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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Supreme Court Affirms Election of Ikpeazu, Okowa, Ishaku, Bello
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The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the elections of governors of four states across the federation.
The governors are Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, Darius Ishaku of Taraba State, Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and Abubakar Bello of Niger State.
The seven-member panel of the Supreme Court in its series of hearings and judgments delivered within six hours reaffirmed verdicts earlier given at the lower court.
In all, the apex court’s decision saw the four incumbent governors emerging victorious over the various election petitions filed against them.
Abia
The Supreme Court affirmed the election of Mr Ikpeazu as Governor of Abia State.
Justice Paul Galinje, a member of the seven-member panel, who read the unanimous judgment, held that the appellant’s reliance solely on the smart card readers in proving the alleged over-voting was fatal to their case.
Mr Galinje also held that the law is clear that the petitioner must tender the voter’s register, and should relate the document to the specific area where the elections were affected.
According to Mr Galinje, the card reader print out tendered by the appellants at the tribunal is not part of the constitution or electoral act which determines the conditions for over-voting.
The judge said that the appellants failed to lead credible evidence in proving their case.
The candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Alex Otti, and his party had approached the apex court to set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal which upheld the election of Mr Ikpeazu.
They had in their appeal argued by their lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi, asked the apex court to nullify the election of Mr Ikpeazu on grounds of over-voting and noncompliance with the electoral laws.
Mr Fagbemi in his argument urged the court to allow the appeal and set aside the judgment of the lower court and declare Mr Otti as the lawful winner of the March 9 governorship election in Abia State or in the alternative order a fresh election.
In their separate replies, the respondents urged the court to dismiss the appeal for lacking in merit.
The lawyer to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) adopted his brief of argument and urged the apex court to dismiss the appeal. The lawyer to Mr Ikpeazu and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Wole Olanipekun and Levy Uzoukwu, respectively told the court that the case of the appellants lacked merit because it was hinged on alleged over-voting occasioned by non-use of the card reader which the apex court has held cannot dethrone the manual accreditation of voters.
Delivering the judgment on Wednesday, Mr Galinje held that the appeal lacked merit and accordingly dismissed it.
The Court of Appeal in Owerri, the Imo State capital, headed by Justice R. A. Adah, had struck out the appeal filed by Mr Otti, and validated Mr Ikpeazu’s victory.
A three-member panel of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, chaired by A.L. Ogumoye, had also earlier dismissed the petition
The tribunal ruled that the petitioner failed to prove the case of over-voting and noncompliance to the INEC election guideline and the electoral act.
Mr Otti had asked the tribunal to cancel the results of elections in 15 out of the17 local government areas in Abia State.
He claimed that the respondents, PDP and Mr Ikpeazu, perpetrated excessive malpractice in those local governments.
Not satisfied with the tribunal judgment which threw out his the petition, Mr Otti approached the appellate court asking it to quash the tribunal ruling and uphold the reliefs he (Otti) sought in court.
Delta
In a similar decision, the apex court also ruled against an appeal by Great Ogboru of the All Progressive Congress (APC) who had challenged the election of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa on grounds that the election was marred by vote-buying.
Respondents in the appeal are Mr Okowa, PDP and INEC.
Mr Ogboru and his party, APC, had sought to upturn the decision of the Delta State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which affirmed Mr Okowa’s election for a second term as governor of Delta State. INEC had declared Okowa and PDP winner of the March 9 governorship election in Delta State.
Justice Centus Nweze who read the decision of the apex court on Wednesday affirmed the election Mr Okowa.
In his argument, Yunus Usman, who represented the appellants, argued that the votes claimed by Mr Okowa exceeded the total number of accredited voters for the March 9, 2019 governorship election.
According to him a total of 757,754 registered for the election in the state, while the final declared numbers at the end of the election were 955,274 votes.
However, Mr Okowa’s lawyer, Damian Dodo, urged the court to dismiss the appeal for being incompetent and unmeritorious.
Mr Damian said the appellants have failed to prove all their allegations both at the tribunal and at the court of appeal.
But dismissing the appeal on Wednesday, the seven-member panel led by Justice Nweze, unanimously held that the appellants, Mr Ogboru and the APC, failed to prove allegations of over-voting.
Mr Nweze said: “the appeal is a share waste of the precious time of the court.”
Taraba
In the case of Taraba, the All Progressive Congress (APC) argued that the governor, Darius Ishaku, was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast in the election.
The appellants also alleged noncompliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act (2010)
However, the lawyer who represented Mr Ishaku and the PDP, Kanu Agabi, urged the court to dismiss the APC’s appeal for being incompetent and lacking in merit.
Mr Agabi said the APC’s appeal has become academic following the withdrawal of their governorship candidate, Abubakar Danladi, from the petition, after his disqualification over false age declaration.
Responding to Mr Agabi’s submissions, the APC lawyer, Ishiaka Dikko, while admitting that the party’s candidate was disqualified from the election, said that the first runner up in the APC primaries ought to have been allowed to contest the election.
Mr Dikko urged the court to nullify Mr Ishiaku’s election and order a fresh election.
Delivering the judgment, the justices of the apex court all agreed that APC did not have a legal candidate at the election due to Mr Danladi’s disqualification.
One of the justices held that the APC’s argument that the runner up in the primaries be allowed to contest the election, was wrong because Sani Yahaya did not participate at any stage of the election. He said APC lacked the locus standi to file a petition in the first place at the tribunal.
Niger
The Supreme Court also affirmed the election of Abubakar Bello as the governor of Nover State.
The apex court while striking out the appeal filed by Umar Nasco of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), held that it lacked merit.
In the unanimous judgment read by Justice Mary Abaji, the court held that the Supreme Court will not tamper with the decisions of the Court of Appeal.
Mrs Abaji held that the Court of Appeal was right in holding that the decision of the tribunal delivered outside the 180 days allowed by law was a nullity. She said that a judgment already declared a nullity by the appellate court cannot confer any benefit on the PDP candidate and any other party.
She, therefore, agreed that the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to entertain the appeal and consequently struck it out for want of jurisdiction.
Mr Nasko had challenged the election of Governor Bello at the tribunal on the ground that he submitted forged documents and gave false information in his form CF001 submitted to INEC to secure clearance for the March 9, 2019 election.
However, the tribunal failed to deliver judgment in the petition within 180 days allowed by law, prompting the Appeal Court to declare the judgment of the tribunal a nullity, having been delivered outside the required period.
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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
