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Do Not Truncate Electoral Process, FG Cautions Obasanjo
The Federal government has admonished former President Olusegun Obasanjo not to truncate the 2023 general elections with his alleged inciting, self-serving and provocative letter on the polls.
The admonition is contained in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
The statement was made available to the media by Mr Segun Adeyemi, the Special Assistant to the President (Media) Office of the Minister.
Mohammed said what the former president cunningly framed as an ‘appeal for caution and rectification was nothing but a calculated attempt to undermine the electoral process and a willful incitement to violence.
The minister expressed shock and disbelief that a former president could throw around unverified claims and amplify wild allegations picked up from the streets against the electoral process.
“Though masquerading as an unbiased and concerned elder statesman, former president Obasanjo is in reality a known partisan who is bent on thwarting, by subterfuge, the choice of millions of Nigerian voters,’’ he said.
Mohammed recalled that the former president, in his time, organised perhaps the worst elections since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999.
According to the minister, Obasanjo is the least qualified to advise a president whose determined effort to leave a legacy of free, fair, credible and transparent elections is well acknowledged within and outside Nigeria.
“As the whole nation waits with bated breath for the result of last Saturday’s national elections amid unnecessary tension created by professional complainants and political jesters, what is expected from a self-respecting elder statesman are words and actions that douse tension and serve as a soothing balm.
“Instead, former president Obasanjo used his unsolicited letter to insinuate, or perhaps wish for, an inconclusive elections and a descent into anarchy.
“He used his time to cast aspersion on electoral officials who are unable to defend themselves, while surreptitiously seeking to
dress his personal choice in the garb of the people’s choice. This is duplicitous,’’ he said.
The minister reminded the former president that organising elections in Nigeria is not a mean feat.
He said the process was not a mean feat considering the fact that the voter population of 93,469,008 in the country was 16,742,916 more than the total number of registered voters, at 76,726,092, in 14 West African nations put together.
Mohammed said that the process was not a mean feat considering the deployment of more than 1,265,227 electoral officials, the infusion of technology to enhance the electoral process and the logistical nightmare of sending election materials across the vast country,
The minister said INEC was availing itself creditably, going by the preliminary reports of the ECOWAS Electoral Observation Mission and the Commonwealth Observer Group, among other groups that observed the elections.
“Therefore, those arrogating to themselves the power to cancel an election and unilaterally fix a date for a new one, ostensibly to ameliorate perceived electoral infractions, should please exercise restraint.
“They should allow the official electoral body to conclude its duty by announcing the results of the 2023 national elections.
“After that, anyone who is aggrieved must follow the stipulated legal process put in place to adjudicate electoral disputes, instead of threatening fire and conjuring apocalypse,’’ he said.
NAN
Headlines
Book of Infamy: Umo Eno, Umar Bago, Egbetokun Listed Among Media Unfriendly Public Officers
Niger and Akwa Ibom state governors, Umar Bago and Umo Eno respectively, have been listed in the “Book of Infamy” by the International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria as the worst offenders of media repression in the country.
The IPI also included the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, in the blacklist for continued police harassment and attacks on journalists.
This was made known on Tuesday during the IPI Annual Conference in Abuja, with Vice President Kashim Shettima and Minister of Information and National Orientation, in attendance.
At the conference, IPI President Musikilu Mojeed said the governors and the police chief have consistently prevented journalists from performing their legitimate responsibilities.
He said, “Mohammed Umar Bago, Niger Governor, Umo Eno, Governor of Akwa Ibom and the IG of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, are hereby written in the book of infamy.”
Mojeed added that Egbetokun was added for “failing to uphold his constitutional duties and allowing systematic media oppression”.
In recent years, media reports have highlighted multiple instances of repression under the two governors.
In August 2025, Governor Umar Bago was reported to have ordered the closure of Badeggi FM, a privately owned radio station in Minna, Niger State, accusing it of inciting violence.
