Politics
Saturday’s Polls And Nigerians’ Date With Destiny
Tomorrow is yet another date with our collective destiny as a country. Millions of voters will once more troop out to the various voting units to exercise their franchise. The voters this time are to elect those who will be our governors and state Houses of Assembly men that will preside over the affairs of the various states including Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory for the next four years.
Two Saturdays ago, the nation went on a similar journey to elect a President and members of the National Assembly. However those elections to those who monitored the process leave much to be desired as it was characterised by large scale arrests, intimidation, vote buying, violence, ballot box, snatching and killings.
In Rivers State alone, about 30 persons were allegedly killed by security personnel in Akuku-Toru, Bonny and Degema Local Government Areas.
And in Imo State, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof Francise Ezeonu said in the last election, there were deliberate efforts to frustrate the use of Registration Area Centres (RACs) as even wires used in reticulation of the centres were removed and taken away. In some places, community members disrupted elections at the RAC centres.
According to him, they also battled with thugs for electoral materials, with corps members kidnapped returning officers harassed and intimidated to write false results.
“The maxim was either to play along or be maimed for life”.
Also in Bayelsa State, we heard of reports that INEC was begging politicians and their thugs to return about 61 card readers that they forcibly took away from presiding officers during the elections.
Some independent observers of the last elections including civil society groups described the elections as not something to be proud of and said that to guard against a repeat of the violence and rigging in the last elections all stakeholders must comply with the electoral guidelines. They condemned the killings especially in Rivers State and the conduct of politicians and the military for their role in bringing shame to the country.
No election in Nigeria has taken place without controversy but the recent elections somehow took another dimension as some personalities of the major opposition party-PDP were it on the eve of the election. Some are yet to be released as at yesterday.
Do these people really pose a threat to democracy across the country? Why is it that during the administrations of Olusegun Obasanjo, Musa Yar’ Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, mass arrests of opposition figures were not carried out? But under the Presidency of Muhammadu Buhari, to even whisper is an anathema and will get you detained in a military barracks.
Nobody should think that we are under a real democratic government. To think so, the person must be naïve and not a critical political thinker. What we are under is a full blown dictatorship where even the judiciary is not respected and court orders disobeyed. The government chooses what order to obey and what to ignore.
For there to be a free, fair and credible election, the Presidency must not interfere with the conduct of the elections by deploying the military to do a repeat dance that negates all civilised norms of how an election should be conducted especially with the heating up of the polity in States like Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers Akwu Ibom and Benue.
From all indications, the factors hampering the smooth conduct of elections in Nigeria especially the last election are not the use of smartcard readers or the role of INEC officials but the shameful conduct of the political class.
According to, Prof Francis Ezeonu, “there is the need for Nigerians to create rules, a conducive environment for the ad-hoc staff to do their work and urged those who claimed to be honourable, distinguished and excellent to exhibit honourable conduct.
The experiences of the last election have some shock waves so much so that some ad-hoc staff have given notices that they would not wish to participate in the next election.
The way things are going, we may come to a stage where no person will be willing to participate during election.
These fears expressed by a resident electoral commissioner is not just an isolated one. All INEC officials are human just as the youth corps members recruited to assist the electoral body to conduct elections in 2015 in Rivers State, a serving youth corps member was killed. In 2011 about eight corps members were murdered in cold blood in Bauchi State. So are we sure that in the conduct of tomorrow’s elections, security agencies will play a neutral role and be as professional as possible?
Will the violence that occurred in Akuku-Toru, Bonny, Emohua, Ikwerre, Okrika and Abua/Odual Local Government Areas be replicated? Won’t the military assist politicians to disrupt the voting and collation processes and cart away electoral materials? These are just some of the questions that need to be addressed before people cast their votes tomorrow.
However, hope is not lost as traditional rulers and other political leaders of thought have pleaded for sanity and for politicians to play by the rules.
Meanwhile, the Independent, Electoral Commission has assured Nigerians that it will do a better job tomorrow, Accorders to its spokesman Festus Okoye, the commission is ready to conduct a credible election and as part of its strategy has fine-tuned all the loose ends encountered during the February polls. He said each polling unit will start at 8am and the use of smart card reader, is compulsory adding that any unit where smartcard readers are not used, all votes in such places will be voided.
Probably this assurance is coming on the heels of accusations by opposition parties that there was a deliberate and well orchestrated plan to use smartcard readers only in the strongholds of the PDP especially in the South-South, South-East and North Central zones while leaving out the South West, North East and North West zones and the non deployment of the electronic collation system (E-collation for election results contrary to the provisions of paragraph 10 (a) and (b) of the regulations and guidelines governing the 2019 general election.
