Politics
INEC Boss Tasks NASS On Electoral Reforms
The Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has urged the National Assembly to use a bipartisan approach in amending the Electoral Act to help improve conduct of elections in the country.
Yakubu made the call at the inauguration of the Joint Technical Committee on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill on Friday in Abuja.
The event was organised by the National Assembly Joint Committee on INEC and Electoral Matters with support from Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) and UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO).
He was represented by Mr Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee.
Yakubu said that the amendment was timely, saying that more fundamentally, the reforms must be impactful, approached from a bipartisan angle, devoid of divisive issues and concluded at least by the first quarter of 2021.
The Tide reports that President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan had in 2020, pledged the commitment of the National Assembly to the passage of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill by the end of first quarter of 2021.
The INEC chairman welcomed the renewed efforts and commitment by the leadership of the National Assembly towards amending the electoral legal framework for the conduct of elections.
Yakubu said that the renewed drive by the legislature was timely and must be sustained and approached with a sense of history and urgency.
He said that the efforts must be diffused with clearly defined timelines, priority, interventions and strategic thinking.
Yakubu said that the commission was fully committed to the amendment process and would continue to offer suggestions and recommendations that would help improve the regime of elections in the country.
He further said that amending the electoral legal framework would not automatically lead to improvement in the management and conduct of elections.
“The Constitution and the Electoral Act are not self-executory, and both operate through the actions and inactions of the critical stakeholders in the electoral process,” he said.
A member of the Technical Committee, Mr Sadiq Mua’azu said that one of the advantages of the electoral reforms was to bring all amendments together in one document.
Mua’azu said that the major target of the amendment was to ensure that all political parties were gender sensitive as well as eliminate all forms of discrimination in all political parties.
“The bill mandates all political parties to ensure that women leaders are women or persons of the feminine gender and that all youth leaders are between the ages of 18 to 45 at the date of elections into such offices.
“The bill also seeks to increase maximum election expenses to be incurred by Presidential or Governorship Candidates, Senatorial or House of Representatives Candidates.
“The amount was increased for the Presidential election from N1billion to N5 billion and from N200 million to N1 billion for the governorship and for the Senate and House of Representatives it was increased to N100 million and N70 million respectively,” he said.
Sen. Kabiru Gaya, Chairman, Senate Committee on INEC, said that the bill when passed and assented would tremendously change the political sphere of the nation.
“The amending of the Electoral Act would indeed positively affect the electoral process and procedures which has posed challenges and raised controversies that have put the mantra of free, fair and credible elections to question,” he said.
He said that the Technical Committee was inaugurated in order to achieve the set timeline for passing the bill by the end of the first quarter of 2021.
Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, pledged to work with the technical committee to ensure unhindered presidential assent to the bill.
Malami was represented by Special Assistant to the President on Justice Reform and International Relations, Mrs Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu.
“I will continue to work more closely with the National Assembly to ensure that the bill is eventually passed as scheduled.
“I recall that immediately after the 2015 elections, the President approved the inauguration of the constitutional and electoral reform committees in 2016, we have been working with the National Assembly and we came up with four bills that have been approved by the Federal Executive Council and forwarded to the National Assembly,” he said.
In a goodwill message, Head, Governance and Stability, FCDO, Mr Sam Waldock said that the UK was a proud supporter of Nigeria’s democratic process.
“In the last five years, the UK has invested more than 50 million pounds in Nigeria’s democratic process and it’s the largest democracy in Africa and it is the leading member of Commonwealth.
“We commend the National Assembly for its work to reform this legislation which will go a long way even after the next election.
“Setting up a technical sub-committee to expedite the work on this bill is a very important contribution to Nigeria’s electoral legal framework,” he said.
Also, Executive Director, PLAC, Mr Clement Nwankwo expressed optimism that the bill would be passed within the shortest possible time.
“Following the experience of the last failed attempt to sign the Electoral Act in 2018, it is quite clear that this commitment is unanimous on all sides to ensure that we do have a new Electoral Act in place.
“ With the support from the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, we are able to collaborate with the National Assembly to deliver on the commitment that has been made by the assembly,” Nwankwo said.(
Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, has directed his legal team to resume all court proceedings against Mrs. Tracy Ohiri over her repeated allegations of indebtedness and other claims against him.
Mrs Ohiri had publicly accused Senator Umahi of owing her N280 million for campaign materials from his tenure as party chairman in Ebonyi State.
The allegations went viral on social media, where she also accused the Minister of sexual harassment.
Security agencies arrested Mrs Ohiri, and she was subsequently prosecuted. Her lawyer, Barrister Marshall Abubakar, intervened, leading to the deletion of all posts and a public apology, which also gained widespread attention online.
However, days after the apology, Mrs Ohiri resumed her claims against Senator Umahi.
In a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Francis Nwaze, Senator Umahi said he had informed Barrister Abubakar during the intervention that if Mrs Ohiri could provide verifiable evidence, logs, and communications from the period in question, some of his associates were willing to contribute a sum of One Billion Naira (N1billion) to her, evidence which, he said, she had yet to provide.
“The Honourable Minister of Works, Senator Engr. David Umahi, has been monitoring the ongoing public discourse surrounding the claims and counterclaims by Mrs. Tracy Ohiri.
“Ordinarily, this would have been ignored, but in the interest of truth and public clarity, it is necessary to address the issues directly”, the statement read.
The statement clarified that Barrister Abubakar acted in good faith and without any financial interest, motivated solely by a desire to assist Mrs Ohiri.
At no point did the lawyer discuss or negotiate any payment with the minister, although some well-meaning associates independently offered support”, the statement added.
