News
Worldwide Prayers For ‘Critically’ Sick Pope Francis
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Pope Francis spent his tenth day in hospital Sunday as Catholics around the world prayed for his recovery, the day after the Vatican warned the 88-year-old’s condition was “critical”.
The Argentine pontiff, who is being treated for double pneumonia, suffered a prolonged asthma-style attack on Saturday and required blood transfusions for a low platelet count.
On Sunday morning the Holy See said “the night passed peacefully, the pope rested” — indicating no repeat of the crisis the previous day, Vatican sources said.
But Francis, who had part of a lung removed when he was a young man, is still receiving oxygen through a tube in his nostrils in the papal suite at Rome’s Gemelli hospital.
In a message published Sunday but written in the past few days, the Jesuit thanked hospital staff and said he had confidence in his treatment.
“I am confidently continuing my hospitalisation at the Gemelli Hospital, carrying on with the necessary treatment — and rest is also part of the therapy!” he said.
“I ask you to pray for me,” he concluded in the text published in lieu of his weekly Sunday Angelus, which he normally delivers from a window overlooking St Peter’s Square.
People pray at the feet of a statue of John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for pneumonia in Rome on February 23, 2025. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP)
Francis, who has been head of the Catholic Church since 2013, was admitted on February 14 initially with bronchitis, but his condition has deteriorated since then.
In its evening update Saturday, the Vatican warned his “condition continues to be critical, therefore the pope is not out of danger”.
It said Francis was alert and “spent the day in an armchair even if he was suffering more than” the day before.
It said he had a “prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis, which also required the application of high-flow oxygen”.
Daily blood tests also “showed thrombocytopenia, associated with anaemia, which required the administration of blood transfusions”, it added.
Thrombocytopenia is a condition that occurs when the platelet count in the blood is too low, which can cause trouble stopping bleeding.
Blood or platelet transfusions, delivered via an intravenous (IV) line, are given to people who are either bleeding heavily or at very high risk of bleeding, according to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).
“The pope gets worse,” headlined Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper on Sunday, while La Repubblica described it as the “darkest day” at the Vatican.
Well-wishers have been leaving candles outside the Gemelli since Francis was admitted, and a special mass was planned for Sunday evening in Rome.
“I am praying for him, for his health, because he is a special person for all of us,” Italian teacher Ilde Zito told AFP at the hospital.
Prayers and messages of solidarity also came in from among the almost 1.4 billion Catholics across the globe, alongside other Christians and world leaders.
In the cathedral of Buenos Aires, where Francis was once archbishop, TV screens at the entrance showed images of then Jorge Bergoglio’s good works, and the priest held a special mass.
“He is strong, he has always been strong, but there is nature. I know he is very ill and old. I hope he recovers, but it makes me sad,” Hector Armando Diaz, 76, a retired sales clerk, told AFP there.
Across the world in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul, a former bastion of the Islamic State group that Francis visited in 2021, at least a dozen churches also held prayers for him.
“This is the least we can do to express our solidarity, love, and appreciation for this great person,” said university professor Adnan Hadi.
Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, offered her hopes on social media for a speedy recovery for the “great humanist” Francis, the first pope from the Americas.
Francis’s continued hospitalisation has sparked huge concern about his health but also speculation about whether he might step down.
He has always left the door open to following his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first pope since the Middle Ages to resign.
But he has repeatedly said it was not the time.
The pope maintains a punishing work schedule. He carried out a mammoth 12-day tour to the Asia-Pacific in September, but has suffered increasing health issues.
He underwent colon surgery in 2021 and an operation for a hernia two years later. He is overweight and has constant hip and knee pain, which forces him to use a wheelchair.
AFP
President Bola Tinubu has assented to the 2026 Appropriation Bill, which provides for an aggregate expenditure of ₦68.32 trillion.
He also signed the bill extending the implementation period for the 2025 budget from March 31, 2026, to June 30, 2026.
This was announced on Friday in a statement by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
The ₦68.32 trillion budget for this year earmarks ₦4.799 trillion for statutory transfers and ₦15.8 trillion for debt service.
It allocates ₦15.4 trillion to recurrent expenditure and ₦32.2 trillion to the Development Fund for Capital Expenditure.
“With capital expenditure accounting for about 50 per cent, the 2026 budget underscores the administration’s continued commitment to economic stability, national security, infrastructure development, and inclusive growth.
