
News
Trump criticised after posting AI image dressed as pope
United States President Donald Trump has faced backlash, including from Catholics, after he posted an artificial intelligence-generated photo showing himself as the pope days in advance of a conclave to elect the next pontiff.
Trump, who is not a Catholic and does not attend church regularly, posted the image on his Truth Social platform late on Friday, less than a week after attending the funeral of Pope Francis, who died last month at the age of 88. The White House then reposted it on its official X account.
The image shows an unsmiling Trump seated in an ornate chair, dressed in white papal vestments and headdress, with his right forefinger raised.
It came after Trump joked to reporters this week that he would like to be the next pope, just days before cardinals are due to start the conclave to elect the successor of Pope Francis.
Asked who he would like to succeed Francis, Trump said: “I’d like to be pope, that would be my number one choice.”

Trump went on to say he did not have a preference, but said there was a cardinal in New York who was “very good”.
He appeared to be referring to the archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, a theological conservative and fiercely opposed to abortion.
Dolan said on Sunday that Trump’s AI pope image “wasn’t good” but declined to say whether the White House should apologise to offended Catholics. “I hope he didn’t have anything to do with that,” he said before a Mass at a Rome church.
‘Blatant insult to Catholics’
The irreverent posting, however, drew instant outrage on X, including from Republicans against Trump, a group that describes itself as “pro-democracy conservative Republicans fighting Trump & Trumpism”. The group reposted the image, calling it “a blatant insult to Catholics and a mockery of their faith”.
The New York State Catholic Conference, which says it represents bishops of the state in working with the government, voiced sharp criticism of the picture.
“There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President,” it wrote in a post on X.
“We just buried our beloved Pope Francis and the cardinals are about to enter a solemn conclave to elect a new successor of St. Peter. Do not mock us.”
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni declined to comment on the image during a briefing with journalists about the process of electing a new pope, which begins on May 7.
Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi wrote on X: “This is an image that offends believers, insults institutions and shows that the leader of the global right enjoys being a clown. In the meantime, the American economy risks recession and the dollar loses value.”
Italy’s left-leaning La Repubblica also featured the image on its homepage on Saturday with a commentary accusing Trump of “pathological megalomania”.
When asked to respond to the criticism, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “President Trump flew to Italy to pay his respects for Pope Francis and attend his funeral, and he has been a staunch champion for Catholics and religious liberty.”
Pope Francis had arguably been one of the most powerful moral voices on the world stage critical of Trump.
When Trump first ran for president in 2016, Francis was unsparing on his signature promise to build a border wall to seal off Mexico.
Francis had told reporters: “Anyone, whoever he is, who only wants to build walls and not bridges is not a Christian.”
Cardinals will gather on May 7 in a conclave in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope.
News
BREAKING: Veteran actor, Olu Jacobs is dead
Popular Nollywood actor, Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs, known as Olu Jacobs, has passed on.
The veteran Nigerian actor and film executive died at the age of 84.
His demise was confirmed Tuesday morning by his son, Olusoji Jacobs.
In an announcement he made on Instagram on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, Olusoji urged the public to respect their privacy.
He also expressed gratitude to God for the late actor’s life.