The station was sealed by security agents, prompting condemnation from rights organisations such as Amnesty International and the Nigerian Bar Association, which described the move as unlawful and an attack on independent journalism.
Earlier in 2025, a postgraduate student at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Isah Mokwa was reportedly arrested and detained after criticising Governor Bago on social media.
In Akwa Ibom State, under Governor Umo Eno, a Channels Television reporter and cameraman were expelled from the Government House Press Centre in May 2025 after airing a video in which the governor allegedly announced plans to defect from his political party.
President Bola Tinubu has named retired General Christopher Gwabin Musa as the new Minister of Defence.
This comes barely 24 hours after the presidency announced the resignation Of Mohammed Badaru Abubakar from the position.
While presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, had said Badaru resigned on health grounds, the 63-year-old former Jigawa State governor’s resignation may not be unconnected with the recent surge in insecurity in the country.
Onanuga said, “In a letter to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu conveyed General Musa’s nomination as the successor to Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who resigned on Monday.”
General Musa, 58, served as Chief of Defence Staff from 2023 until October 2025.
He won the Colin Powell Award for Soldiering in 2012.
Born in Sokoto in 1967, General Musa received his primary and secondary education there before attending the College of Advanced Studies in Zaria. He graduated in 1986 and enrolled at the Nigerian Defence Academy the same year, earning a Bachelor of Science degree upon graduation in 1991.
In 2019, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff, Training/Operations, Headquarters Infantry Centre and Corps; Commander, Sector 3, Operation Lafiya Dole; and Commander, Sector 3 Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad Region.
In 2021, General Musa was appointed Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai. He later became Commander of the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps before being appointed Chief of Defence Staff by President Tinubu in 2023.
In the letter to the Senate, President Tinubu expressed confidence in General Musa’s ability to lead the Ministry of Defence and further strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture.
The US House of Appropriation Committee will today lead a joint congressional briefing addressing allegations of Christian genocide in Nigeria.
A notice shared on X by US Congressman Riley Moore, shows that the House Appropriations Committee Vice Chair and National Security Sub-committee Chairman Mario Díaz-Balart will convene the briefing, alongside other Appropriators and members of the Foreign Affairs and Financial Services Committees.
The notice notes that representatives from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom and other experts will be part of the meeting.
“President Trump asked me and @HouseAppropsGOP to investigate the persecution of Christians in Nigeria,” he wrote.
Moore said that the briefing aimed “to spotlight the escalating violence and targeted persecution of Christians in Nigeria.”
He added that the roundtable would collect testimony for a comprehensive report directed by President Trump on the alleged massacre of Nigerian Christians and the steps Congress could take to support the White House’s efforts to protect vulnerable faith communities worldwide.
“As part of this investigation, the committee is hosting a roundtable to continue building on the work we’ve done so far. We will never turn a blind eye to our brothers and sisters in Christ who suffer for their faith,” he stated.
The briefing comes as part of US efforts to deepen security cooperation with Nigeria amid allegations of a Christian genocide in the country.
President Bola Tinubu recently cleared Nigeria’s delegation for the new US–Nigeria Joint Working Group, launched to make commitments from high-level talks in Washington, led by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
The group, made up of top ministers and security officials, seeks to strengthen counterterrorism operations, improve intelligence sharing, bolster border security, and enhance coordination on humanitarian and civilian protection issues.
The initiative comes amid growing concerns over terrorism, banditry, and targeted attacks on Christians in Nigeria, drawing heightened US scrutiny and renewed warnings on safeguarding vulnerable communities.
Trump added Nigeria to countries on watchlist for Christian genocide on October 31.
He referenced alleged grave violations of religious freedom, including the persecution of Christians.
He alleged that Christianity faced an existential threat in Nigeria, with thousands of Christians reportedly killed by radical Islamist groups.
He also warned that the US could take action including the possibility of military intervention if Nigeria failed to address the issue.
Nigeria was first designated a CPC by President Donald Trump in 2020, but his successor, President Joe Biden, removed the country from the list after assuming office.
