The government accepted a recommendation to extend the president’s tenure from four to five years and agreed in principle that Parliament should serve a corresponding five-year term.
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Rice: The New Edible Gold
By Eric Elezuo
About two months ago, the President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government ordered the closure of the nation’s borders, the Seme border inclusive. His reasons were bordered on the desire to stop the proliferation of small arms and illegal smuggling of food items, especially rice and frozen foods. Ever since then, rice, which hitherto has been Nigeria’s staple food, has become a luxurious commodity as its rice has hit the roof. Since the shutdown, the cost of a bag of imported rice has reportedly jumped by over 40% – from N14,000/15,000 to N21,000/23,000.
In the midst of the complains, the Nigerian government has maintained that its borders would remain closed until neighbouring countries begin to respect Nigeria’s policy on food importation. This notice has elicited negative reactions from neighbouring countries. Niger Republic for one has banned both importation and exportation of good from and to Nigeria; Ghana has cried out, inferring intimidation as they claimed Nigeria goods continue to enter the soil of Ghana while Ghana goods are not allowed to enter Nigeria among other complaints.
Comptroller-General of Customs, Hammed Ali, who spoke for the FG disclosed this when he visited Maigatari border in Jigawa State.
“Most of the criminals are not citizens of Nigeria. They come in at will and go out at will because our borders are so porous. They come and create havoc and disappear.
“This is why the President directed that we should go on and embark on this drill to ensure that we put into place a proper procedure for in and outflow of people.
“We must also get our neighbours to agree with us on the protocols of transit routes.”
He concluded his briefing with a line which many Nigerians considered hilarious. He said “Nigeria has enough food”, stressing that the country will ensure its borders are no longer porous.
Meanwhile, in towns, creeks, hinterlands and remote parts of the country, homes and families lament the adverse effect of the border closure as rice, the staple food of most Nigerian homes, has gone beyond the reach of not a few families.
The Boss investigation reveals that the Seme Border along the Badagry Expressway, has remained firmly under lock and key with security agencies, especially heavily armed military personnel and customs official parading the vicinity. A Seme border source said the security continue to apprehend dire devil smugglers and seizing their merchandise.
Most traders that ply the route complained the unfair treatment of the government in locking down borders, thereby depriving them of legitimate means of livelihood.
“I am a rice dealer. I buy from across the border and move them in legitimately, clearing through customs and other relevant agencies before getting passage. I know there are other criminals in the business who are not involved in the business of legitimacy. But the government should not have punished everybody for the sin of a few,” the trader, who identified himself simply as Ossy said.
He hinted that as a family man, he has been rendered unproductive, and things have become so terrible.
“At the moment, I can hardly feed my family, and swapping to a new kind of business has not been easy. The government should as a matter of urgency review the policy that necessitated the closure.
The trader argued that as a government, there should be a way of handling and dealing with criminally minded people without punishing the general public.
Mr Okechukwu Nwaibe is a transporter, who ply the Badagry/Seme route to take traders to and fro their businesses. He lamented that for the two months the border has been on lock down, he has not earned a coin. This is as activities of traders along the route has not only reduced but has become non-existent. He told The Boss in a voice full of emotion that life has become very unbearable.
It is not only those that ply their trade along the route that are complaining; the consumers of the grain, whose homes have been stripped of their staple food are lamenting more than loudly.
Rice is one food Nigerians keep in the house both for sustenance and emergency purposes. This is because it can be cooked with next to nothing and enjoyed on a low key and one will still be satisfied. The way the food come in handy when needed has made it the food of choice in most average Nigerian homes. Some consume it on a daily triangular basis, and that explains the reason behind the biting scourge as it has suddenly becomes scarce.
Hear Ladeinde Adegoke who works with a privately owned firm:
“I have three children, and if you add my wife, my wife’s niece staying with us and myself, that makes it six mouths to feed. I earn N60, 000 salary on a monthly basis with nothing else attached; no bonus of any kind irrespective of the season. So I have always managed to get a bag of rice for the family to manage on a monthly basis, but now, it has become something else. The price, if you ever find the product, is not affordable. This is what children takes to school every morning, and it has become increasingly difficult to sustain the family. The government is practically taking us back to the early days of Buhari when people had to buy a bag of rice for as high as N25,000,” he said.
