Politics
Senators Reject Pay Cut In Salaries, Allowances
L-R: President Muhammadu Buhari (middle), former Head of State and Chairman of 2015 Election Peace Committee, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd)(4th left), Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (5th left), Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III (5th right), National President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor (4th right), John Cardinal Onaiyekan (3rd right) and other members of the committee, during their courtesy visit to President Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Tuesday . Photo: NAN
The Senate on Wednes
day rejected the reduction of its salaries and allowances as recommended by its Finance Committee.
The Tide learnt that the upper House of the National Assembly suspended consideration of the committee’s reports following sharp disagreements among members over the pay cut proposal.
The Finance Committee headed by Senator James Manager had recommended that the salaries and allowances of Senators be slashed to reflect the economic reality in the country.
The committee, it was learnt, also recommended the publication of all payments accruable to each senator on a quarterly basis.
However, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, at plenary, explained that “Senate in closed session deliberated on the report of the finance committee but agreed to stand it down for further legislative input”.
Throwing more light on the Senate’s decision, the senate’s spokesperson, Senator Dino Melaye, while addressing journalists after plenary, said further action on the report was put on hold because the Senate budget was an integral part of the National Assembly budget being jointly shared by seven bodies.
According to Melaye, “the Senate today in closed-door session discussed the report of the ad hoc committee on finances of the Senate.
“After due deliberations by the senators, we come to the conclusion that since the budget of the Senate is not independent of the budget of the National Assembly, the budget of the House of Representatives is also inclusive.
“We have the management, we have the National Institute for Legislative Studies; we have even the Public Conduct Commission; the National Assembly Civil Service Commission, and over 3,000 legislative aides, that are beneficiaries of the N120 bn annual budget.
“Therefore, we have agreed that we should consult amongst other arms that share the budget of the National Aseembly before we would draw conclusion on the report.
“So, the resolution is that we are going to interface with the House of Representatives so that we can be on the same page on the report as presented. This is the resolution of the senate today in a closed-door session”.
Boye Salau
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
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