₦airaland Forum

The Lagos State Government has announced compensation for victims of the collision between a train and a bus conveying staff of the state.

In a statement on Tuesday, the state promised to provide employment to one employable child of each of the dead victims of the accident and a concessionary scholarship to one of their biological children.

This was after a nine-member committee set up by the state in the aftermath of the accident of March 9 submitted its report.

The statement read, “Findings of the report showed that the accident had six fatalities from a total of 102 passengers involved, with 85 passengers on board the staff bus, while 17 were on the train.

“The committee as part of its recommendations advised: Death benefits from the Group Life Insurance for families of the deceased, provision of employment to one employable child of the deceased and a concessionary scholarship to one of the deceased’s biological children.

“Injured accident victims were also recommended in the report to be paid full insurance claims as compensation while any staff victim with a permanent disability is also to be compensated in line with the Group Life Insurance Policy of the state, among other benefits.

“The committee, which consists permanent secretaries from relevant ministries of the state public service, was set up to identify the families of the deceased and their dependents, as well as the injured officers, and to determine appropriate compensation packages for each affected family and staff of the state government.

“A final decision on the committee’s recommendations will be taken by the state executive council and further directives communicated by the Head of Service, Mr Hakeem Muri-Okunola.”

Meanwhile, a case of manslaughter has been established against the driver of the staff bus involved in the accident, Oluwaseun Osinbajo.

According to the state government, as soon as he’s done recuperating, he will be charged to court.

GeneralPula:
You and who are we? Count me out of una hypocrisy. I hate Hypocrisy..

Did Anambra state government even slashed anything? Out of the 36 states, only Lagos state government did this. Only Lagos state was able to help the commercial workers a little..

Something your state Governor couldn’t do, yet you think you could make sense out of the unfortunate hypocrisy?

The President Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has nominated two persons into the Presidential Transition Council (PTC).

Daily Trust had reported that two slots were reserved for the president-elect in the transition council President Muhammadu Buhari set up before the elections.

On Tuesday, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the PTC, Boss Mustapha, disclosed that Kebbi State Governor, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, and a former Commissioner for Finance in Lagos State, Chief Olawale Edun, had been nominated as members of the council.

Mustapha assured that the transition process was on course and that all efforts were being made to ensure that there would be peaceful transfer of power to the new President.

Speaking at the first interface between the PTC and the media since its inauguration by Buhari, Mustapha said since the inauguration, the council has met four times, adding that the 5th held on Tuesday.

“This process of interface is necessary so as to keep Nigerians abreast of developments, build inclusiveness and lay a solid foundation for peaceful transition of power in our country. The Presidential Transition Council which was inaugurated on 14th February 2023 is made up of 24 members which includes two persons from the President-Elect’s team.”

“After the declaration of, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the President-Elect, the PTC requested him to nominate his representatives on the council as provided in the Executive Order. The President-elect nominated Atiku Bagudu, the Governor of Kebbi State and Chief Olawale Edun,” Mustapha said.

He also said to ensure a smooth transition process and make the work more efficient, the PTC broke into three committees.

According to him, the first is Inauguration Committee which is responsible for organizing the swearing-in and the inaugural parade; working out the details Programmes and other logistics necessary for the successful inauguration ceremonies.

“This committee is headed by the SGF with 15 members and is working through 13 sub-committees facilitate effective planning and execution of the Inauguration activities. These sub-committees are: Media and Publicity; Church Service; Juma’at Service; Protocol and Invitations; Transport and Logistics; The Inauguration Lecture; Ceremonial Parade; Venues and Swearing in; Medical; Inauguration Dinner/Gala Night; Post Inauguration Luncheon; Accommodation and Children’s Day Celebration

“The President-elect has also been requested to nominate 13 persons that will work across the 13 sub-committees. The sub-committees have been working round the clock to ensure that all preparations are in place for a smooth inauguration ceremony.

“The second committee is the Transition Documents Committee which is headed by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. The committee is responsible for compiling all policy, programmes and projects of this administration in the form of a compendium that focuses on this government’s nine priority areas.

“It is also in charge of ensuring the preparation of sectoral briefs and handover notes of the current administration for the in-coming administration. The Committee is working assiduously to finalize the compilation of these documents.

“The third committee is the Facilities, Security and Intelligence Committee. The duty of this committee is to organise necessary facilities, including furnished office and personnel for the President-and Vice-President-Elect and their transition team; Provision of security for the President and Vice-President Elect; Provision of covert and overt security before, during and after the 2023 Presidential Inauguration including venues of events, hotels, airports, entry points, roads and general surveillance of FCT. This committee is headed by the National Security Adviser (NSA),” he said.

Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, has reacted to the removal of Iyorchia Ayu as the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

On Tuesday, the PDP national working committee (NWC) appointed Umar Damagum as the party’s acting national chairman.

The PDP appointed Damagum about 24 hours after a high restrained Ayu from presiding over the party’s affairs.

Speaking at the inauguration of phase one of the Trans-Kalabari road in Degema LGA, Wike said he told Ayu that he would be removed.

“You see how God works? All those people who were plotting evil against us, they are now the ones suffering it,” Wike said.

“So, if you do anything, I’ll pepper you. Do you see how I peppered them now? Are they not the ones suffering it now? Ayu said nobody can suspend him but today he has packed up from the office.

“We have an acting chairman now. I told him: You (Ayu) will go. Whether you like it or not, you will go.”

Wike said it was wrong to assert that only the national executive committee (NEC) of the party has the power to suspend a national chairman.

There have been calls for Ayu’s removal after the presidential primary election of the party in 2022.

In August 2022, TheCable reported that the G5 governors demanded that Ayu should resign as a precondition to back Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP.

The party’s leadership crisis persisted into the general election. On Sunday, the PDP in Benue state suspended Ayu over alleged anti-party activities.

The suspension letter, dated March 24, was signed by 12 executive members of Igyorov ward, Gboko LGA of Benue.

The executive members claimed that Ayu worked against the success of the party in the ward during the elections.

A day later, a high court in Benue granted an interim order restraining him from functioning as the party’s leader.

Dr Paul Enenche, Senior Pastor of Dunamis International Gospel Center has highlighted 15 notable things judges should pay consideration to while delivering judgement on the petitions filled by the aggrieved politicians over the outcome of the just concluded 2023 general elections.

Pastor Enenche disclosed the 15 points while leading his congregation on a prayer for the country on Sunday.

The cleric described the 2023 general elections and the season as awe-inspiring and unbelievable.

According to Enenche, Nigeria may not have had such elections in time past. The cleric noted that over 100 petitions that followed the general elections.

Enenche prayed for “our highly respected and respectable administrators of our justice system, our lordships, who sit in judgment to receive grace and help from God to do the right thing in this season.

“But being overwhelmed with the enormity and sensitivity of the task ahead and the possibility of pressure from different quarters to have their way, what will you do? It may be very challenging at a time like this. But what will you do? What can you do?

See the Pastor’s 15 notable points below:

1. Whatever you can defend at the end of your life before God, the Judge of all judges, the Lord of all lords, do it.

2. Whatever you will be proud of yourself for at the end of the day, do it.

3. Whatever your children and family can be proud of you for at the end of the day, do it.

4. Whatever you want your Nation and generation to remember you for, do it.

5. Whatever will leave you with zero regrets at the end of your life’s journey, do it.

6. Whatever you will do again in 50 years’ time if you were to live your life over, do it.

7. Whatever you will do if neither fear, finance nor favour is a consideration, do it.

8. Whatever will provoke for you the applause of both God and man, do it.

9. Whatever is in the spirit of justice, fairness and good character, do it.

10. Whatever will not hunt your conscience for years to come, do it.

11. Whatever does not constitute the miscarriage of justice and the abortion of truth, do it.

12. Whatever will increase the confidence of the Nation and the world in the impartiality and integrity of the Nigerian judiciary, do it.

13. Whatever will increase the respect, regard, dignity and value of the Nigerian judiciary in the eyes of the nation and the world at large, do it.

14. Whatever does not lead to the vindication of evil and the vilification of good, do it; whatever will not justify evil and crucify good, do it.

15. Whatever will constitute a positive and transformative reference and authority for generations to come, do it.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has raked in over N1.3 billion from the selling of expression of interest and nomination forms to aspirants for Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo states’ governorship elections slated for November.

The APC pegged the forms at N50m and sold them at its national headquarters in Abuja between February 15 and 22, according to a schedule of activities signed by the party’s National Organising Secretary, Suleiman Argungu.

In Kogi, many aspirants across the three senatorial zones sprang up with each of them promising to consolidate on the achievements of Governor Yahaya Bello.

Those eyeing Bello’s seat are Abdukareem Jamiu; Dr Sanusi Ohiare; James Faleke; Ahmed Ododo; Salami Deedat; Shuaibu Audu; Yakubu Oseni; the Accountant General of the state, Momoh Jibril; Yusuf Okala and the Commissioner for Fnance, Ashiru Idris.

Others are Edward Onoja, Stephen Ocheni, Abubakar Achimugu, Idachaba Friday, Salaudeen Abdulkudus, David Jimoh, Senator Smart Adeyemi, Muritala Ajaka and Halima Alfa.

In Bayelsa, our correspondents report that the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, Ogbomade Johnson, Joshua Maciver, Barrister Daumiebi Sunday Festus, Prof (Mrs) Ongobi Maureen and Lyon Pereworimini David are in the race.

Meanwhile, there are concerns for Sylva as some stakeholders say he must resign before the poll.