Mr Adegoke’s story is the same in virtually every average Nigerian home. Most workers, who are on N100,000 salary and below has been on the receiving end. Even high profile businessmen are not spared as the spiraling effect continue to trickle down.
The Boss’ trip to the Okoko market on the Badagry Expressway where rice sellers converge was met with silence and forlorn faces. Most of the traders said they can no longer find the product to sell, and those who managed to get it has put the price beyond reach.
“As you can see, my shop is empty; I doubt if there is a better reason for closing the border if not to subject the common Nigerians to perpetual suffering. Can you imagine that Customs officials even raided over stores, where we used to pack the products, and carted away consignments in our possession. These were goods we had long before the borders were closed. Honestly, I don’t believe the government is checking anything; they just want to put us through unbearable hardship,” Mama Blessed, a rice seller said.
A very angry respondent, who refused to volunteer his name said “please help me ask them which rice Buhari, Oshiomhole and all of them eat in their homes. This is pure hypocrisy.”
In the meantime, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has appealed to the Nigerian government to reopen the borders, even as the Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has said that the borders will not be opened until certain ‘measures’ are put in place.
The ECOWAS warned that the partial closing of border crossings to Benin and Niger, which prevents the free movement of people, is a violation of agreements signed by Nigeria.
“The closure of the Nigerian borders with Benin more than a month ago, and [with] Niger more recently, [are] a hindrance to the achievement of the Community’s main objective, which is to achieve the creation of a prosperous, borderless West African region where peace and harmony prevail,” the speaker of the Parliament, Moustapha Cisse Lo, said.
It is on record that President Muhammadu Buhari made agriculture and food surplus a policy of his administration on assumption in 2015. This, the government believe will reduce dependence on crude oil and create other means of obtaining foreign exchange. Also, rice and palm oil have been the agricultural product with the greater consideration.
But much as records show that there is increase in local rice production, as reflected between 2013 and 2017, there seems not to be enough to meet the demand of the over 200 million population.
The inability to meet up in addition to stringent import control measures, have kept the price of rice high and led to rampant smuggling of rice across borders.
But while the Nigerian government maintained that the border closure is yielding results, impounding bags of imported rice, Nigerians are asking to whom are the results beneficial.
Speaking to some Nigerians who said they are also feeling the pangs of the border closure, the Boss discovered that some are willing to see the end of the closure and what it portends.
“I think it is a good venture if the intentions are pure. This is because we need a check of this nature because we import almost everything we use in this country including things we can easily produce. Maybe, we will endure the suffering for a few more weeks and then, we fall back to our own products,” Frank Onyeije reasoned.
But in his reaction, the President, Nigeria-Slovakia Chambers of Commerce, Mr. Vitalis Njoku, said the closure would have made more sense if it was all encompassing, and not restricted to the Seme Border, and later to the border connecting Niger Republic. He reiterated that while these borders remained manned because they are structured, other borders are working at full force with little or no restriction.
He was of the view that there is no economic sense in closing borders to stop smuggling or the likes when there is not enough commodity for the populace, saying there can be two reasons for the closure 1. the need to impoverish a certain class of Nigerians and 2. to further enrich a certain class of Nigerians.
“It is laughable to say that the government closed the borders to improve the economy; which economy? There is hardly something you can call economy in this country. The closure as far as I am concerned is a calculated attempt to enrich some and impoverish some. Right now, the prices of food have sky-rocked. This is not about rice. Almost every product…everyone blames the hike in products to ‘closure of border’ and the ordinary man is paying through his nose to buy essentials,” Mr. Njoku said.
The entrepreneur hinted that there is every livelihood that the borders, especially the Lagos corridor, was closed on the insistence of the richest man in Africa, saying that the borders break his monopoly of the food items.
“There is a Dangote connection to this closure saga. Dangote is practically the greatest beneficiary to the closure; he is the one selling his products easily now, at whatever price he deems fit. Recall that he once complained about the importation of most things in the country through the Seme border. He once said, ‘having a neighbour like Benin Republic is bad luck’. The way it is now, the common man is suffering, and the elites don’t care. That is why the likes of Oshiomhole will canvass for continuous closure. They can afford whatever item at whatever price, but can the regular Nigerian?” he queried.
