It was John Emerich Edward Dalberg – Action, (January 10, 1834 – June 19, 1902), better known as Lord Action, who gave the world one of its famous quotes: ‘’Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely’’. Lord Action was an English Catholic historian, liberal politician, and writer. A strong advocate for individual liberty, Action was best known for his observation on the dangers of concentrated authority.  It was in a 1887 letter to an Anglican Bishop that he famously wrote the above quote, underscoring his belief that unchecked power poses the greatest threat to human freedom.

That is what is presently playing out in Nigeria, where politicians are already planning, scheming, and making laws for their selfish ambitions. They arrogate so much power to themselves that institutions that are there to check their excesses have been crippled.

The floor of the Nigerian Senate witnessed one of such absurd moments recently, when Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, came up with a self-aggrandizing law for his self-preservation. This law has now been termed the ‘Akpabio Law’.

With more than a year to go before the expiration of the 10th Assembly, the special breed of Nigerian politicians are already scheming for positions ahead of the inauguration of the 11th Assembly.

According to the ‘Akpabio Law’, in the coming 11th Senate, nobody can be Senate President “unless he has been elected and served as a Senator for at least two full terms of eight years, one of which shall immediately precede such election.”

The amendment to the Senate Standing Rules also rewrote the pathways to other powerful offices in the Red Chamber. Order 4 provides that the nomination of Senators for presiding offices must strictly follow ranking. The order of ranking includes the former Senate President, former Deputy Senate President, former principal officers, Senators who have served at least one term, former members of the House of Representatives, and first-time Senators, where others are unavailable.

Order 5 goes further to state that no Senator shall be eligible to contest for any principal office unless he has served at least two consecutive terms immediately preceding nomination. The amendment effectively locks out incoming Senators who were not members of the 9th and 10th Assemblies from the race for Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Senate Leader, Chief Whip, Minority Leader, and other influential positions.

But the amendment had to be further amended barely 48 hours after the controversial session ended, as Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, came up with another amendment,  which, according to his wisdom, will address their putting the cart before the horse. “Election of the officers will have to take place as it has always been, before the swearing-in of Senators,” Opeyemi said, in explaining how they breached Section 52 of the 1999 Constitution while enacting the ‘Akpabio Law’. Of course, the ‘minor error’ was immediately corrected and the new rule still stands.

But to what end, one might ask? The law was simply put in place to allow Akpabio continue as Senate President beyond 2027. Here is a lawmaker that cannot predict what will happen in the next 24 hours, already scheming to retain his position beyond 2027. In his permutations, with the likelihood of President Bola Tinubu and his Vice, Kashim Shettima’s return to the Presidency in 2027, and with both politicians coming from the South west and North East respectively, the Senate President may remain in the South South or could be zoned to the South East if the region votes massively for the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

One powerful politician that is interested in the Senate Presidency is the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma. Uzodimma is a former Senator who represented the people of Orlu Federal Constituency between June 2011 and June 2019 before leaving to run for the office of Governor of Imo State. He, however, became Governor in 2020, after the Supreme Court nullified the election of the then-governor, Emeka Ihedioha, and declared him (who came fourth in the 2019 election) as the validly elected Governor of the state.

He was sworn in for a second term as Governor of Imo State on January 14, 2024, for another four-year term. Going by the spirit and letter of the constitution, his tenure of office would end in January 14, 2028, when he is expected to formally hand over to a new Governor. However, Uzodimma was again elected to represent the good people of Imo West Senatorial District in the 11th senate by APC members in his senatorial zone last week. If elected in next year’s general election, scheduled to hold in January, Uzodimma would be a state Governor and Senator-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at the same time.

Even before finishing eating the cake in his mouth as Governor of Imo, Uzodimma is already looking in the direction of the bean cake in the Senate. Nigerian politicians are indeed a special breed! How he is going to dribble the people of Imo state and the Nigerian Constitution in June next year when the 11th National Assembly is scheduled for inauguration is yet to be seen. He would have no option than to resign as Governor of Imo State seven months before the end of his tenure.

In this part of the world, we are okay with building strong individuals and not strong institutions. Uzodimma, since coming to national prominence, has portrayed himself as a politician with wide connections and contacts. Beyond his position in the APC hierarchy as Chairman of their Governors’ Forum, Uzodimma understands how the game of power is played in the Senate, where, as of today, he has spent more time than Akpabio. Again, Uzodimma is a politician you ignore to your own peril.

A strong politician notwithstanding, Uzodimma cannot simultaneously serve as both a State Governor and a Federal Senator. Section 183 of the 1999 constitution restricts a sitting Governor from holding any other executive or salaried office. Should he win the Senate election, he would have to resign his governorship before being sworn into the National Assembly in June next year. His Deputy would then be sworn in to complete the remainder of his governorship tenure. Once he is elected to the Senate, it is certain that Uzodimma would run for the Senate Presidency seat.

But the new Senate rule stands as a stumbling block to Uzodimma’s path to the Senate Presidency. It is probably in his interest and important to note that the Senate Standing Rules can be amended at any time. Indeed, the same standing rule was set aside for Akpabio to emerge as Minority Leader on July 28th, 2015, becoming a Principal Officer in the 8th Senate. Having left office as Akwa Ibom State Governor just a few weeks before, Akpabio had been nominated by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the position. But Kabir Marafa, then an APC Senator from Zamfara State, challenged the decision on the grounds that Akpabio was not qualified to be a Principal Officer in the Chamber as a first-time Senator, especially when the PDP had many returning (ranking) Senators who could fill the position.

