Headlines
Anambra: Knocks As FG Considers Emergency Rule
The Federal Government has said it cannot rule out the declaration of a state of emergency in Anambra State if the security situation in the state fails to improve before the November 6 governorship election.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said this on Wednesday while answering questions from State House correspondents at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
But the Peoples Democratic Party, the All Progressive Grand Alliance and its governorship candidate, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, strongly warned against the threat by the Federal Government to declare emergency rule in the state.
The PDP alleged that it was part of the plot of the Federal Government to rig the election.
A state of emergency is a situation of national danger or disaster in which a government suspends normal constitutional procedures in order to regain control.
A declared state of emergency allows the President to immediately make any desired regulations to secure public order and safety.
The insecurity in Anambra State worsened a few weeks ago with a declaration by a separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra that the November 6 governorship poll in the state would not hold.
On September 28, gunmen murdered Dr Chike Akunyili, the widower of the late Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, and former Minister of Information, Prof Dora Akunyili, and eight others at Nkpor in the Idemili Local Government Area of the state.
On Tuesday, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, expressed concerns about the deteriorating security situation in the state.
On Wednesday in the interview with the state House correspondent, Malami, said the government had the responsibility to sustain the democratic order and would do the needful to ensure that the election holds.
According to him, no possibility can be ruled out when the sanctity of democracy is threatened.
He, however, said that the option of declaring a state of emergency was still on the table and might be used if circumstances necessitated it.
Malami said, “When our national security is attacked and the sanctity of our constitutionally guaranteed democracy is threatened, no possibility is ruled out.
“As a government, we have a responsibility to ensure the sustenance of our democratic order. As a government, we have a responsibility to provide security to life and properties.
“So, within the context of these constitutional obligations, of the government or the desire to establish democratic norms and order, there is no possibility that is ruled out.
“The government will certainly do the needful in terms of ensuring that our election is held in Anambra in terms of ensuring necessary security is provided, and in terms of ensuring protection is accorded to lives and properties.
“So, what I’m saying in essence is, no possibility is out ruled by government in terms of ensuring the sanctity of our democratic order, in terms of ensuring that our election in Anambra holds, and you cannot rule out possibilities including the declaration of state of emergency where it is established, in essence, that there is a failure on the part of the state government to ensure the sanctity of security of lives, properties and democratic order.
“So, our position as a government is this; the election is going to hold. Necessary security in terms of democratic order must certainly prevail for the purpose of this election.
“The election is going to hold and no possibilities are ruled out in terms of ensuring the provision of security, for the purpose of the conduct of the election as far as Anambra is concerned.”
The National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Oye, in an interview with The PUNCH, said the party rejected the plan by the Federal Government.
He asked, “Have they declared a state of emergency in Borno where in one fell swoop, 300 people can be killed?
“What Anambra requires is a sincere approach to the restoration of normalcy. The Federal Government has the capacity to end it.”
“Anambra doesn’t deserve the declaration of a state of emergency. What the government needs to do is to beef up security there, restore normalcy and deal with those who are causing confusion in the state.”
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement titled, “Perish contemplations of state of emergency In Anambra, PDP cautions FG” asked the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government to perish every contemplation of imposing a state of emergency in the state ahead of the November 6 governorship election.
He said, “The PDP holds that the reported move to foist an emergency rule in Anambra state is a ploy by the APC-led government to suppress the people, manipulate the process and rig the governorship election for the APC and its candidate.
“Our party demands that the APC and its administration should come clean on their roles in the sudden rise in insecurity in Anambra State ahead of the election.
“This demand is predicated on apprehensions in the public space that the spate of insecurity in Anambra is contrived to heighten tension in the state so as to derail the democratic process to the advantage of the APC.”
The Punch
Iran’s military, on Saturday, declared the Strait of Hormuz closed again, hours after reopening it and with more than a dozen commercial ships passing through the vital waterway.
The toing and froing over the strait cast doubt on US President Donald Trump’s optimism the day before, that a peace deal to end the US-Israeli war with Iran was “very close”.
Tehran had on Friday declared the strait, which usually carries a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, open on Friday after a ceasefire was agreed in Lebanon to halt Israel’s war with Hezbollah.
That prompted elation in global markets and sent oil prices plunging, but with Trump insisting that a US naval blockade of Iranian ports would continue until a deal was concluded, Tehran threatened to shutter the strait once more.
Then, late on Saturday morning, citing a statement from military central command, Iranian state TV reported that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous status” and “is under strict management and control of the armed forces”, blaming the continued US blockade.
The announcement came as maritime tracking sites showed several ships making a dash through the narrow waterway, hugging close to Iranian territorial waters as instructed by Tehran and, for some, broadcasting their identity as Indian or Chinese in an apparent attempt to show their neutrality.
The same sites showed that late on Friday, a number of ships began heading for the strait before suddenly turning back amid the uncertainty.