While the Bayelsa election is slated for November, the pundits say Sylva has enough time to resign before the poll.

In Imo, Governor Hope Uzodimma is seeking re-election on the APC’s platform. Similarly, another aspirant, Juliet Awa Obasi, is contesting against the governor.

Daily Trust reports that the APC has no valid date for its primaries yet.

In the schedule of activities for the elections signed by the National Organising Secretary, Suleiman Argungu, the party had slated April 10, for the primaries.

However, the April 10, date for the primary has been postponed on the grounds that it coincides with Easter Monday, Daily Trust was hinted yesterday.

Sources within the ruling party told our correspondents that the National Working Committee (NWC) would meet and fix a new date for the primaries.

The APC National Publicity Secretary, Barrister Felix Morka, confirmed to one of our correspondents in a telephone chat yesterday that the party was yet to fix a new date for the primaries.

Meanwhile, the APC commenced the screening of aspirants for the three elections during the weekend.

No fewer than 18,000 Nigerians have signed a petition instituted by Change.org, a worldwide petition website with over 400 million users, asking the United States of America to place a visa ban on the Chairman, Lagos State Motor Parks, Mr. Musiliu Adekunle Akinsanya, also known as “Mc Oluomo,” for allegedly inciting violence against the Igbo ethnic group in Lagos during the last concluded elections.

The petition, which is targeted at 25,000 signatures, was set up a week earlier and has accrued a total of 18,093 signatures as of the time of filling in this report.

According to Change.org, “the recently concluded gubernatorial elections in Nigeria had a very powerful, popular and influential politician on video; inciting violence against the Igbo ethnic group in Lagos.

“Musiliu Adekunle Akinsanya also known as ‘Mc Oluomo’ made threats against Igbo voters, and violence was carried out against the Igbos on election day.

“Many Igbos lost their lives, there is also ongoing violence against the Igbos in Lagos, and it looks like the situation will only escalate. We hope we never get to the level Rwanda was in April 1994.

“Akinsanya is believed to be a green card holder in the US and since the US government claims it is against any form of disruption in democratic processes around the world including Africa, then the US government needs to act on Akinsanya’s status in the US, and remove him for his contribution to the recent violence in Lagos.” “We have numerous pieces of evidence to support these claims.”

Giving reasons to justify the petition, a signatory identified as Mr. Femi Onasanya, alleged that “Mc OluOmo has a terrorist organisation in Nigeria, and because of this he sent his children to America for protection while he killed other people’s children.

“Mc OluOmo, is dangerous to the public and the world at large.”

Another signatory identified as Mr. Emanuel Nduaguba, wrote that “this man has committed human rights violations in Nigeria, preaching ethnic hatred toward the Igbos.

“Revoke his visa and do not allow him to enter the US. His efforts in vote rigging, vote dumping, and voter Intimidation have destabilized democracy in Nigeria.”

Another signatory, Faosiyyah Bakare, said: “He is a threat to society. His general has killed and brutally injured people and has been killed and brutally injured by his general because of incitement against an ethnic group in Lagos.”

While Udochukwu Chukwumaobi said that he signed the petition against Oluomo because he incited “ethnic violence and attacks against Igbos in Nigeria and also for intimidation, harassment, attacks, ballot box snatching and rigging in Lagos during elections in Nigeria.”

A Commander of the Islamic State of the West African Province(ISWAP), Abu Muhammed, has executed his immediate deputy, Abu Darda, for enabling military operation into their camp in Mukdolo and Bone villages which led to the killing of 41 fighters including Abu-Zahra Munzir.

This is even as Troops of Joint Task Force Operation Hadin Kai have successfully repelled an ISWAP attack on a military formation in the volatile northeast of Kunnari near Burutai town in Biu Local Government Area, Borno State.

Buratai town is the home base of the former Chief of Army Staff, Retired Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai.

In the repelled attack, about 10 terrorists were eliminated. Sources have said.

The terrorists were said to have stormed the town at about 3 am, Monday, March 27, 2023, and attempted an attack on the military base.

It was gathered that Abu Darda was eliminated by the angry Commander in the presence of other fighters in Kajeri Dogumba village in Mafa Local Government Area of Borno State.

Intelligence sources also told Zagazola Makama, a Counter-Insurgency Expert and Security Analyst in the Lake Chad region that “Abu Muhammed accused Abu Darda of leading the failed attacks of March 19th, in Mafa which resulted in the killing of scores of the terrorists and capturing of two of their gun trucks.

The Commander said they had only three trucks but Darda’s failure led to their capture by the military, noting that he couldn’t watch his back as the military traced his footsteps to attack them in their camp while they were sleeping.

The Commander further said he was particularly pained because the military killed scores of his fighters and burnt his foodstuff and some newly acquired furniture meant for his wedding which was by the corner.

The Commander who is currently converging his fighters at Kajeri Dogumba, Bula Yagana Aliye in Mafa Local Government Area of Borno State, vowed to revenge the killing of his fighters.

Recall that Troops of the Nigerian Army under the auspices of Operation Hadin Kai, stormed the hideout of the ISWAP terrorist group in Dikwa Local Govt of Borno State, killing 41 of the terrorists including a Commander, Abu Zahra.

In another development, Troops of Joint Task Force Operation Hadin Kai successfully repelled the ISWAP attack on a military formation in the volatile northeast of Kunnari near Buratai town in Biu Local Government Area, Borno State.

Sources said, “the terrorists were said to have stormed the town at about 3 am, Monday, March 27, 2023, and attempted an attack on the military base.”

An Intelligence source told Zagazola Makama, that the ISWAP came in trucks and motorcycles, shooting sporadically but a swift response from the troops put them in disarray.

He said the troops later overwhelmed the terrorists in a gunbattle and eliminated eight of them while others fled the scene.

“The gallant troops further chased the terrorists in their escape route and intercepted two other terrorists who were trying to fix their motorcycle after it broke down and gun them down. One soldier was however injured in the course of operation.” Said a reliable Source.

Oyetola said from the snippet available from the judgement, there were solid grounds to seek further redress at the Apex Court.

Former Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, has revealed that he and his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, have grounds to appeal the Appeal Court's decision to the Supreme Court.

In response to the Appeal Court decision, which overturned the tribunal's decision that initially sacked Governor Ademola Adeleke, Oyetola stated that his faith in the judiciary remained unshaken.

Oyetola in a statement issued by his media aide, Ismail Omipidan said from the snippet available from the judgement, there were solid grounds to seek further redress at the Apex Court.

He urged APC members and supporters not to be discouraged by the outcome of Friday's appeal, saying his unwavering faith in God to reclaim his mandate remained unshaken.

The statement partly reads; “We have heard the judgement of the Appeal Court, but we are yet to receive a copy of the judgement.

“However, from the snippets we are getting, we believe we have a potential ground to approach the Supreme Court. Our belief in the judiciary remains unshaken, just as my abiding faith in the God’s promise regarding the reclaim of my mandate remains undoubted.

“I, therefore, appeal to our supporters and party members to remain calm as we take the next step.”

SaharaReporters had earlier reported that reacting to the Appeal Court decision, the state Governor, Ademola Adeleke, described it as “no victor, no vanquished.”

Speaking shortly after the verdict at his Ede country home, the governor stated that Osun belonged to everyone, regardless of political or religious affiliation.

He urged members of the opposition party to work with his administration to move the state forward.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it is currently investigating two ministries where double payments were made for the same contracts.

The EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, said one of the ministries was involved in 20 contract frauds running into N4 billion.

Bawa disclosed this on Thursday at the headquarters of the commission during an exclusive interview with Daily Trust.

However, the chairman, who hosted the management staff of Media Group, publishers of Daily Trust newspapers, Trust TV and Trust Radio, did not mention the ministries involved.

He said, “Currently, we’re investigating two ministries where double payments were made. In one of the ministries, the double payments, cumulatively, were about 20 contracts of over N4bn.

“These were contracts that were done way back 2018, and then some group of people, so bold, came up with the same narration.

“They moved the documents from the file, forged them, and then of course in conspiracy with some civil servants, raised vouchers and pay. How can that happen if we have digitized procurement processes?”

The leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), on Wednesday, directed all workers to picket all the offices of Central Bank of Nigeria nationwide starting from next week over current cash crunch in the country.

NLC President, Joe Ajaero, gave the directive at an ongoing press briefing at Labour House in Abuja.

He said the directive became imperative following the expiration of one week ultimatum given to the apex bank to make cash available for Nigerians.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reportedly rejected the Abia and Enugu States Governorship Election results that were padded and didn't conform with the actual accredited voters during the polls.

It will be recalled that the Labour Party agents and governorship candidate in Enugu State opposed results collation of Nkanu East council, claiming that the votes were padded.

This was as political thugs reportedly disrupted collation of results in Obingwa council area of Abia State.

These have led to the suspension of the exercise by the electoral umpire on Sunday in the two states.

An INEC official told SaharaReporters that the commission had rejected the allegedly padded results after a careful review of the exercise on Tuesday, and wanted the right things to be done.

“For Abia State, INEC ordered that the results should be announced based on the accredited voters,” the source said.

On Enugu’s case, the commission according to the source has similarly ordered for the review of the results of the Enugu State Governorship Election of last Saturday.

SaharaReporters had reported that the collation of which was suspended following controversy over the alleged padding of results from Nkanu East Council, which returned over 30,000 votes in favour of Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Mr Peter Mbah, while only about 7,000 voters were accredited in the area by the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

The suspension of the announcement of results of Abia and Enugu gubernatorial elections had heightened tension in the two states.

