrs
NDP – Auwal Umar – 46 Yrs
NNPP – Malami Garba – 59 Yrs
NRM – Aliyu Sulaiman – 58 Yrs
PDP – Abdullahi Sokoto Abubakar – 67 Yrs
PRP – Mohammed Faruku Yabo – 41 Yrs
YPP – Shehu Ibrahim – 35 Yrs
ZLP – Mu’azu Abdullahi – 46 Yrs

TARABA
A – Prof. Jerome Nyameh – 52 Yrs
AAC – Gago Magaji Bulus – 43 Yrs
ADC – Abubakar Umar Tutare – 61 Yrs
ADP – Hamman Abubakar Mustapha – 68 Yrs
APC – Kefas Agbu – 55 Yrs
APGA – Shiddi Danjuma Usman – 58 Yrs
APM – Bawa Ishaka Mohammed – 58 Yrs
APP – Henry Haniel Banti – 42 Yrs
BP – Kabiru Bala – 59 Yrs
DLA – Aboki Boyonga Stephen – 48 Yrs
LP – Nathan Sanda – 38 Yrs
NDC – Yahaya Mohammed Sani – 62 Yrs
NDP – Nuhu Abubakar Atta – 44 Yrs
NNPP – Uba Sani Abdullahi – 57 Yrs
PDP – Bwacha Emmanuel – 63 Yrs
PRP – Josiah Wukari Wasa – 47 Yrs
SDP – Yusuf Ali – 66 Yrs
YPP – Sa’ad Hassan Abubakar – 43 Yrs
ZLP – Bello Adamu – 54 Yrs

YOBE
ADC – Kassim Gaidam – 67 Yrs
ADP – Mohammed Nasiru Saleh – 45 Yrs
APC – Wali Baba Mallam – 67 Yrs
APM – Ibrahim Idrissa Madaki – 44 Yrs
APP – Adamu Umar – 47 Yrs
LP – Kolomi Aji – 62 Yrs
NDC – Ibrahim Mallam Shuaibu – 63 Yrs
NDP – Umar Mohammed – 42 Yrs
NRM – Abbagana Grema Muhammad – 38 Yrs
PDP – Usman Abdullahi – 46 Yrs
SDP – Bature Abba – 57 Yrs
YPP – Dawud Muhammad – 43 Yrs
ZLP – Abubakar Bakura – 43 Yrs

ZAMFARA
AAC – Ahmad Shehu Isah – 60 Yrs
ADC – Shinkafi Bilyaminu Yusuf – 49 Yrs
ADP – Usman Isah – 43 Yrs
APC – Lawal Dauda – 61 Yrs
APGA – Aliyu Bashir – 49 Yrs
APM – Salisu Sulaiman Bungudu – 43 Yrs
APP – Muazu Aminu Ab – 62 Yrs
LP – Yusuf Sani Danmasani – 53 Yrs
NDC – Marafa Kabiru Garba – 66 Yrs
NDP – Idris Musa – 48 Yrs
NNPP – Abubakar Sani – 53 Yrs
NRM – Sabitu Chafe Magaji – 52 Yrs
PDP – Shehu-Gusau Ibrahim – 56 Yrs
PRP – Abdulkarim Abubakar Sadiq – 51 Yrs
SDP – Musa Hamza – 39 Yrs

2027: INEC publishes final names of governorship candidates across states [FULL LIST]

Business

Nigeria, Russia move to replace 59-year-old aviation agreement

Published

2 hours ago

October 31, 2026

PlateauReports

Nigeria and Russia have agreed to replace a 59-year-old aviation agreement, aiming to update air transport relations and create opportunities for stronger connectivity between the two countries.

The agreement to renegotiate the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA), which dates back to 1967, was reached during a meeting between Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, and Russian officials on the sidelines of the Third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow.

Mr Keyamo disclosed the development in a post on his X account on Friday, saying both countries had agreed to complete negotiations within six months and sign a new agreement in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in April 2027.

He said the Nigerian delegation met with Dmitry Stanislavovich Zverev, the State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation.

“We resolved to renegotiate our last Bilateral Air Service Agreement that was made in 1967. We set a timeline of six months to conclude the negotiations and sign a new one in Saint Petersburg in April 2027,” Mr Keyamo said.

He added that both countries had formed negotiating teams to begin work toward an agreement within the agreed period.

The proposed renegotiation is expected to update the framework governing air transport between Nigeria and Russia, reflecting changes in the international aviation industry over the past six decades.

What the agreement means

A Bilateral Air Services Agreement provides the legal framework for scheduled air services between two countries. It generally sets out the conditions under which airlines from both countries can operate international flights, including routes, traffic rights, designated airlines and other operational arrangements.

