Politics
Frank Knocks Buhari, APC Over Onnoghen
Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, has stated that the planned arraignment of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) is meant to anoint another CJN who would help legitimize President Muhammadu Buhari’s second tenure at the Supreme Court.
Frank, in a statement in Abuja on Saturday, condemned the haste and the illegality apparent in the move by Buhari and APC to get Onnoghen replaced at all costs before the February presidential elections which he said they have concluded plans to rig in favour of Buhari and the APC.
He called on the international community to note the desperation of Buhari and the APC, especially their plan to rig and use the judiciary to legitimize their illegal return to office.
According to him, the plot to illegally remove Onnoghen to pave way for a favourable judicial verdict for Buhari and APC after rigging the 2019 elections would definitely be resisted by the generality of Nigerians who would not fold their hands and watch such open electoral robbery being planned by Buhari and his evil band.
Frank said: “Nigerians are not surprised at the desperation and haste by Buhari and the APC to illegally get Justice Onnoghen out of the Supreme Court and install a pliant CJN before the presidential elections in February.
“Knowing that Nigerians have rejected them and their inept, clueless, lifeless and incompetent administration, they are now in a panic mode.
“But what they don’t know is that Nigerians are ready for them as they have resolved not to be fooled anymore. They will definitely be voted out but they are preparing ground for a spontaneous and massive crisis that will engulf the entire country should they rig the elections.
“They want to bring in a new CJN that will not only be of Northern Origin but that would do their evil bidding after rigging the elections but I want to warn them not to take Nigerians for granted.”
He further stated that the move to illegally remove Onnoghen is a further demonstration of the tribalistic and nepotistic nature of the President who has ensured that 99.9 per cent of his appointments into public offices since 2015 are people who are either closely related to him and of Northwest or Northern origin.
He said: “We saw him when he relegated South-South candidate and former acting Director General of the Department of State Service (DSS), Matthew Seiyefa and appointed a retired kinsman to head the organization.
“He did this despite the fact that Seiyefa was not only the most senior officer at the DSS after the former DG of DSS, Lawal Daura was sacked, but the most experienced and capable person for the job.
“They know that the laws of the land do not permit the trial of a serving judge or justice without first subjecting any allegations against such a judicial officer for review by the National Judicial Council (NJC), yet they are in a hurry to illegally kick Onnoghen out because they are afraid that he would not lend the authority of the Supreme Court to validate their stay in office having planned to rig the elections.
“They are not also comfortable having a southerner occupying the position of CJN which is critical to validate their rigging plans. All they want is Buhari’s brother or a CJN from the Northwest that would do their bidding.
“Recall that it took a national outcry before Buhari agreed to confirm Onnoghen’s appointment. They did not want him then. They don’t want him now, simply because he is from the South-South.”
The political activist informed Nigerians that having emasculated and subjugated the legislature under Senate President Bukola Saraki, Buhari and APC’s present game plan was to take over the judiciary.
“This is why all reasonable and well meaning Nigerians and the nation’s allies in the international community must speak out to avert this plot to throw the country in confusion and crisis by Buhari and the APC,” he stated.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has insisted on the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise yesterday (Sunday) despite calls by some opposition political parties and civil society organisations for an extension over concerns that millions of citizens could be excluded from the 2027 general elections.
In a notice issued on its X (formerly Twitter) handle on Saturday, the commission reminded the public that the exercise would end on Sunday, July 26, with designated registration centres open from 9am to 3pm.
“Your future won’t wait. Neither should you. The Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise ends Sunday, 26 July 2026,” the Commission stated.
INEC also reminded prospective voters that they could complete the registration process online through its dedicated CVR portal or visit designated INEC offices and registration centres nationwide for physical assistance.
The new Electoral Act stipulates that INEC is required to stop voter registration, updating and revision of the voters’ register 90 days before an election to allow for data clean-up, the printing of Permanent Voter Cards and other logistical preparations.
The law also requires the Commission to display the voters’ register for claims and objections within the stipulated period to enable eligible Nigerians to challenge omissions and errors and help ensure the credibility of the final register for the polls.
The INEC National Commissioner on Information and Voter Education, Mr Mohammed Haruna, told The Tide source that the Commission would not extend the deadline, stressing that the registration exercise had to close to allow the electoral body to begin cleaning the data already collected.