The supporters of PDP's Mbah have been calling on INEC to announce the results that had been collated and declare their candidate the winner, saying those who opposed the result should go to court.

In Abia, Dr Alex Otti of the Labour Party had won a total of 10 out of the 16 Local Government Area results so far declared by INEC, while his counterpart in Enugu, Hon Chijioke Edeoga, has won nine local governments and is currently in the lead in the state.

by Jonathan Nda-Isaiah and Sunday Isuwa


With about 68 days to hand over the reins of power to the incoming government, the United States of America (USA) has implored President Muhammadu Buhari to remove the controversial fuel subsidy before bowing out of office on May 29, 2023.

The Buhari administration had recently vowed to remove the controversial petrol subsidy before the end of the current federal government.

Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed, who stated this, attributed the delay in removal of the subsidy, as provided for in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, to the 2023 general election and the forthcoming national population census.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to the headquarters of VON in Abuja, she however disclosed that no conclusion had been reached on how to mitigate the effect of the proposed fuel subsidy removal on the citizens.

Speaking through its outgoing Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, charged Buhari who said he was in a hurry to leave office to complete the unfinished job of fuel subsidy removal.

In response to the president’s expression of satisfaction with the blossoming Nigeria-US relations, the ambassador in her remarks said she was happy with the progress made in Nigeria-US relations in the past three-and-half years, citing the recent institution of a five-year visa regime between the two countries, active collaboration in security and the supply of military hardware, including war planes and the soon-to-come fighter helicopters, and cooperation in the health sector to fight HIV and COVID-19 response.

She assured that the US will continue to assist in the strengthening of Nigeria’s health sector.

Leonard expressed her gratitude and that of the US government Buhari’s role in ensuring regional security and strengthening of democracy as a system of government, citing his strong response against the recent surge of coups-d’état in West Africa as worthy of commendation.

She expressed hope that even as he is preparing to leave, there are still a few more things the president could do, among which she mentioned the urgent need to remove fuel subsidy.

Earlier, Buhari had said given the chance of a free and fair election as well as non-interference as was witnessed in the February 25 and March 18 elections, Nigerians have proved to be capable of deciding who leads them without anyone telling them what to do.

Expressing satisfaction with the remarkable passion towards democracy exhibited by Nigerians through the choices they made in the presidential, National Assembly and the subsequent governorship and state assembly elections, Buhari said Nigeria’s democracy has truly matured.

He stated: “People are realising their power. Given the chance of a free and fair vote, nobody can tell them what to do. I am unhappy that some candidates lost in the election. But I am inspired by the fact that voters were able to make their own decision, to decide who won and who lost.

“With the currency change, there was no money to spread around but even then, I told voters to take the money and vote according to their consciences.”

A statement by presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, further quoted President Buhari who was speaking at a farewell meeting with the outgoing United States Ambassador at the presidential villa as saying he was completely satisfied with his own role in the election process staying above it, without meddlesomeness or any form of interference.

The president commended the outgoing Ambassador for the enormous achievements recorded in Nigeria-US relations in the three-and-half years she had been here.

He chronicled a number of challenges faced by Nigeria as the country strives to unite our diverse communities and achieve national development and expressed his appreciation of the way the United States is able to hold together as a nation.

Buhari expressed the hope that Nigeria will continue to make progress in building a nation out of our different and competitive communities.

He added that he enjoyed working with the Ambassador and wished that she had more time to serve here.

In an answer to a question posed by Ambassador Leonard, President Buhari said he planned to be a “big landlord” back at home, working his farms and tending his more than 300 animals. “I am eager to go,” the president said.


President Takes Stock, Says I’ve Addressed Insecurity, Separatist Agitations, Oil Theft

President Buhari yesterday also outlined significant milestones achieved by his administration on national security, including gains in combating terrorism, armed banditry, kidnapping, separatist tendencies, crude oil theft, piracy as well as militancy in the South-South and cyber-security.

He took stock of his administration’s milestones when he inaugurated the new Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and National Counterterrorism Centre (NCTC), two state-of-the-art facilities to optimize efforts at addressing evolving security challenges in the country, especially terrorism and violent extremism.

At the inauguration of the two world-class facilities, Buhari said it would serve as a major legacy to provide the incoming administration with infrastructure to effectively coordinate national security and counterterrorism efforts.

On the threat of terrorism, which was labelled as a major security challenge facing the country when he assumed office in 2015, the President said, ”I can confidently state here today that we have achieved significant milestones in degrading the major threat and restoring normalcy to most of the hitherto securitised areas in the North East.

”These areas previously occupied by terrorists have been freed and Internally Displaced Persons are voluntarily returning to their homes.

”This was largely achieved through the valiant efforts of our armed forces and other security agencies, in collaboration with our regional and international partners but above all, the support and cooperation of the Nigerian citizens.”

Apart from the degraded threat of terrorism in the North East, Buhari also expressed delight that government has curbed the series of armed banditry and kidnapping cases in the North West and North Central zones.

He said these criminal acts had emerged as a result of the scattering of Boko Haram in the North East and the implosion of Libya in the Maghreb.

On separatist agitations, the president noted that agitators in the South East and to a much lesser extent the South West, who have been experiencing concerns of separatist tendencies, are being checked.

”Meanwhile, issues of crude oil theft, sea robbery, piracy and militancy in the South-South are equally being addressed.

”Most of these threats have transnational linkages thereby reinforcing the need for regional and international cooperation as critical enablers to enhance our national security,” a statement by presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, quoted the president as saying.

On maritime security, President Buhari expressed delight that some key threats within Nigeria’s Maritime Environment such as piracy, sea robbery, crude oil theft as well as illegal unregulated and unreported fishing are being effectively tackled.

He said between August 2018 and March 2023, over 220 vessels involved in maritime criminality within Nigeria’s Exclusive Economic Zone, up to the Republic of Togo, had been prosecuted.

He commended the Falcon Eye maritime domain awareness project, domiciled with the Nigerian Navy and coordinated by ONSA, for providing high-quality real-time intelligence, leading to the arrest and prosecution of economic saboteurs.

He added that over 87 oil tankers involved in various crude oil and product theft have been arrested, the theft of over 3 million barrels of crude oil was prevented and 15 million litres of petrol and diesel recovered.

”Recent commendations from the International Maritime Organization, European Union and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to Nigeria on our efforts in reducing maritime criminality in the Gulf of Guinea and successful prosecution of pirates in the region are worth mentioning,” he said.

On cyber threats, the president underscored the importance of protecting Nigeria’s cyberspace from all forms of intrusion.

To this end, he said in addition to receiving regular briefing from the Cybercrime Advisory Council, the government had established the Nigeria Computer Emergency Response Team and revised the National Cyber Security Policy and Strategy in February 2021.

”To further complement these efforts, I will soon be endorsing the Presidential Order for the Designation and Protection of Critical National Information Infrastructure. This is bearing in mind that cyberspace creates a nexus for synchronizing efforts of our security and law enforcement agencies towards addressing numerous security challenges,” he said.

In his address, the NSA, Babagana Monguno, said the dynamic nature of global and domestic security environment necessitated the modification and expansion of some of the functions of ONSA.

He noted that while ONSA’s core mandate is to assess the security concerns of the country and advise the president on all matters bordering on national security, the changing nature of the security landscape over the last three decades in the country and across the world led to the broadening of ONSA’s mandate to accommodate the needs of emerging security threats.


PMB Rejects NASS Power To Summon President, Governors

Meanwhile, Buhari yesterday humbled the Nigerian lawmakers when he rejected a bill that sought for power to summon the president and Governors.

The lawmakers in the 35 bills forwarded to Buhari for his assent, rejected 19 bills in the Constitution amendment on power to summon the President and Governors.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan had during plenary on Tuesday, lamented the refusal of president to assent to 19 bills in the Constitution alteration bill.

Buhari had on Friday last week assented to 16 out of 35 Constitution alterations bills transmitted to him for assent by the National Assembly.

Informing the Senate in plenary on the presidential action, the Senate president said out of the 35 constitution alteration bills forwarded to the President in January for assent, only 16, were assented to.

The most striking of the assented 16 bills, according to him, was the fifth alteration bill number 6 which makes provisions for financial independence of State Houses of Assembly and Judiciary.

Others, he added, were those that dwell on power devolutions in the areas of moving Railway services, Correctional Centres and power generation and distribution, from the exclusive list to concurrent list.

He however said that the 19 bills that were not assented to by the president will still be pursued vigorously by both Chambers of the National Assembly for that purpose.

The first of such 19 bills not assented to by President Buhari is the fifth alteration bill number 24, which sought for an Act to Alter the Second Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Empower the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly to summon the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Governors of States to answer Questions on issues on which the National and State Houses of Assembly have the Powers to make.

Also alteration bill number 7 which sought for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to compel persons to obey or comply with Legislative Summons, was refused assent by the President.

There was a mild drama at Polling Unit 24-03-03-132 on Orona Street, along Idimu-Ikotun road, Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, when a yet-to-be-identified INEC supervisory polling officer tried to abscond with the result sheet even before voting commenced.

Speaking to FIJ, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) agent, who simply wished to be identified as Kehinde, said the voters present at the unit first noticed “something was not right” when the INEC ad-hoc staffer on the ground told everyone present that “voting would have to commence without a result sheet because none had been allocated to the unit”.