Although Marafa cited the requisite provisions of the Senate Standing Rules to back his claim, he was immediately countered by then Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who insisted that it was an internal affair of the PDP and none of his (Marafa’s) business as an APC member. “If the ranking Senators cannot take the position for any reason, then the next level of ranking Senators can be considered,” Ekweremadu argued, while explaining that Akpabio was the only candidate the PDP would nominate for the office. To end the debate, then Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki told Marafa that since the PDP Senators were not complaining, he (Marafa) should “stop crying more than the bereaved.”

While both Akpabio and Uzodimma continue with their scheming ahead of the inauguration of the 11th National Assembly, they seem to have forgotten that they don’t have the power to determine what will happen in the next 24 hours. It is only God that has such power. Their cold political permutations have also brought out the old rivalry between politicians from the South South and their brothers in the South East.

The APC may be more at home in zoning the Senate Presidency to the South East in 2027, even if it is just to placate the region. Already, South South politicians are angry that Uzodimma is even planning to contest for the Senate Presidency against Akpabio, describing such a move as a great betrayal. They referenced the fact that during the Fourth Republic, when the Senate Presidency was zoned to the South East, South South Senators refrained from contesting, thereby showing good faith to their fellow South East brothers. By so doing, the South South politicians are claiming that they have shown restraint and loyalty, ceding opportunities in the spirit of unity.

They are now of the view that if Uzodimma or any other politician from the South East comes out in the 11th Senate to contest the Senate Presidency seat with Akpabio, it would be seen as proof that the region learned nothing from history and remains willing to sacrifice its closest ally for short-term gain.

It is quite sad that the ambition of two politicians is now generating tension amongst their people. At present, nobody is talking about the capacity of these politicians to do right for the people of Nigeria. Akapbio is spending his 7th year in the Upper Chamber. Nigerians would like to know what he has done in improving their lot. Uzodimma spent eight years in the Senate. He should as well list his contributions to the growth and development of the people of Nigeria for the records.

They should both come out to canvass for support by telling Nigerians the legislations they put in place that tackled unemployment, job creation, youth engagement, and the development of youths, women, children, the vulnerable, and the elderly. Making laws for their own selfish interest shows how low we have sunk as a nation.

See you next week.

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As if that was not enough, I did not hear any noise or dirges when Brigadier-General, dozens of soldiers were slaughtered like they had no wives, children or parents. Encouraged, terrorists took out a Colonel, Commanding Officer and more gallant soldiers. Nobody cited their fundamental human rights. They signed up for the job, they must have rationalised. But such sudden departures, amputation without anaesthesia of dreams are always painful irrespective of the job you signed up for. It doesn’t matter whether you are a trader at a market shut down five years ago or a soldier trapped in an armoured tank with a dead engine.

We should mourn, mourn wisely, mourn decently.

They said it was accidental.

A bomb meant for shadows fell on a market full of mothers, traders, children—people whose only crime was showing up for life. Somewhere between Borno State and Yobe State, grief rose like smoke again, stubborn, familiar, Nigerian.

And as we mourn, as we shake our heads and count the dead in whispers, a harder question pushes through the silence:

What kind of people hide terrorists?

What kind of people trade with them?

Let me answer you with a story. Not from the headlines, but from the old paths our grandmothers walked—where stories did not just entertain, they warned.

We must kill this snake before it kills Nigeria. That is why I’m suspicious of those who insist this monster-deity has fundamental rights. As how now?

Long before asphalt roads and security briefings, there was a quiet town called Aduke-Oke, named after a powerful priestess and healer.

It sat between two forests. One gave fruit. The other gave fear.

The people of Aduke-Oke were farmers, traders, hunters. They slept with their doors open. Goats wandered into neighbours’ compounds and came back fat. Trust was their currency.

Until the night the forest changed.

At first, it was whispers, suspicion discussed in hushed tones.

Travellers spoke of men who did not farm but ate, men who did not invest but came to collect dividends. They came at night and left tears behind.

Bandits. Thieves. Agbalowomeeri, the ones who snatched from the poor had taken over.

The Baale (village head) sent the town-crier out. ‘Do not leave a snake on your roof, it will find its way into your bedchamber. A snake is wicked even when it looks tiny and harmless. No matter what these snatchers tell you, do not let them live in your hut. Do not trade with them or accept their gifts.

Everyone nodded and agreed with Baale.

Everyone… except Akanmu.

Akanmu was not poor. That is what makes this story bitter. He had land. He had barns. He had wives who cooked steaming meals and many children. Pounded yam and bush meat were not just for festive occasions. It was just dinner.

But Akanmu had a hunger that his large farms could not satisfy—the hunger for more, irrespective of the source of that more.

So when the bandits came—not with guns blazing but with quiet requests,  Akanmu listened.

“We need food,” they said.

“We will pay.”

Not coins. Not naira.

Gold.

And when evil pays, it pays well. It spoils his victim until he loses his sense of reasoning and decency.

At first, Akanmu only sold them yams. Then goats. Then information.

“Which houses are wealthy?”

“Who just sold harvest?”

“Which road has no vigilantes?”

Akanmu knew everything and Akanmu said everything.

Soon Aduke-Oke began to bleed.

One market day, the bandits struck.

They did not come for Akanmu’s house. No.

‘A kii fi omo ore bo ore.’

He was one of the bandits now so his compound had immunity.  The monster refused to eat the man feeding him.

The thieves came for the market.

Women were dragged. Men were beaten. Goods were stolen. A boy who tried to run did not get far.

