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Electoral Bill: Posterity’ll Judge NASS, Arewa Youths Lament

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As members of the National Assembly contemplate removing the direct primary clause from the Electoral Act Amendment Bill after their recess, President of the Arewa Youth Forum (AYF), Gambo Gujungu, says Nigeria’s democracy is in a critical stage and its survival or otherwise depends largely on the action or inaction of the National Assembly.
“We, therefore, appeal to the lawmakers not to allow personal interest to override National interest.
“The National Assembly is the bastion of democracy. The election is also the most important aspect of a democracy. Posterity will judge the 9th Assembly on how they manage the controversy surrounding the signing or not, of the Electoral Bill by Mr President.”
“Our duty is to keep on sensitising the Arewa youths to be active participants in the democratic process, to be law-abiding and avoid unnecessary discourse capable of heating up the polity,” he said.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), Suleiman Abdulaziz, said, “It is quite unfortunate though not unexpected. No one would reasonably expect they will do otherwise.
“But since a vast majority of Nigerians are in support of especially the direct primaries option, the legislators stand to lose whatever remains of the goodwill they enjoy from the public.
“This should also serve as a lesson for the Nigerian voter to be critical of his commitment to the future leadership selection processes. Nigerians must review their choices from that of electing leaders that are served by the community to one that elects leaders that will serve the community.
“By now everyone must have realised that representatives we elected cannot and will not do enough to help their situation.
“Most federal and state representatives are people ill-equipped or ill-prepared to lead but for their personal quest for power and ill-acquisition of fantastic wealth,” he said
Reacting, Vice President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the Northern states and Abuja, Rev. Joseph John Hayab hoped the story about the National Assembly considering to remove the direct primary clause after recess “is simply a rumour, therefore, I will give the Legislatures a benefit of the doubt but if it is true then it is a confirmation that Nigeria Legislatures are not people’s representatives but representatives of their Godfather.
“Our Legislatures should know that the percentage of Nigerians who are happy with that clause outnumber those against it and Nigerians are praying to see an end to politics of godfatherism but it seems since it was the same system that brought many of our representatives they will never want it to die. Which now make our democracy to be a government of the few by the few and for the few,” he said.
Immediate past Secretary-General of the Arewa Consultative Forum ( ACF), Anthony Sani; said “you would recall I had advised both the Executive and Legislative arms controlled by the ruling APC should go back to the drawing board and sort out their differences. This is because Nigerians knew what they wanted and gave the APC electoral mandate with a clear majority.
“If the government and the National Assembly controlled by the APC have resolved their differences in favour of removal of the direct primary from the Electoral Amendment Bill 2021 in order to remove the impression that the APC has no position on this important issue and is divided, so be it.
“There is nothing Nigerians can do, considering the National Assembly functions in a representative capacity,” he said.

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APC Lawyers Express Security Concerns At Benue LG Polls Tribunal Venues

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Lawyers representing the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the ongoing local government election tribunals in Benue State have written to the panels’ chairmen over growing security concerns at the tribunal venues.
The lawyers expressed their fears in three separate letters signed by Matthew Burkaa (SAN), Mohammed Ndarani (SAN), and Sunday Ameh (SAN) for Zone A, B and C senatorial districts, addressed to the tribunal chairpersons and made available to journalists in Makurdi.
The local government councils election petitions tribunals were all sitting in Makurdi, the state capital.
In their letters titled “Re: Notice of Tribunal Sitting on Monday 24th February 2025, and Our Security Concerns”, the lawyers urged the court not to sit because of the security concerns.
Mr Burkaa, who is representing the Zone B senatorial district in his letter, said he and his team were representing 294 respondents in all the pending 104 petitions before the tribunal in the zone.
He stated that they received notice through the tribunal secretary, Emmanuel Awuhe, via the ‘Local Government Petition Tribunal Makurdi’ WhatsApp group of the tribunal’s intention to sit on February 24.
Mr Burkaa said the lawyers had received a directive that the tribunal would not sit on February 21, the initially scheduled date and would be heard Monday, February 24.
“We hereby, with regard to the hearing notice against Monday, state our reservation against the said sitting of the tribunal on the following grounds:
“We have noted the brewing tense security situation around the court premises and within the state in the past few days.
“The state of affairs has created a serious security concern for us, as we fear for the safety of our team of lawyers and our clients should they attend the sitting on the said date.
“Consequent upon the above, we hereby respectfully request that the tribunal sitting be adjourned to a further and tentative date when adequate security measures would have been put in place to guarantee our collective security.
“We will be delighted if our request is granted with immediate and adequate consideration,” he said.
Also, Mr Ndarani, representing respondents in the 93 petitions pending before the Zone A senatorial district tribunal, aligned completely with Mr Burkaa.
Mr Ameh, counsel for Zone C respondents in the pending petitions at the tribunal, said the issue of security raised in his letter was a serious one.