Nigerians in general believe in a free and fair election but the major actors have always been the problem. People who are outside the corridors of power and make the most noise about the conduct of the election are even worse than those they accuse of election manipulations. It is quite sad that the APC which claims to parade “holy men” in its rank and file has not shown any form of decency coupled with the utterances and conduct of some of its members which are not encouraging peace in the polity.
We pray the security agencies will not allow themselves to be used to unleash violence tomorrow and allow the will of the people to be thrown to the dogs.
We also hope that the fear of violence or being killed will not deter millions of Nigerians from casting their votes.
The power of the electorate lies in the positive use of their PVCs. There is no way that a government is bad or a person is not living up to expectation without a voter doing his or her duty by voting for his preferred candidate or rejecting such a person on election day.
Our destiny is in our hands, so let us go out tomorrow and make our choice of who will preside over our political and economic fortunes in the next four years.
Tonye Ikiroma-Owiye
The Red Chamber passed the bill last Wednesday after more than two-thirds of senators voted in support.
In a statement issued yesterday by the Directorate of Media and Public Affairs, Office of the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele described the bill as “a child of necessity and not of political expediency as well as a product of national consensus and not of cynicism.”
The senate leader said the proposal to establish state police was a matter of urgent public importance that could not be delayed because of political interests, given the country’s security challenges.
He explained that the proposal did not originate recently but emerged from memoranda submitted to the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution.
According to him, the proposal underwent extensive consultations and rigorous scrutiny because of its sensitive nature.
Bamidele said the National Assembly consulted widely with the Executive, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, the leadership of the Nigeria Police and other stakeholders before passing the bill.
He added that during the public hearings conducted across the six geopolitical zones in July 2025, participants overwhelmingly supported the creation of state police.
“At each level of our consultation, nearly all stakeholders embraced the State Police Bill in the light of stark realities we are facing today,” he said.
The Senate leader noted that recommendations from the Nigeria Police contributed to the bill, particularly on accountability and oversight mechanisms aimed at preventing abuse of state police by political actors.
According to him, the police’s support for the proposal underscores its national significance in tackling insecurity at the state and local levels.
Bamidele also said the bill received broad bipartisan backing in both chambers of the National Assembly.
“Even though the APC is the majority, there are members of opposition parties — PDP, ADC, NDC and Labour Party — that exercised their discretion in favour of the Bill, mainly in the national interest and not on parochial basis.
“In the Senate, for instance, 84 out of 109 members voted clause by clause in support of the Bill. This accounted for 77.06 per cent approval at the Senate alone,” he said.
He argued that national security should transcend political affiliations, saying political actors in other countries often set aside partisan interests to support initiatives that strengthen security.
Bamidele called on opposition parties to contribute constructive ideas that would promote peace and stability, adding that they have a responsibility to offer alternatives that would strengthen the country.
“Even when they disagree on some grounds, they are under obligations to provide credible and useful ideas that can make our nation better and greater. Unfortunately, they have not passed this critical test of opposition democracy,” he said.
The group also urged the National Assembly leadership to ensure that anyone found culpable is prosecuted where sufficient admissible evidence exists, while all diverted or unaccounted public funds are recovered and paid into the treasury.
In a letter dated June 27, 2026, and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP said the allegations were contained in the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2022 Annual Report, published on September 9, 2025.
The organisation disclosed this in a statement signed and released by Oluwadare, yesterday.
SERAP also asked Akpabio and Abbas to disclose the identities of contractors and companies, including their shareholders and beneficial owners, that allegedly received constituency project funds but failed to execute the projects.
It gave the National Assembly seven days to act on its recommendations, warning that it would institute legal proceedings should the legislature fail to respond.
“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within seven days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel you and the National Assembly to comply with our request in the public interest,” the letter stated.
It said, “The allegations involve several federal ministries, departments and agencies, including the Environmental Health Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON); the Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology, Volm; the Federal Polytechnic, Udana; the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP); and the National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS).
“The Auditor-General identified numerous cases of payments into private bank accounts, contracts awarded without due process, payments for contracts not executed or services not rendered, undocumented expenditures, inflated contracts, procurement irregularities and failures to account for public funds, recommending in each case that the funds be recovered and remitted to the treasury.
“According to the 2022 audited report, contained in pages 367 to 396, the Environmental Health Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON or Council) Abuja paid over ‘N22 million [N22,944,565.16] into the private account of some members of staff of the Council from the Constituency Projects Fund Account.