“By midnight on Sunday, voter registration ends. There won’t be any extension. There are so many things that we need to do at the back end. We have to draw a line; otherwise, we won’t be able to produce a clean copy of what has been posted,” he said.
Mr Haruna explained that the commission’s Information Technology team and the Voter Registration Department would begin processing the data immediately after the closure of the registration window.
He said INEC would deploy its Automated Biometric Identification System to detect and remove multiple registrations before the provisional voters’ register is displayed for public scrutiny.
“We have this automatic biometric system that will check whether somebody has registered more than once. They will publish the register for claims and objections. That is, if anybody thinks a name shouldn’t be on the register, or if he has some claims, for instance, that his name has been omitted or some of his details are incorrect,” he said.
According to him, the final number of newly registered voters would only be known after the biometric verification and the claims and objections process.
“So, it’s after all that has been done that we will have a final figure, which we will now add to the existing 93 million or so. That will then become the voters’ register. We are mandated to give every political party a copy ahead of the election,” Mr Haruna added.
Responding to concerns over the number of Nigerians who may be excluded from the 2027 electoral process by the closure, the national commissioner said INEC could only account for eligible citizens who presented themselves for registration.
He added that the commission had recorded registrations through its online platform, physical registration centres and INEC offices across the 774 local government areas.
According to a public announcement signed by Mr Ariyo Rufus, Head of Department, Voter Education, Publicity, Gender and Inclusivity on behalf of Mr Oluwatoyin Babalola, the INEC Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), the said exercise is aimed at assessing its operational readiness and testing the efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) ahead of the governorship poll.
INEC stated that the exercise would simulate Election Day accreditation procedures but clarified that no voting would take place during the exercise.
The commission explained that “the mock accreditation would be conducted in selected polling units spread across the three senatorial districts of Osun State, covering Osun Central, Osun East and Osun West.
“In Osun Central Senatorial District, the selected local government areas are Osogbo, Olorunda, Ifelodun and Boripe, with designated polling units identified for the exercise.
“For Osun East Senatorial District, the exercise will take place in selected polling units across Ilesa West, Ilesa East, Oriade and Obokun local government areas.”
INEC also listed Egbedore, Ede North, Ede South and Ejigbo local government areas as the selected councils for the mock accreditation exercise in Osun West Senatorial District.
The commission urged all registered voters whose polling units were selected to participate in the exercise, stressing that only holders of valid Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would be accredited.
“This exercise is designed to test the functionality and efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) under conditions similar to Election Day. There shall be no voting during the exercise,” the Commission stated.
INEC reaffirmed its appreciation to residents of Osun State for their continued cooperation and support throughout the electoral process.
INEC also assured political parties, the media, civil society organisations and other stakeholders of the Commission’s commitment to conducting a free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive governorship election in Osun State.
Mr Dare made the remark while criticizing Alhaji Abubakar for hiring a United States of America lobbyist with $1.2 million, in preparation for the 2027 elections.
In a statement he personally signed, Mr Dare said the former vice president can’t take Nigeria down the path of self-destruction.
The statement read in part: “Worse still, for a man who presumes to offer leadership to Africa’s most populous nation, his recent resort to grievance offshoring, outsourcing political warfare to Washington and reportedly paying $1.2 million to an American lobbying firm to peddle petitions against a sitting Nigerian President, stands as an affront to Nigeria’s sovereignty and a vote of no confidence in its democratic institutions.
“It is also a stinging slight, an implicit condescension directed at generations of Nigerian journalists, policy analysts, academics, and public intellectuals who have spent decades analysing, critiquing, and carrying the burden of the nation’s democratic evolution.
“The Atiku Abubakar of today cuts a pitiable figure, a grotesque portrait of what a politician becomes when ambition overwhelms judgment and every political faculty becomes programmed for self-destruction.
“No, Atiku cannot take Nigeria down that path with him. He must travel it alone. But first, Nigerians deserve Atiku Abubakar’s report card. Charity, they say, begins at home, not in Washington.
“Nigerians deserve to know whether the Atiku Abubakar who has long presented himself as a democrat is, in reality, a politician of many colours. He has erected for himself a throne built simultaneously on sand and bayonets. It is time to explode the bayonets.”
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