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Tinubu sacks Egbetokun as Nigeria’s IGP

Posted on February 24, 2026 by Bode Dolu

Rivers State: IGP Withdraws Personnel From 23 LGAs

President Bola Tinubu has sacked Kayode Egbetokun from office as the Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police (IGP).

Tinubu was said to have asked Egbetokun to step aside during a meeting they had at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Monday.

“Yes. Egbetokun is gone,” one of the presidential aides said he was asked to comment on the development.

Egbetokun was asked to resign at a meeting with the president at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday, the source further said.

Sources within the police hierarchy hinted that a successor may have been identified, although no official statement had been issued as of the time of filing this report.

One source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, disclosed that Tunji Disu had been contacted in connection with the position.

“He has been contacted, but we are all waiting for the official confirmation, which should come later in the day,” the source said.

Egbetokun was appointed on June 19, 2023, by President Bola Tinubu.

In 2024, the IG’s continued stay in office sparked widespread controversy after Egbetokun officially reached the mandatory retirement age of 60 on September 4.

The National Assembly amended the police law, allowing him to serve his full four-year term as IGP unless removed by the president.

He was thus expected to complete his four-year tenure and remain in office until 31 October 2027.

Real-time etransmission: ‘Technical glitch’ in 2027 will unsettle Nigeria, By Olu Fasan

Posted on February 23, 2026 by Bode Dolu

The vexed debate over the Senate’s refusal to guarantee “mandatory” and “real-time” electronic transmission of results in the electoral law ignores two fundamental problems. The first is Nigeria’s utterly weak state capacity; the second is the total lack of institutional independence. Even if the electoral act provides for mandatory and real-time transmission of election results, “mandatory” will not be mandatory and “real-time” won’t be real-time. Furthermore, INEC and the courts can’t be trusted to be above board in discharging their duties. Both problems discredited previous presidential elections in Nigeria and look likely to undermine the 2027 poll.

Earlier this week, the Senate passed, by 55 to 15 votes, the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2026, in which it provides in Clause 60 (3) for electronic transmission of election results but with a proviso allowing for “manual transmission” as a backup, thus rejecting mandatory and real-time electronic transmission of results. Although the House of Representatives provided for mandatory and real-time electronic transmissions, it later caved in by changing its position to align with the Senate.

But why the resistance to mandatory and real-time electronic transmission of election results? Many countries, including in Africa, such as South Africa and Kenya, do so routinely in their elections. Why not Nigeria? Well, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, recently provided a public explanation. In a statement, Bamidele reeled out global statistics showing Nigeria’s acute technological and power infrastructure deficiencies, which, to him, make mandatory and real-time electronic transmission of election results across the country impossible. One may disagree with Bamidele’s conclusion, but it’s hard to ignore the factuality of the data and their implications for state capacity in Nigeria.

The Senate Leader cited the Nigerian Communications Commission’s data showing that broadband coverage in Nigeria stood at about 70 per cent in 2025, while internet penetration covered only 44.53 per cent of the population. He also referred to the Speedtest Global Index, which placed Nigeria 85th out of 105 countries for mobile network reliability and 129th out of 150 countries for fixed broadband reliability. Nigeria’s mobile network performance is ranked well below the global average at 44.14 megabits per second, Mbps, extremely low compared with the United Arab Emirate at 691.76 Mbps; Qatar, 573.53; Kuwait, 415.67; Bahrain, 303.21; and Bulgaria, 289.41. The situation is, indeed, dire.

Yet, notwithstanding the dysfunctionality, a country determined to organise a credible presidential election will pull out all the stops and mobilise all resources to make sure it is hitch-free. Sadly, Nigeria has failed to achieve this feat in successive presidential elections. This is a country where general elections are frequently postponed, often at the last minute. Why? Well, “technical failures”!

Take a few cases. In 2011, INEC postponed the National Assembly elections for two days even after voting had started, blaming “an emergency”, namely, “late arrival of results sheets in many parts of the country”. In 2015, federal elections were postponed for six weeks on the grounds of security challenges. In 2019, INEC postponed the presidential and National Assembly elections, citing “logistical challenges”, including difficulty with “flying election materials” to certain locations. The infamous “technical glitch” in the 2023 presidential election is, of course, fresh in our memories.

Put bluntly, it’s utterly shameful that such appalling excuses as “logistical challenges” and “technical glitches” can be adduced for the failure of a general election planned for several months, if not years, and which has a budget running into hundreds of billions of naira. Such logistical or technical challenges are symptomatic of acutely weak state capacity, associated with failed states. But, in Nigeria, the problem is not just the lack of institutional capacity; it is also the absence of institutional independence and integrity whereby, with a sleight of hand, those tasked with ensuring credible elections apparently exploit the system’s seeming weakness to skew the outcome.

That, if you ask me, is the only plausible explanation for INEC’s shameful behaviour in the 2023 presidential election. Let’s rehash the story. The Electoral Act 2022 provided for two new technologies: the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, for electronic accreditation of voters and transmission of results, and the INEC Result Viewing, IReV, a central portal where election results were transmitted to in real-time so voters could see them contemporaneously. In line with the act, INEC published its “Election Regulations and Guidelines”, in which it stated categorically that it “shall” transmit election results “electronically” and “upload” them “to the INEC Result Viewing Portal, IReV”. Furthermore, INEC’s then chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, repeatedly assured Nigerians at home and abroad that INEC would use the technologies for the presidential election.

But, alas, INEC broke its word. While the BVAS and the IReV worked perfectly well in the National Assembly elections, it mysteriously failed in the presidential election conducted on the same day. Why? INEC blamed “technical glitch”. But the abracadabra that made the BVAS and the IReV work for the National Assembly elections but not for the presidential election conducted on the same day did not fool international observers. They said INEC’s failure to transmit the results electronically and post them on the IReV portal “severely eroded the election’s credibility”. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo called for the cancellation of the results announced outside of the BVAS and the IReV, saying it was “no secret that INEC officials have been allegedly compromised to make what should work not to work.” The European Union Election Observer Mission, EU EOM, said that “only 31 per cent” of the presidential election results eventually uploaded to the IReV system “were formally and mathematically correct.” In other words, manual transmissions were manipulated.

Of course, once INEC declares someone winner of a presidential election, it is a fait accompli, and thus utterly academic and a waste of time to go to court. Truth is, the Supreme Court will never remove a sitting president from office, however deeply flawed his “election”. Instead, the court will resort to technicality and perverse logic to dismiss any appeal, however valid. In the 2023 presidential election petitions, the Supreme Court ruled that even though INEC promised in its regulations and guidelines to use the BVAS and the IReV, it was not bound to keep the promise because the regulations and guidelines were subordinate to the Electoral Act, which didn’t make electronic transmission mandatory. Second, the Supreme Court ruled that results transmitted to the IReV portal were evidentially inferior to the results inputted into the Form EC8A, the paper-based result sheet. Thus, a petitioner cannot rely on the results uploaded to the IReV portal to prove his case; he must produce a certified Form EC8A from each of the 176,846 polling units across Nigeria!

In a piece titled “How 2023 will affect Nigeria’s political stability for decades” (Vanguard, January 11, 2024), I argued that the Supreme Court verdict would pervert presidential elections for a long time to come. For, thanks to the apex court, when it comes to presidential elections, INEC enjoys irrebuttable presumption of regularity: it can literally do what it likes and get away with it!

Unfortunately, the Senate’s bill legitimises INEC’s behaviour and Supreme Court’s verdict in 2023. Electronic transmission prevents the manipulation linked with manual transmission, while real-time uploading of results to the IReV portal ensures transparency. By rejecting the safeguards of mandatory and real-time electronic transmission of election results, the Senate invites a recurrence of 2023. Neither INEC nor the Supreme Court will be bound by vague and discretionary rules on electronic transmission of election results. Truth is, weak state capacity and lack of institutional independence have long impaired Nigeria’s electoral process. But the repeat of 2023’s “technical glitch” and the associated shenanigans in 2027 will deeply trouble Nigeria.

Credit: Olu Fasan

El-Rufai files N1bn lawsuit against ICPC

Posted on February 23, 2026 by Bode Dolu

Nasir El-Rufai: The perception and the reality

Former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has filed a N1 billion lawsuit against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and others over the alleged unlawful search of his Abuja residence.

Filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the suit is seeking a declaration that the search warrant used to enter his home at No. 12 Mambilla Street, Aso Drive, on February 19 was invalid.

El-Rufai described the warrant as “null and void for lack of particularity, material drafting errors, ambiguity in execution parameters, overbreadth, and absence of probable cause.”

The ex-governor claimed that ICPC and Nigeria Police officers violated his constitutional rights to dignity, personal liberty, fair hearing, and privacy during the operation. He is requesting the court to bar any evidence obtained from the search from being used against him in any investigation or trial.

El-Rufai also seeks an order compelling the ICPC and the Inspector-General of Police to return all items seized from his home, accompanied by a detailed inventory.

He is claiming N1 billion in damages.

Time Out with Generals in Umuahia, By Olusegun Adeniyi

Posted on February 23, 2026 by Bode Dolu

On 26 November 2012, I was the lead speaker at the annual Chief of Army Staff Conference in Asaba, Delta State. I spoke on ‘Terrorism and Inter-Agency Coordination in Nigeria’. While congratulating me later that night, one of the Generals ‘confessed’ that when some of them learnt about my invitation, they kicked against ‘a small boy’ coming to address them at such an important conference. But then Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt General Azubuike Ihejirika, according to him, insisted that if the committee considered me good enough for the conference, why should it matter that I was ‘a small boy’. So, when I was contacted to moderate the lecture being organised for Ihejirika’s 70th birthday in Umuahia last Friday, I didn’t hesitate to accept the invitation.

With the theme, ‘Leading Nigeria Forward: Strategies for Security and National Cohesion’, the keynote speaker was former Kaduna State Governor Ahmed Makarfi, who incidentally attended Federal Government College (FGC), Enugu from 1973 to 1978 and had some of his old classmates around to welcome him to Umuahia. At the ceremony chaired by former Foreign Affairs Minister, Major General Ike Nwachukwu (rtd), the discussants were Vice Admiral Dele Joseph Ezeoba (rtd), a former Chief of the Naval Staff, Major General Ashimiyu Olaniyi (rtd), a former Nigerian ambassador to Pakistan with concurrent accreditation to Afghanistan, and Dr. Elelenta Nwabuisi Elele, an engineering mathematician with 31 years experience in the United States military. While Makarfi’s intervention dwelt on the leadership gaps, institutional failures and societal fractures that have brought us to the current state of national insecurity, what struck me most was the sheer number of retired army Generals in Umuahia. But I shouldn’t get ahead of myself.

Thanks to Governor Alex Otti, the Abia that I met last weekend was quite different from the one I experienced 11 years ago when I last visited and on which I wrote a column, ‘The Road to Arochukwu’ which rankled a few people in the state at the time. In July 2015, I had visited the state to attend the burial of the late Mrs Lydia Okoronkwo, a member of our church who until her death worked at the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHDA) in Abuja. “While I lack the words to describe what we experienced, I can say that it (Ohafia to Arochukwu) is indeed the worst road I have ever travelled in this country,” I wrote in the column under reference. “I still cannot understand the criminal neglect of the road to Arochukwu, a popular and historic town that one has heard so much about. To worsen matters, screaming billboards along the way read ‘Ochendo is working’! For the uninitiated, Ochendo is the political nickname of the former Abia Governor (now Senator) T.A. Orji, who spent eight years in power in the state. It is almost as if Orji’s handlers were mocking Arochukwu people.”

The same ‘treacherous stretch’ of 30 kilometres that took us more than two hours to navigate in July 2015 now takes less than 15 minutes to drive through on an asphalted road that was commissioned last Friday. Meanwhile, everyone I encountered in Umuahia spoke glowingly of Otti and the evidence is there to see, especially in the area of road infrastructure. Though I have also heard what his administration is doing in the education and health sectors. Once a landscape of neglect and despair, Abia State is gradually being transformed into a beacon of hope, progress and tangible results by Otti. But that’s not the issue for today.

At Ihejirika’s birthday ceremony in Umuahia, I counted almost a hundred retired Generals. They included four former Chiefs of Army Staff (Alexander Ogomudia, Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, Farouk Yahaya and Ihejirika himself), three former Chiefs of Defence Staff (Leo Irabor, Christopher Musa and Ogomudia), a former Chief of Air Staff (Mohammed Dikko Umar) and a former Chief of Naval Staff in Ezeoba. Of course, there were dozens of retired Army Major Generals/Brigadier Generals, Air Vice Marshalls/Commodores and Naval Vice Admirals/Rear Admirals in attendance.

In recent days, I have ruminated over how we allowed these military men, some who retired in their forties and fifties, to practically go to waste. Men who were trained in some of the best military institutions in the world. Men who commanded brigades, divisions, and entire theatres of operation. Men who understand the Nigerian terrain and the informal power structures that no satellite image can capture. Yet at a period we are at war on multiple fronts, we ignore the institutional knowledge, strategic experience, and the leadership capacity of these men.

In most countries, the investment made in training military leadership does not expire at the point of retirement. That knowledge is a national asset. In Rwanda, for instance, retired military officers are embedded in everything; from agricultural development programmes to district governance structures. That is because President Paul Kagame understands that the discipline, logistics thinking, and capacity to execute under pressure which hallmark military training can be deployed for the greater good of the country.

In Nigeria, we retire our generals, organize elaborate send-forth, and wave them goodbye. Some find their way into politics, which is its own conversation. A few receive appointments into the boards of private security companies. The vast majority simply disappear with their knowledge untapped. General Ihejirika himself is instructive as an example. He is an Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria graduate of Quantity Survey whose military career spanned critical periods in our nation’s security evolution, from internal security operations to counter-insurgency campaigns. He was COAS during one of the most operationally demanding periods in Nigeria’s post-civil war history. The campaign to retake territories seized by Boko Haram, the internal reorganization of an army that had grown comfortable and complacent etc. These are not lessons that can be extracted from a PowerPoint presentation or a policy brief written by someone who has never fired a shot. They live in the man who I understand is now a farmer in his village. And in the men who served alongside him but are now in retirement, wondering whether the country they spent their youth defending still has any use for them.

I thought about all this as I watched Ihejirika receive tributes in Umuahia. Here is a man whose institutional memory of the Nigerian military and its operational challenges is irreplaceable. Yet the formal architecture of the Nigerian state has no structured mechanism to draw on that experience. We have no equivalent of the US Army War College’s Senior Fellow programme, where retired officers continue to contribute to strategic doctrine. We have no National Security Council advisory framework that systematically incorporates retired military leadership into threat assessment and conflict prevention. The Defence College in Abuja remains primarily a pre-retirement filing station rather than a true centre for strategic thinking that bridges serving and retired expertise.

Yes, I am aware of the complexities. There are genuine concerns about deploying retired military officers in advisory roles in active conflict environments. Questions of accountability and the risk of militarizing the civic space are not frivolous. But the alternative is a structured waste of capacity at precisely the moment when Nigeria can least afford it. What I therefore propose is a conversation that Nigeria’s policymakers appear unwilling to have. It would require a National Human Resource Audit of retired senior military personnel, their specializations, areas of operational experience, language capacities, and regional knowledge. It would require the creation of formal advisory frameworks at both federal and state levels that draw on this expertise in a structured and accountable ways. It would require, perhaps most fundamentally, a shift in how Nigeria’s political class thinks about military expertise. Not as a threat to be managed through pension and distance, but as a resource to be deployed in service of national survival.

These propositions are not radical. Most serious countries feature existing versions of it. What should embarrass us is that we continue not to. Nigeria is not short of problems. But it is also, if we would only look honestly, not as short of solutions as we pretend. Some of those solutions are sitting in retirement. The question is whether this country will ever find the wisdom, and the political will to knock on their doors, especially at a period we are thinking of restructuring the police for each of the 36 states to have their own formation. In terms of training and doctrine, considering the security challenges we now grapple with, these retired Generals would be useful to any serious governor who desires to create enduring security outfits for their states.