“When the INEC officials arrived at the polling unit, I asked one of them to show me the result sheet,” Kehinde said.

“She then told me that they did not come with any result sheet. After telling me this, she also faced the crowd to tell them that no result sheet had been made available for this particular unit.

“This was when the crowd revolted and said voting would not commence unless the result sheet was made available.”


https://i0.wp.com/www.fij.ng/article/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Screenshot_20230318-110133.png?w=580&ssl=1The Polling Unit on Orona Street


As this reporter was speaking with Kehinde, the crowd suddenly saw the result sheet meant for the unit with a man whom the party agents present said was INEC’s supervisory polling officer for all the polling units in the area.

The voters immediately prevented him from leaving, forcing him to release it to them. The moment the result sheet was wrestled from him, he left the unit without saying a word.

By Efe Onodjae


Some suspected thugs on Saturday invaded polling units in Ijegun, a suburb in Lagos State disrupting the electoral process that earlier commenced this morning.

Like in Lagos, the governorship and assembly elections is holding in 28 states and eight other off-circle states.

Upon invading the polling units, voters seen running around for safety.

According to a victim, some voters were strictly told not to be in the unit if their vote is not for the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC

A victim identiffied as Yusuf Olanrewaju told Vanguard how he was bottled on his head. According to him, “My polling unit at Ijegun Primary School, some thugs came and disrupt the process even when counting has not begun, I went forward trying to stop them when about three vehicles drove and Hon. Oseni Olajide Hammed, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) held me and called the thug to bottle me”

Another victim who gave her name as Cynthia also told Vanguard that there was no election in Lagos state but war. According to her, “the thugs came to our polling unit when the counting had just begun and Labour Party was in the lead.

“Some men troop in and told the electoral officers to stop counting and close the voting box, but some of us refuse and bottle was splashed by these thugs”.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa, on Friday, said that an investigation has been launched into the alleged threat issued against Igbo by the Lagos State Parks Management Committee Chairman, Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo.

Owohunwa made this known while featuring in an interview with TV Arise News on the preview of the governorship and state assembly elections slated for Saturday.

MC Oluomo, in a viral video, had threatened that Igbo people living in Lagos should not bother to come to the polls if they will not for the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC).

In the video, MC Oluomo said, “Please tell them, we have begged them. If they don’t vote for us, it is not a fight. Tell them that Chukwudi’s mother, if you don’t vote for us, sit down at home. Do you understand? Sit down at home.”

Reacting to the threat today, Lagos CP said, “We condemn in the strongest possible terms any act, statement, or an action that could be interpreted as hate speech or that could be interpreted as deepening political tension regardless of the brain that might be behind it. With regards to this specific video you mentioned, it is currently a subject of a detailed investigation.”

Owohunwa also warned all those brewing violence in the state should desist or face the full wrath of the law, adding that the law enforcement agents will not spare any lawbreaker.

“Of course, we are deploying our cyber security access to solve that. And, I can assure you that nobody is above the law. This country is regulated. Anybody that tries to use his position, or his influence on others to deepen hate, or engender political tension which could, of course, snowball into violence, it remains the responsibility and the mandate of the Nigeria Police to investigate such cases.

“This specific one you mentioned will not be in isolation. It is already a subject of review. And it will be in the interest of the actors behind it and all others that might wish to also engage in such ill-informed, indirect action to be very careful, to be firmly warned because in the fullness of time, the full law will take its course and it will be not different in this instance if established,” Owohunwa added.

Nigerians are heading to the polls tomorrow for gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections, as the second leg of the 2023 elections.

The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) has ranked Nigeria eighth amongst the countries of the world most impacted by terrorism.

IEP’s Global Terrorism Index (GTI), published in March 2023, places Nigeria just behind Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Mali, Somalia, Burkina Faso and Afghanistan.

The silver lining in Nigeria’s terror cloud is a decline in terror attacks between 2021 and 2022. There was a 23 percent drop in the total resulting deaths.

“The impact of terrorism continues to decline in Nigeria; with total deaths falling by 23 percent, decreasing from 497 in 2021 to 385 in 2022. The number of terrorist attacks in Nigeria also fell considerably, with 120 incidents recorded in 2022 compared to 214 in 2021. This is the lowest number of terror attacks and deaths since 2011,” the GTI states.

“The military overtook law enforcement as the most targeted group in 2022. Military personnel were targeted in a quarter of all attacks, followed by civilians at 24 percent, and law enforcement at 18 per cent. Despite this, half of all terrorism deaths in Nigeria in 2022 were civilians.

“Civilian deaths increased 78 percent from 2021 to 196 deaths; while military deaths dropped considerably, falling 74 percent from 2021 to 58 deaths in 2022.”

The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWA), Boko Haram and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) were among the top ten deadliest terrorist groups in the world on the 2022 GTI.

ISWA and Boko Haram have fought a fight for terror monopoly in the last decade. GTI states that ISWA has become the top terror group.

“ISWA continues to be the deadliest terrorist group in Nigeria for the third consecutive year. The group’s lethality rate increased for the first time in two years, from just over three deaths per attack in 2021 to 3.7 deaths per attack in 2022,” the GTI states.

“ISWA recorded its lowest number of attacks and deaths since 2020, at 57 attacks and 211 deaths in 2022, a decline of 28 percent in attacks and 13 percent for deaths when compared to the previous year. The lethality of ISWA’s attacks increased for the first time in two years, from just over three deaths per attack in 2021 to almost 3.6 deaths per attack in 2022.

“The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), designated as a terrorist group by the Nigerian government in 2017, recorded their deadliest year in 2022. They were responsible for 40 attacks and 57 deaths in 2022, an increase from 26 attacks and 34 deaths the year prior. IPOB is a separatist movement with many factions, many of which are seeking a peaceful succession from Nigeria.

“Boko Haram’s attacks almost halved within the last year, while deaths attributed to the group increased slightly from 69 in 2021 to 72 in 2022. This is the lowest number of attacks by the group for over a decade. Boko Haram’s decline has resulted in a substantial improvement in terrorism in Borno State, which experienced a decrease of 12 percent in terrorism-related deaths when compared with the year prior. Attacks in the state also decreased from 91 to 48 respectively, a decrease of 47 percent. ISWA is now the most prominent group in Borno State, recording 40 incidents that resulted in 168 deaths in 2022, compared to Boko Haram’s six incidents and 63 deaths.”

Although ISWA’s growth is supporting Nigeria’s push to eliminate Boko Haram, this growth also represents sustained terror under a new banner.

We are in a very interesting time at the moment, political wise. By this Saturday again, Nigerians will file out in their millions to elect governors and state legislators across the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

Whatever tension we are feeling across the states cannot be divorced from the political tsunami of February 25, when the presidential and national assembly elections took place.

That date will remain in history as the night of the long knives for all political gladiators, who were thoroughly demystified by the outcomes of the elections. Great was the humiliation hitherto the lords of the manors suffered that ever since, there has been “no peace for the wicked” in the camps of those who were lords over us for decades. Interestingly, the vultures have momentarily forgotten their feud. They are scared!

It was satisfying that for once, Nigerians showed uncommon resilience and demonstrated their capacity to do that which is right, ideal, and noble. The outcome of the February 25 elections and the attendant disappointments, especially the remarkable ineptitude displayed by INEC, pale into insignificance for me, given the loud messages Nigerians sent to the locust that have eaten up the nation’s political and economic fields over the years.

The lessons from the elections are something Nigerians, and this time around, the youths, should keep for future political engagements. The political equation is almost balanced. The APC has 57 senators-elect as against the 42 by the other opposition parties. While APC has 162 House of Representatives members, the opposition parties have a total of 165 members. All the opposition parties need to do is to get their acts together and no single party would be able to pass any anti-people bill in the National Assembly. That is a great win for the people.

Since February 25, politicians, who in the past would have been sipping cognac in their living rooms, celebrating the ‘victory’ of the presidential election, are practically on the street as vote canvassers. Interesting! We have seen governors in the last two weeks going from one market to the other and from one worship centre to another.

One of them in the Niger Delta region was spotted kneeling down to beg traders for votes. The souls of the 24 states where the gubernatorial elections will take place on Saturday, March 18, are up for grabs. Nobody is comfortable again. Governors, ministers, big men and women, are, to use the exact word of a Nigerian billionaire, “pounding the street”, for votes. The commoners are no longer common.

Teachers in Delta State suddenly had their service years extended from 60 to 65 years. In Lagos, the epicenter of the current tension, residents who had their vehicles impounded and auctioned at very ridiculous prices have suddenly become the darlings of the erstwhile tough-talking Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

The almighty LASTMA officials have abandoned their old acts. They are now seen counselling Lagos drivers on “safe driving”. God bless February 25, 2023!

More importantly, God bless those resilient Nigerians, who, through their votes, showed that power resides with the people. How are the mighty (godfathers) fallen and the weapons of war (politics) perished. How would Nigerians have believed that the strong man of Lagos motor park, who, three weeks ago threatened those who would come and vote for any other party, apart from his APC, with fire and brimstone, would one day turn a preacher of peace. Oh, you did not see the video of MC Oluomo, begging Lagosians for forgiveness and preaching peace like the one who “preached in the wilderness”.

The most interesting thing to me now is the type of tension brewing every day in Lagos. Eko Akete, Ilu Ogbon (Lagos the centre of wisdom) is no longer at ease. Different narratives are flying all over the place. The Centre of Excellence is no more excellent politically. Those who have held the state by its jugular for over two decades are now changing the narrative. They are yet to come to terms with the devastation visited on them by the avant-garde political movement headed by the underrated Peter Obi of the Labour Party, which to me, is the party of the future.