The village cried. The elders cursed the forest, then prayed to the ancestors.

Akanmu, as an untouchable, counted his gold with his wives in the hut.

While the village buried its dead, Akanmu built a bigger barn, acquired more land.

He became “Oloye Akanmu”.

People greeted him with forced smiles and quiet suspicion because no one really could swear with facts.

Soon, the monster finished its regular victims but it was still hungry. As the Yorubas say, when what we enjoy eating finishes, the things we used to ignore should get ready to be eaten.

The bandits grew bolder. Why wouldn’t they? Someone was feeding them. Someone was guiding them. Their heartless partners profited from the blood and gore.

One night, they came again but this time, they did not go to the market.

They went to Akanmu’s compound.

Perhaps greed made them careless, perhaps evil does not keep loyalty.

Perhaps karma finally found the road to an evil man’s hut.

They broke his doors, scattered his barns and carted away his gold. Even when Akanmu shouted, “I am your friend!”

They laughed.

Friend?

A man who betrays his own people is not anybody’s friend. He is a tool and tools can be discarded when they have outlived their usefulness.

By daybreak, Akanmu’s compound was smoke and silence, and ghost of its once bubbly self. Well, the bubble had burst. One wife was gone. The second wife was groaning in the throes of childbirth, unattended. Another lay wounded.

His children, those barefoot, laughing children, were all cowering in their mothers’ huts. The village gathered, not in anger this time, but in cold understanding.

The elders did not curse him.

They simply said, “The snake has found its keeper.”

Akanmu was not killed that day. No. He lived. That was his punishment. He died in instalments. The gods ensured his shame. Both those who feared him and the ones who called him Baba Oloye watched him from afar as he sat in the ruins of what greed built.

To remember every warning he ignored.

To know that the evil he fed had finally learned his name and was calling him nonstop.

Now, let’s return to our reality.

What kind of people hide terrorists?

They are not always poor.

They are not always forced.

Sometimes, they are Akanmu.

People who just profit from evil. They sell food to killers, give shelter to destroyers.

They trade information for profit, knowing that their decisions would cause death of many. They are feeding babies and pregnant women to monsters. They collect money to kill our soldiers. They send their children to private universities with money made from increasing the number of widows and widowers.

They sit among us. They smile with us. They mourn with us.

And then they return to the shadows to feed the very fire that will one day burn our roofs, our hopes, our dreams.

Here’s the bitter truth Nigeria must face.

Terrorism does not survive on guns alone. It survives on information from insiders, supplies from enablers, silence from communities.

Every terrorist hiding in the forest has a friend in town, parents who know his ways are not pure, wives or side-chicks who profit from his blood and sorrow enterprise.

We can continue to mumble “It is not my business.” But is our business, our pain, our losses, our disappearing nation. Like Akanmu, like that market between Borno State and Yobe State where innocent lives were lost not just to a bomb but to a long chain of complicity we refuse to break.

It is easy to blame government, to blame soldiers, the system. However, let us ask ourselves: who is feeding the snake? A terrorist in the bush is dangerous but a collaborator in the village? That one is deadlier. The snake Nigeria and its terrorists sympathisers, banditry rationalisers and sponsors have fed over the years has become a monster-deity demanding the flesh of army generals and blood of Colonels. It is no longer satisfied with staying in its grove, it wants new territories, daily sacrifice.

We must kill this snake before it kills Nigeria. That is why I’m suspicious of those who insist this monster-deity has fundamental rights. As how now?

*Egbemode (egbemode3@gmail.com)

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The post The town that fed a snake, By Funke Egbemode appeared first on Frontpageng.

There is an old Yoruba adage that has guided the conduct of elders across generations: “Eni tó mọ́ ayé rẹ̀, kì í fi àgbára rẹ̀ kọja ààlà t’ẹlòmíràn.” Loosely translated, this means that “He who knows his worth (or place) in the world does not use his power to exceed the boundaries of another.”

It is a proverb about propriety. About the wisdom of knowing where one’s authority ends. I invoke it today for one man, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, Senate Majority Leader, son of Ekiti, and increasingly, uninvited stakeholder in the internal politics of Ogun State.

A video has been circulating on social media capturing the Senate Majority Leader on a phone call, canvassing support for Senator Solomon Adeola Olamilekan, declaring him the next Governor of Ogun State

The next Governor of Ogun State. I want every reader to hold those words. Bamidele is from Ekiti. He does not represent Ogun state. He was not elected by Ogun state people. He carries no mandate from Ogun state. And he has taken it upon himself to decide who shall govern it.

This is, I must stress, not his first offence. Weeks earlier, he made an ill-advised pilgrimage to Ogun West, where he delivered what he dressed up as an intellectual paper, a document whose true purpose was the promotion of Yayi’s gubernatorial ambitions. He went further, forwarding excerpts to the Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Engr. Noimot Salako-Oyedele, a woman of standing and institutional loyalty to Governor Prince Dapo Abiodun, presumably expecting her gratitude.

He received something else entirely. The Deputy Governor told him, without equivocation that he was meddling in a state that was none of his business. That Prince Dapo Abiodun is undoubtedly the number one leader of the APC in Ogun state.  Her response has since passed into the political vocabulary of the Southwest: “Thanks, but no thanks.”

That rebuke caused a furore of course. A lesser man might have taken the hint. Senator Bamidele doubled down. The video is his written confession.