Nigeria’s Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development says its Air Transport Management Department negotiates and reviews new and existing air services agreements and monitors their implementation.

The ministry also works with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and other aviation agencies to facilitate international air links and regulate airline operations.

The proposed replacement of the Nigeria-Russia agreement could therefore create opportunities for improved air connectivity and cooperation between their aviation sectors.

However, neither Mr Keyamo nor the ministry disclosed proposed flight routes, designated airlines or the frequency of possible operations under the new agreement.

Wider cooperation

Beyond the aviation agreement, Mr Keyamo said the meeting also examined other areas of cooperation between Nigeria and Russia.

He said both sides had resolved to explore additional opportunities in the coming months.

The Nigerian delegation included the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Capt: Chris Najomo, and the Registrar of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Dr Danjuma Adamu Ismaila.

Directors from the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development and the NCAA also participated in the discussions.

ALSO READ: Nigeria sends low-level delegation to Russia-Africa summit

Nigeria and Russia have maintained diplomatic relations since shortly after Nigeria gained independence in 1960. Their relationship has included cooperation in areas such as defence, trade, science and technology.

According to the Nigerian Embassy in Russia, the Soviet Union provided political and military assistance to Nigeria during the 1967–1970 Civil War. Cooperation between the two countries has also extended to space technology, including the launch of Nigeria’s satellites aboard Russian rockets in 2011.

The planned aviation agreement is expected to form part of broader efforts to deepen bilateral relations and identify further areas of cooperation.

Both countries are expected to begin negotiations through their respective teams, aiming to conclude the process and sign the new agreement in Saint Petersburg in April 2027.

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News

Pile-ins, payouts, and pacing pressure: the investors behind the VCs open up

Published

2 hours ago

October 31, 2026

PlateauReports

The limited partners who provide the capital to venture firms — the “money behind the money” — are feeling great right now. They’re in uncharted territory in many ways, but also potentially exceedingly lucrative territory.

Normally, LPs typically spread their bets across many firms to diversify their own portfolios. They write checks to emerging managers and established ones, to generalist firms and specialists. The goal is a strong return, but also to minimize risk.

That’s the typical playbook. But typical is out the window. OpenAI and Anthropic’s valuations have shot up so quickly that nearly everyone has piled into the same two companies on the way up, often inside the same venture firm, despite the longstanding venture convention of avoiding investments that conflict with one another. No one is complaining, either. The LPs I speak with seem unbothered by this big gamble, given the potential returns; they’re expecting a bonanza.

But they do see danger ahead, even if they describe this as a “yellow light” situation, and they’re uneasy about how quickly VCs are coming back to raise new funds.

I talked about all of it recently with Beezer Clarkson of LGT Capital Partners, a Zurich-based diversified asset manager, and Amit Bhatti of TrueBridge, a Chapel Hill firm that focuses solely on venture. This conversation has been edited for length.

These are strange days — exciting but also scary. How are you feeling about your roles right now, and your place in this startup ecosystem?

Beezer Clarkson: It’s very busy, but I wouldn’t say it’s scary. There’s a lot of change and a lot of variables at play. I love venture, so I find the chaos fun. I’ve been doing this for a couple of decades, so seeing the cycles makes it less scary. You appreciate that these things happen, and that we should enjoy the upside, because sometimes there’s downside, and the up is a lot more fun than the down.

Amit Bhatti: If anything, it’s exciting. Venture is sometimes looked at as a niche, and now that AI is all-consuming, all the attention is on venture. This feels like our moment more than it is like, “Oh gosh, what’s going to happen?” The pace of investing and the valuations may be different, but really meaningful stuff is happening, and all the attention is focused on this corner of private equity.

Your funds all hold the same brands now, OpenAI and Anthropic, multiplied across however many funds you back, and your job is to keep your institutions diversified. How do you think about that? Obviously it’s great right now, but if things turned, it would be less great.

Amit Bhatti: Venture has always been a power law business, so I actually view the concentration as a good thing. If we were getting to the maturity of one of our funds and there were still lots of tiny positions, something’s gone wrong. Our funds that are 10-plus years old are starting to consolidate into a few names. There’s a lot of Databricks, a lot of SpaceX, a lot of Stripe. In this generation of funds, I would hope there’s a lot of Anthropic and a lot of OpenAI. That’s a feature, not a bug. Not every one of these companies is going to work out, but that consolidation is typical. What’s different is how quickly it’s happened. I don’t view it as an immediate panic signal.

