Headlines
PDP, LP Call on INEC to Cancel February 25 Elections
The vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ifeanyi Okowa; and his Labour Party (LP) counterpart, Datti Baba-Ahmed have unanimously called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections.
Okowa and Baba-Ahmed stated this at a joint briefing in Abuja on Tuesday.
Okowa, who is also the governor of Delta State, said “it is clearly stated in that Electoral Act that all election results must be transmitted at the polling unit level” and that it is only the results electronically transmitted from the polling units that can be collated at the centre.
“If you have not transmitted those results, it means that you have actually not conducted elections under the very law that we all applauded.
“So, the right thing for the INEC chairman to do is to cancel the elections,” the PDP vice-presidential candidate stated.
On his part, Datti Baba-Ahmed adopted Okowa’s position. “I hereby adopt the submission of my brother, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of the PDP,” he said.
“Now, we are witnessing the fact that the next government will be built on outright illegality.”
The LP vice-presidential candidate warned the INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu not to promote illegality, saying he should respect the rule of law.
Below is the full text of the briefing:
Being text of the joint press conference by the Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and Vice Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Dr Datti Ahmed on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
On Saturday, the 25th of February, 2023, Nigerians from the different parts of our great country braced all manner of challenges to cast their votes for their preferred candidates. And having cast their votes, they are expectantly awaiting the results of the presidential and National Assembly election. We wish to state for the records that last weekend’s election was a sham. It was neither free nor fair. What played out yesterday at the National Collation Center exposes the National Chairman of playing to a predetermined script. Our position remains that the election and transmission of the results must be in tandem with the Electoral Act and the INEC guidelines.
There is no doubt that INEC is under a statutory obligation to transmit election results electronically. Paragraph 38 of the INEC manual made pursuant to section 149 of the Electoral Act 2022 and the 1999 constitution as amended provides for this. That paragraph, which deals with the transmission of results at the polling units, is crucial, and it imposes statutory obligations on the part of INEC to upload polling units results on its portal.
There is no doubt that polling units results are the pyramid upon which other results are built. Therefore, it is required that the moment polls come to a close and the results are declared, the results must be uploaded on INEC server or portal.
Paragraph 38 of INEC Manual 2022 made pursuant to the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended and section 149 of of the Electoral Act 2022 provides that: “On completion of all the Polling Unit voting and results procedures, the Presiding Officer shall:
(i) Electronically transmit or transfer the result of the Polling Unit, direct to the collation system as prescribed by the Commission.
(ii) Use the BVAS to upload a scanned copy of the EC8A to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), as prescribed by the Commission.
(iii) Take the BVAS and the original copy of each of the forms in tamper-evident envelope to the Registration Area/Ward Collation Officer, in the company of Security Agents. The Polling Agents may accompany the Presiding Officer to the RA/Ward Collation Centre.” It is mandatory and compulsory. INEC has no option. So, the failure to upload results and follow the procedures set out in paragraph 38 of the manual made pursuant to the Electoral Act 2022, is a fundamental breach that has the potential of rendering the election results that did not follow those procedures null and void.
For clarity, Section 64 (4) (a) and (b) of the Electoral Act, 2022 specifically provide thus:
“A collation officer or returning officer at an election shall collate and announce the result of an election subject to his or her verification and confirmation that the –
(a) number of accredited voters stated on the collated result are correct
and consistent with the number of accredited voters recorded and transmitted
directly from polling units under section 47 (2) of this Act; and
(b) “votes stated on the collated result are correct and consistent with the votes or results recorded and transmitted directly from Polling Units under Section (60) (4) of this Act”.
Consequent on the above Section 60 (4) of the Electoral Act 2022, any result announced by INEC is ultra vires, illegal, and of no consequence unless they are results already transmitted DIRECTLY from the Polling Units. So procedurally, INEC cannot continue to announce results that are yet to be transmitted as expressly stated in the relevant Sections of the Electoral Act.
The law is that where the law has set out the procedures to be followed, that procedures and no other must be followed.
The argument that INEC guidelines have no force of law is idle and wayward arguments. This is not even the question of alterations of the results. It is a question of non-compliance with mandatory statutory provisions. The argument that it is only when the Chief Electoral Officer of the Federation announces the winner of the Presidential election that the results can be uploaded on the INE C portal cannot be correct. There must be uploading of results at the polling units after the polling officers had announced the winner at the polling units.
Finally, we call on the commission to thread on the path of honour by cancelling the election outright and commence the process of a fresh election that will not only be credible but will be seen to be credible by Nigerians.
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.