I am not interested in reducing this to personal grievance. What Senator Bamidele is doing is structurally dangerous. In a federation as layered and combustible as ours, the internal democratic processes of state-level politics are sacred territory. They are where communities negotiate identity, where local voices decide their own futures. When a federal lawmaker, particularly one wielding the gravitas of the Senate’s second-highest office, inserts himself into those processes, he corrupts the ecosystem. He transforms a conversation that should belong to the people of Ogun state into a transaction brokered in Abuja, weighted with federal patronage and the silent threat of federal leverage.

History instructs us here. The electoral controversies of 1983 were, in no small measure, the harvest of exactly this kind of external imposition, powerful men reaching across borders, anointing candidates, overriding the democratic instincts of communities. Nigeria has paid, and continues to pay the price of that refusal to learn. Senator Bamidele is not deploying thugs. I grant him that. The principle, I am afraid, remains identical: influence exercised beyond the boundaries of one’s democratic mandate is an assault on democratic sovereignty, however it is dressed.

Let me be precise on one point. This is not an attack on Yayi as a person. Every Nigerian citizen has the constitutional right to aspire to any office. If Senator Olamilekan wishes to be Governor of Ogun State, that conversation belongs to the people of Ogun state and they are fully equipped to have it. What I insist upon is this, the questions that surround any aspiring governor are the sovereign property of the electorate, not the Senate Majority Leader from another state. The people of Ogun West will ask whether this man’s roots in their soil run deep enough. They will probe his temperament, his humility, the texture of his connection to the state he wishes to govern. They will want to know whether he has earned that right, through service, through sacrifice, through presence or whether he arrives wearing the endorsement of Abuja like a borrowed garment.

The endorsement of a Senate Majority Leader from Ekiti confers no legitimacy on any Ogun state governorship aspirant. If anything, it raises a question that demands an answer, what exactly is the transaction underpinning this extraordinary level of enthusiasm?

The people of Ogun State have watched Senator Bamidele invest political capital at a scale disproportionate even to close friendship, in a candidate whose ancestral connection to Ogun State remains, to put it charitably, a matter of legitimate public inquiry.

Ogun State people are drawing conclusions. And Nigerians, contrary to the comfortable assumption of the powerful keep political ledgers with extraordinary precision. The Ekitinization of Ogun State’s politics will not stand. I daresay.

But of course, this matter demands the President’s attention. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu whose own political biography is sewn into the fabric of Southwest politics, who understands as well as any living Nigerian the volatility of intra-party dynamics in these states carries both the authority and the obligation to act.

A Senate Majority Leader is among the most senior political officers in our federal architecture. His public interventions do not land as those of a private citizen. They arrive carrying the weight of federal authority, whether or not he intends them to. When that officer is caught on video campaigning for a gubernatorial candidate in a state he was never elected to represent, he is lending federal gravitational pull to a local political contest. Unchecked, this is the kind of precedent that quietly dismantles the principle of state sovereignty within our federation.

I call on Mr. President to call Senator Bamidele to order, firmly, and without ambiguity. The APC’s leadership in Ogun State, under Governor Dapo Abiodun, possesses both the standing and the mandate to manage its own succession. That process deserves to proceed on its own democratic terms, free from the suffocating weight of external enthusiasm dressed as fraternity.

Senator Bamidele is a man of evident intelligence. He did not ascend to his position by accident. He understands power. And it is precisely because he understands power that I address him directly: political goodwill, once lost to overreach, is extraordinarily difficult to recover. The people of Ogun State are watching. The APC leadership in Ogun is watching. The Southwest is watching.

Ogun is not Ekiti. It has never been Ekiti. And with the vigilance of its people and the integrity of its democratic instincts, it will not be remade in any other state’s image.

Senator Bamidele should leave Ogun State alone. Let this state breathe its own political air. Let its people decide their own future. Let its democracy function on its own terms. And let him return with urgency and with contrition to the magnificent, unfinished business of serving the people who actually sent him to Abuja.

Because the people of Ogun State will speak, in their own time and on their own terms. When they do, that voice will carry the full weight of democratic authority, the one authority that no Senate Majority Leader, from Ekiti or anywhere else, has ever had the power to override.

*Animashaun is a concerned citizen of Ogun State and writes via yinkaanimashaun@gmail.com

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The post The unsolicited crusade of Bamidele Opeyemi and the sovereignty of Ogun State appeared first on Frontpageng.

The proviso indicates that presiding officers can transmit results electronically, but if the system fails, they can use Form EC8A as a backup.

This development followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by the Senate Leader, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele (APC-Ekiti) at plenary on Tuesday.

The bill was passed after a clause-by-clause consideration.

Bamidele, in the motion entitled: “Motion for Rescission and Re-Commital,” said the Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal and Enactment) Bill, 2026 was duly considered and passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives.

He said upon further critical review of the bill as passed, it was observed that the 360-day notice requirement prescribed in Clause 28 might result in the scheduling of the 2027 presidential and national assembly elections within the period of Ramadan.

He said that the coincidence of the elections with the Ramadan period could adversely affect voters’ turnout.

According to him, it can also affect logistical coordination, stakeholder engagement and the overall inclusiveness and credibility of the electoral process.

He said upon painstaking scrutiny of the bill, discrepancies were identified in the Long Title and Clauses 6, 9, 10, 22, 23, 28, 29, 32, 42, 47, 51, 60, 62, 64, 65, 73, 77, 86, 87, 89, 93 and 143.

That, he said, affected other clauses of the bill, including issues relating to cross-referencing, serial numbering and internal consistency.

Bamidele said that a technical committee comprising the leadership of both chambers, members of the conference committee, clerks of both chambers and legal drafting experts from Directorate of Legal Services of the National Assembly met to harmonise and address the identified anomalies.