Overall, I considered my trip to Abia State quite eventful. On arrival in Owerri last Thursday, we all left for Umuahia in a convoy of long buses. The same on our way back last Saturday. Throughout both journeys, Ihejirika was the topic as retired military officers spoke glowingly about his kindness, professionalism, eye for talent and pan-Nigerian disposition. I paid attention to the testimonies of these retired Generals. Even though Ihejirika and his wife have two children (both male) who are now successful young men in their own right, former NYSC Director General, Major General Johnson Bamidele Olawumi (rtd) who coordinated the Umuahia event reminded me last Saturday that Ihejirika has many other ‘children’ in different parts of Nigeria. “Even my family members know that General Ihejirika is like a father to me,” declared Olawumi who is currently a member of THISDAY editorial board. I also knew the risk Ihejirika took to save the career of my friend, Brigadier General Mustapha Dennis Onoyiveta (rtd) when power mongers were baying for blood just because he (Mustapha) remained loyal (as ADC) to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua at a most difficult period in our country’s history. In a recent interview, Ihejirika recounted how he resisted the pressure to terminate Mustapha’s career. “I explained that this officer was one of the best among his peers and I said No. I called for his file and saw that it was excellent, and nobody had written a petition against him. But it was a tough one.” It was indeed a decision that could have cost Ihejirika his job as COAS considering how desperate some people were to deal with the ‘Yar’Adua Cabal’ at the time. But he stood by his principles.

Interestingly, I have never had any personal encounter with Iherijika beyond occasionally meeting him at events. And we didn’t even have an opportunity to interact throughout my stay in Umuahia last weekend. Let me therefore wish him good health and many more years of active service to his fatherland.

Vickie Irabor’s Worthy Example

On 28th May 2023, Mrs Vickie Anwuli Irabor launched her book, ‘The Journey of a Military Wife’, at a period her husband, General Lucky Irabor was still serving as Chief of Defence Staff. When I learnt that some retired military officers were angry with the book, I went to look for it and eventually got a copy. Although it was apparent that the book wasn’t subjected to any editorial process, it nonetheless contained a lot of relevant information about the Nigerian Army that researchers would find useful. But I also noticed what riled the retired military officers and wrote about it. Below is a paragraph from my column at the time:

According to Mrs Irabor, most retired military officers exhibit certain behavioural traits after their tour of duty, and she warned their wives to be fully prepared: “Furthermore, since the tension and absenteeism which the job brought to the family is gone, nights would be free so military wives must prepare!” (emphasis hers). And then the punchline: “While this may sound like a joke, some retired military wives during an interview revealed that the sex life of retired officers get to another level because the military job and its tension is no more there, so all they do is sex!” (Again, the emphasis is her’s). While I plead with the retired Generals to see the lighter side of the ‘revelation’, I also hope Mrs Irabor is ready for a serious ‘battle’ in the bedroom once her husband retires.

At the Sam Mbawke airport, Owerri, last Saturday, I met a visibly angry Mrs Irabor as I exchanged pleasantries with her husband. “You know what you did”, she told me calmly when I tried to extend my greetings to her. But I was surprised by what she said next. “I have republished the book and would like to give you a copy.” A few hours later, I was at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton where she was directing a musical play, ‘Soldier’s Heart’ that was staged last Sunday. She gave me a copy of the book and flipping through, I discovered it has been properly edited, taking into account my criticisms.

A legal practitioner who attended University of Benin and Northern University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, with three Masters in management and finance law, as well as in conflict, security and development, Mrs Vickie Anwuli Irabor has demonstrated that it can be ennobling when we learn from mistakes and make course correction. And with that, I can now gladly recommend her book, ‘The Journey of a Military Wife.’

Ita-Giwa @ 80

Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, who clocks 80 today, has had a remarkable life and career. A United Kingdom trained nurse who set out early in the world of business by representing a number of multinational pharmaceutical firms in Nigeria, Ita-Giwa was elected into the House of Representatives during the ill-fated Third Republic under General Ibrahim Babangida between 1992 and 1993. She was also elected Senator for Cross River South in 1999 on the platform of the now-defunct All Peoples Party (APP). She left the Senate in 2003 after which she served as Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters, first to President Olusegun Obasanjo and then to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

Without doubt, Ita-Giwa has, in her own quiet way, broken many glass ceilings in promotion of the rights of women and in defence of the vulnerable of our society who include her own kinsmen in the Bakassi Peninsula, now ceded to Cameroun. On a personal note, I had several opportunities in the past to interact with Ita-Giwa. Especially when she was living in Apapa, Lagos where THISDAY operational headquarters is located. And I found her a very wonderful woman with incredible sense of humour. As she joins the Octogenarian Club today, I can only wish her long life and good health.

Happy birthday, Mama Bakassi!

Credit: Olusegun Adeniyi

Anambra councilor died just few weeks to his white wedding

Posted on February 23, 2026 by Bode Dolu

Friends mourn Anambra councillor who d!ed few weeks to his white wedding Friends and family members of Hon Chuma Okpala, a councillor representing Amesi ward in Aguta Local Government Area have been

Chuma Okpala’s friends, political associates, and family members of Hon. have been thrown into deep mourning following his sudden passing.

The councillor representing Amesi Ward in Aguta Local Government Area, Hon. Okpala was widely regarded as a dedicated grassroots politician committed to the development of his community.

News of his death has sent shockwaves across Amesi and the wider Aguta area, with many describing the loss as both painful and difficult to comprehend.

The late councillor, according to close sources, had only recently celebrated his traditional wedding ceremony last Monday in what was meant to mark the beginning of a new chapter in his life. Tragically, he passed away on Saturday, February 21, just days after the joyous occasion. The cause of his death has not been made public as of the time of this report.

Friends and associates have taken to social media to express their grief, sharing heartfelt tributes and recounting fond memories of his kindness, leadership, and vibrant spirit. Many have described his passing as a heartbreaking twist of fate, especially considering the plans that lay ahead.

It was gathered that Hon. Okpala had already scheduled his white wedding for Saturday, April 18, 2026. Preparations were reportedly well underway, with his groomsmen selected and their suits already made in anticipation of the ceremony. Sadly, what was meant to be a celebration of love and unity has now turned into a period of sorrow for his loved ones.

See a post below:

Yoruba, Hausa, and Nigerian pidgin in the list of world’s most spoken languages

Posted on February 23, 2026 by Bode Dolu

Nigerian Pidgin, Hausa Rank Among World’s Most Spoken Languages - Angel Network News

More than 7,000 languages are spoken around the world today and at least 3,000 of them, or 40 percent, are endangered.

English is the most widely spoken language, with approximately 1.5 billion speakers in 186 countries. Two out of every 10 English speakers are native, while the remaining 80 percent speak English as their second, third or higher language, according to Ethnologue, a database which catalogues the world’s languages.

Mandarin Chinese is the second most spoken language with almost 1.2 billion speakers. However, when accounting for native speakers, it is the largest language in the world, owing to China’s large population.

Hindi comes in third at 609 million speakers, followed by Spanish (559 million), and Standard Arabic (335 million).

(Photo: Angel Network News, Facebook)

PDP drags APC to court after five-council win in FCT election

Posted on February 22, 2026 by Bode Dolu

Presidential tribunal: INEC, APC agents allegedly, falsified, cancelled results - PDP witnesses allege - Daily Post Nigeria

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has inaugurated a special legal team to challenge the results of Saturday’s election held across the Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory.

As pronounced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won five of the six chairmanship seats in the council elections.

APC won the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Abaji, Bwari, Kwali and Kuje, while the PDP secured the chairmanship seat in Gwagwalada.

The exercise, conducted to fill six chairmanship and 62 councillorship seats, was marred by widespread voter apathy and reported vote-buying.

Ini Ememobong, PDP National Publicity Secretary, in a statement on Sunday, the party congratulated its winning candidates but alleged irregularities.

The party said its legal team would be headed by its National Legal Adviser, Shafi Bara’u, Esq., and urged aggrieved candidates to act promptly.

“We specifically congratulate the chairman-elect of Gwagwalada Area Council, Mohammed Kasim, and the councillors who have been declared successful by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

“This victory, though less in number than we anticipated, is particularly gladdening because it is against the background of unprecedented intimidation, high-powered money politics and brazen executive brigandage,” the statement read.

Ememobong further alleged misconduct during the polls.

“Reports and video evidence abound where armed security personnel were used to cart away result sheets at polling units, intimidate voters and unduly influence the outcome of the elections.

“The incredible voter apathy in these polls is a direct response to the anti-people Electoral Act 2026, where the people have completely lost faith in electoral outcomes conducted under this Act.

