News

Senate Yields To Pressure, Amends Electoral Act …To Allow Elected Govt, Party Officials Vote At Congresses, Primaries …Passes Four Bills For Concurrence

Published

4 years ago

May 11, 2022

The Senate, yesterday, amended the Electoral Act, 2022, to allow all elected persons ‘statutory delegates’ at all levels of government to participate and vote in the conventions, congresses or meetings of political parties.
This is even as the Senate passed a Bill to enact the Arbitration and Mediation Act to provide for a unified legal framework for the settlement of commercial disputes.
Also passed were other bills for concurrence from the House of Representatives by the chamber after a clause-by-clause consideration by the Committee of the Whole.
The upper chamber, in an accelerated legislative process, considered the bill for the Amendment of 2022 Electoral Act No 13, at plenary where the bill scaled first, second and third readings, and was passed by the Committee of the Whole.
The bill to amend the 2022 Electoral Act No. 13 was sponsored by the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege (Delta Central).
Those identified as ‘statutory delegates’ include the President, Vice President, members of the National Assembly, governors and their deputies, members of the state Houses of Assembly, chairmen of local government councils, councillors, National Working Committee (NWC) of political parties, party chairmen in the 774 local government areas, state party chairmen and secretaries, amongst others.
Presenting the bill, the sponsor and Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, said the bill seeks to amend the provision of Section 84(8) of the Electoral Act.
According to him, the provisions of the section “does not provide for the participation of what is generally known as ‘statutory delegates’ in the conventions, congresses or meetings of political parties.
“The extant section only clearly provides for the participation of elected delegates in the conventions, congresses or meetings of political parties held to nominate candidates of political parties.
“This is an unintended error, and we can only correct it with this amendment now before us”, Omo-Agege said.
In his remarks after the passage of the bill, President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, said that the amendment became imperative in view of the deficiency created by the provision of Section 84(8) of the extant Act.
He said, “The amended Electoral Act of 2022 that we passed this year, has a deficiency that was never intended, and that deficiency will deny all statutory delegates in all political parties from participation in congresses and conventions.
“And, therefore, such a major and unintended clause has to be amended before the party primaries start in the next eight days. This is an emergency legislation, so to speak.
“Our expectation is that the National Assembly – the two chambers – would finish with the processing of the amendment of this bill, between today (in the Senate) and tomorrow (in the House of Representatives), and then, the Executive will do the assent.
“That is so important to enable every statutory delegate to participate in the party primaries right from the beginning that will start on May18, 2022.
“So, this is an emergency effort to ensure that nobody is denied his or her rightful opportunity as a delegate, especially the statutory delegates, and these are those who are elected.”
The Senate president commended the efforts of his colleagues, and expressed belief that the amendment bill would be signed into law to grant the political parties hitch-free primaries in respect to who is a delegate to the conventions, primaries and who is not.
Similarly, the Senate, yesterday, passed a Bill to enact the Arbitration and Mediation Act to provide for a unified legal framework for the settlement of commercial disputes.
Also passed were other bills for concurrence from the House of Representatives by the chamber after a clause-by-clause consideration by the Committee of the Whole.
The bills include Federal Medical Centre, Ogoja, Cross River State (Establishment) Bill, 2022; Federal Medical Centre, Igboora, Oyo State (Establishment) Bill, 2021; and Advertising Regulatory Council Bill, 2022.
The four bills for concurrence were sponsored by the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North).
In his lead debate, Abdullahi said the Arbitration and Mediation Act, 2022, seeks to repeal the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, Cap A18, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
He disclosed that the piece of legislation recognises and enforces the New York convention on foreign arbitration awards to any award made in Nigeria or any contracting state arising out of international commercial arbitration.
Abdullahi added that it also seeks the application of the Singapore convention on the international settlement agreements resulting from mediation.
The four bills for concurrence were passed by the Senate after a clause-by-clause consideration by the Committee of the Whole.
Meanwhile, a bill to repeal the National Secondary Education Commission Act, yesterday, scaled second reading in the Senate.
The bill seeks to enact the National Senior Secondary Education Act, 2022, to prescribe minimum standards for senior secondary education in Nigeria.
The sponsor of the bill, Senator YahayaAbdullahi, in his lead debate on the general principles, said the bill makes provision for the management of the National Senior Secondary Education Commission Fund – as a source of government intervention toward the repositioning of Senior Secondary Schools in Nigeria.
The bill, after consideration, was referred by the Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan, to the Committee on Education (Basic and Secondary) for further legislative work.
The committee was given four weeks to report back to the chamber in plenary.

By: Nneka Amaechi-Nnadi, Abuja

News

Troops Rescue 12 Abducted Teenage Girls In Borno

Published

39 minutes ago

December 1, 2025

The Tide

Troops of Operation Hadin Kai have rescued 12 teenage girls abducted by Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists in Mussa District of Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State.

In a statement posted on its official Facebook page, yesterday, the Nigerian Army said the victims who were rescued on Saturday, had been evacuated to a secure facility where they are receiving comprehensive medical care, psychological support and debriefing.

“Upon completion of these processes, they will be formally reunited with their families. Their recovery has brought immense relief to the community, which had been gripped by fear following the abduction,” it added.

The statement read, “The Nigerian Army has successfully rescued 12 teenage girls abducted by Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists in Mussa District of Askira/Uba Local Government Area, Borno State.”