He said that there was the need to ensure that electoral timelines and statutory provisions promote maximum participation, fairness, inclusivity, administrative efficiency and public confidence in the electoral system.

The senate leader said that the upper chamber resolved to rescind its decision on the bill out of its desire to correct the identified inconsistencies and unintended consequences through appropriate legislative action.

He added that the decision was also aimed at safeguarding the integrity of the electoral framework and relying on the provisions of Orders 1(b) and 53(6) of the Senate Standing Orders (as amended).

“The senate accordingly resolves to: rescind its decision on the electoral act, 2022 repeal and enactment bill, 2026 as previously passed; and re-commit the bill to the Committee of the Whole for comprehensive reconsideration and necessary amendments,” he said.

In spite of the rescission of amendment and re- enactment of bill, the earlier approved clause 60(3) was still retained alongside its proviso.

The clause earlier passed by the senate had mandated electronic transmission of election results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s, INEC, Result Viewing Portal, IReV, but with conditions.

According to the clause, results shall be transmitted electronically after the prescribed Form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and party agents.

However, if electronic transmission fails due to communication issues, the result contained in Form EC8A signed by the presiding officer and or countersigned by polling agents shall be the primary source of collation and declaration of results.

Before the passage, Sen. Enyinaya Abaribe (APGA-Abia), during the clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, had raised a point of order in response to clause 60(3), calling for division to vote on the clause.

However, Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin (APC-Kano), said it would be out of order to raise a point of order on a matter that had been concluded, saying that the senate had concluded on the clause in the previous passage of the bill.

Barau was, however, shouted down by some opposition lawmakers.

Bamidele, however, saved the controversy which was already degenerating into a shouting brawl, when he interjected, saying: “Abaribe’s point of order calling for a division was in order.”

The majority leader said that his motion on rescission of the passed bill was in the overriding public interest and to preserve the integrity of the senate.

He said that the call for division by Abaribe was in order and consistent with his motion, which was for new legislative input on the earlier passed electoral bill by the senate.

The senate, thereafter, went into division to decide on the proviso on clause 60(3), which eventually received the support of the majority of the lawmakers who are of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The lawmakers who voted in support of the proviso were 55, while those who were not in support were 15.

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, in his remarks, thanked the senators for their act of patriotism, saying that their action was display of democracy.

“I thank particularly those who had the courage to stand up and answer their fathers’ names by showing so much courage to vote against the proviso in clause 63(3).

“You showed overwhelming courage; you were able to prove democracy at work.

“I also want to thank those who voted for the proviso to remain, that you have saved democracy by making sure that we don’t go on continuous re-runs and repeat of elections.

“I want to also thank the senate for introducing electronic transmission of polling unit results through the portal to the IReV.

“This will now make it possible for even monitors, including foreigners who monitor our results, who are not able to visit the 176,000 polling units in Nigeria, to see the polling unit results dropping into the IReV.

“This is a major innovation since 1960. With this, senate’s stance should be applauded. I thank you for your innovation that we should undertake this.

“This will enable all the political parties to protect the results of their candidates. Congratulations to all for ensuring a smooth election in 2027,” Akpabio said.

Source: NAN

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The post Senate re-passes Electoral Act amendment Bill, retains proviso on Clause 60(3) appeared first on Frontpageng.

This followed the adoption of a motion moved by the Senate Leader, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele, at the plenary on Thursday, after a closed-door executive session that lasted for one hour.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, shortly before the motion for the adjournment was seconded by the Minority Leader, Sen. Abba Moro (PDP-Benue), said that the adjournment marked the end of the current legislative year.

Akpabio said that the Senate was only suspending plenary activities, directing all ad hoc and other standing committees to conclude their work on pending reports, ahead of resumption.

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He charged the committees to make effective use of the two-month break to conclude their assignments for legislative consideration and adoption upon resumption.

The Senate president also urged lawmakers to use the recess period to inspect projects in their respective senatorial districts and across the country.

The senators are expected to be in Jos on Friday for the burial of the wife of one of their colleagues, Sen. Diket Plang.

Source: NAN

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MUSWEN made this advocacy, during the Senate Zonal Public Hearing (South West) on the Review of the 1999 constitution, in Ikeja, the Lagos State capital, on Saturday, 5th July, 2025.

The organization in its memorandum submitted at the hearing, strengthen its position, by citing section 38 of the 1999 Constitution, which provides for freedom of religion, while section 42 outlaws any form of discrimination, either in terms of religion, age, gender, language or tribe.

MUSWEN which was represented by the trio of Tajudeen Balogun, Safiyullah Oladipupo and Abdul Jeleel Olayinka insisted that Shariah and regular courts should co-exist in every State of the Federation.

The organisation said the government had an obligation to provide for the accessibility of right to justice for all citizens, Muslims or otherwise, stressing that there were certain aspects of a Muslim’s life which cannot be provided for or protected by the conventional courts.

“Instances are marriage, divorce, inheritance, zakat, etc. Thus, Shariah Courts as well as Shariah Courts of Appeal should be provided in all States, so as to make law and justice accessible to everyone, regardless of where they may reside or their religion,” it said.

MUSWEN asserted that squeezing Islamic personal law through the inhomogeneous procedural mechanism of the customary court would only be tantamount to forcing a square peg into a round hole – a manifest misfit, hence, the Supreme Court, has, “in plethora of cases, laid to rest, all the contentions around analogousness or otherwise of Islamic and customary laws.”