“These local council polls may just be a foreshadowing of the forthcoming general elections in 2027 if changes are not urgently made.”

Polls: APC wins five FCT councils, PDP one

Posted on February 22, 2026 by Bode Dolu

Ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has obtained victory in five of the six chairmanship seats contested in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections, while the Peoples Democratic Party won the remaining seat.

Results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday showed that the APC won the Abuja Municipal Area Council, Abaji, Bwari, Kwali, and Kuje Area Councils, while the PDP emerged victorious in Gwagwalada Area Council.

PDP candidate, Mohammed Kasim, was declared winner in Gwagwalada Area Council, after polling 22,165 votes to defeat the APC candidate, Yahaya Shehu, who secured 17,788 votes.

Announcing the result, the Returning Officer, Philip Akpen, said, “I am the returning officer for the 2026 FCT Area Council, Gwagwalada chairmanship election held on February 21, 2026. That Mohammed Kasim of the PDP, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected.”

A breakdown of the results showed:

•PDP – 22,165

•APC – 17,788

•APGA – 1,687

•ADC – 1,366

Kasim of the PDP was declared winner, having polled the highest number of votes.

In Bwari Area Council, Joshua Ishaku of the APC emerged winner with 18,466 votes.

“I am the returning officer for the 2026 FCT Area Council, Bwari chairmanship election held on Feb. 21, 2026. That Joshua Ishaku, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” the Returning Officer, Mohammed Nurudeen, announced.

INEC figures showed:

•APC – 18,466

•ADC – 4,254

•ZLP – 3,515

Ishaku of the APC was returned elected.

In the Abuja Municipal Area Council, Christopher Maikalangu of the APC was re-elected after polling 40,295 votes.

“That Maikalangu of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” the AMAC Collation Officer, Andrew Abue, said.

Results released by the commission indicated:

•APC – 40,295

•ADC – 12,109

•SDP – 2,185

•NNPP – 1,694

•PDP – 3,398

Maikalangu of the APC secured the highest votes.

In Abaji Area Council, Umar Abdullahi Abubakar of the APC won the chairmanship election.

INEC results showed:

•APC – 15,536

•PDP – 4,547

•ADC – 37

Abubakar of the APC was declared winner.

In Kwali Area Council, the APC candidate, Nuhu Daniel, polled 17,032 votes to defeat the PDP candidate, Haruna Pai, who secured 8,575 votes. Daniel of the APC was returned elected.

INEC results showed:

APC – 17,032
PDP – 8,575

Daniel of the APC was declared winner.

In Kuje Area Council, APC candidate Danjuma Shekwolo won the chairmanship after polling 17,269 votes.

INEC results showed:

APC – 17,269
PDP – 15,824
APGA – 4,305

Shekwolo of APC was declared winner

Between City Boys and Village Boys’ Movements, By Obinna Chima

Posted on February 22, 2026 by Bode Dolu

Obinna Chima (@iamobinnachima) / Posts / X

As political alignments intensify ahead of the country’s next general elections, Nigerians on various social media platforms are being entertained with the activities of groups pushing for the endorsement of their aspirants.

From Facebook to X, Instagram, and the latest addition from the founders of ARISE and THISDAY media group, Lekeelekee, the digital space has become a theatre of endorsements, counter-endorsements, and viral political theatrics. While some of these campaigns are strategic, many are clearly driven by opportunism and the quest for relevance, offering citizens both spectacle and satire in equal measure.

At the centre of the latest drama is the City Boys Movement, a group pushing for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu, and the Village Boys Movement, a pro-Peter Obi support group which sprang up in response to the former.

While the City Boys Movement has been in existence since 2022, as a youth advocacy and mobilisation platform that supported Tinubu’s 2023 presidential ambition, with a reach it claims to be in all the States and the 774 local governments, the Village Boys Movement, an offshoot of the Obidient Movement, is a massive organic group of followers of the former Anambra State Governor and a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress.

But beneath the growing banter from these groups lies a dangerous trend, which is the gradual replacement of ideas with insults, policies with personality attacks, and democratic persuasion with online hostility.

This became rife when some South-East socialites, such as Obinna Iyiegbu, widely known as Obi Cubana; Pascal Okechukwu (Cubana Chief Priest), and other social media influencers and billionaires who supported Obi in 2023, assumed leadership roles in the City Boys Movement in the region. There have been online attacks and banters from critics who have labelled the move a betrayal of earlier political loyalties. If left unchecked, this may lead to physical attacks as the elections draw closer. The controversy has also sparked broader debates about the role of celebrity figures in Nigeria’s political landscape.

As the country edges towards another electoral cycle, the tone of political engagement matters as much as the outcome of the contest. Campaigns that thrive on hate speech, stereotyping, and personal attacks must be discouraged as they weaken democratic culture and public discourse. Nigeria deserves better.

In democracies, elections are essentially popularity contests, and in Nigeria, presidential elections have always been seen to be more important, as they determine the direction of national power, policy priorities, and control of federal resources.

While the importance of the internet as a tool for communication, networking, and social interaction has dramatically increased in recent years, at the same time, it has become a platform for organised hate groups to recruit and control their members, organise attacks, and intimidate and harass their enemies. We must not allow this to happen as the journey towards the general elections draws nearer.

Clearly, the rhetoric of enmity and hatred spread on social media and instant messengers undermines the social cohesion of citizens, breeds distrust and intolerance, sows panic, provokes people to illegal actions, creating the ground for conflict tension.

Rather, political campaigns should focus on combating negativity by offering voters a new, unfamiliar situation with the possibility of a major gain.

Voting should be seen as an opportunity for people to have their say. That is why boosting engagement is hugely important and it offers the voting community the right to get involved and see the tangible impact of their voting power.

The City Boys Movement, the Village Boys Movement, or any other groups that would spring up in the coming days are therefore advised to focus primarily on relevant issues, push their own views, and sell their candidates without attacking their opponent in an attempt to gain votes.

Positive campaigns that allow for fact-based criticism of an opponent should be encouraged. One way candidates can maximise the positivity of their campaigns is by eliminating those things that make people and their opponents have negative emotions.

On the other hand, negative, attack-oriented campaigning is undermining and damaging to democracy and reduces the total number of citizens involved in democratic elections, thus undermining the power of the people to voice their opinions. In fact, negative campaigns reduce voter turnout during elections.

Political campaigns should not be about class and entrenching a dichotomy between elites and ordinary citizens. In a country already grappling with ethnic, religious, and regional fault lines, such narratives are combustible. Political campaigns should be marketplaces of ideas, not battlegrounds of insults. Democracy thrives when citizens are persuaded by clear visions, credible plans, and measurable records.

From Kafanchan in Kaduna, to Agbidiama in Bayelsa, Ohaji in Imo, Ado-Ekiti, Sokoto, Lokoja and other rural and urban communities in Nigeria, voters want to know how candidates will tackle inflation, address Nigeria’s worsening insecurity, end mass abduction of school children; make people return to their ancestral homes by resolving the issue of Nigeria’s growing Internally Displaced Persons camps, create jobs, improve education, turnaround the healthcare deficits, address perennial power outages and grid collapses and make Nigerians want to stay more in their country, and not who can craft the most viral insult on social media.

If elections are going to be won, they will be won in classrooms, markets, farms, transport parks, campuses, and street corners, and not on social media.

We must guard against a fractured society, as Nigeria cannot afford another cycle of political toxicity. A healthier political culture demands deliberate restraint. Political movements and political parties must commit to issue-based campaigns, fact-based debates, and respectful engagement.

Civil society, media organisations, religious and traditional rulers also have a role to play in calling out toxic rhetoric and promoting civic education.

Finally, the City Boys and Village Boys, and others must understand that the true test of leadership is not the ability to dominate opponents with words, but the capacity to unite citizens, deliver the dividends of democracy, and enthrone an inclusive country.

Credit: Obinna Chima

US Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s sweeping tariffs

Posted on February 21, 2026 by Bode Dolu

President Trump Presents The Mexican Border Defense Medal At The White House

United States Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s far-reaching global tariffs on Friday, handing him a stinging loss that sparked a furious attack on the court he helped shape.

Trump said he was “absolutely ashamed” of some justices who ruled 6-3 against him, calling them “disloyal to our Constitution” and “lapdogs.” At one point he even raised the specter of foreign influence without citing any evidence.

The decision could have ripple effects on economies around the globe after Trump’s moves to remake post-World War II trading alliances by wielding tariffs as a weapon.

But an unbowed Trump pledged to impose a new global 10% tariff under a law that’s restricted to 150 days and has never been used to apply tariffs before.

“Their decision is incorrect,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter because we have very powerful alternatives.”

The court’s ruling found tariffs that Trump imposed under an emergency powers law were unconstitutional, including the sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs he levied on nearly every other country.

Trump appointed three of the justices on the nation’s highest court during his first term, and has scored a series of short-term wins that have allowed him to move ahead with key policies.

Tariffs, though, were the first major piece of Trump’s broad agenda to come squarely before the Supreme Court for a final ruling, after lower courts had also sided against the president.

The majority found that it is unconstitutional for the president to unilaterally set and change tariffs because taxation power clearly belongs to Congress. “The Framers did not vest any part of the taxing power in the Executive Branch,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.

AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports on a significant loss for President Trump before the Supreme Court.

Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.

“The tariffs at issue here may or may not be wise policy. But as a matter of text, history, and precedent, they are clearly lawful,” Kavanaugh wrote. Trump praised his 63-page dissent as “genius.”

The court majority did not address whether businesses could get refunded for the billions they have collectively paid in tariffs. Many companies, including the big-box warehouse chain Costco, have already lined up in lower courts to demand refunds. Kavanaugh noted the process could be complicated.

“The Court says nothing today about whether, and if so how, the Government should go about returning the billions of dollars that it has collected from importers. But that process is likely to be a ‘mess,’ as was acknowledged at oral argument,” he wrote.

The Treasury had collected more than $133 billion from the import taxes the president has imposed under the emergency powers law as of December, federal data shows. The impact over the next decade has been estimated at some $3 trillion.

The tariffs decision doesn’t stop Trump from imposing duties under other laws. Those have more limitations on the speed and severity of Trump’s actions, but the president said they would still allow him to “charge much more” than he had before.

Vice President JD Vance called the high court decision “lawlessness” in a post on X.

(AP. Photo: AFP)

Petition rocks deputy senate president Benjamin Kalu’s Nigerian law licence

Posted on February 21, 2026 by Bode Dolu

Benjamin Kalu (@OfficialBenKalu) / Posts / X

A fresh legal controversy has erupted around the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, following a petition challenging the legality of his enrolment as a legal practitioner and the authenticity of his participation in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

According to a report by thenigerialawyer.com, a former First Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. John Aikpokpo-Martins, has formally petitioned the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee (LPDC), alleging what he described as “fraudulent enrolment” on the Roll of Legal Practitioners maintained at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

At the centre of the petition is an alleged overlap between Kalu’s NYSC service year and his attendance at the Nigerian Law School, Enugu Campus.

The petitioner contends that Kalu was mobilised for NYSC from March 9, 2010 to March 8, 2011, while simultaneously attending the Nigerian Law School between April 23, 2010 and July 1, 2011.

Aikpokpo-Martins argues that such dual participation would contravene Section 2(3) of the NYSC Act, which mandates a continuous one-year national service. He maintains that it is “statutorily impossible” for a corps member to lawfully undertake full-time academic training during the subsistence of the service year.

The petition further references what is described as a strict policy of the Nigerian Law School and the Council of Legal Education prohibiting students from serving in the NYSC during their period of study.

In an affidavit deposed before the LPDC, the petitioner alleges that Kalu—who reportedly enrolled at the Law School under the name Benjamin Okezie Osisiogu before subsequent changes of name—made a formal declaration on April 23, 2010, affirming that he was not and would not engage in employment or serve in the NYSC during his course of study.

However, documentary evidence attached to the petition, including NYSC Certificate of National Service No. A001773067 allegedly issued on March 8, 2011, is said to indicate continuous participation in the scheme within the same timeframe.

The petitioner asserts that this raises fundamental questions as to whether the Deputy Speaker satisfied the mandatory 70 percent attendance requirement at the Nigerian Law School—a prerequisite for certification by the Council of Legal Education and subsequent Call to Bar.

Kalu was called to the Nigerian Bar on September 6, 2011, and enrolled at the Supreme Court with enrolment number SCN/078630.

The petition invokes several provisions of the NYSC Act, including Sections 13(1)(b), 13(3), and 13(4), which prescribe penalties for failure to serve continuously, aiding contraventions, or making false statements in connection with the scheme.

Under Section 11(1)(c) of the Legal Practitioners Act, the LPDC is empowered to discipline any legal practitioner found guilty of infamous conduct in a professional respect.

Aikpokpo-Martins has also written to the Director-General of the NYSC, urging the withdrawal of the alleged Certificate of National Service and calling for prosecution if breaches are established.

He further disclosed plans to apply for subpoenas compelling the production of official records from both the NYSC and the Nigerian Law School, including call-up letters, attendance registers, allowance payment records, and discharge documentation.

The petitioner insists that the matter transcends politics and strikes at the core of professional ethics and institutional integrity.

“The exalted position he presently occupies must showcase the highest standards of integrity, transparency and adherence to the law,” he stated.

Senior lawyers who spoke on the development emphasised that the LPDC possesses jurisdiction to investigate allegations of professional misconduct, including fraudulent enrolment, where properly substantiated. However, they cautioned that the claims remain allegations pending formal inquiry and evidentiary scrutiny.

As of press time, there has been no official response from Hon. Kalu regarding the petitions. Neither the NYSC nor the LPDC has publicly confirmed whether investigations have commenced.

The unfolding controversy places renewed focus on statutory compliance, professional standards, and the expectations of integrity for holders of high public office.

(thenigerialawyer)

El-Rufai: Limits of Dubious Demagoguery, By Akin Osuntokun

Posted on February 20, 2026 by Bode Dolu

Akin Osuntokun Archives - Vanguard News

“I am writing as a concerned citizen to seek clarification and reassurance regarding information available to the political opposition leadership about a procurement of approximately 10 kilograms of Thallium Sulphate by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), reportedly from a supplier in Poland.. Given that thallium salts are highly toxic and tightly controlled substances, I believe it is important for public safety, democratic accountability and for maintaining public trust to confirm the following the intended purpose and end-use of the imported thallium sulphate”-El-Rufai

“Thallium is primarily used in high-tech industries for manufacturing electronics (semiconductors, photoelectric cells), specialized fiber optics, and low-melting glass, as well as in medical, cardiovascular, scintigraphic imaging. It is also employed in high-temperature superconductors and, historically, as a toxic rodenticide”-Encyclopedia Britannica

Scouting for a presidential material among the younger generation of public figures from the North in the electoral cycle of the 2011 general elections, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu had commissioned a public opinion poll on the popularity rating of a sample comprising Nuhu Ribadu, Nasir El-Rufai, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and others. Ribadu scored 45%, Rufai scored 7%, Sanusi scored 3%. It was on the basis of this poll that Tinubu reached out to Ribadu and enthroned him as the Presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in 2011.

Prior to this, (on account of our camaraderie and quite efficient manner, he had discharged his mandate as Minister of the federal capital territory), Ribadu, myself and other members of a nine member caucus group empanelled by President Olusegun Obasanjo (to plot his exit strategy) had presented El-Rufai to the latter as our preferred choice as Presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections. Obasanjo rejected the suggestion and dismissed us as naive and that he knows El-Rufai more than any of us does. Besides, he said he had resolved to pick his successor from among the state governors (whose support was indispensable to the success of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP at the elections) and that the choice he had made has demonstrated impeccable character and proved himself a dependable and loyal ally.

He was speaking of Umaru Yaradua, who coincidentally was the junior brother of Shehu Yaradua (who served as Obasanjo’s deputy when he was military head of state). Somewhat inevitably, he would subsequently expatiate on the flaws of El-Rufai in his memoirs, ‘My Watch’ where he described him as having a “penchant for reputation savaging,” noting his tendency to lie and lack of consistent loyalty to others, being primarily loyal only to himself. He further characterised him as a “pathological purveyor of untruths and half-truths,” but nonetheless deemed him a “talented young man who can always deliver under close supervision.”.

I generally refrain from public scrutiny of those I have had a close personal relationship but I believe El-Rufai has crossed the red line this time around.