According to the statement, the victims, aged between 15 and 20, were kidnapped on 23 November while harvesting crops on their family farmlands.

They were freed on Saturday, 29 November, following a swift, intelligence-led operation by troops of Operation HADIN KAI in the southern Borno axis, it noted.

The statement listed the rescued victims as: Fatima Shaibu (17), Fatima Umaru (15), Hauwa Abubakar (18), Saliha Muhammed (15), Sadiya Umaru (17), Amira Babel (15), Zara Adamu (17), Nana Shaibu (15), Zainab Musa (18), Zainab Muhammed (17), Jamila Saidu (15) and Hauwa Hamidu (17).

It further stated that the military high command commended the doggedness of the troops for their swift response, and acknowledged the crucial support of security stakeholders and local informants whose timely intelligence enabled the successful rescue.

“Troops continue to pursue ISWAP remnants across southern Borno to prevent further attacks and safeguard civilians.”

“The Nigerian Army calls on communities to continue supporting ongoing operations by providing credible and timely information, emphasising that collaborative efforts are essential to defeating terrorism and ensuring lasting security,” the statement concluded.

News

NELFUND Disburses N140bn Loan To 788,947 Students

Published

59 minutes ago

December 1, 2025

The Tide

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) said it has disbursed N140.9 billion in student loans to beneficiaries since the scheme’s portal was launched on May 24, 2024.

According to the Daily Status Report released yesterday via its official X handle, NELFUND has received 1,193,228 applications, of which 788,947 students have benefited from the programme.

As of November 12, 2025, the report shows 35,773 new successful applications for the week and 3,367 on that day, representing a 0.3% increase in new applications from the previous day.

NELFUND said it has paid N140,884,471,740 to 262 institutions as tuition fees, including N88,947,000 as institutional fees and N53,776,000,000 in upkeep allowances.

The fund plans to extend its student loan scheme to cover vocational and skills acquisition programmes.

The Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, saying the extension aligns with the Federal Government’s broader education and skills development agenda.

He added that the move reflects President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to inclusive human capital development beyond traditional university education.

According to Sawyerr, Nigeria’s next phase of development requires a balance between academic and technical competence.

“At NELFUND, we have a mandate to also support vocational skills.

“We have not started yet, but I know that the President Bola Tinubu administration has ensured that there is full coverage around the skills issue,” he said.

News

SERAP Sues Akpabio, Abbas Over N18.6bn NASS Funds

Published

2 hours ago

December 1, 2025

The Tide

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, over their alleged failure to account for ?18.6bn reportedly allocated for the construction of the National Assembly Service Commission office complex.

SERAP filed suit FHC/ABJ/CS/2457/2025 at the Federal High Court in Abuja last week, naming Akpabio and Abbas as defendants on behalf of all members of the National Assembly, and joining the NASC as a respondent.

In a statement signed yesterday by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP said the suit followed “grave allegations” contained in the 2022 annual report of the Auditor-General of the Federation, published on September 9, 2025.

Citing details from the Auditor-General’s report, SERAP said the NASC “paid over N11.6 billion [N11,647,302,594.00] to ‘an unknown construction company’ for ‘the construction of the Commission’s Complex within 24 months.’

“The payment was reportedly made on 11 August 2020. But ‘the contract was inflated by over N6.9 billion [N6,930,000,000.00]’ and the money was reportedly paid to the construction company on 29 November 2023 ‘for the conversion of the roof garden to office space.’

“The contract was reportedly awarded without a Bill of Quantity (BOQ) for the upward review of the contract, and the ‘BOQ for the contract of N11.6 billion was not priced.’

“Both contracts were reportedly awarded without any needs assessment, newspaper advertisements, bidding process, contract agreement, bidders’ quotations, or any approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC). There was also no Bureau of Public Procurement Certificate of ‘No Objection’.”

According to SERAP, the Auditor-General fears the N18.6 billion budgeted for the construction of the Commission’s office complex and the conversion of the roof garden to office space “may have been diverted, misappropriated or stolen” and wants the money accounted for.

SERAP, in the suit filed by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi and Andrew Nwankwo, is seeking an order of mandamus compelling Akpabio, Abbas and the NASC to “account for the whereabouts of ?18.6bn meant for the construction of the NASC office complex.”

The organisation is also asking the court to compel the respondents to disclose the name of the “fictitious construction company” that allegedly received the funds, as well as make public the assessment reports, bid advertisements, bid quotations, contract documents, minutes of Tender Board meetings and the Federal Executive Council approval for the project.

SERAP argued that the alleged diversion or misappropriation of the ?18.6bn amounts to a violation of public trust, the 1999 Constitution and international anti-corruption standards.

“Nigerians have the right to know the whereabouts of the ?18.6bn and details of the contractors that collected the money,” it said, noting that granting the orders sought would “serve legitimate public interests” and strengthen democratic institutions.

The suit stated that the National Assembly must “uphold and defend the basic principles of transparency, accountability and the rule of law.”

SERAP argued that granting its reliefs would ensure accountability, enable the recovery of any diverted funds and promote public trust.

The organisation cited various constitutional provisions that require public institutions to prevent corrupt practices, manage national resources responsibly and safeguard the welfare of citizens.

It also referenced Nigeria’s obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

The legal action comes after SERAP had earlier, on October 19, urged both Akpabio and Abbas to explain the alleged missing funds.