Beezer Clarkson: At the early stage, you still see quite a diversity of opportunity sets, and the dollars are smaller. It aggregates up into the same companies, but early-stage funds obviously aren’t doing the big late-stage stuff, so you have more diversity there, if that’s what you’re looking for.

Funds that invested on four-year cycles have shrunk that to three, then two, then 18 months. Is the pacing okay, or is it concerning?

Beezer Clarkson: We’re seeing funds come back on one-year pacing, which is fast. The norm was probably two to two and a half years. Some funds are deploying much faster because they’re taking concentrated, big-check positions. That could be a worrisome sign. It could work out, we don’t know, but it’s typically harder to do a one-year vintage and get it right.

Amit Bhatti: Similar for us. I would have said 24 to 36 months was roughly normal. Now 12 to 18 is not crazy for some of the funds going really quickly. A lot of funds are bumping up their fund sizes mid-cycle, which is definitely unusual. That’s partly because rounds have gotten so large. If Anthropic is raising a giant quantum of capital and you put 20% of the fund into it, you’re obviously going to be ahead of pace. Seed round sizes have gone up almost 2x, too, so if you want to lead, you’re writing 2x the check. It’s definitely a yellow light. It gives us a little bit of heartburn.

But when we look at what these managers actually bought, the numbers are different. The last time we had accelerated pacing, there was a lot of investing in zero-revenue crypto moonshots. Now we’re seeing a lot of companies go from zero to $100 million in revenue, which was totally unheard of before.

If you’ve got a great manager who comes back every year but the returns are still on paper, can you say “call me next time,” or do you lose your seat at the table?

Beezer Clarkson: It’s very hard to leave a manager and then come back. It happens, but it’s more typical to downsize your check. In 2021, a lot of LPs said, “If I was going to give you $10 million, I’ll do $5 million, because $10 million was for two years.” In our portfolios, the pacing gets pulled through, so we think about our pacing as well as yours.

Amit Bhatti: Same here. We’re building out a calendar of when we expect to make commitments, so if someone goes way off that map, we need to make sure the capital is there. You see people downsize or communicate it up front. It’s hard to say you’re sitting it out altogether, because then you’re not reliable capital. That’s also why you’re seeing upsizes; managers don’t want to come back and say they’re raising a whole new fund, so they bump up the old one.

Beezer Clarkson: People also rotate out of venture sometimes because capital calls keep running with no distributions coming back, and they still have to meet operating commitments, whether it’s the endowment, the hospital, or the foundation. That puts a lot of strain on those situations.

LPs like time diversification, yet a lot of funds were raised in recent years, including that backed startups at high valuations during the pandemic. How are those funds doing, and how would you describe 2026 so far?

Beezer Clarkson: The 2021 vintages are still early, five years in, but they argue against doing one-year funds. Some will catch a piece of an AI company and look excellent, but your odds of getting it right in one year are just tougher, and the valuations were extreme.

Amit Bhatti: If I look at the last 15 years of our portfolio, I wouldn’t bet on the COVID vintage being the best one. But a couple of breakouts will come from it. OpenAI was around in that era, and Cursor started pretty far back, so they’re in some of those funds. And liquidity has started flowing. The past two years were definitely slower, but SpaceX is the headline, Cerebras was a big exit this year, there have been a couple of other IPOs, and a lot of M&A. We’re seeing $10 billion-plus M&A exits, a $60 billion one [with Cursor]. Liquidity is going beyond just IPOs.

How are your venture fund managers thinking about secondaries? If I were a VC, I’d have been tempted to take money off the table in OpenAI or Anthropic.

Beezer Clarkson: Secondaries have become much more sophisticated in venture over the last, call it, five years. It’s localized in the top handful of companies, but it’s much more prevalent than before, which I think is good, because the ecosystem needs liquidity options. Venture is predicated on that, and if you wait 20 years for an IPO, that is not what structurally we all thought it could be. They’re also happening at multiple levels now. LPs sell stakes of their GPs, a strip of their portfolio, and the taboo around it is less.

Amit Bhatti: It’s the third leg of liquidity now: IPOs, M&A, secondaries. Private equity has always had a well-developed secondaries market, and venture didn’t. It was kind of a dirty word. You were only selling if you were distressed. Then people were holding the bag in 2021 and thought, “I should have sold.” Now more managers use it as a tool, and more judiciously. If you still believe it’s the power law company, you’re probably not exiting the whole position. But if you can sell 20% of your position and return your fund, you should probably do it.

There’s a lot of founder selling and employee tenders — often very early into the company’s “journey.” How do you feel about that?

