<p>There was significant improvement in the security situation in the North East of Nigeria as the military and members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) continued to put pressure on Jamaatu Ahlis-Sunna Liddaawati Wal Jihad (JAS). There were reports of killings, arrests and surrender of JAS members and freeing of captured communities and abducted persons. However, the non-release of over 200 Chibok school girls captured in April 2014, continued attacks by JAS on military and civilian targets and recorded message by suspected JAS leaders indicate that JAS remained alive despite the losses it has suffered.</p><p>Expectations that the Nigerian economy, which has been in decline over the past 6 months, would receive a<br />boost from the 2016 Federal Government budget were not met as President Muhammadu Buhari withheld assent to the 2016 Appropriation Bill passed by the National Assembly. The president objected to the decision of the National Assembly to remove some items and introduce new ones to the proposed budget.</p><p>The disagreement over the budget raised tensions in the polity and caused delays which worsened hardships experienced by the people. The protracted trial of Senator Bukola Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal continued to generate tensions in the polity as concerns were expressed about the implications of the conviction and removal of Saraki. This is because the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) may no longer have the required number of votes to produce Saraki’s replacement. A political crisis may degenerate if the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) produces the senate president with the support of APC senators who align with Saraki. Tensions also rose as civil society groups opposed plans by the National Assembly to amend the Code of Conduct Act.<br />Across the states, rising incidents of kidnapping, armed robbery, killings and theft of cattle and crude oil<br />remain major security challenges. Several persons are reported to have been kidnapped in Kano, Kaduna<br />and Bayelsa states even as politically-motivated and cult-related killings continue to be recorded across the<br />Niger Delta states. New incidents of communal violence were also reported in Rivers and Kaduna states.</p>