Headlines
Alleged Third Term Agenda: PDP Warns APC, Presidency
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday cautioned the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Presidency against purported plans to push a third term agenda for President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, it described the alleged plot as a dangerous underhand politics capable of derailing Nigeria’s democracy.
It also described the statements from the presidency and the APC as unhealthy ploy to introduce a repugnant issue into official discourse in a bid to give it a life and achieve its fruition in the nation’s politics.
“It is preposterous for the Presidency cabal and the APC to think that Nigerians cannot see through their shenanigan to import and elevate what they labeled as rumour and internet-based gossip, into official national discourse.
“Our party notes that Nigerians will not be surprised when, after the statements by the Presidency and APC, new groups surfaced to orchestrate more forceful agitations in the public space for the alteration of the 1999 Constitution to achieve an ignoble aim,” the statement added.
The party urged President Muhammadu Buhari to speak out and immediately call his supporters to order as Nigerians would not allow anybody, no matter how highly placed, to alter any part of the constitution to serve a selfish interest.
Besides, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has sought the arrest and prosecution of campaigners and sponsors of third term for President Buhari because what they were advocating was treasonable and amounts to constitutional coup plotting.
HURIWA said any campaign sponsored by forces within the current government for the constitutional term limits for political office of president of Nigeria to be extended constituted an offence against the Nigerian people and capable of truncating constitutional democracy.
The group insisted that such moves should not be swept under the carpet or explained away through presidential media propaganda.
In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the group cited Chapter 6, Part 1, section 137(1)(b) of the Constitution, which provides that a person shall not be qualified for election to the office of president if he has been elected to the office at any two previous elections.
Meanwhile, the South East Zone wing of the Zikist-Buharist Movement (ZBM) has applauded President Buhari for rejecting the third term gambit being proposed by anti-democrats and unpatriotic elements.
The presidency had on Tuesday through the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Garba Shehu, distanced the President from the alleged third term agenda.
Shehu said the Presidency had always maintained that President Buhari was a convert democrat and like most converts was fanatical and could not support any move that would altering the 1999 Constitution to stretch his tenure beyond a two-term limit.
Reacting in a statement by the Chairman, Stanley Ohajuruka and Secretary, Godwin Onwusi, commended President Buhari for rejecting third term gambit, saying it was being proposed by the infamous banana peel anti-democrats and unpatriotic elements, whose sole objective was to truncate the nation’s democracy and tarnish the President’s image.
The Guardian
The Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Amadi, has declined to set up a judicial panel to investigate Governor Siminalayi Fubara, citing a court order.
The Rivers State House of Assembly had requested that Amadi set up a seven-member panel to probe Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, over allegations of gross misconduct.
However, in a letter dated January 20 and addressed to the Speaker of the House, Martins Amaewhule, the chief judge cited two court orders barring him from receiving, forwarding, or considering any requests to form such a panel.
The judge stated that the orders were served on his office on January 16, 2026 and remain in force.
The chief judge emphasised that constitutionalism and the rule of law require all authorities to obey subsisting court orders, irrespective of their perception of the orders’ validity.
He referenced legal precedents, noting that in a similar case in 2007, the Chief Judge of Kwara State was condemned for ignoring a restraining court order when setting up an investigative panel, a decision later voided by the Court of Appeal.
Justice Amadi further observed that the Speaker has already filed an appeal against the court orders at the Court of Appeal, adding another layer to the ongoing legal proceedings surrounding the allegations.
“By the doctrine of ‘lis pendens’, parties and the court have to await the outcome of the appeal,” he said.
Justice Amadi further stated that the existence of the injunctions and the pending appeal had effectively tied his hands.
“In view of the foregoing, my hand is fettered, as there are subsisting interim orders of injunction and appeal against the said orders. I am therefore legally disabled at this point from exercising my duties under Section 188(5) of the Constitution in the instant,” he said.
The chief judge appealed to the lawmakers to recognise the legal constraints surrounding the matter.
Justice Amadi, therefore, urged the state assembly to be “magnanimous enough to appreciate the legal position of the matter.”
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has reportedly affirmed the removal of Julius Abure as the national chairman of the Labour Party, LP.
The Court also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to recognize the Senator Nenadi Usman-led National Caretaker Committee as the party’s lawful leadership.
The development was disclosed by human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, in a post on X, where he said he was present at the Federal High Court when the judgment was delivered in a related case.
Effiong stated that Justice Lifu delivering judgment on Wednesday, upheld the Nenadi Usman-led committee as the only valid and lawful leadership of the Labour Party, reaffirming that Abure’s tenure had elapsed in line with an earlier Supreme Court judgment.
The court consequently directed INEC to immediately recognize Nenadi Usman as the party’s leader.
He wrote: “I am currently before the Federal High Court in Abuja for a case. I listened to judgement delivered in an another case.
“Honourable Justice Lifu has just upheld Senator Nnadi Esther Usman-led National Caretaker Committee as the only valid and lawful leadership of the Labour Party.
“The Judge reaffirmed that by the Supreme Court’s judgement, Julius Abure’s tenure had since elapsed.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria defeated Egypt 4-2 on penalties to win the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 third-place playoff on Saturday.
Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali proved the hero of the night with two crucial saves during the shootout, including one from Egyptian star Mohamed Salah.
Ademola Lookman then calmly converted the decisive penalty to secure the bronze medal —Nigeria’s ninth third-place finish in AFCON history.
With neither side able to break the deadlock in a cagey second half, the game ended 0-0, sending the contest directly to penalties.
Despite Fisayo Dele-Bashiru missing Nigeria’s first kick, Nwabali’s immediate saved from Egypt’s first two attempts shifted the momentum.