The party did not only demystify the ‘owner of Lagos’ and proponent of the Emi L’okan political philosophy, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the party, and its supporters ensured that Tinubu did not only lose Lagos on February 25, but that he lost Ikeja, where he voted and lost the polling centres on Bourdillon Road, where he resides. Nobody expected it, not even yours sincerely. But it happened. How? Who did it? Why did they do such a thing? Trust them, the lords of Lagos have a single answer to these questions. Ask them how, and they tell you “Igbo”. Who did it? – same answer, Igbo. Why? They want to take over Lagos, they say as if the Lagos votes were cast by the Igbo alone. Now the Igbo race has become the hydra-headed political monster. That is funny.

The abrasive sentiment in Lagos now and to a greater extent in many parts of the South-West, is “we must not allow the Igbo to take over our land”. I hear that tale every day. I shudder at how otherwise educated fellows suddenly turned tribal bigots. I asked a fellow what will be the gain(s) of an average Nigerian in Lagos, if Sanwo-Olu wins the March 18 elections. I asked him to also educate me on what an average Lagosian will lose in case Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the LP wins. The fella gave me the parrot line: “the Igbo will take over Lagos”. Really! Who is in charge of Lagos at the moment? I asked him. He said I would not understand. And I want to understand. This is why I am probing further. LP scored 582,454 votes on February 25. Are we saying that only the Igbo in Lagos gave Peter Obi that figure? The APC of Tinubu also scored 572,602 votes. Is anybody by any reasoning saying only the Yoruba group did the figure? Did, for instance, a Joe Igbokwe, vote for Peter Obi because he is an Igbo at the expense of his political benefactor, Tinubu? Which ethnic nationalities gave Abubakar Atiku of the PDP his 75,750 votes at that election? Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa/Fulani community or voters from Mars? Can we just wake up and smell the coffee before it cold and stale.

How come the Igbo race is now a threat to the Yoruba land of Lagos? How did that happen? In the history of this political era, who has empowered the Igbo in Lagos more than Tinubu himself? Why are his ‘friends’ of yesteryear now his ‘enemies’ today? Something is wrong and those plying the wares of “Igbo will take over our land” know the truth but it is too bitter for them to either acknowledge or swallow. Fact is that the crusade of Obidient political war cry is an idea that has come of age. Lagos is peculiar. In the current dispensation, all original Omo Eko (indigenous Lagosians) know that from 1999 till date, ‘strangers’ have been pillaging their fathers’ farmlands. So, if the true Lagosians are now saying they want their land back and they find the remedy in a Lagos Islander, it would not matter to them if Rhodes-Vivour’s mother is Igbo.

How did we, for instance, allow the political class to brainwash us that their fight for political survival is the survival of the poor people on the street? The early 70s, especially after the civil war, were fascinating to me. A room exists in my father’s house today which we, all the children, know as “Yara Ibo” (the room for the Ibo). The room was so named because it was where all the Igbo people who came for casual jobs in our fathers’ cocoa plantations, after the civil war, were first housed before being distributed to other cocoa farmers in the town. We called those Igbo “Onise Odun” – A year-labourer- because they were not paid for their labour until December of each year when cocoa would be at its peak. Their children attended the same L.A. Primary School East, Saint Andrew Primary School and Saint Thomas’ Catholic Primary School with us. They ate our pounded yam, and we shared their akpu (fufu) and ofe’onugbo (bitter leaves) with them.

It is true that we have some very bad Igbo guys. There are very many of them. It is equally true that not every Yoruba person on the streets of Lagos is without fault. We have them in large quantities too. No tribe is extremely bad, and no tribe is extremely good. We are like the proverbial talking drum (Gangan), which backs some people and faces others. The locust political class should go and wean itself of the fallacy of hasty generalisation. There are so many people who want the lord’s knees off their necks so that they can breathe. Among them are the EndSARS victims and their parents.

You have the Lagos elites and those who are genuinely tired of the past 24 years. The real Lagosians (Omo Eko gangan) are in that group, too. The huge Igbo population, with their misplaced aggression, are there also. Aggrieved party members queued behind the LP during the last elections. Undecided voters, who were pissed off by the activities of the many MC Oluomos of Lagos numbered among the lot. These were joined by other tribes. The only thing is that an Igbo man led the revolution. But that is not limited to Lagos. LP has about six senators and 34 House of Representatives members from that election. These guys won across the states of the federation; voted for by Nigerians who seek the good of the land. March 18 is another day to circumcise the New Nigeria born on February 25. Let the consolidation be nationwide. and let Nigerians have a fresh breath of life. Let Awodi (hawk) soar and let Alapandede (Swallow) fly; whoever says no to the other, let its wings break

An inmate said to be on death row at the Ibara Correctional Centre in Ogun State, Femi Oso, has been accused of using a romance scam to defraud a yet-to-be-identified lady of N17m in the state.

PUNCH Metro gathered that Oso and the victim got connected on Facebook and after chatting with each other for a while, they commenced a relationship.

During the relationship, it was learnt that Oso’s lover, through a Point-of-Sale operator identified simply as Ayoola, paid him money in tranches amounting to N17m.

Along the line, the victim, while assessing her relationship with Oso who reportedly never disclosed his status as an inmate to her, started suspecting foul play and later shared her experience with her yet-to-be-identified sister.

The victim’s sister, thereafter, involved her husband, a serving policeman attached to the Ondo State Police Command, who, on the suspicion of a romance scam, reported the case to the command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit for investigation.

The policemen trailed the PoS operator to Ibara, Ogun State, arrested him and took him to their operational base in Akure, Ondo State, for interrogation.

It was learnt that during interrogation, Ayoola confessed that the money was for Oso, and mentioned two persons, a school cleaner, Nofisat Adeosun, and Oso’s brother-in-law identified simply as Segun, as people who usually collected money from him on the instruction of the inmate.

Narrating her ordeal on Monday, Adeosun said she was at work when the policemen stormed the premises on February 8, 2023, to arrest her, adding that she was also taken to their base in Akure.

She said, “When the policemen arrested me at my workplace at Ibara Baptist Nursery and Primary School, I asked what my offence was and I was told that they will tell me when we get to their base in Akure.

“When we got there, they told me I was arrested because of N17m fraud committed by an inmate of Ibara Correctional Centre, Femi Oso. I was told the money was paid to Oso through a PoS operator, Ayoola.

“The police had arrested Ayoola and arrested me on the allegation that I knew about the fraud and I said I knew nothing about it. When I asked Ayoola at the station why he mentioned my name, especially when I am not aware of the money, he started pleading.”

The mother of two said she spent about 10 days before she was allowed to call a family friend, Oluwafemi Adekunle, who alongside his relative, Jide Ikumapayi, came to secure her bail.

She, however, explained that the school where she was working as a cleaner terminated her appointment following the arrest.

Speaking on the case, Ikumapayi, while describing Adeosun’s arrest as an unfortunate experience, said the investigation proved that she had no link to the crime.

He added that Ayoola, alongside Oso’s brother-in-law, Segun, who on behalf of his in-law, reportedly collected the N17m from the PoS operator for onward delivery to his sister who was said to still be at large, was also arrested.

He said, “When one of our family members was an inmate at Ibara Correctional Centre, if we want to send him money, we usually sent it to the PoS operator and because the school where Adeosun works is closer to the prison, she usually assisted us in getting the money from the PoS operator to our person in prison.

“That our person and Femi Oso were inmates. After our person completed his term in prison, he left. But because Oso, who is an inmate on death row, was aware that Adeosun usually assisted our person in collecting money from the PoS operator, he pleaded with her to assist him and occasionally she assisted whenever his family sent him money.

“So, when Ayoola, who runs the PoS shop close to the prison was arrested for the N17m fraud, he said he got to know Oso through Adeosun but refused to disclose that Adeosun knew nothing about the N17m. When we got to the police at Akure, Ayoola said it was Segun that collected the N17m from him and not Adeosun and that was how she was released on bail.”

Ikumapayi said an investigation was also extended to the Ibara Correctional Centre to bring in Oso for questioning, adding that he was not released because of his status as an inmate on death row.

He, however, said efforts were on to arrest Oso’s wife, who went into hiding after realising that the police were on her trail.

Contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ondo State Command, Funmi Odunlami, while confirming the development, said an investigation into the case was still ongoing.

“When I spoke with the officer in charge of the case, he said the case was ongoing and won’t say anything about it until they are through. He said he wants to finish the case so that those that needed to be paraded would be paraded,” Odulami said.

Contacted on Monday, the spokesperson for the Nigeria Correctional Service in Ogun State, Victor Oyeleke, after getting a brief of the development from our correspondent, promised to make some findings and get back for a reaction but did not do so.

He refused to take follow-up calls made to his phone number on Tuesday and had yet to reply to two text messages requesting a reaction regarding the case.

However, this is not the first time the NCS will be in the news concerning cases of inmates masterminding fraudulent transactions while serving their term in the custody of the service.

Sometime in November 2019, PUNCH Metro reported that the spokesperson for the Economic Financial Crimes Commission, Wilson Uwujaren, in a statement, confirmed that a convicted Internet fraudster, Hope Aroke, who was then serving a 24-year jail term in the Kirikiri Maximum Correctional Centre in Lagos State, allegedly masterminded a $1m scam while in custody.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has concluded the re-configuration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines used for the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections, to enable their use for the March 18 state elections, Daily Trust learnt from senior officials Tuesday.

