India Refineries have abandoned Russian crude for Nigerian crude, while domestic refiner Dangote Refinery relies heavily on West Texas Intermediate crude from the United States of America.

This followed a recent sanction threat by US president Donald Trump on India over continued patronage of Russian crude.

According to Reuters, industry sources said that Indian Oil Corporation recently bought one million barrels of Nigeria’s Agbami crude for September 2025 delivery in a tender awarded to global trader Trafigura.

Also included are one million barrels of Angola Girassol, one million barrels of US Mars, three million barrels of Abu Dhabi Murban, and two million barrels of Nigerian oil, according to Reuters.

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The report noted that the purchase is part of a broader sourcing spree that has seen Indian refiners secure millions of barrels from non-Russian sources post July 2025.

Meanwhile, Indian refiners secured purchases of Nigerian crude grades; the $20bn Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, is relying on around 60 percent on US and other imoorts to feed its processing units.

Data showed that the refinery imported an average of 10 million barrels in July 2025, saying it was increasingly relying on the US for its feedstock despite the naira-for-crude deal with the Federal Government, which kicked off in October last year.

According to Reuters, the Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum have bought a million barrels of non-Russian crude billed for delivery in September and October after the US pressured India to halt purchases from Russia.

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Indian state refiners had been largely absent from the Nigerian crude market spotlight since 2022; they have in the past concentrated on Russian crude amid the Russian-Ukrainian war. However, the Indian refiners paused Russian purchases in late July 2025 after pressure from US President Donald Trump.

On the part of Dangote Refinery, data from commodities analytics firm Kpler showed that in July, US barrels accounted for about 60 percent of Dangote’s 590,000 barrels per day of crude intake, with Nigerian grades making up the remaining 40 percent.

In July, the Dangote refinery’s crude imports surged to a record 590 kbd—driven largely by US barrels overtaking Nigerian supply for the first time—amid ongoing domestic sourcing challenges, Kpler reports.

“While WTI has held a significant share in Dangote’s import slate since March, this is the first time US crude has overtaken Nigerian supply—a shift driven by several factors,” Kpler stated.

The National Identity Management Commission announced that it has successfully upgraded the Diaspora National Identity Number enrolment portal.

The agency disclosed this in a statement by its spokesperson, Kayode Adegoke, on Monday.

According to NIMC, the upgrade would help provide a seamless, robust, more secure, efficient, and effective NIN service delivery to Nigerians in the Diaspora.

“To ensure effective service delivery and smooth management of the National Identification Number (NIN) enrolment in the Diaspora, the National Identity Management Commission has successfully upgraded its diaspora enrolment platform.

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“The upgrade process, which was successfully completed, will, amongst many other benefits, provide a seamless, robust, more secure, efficient, and effective NIN service delivery to Nigerians in the Diaspora.

“Consequently, NIMC Diaspora Front-End Partners (FEPs) have been onboarded on the upgraded system with intensive training to equip the FEPs with the prerequisite knowledge on the application and effective management of the new system.

“While all the Diaspora FEPs are required to obtain and activate their NIN enrolment licences on the upgraded platform within the next forty-eight hours (48 hours), diaspora applicants can access enrolment services from the compliant FEPs.

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“The Commission apologises for any inconvenience the platform upgrade process might have caused and has set up a dedicated service team to resolve all issues related to diaspora enrolment. Diaspora applicants experiencing issues with NIN enrolment should please reach the Commission.”

This comes as NIMC also reiterated that NIN enrolment is ongoing across all the centres in Nigeria.

“Applicants can locate the nearest enrolment centres on the NIMC website—www.nimc.gov.ng—and proceed for enrolment,” the statement partly reads.

NIMC added, “NIN Holders are equally enjoined to download the NIMC NINAuth App on either the iOS or Google Play Store to instantly verify their NINs, approve who sees their information, take total control of their data, and enjoy seamless verification and authentication services.”

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has named Ms. Rinsola Abiola as the new Director-General of the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre (CLTC).

Abiola, a specialist in strategic communications and government relations, once served as Senior Special Assistant to the President.

In a related move, the President appointed Nasir Bala Aminu Ja’oji as Senior Special Assistant on Citizenship and Leadership.

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Ja’oji, a former Special Adviser on Mobilisation to the Kano State governor, is also a member of the Governing Council of the Coordinated Arewa Youth Groups.

He is widely recognised for his campaigns on women’s and youth empowerment.

The appointments were made public on Monday by Bayo Onanuga, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy.