Author: Damilola

President Bola Tinubu has received a United States delegation led by the Commander of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), General Dagvin R. Anderson, at the State House in Abuja. The meeting was confirmed in a statement issued on Sunday by the Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, Dada Olusegun. Tinubu welcomed the delegation alongside the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the service chiefs. Members of the delegation included General Anderson and his team, as well as the Charge d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, Keith Heffern. According to the statement, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, alongside his…

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has defended the National Assembly’s decision to remove the provision for mandatory electronic transmission of election results from the amended Electoral Act ahead of the 2027 general elections. The New Daily Prime reported the Senate last week expunged the clause requiring compulsory e-transmission of results, a move that triggered widespread backlash. Several Nigerians, opposition political parties, and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) have since called on lawmakers to reverse the decision. Akpabio addressed the controversy while speaking at the launch of a book by former senator Effiong Bob, titled The Burdens of Legislators in Nigeria. He…

The interim National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), David Mark, has cautioned Senate President Godswill Akpabio against speaking on behalf of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the issue of electronic transmission of election results. Mark’s reaction follows Akpabio’s defence of the Senate’s decision to drop mandatory electronic transmission, with the Senate president arguing that poor network coverage in at least nine states makes the policy impracticable. Addressing the matter in Abuja, the former Senate president said the responsibility of lawmakers is to enact the law and leave its implementation to INEC. “What the ADC is saying…

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has announced that its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, has directed the complete and permanent suspension of the Monday sit-at-home across the South-East, beginning from February 9, 2026. The development was disclosed in a statement released on Sunday by IPOB’s spokesperson, Emma Powerful, who said the instruction came directly from Kanu. The sit-at-home, first declared in August 2021, was introduced to protest Kanu’s extradition to Nigeria and his continued detention, with commercial and social activities routinely shut down on Mondays across the region. According to Powerful, the new directive removes every justification for observing sit-at-home, stressing…

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has issued a strong warning to the Senate, threatening nationwide protests and a possible boycott of elections over what it described as conflicting and unclear positions on amendments to the Electoral Act, especially on electronic transmission of election results. The labour union accused lawmakers of eroding public trust in the electoral process by failing to clearly state whether electronic transmission of results would be compulsory. In a statement released on Sunday, NLC President Joe Ajaero said the Congress was troubled by what he called “confusion and contradictory narratives” coming from the Senate on the Electoral…

Prominent activist Aisha Yesufu has challenged the Nigerian Senate to move beyond rhetoric and remove its President, Godswill Akpabio, accusing lawmakers of collective responsibility in actions that undermine democratic processes. Yesufu said senators should stop portraying Akpabio as the sole obstacle, insisting that both active and passive actions by the chamber have contributed to the disenfranchisement of Nigerians. She made the remarks while stressing that the Senate possesses the constitutional authority to entrench real-time electronic transmission of election results into law. In a post on X, she addressed lawmakers directly, saying: “Dear Senators, stop playing bad cop, good cop with…

The Abia State Government has explained that the N210 million figure linked to the purchase of a photocopier in its 2026 budget was the result of a technical mistake made during the final preparation of the document. The clarification followed public outrage and widespread criticism over the controversial allocation. In a statement issued on Saturday, the state Ministry of Budget and Planning said the amount was never meant for the procurement of a photocopier, stressing that the entry was wrongly presented due to a formatting error. According to the ministry, “the figure that appeared beside the photocopier item on page…

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has petitioned the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), urging it to investigate members of the Senate and other public officials over alleged irregularities surrounding the passage of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill and the Tax Reform Laws. In a statement released on Sunday, SERAP’s deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, said the organisation is demanding a “prompt, thorough, and effective” investigation into claims that some senators tampered with provisions of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill during plenary. SERAP alleged that sections relating to the electronic transmission of election results were removed even after a majority…

The Kogi state government has announced the temporary closure of markets and motor parks across parts of the Kogi west senatorial district as part of efforts to support ongoing security operations against terrorists, bandits and other criminal groups. The directive was disclosed on Sunday by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo. According to him, the move is designed to strengthen intensified clearance operations being conducted in collaboration with the office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and security agencies operating in the state. Fanwo explained that the measure is intended to disrupt the activities of criminal elements by…

National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Bolaji Abdullahi, has described the recent wave of violent attacks across parts of Nigeria as evidence of a breakdown in governance. In a post on his X account on Saturday, Abdullahi pointed to attacks in Kwara, Katsina and other states, saying they demonstrate a failure of government to protect citizens. He referenced a 2014 comment by President Bola Tinubu, made when he was governor of Lagos, in which Tinubu wrote that “the festering Boko Haram attacks on the North East and massacre of innocent citizens is concrete proof that Nigeria has…