His ‘hell hath no fury than a woman spurned” relationship with Ribadu started with my earlier account of how he lost out to his close friend in the consideration of whom to choose as the ACN presidential candidate in the 2011 general elections.

This trend was at play when the Senate failed to confirm his ministerial nomination in 2023. Naturally, he felt slighted and disappointed like any of us would, but what made rejection particularly unbearable for him was that his nemesis , Nuhu Ribadu, had hitherto landed the all important appointment as the National Security Adviser, NSA.

The Nigerian Senate, particularly, the Senate President, is not my cup of tea but whatever the motive and power play

behind his failure to clinch a ministerial confirmation, the truth is that, on the record of his governorship of Kaduna state, for eight years, he is truly unfit for confirmation as Minister of the federal republic. No governor of that politically volatile state has been more callously divisive as he was.

He could barely disguise his thinly veiled deep seated animosity towards the Christian population of the state. His tenure was strewn with bloody security breakdowns, with, more often than not, the Christians as the predictable victims. He had set the stage for the kind of governor he would be when in 2012, he threatened “We will write this for all to read. Anyone, soldier or not that kills the Fulani takes a loan payable one day no matter how long it takes,”.

His legacy as governor are self-evident.

According to the reports of ICRI:

“In the days leading up to his 2019 reelection, El-Rufai whipped up public anger and physical violence when he falsely claimed that 130 Fulani had been killed in Kajuru, a locality near the capital city of Kaduna. Many, including the National Emergency Management Agency and El Rufai’s own Commissioner of Police denied his claims of an attack on the Fulani. In fact, eleven native Catholics were killed in Kajuru a few days before his comments. Suspected Fulani militants killed 127 people in Kajuru in what were presumably reprisal attacks in the month following El Rufai’s statement”.

When he took office as governor in 2015, he said that “the Fulani have nothing to fear, since a Fulani [is] now governor of the state.”. Glorifying Fulani affinity with bloody vengefulness, he went further “Of course you know the Fulani have a long memory of avenging any killings; so their relations were coming from other countries to avenge the killings.”

“So a lot of what was happening in Southern Kaduna was actually from outside Nigeria. We took certain steps. We got a group of people that were going round trying to trace some of these people in Cameroon, Niger republic and so on to tell them that there is a new governor who is Fulani like them and has no problem paying compensations for lives lost and he is begging them to stop killing”.

He didn’t spare the international community either. In terrorist verbiage, he warned the International observer mission coming to monitor the 2019 general elections in Nigeria. “We are waiting for the person who will come and intervene.They will go back in body bags because nobody will come to Nigeria and tell us how to run our country. We have got that independence and we are trying to run our country as decently as possible”.

“The escalation of violence in Kaduna began almost immediately after El-Rufai took office. In 2015, there were 356 deaths from 24 violent incidents, marking the start of a troubling trend. By 2021, the situation peaked, with 1,225 fatalities from 480 incidents”.

Typically, the nearer he got to the hour of reckoning with the anti-corruption agencies, the higher the decibel of his Kangaroo debate trickery, ignoring the ball and kicking the leg. I seldom find myself in agreement with press releases from the public communications office of the presidency. Today is an exception to that rule.

“The former governor’s outburst, wrote Bayo Onanuga, comes amid ongoing federal investigations into his own administration. A June 2024 report by the Kaduna State House of Assembly accused his government of mismanaging N423.2 billion in loans and grants. The EFCC has since invited El-Rufai and several former officials who served under him for questioning. He is expected to appear voluntarily at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja on February 16, 2026”.

“The truth is: Mallam El-Rufai has two clear intentions behind his recent actions and tantrums. One, to create political tension in the country, create an atmosphere of fear and unrest, and then damage the government through deliberate misinformation. Two, to divert attention from his domestic problems in Kaduna State, where he is facing massive corruption allegations. To draw attention to himself and project himself as a victim of persecution, he wants to nationalise his personal problems with his home state government, knowing that Nigerians will not be on his side over corruption charges”.

Rotimi Fasan had similarly written “He is being asked to account for some

N432 billion, mostly loans incurred in the name of the Kaduna state government. The state legislators, up to the last man, signed a petition demanding the investigation of El-Rufai. How this transformed into a planned arrest is a matter only he can explain”.

“Yet, he is far from being the paragon of integrity he advertises himself as. He is not a man by whose words much store can be set. He looks out solely for himself and would go to any length to ruin what he cannot get. It is why he has pivoted from the main point of his invitation by the EFCC to launch personal attacks against the NSA, accusing him of being behind his woes”

I have asked this question elsewhere: even if the complaint of political persecution is genuine, does this exonerate anyone so accused from criminal allegations of theft and corruption?

Brimming with hubris in his letter to the NSA, El-Rufai said “The government believes it is the only one that listens to calls, but we also have our ways. He made the call and gave the order. Someone tapped his phone. The government listens to our calls all the time without a court order. Someone tapped his phone and told us that he gave the order,” It is against this backdrop that I conclude with the citation of Max Weber’s definition of the state ‘as the sole legitimate repository of the power of coercion, claiming a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory’

This monopoly is personified by whichever government is in power. It is within the context of this monopoly that arms and other weapons of coercion and warfare are imported into the country. Assuming that the claim of El-Rufai is correct, the Nigerian government has done nothing wrong by importing Thallium into the country subject to international law and convention, just as it has done nothing wrong by importing machine guns. We do not know the content of the Tomahawk missile launched by Donald Trump on the muster point of the terrorists who were aiming to launch coordinated attacks on Nigeria the other day. For all we know it may or may not contain toxic portions like Thallium and it is irrelevant.

The real worry for Nigeria security, if his megalomaniac diatribes are true, is the vulnerability of its security communications to interception and the audacity of El-Rufai to blab about it. May be, just may be, it is the same source from which Nigerian terrorists obtain critical information on the plans and movements of the Nigerian army, hence the seeming intractability of the current Nigerian civil war.

Credit: Akin Osuntokun

I find dispatch rider’s professing love to me after delivering an item as disrespectful and disgusting ―Actress Sarah Martins

Posted on February 20, 2026 by Bode Dolu

Nollywood actress, Sarah Martins, hospitalised after sudden health scare – Tribune Online

Nigerian actress, Sarah Martins lashed out at a delivery man who sent her a message to profess his love after delivering a package to her.

The delivery man had been sent to deliver an item to the actress. After making the delivery, he then sent a message to Sarah, telling her that he is in love with her.

He wrote: “Good evening my beautiful angel. Hope your day was not too stressful? It’s me the ride babe. I swear with my life I love you”

Upon receiving the message, Sarah immediately responded, expressing her disgust at it. She told him that it appears he doesn’t love his job anymore.

Moments later, the rider responded claiming he has lost his job just because he professed his love to her.

See the actress’ post below:

Nigerian Naira surges in value to two-year peak

Posted on February 20, 2026 by Bode Dolu

Nigerian naira has surged to one of its strongest levels in nearly two years, closing at 1,347.78 per $1 in the official market on Monday, according to a macroeconomic update by CardinalStone.

The currency has appreciated by 6.9 per cent year-to-date in the official window, reflecting improved liquidity conditions in the foreign exchange market.

But, in spite of the gains, a gap remains between the official and parallel market rates. The parallel market initially traded at a 5.7 per cent premium before narrowing to about 3.2 per cent following renewed foreign exchange interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

According to CardinalStone, the shrinking spread indicates stronger liquidity in the official market relative to the parallel segment.

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last week allowed licensed Bureau de Change (BDC) operators to purchase foreign exchange through authorised dealers at prevailing market rates. Each BDC is permitted to buy up to $150,000 weekly, subject to Know-Your-Customer requirements.

Operators are required to offload unused balances within 24 hours to discourage hoarding, while cash transactions are capped at 25 per cent of total trades, with settlements routed through licensed financial institutions.

With 82 licensed BDCs, potential monthly FX supply to the segment could reach approximately $50 million—well below the over $1 billion supplied monthly before the COVID-19 pandemic. According to CardinalStone, this reduced volume reflects improved FX market conditions that have curbed speculative demand and redirected most corporate FX needs to the official window.

The renewed supply has nevertheless eased retail FX pressure and helped compress the parallel market premium.

