This study assesses the Cybercrime Act 2015 and its implications for online press freedom in the liberal authoritarian state of Nigeria. Specifically, the study examines how the character of political leadership in Nigeria leads to wrongful application of the act to undermine the independence of the press. The study shows that Nigeria's online press freedom index has consistently worsened since the introduction of the Cybercrime Act in 2015, and it recommends the promotion of a holistic democratic project that recognises economic and political freedom as being inextricably linked.

SUMMARY This briefing examines rentierism and security privatisation in the Nigerian petroleum industry. It demonstrates how the awarding of oil pipeline surveillance and protection contracts, with little attention to organisational capacity of applicant companies, resulted in widespread discontent among militias and groups not recognised or rewarded by a contract. These groups then intensified attacks on oil infrastructures in the post-amnesty era. The authors' findings endorse the government's 2015 decision to terminate the contracts, while they recommend transparent and democratic management of oil wealth as a long-term solution to human insecurity in the Niger Delta.

SUMMARY This Briefing argues that Nigeria’s hegemony over energy trade in the Gulf of Guinea maritime domain makes other states’ political commitment to regional trans-border frameworks difficult. It finds that the contradictions of rentier oil governance in Nigeria have implications for the rise in maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea.

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The article argues that cronyism in the funding of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) explains the dismal record of the recent power sector reforms in Nigeria. It implies that the reforms were packaged by the then PDP-led government to benefit their major campaign financiers with contracts; thus, within this period the party financiers were able to assume a commanding position in the sector. The article further contends that the funding regime in the party reinforces corruption as financiers leveraged on their contributions to the party to ensure that the reform processes and outcomes reflected their economic interests. The case exemplifies the crony relationship between the business and the political class (that ought to act as the regulatory body), which is skewed towards primitive accumulation.