It noted that late Justice of Supreme Court, Niki Tobi’s (a devout Christian) position on Shariah was instructive.

The late jurist affirmed: “Islamic law, unlike customary law, is written.  Islamic law is rigid, precise with divine ossification and rigidity. There is no basis for any speculation or conjecture as in the case of customary law. The acceptability of Islamic law is a divine command by Almighty Allah and therefore spontaneous on the part of all Muslims. Islamic law therefore does not depend on its acceptability by Muslims because that is taken for granted. Any person who disobeys the divine words of the Quran cannot call himself a Muslim. Such a person is not with Allah and will be regarded as an unbeliever.”

MUSWEN in its memorandum, on Federal structure and devolution of power, pointed out that the Exclusive list is overburdened with 68 matters to legislate on, recommending that the federal government should devolve more powers to Regions and States and Section 2(2) of the constitution should recognize six zones if not regions, in line with the already established six geo-political zones.

“Each zone or region should have control over the resources within the States constituting the Region or zone subject to maximum profit of 30% royalty to the Federal Government.

“Consequently, MUSWEN is of the view that because mineral resources are spread across all parts of the country, the provision of Section 140 of the repealed 1963 Constitution is hereby recommended” which according to section 140(1) provides: “There shall be paid by the Federation to each Region a sum equal to fifty per cent of; The proceeds of any royalty received by the Federation in respect of any minerals extracted in that Region; and any mining rents derived by the Federation from within that Region.”

MUSWEN also advocated for local government autonomy, citing section 7 of the 1999 Constitution which recommends that the local government system should be amended, to include autonomy of local governments under the respective States.

On the rights of women, MUSWEN, while making reference to several Quranic verses, declared that the use of Hijab is in line with the right to religion provided in Section 38 of the Constitution, adding that discrimination against Muslim women and girls either at work place, school or other public places is a violation and contradiction to Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution.

“It is therefore strongly recommended that the Constitution be strengthened to protect the Muslim women against discrimination, particularly with regards to dressing and the use of hijab, either in schools, work places and/or public offices,” MUSWEN demanded.

On the right to qualitative education, MUSWEN submitted: “Thus, the issue of education should be taken from Section 18 of the 1999 Constitution and moved to Chapter 4 of the Constitution. This will ensure that qualitative education is provided at all levels in public education institutions by mandating managers of public education institutions (i.e. MDAs in the education sector) to compulsorily patronize public schools.

This will ensure adequate funding, monitoring and evaluation of public provision of education in Nigeria”.

The organization also advocated that public offices should be held in high esteem as the occupants require some level of intelligence, zeal and commitment to be able to govern their constituents adequately.

It posited that having basic education as a qualification, to an extent, ensured that the public office holders had the necessary level of intelligence.

Consequently, it called for a minimum of first University degree or Higher National Diploma (HND) as a pre-requisite for all aspirants vying for the offices of President and Governor, the legislative houses, including Chairman and Councilor of Local Governments.

In addition, it called for amendment of S65(2)(a), S106(c), S131(d), S177(d), of the constitution, so as to ensure that a minimum of first degree or its equivalent is met for qualification of election to the offices of President, Governor, member of National Assembly and member of State Houses of Assembly.

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Earlier, the Senate Leader and Chairman of the hearing, Opeyemi Bamidele assured all stakeholders who presented, that their memoranda would be given due attention and consideration, adding that that was the reason he clamoured diverse advocacy – for critical amendment to the constitution.

In his remarks at the hearing, the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Justice, Lawal Pedro, (SAN) applauded the Senate’s Fiscal reforms bill, affirming that it aligned with the Supreme Court judgement, with respect to admission of funds to the local government areas and abolition of State-Local government joint account.

Pedro observed: “Policy decisions in many instances contradict the plain language of the Supreme Court judgement, using ordinary interpretation of the constitution, particularly by section 1,6, 2; 5 and 6.

“We have the opportunity to align with the constitution, with respect to the decision of the Supreme Court, so that there won’t be inconsistency.”

Alternatively, Pedro charged the Senate to restate the position of the constitution; better still, the National Assembly proclaimed the Supreme Court ruling as the legislative constitution.

The Commissioner also tasked the Senate to have a second look at the inconsistency observed in the bills, calling for more power to be vested on the States’ Independent Electoral Commission and another version advocating for creation of the national local government electoral commission.

On creation of Local Council Development Areas, from the parents’ local government councils, Pedro affirmed that the 1979 provided for such, with the relevant judgement, saying that the 1999 constitution is responsible for the present controversies.

The senior Legal head, while speaking on judiciary reforms charged that the necessary review be made, so as to avoid the Court of Appeal be turned to trial court of the election petitions, as well as to check the vacuum, always created by the elevation of the presiding officers from the lower courts, such as customary and magistrate courts, to higher courts.

In his presentation at the hearing, the Chairman, Conference of Speakers of State Houses of Assembly (South West), Hon. Adeoye Stephen Aribasoye raised concern on the irregularities that characterize sack of Presiding Officers.

Against this background, Aribasoye who is the Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly said the Conference would work on standard conditions and make it available to the Constitution Review Committee – so as to avoid arbitrary removal of officers, just like in the cases of Governor and President.

The Ekiti lawmaker pointed out that another challenge was the situation where the sitting Governor declined to inaugurate and proclaim a House of Assembly, sequel to stalemate between him and members.

He therefore proposed a constitutional amendment, where power to inaugurate and proclaim a legislative house, is relinquished from the Governor and vested on the Clerk of the House.