By 0900 GMT on Saturday, several ships had fully transited the strait in both directions, but at least two tankers headed eastwards from the Gulf towards India after loading in UAE ports appeared to have turned around and aborted their journeys.
There are just four days remaining before the end of the two-week ceasefire in the US-Israeli war with Iran, launched by Washington and its ally on February 28.
Nevertheless, President Trump appeared convinced that a deal could be finished shortly.
He declared Friday “GREAT AND BRILLIANT,” and made a series of social media posts praising talks mediator Pakistan.
Islamabad’s powerful military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, on Saturday finished a three-day visit to Iran aimed at securing the peace deal, during which he met Iran’s top leadership.
While Munir was in Iran, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey to push the peace process.
Islamabad has emerged as the lead mediator during the conflict, hosting a marathon round of direct peace talks last weekend attended by US Vice President JD Vance.
A second round of talks is expected in the Pakistani capital this coming week, with envoys hoping to end the war that was started by the US and Israel on February 28.
The allies launched a massive wave of surprise attacks on Iran, despite Washington and Tehran being engaged in diplomatic talks, that killed Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei and numerous senior leaders.
The war rapidly spread across the region, with Iran targeting US interests in the Gulf and Hezbollah dragging Lebanon into the conflict by launching rockets at Israel.
In a sign that the two-week ceasefire remained stable, Iran’s civil aviation agency declared its airspace was open again, with international flights able to transit Iran via the east of the country.
Nevertheless, two major sticking points in the peace talks — Iran’s stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium and the future of the Strait of Hormuz — appeared up in the air.
Speaking by phone with AFP on Friday, Trump said “we’re very close to having a deal,” adding that there were “no sticking points at all” left with Tehran.
Later the same day, at an event in Arizona, the president declared that Iran had agreed to hand over its 440 or so kilogrammes of uranium enriched to 60 percent — close to that needed for a bomb.
“We’re going to get it by going in with Iran, with lots of excavators,” he said.
But hours before, Iran’s foreign ministry had said its stockpile, thought to be buried deep under rubble by US bombing in last June’s 12-day war, was not going anywhere.
“Iran’s enriched uranium is not going to be transferred anywhere,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told state TV.
“Transfer of Iran’s enriched uranium to the US has never been raised in negotiations.”
Ordinary Iranians, meanwhile, remained cut off from the international internet, with monitor netblocks announcing on Saturday that the blackout implemented at the start of the war had reached its 50th day.
AFP
Veteran journalist and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chief Dele Momodu, has declared that a joint presidential ticket between Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi represents the strongest strategy for the opposition to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2027 general elections.
Speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television, Momodu said the emerging ADC coalition is gaining momentum as a credible alternative to President Bola Tinubu’s administration, which he accused of promoting “one-man rule” and weakening democratic institutions.
Momodu argued that an Atiku–Obi ticket offers both experience and electoral appeal, noting that both politicians already command significant national followings from previous elections. He recalled their collaboration in 2019, adding that Obi’s performance in the 2023 presidential election provides a ready base of supporters that can be consolidated.
According to him, the coalition is further strengthened by the involvement of political heavyweights such as Rabiu Kwankwaso and Rotimi Amaechi, making it a formidable opposition alliance.
“The candidates who placed second, third, and even fourth are aligning. That naturally builds a strong challenge,” Momodu said, suggesting that this development could unsettle the APC ahead of 2027.
He also accused the Tinubu administration of centralising power and undermining democratic processes, claiming that key institutions—including the legislature and electoral system—are increasingly influenced by the executive arm of government. He warned that such a trend poses risks to Nigeria’s democracy.
Momodu further alleged that opposition parties face systemic obstacles, including difficulties in accessing venues, legal pressures, and institutional interference. He argued that these challenges have made opposition unity not just strategic, but necessary.
Dismissing concerns about possible cracks within the ADC coalition, Momodu described such fears as speculative, insisting that current political realities have effectively forced major opposition figures to work together.
The Supreme Court has scheduled hearing for April 22 in the appeal filed by the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Senator David Mark, in relation to the leadership dispute in the party.
Mark’s appeal is against the March 12 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which dismissed his appeal against the September 4, 2025 ruling by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja refusing to grant some injunctive reliefs contained in an ex-parte application filed by a chieftain of the party, Nafiu Bala Gombe.
A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Mohammed Garba chose the date on Tuesday after granting accelerated hearing in the appeal marked: SC/CV/180/2026.
The court ordered Mark’s lawyer, Jibril Okutepa (SAN) to file the appellant’s brief and serve on Wednesday.
It ordered the respondents to each file and serve on the appellant, a respondent’s brief within three days of being served with the appellant’s brief.
The appellant, according to the court, is to file a reply brief, if needs be, within one day of being served with the respondents’ briefs.