The allocations reflect a strategic balance between statutory obligations, debt servicing, recurrent expenditure, and capital investments critical to driving productivity and improving the quality of life for Nigerians,” the statement read in part.
The President also has assented to the Appropriation (Repeal and Enactment) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which extends the implementation period of the capital component of the 2025 Appropriation Act from March 31, 2026, to June 30, 2026.
The extension, the statement revealed, would ensure the full and effective utilisation of appropriated funds, particularly for critical infrastructure and development projects that are at advanced stages of implementation across the country.
It will enable ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to consolidate ongoing works, enhance project completion rates, and maximise value for public expenditure. With the 2026 Appropriation Act coming into force on April 1, the Federal Government will commence full implementation in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda,” it added.
Additionally, President Tinubu directed MDAs to ensure disciplined, transparent, and efficient utilisation of allocated resources, with a strong emphasis on value for money and timely project delivery.
He commended the National Assembly for its diligence, cooperation, and patriotism in expeditiously considering and passing the budget.
The President reaffirmed the importance of sustained collaboration between the executive and legislative arms of government in advancing national development objectives.
Tinubu also assured Nigerians of his administration’s resolve to deepen fiscal reforms, enhance revenue generation, and prioritise investments that will stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and strengthen social protection mechanisms.
The budget is also expected to be partly financed through external borrowing, following the approval of a foreign loan plan exceeding $21 billion to bridge the fiscal gap.
₦9.85trn Increase
The 2026 budget represents an increase of ₦9.85 trillion over the initial proposal of ₦58.47 trillion that Tinubu submitted to the National Assembly, and ₦13.33 trillion higher than the 2025 budget.
The President had while presenting the 2025 budget proposal before federal lawmakers in December 2025, pegged the capital expenditure at ₦26.08 trillion and the crude oil benchmark at US$64.85 per barrel.
He disclosed that the expected total revenue was ₦34.33 trillion; ₦15.52 trillion for debt servicing.
The proposal was anchored on a crude oil production of 1.84 million barrels per day, and an exchange rate of ₦1,400 to the US Dollar for the 2026 fiscal year.
Amid the growing concerns over insecurity across the country, Tinubu said his administration would “invest in security with clear accountability for outcomes—because security spending must deliver security results”.
“We will take decisive steps to strengthen agricultural markets. Food security is national security.
“The 2026 budget prioritises input financing and mechanisation; irrigation and climate‑resilient agriculture; storage and processing; and agro‑value chains,” he told the National Assembly members.
Nigeria’s budgets in recent years have come under fire with experts critcising the poor implementation and release of funds for the execution of important national projects.
But the Tinubu administration said that the 2026 national budget was well-planned to solidify the gains of its reform agenda.
“Our ‘Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity’ is critical. It is a commitment to double down on what is working, to solidify gains, and to ensure that the shared prosperity we speak of becomes a lived reality for more Nigerians, faster,” Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said in a statement.
Popular sports broadcast journalist with Classic FM 97.3, Temisan Okomi, has died.
A journalist with News Central, Olawale Adigun, confirmed his death in a statement shared on X on Friday.
He wrote on X, “The worst way to go into the weekend is hearing about Temisan Okomi’s passing. I’m so gutted and, at the same time, terrified. This man meant so much to me.”
Recall that news of his death has since stirred reactions on X, with colleagues and fans expressing shock and grief.
The late journalist had worked with Lagos Television, HiTV, and other prominent media organizations in Nigeria.
His last post on X was on April 14, 2026, when he wrote, “The Champions League is hard, man.”
Ibrahim Abdulkarim, a political associate of ex-governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, has claimed that the former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has agreed to deputize the Obi in the 2027 presidential race.
He spoke during an interview on Trust TV, said the Obidients and the Kwankwassiyya Movements are already aligning towards Obi/Kwankwaso ticket.
Asked if Obi and Kwankwaso had struck a deal, Abdulkarim said “yes, I can categorically tell you that they have agreed”.
We all know that. Both the Obidients and the Kwankwassiyya Movements are aware of the agreement”.
Recall that Kwankwaso recently decamped from the New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP to the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
His move stirred suspicion that the two political gladiators may have agreed to run for the 2027 presidency on a single ticket.
Just in: Tinubu assents 2026 Appropriation Bill, 2025 Budget Extension
BREAKING: Popular sports analystt, Okomi is dead
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