Analysts warned that sustained currency appreciation could prompt foreign investors to rebalance their portfolios. Nigeria’s carry trade remains attractive among emerging and frontier markets, drawing substantial foreign portfolio investment (FPI), estimated at $12–$14 billion in outstanding positions.

Assuming many 2025 inflows entered the market at around N1,500 per $1, a strengthening of the naira to between N1,200 per $1 and N1,250 per $1 could generate currency gains of about 22.4 per cent. Such returns may heighten the risk of portfolio exits, particularly as political uncertainties build ahead of the next general elections.

Of Lawmakers, Compradors, and Pseudo-Patriots, By Dakuku Peterside

Posted on February 20, 2026 by Bode Dolu

Peterside: APC supporters were shot by masked thugs, not robbers - Latest Nigeria News, Nigerian Newspapers, Politics

On a quiet Tuesday evening, as the sun sank behind Nigeria’s skyline, the National Assembly committed a small, efficient act of cruelty against the nation’s democratic conscience. What should have been a protective update to the electoral framework—law as a shield for the weakest voter—was reshaped into law as an insurance policy for the strongest incumbent. In a rush that felt more like coordination than governance, the harmonised report on the Electoral Act amendment—complete with the contentious Section 60(3)—was passed with startling speed, and presidential assent followed almost immediately amid controversy. The message was not subtle: when the political class is threatened by transparency, urgency suddenly becomes possible.

Nigeria has seen this theatre before. We have watched lawmakers wrap private advantage in public language. We have watched “reforms” arrive pre-negotiated, rehearsed, and delivered with solemn faces. Yet this episode is unusually clarifying because it collapses the distance between what citizens suspect and what institutions now appear willing to formalise. The stage is built with public funds: the chambers, the microphones, the convoys, the allowances, the comfort. But the script increasingly reads like a compact among elites—signed with the ink of procedure and paid for by citizens whose only demand is simple: let the vote mean what it says.

A legislature earns legitimacy by translating citizens’ voices into enforceable rules. That is the moral basis of representation. The National Assembly is meant to be the place where the noise of the streets is refined into the discipline of policy. Instead, it is too often the place where the urgency of the people is diluted into loopholes, and the public interest is bargained away for political survival. When a law governing elections is weakened—when it is designed to expand ambiguity rather than reduce it—what is being attacked is not a clause but the social contract itself. Democracy cannot breathe in a room where outcomes are negotiated before ballots are counted.

At the centre of this crisis is a question that should not be controversial in any serious republic: how do we make rigging harder? Nigerians across regions, religions, and party lines share a rare consensus. They want elections that can be trusted. They want accreditation and collation processes that leave minimal room for manipulation. They want results that move from polling unit to public record without disappearing into shadows. This is not a luxury demand; it is the foundation of civic peace. Yet the amendment process, as executed, appears to do the opposite. Rather than tighten the screws on fraud, it loosens them. Rather than reduce discretion, it multiplies it. Rather than close the familiar doors through which elections are stolen, it refurbishes them and calls it pragmatism.

The sequence of events reads like a three-act play.

Act one was the House of Representatives, once romanticised as the more citizen-sensitive chamber. In what can only be described as a retreat dressed up as a procedure, the House abandoned its earlier posture in favour of a version that preserves a pathway for manual handling of what Nigerians have repeatedly demanded be made tamper-resistant. In a country where “manual” has become a synonym for discretion, and discretion has become a synonym for abuse, this is not a neutral compromise. It is a surrender—an invitation to the old craft of “corrections,” “adjustments,” and mysterious figures that arrive after the votes have been cast. It is the return of the familiar magician, now authorised to wear a badge.

Act two was the rhetorical laundering of that retreat. The new orthodoxy is “realism”: allow electronic transmission, yes—but keep manual processes as a fallback when “the system fails.” On paper, that sounds like common sense. In practice, it is an engineered trapdoor. Because in Nigeria, systems have a habit of failing at precisely the moments when failure benefits the powerful. A manual option does not protect the voter; it protects the politician. It converts a technical exception into a strategic instrument. It creates a legal alibi in advance, so that what should be investigated as fraud can be explained away as a malfunction.

Act three came from the executive. President Bola Tinubu’s swift assent—coming so quickly it seemed to outrun public scrutiny—lands in a wider pattern Nigerians are learning to recognise: when democratic safeguards demand patience, patience disappears. The state becomes allergic to questions. And assent, rather than being the final reflective step of a constitutional process, becomes a stamp applied with the impatience of those who do not expect to be held accountable. The political meaning is unmistakable: the rules of the contest will be adjusted by those who intend to win it, and the public may argue afterwards.

This is the point at which the nation must ask the simplest and most uncomfortable question: whose agency do our legislators truly represent? The citizens’, or the incumbents’? The public interest, or the party’s arithmetic? The republic’s long-term stability, or the politician’s short-term survival?

When lawmakers treat transparency as optional, they are not merely betraying voters; they are weakening the very institution that gives them authority. The social contract is uncomplicated: citizens grant legitimacy through votes and taxes; leaders return value through representation, accountability, and governance. When electoral laws are redesigned to make cheating easier to excuse and harder to prove, that contract is broken. And a broken contract does not simply reduce turnout; it raises the temperature of the republic. It turns elections into rituals without trust. It turns politics into warfare by other means.

The greater danger is not only the content of the amendment but the speed and manner of its passage. Process is not decoration; process is protection. When safeguards can be revised in a hurry, the public learns a terrible lesson: democratic infrastructure can be remodelled at the convenience of the powerful. The normalisation of rushed erosion is how democracies are hollowed out—not by one dramatic coup, but by a sequence of tidy edits, each defended as minor, technical, and necessary. Citizens are expected to accept each reduction in clarity as maturity, each new loophole as flexibility, each new discretion as practical governance. That is how pseudo-patriotism works: it speaks the language of the nation while quietly transferring power from the people to the gatekeepers.

The likely consequences are already visible on the horizon. One is withdrawal: citizens, tired of participating in contests that feel pre-arranged, may boycott 2027, choosing emotional self-defence over civic duty. The other is resignation: people may show up, but only as witnesses to an outcome they expect to be managed. In either case, the result is the same: democracy survives as an appearance while dying as a substance. Polling units may open. Campaign songs may blare. Debates may be televised. But the essential thing—a public belief that votes are counted as cast—will have been punctured again.

This is why the response cannot be casual or delayed.

Civil society must refuse the lazy comfort of “this is the best we can get.” There is nothing inevitable about loopholes. There is nothing patriotic about ambiguity in the rules that decide leadership. Advocacy must focus on what citizens actually asked for: clarity that prioritises electronic transmission and narrows discretion, not wording that expands the room for post-election improvisation.

The diaspora, too often reduced to observers with nostalgia, should become amplifiers with strategy—using platforms, networks, and influence to insist that Nigeria’s elections must not remain a local tragedy with global embarrassment.

And the judiciary must understand what moment it is being invited into. Courts are not merely arbiters of disputes; they are guardians of democratic boundaries. Where citizens challenge the constitutionality and legality of these changes, the judiciary must resist the slow seduction of becoming a procedural accomplice to substantive injustice.

Most importantly, ordinary Nigerians must stop playing the role of an audience to a drama financed by their own hardship. Civic power is not an abstraction. It is petitions, town halls, organised pressure, coordinated litigation, vigilant monitoring, sustained public argument, and peaceful insistence that sovereignty is not a decorative word in a constitution—it is a lived claim.

If citizens do not contest this new architecture of ambiguity, the stage built with their money will continue to be used against them. The actors will perform with the confidence that the audience has nowhere else to go. And Nigeria’s democratic project will drift further into the familiar abyss: managed elections, orchestrated outcomes, and pseudo-patriotic theatrics—conducted in the name of a people who are steadily being trained to doubt that their voice matters at all.

Credit: Dakuku Peterside

Gunmen kill Ondo monarch in failed kidnap attempt

Posted on February 20, 2026 by Bode Dolu

Gunmen k!ll Ondo monarch in foiled kidnap attempt

Persons believed to be gunmen have killed the traditional ruler of Ahungha Village, Agamo Area, in Akure North council area of Ondo state, Oba Kehinde Jacob Falodun.

According to a family source, no fewer than 10 gunmen invaded the palace at about 7:10pm on Wednesday, Feb. 18, in an attempt to abduct the monarch.