Senator Umahi reiterated the conditions for resolving the matter: either the claims must be tested in court, or Mrs Ohiri must provide credible evidence, including all relevant communications, to substantiate her allegations.
The minister emphasised that Barr Abubakar conducted himself with integrity throughout the process.
“Following the failure to meet these conditions, particularly the inability to provide verifiable evidence, the Minister has directed his legal team to proceed with all court processes to ensure the truth is fully established,” the statement said.
Senator Umahi said despite years of public provocations and attacks, he chose to remain silent, focusing on national and state services.
He thanked Nigerians who had taken time to assess the facts and noted that “not everyone who presents themselves as a victim truly is one, and in some cases, narratives are deliberately inverted.”
The Minister affirmed that he will not be distracted by Mrs Ohiri’s allegations and remained committed to his mandate at the Ministry of Works.
“The focus remains on results, service, and ensuring that Nigerians continue to benefit from projects that improve connectivity, economic growth, and national development. This administration will continue to pursue its transformation agenda with dedication, transparency, and an unwavering sense of responsibility,” he concluded.
A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has adjourned proceedings in a suit filed by three aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to April 14, 2026, for the hearing of all pending motions.
Justice Stephen Jumbo made the pronouncement during a recent sitting in Port Harcourt.
The suit, which borders on the legitimacy of the party’s leadership structure in the state, was instituted against the factional State Chairman of the PDP, Chief Aaron Chukwuemeka, alongside the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) and other respondents.
Also joined in the matter are the PDP as a corporate entity, the Rivers State Government, as well as Obio/Akpor, Port Harcourt City and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Areas, including their respective Vice Chairmen and Councillors.
The claimants, Enyi Uchechukwu, Wisdom Kalio and Uche Amadi, approached the court via an originating summons seeking judicial interpretation on the validity of actions taken by the Chief Chukwuemeka-led state executive committee of the party.
Central to the dispute is whether the said executive committee, whose emergence the claimants contend has been nullified by a subsisting court judgment, retains the legal authority to act on behalf of the party in critical electoral matters.
The plaintiffs specifically urged the court to determine whether the factional leadership could validly submit a list of candidates to RSIEC for the purpose of participating in local government elections.
They further questioned the legitimacy of the PDP’s participation in the August 30, 2025 local government elections, contending that any list purportedly submitted by the factional leadership was invalid and of no legal consequence.
In addition to the declaratory reliefs sought, the claimants also prayed the court to grant consequential orders addressing the outcome and conduct of the said elections across the affected local government areas.
At the resumed hearing, counsel representing the PDP and the affected local government councils informed the court that they had only recently been served with the originating processes and accompanying documents.
The defence team, comprising several Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), disclosed that service of the court processes was effected on March 13, 2026, leaving them with limited time to adequately prepare their responses.
Consequently, the defence counsel applied for an adjournment to enable them study the processes and address the legal issues raised, particularly as they relate to jurisdictional questions and points of law.
Counsel to the claimants, Glory Chizim-Chinda, did not oppose the application, following which the presiding judge granted the request and adjourned the matter to April 14, 2026, for the hearing of all pending motions, with a possible ruling expected ahead of the substantive suit.
By: King Onunwor
A former state lawmaker in the old the Rivers State, Professor Alex Eseimokumo, has described Nigerian opposition political parties as mere preposition political parties.
He also advised the country’s electorate against selling their votes during next year’s general elections.
The former legislator, who is also the president of the Institute for Peace, Conflict Resolution and Entrepreneurial Research, said this in an exclusive interview with The Tide on the sidelines of an event organized by the institute in Port Harcourt.
He said opposition political parties in Nigeria have been reduced to preposition political parties as most of them are not only dinning with the government but advising government on what to do to win election.
“The problem in Nigeria is we are not practicing politics the way it is supposed to be.The opposition are more in preposition.
“You see, opposition is supposed to find out things that are wrong in government but in our present day politics, you see opposition even dinning with the other group. So, there is basically nothing like opposition in Nigeria “, he said.
He lamented a situation where some individuals within the opposition are allegedly working hard to prevent their parties from fielding presidential candidates in the forthcoming election, adding that such individuals were only there to protect their personal interest.
Prof. Eseimokumo said as a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he could not wish his party to fail in the election, even though nothing is impossible in Nigeria.
He noted that though the government in power has been trying it’s best, there was more to be done.
In his words, “I’m an APC member, so I don’t have the right to criticize my party but a word of advice: we still need to do more, more people oriented leadership where everybody will feel carried along.
“For now, I’m campaigning for APC to be re elected and if I stand here to say APC is not doing well, I’m not being fair to myself. But I think, with God all things are possible, there can be changes”.
On his assessment of the performances of governors of the Niger Delta states, Prof Eseimokumo said the governors were doing well within the limit of their resources.
” I don’t know what is given to them as allocation, but if what we are seeing in terms of window dressing is not window shopping, then they are doing well”, he said.
Meanwhile, Prof. Eseimokumo has advised Nigerian electorates against selling their votes during the forthcoming elections.
He said credible election could only be achieved when the electorates refuse financial inducement during the elections.
According to him, though Nigerian voters had been difficult to persuade, the time had come for them to stop selling their votes.
Prof. Eseimokumo said the forthcoming elections will serve as a litmus test for the Nigerian electorate to demonstrate their desire for changes in the country, stressing that free and fair elections will continue to be a mirage in the country until the was a change in the attitude of the electorate.
“If you want your vote to count, don’t take money from anybody; if you want your votes to count, don’t collect money for your vote. The moment you collect money for your vote, you have sold your conscience”, he warned.
He said his institute will continue to work for peace, not just in the Niger Delta region but across Nigeria.
By: John Bibor
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