 

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PDP Member Wants Court To Declare Nwoko’s Senate Seat Vacant

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A member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Marvis Ossai, on Monday prayed a Federal High Court in Abuja to declare the Delta North Senatorial seat vacant, following the defection of Sen. Ned Nwoko to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Mr Ossai, filed the suit marked: FCH/ABJ/CS/325/2025, seeking the lawmaker’s removal, having defected from the party on which platform he came into the Senate.
The plaintiff also urged the court to direct the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to, within 60 days from the delivery of judgement in the matter, conduct a by-election into the Delta North Senatorial District.
Aside from Nwoko, the INEC, PDP and the Senate, were cited as defendants in the matter.
Specifically, the plaintiff, through his team of lawyers led by Mr. Johnmary Jideobi, posed a lone question for the determination of the court.
He prayed among other reliefs, for: “An order of this Honourable Court, directing the INEC (the 2nd defendant) to conduct a bye-election into the Delta North Senatorial District of the Nigerian Senate within sixty (60) days from the date of the delivery of judgment herein.
“An order of this Honourable Court declaring vacant the seat of Ned Munir Nwoko and cancelling his Certificate of Return issued to him by INEC.
“An order of this Honourable Court mandating the 1st Defendant, Nwoko, to refund into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, forthwith, all the salaries, emoluments and allowances received by him since January, 2025 until the date of the final judgment in this matter.
“An order disqualifying the 1st defendant from standing election into any elective post under the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria until and unless he complies with every terms of the judgment in this suit.
“An order mandating the 4th defendant (Senate) to immediately give effect to the judgment of this Honourable Court.”
In a five-paragraph affidavit deposed to by one Ibrahim Isa, the plaintiff, told the court that Sen. Nwoko had on Jan. 30, resigned from the PDP which was the political party on whose platform he was elected to occupy the Delta North Senatorial seat till 2027.
According to the plaintiff, who told the court that he is from Oshimili North Local Government Area in Delta North Senatorial District, Sen. Nwoko’s continued stay in office after his defection, would amount to a gross violation of the constitution.
“That since when the 1st defendant decamped from the PDP up to the present moment of initiating the instant suit, there is never any division in the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“That the ideology of the 1st defendant’s new party, APC, to which the 1st defendant now fully subscribes, does not bear any similarity or represent the political philosophy of the PDP (which is the basis upon which the Plaintiff resolved to cast his vote for and elected the Defendant in 2023).
“That the conduct of the defendant in defecting from the PDP to APC has dealt a major blow to the fortunes of the plaintiff’s party, the PDP.
“That the conduct of the 1st defendant being challenged herein if not condemned and upturned by this Honourable Court will continue to encourage political harlotry, legislative rascality and destroys the reasons for the laws made to regulate the defection of National Assembly Members by the Constitution of Nigeria itself.
“That the continuous stay of the 1st defendant at the Federal Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does no longer represent the Plaintiff’s interest or that of thousands of other members of our constituency who voted him in on the basis of our faith in our Party’s manifesto which they believed the 1st Defendant was capable of representing in the Federal Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“That the defendant is now representing adverse interests of the people who fought the Plaintiff’s party tooth and nail [in the year 2023] to forestall the emergence of the 1st Defendant as the Member Representing Delta North Senatorial District Federal Constituency on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP).
“That time is of the greatest essence in the instant application.
“It will be in the interest of justice for this Honourable Court to grant the prayers contained on the face of this Originating Summons,” the affidavit further read.
The suit is yet to be assigned to any judge for hearing.

 

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Tax Reform Bills To Shape Nigeria’s Economy -Akpabio

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President of the Senate, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, on Monday, defended the tax reform bills introduced to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu, saying that the bills would shape the future of the country’s economy.
He spoke in Abuja as the Senate Committee on Finance opened the long-awaited public hearing on the bills, urging all stakeholders to thoroughly examine the bills, considering the impact they would make on revenue generation and redistribution in the country.
The tax reform bills are, The Nigeria Tax Bill (NTB) 2024; The Nigeria Tax Administration Bill (NTAB) 2024; The Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill (NRSEB) 2024; and The Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill (JRBEB) 2024.
Sen. Akpabio noted that the misconceptions and fears about the bills were spread mostly by persons and groups that had hardly read the provisions.
He called all those opposing the bills to seize the opportunity of the public hearing to tell Nigerians why they believed the bills were bad for their well-being.
The Senate President stated, “The four bills, some leaders and elders have never read them. They only rush to the television to make comments.
“I call on all Nigerians, who are against the bills, to come and make their contributions. Don’t follow social media commentaries to act, read the bills.
“This is the future of Nigeria, these tax reform bills. All oversights by the Senate are suspended for now for us to devote enough time to the public hearing.”
Sen. Akpabio observed that while discussions or pronouncements about tax scare people, the truth remains that less than 30% of Nigerians pay taxes.
According to him, over-reliance on crude oil revenue has made many Nigerians to assume that paying taxes is unnecessary.
“At a time when oil revenue is dwindling, we have to think out of the box by sourcing money from other areas. This is a fact.
“I don’t think up to 30% of Nigerians pay tax. Yet, everyone wants good services and good governance.
“This is Nigeria. Nobody believes in the rule of law and nobody believes that tax works”, he added.
A long list of stakeholders attended the opening of the hearing on Monday.

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