The monarch put up a fight and they shot him several times but the bullets didn’t penetrate his body.

He was said to have been taken out of the palace and a hard object was used to hit him on the head.

His dead body was discovered later by his family members after his assailants had fled the scene.

The wife of the monarch, confirmed that the gunmen came through ltaogbolu axis and were speaking Hausa language.

“They k!lled my husband in my presence,” she said.

The state police command through its spokesperson, DSP Jimoh Abayomi, confirmed the killing of the monarch, and said in Akure that the information was received at the Division at about 7:50 p.m. from a community leader, High Chief Ajewole Clement of New Town, Itaogbolu, that six armed men stormed the residence of the monarch, forcibly took him from his compound, and subsequently fled the scene.

Florence Ita Giwa celebrates 80th birthday, dances joyfully with Obasanjo (Videos)

Posted on February 20, 2026 by Bode Dolu

No photo description available.

Former Senator Florence Ita Giwa also known as Mama Bakassi, clocked 80 years on February 19, 2026, and this was celebrated in Lagos at a dinner with friends and associates present. Among those who attended was former president Olusegun Obasanjo.

Mama Bakassi took to social media to give glory to God where she wrote:

“Today, my heart is filled with deep gratitude to God almighty as I step into my new age @80

“I invite you all to join me in thanking God for His unfailing faithfulness, for standing by me through every season of my journey, and for blessing me with sound health, strength, and the grace to age beautifully.

“To my family, friends, supporters, and well-wishers, thank you for your love, your prayers, and for standing by me through the years. I remain profoundly grateful.

“All glory be to God.”

See the post and video below:

View this post on Instagram

And she danced joyfully with former president, Olusegun Obasanjo at the dinner organised for her 80th birthday celebration in Lagos.

See the video below:

Sen Florence Ita-Giwa And Former President Olusegun Obasanjo Sharing A Joyful Dance At Her 80th Birthday
Dinner Party 🎉 pic.twitter.com/wgengSOSqT

— Oyindamola🙄 (@dammiedammie35) February 19, 2026

Bandits kill monarch in Ondo State

Posted on February 20, 2026 by Bode Dolu

gunmen

Monarch of Agamọ Community in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State, Oba Kehinde Falodun, has reportedly been killed by suspected bandits.

The traditional ruler was reportedly murdered on Wednesday evening while resisting an attempt by the gunmen to abduct him.

A source in the community said about 10 armed men stormed the palace and attempted to kidnap the monarch, but he resisted them.

When the assailants allegedly shot at him several times and the bullets did not penetrate, they reportedly struck his head with a heavy object, leading to his death, the source stated.

Also confirming the incident to Punch in a statement on Thursday, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ondo State Police Command, Mr Abayomi Jimoh, said an investigation had commenced into the matter.

According to him, efforts were ongoing to track down and arrest the fleeing suspects.

“The victim was later found a few metres away with gunshot wounds. He was confirmed dead at the scene.

“Upon receipt of the report, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), alongside tactical teams from the command, promptly mobilised officers in collaboration with local security outfits.

“Atuluse Security, local hunters, and Amotekun operatives also assisted in combing adjoining bushes and surrounding areas in a bid to apprehend the perpetrators. Efforts are ongoing to track down and arrest the fleeing suspects.

“Monitoring and surveillance activities have been intensified across the area to ensure the safety of residents and prevent further breakdown of law and order.

“The public is assured that no stone will be left unturned in bringing those responsible for the heinous act to justice,” he said.

Real difference between ‘several’ and ‘many’, By Akeem Lasisi

Posted on February 19, 2026 by Bode Dolu

Akeem Lasisi – SHÈKÈRÈ

‘Several’ is a word often associated with the number or quantity of objects. It readily comes to mind where some, many, a lot etc. are being discussed. Alongside few, a few and others, they are called quantifiers. Unfortunately, ‘several’ is not only prone to being confused with ‘many’, it is also underrated and underused. It is a term more versatile than many people think.

Watch several in action here, for instance:

Several houses are being rebuilt in the estate. (Here, several is also an adjective because it describes ‘people’.)

The visitors are principals in their several schools.

The several eatery is linked to the former governor.

Do you understand the meanings of ‘several’ in the last two sentences?

Several vs many

‘Several’ does not mean many. Rather, it is a synonym of some or a few. As a matter of fact, it can refer to just two people!

Consider the following examples:

Several people attended the party. My brother said he counted up to 200. (Wrong)

Several people attended the party. My brother said he counted up to 17. (Correct)

Many people attended the meeting. My brother said he counted up to 200. (Correct)

They repainted several tables. I guess as many as 100. (Wrong)

They repainted several tables. I guess as many as 13. (Correct)

They repainted many tables. I guess as many as 100. (Correct)

I learnt that several politicians defected to the other party last week. About 85 of them, according to the secretary. (Wrong)

I learnt that several politicians defected to the other party last week. About two, according to the secretary. (Correct)

I learnt that many politicians defected to the other party last week. About 85, according to the secretary. (Correct)

The above thus shows that while ‘several’ can be used in place of ‘some’, it is not acceptable to use it to refer to ‘many’ or ‘a lot’.

Other meanings/uses of ‘several

It is interesting to note that ‘several’ is a very fertile word. It is so versatile that you will find it in contexts you might not have expected it. Yet, it will still be appropriate there. We are going to feast on Merriam-Webster’s definitions and examples here, while also introducing our own (examples).

Several (meanings in italics):

more than one

Example: several pleas

Another example: We met on several occasions when we were in Lagos.

more than two but fewer than many

Example: moved several inches

I gave my brother several dresses when I was travelling.

separate or distinct from one another

Example: federal union of several states

They discussed for two hours before they went their several ways.

individually owned or controlled

Example: a several fishery

Dangote commands a several refinery.

of or relating separately to each individual involved

Example: a several judgement

The several judgement is against the company chairman, not the aide standing trial with him.

NOTE: A several judgment is rendered when a lawsuit involves several defendants and the court determines it is proper to issue a judgment against one or more, but not all, of them. This is used when the liability of the parties is not joint, allowing the court to settle matters for certain parties while others remain in the case.

being separate and distinctive (respective)

Example: specialists in their several fields

Okonjo-Iweala and Akinwumi are specialists in their several fields.

Credit: Akeem Lasisi

Nigerian Senator dies, National Assembly mourns

Posted on February 19, 2026 by Bode Dolu

Rivers Senator Barinada Mpigi dies at 64 after battling illness - QED.NG

Nigerian Senate was thrown into mourning on Thursday following the death of the Senator representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Works, Senator Barinada Mpigi.

A National Assembly source disclosed that Mpigi passed away on Thursday at the age of 64 after a brief illness.

Before his death, Mpigi represented Rivers South-East in the 10th National Assembly and chaired the influential Committee on Works, which oversees federal road infrastructure and related projects across the country.

News about his death filtered into the Senate chamber during Thursday’s proceedings, casting a sombre mood over lawmakers who had gathered for budget defence sessions.

Speaking during the session of the Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism, the lawmaker representing Nasarawa South in the 10th National Assembly, Senator Mohammed Onawo, paid glowing tribute to the late Rivers senator and urged his colleagues to honour his memory.

Lawmakers were subsequently asked to observe a minute’s silence in his honour.

“May his gentle soul rest in peace,” Ogoshi said.

A second term Senator, Mpigi began his legislative career in the House of Representatives, where he was first elected in 2011 and re-elected in 2016.

He moved to the Senate in 2019 after winning an election to represent Rivers South-East Senatorial District on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Tributes also poured in from members of the House of Representatives.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Works, Akin Alabi, paid tribute to the late senator on his official X handle on Thursday.

He wrote: “Good night, my dear friend. Rest in Peace, Senator Mpigi Barinada. Sen Mpigi represented Rivers South East in the Senate”.

Mpigi’s death comes barely three months after the demise of the lawmaker representing Enugu North Senatorial District in the 10th Senate, Senator Okey Ezea.

His family had clarified the circumstances surrounding Ezea’s death at the time, dispelling earlier claims that he died overseas.

In a statement issued from Abuja and signed by his son, Jideofor Ezea, the family confirmed that the senator passed away at a private hospital in Lagos at about 11:07 p.m. on Tuesday after a brief illness.

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