Mr. Njoku also noted that the government policy has heightened crime in the society as many who has been rendered jobless had ‘to do something by all means’. It was also discovered that very poor quality local rice are being re-bagged in foreign rice and sold at the price of foreign rice.
He advised the government to as a matter of urgency reopen the borders as very innocent Nigerians are at the receiving end. Not a few Nigerians fear that a bag of rice is likely to cost as high as N40/45, 000 by December.
In the midst of the confusion, Nigerians are asking ‘where does the seized rice go?’
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Former Vice President of Nigeria and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has expressed bewilderment over President Bola Tinubu’s latest claim that “prosperity is on the horizon” and that “the quality of life is improving,” asking whether the President was referring to another country or the Nigeria that millions of citizens endure every day.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the President’s remarks reveal a troubling disconnect between those who govern and the people they were elected to serve.
“Mr. President says prosperity is on the horizon. Nigerians are asking: whose horizon? Certainly not that of the market woman whose capital has been wiped out by inflation. Not that of the civil servant whose salary now expires before the month begins. Not that of the manufacturer struggling under crushing energy costs. Not that of the unemployed graduate who sees no future. Certainly not that of farming communities forced off their ancestral lands by terrorists and bandits, families mourning loved ones slaughtered in senseless attacks, or countless Nigerians who now live in daily fear of kidnappers who have turned human lives into commodities. And certainly not that of millions of households that have quietly reduced the number of meals they eat each day simply to survive.”
Atiku said that while no serious person disputes that President Tinubu inherited challenges, no President is elected to inherit excuses.
“The Constitution did not swear President Tinubu into office to explain history. It swore him into office to change it. Every administration inherits problems. Great leaders are remembered for solving them, not for endlessly rehearsing them.”
The former Vice President noted that after more than three years in office, the Tinubu administration can no longer govern by blaming its predecessors.
“The Nigerian people are not interested in who created the problem. They want to know who will solve it. A government that still blames its predecessors after years in office is, by its own conduct, admitting that it has run out of ideas. President Tinubu may find comfort in blaming those before him, but history will remember his administration as the one under which Nigerians endured unprecedented hardship, institutionalised fiscal recklessness, and one of the greatest appropriation scandals in the annals of our nation. The suffering of Nigerians today is driven not by the past, but by an administration that has elevated opacity over transparency, rewarded a privileged circle of cronies, and condemned millions to deepening economic pain, insecurity, and despair.
“It is even more astonishing that a President who constantly invokes China now blames Nigeria’s population for the country’s difficulties. China did not become an economic superpower by complaining about the size of its population. It became prosperous because visionary leadership transformed that population into its greatest economic asset through sustained investment in manufacturing, infrastructure, education, technology, and export-led industrialisation. Great leaders convert challenges into opportunities. They do not convert opportunities into excuses.
“That is precisely what an Atiku Abubakar administration will do. We will invest aggressively in manufacturing, modern infrastructure, quality education, skills acquisition, agriculture, and export-driven industries to unlock the enormous productive capacity of our people. Nigeria’s youthful population is not a burden; it is our greatest strategic advantage. Our people are not the problem. President Tinubu’s failed leadership is.”
He said it was particularly insensitive for the President to suggest that because hunger existed before his birth, Nigerians should somehow accept the unprecedented hardship confronting them today.
“Nobody ‘elected’ Tinubu to eliminate the hunger of 1940. Nigerians ‘elected’ him to confront the hunger of today. The fact that previous generations endured hardship is not a licence to deepen the suffering of the present generation.”
Atiku stressed that hope is not manufactured through speeches but earned through purposeful leadership and policies that improve lives.
“Hope cannot be preached to a hungry stomach. It cannot be legislated into existence. It cannot substitute for affordable food, stable electricity, productive jobs, quality education, accessible healthcare, or security for families to sleep with both eyes closed. Government inspires hope through performance, not rhetoric.”
He urged President Tinubu to step outside the comfort of official briefings and carefully choreographed ceremonies and reconnect with the realities confronting ordinary Nigerians.
“If the President truly believes that the quality of life is improving, then one must respectfully remind him that the Nigeria he is talking about exists only in his head. It is certainly not the Nigeria where families are choosing between food and medicine, where communities are fleeing armed violence, where kidnappers dictate the rhythm of daily life, and where hope is becoming more expensive than bread.”