An official of the commission told Daily Trust in confidence that the machines, being sensitive election materials, would be deployed to INEC state offices before deployment to local governments, wards and polling units (PUs) on election day.

It was also learnt that the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is leading the airlift of the BVAS machines for the security and smoothness of the operation.

“The early deployment from Wednesday to the states was to ensure that there are no lapses or delays in their deployment. They would be moved to safe locations in states and to the LGAs, wards and polling units,” the official said.

INEC had shifted the governorship and state assembly election by one week due to a delay in commencing the re-configuration of the BVAS machines after a court ruling on the matter.

President Muhammadu Buhari has said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) does not need his directives before it complies with the Supreme Court ruling which extended the validity of the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes to December 31, 2023.

Buhari broke silence on Monday over penultimate Friday’s decision of the Supreme Court which ruled that the old notes remain legal tender till the end of the year.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in a statement, said President Muhammadu Buhari never told Attorney General, Abubakar Malami and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, to defy the Supreme Court order.

The President also rejected the impression that he lacked compassion, saying that “no government in our recent history has introduced policies to help economically marginalised and vulnerable groups like the present administration.”

The Presidency added that that President Buhari had not done anything “knowingly and deliberately to interfere with or obstruct the administration of justice”, following the ongoing intense debate about the compliance concerning the legality of the old currency notes.

The statement read: “The Presidency wishes to react to some public concerns that President Muhammadu Buhari did not react to the Supreme Court judgement on the issue of the N500 and N1,000 old currency notes, and states here plainly and clearly that at no time did he instruct the Attorney General and the CBN Governor to disobey any court orders involving the government and other parties.

“Since the President was sworn into office in 2015, he has never directed anybody to defy court orders, in the strong belief that we can’t practise democracy without the rule of law and the commitment of his administration to this principle has not changed….

“The President is not a micromanager and will not, therefore, stop the Attorney General and the CBN Governor from performing the details of their duties in accordance with the law. In any case. it is debatable at this time if there is proof of willful denial by the two of them on the orders of the apex court.

“The directive of the President, following the meeting of the Council of State. is that the Bank must make available for circulation all the money that is needed and nothing has happened to change the position.

“It is an established fact that the President is an absolute respecter of judicial process and the authority of the courts. He has done nothing in the last eight or so years to act in any way to obstruct the administration of justice, cause lack of confidence in the administration of justice, or otherwise interfere or corrupt the courts and there is no reason whatsoever that he should do so now when he is getting ready to leave office.

“The negative campaign and personalised attacks against the President by the opposition and all manner of commentators is unfair and unjust, as no court order at any level has been issued or directed at him.

“As for the cashless system the CBN is determined to put in place, it is a known fact that many of the country’s citizens who bear the brunt of the sufferings, surprisingly support the policy as they believe that the action would cut corruption, fight terrorism, build an environment of honesty and reinforce the incorruptible leadership of the President.

“It is therefore wide off the mark to blame the President for the current controversy over the cash scarcity, despite the Supreme Court judgement. The CBN has no reason not to comply with court orders on the excuse of waiting for directives from the President.”

Another internal breach has been recorded among the North-East troops of the Nigerian Army after a yet-to-be identified soldier fighting Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East opened fire on his colleague and killed him.

The deceased soldier was identified as Private Diko.

According to military sources, the duo were troops of Operation Desert Sanity and joined the army in 2020.

The incident occurred last Friday in Ngoshe, Gwoza Local Government Area of the state.

“They were having an argument and before you know it, he killed him (Diko). Both being 20NA were posted to 103 battalion Enugu but were moved to Borno to fight the Boko Haram insurgency,” a military source informed SaharaReporters.

There have been public concerns recently over the state of mental health of Nigerian soldiers, particular the ones fighting insurgency in the North-East.

Last week, another soldier identified as Lance Corporal Nwobodo Chinoso, shot dead the Commander of the Forward Operating Base (FOB) Rabah in Sokoto State, Lt. Sam Oladapo.

Chinoso also shot the FOB Rabah Command Sergeant Major (CSM), Sgt. Iliyasu Inusa, and another private soldier, Attahiru Mohammed, after he had killed Oladapo.

After shooting his colleagues, he thereafter committed suicide by shooting himself.

In March 2022, Yahaya Ibrahim, a soldier fighting Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East opened fire on his colleague, Abubakar Mohammed.

Ibrahim with army number 18NA/77/0725 was said to have suddenly cocked his rifle and shot Mohammed (96NA/ 42/4975) in the shoulder from behind.

In April 2021, Kila Jima, a corporal in the Army’s 152 Battalion, Banki, Borno State killed himself.

In March 2021, a soldier, Bello Useni, with the Nigerian Army School of Armour in Bauchi killed himself.

In September 2020, a lance corporal attached to the Army’s 27 Task Force Brigade in Buni Gari, Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe state, committed suicide at his duty post.

In July 2020, a soldier in the Army’s 202 battalion in Bama, Borno State, killed a lieutenant who did not give him pass to visit his family.

In 2019, a soldier hanged himself in Abuja. And in 2017, another soldier committed suicide after killing his superior officer.

The recurring nature of such incidences has raised concerns about whether soldiers fighting Book Haram are receiving adequate mental and psychological treatment.

Some of the soldiers have in the past complained about poor welfare, overstaying in the region and abysmal treatment by the military hierarchy.

They said they were battling with depression and post-traumatic disorder because the authorities refused to carry out a rotation.

Dare-devil armed robbers, on Saturday morning, invaded Eleshin at Olomo community in Apete, Ido Local Government Area of Oyo State and operated with Point-of-Sale device.

An investigation by our correspondent revealed that the robbers stormed the area around 1am and used the POS device to transfer money from the unsuspecting victims.

The PUNCH Metro further learnt that the ugly incident had thrown the entire community into panic as residents are leaving in palpable fear.

One of the residents, who did not want his name in print, said, “The armed robbers got to the area in the midnight around 1am. They operated freely. They came with POS and transferred some amount of money, which cannot be specified at the moment, from one of their victims’ accounts. They also transferred an undisclosed amount of money from his wife’s account and left.

“They also went away with two phones, iPhone 11 Pro Max and XS Max”, a source added.

The case was said to have been reported at the Apete Divisional Police Command.

As of press time, on Sunday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Adewale Osifeso, could not be reached for confirmation.

Ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly in June 2023, Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufa’I of Kaduna State had appealed to the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to support the emergence of Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, the Iyan Zazzau as next Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives.

Hon. Tajuddeen of the All Progressives Congress represents Zaria Federal Constituency and is the House Committee Chairman, Land Transport.

Governor El-Rufai who spoke to party supporters in Zaria,said his wish was to see Hon.Tajuddeen occupying the number one seat in the House of Representatives.

“We thank God that our member of the House of Representatives from Zaria, the Iyan Zazzau has won the election.

Majority among you have been sending messages to us and we’ve been looking at it, and we are following.”

“Finally,I had wanted to travel to Lagos yesterday and see Asiwaju in respect of the Speaker. He said he would be coming to Abuja today.”

But the most important thing I will request from him, if at all I contributed to his success in the election, the only pay back is for the Iyan Zazzau to become Speaker.”

“I thank you immensely for casting your votes for him.vThis is because if you had decided not to vote for him, we wouldn’t have gathered here Alhamdulillahi,” he said.

By Prisca Sam-Duru


Nigerians have not stopped lashing at the Independent National Electoral commission, INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu for giving assurances again that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, will run optimally during the governorship and state assembly elections.

And to buttress their position during the week, social media users dug up various videos documenting occasions where Prof. Yakubu gave similar assurances yet, failed to use BVAS to transmit the presidential results directly from polling units.

During the week also, an appeal court granted INEC order to allow it reconfigure the BVAS for the forthcoming governorship and state assembly elections now rescheduled for March 18th. This as well, has elicited mixed reactions from Nigerians. Many aver that it was all a ploy to erase evidences that may confirm the inconsistencies that dented the February 25th elections contrary to INEC’s excuse of technical glitches.

More than before, the move to reconfigure the BVAS has raised questions about the integrity of that election.

Reacting during an Arise TV programme, Rufai Oseni faulted INEC chairman for failing to keep his promises, adding that his coming out to say there were flaws during the presidential elections does not make sense. “It was an agreement, he went to Chatham House to say it; he said it everywhere in the world. Why are you now telling us all of this? You have come out to say the process was flawed.

”A lot of people told you that if you do not have confidence in the process and some of the things that were coming in, why don’t you delay announcement of results to get every factor right?”

Perhaps, fed up with same old story about INEC’s underperformance during every election year, a twitter user @Nigerian Citizen wrote, “I think the constitution should be amended for @inecnigeria. I think the position of INEC chairman should not be an appointment by the executive but should be elective position to be elected by Nigerians, it will help strengthen its independence.”

Reacting to the tweet, Oseni said, “I do not think you need to elect the INEC chairman; the problem is the strength of the institutions. The question is, if the constitution says it’s the commission that will review, till date, are we saying that the commission which is also filled with other people in INEC, has not been able to review what happened in the election and come up with a report; even as to what happened to the BVAS machine or the IReV- the technical glitch itself?

“It is the strength of the institution and, Nigerians should begin to look at who becomes the REC in INEC who grows up the ladder. If we get INEC right as a strong institution, you won’t care who the head of INEC is.”