“It is with gratitude to God for a life well lived and fought, that we announce the passing of our dear husband, father, grandfather and uncle. The Lion of Lufodo.
“We call on all bloggers and social media influencers to respect our families privacy at this time,” he said, according to TVC.
In the past, there have been rumours of his death which turned out to the untrue.
News
Police raise alarm over planned attacks on worship centres, schools, NYSC camps
The Nigeria Police Force has placed its formations nationwide on red alert following intelligence reports of planned terrorist attacks on worship centres, schools, NYSC orientation camps and other public places.
The alert followed fresh intelligence indicating increased mobilisation of terrorist elements for possible coordinated attacks on vulnerable targets across the country.
Police authorities also reportedly received intelligence on the movement of armed elements from Katsina through Kaduna towards Plateau State.
The operational order was contained in a police wireless message dated September 13, 2026, with reference number CB: 0900/FDPS/DOPS/FHQ/ABJ/VOL38/68, issued by the Department of Operations at Force Headquarters, Abuja.
Marked “Security General” and tagged “Treat as Very Important,” the message was circulated to Assistant Inspectors-General of Police overseeing Zones 1–17, Mobile Police formations, counter-terrorism and other specialised units, as well as Commissioners of Police in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The police directed formations to intensify vigilance and take proactive measures to prevent criminal and terrorist elements from carrying out attacks.
The warning specifically highlighted places of worship, educational institutions, NYSC orientation camps and other vulnerable public locations as potential targets.
News
Atiku tackles Tinubu over N1,400 fuel price, demands probe of FAAC allocations
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has faulted the administration of President Bola Tinubu over the current pump price of petrol, noting that Nigerians are now paying as much as ₦1,470 per litre even though crude oil, at $102.52 per barrel, sells for far less than the $147 per barrel it fetched in 2008 when petrol sold for ₦65 per litre under the late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku accused the Tinubu administration of presiding over what he described as an organised system of grand larceny against the Nigerian people, built around opaque Federation Account FAAC deductions, questionable management of oil revenues, parallel funding arrangements and allegations of off-book transactions.
“With crude oil around $102.52 per barrel, Nigerians are paying as much as ₦1,470 per litre. In 2008, when crude oil reached about $147 per barrel, petrol sold at ₦65 per litre under the Yar’Adua administration. The difference is that government then understood that economic policy must ultimately protect the welfare of citizens,” he said.
The Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress ADC said it is unconscionable for a government that has extracted unprecedented sacrifice from citizens in the name of subsidy removal to keep raising the cost of survival while refusing to provide a clear, verifiable account of the revenues, savings and deductions accumulated under its watch.
He recalled that Nigerians were told subsidy removal would free resources for education, healthcare, infrastructure and other essential services, yet nearly three and a half years later, fundamental questions remain unanswered about where the money has gone.

“Petrol at ₦1,470 per litre is not merely a figure at the filling station. It enters the price of transportation, food, school runs, farming, manufacturing and virtually everything Nigerians buy. Every increase at the pump travels directly into the household budget.
“After all the pain imposed on Nigerians, they have a right to ask: where are the subsidy savings and where is the money?”, he queried.
Atiku said official FAAC records themselves justify greater scrutiny, pointing out that in June 2025, gross Federation Account revenue was reported at ₦4.232 trillion while only ₦1.818 trillion was eventually distributed, with substantial sums categorised as cost of collection, transfers, interventions, refunds and savings.
He demanded a comprehensive reconciliation of Federation Account revenues from 2023 to date, showing gross collections, every deduction made before distribution, the statutory authority for each deduction, the receiving accounts and the ultimate beneficiaries.
“Nigerians deserve accounts they can interrogate, not accounting labels designed to discourage questions,” he said.
The former Vice President also called for full disclosure around the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, OML 143, oil-production revenues, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company NNPC’s international Liquefied Natural Gas LNG trading operations, offshore corporate structures and allegations involving unofficial crude lifting, maritime surveillance contracts and other possible off-book revenue flows.
“These allegations are too serious to be answered with press statements and political insults. Every barrel can be measured, every cargo identified and every legitimate payment traced. If everything is in order, publish the records and allow independent forensic auditors to reconcile them. If the allegations are false, the records will clear the government,” he said.
Atiku equally rejected attempts to use the current international crisis as a blanket excuse for rising domestic fuel prices, drawing attention to the widening gap between what Nigerians earn and what they now pay at the pump compared to other climes.
“At about $4.31 per gallon, U.S. petrol is roughly $1.14 per litre. Yet while the U.S. federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, Nigeria’s minimum wage is only ₦70,000 per month.
“Tinubu has brought Nigerians close to American fuel prices while leaving them with Nigerian poverty wages. That is the true cost of his subsidy-removal policy”, he said.
He insisted that the administration can no longer demand endless sacrifice from citizens while treating public accountability as optional.
“After all the oil, all the revenue, all the deductions and all the hardship, petrol is now ₦1,470 per litre. The question Tinubu must answer is simple: where are the savings, where are the revenues, and who is taking Nigeria’s money?”
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