Ghana has backed five-year presidential terms as part of a sweeping constitutional reform programme that could reshape elections, political eligibility, public appointments and institutional accountability in one of West Africa’s most stable democracies.
It argues that Ghana’s current electoral cycle leaves governments with too little time to implement and assess major policies because the early months of an administration are dominated by transition arrangements, while the final year is largely consumed by election preparations.
“The early months of every administration are consumed by transition matters, and the final year is largely consumed by elections,” Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Dominic Ayine said while announcing the government’s position.
The proposal forms part of a much broader attempt to rewrite important sections of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, which came into force in January 1993 and established the country’s Fourth Republic.
Unlike constitutional changes elsewhere in Africa that have been used to remove presidential term limits or extend an incumbent’s stay in office, Ghana’s proposal does not alter the existing two-term limit. It would instead increase the length of each term from four to five years.
President John Dramani Mahama is also serving what the present Constitution treats as his second and final presidential term. He first led the country between 2012 and 2017 before returning to office in January 2025.
The government also accepted in principle a proposal to lower the minimum age for presidential candidates.
Ghana’s Constitution currently requires candidates to be at least 40 years old. The review committee recommended reducing the threshold to 30, but the government settled on 35, arguing that the existing rule excludes qualified citizens on the basis of what it described as an arbitrary age restriction.
Presidential and parliamentary elections would also move from December to the first week of November, creating a longer period between voting and the inauguration of a new government on January 7.
That change is intended to give the Electoral Commission more certainty and provide additional time for transitions and electoral disputes to be resolved.
Under another accepted proposal, presidential election petitions would have to be filed within 14 days of the declaration of results and decided by the Supreme Court within 30 days.
But the five-year term and lower presidential age represent only a small part of the reform package.
The government’s position paper responds to more than 147 proposed amendments and about 59 proposed new constitutional provisions.
The committee behind the report consulted more than 500 experts and practitioners, engaged groups representing more than 21,500 people and received 785 written submissions. Among the most consequential proposals is a plan to cap Parliament at 300 members.
Ghana presently has 276 constituency MPs. Under the government’s model, those 276 seats would remain, while another 24 would be filled through proportional representation and allocated among women, young people and persons with disabilities.
Ghana’s constitutional reform programme also proposes lowering the presidential eligibility age from 40 to 35 and moving elections to November
The government described the cap as a cost-saving measure that would stop the continuing proliferation of constituencies. It plans to commission a study on how the additional proportional-representation seats would be allocated.
The government also accepted a recommendation that Ghanaian citizens by birth should no longer be barred from Parliament simply because they hold another nationality.
Qualifying dual citizens would be permitted to contest parliamentary elections without first renouncing their second citizenship.
The government said the present restriction is inconsistent with Ghana’s growing engagement with its diaspora and reduces the pool of qualified candidates.
Another proposal would create a constitutional right of abode for people of African descent in the diaspora, subject to conditions established by Parliament.
The government linked the measure to Ghana’s Year of Return and Beyond the Return initiatives, which have sought to deepen ties with Africans and people of African heritage outside the continent. It said Parliament would determine the conditions for residence and any pathway to citizenship.
The package also reaches into the management of the economy and public institutions.
The review committee proposed stronger disclosure rules covering public debt, government guarantees, public-private partnerships and liabilities arising from state-owned companies.
It also recommended allowing Parliament to establish an independent fiscal council to scrutinise the sustainability of government finances.
However, the government concluded that several of those objectives could be achieved through existing public financial management laws rather than being written into the Constitution.
This reflects a broader pattern in its response: some recommendations were accepted as constitutional amendments, while others were redirected towards ordinary legislation to avoid creating rigid or expensive new institutions.
The government similarly supported creating a Public Ethics Commission and a body to regulate political parties and campaign financing, but rejected proposals to constitutionally establish some other commissions, saying their responsibilities could be handled by existing institutions or legislation.
It acknowledged that creating several new constitutional bodies would carry significant staffing, accommodation and operating costs at a time when Ghana must balance institutional reforms against spending on infrastructure, health, education and social protection.
The reform process is not Ghana’s first attempt to revise the 1992 Constitution.
A commission established in 2010 submitted its report in 2011, followed by a government White Paper in 2012 and the creation of an implementation committee.