The Saturday hearing featured presentation of memoranda from MUSWEN, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, Lagos State Chapters; National Council of Women Society, NCWS; Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, different youth and Students’ Union bodies, Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, as well as bills clamouring for creation of Lagoon, Ijebu, Ibadan, Oko Ogun, Ogbomoso States.

Senators who participated in the exercise on Saturday included: the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti Central); Banigo Harry (Rivers West); Shuaib Afolabi Salisu (Ogun Central); Abdul Fatai Buhari (Oyo North); Olamilekan Solomon (Ogun West); Wasiu Eshilokun (Lagos Central); Idiat Adebule (Lagos West); Tokunbo Abiru (Lagos East) and Adeyemi Adaramodu (Ekiti South).

The session was also graced by the royal fathers from different South West states.

The public hearing held simultaneously in the six geo-political zones of the country, from Friday up until Saturday.

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Behind a house we lived at Imalefalafia, Ibadan, in the 70s was a white garment church run by a woman everyone simply called Iya Adura. On the church wall, visible through the window, was a portrait showing her beside the familiar image of Jesus. As kids, we truly believed she had gone to heaven and posed for a photo with Christ.

From what I remember, she was unmarried but had a son and a surplus of affection for children. She handed out sweets and coins like she had a divine budget line for neighbourhood PR.

I got biscuits from her just once. Just once. I almost went blind in both eyes from the speed and precision of the slaps my mother delivered when I told her where it came from. She did not shout; she did not scold. Just… Gbosa! Gbosa! Her opinion of Iya Adura’s strain of Christianity was not just dim, but pitch-black.

Iya Adura’s church was a marvel. Around it were odd little flower beds lined with white stones and wooden crosses labelled “Jah Eli” or maybe “Eli Jah”. Beneath those crosses were globs of melted wax.

There was always incense. Thick, choking clouds of it. Enough to asphyxiate a whole local government area. The smoke curled through the air like it was hunting demons.

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Compared to the churches I hopped between as a child, her church was outer space. I was a bit of a church playboy at the time, through no fault of mine. I attended Methodist, Baptist, Apostolic Faith, Anglican, and briefly, CAC. Anywhere my neighbours or friends went. But even in that wild rotation, CAC stood out, mostly for their cruel commitment to marathon services and Omi Adura (holy water). I found it iffy and never drank it. Not even once. I’d rather drink muddy water.

Still, as I grew older and more curious, I paid closer attention to the white garment movement and realised that the white garment folks did not just take liberty with the Gospel, but a full-blown sabbatical. Somewhere between Genesis and Revelation, they took a detour into African Traditional Religion territory, added a splash of candle wax, a shot of coconut water and decided that was their ministry.

What do they need flickering candles for? Are they baking a cake for the Holy Ghost’s birthday. Red, blue, white like spiritual traffic lights. Yet, nowhere in my light-weight Bible study did I see Apostle Paul say, “Light seven candles and spin around three times for deliverance.” But that’s the Standard Operating Procedure.

Then there is the holy soap and perfumes. If Jesus needed a scented Asepso or ST soap bar to cast out demons, the Gospel writers clearly forgot to jot it down.

And what’s with the uniforms? Everyone in white or sometimes red and blue. Does heaven have a dress code and would not admit anyone in denim or brocade? Apparently, the Holy Spirit needs help distinguishing between the sanctified and the secular and Ankara confuses Him. This is my berserk conclusion.

I used to frequent the Bar Beach back when it was place of revelry with all-night pubs. Hedonists shared the place with white garment folks doing midnight to 3 a.m. prayer sessions, with prophets yelling into waves and the faithful in ankle-deep water. Jesus walked on water, but He did not turn the Sea of Galilee into a 3 a.m. prayer bootcamp. Are angels only available at saltwater locations during off-peak hours?

Some prophets even turn divine intervention into a bizarre shopping list brimming with “bring three pigeons, a bottle of olive oil, ₦500 recharge card, a white ram and two yards of lace” to have deliverance from spirit husband, wife, ogun idile et al. That sounds to me like they are mixing Leviticus with JAMB requirements.

The spiritual baths in rivers? Unless all the supervising prophets suffer from ED, baths involving women must have stretched into other territories there or elsewhere.

Salt, coconut, 3 a.m. baths, candles? None of these is found in the Bible and do not form part of the teachings of Christ. So how did they slip in? Who approved the spiritual syllabus?

It cannot be ordinary eye.

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This followed the presentation and consideration of the report of the Senate Ad hoc Committee on Oversight of Emergency Rule in Rivers.

Making the presentation, Chairman of the Committee and Senate Leader, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele said that for the record, emergency rule is not a substitute for democratic governance in any political climate.

“Rather, it is an extraordinary constitutional measure intended to restore order in times of disorder, promote peace in periods of conflict and ensure stability where there is instability.”

He said that the invocation of emergency rule in Rivers was not an arbitrary action, as some had alleged, but one rooted firmly in the provision of section 305 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“As you are all aware, these provisions legitimately empower both the President and the National Assembly to act in the interest of national stability and constitutional governance.

“Neither the President nor the National Assembly has violated any constitutional provision in the maintenance of national security.

“With respect to the former or specifically in the exercise of our oversight powers guided by the 1999 Constitution to prevent executive absolutism.

“It is upon this premise that the Senate, under the leadership of Sen. Godswill Akpabio deemed it necessary to constitute this ad-hoc committee.

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“To oversight the implementation of the State of emergency rule in Rivers.

“In line with Section 11(4) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), the National Assembly is constitutionally empowered to make laws necessary for the peace order and good governance of any state.