Amit Bhatti: We were talking before about the analogy to crypto, where things got very difficult in part because employees were paid in tokens that were liquid immediately. What’s your motivation to stick around when things get hard? So I think it’s great that there are employee tenders, especially for companies that have been around a long time, like Stripe and Databricks, with a very clear financial picture. For them to offer partial liquidity to employees is totally reasonable. But a lot of the enforcement falls on the lead investors. Investors we back have told companies, “We don’t want you to do an employee tender right now.” Those conversations are happening behind the scenes, and people have learned some lessons from last time. It’s all based on leverage, though. If the founder has incredible leverage . . .

Forget it.

Amit Bhatti: Yeah.

When these companies go public and employees get liquid, will they become partners or competitors to your venture managers? These employees have amazing networks.

Beezer Clarkson: We’ve seen it multiple times: when a company becomes very productive, employees can become LPs or GPs themselves. It’s entirely possible there’ll be a whole new raft of emerging managers backed by people coming out of OpenAI and Anthropic. It happened in the Google days. But being an LP means signing up for many millions of dollars and a multi-decade business.

Amit Bhatti: The real estate part [given the soaring cost of home prices in San Francisco] is going to be tough. But those people stay in the ecosystem, investing in others, building new companies, starting new firms. That’s why no other place is taking SF’s place anytime soon.

Housing costs here in San Francisco have shot up so fast. Do we price out the next generation of founders, and does the next hub end up in New York or somewhere else?

Beezer Clarkson: History would argue that the density effect in the Bay Area is a great pull. Maybe it moves out of San Francisco and back into the suburbs. Back in the day, YC was in Mountain View. New York obviously has its own very deep tech scene, but there’s such a density here that it’s been really hard to push back against.

A handful of venture funds now lock down most of the committed capital from limited partners. Is there a wedge in for emerging managers?

Beezer Clarkson: There are still first-time and emerging managers, funds one through three, being raised this year, last year, the year before. You still need a differentiated point of view, a reason for being. Fundraising has gotten harder, but we see them being funded, and the fund sizes are just smaller. Fifty percent of the money might go to the big funds, but if your average first fund is $25 million to $50 million, there can still be enough of those to add up to $1 billion.

Amit Bhatti: There are people raising $5 million or $10 million right here in SF, maybe formalizing their angel investing. A lot of really well-known funds started with a $5 million fund. It’s much better for an emerging manager to build the track record, prove out the thesis, your access and your judgment with whatever capital you have, and then fund two will be easier to raise. If you try to raise $50 million or $100 million on day one, you’re creating a giant hill to climb.

Beezer Clarkson: If you’ve only angel invested, that’s a different story from spinning out of a platform where you have an installed base of LPs who know you. Those managers typically raise more.

Can you talk about specific kinds of emerging managers you’ve backed, and what made you write the check?

Amit Bhatti: People define “emerging” very differently. We’ve backed founders who are still running their companies and investing on the side. We’ve backed people leaving a bigger firm for something earlier. And we’ve backed extremely young GPs, 22 and 23 years old, who have really close access to the next generation of AI-native founders. They started an accelerator program at MIT, Harvard, and Stanford, and the first couple of batches had Cursor and Mercor in them. They’re young, but they’re around an incredible density of talent. The VC job is sourcing, picking, winning, and they did a pretty decent job of picking when there was no money involved. Success begets success in venture, so we were happy to give them a shot.

Beezer Clarkson: There’s much more flexibility now. I remember a time when an LP wouldn’t fund somebody who had a job and was also investing, and people are open to that now. I’ve been investing in emerging managers, along with established ones, for 14 years, and they run the whole gamut, from an operator-turned-investor raising $10 million, to a spinout raising a few hundred million [dollars]. It’s interesting when they’re still operating, because it gives them insights. The trick is whether they’re doing what they need to do to win the right to be on the best cap tables.

Amit Bhatti: Especially early stage, there’s no one-size-fits-all. You can be part-time, you can be diversified, you can be concentrated. There are more outs in the deck, if you will, for returning something that’s small and experimental.

What’s the smallest check you’ll write to a fund, and how much of a fund will you take?

Beezer Clarkson: Given our program, it’s hard to do less than $5 million. I’ve generally taken the view that if you’re [representing] too much of a fund, there are challenges for the GP going forward, so I’d want to be no more than 20%. There are situations where I’d consider more.

Amit Bhatti: Three to five million for us, and on occasion smaller in very specific scenarios. We don’t really care about concentration if it’s the right scenario. We’ll do half or all of it. But Beezer’s right that it’s not ideal for the GP, and we tell them up front to diversify their LP base. We’ve done a fund where we were half the capital, and the next fund we were closer to 20%, because they did well.

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