However, the recommendations were not fully implemented. A later attempt to hold a referendum on local government reforms in 2019 was cancelled after political consensus collapsed.
The latest proposals are therefore, not yet law; Ghana’s government plans to appoint a Constitution Review Implementation Committee to prepare two amendment bills simultaneously: one covering non-entrenched provisions and another dealing with entrenched sections of the Constitution.
Non-entrenched amendments require the support of at least two-thirds of all members of Parliament. Entrenched provisions must go through a national referendum.
For a referendum to pass, at least 40% of registered voters must participate and at least 75% of the valid votes cast must support the proposed amendments.
The bills are expected to be ready by October 2026, while the referendum on entrenched provisions is expected in 2027.
That difficult approval process means the government’s endorsement is only the beginning.
But after two earlier reform efforts failed to deliver substantial constitutional change, the five-year presidential term will test whether Ghana can build the political and public consensus required to make its most extensive governance reforms in years a reality.
Source: Inside Africa
The Secretary to the Osun State Government, Teslim Igbalaiye, has been released by the Osun State Police Command.
Igbalaiye’s release was announced by Pelumi Olajengbesi, the spokesperson for the Imole Campaign Council, the group leading the re-election campaign of Governor Ademola Adeleke.
Olajengbesi shared the development on his verified Facebook page on Thursday.
“We sincerely appreciate the Inspector General of Police and the Commissioner of Police, Osun State Command, for listening to the voice of reason despite pressure and for responding to the people’s demand regarding the unlawful arrest of the Secretary to the State Government, Chief Igbalaye Teslim.
“The Nigerian Police Force best serves the nation when it stands against oppression and upholds justice and the rule of law. Welcome back, Chief Igbalaye Teslim. Your courage and sacrifice for the people of Osun State will not be forgotten. Our SSG is out, back and solid,” Olajengbesi wrote.
The spokesperson for the Osun State Police Command, Abiodun Ojelabi, also confirmed the release in a telephone conversation with journalists in Osogbo.
Igbalaiye and five others were arrested and detained by the state police command after a raid on his residence in Osogbo on Wednesday.
The police stated that among those arrested at the SSG’s residence was a suspect on the police watchlist in connection with criminal offences, Oladele Abiodun.
Ojelabi also said a sum of N4,810,500, two Permanent Voter Cards, a voter register, a Dynabook laptop, one photocopy machine and one printer were recovered from Igbalaiye’s residence.
Others arrested with Igbalaiye include Akande Taiwo, 60; Adeyemo Lukman, 45; Olaoye Muftau, 50; and Aderemi Musliu, 40
The PPRO said a police team, acting on intelligence that a criminal gang was hibernating at a location in Osogbo, carried out a lawful raid and apprehended the suspects.
He said, “During the operation, officers recovered exhibits comprising a cash sum of four million, eight hundred and ten thousand, five hundred naira (N4,810,500), one Dynabook laptop, one photocopy machine, one printer, two voter cards and a voter register for Wards 1-15.
“These exhibits have been secured and are currently in police custody for detailed forensic examination and further investigation.
“The recovery of the cash and the register containing voters’ details raises serious concerns regarding possible electoral offences and other criminal activities.
“While investigations are still ongoing, the facts presently available disclose reasonable grounds to investigate the commission of offences, which may include:
“Bribery of voters (vote buying), contrary to Section 121 of the Electoral Act, 2022, arising from the alleged distribution of money or other inducements to registered voters for the purpose of influencing their voting decisions.
“Criminal conspiracy, where two or more persons are found to have agreed to commit an unlawful act; harbouring or concealing a wanted criminal, where any individual is found to have knowingly sheltered or assisted a fugitive from justice; and any other offences that may be disclosed upon the conclusion of the ongoing investigation.”
The release came hours after the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Adewale Egbedun, alleged that the arrest of the SSG was ordered by the state Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, following an incident at an Independent National Electoral Commission stakeholders’ meeting.
Egbedun claimed the commissioner directed the arrest after he was booed by some attendees and noticed Igbalaiye laughing during the incident.
He also alleged that the SSG was later informed that police officers were waiting at his residence. The police, however, maintained that the raid and arrests were based on intelligence linking the suspects to alleged criminal activities and possible electoral offences.
Source: The PUNCH