“This is where the House of Assembly is unable to perform its legislative functions due to prevailing circumstances. This provision directly applies to Rivers,” he said.

Bamidele further said that the committee observed that the 2025 Rivers Appropriation Bill is consistent with the objectives of the emergency rule.

He added that this as it sought to stabilise governance and ensure the continuity of essential public service in the state.

The senate leader said that 72 per cent of the budget was allocated to capital projects which is aimed at driving economic recovery and enhancing public sector efficiency.

He said: “N50 billion provision has been made in the current budget proposal to address the backlog of pensions gratuity which is estimated at N147 billion”.

Contributing, Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau commended the chairman of the committee and the members on a good job.

“There is proof that he is actually the leader of the Senate because of the quality of the report.

“There is nothing one can hide here. It is well structured, properly put together and produced in the best manner possible.”

Similarly, Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Sen. Solomon Adeola said, “I looked at the recommendation of the committee and I could see that from the observation, the budget is well structured with 72 per cent of this budget due to capital expenditure.

“It is highly commendable. That shows that the interim government in Rivers is committed to delivering dividends of democracy to the community.”

In his remarks, President of the Senate, Akpabio said “let me thank the leader of the Senate and all the members of the committee that worked on this.

“For especially, expeditiously doing this for the good people of Rivers and by extension, Nigeria.

“I pray that when these projects are executed, they will bring more dividends of democracy to the good people of Rivers and lead to peace, development and prosperity.”

Source: NAN

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He said this during plenary on Tuesday, while justifying the defection of all the three Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, senators from Kebbi to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Bamidele noted that the ruling party “is now running a government of national unity.”

Bamidele spoke in the presence of the APC National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje; Governor of Kebbi, Alhaji Nasir Idris and APC National Organising Secretary, Alhaji Sulaiman Argungu, among others, who were at the chamber.

Those who defected are Sen. Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central), Sen. Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North) and Sen. Garba Maidoki (Kebbi South).

Bamidele noted that their defection was based on the overriding public interest and had nothing to do with turning Nigeria into a one-party state.

According to him, the ruling party will not close its doors to anyone intending to join the party.

“In the same way, we will not also discriminate against anyone either on the basis of religion, tribe or any other factor. Our doors will continue to be open for more people to join at all levels.

“In the meantime, we will continue to work with the members of the minority political parties.

“It is not by sheer coincidence that virtually all political parties from the Young Progressives Party, YPP, to the Peoples Democratic Party have to join the ruling APC.

“Even APGA, which has not joined the ruling party, has also graciously nominated and donated a minister of state to the Federal Government of Nigeria under the APC administration.

“That is to say, what we are now running is a government of national unity,” he said.

Bamidele specifically commended the defectors for their decision to join the ruling APC while reflecting on how the PDP was coercing members of the opposition parties to defect to its fold when it was in government at the federal level.

He said: “We were all in this country when PDP was the ruling party. We saw all the things that happened under the PDP in an attempt to get more states, more seats in the Senate and more seats in the House of Representatives.

“We are not at the polls. No one is being coerced.

“If anyone is coerced, the person is definitely not Sen. Adamu Aliero. All of us know that the person cannot be Sen. Yahaya Abdullahi that will be co-opted.

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“Neither will Sen. Garba Maidoki with a stint in the private sector before he ventured into politics will defect to APC without clear conviction.

“As far as we are concerned, Sen. Yahaya Abdullahi that I know will rather stay in opposition and be very loud.

“They all recognise that this is not the time for grandstanding. This is the time for all of us to work together to take Nigeria to the next level.

“One of the defectors has been privileged to be the governor of Kebbi, precisely from 1999 to 2007”.

“For us in APC, this is a wonderful development. For those who are keenly watching political developments, rest assured that at the end of the day, this can only be for the good and greatness of Nigeria.

“To the rest of our colleagues on the minority isle, we will continue to work together for the progress of Nigeria.

“I say it again for the umpteenth time. Those who refer to this parliament as a rubber stamp parliament should note that we are at a very critical stage of our national life when all hands must be on deck.”

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The announcement of the inauguration of the committee was made on Tuesday by President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.

The Senate President said the setting up of the committee was necessary to oversight the functions of the Sole Administrator and the Rivers State Government under emergency rule.

According to him, Senate Leader, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele, will chair the committee and joined by the the Deputy Minority Whip, Sen. Rufai Hanga.

Other members are: Sen. Adamu Aliero (PDP- Kebbi), Sen. Osita Izunaso (APC-Imo), Sen. Osita Ngwu (PDP-Enugu), Sen. Kaka Shehu (APC-Borno), Sen. Aminu Abbas (PDP-Adamawa) and Sen. Adetokunbo Abiru (APC-Lagos).

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Sen. Adeniyi Adegbonmire (APC-Ondo), Sen. Sani Musa (APC-Niger), Sen. Simon Lalong (APC-Plateau), Sen. Asuquo Ekpeyong (APC-Cross River), Sen. Adams Oshiomhole (APC-Edo) are also members.

The remaining members are: Sen. Ireti Kingibe (LP-FCT), Sen. Onyekachi Nwaenboyi (APC-Ebonyi), Sen. Idiat Adebule (APC-Lagos), Sen. Ede Dafinone (APC-Delta) and Sen. Mohamed Maidori (APC-Jigawa), while Mr Charles Bala will serve as the Clerk/Secretary of the committee.

Akpabio said “If there is need to review, it will be after further consultations with our colleagues. But in the meantime, they have to get to work immediately.”

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