“There ‘was no evidence of the utilization of the funds and no explanations on the purpose for the payment of such amount into the individual accounts.”
SERAP added, “The Council (EHORECON) also in 2021 ‘awarded suspicious consultancy contracts of over N12 million [N12,030,818.29] for the development of Modern Abattoirs in Kebbi State and the supervision of 7 projects in Kebbi, Jigawa, and Headquarters Abuja.
“The money was to ‘produce bills of quantity, architectural design, structural design, mechanical design, and electrical designs for the contracts and supervision.’ But ‘the ‘items could not be found.’”
Altogether, SERAP said the Auditor-General’s 2022 report alleged EHORECON paid more than ?1.8 billion in constituency project funds through questionable transactions.
For the Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology, Vom, SERAP said the institution “in 2022 reportedly ‘paid over N279 million [N279,700,500.00] to 3 contractors to empower and train youths in selected vocational areas in Borgu and Kontagora, Niger State, train women and youths in entrepreneurship in Niger East Senatorial District and to train youths and women in agro production and self-reliance in Barki Ladi/Riyom Federal Constituency, Plateau State.
“But the money was paid to the contractors without any document.’”
Other irregularities involving the college include another ?279.7 million in mobilisation fees allegedly paid without documentation, and more than ?629.4 million paid to unqualified contractors for various constituency projects without evidence of due process, contract advertisements or details of the contractors.
SERAP further alleged that the Auditor-General’s report identified multiple financial irregularities involving the Federal Polytechnic, Ukana, Akwa Ibom State, including over ?407 million allegedly paid as mobilisation fees without supporting documents, more than ?399 million paid to unqualified contractors, contracts allegedly inflated by over ?192 million, over ?279 million paid for projects not fully executed, ?50 million allegedly paid for an unexecuted borehole project, and more than ?83 million disbursed without the required documentation or approvals.
It also alleged that NAPTIP reportedly irregularly awarded contracts worth over ?21.8 million, paid more than ?176.8 million for logistics and consultancy services without supporting documents, and disbursed over ?89.6 million and ?4.4 million for projects that were allegedly not executed.
The report also alleged that NILDS failed to submit audited financial statements for 2012 to 2022, did not remit over ?15 million in stamp duties, and spent ?1.6 million without authorisation from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
SERAP said the report recommended the recovery of the affected funds and their remittance to the treasury.
It argued that corruption in constituency projects disproportionately affects poor and vulnerable Nigerians by diverting resources meant for public services and development.
It added that the National Assembly, in exercising its oversight responsibilities, should demonstrate leadership by ensuring accountability in the management of constituency project funds.
The organisation further argued that the allegations, if established, would amount to breaches of the Constitution, the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 and the Public Procurement Act 2007, which require transparency, accountability and due process in the management of public resources.
The Court of Appeal in a unanimous decision of a panel of three Justices had on May 22, 2026 directed the Federal High Court Judge not to proceed with the suit until an appeal pending before them and filed by Accord Party is resolved.
In a Certified True Copy Enrol Order of the Superior Court, Justices Mohammed Danjuma, Adebukola Banjoko and Oyejoju Oyewumi asked the lower Court Judge to stay proceedings until all issues on the appeal filed by the Accord Party were resolved
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State had, through the Accord Party, applied to justice Lifu to join him as a defendant in the deregistration legal battle instituted by a group of former legislators.
The contention of the Osun State governor was that he had a stake in the Accord Party, being the platform he was seeking re-election in the August 15 gubernatorial poll in the state.
In his ruling, Justice Lifu on April 27 ruled against the Osun State governor, rejecting his request to be joined in the suit to defend his own position and interest.
Not satisfied with the Federal High Court decision, the Osun State governor, through his lawyer, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), moved to the Court of Appeal in Abuja where he challenged the Justice Lifu decision to refuse to allow him join the suit.
After listening to the argument canvassed, especially that he has interest to protect as Accord Party gubernatorial candidate for Osun State governorship election, the three Justices of the Court of Appeal, unanimously directed Justice Lifu to allow them look into the grievances of the governor.
In specific terms, the Court of Appeal Justices directed Justice Lifu not to proceed further with the matter and fixed October 27 to determine the interlocutory appeal of the appellant.
However, when the certified enroll order and notice of appeal were served on Justice Peter Lifu by Mr Adetunbi (SAN), the judge rejected it on the ground that it was a ploy to arrest his judgment in the matter.
Although the judge had adjourned his judgment delivery in the matter indefinitely, he finally made a dramatic turn around on Monday and proceeded to deliver the judgment that has now proscribed the five political parties.
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