Politics
Taraba Gov Advises FG On State Police
Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State has advised the Federal Government to try state police in addressing the security challenges in the country.
Ishaku gave the advice in his remarks at a world news conference organised by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the party national secretariat in Abuja, on Monday.
The conference also had in attendance the Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Enyinaya Abaribe, and former president of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki.
According to Gov. Darius, the primary responsibility of any democratic government was to secure the people and their property.
He said the state governors were going through challenges and were helpless in managing the insecurity as they had no power over security.
“No matter how bad the state police, let us experiment it. After all, we have the State Electoral Commission. After all the state governments are running the elections of the states.
“In my state, oppositions win elections; we allow them to go, nothing is wrong we are going peacefully.
“ So, who is telling me that the State Police will fail? Let us try and let it fail, then we will reverse, but not trying at all does not give us anything different. We will still continue where we are.
“ In any case, in a country of over 200 million people, how can you expect the management of police to be at the center?
“Our constitution was copied from USA, and in America you have the local police, you have the state police, and you have the national Police.
“What is greater than the local police, take it to the state police. What is bigger than the state police goes to the national police,” Ishaku said.
The governor stressed on the need to ensure that police handle issue of internal security, while the military protect the territorial sovereignty of the country, as a last resort for war.
He also advised the Federal Government to adequately train Nigeria security personnel and equip them with necessary technology and equipment.
“If my ADC cannot protect himself, how can he protect other people? You must first protect yourself as a policeman and as a military officer before you can protect other people.
“I will appeal that we should give adequate attention to equipping military forces,” he said.
Ishaku urged the ruling party to look into advice from the PDP, saying PDP is ready to give a helping hand to the APC-led government in developing the country.
Similarly, Abaribe described PDP as responsible party interested in peace and development of the country.
He said that contrary to some views that the PDP was a weak opposition, “PDP is actually a responsible opposition.”
The Senate Minority Leader explained that what people were doing was comparing PDP to the APC when they were not in power, expecting PDP to act the same way APC did.
“We are not. We had been in power before and we know the responsibilities of having power and we do not want to speak just like anybody on the street”, Abaribe said.
“So, we weigh our words, we look at the situation and we do not want to be an opposition that want to destroy rather, an opposition that wants to build,” he said.
Abaribe added that those, who wanted to destroy Nigeria, were those that refuse to manage the diversity of the country, and those actually pushing the country to precipice.
Also speaking, the former president of the Senate said the opposition party would continue to play its role in letting the government be aware of its lapses.
The Chairman of PDP Reconciliation Committee added that the PDP would continue to put pressure through constitutional means in telling government what they need to do.
“We will not get tired because when we see changes in the world, it has come through constitutional means.
“It might look like a long journey, but eventually, the true will prevail and the right thing will be done,” Saraki said.
Saraki also expressed the hope that in a short period Nigeria would start a new journey for greatness.
He advised government to listen to the people in various communities of the country, especially on the issue of insecurity.
“When we talk about security, it’s not about political party, it affects all Nigerians.
“People who are losing their lives, I am sure some of them do not belong to any political party.
“So, that responsibility of government is to all of us as Nigerians, and we are speaking on behalf of all Nigerians that the right thing needs to be done.
“We will continue to do that through conscious constitutionally agreed procedures,” the former president of the senate said.
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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