Feeling very disappointed with the whole situation, Ojy Okpe who anchored the session said that reasons for the INEC glitches remain the biggest issue. At this juncture, Okpe called up videos trending on social media, showing how BVAS Machine and INEC’s result sheets were compromised during the February 25th elections. The first video showed Rivers State, where INEC officials found election result sheets in the bush and imagined where INEC got the result it announced from that polling unit. Also, another INEC official at a polling unit in Abia state exposed another fraud allegedly committed by INEC. She said the National Assembly and House of Representative results were successfully transmitted with the BVAS but all attempts to do same for the presidential results failed. The officer said she used different network service but still failed to transmit the results. She revealed further that it was same for other INEC officials but they covered up by uploading the results offline so that voters will free them to go thinking results had been uploaded to INEC portal.

After considering content of the videos as well as INEC accepting that the process was flawed, Oseni questioned why INEC had to go to court to seek order to reconfigure its BVAS in readiness for the next election. “Is it not the same register that will be used; is it that there must be upgrade, we don’t understand what is happening. Is it not just one accreditation that happens and you give people three ballot papers, are the polling units changing? “INEC should tell us why out of 176,000 polling units, nine days after election, on the IReV portal it’s still 162,000? This means the elections have not been concluded if all the polling units have not been uploaded. And if there’s a shortfall, are they able to tell us the reason for the shortfall?” Joining the conversation, Dr Reuben Abati asked, “Should anybody be surprised that Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has been very good at talking?” According to him, “What INEC has done is a very good illustration of the fact that talk is cheap. And in Nigeria, whether its election or security or the economy or any aspect of our lives, our leaders are victims of that aphorism that talk is cheap. “They say things they don’t mean; they assure you, assure you; we are always being assured every day. These assurances are never backed by evidences or action.”

Dr Abati further described the position of INEC chairman as a graveyard where reputations are buried. “INEC chairman from what history has shown us, is a graveyard of reputations and Prof Mahmood Yakubu may well discover that his reputation may not recover from INEC exercise because he continues to tell Nigerians that those glitches were unforeseeable. What kind of talk is that? “The explanation given by Festus Okoye was that, these technical glitches occurred because we have moved from all cycle election to a major general election. Common sense tells anybody that those glitches were foreseeable. “Immediately after the February 25th election, we were told that engineers were working on it. This is nine days after, those engineers, are they importing them from outer space to work on the so called glitches? Nine days after, that is when INEC went to court to seek the leave of court to reconfigure the BVAS. Well, talk is cheap,” he stated.

Precisely on Wednesday, the court granted INEC the order to reconfigure the BVAS machine ahead of the governorship election, only for INEC to postpone the election by one week. Many Nigerians think that’s a scam and thus, unacceptable.

On this note, Oseni suggested that there was need for “EFCC to investigate INEC project that brought about the BVAS”, adding that “Something is not adding up.” He noted that for the amount of money spent, we shouldn’t be having this process of wanting to reconfigure the machine before it could be used for the next election. “Who were those that brought the BVAS in the first place? Who are those that did the software backend work? Something is not adding up. I don’t think INEC should reconfigure the BVAS because it will be tampering with what is there,” he said.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State has revealed that results from Jigawa State were imported into Imo State and transmitted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to iREV Portal on Sunday, February 26, 2026.

The party alleged that INEC in Imo swapped the imported results with the authentic results from the three other local government areas, particularly, Aboh Mbaise, Oguta and Ehime Mbano, where the PDP won by over 80 percent of the total votes cast.

It made this known in a statement signed by the state publicity secretary, Hon Collins Opurozor, which was made available to LEADERSHIP.

The release reads,” Producing fake results for places where elections weren’t held was the first stage. Elections in the Okigwe LGA’s Ihube, Agbobu, Umuowaibu, Aku, Umulolo, Ogii, and Amuro Wards did not take place. However, Senator Uzodinma’s representatives received the election materials for the areas from Imo State INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner Prof Sylvia Agu.

“Results were ultimately written in favour of APC. These faked results were accepted and announced by the state’s INEC, which is very corrupt and tainted and is led by Prof Agu. In the history of Nigerian elections, INEC has never treated us so poorly!

“The worst occurred in three additional local government areas, specifically Aboh Mbaise, Oguta, and Ehime Mbano, where PDP won by more than 80 percent of the total votes cast. Jigawa State results were brought into Imo State, where this morally bankrupt INEC replaced them with the real results from the polling places spread across these three LGAs. On Sunday, February 26th, 2026, the Jigawa findings were subsequently sent to iREV Portal.”

It alleged that by the time it got dark on Sunday, February 26, the following voting units in Aboh Mbaise LGA had been replaced with results from Jigawa State: Community School Okwu Na Akuwa, Community School Ndigbo, Community School Egbelu, Umumbie Hall, Umunobi Umuoshi Village Hall, Umuorobara Hall, Egbelu Ndiegbo Hall, Umuaghara Hall, Umueke Hall.


“In Ehime Mbano LGA, Isi Orie Primary School, Umuopara-Ama Hall, Umuezeala Offor Hall, Obom Umuako Square, Secondary School Umuezeala-Ama, Ukwuegbu Umuaro Hall, Ukwuobu Umuezeala Ogwara C/SUmuagba/Umuoba Hall, Community School Umuezeala-Ama, Umuduru Aro Square 1, Umuduru Aro Square 11, and Isi-Afor Primary School were polling units where Jigawa results were also uploaded and transmitted.

“This same fraud happened in Oguta LGA. For Orsu and Oru East, and most parts of Orlu LGA where elections never held at all, results from Jigawa State were similarly uploaded onto the INEC Server, while their authentic result sheets delivered to Imo APC by INEC for the second phase of the fraud. In Njaba LGA, the INEC Electoral Officer who refused to yield to threats by agents of the APC to do this same thing was abducted and almost assassinated. Till date, the elections in Njaba remain inconclusive.

“In Ehime Mbano LGA, Isi Orie Primary School, Umuopara-Ama Hall, Umuezeala Offor Hall, Obom Umuako Square, Secondary School Umuezeala-Ama, Ukwuegbu Umuaro Hall, Ukwuobu Umuezeala Ogwara C/SUmuagba/Umuoba Hall, Community School Umuezeala-Ama, Umuduru Aro Square 1, Umuduru Aro Square 11, and Isi-Afor Primary School were polling units where Jigawa results were also uploaded and transmitted.

“By the late hours of Wednesday, the writing and rewriting of the results from Imo polling units had been concluded by agents of the APC, and INEC accepted them. That was when INEC in Imo began to cover its tracks, unaware that the internet footprints and many other damning proofs of the criminal subversion of the will of Imo people and bizarre importation of alien results into Imo were firmly already at our disposal. And by Thursday, March 2nd, INEC began to pull down the Jigawa State results earlier uploaded on the iREV as Imo results. In some instances, results written right in Douglas House were uploaded as replacements for the previous ones from Jigawa. In other instances, no results were uploaded at all.

“For Mbaitoli LGA, there were no elections in about eighty-eight (88) polling units, while two (2) polling units in Owerri West and three (3) polling units in Owerri Municipal had no elections. This means that for Owerri senatorial district, elections were never held at polling units with total number of collected PVCs placed at about forty-one thousand, three hundred and thirty-nine (41, 339). Yet, INEC went ahead to violate the clear provisions of the Electoral Act by declaring someone Senator-Elect even when the margin of lead between the so-called winner and the second person was less than thirteen thousand (13,000) votes. This is outrageous!”

The Kogi State Government on Friday ordered the arrest and prosecution of individuals and businesses rejecting the old naira notes.

A statement by Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo congratulated Nigerians on the “historic ruling of the Supreme Court”.

The apex court last week ruled that both the old and new naira notes remain legal tenders until December 31, 2023.

Fanwo explained that the Yahaya Bello administration joined other states to pursue the case to ease the hardship occasioned by the unavailability of cash.

He said it was unacceptable that some persons and businesses continue to reject the old notes, even after the court validated their use.

“Rejecting the old naira notes is a clear disobedience of the Supreme Court ruling,” the commissioner stressed.

“Anyone who rejects the old naira notes should be reported to security and government authorities for immediate action. Also, banks that refuse to accept old naira deposits shall be sealed.”

Fanwo warned that the government will not accommodate financial institutions “that willfully disobey court orders, moreso, the orders of the highest court in Nigeria”.

“Since the banks are issuing the old naira notes, they are bound to also receive it. We cannot continue to kill our economy after the Supreme Court has granted us freedom.”

The statement announced the establishment of a high-powered committee to ensure full adherence and compliance to the verdict.

Voters in Niger State have accused politicians of deception by collecting their account numbers before the presidential and National Assembly elections without paying them.

Mrs Felicia Sunday told City & Crime that their account numbers were collected by various political parties but that two weeks after the polls they were yet to receive the money they were promised.

She said, “Our account numbers were collected during the presidential and National Assembly elections and up till now we’ve not heard anything. Some parties promised us N5,000,” adding that, “These politicians are deceitful people. I can’t just trust them again.”

She, however, noted that some parties shared food items like rice, spaghetti, Maggi and salt.

Mallam Danjuma Mohammed shared a similar experience with our reporter, saying that account numbers were submitted during voting.

Mr. Philip Nma, another voter, said he submitted his account to an agent of one of the political parties, who promised to send him N5,000 after the poll but have not done so up till now.

He said many of the voters had decided not to listen to any of them during the forthcoming gubernatorial polls.

A Point of Sale (POS) operator told our reporter that some voters brought dollars to him to buy a day after the presidential and National Assembly elections.

But speaking on the conduct of the voters, a retired police officer, Mr Sunday Ajeromi, told City & Crime on phone that it was a criminal offence for them to collect money in exchange of votes, saying that is what the law refers to as vote selling or buying, which is criminal.

He said instead of them complaining, the law enforcement agents should have arrested and prosecuted them accordingly.

The retired police officer noted that it was a serious offence in the Electoral Act to either buy or sell votes and urged the populace to desist from such in the interest of the nation’s democratic development.

The currency redesign and swap policy of the CBN has been invalidated by the Supreme Court with hard words for Buhari but the old notes are still not available. How should the S’Court decision be implemented?

-The unanimous Judgment of the full panel of the Supreme Court on the currency redesign and swap policy of the CBN to me, fits the coined words by Williams Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice, which alludes to the Biblical character Daniel, who was well known for having excellent faculties of judgment.

Our Supreme Court in the matter under reference has been a Daniel come to judgment and I think we must celebrate and salute their courage, resolution and dedication to national call.

Their decision is unimpeachable, as it defines the Supreme Court in its exalted peculiar position as a law interpreter, “law maker” and policy maker. The Supreme Court makes and shapes policy when it is called upon to interpret certain provisions of the Constitution. This is because the route which a court takes when interpreting the provisions of our sacred and organic constitution is different from the route it takes when it is interpreting a mere statute. The Supreme Court explained this role in the case of Marwa v Nyako (2012) 6 NWLR (Part 1296) 199 when it held thus:
“When interpreting the Constitution, the court must bear in mind that it is dealing with an instrument which controls and regulates the powers and functions of government, controls the rights and obligations of the citizen and controls the peace and order of the society upon which the Constitution is supposed to operate”

In the just concluded matter, the facts of the matter fortified Supreme Court’s jurisdiction and they rightly assumed same, from the first sentences of the judgment, it is clear that the CBN acted under the directives of the President and the President is the right party before the court and not the president’s agent, the CBN.

As noted in your question, the words used for the President, though may seem hard or harsh, but they’re certainly appropriate for such an errant party. Whereas I would have love to see the court ordering for a certain amount of fines to be paid to every Nigerians for the hardship experience due to such reckless, thoughtless and unconstitutional directives of the President.

Finally, we need to be sincere since the decision patently pass the characteristic of a good judgment it’s decision would be implemented by default and without much ado.

2. The Feb 25 presidential election has come and gone. But what remains controversial apart from the election results is the arguable 25% votes in FCT requirement. What is your view on this as a constitutional lawyer?

-The provisions of Section 134(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), particularly sub-paragraph (b) thereof have generated so much fuss and controversy in the past few days, especially after the conclusion and announcement of the winner of the recently concluded presidential elections.

Basically, there are two opposing sides in the arguments the above section has spawned: those who argue that for a candidate to be declared winner, he must get 25% of the votes cast in FCT (asides meeting other Constitutional criteria) and those who contend that a candidate need not poll 25% of the votes cast in FCT to be declared winner, so far as he meets other Constitutional requirements.

For the sake of clarity, Section 134(2) provides that:

(2) A candidate for an election to the office of the President shall be deemed to have been duly elected where, there being more than two candidates for the election –

(a) he has the highest number of votes cast at the election; and

(b) he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Even though the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja (FCT) is not a State properly so called, the Constitution has clothed it with the toga of a State. In other words, the FCT is treated like a State, and all the powers of a governor in a State is vested in the minister of the FCT. While the Houses of Assembly of the 36 States of the Federation legislate for each State respectively, the National Assembly makes laws for the FCT. Furthermore, while the States have their respective LGAs, the FCT has Area Councils.

Pursuant to the above, Section 299 of the Constitution expressly provides that the provisions of the Constitution shall apply to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as if it were one of the States of the Federation. Section 299 of the Constitution has received the judicial imprimatur of the full panel of the Supreme Court in FAWEHINMI & ORS v. BABANGIDA & ORS (2003) LPELR-1255 (SC).

Hence, each time the Draftsman intends to refer to the 36 States and FCT in the Constitution, it says “all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja (FCT)”, bearing in mind that the FCT has also been clothed with the toga of a State.

Having made the above clarification, the “and” as used by the Draftsman between “all the States of the Federation” and “the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja” in sub-paragraph (b) of Section 134(2) of the Constitution cannot be interpreted to mean that what applies to other States is inapplicable to FCT. Rather, it means that the FCT is on the same pedestal as the States of the Federation, even though it’s not a State properly so called.

So, the intention of the Draftsman as regards Section 134(2)(b) of the Constitution is that, the candidate, in addition to having the highest number of votes cast at the election, must also poll not less than one quarter (25%) of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation (36 States) and the FCT (a State kind of), thereby making it 25% of votes cast in at least 2/3 of 37 States. 2/3 of 37 is 24.6.

Drawing from the reasoning of the erudite jurist, Otutu Andrews Obaseki, JSC (of blessed memory), in the landmark decision of the full panel of the Supreme Court in AWOLOWO v. SHAGARI & ORS (1979) LPELR-653(SC), there’s nothing like 24.6 States, for a State is a geographical setting incapable of being divided.

Borrowing a leaf from the revered jurist, the construction that two-thirds of 37 States in the Federation (FCT inclusive) is 24.6 States may be correct in the abstract but in relation to the Constitution, it is impracticable. Where there are two possible meanings conveyed by the words of a statute or the Constitution, it is the most reasonable one that should be adopted. Where the other meaning leads to absurdity or evinces internal contradiction, that meaning should be dropped for the first as the legislature never intends to be absurd or contradictory.

The word ‘each’ in the sub-section (2)(b) of Section 134 qualifies a whole State and not a fraction of a State and to interpret it otherwise is to overlook the disharmony between the word “each” and the fraction “two thirds”. Two-thirds of thirty-seven (37), to avoid any disharmony, gives 25.

As a way of covering the base, the second school of thought contend that for a candidate to be declared winner, he must score 25% in the FCT (asides meeting other Constitutional requirements). If one agrees with this view, then it logically follows that if a candidate wins the entire 36 states of the Federation and polls the majority number of votes cast, if he fails to get 25% in FCT, then he cannot be declared winner. This cannot be the intendment of the Draftsmen, as the FCT cannot hold the entire nation to ransom.

So, once a candidate severally polls at least 25% of votes cast in at least 25 states, whether inclusive of FCT or not, he’s won the election so long he also has the majority of the votes cast all over the Federation.

3. The President of the NBA has given INEC 78-80% pass mark in the last presidential poll but some lawyers are wondering if the NBA was actually speaking for the bar. How do you react to this?

-The Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), as an assemblage of lawyers, has its elected members that makes decisions on its behalf, presently led by the President, Y. C Maikyau, SAN.

In relation to your question, the context in which the statement is given needs to be interrogated as it is to this effect that the statements of the president speak volumes as to the position of the professional body as a whole.

Before the General Elections, the NBA constituted an election monitoring committee to report their findings on the conduct of the elections back to the body.

However, several unverified reports from certain quarters have it that the President has not signed off on the report of the committee.

So, it is uncertain whether the president was voicing out his own personal opinion or expressing the content of report of the election monitoring committee when he gave INEC 78-80% pass mark in the last presidential poll. If it is the latter, then it can be said that the president spoke for the bar because he only relayed the report of what the committee found.

However, if it is the former, the president is entitled to its opinion which can sometimes project the view of the body. Nonetheless, each and every member of the bar has the right to their own opinion. And because of this right, members of the bar can have dissenting opinions on the conduct of the elections?

4. The judgment of the Supreme Court on Lawan v Machina appears to be unpopular given the facts of the case. But some lawyers are of the view that cases are not decided based on facts alone but also law. What is your perspective on this?

As a lawyer, it is regrettable to say that most of the negative comments targeted at the Supreme Court’s decision under reference are misconceived, particularly from the perspective of the law.

The Supreme Court only delivered judgement based on the case presented before them. And it is a sound judgement.

The concept of justice is not about a crying baby who runs to his sweet mother. Unlike the empathetic mother, the Supreme Court has the obligation to decide any matter based on its peculiarities.

To say in public, like some have been doing, that the judgement is ridiculous is contemptuous. A better appreciation of our justice system will reveal that what the Court considers is cold facts and not emotions.

If anyone should be blamed for the controversy this decision has generated, it is the political party, APC.

The whole world is aware that Ahmed Lawan participated in the APC presidential primaries. And pursuant to section 115(d) of the Electoral Act, a candidate cannot be nominated in two elections. So, it was the party that decided to forward Ahmed Lawan’s name to INEC. Ironically, Ahmed Lawan as the Senate president and other law makers created the Electoral Act, 2022.

Bashir Machina, feeling cheated, was within his right to recover his mandate. However, the facts of the case remains that the grouse of Bashir Machina deals with fraud and should have been instituted by way of Writ of Summons and not Originating Summons like Bashir Machina did.

Although the Federal High Court practice direction says that Pre-election matters be instituted by way of Originating Summons, the Supreme Court has held in a plethora of authorities that the Rules of Court supersedes a practice direction. And by the rules of Court, an allegation of fraud should be brought by way of Writ of Summons.

So, what the Supreme Court did regarding Machina’s case was to simply follow the law.