By Tambaya Julius, Abuja

Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, for the Lagos State House of Assembly seat for Eti-Osa Constituency I, Hon. John Ademola Akano under the platform of the NDC, has protested alleged moves to impose or present an individual who did not participate in the party’s nomination process as its candidate for the constituency.

Akano, who spoke at a press conference, said he duly purchased the Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms, completed and submitted all required documents within the stipulated period and fulfilled the conditions set by the party to contest the election.

He said following his qualification, he invested considerable time and resources in consultations, mobilisation, stakeholder engagement, campaign planning and grassroots outreach across Eti-Osa Constituency I ahead of the scheduled primary elections.

According to him, he acted in good faith and relied on the party’s constitution, guidelines, rules and established democratic principles governing its nomination process.

Akano expressed concern over what he described as moves to award or confer the party’s ticket on an individual who, according to him, did not purchase nomination forms, express interest in the position, participate in the screening process or subject himself to the party’s nomination procedures.

He argued that allowing such an arrangement would undermine internal democracy, fairness, transparency, equity and due process, while frustrating aspirants who complied with the party’s requirements.

The candidate maintained that the circumstances surrounding the cancellation or non-conclusion of the primary were not attributable to him.

He therefore rejected any attempt to use the cancellation of the primary as a basis for disenfranchising qualified aspirants or introducing an individual who was not part of the nomination process.

Akano said where a primary election could not be validly concluded, the party should adopt a lawful, transparent and equitable mechanism that protects the interests of aspirants who legitimately participated in the nomination exercise.

He further alleged that Mr. Rotimi Obasanjo Egbewunmi, whose name he said was being considered in connection with the House of Assembly ticket, had contested for the House of Representatives seat rather than the House of Assembly position.

“It is a matter of public record that Mr. Rotimi Obasanjo Egbewunmi contested for the House of Representatives seat, not the House of Assembly seat. The evidence is clear and readily available,” he said.

Akano also referred to provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, arguing that the party must follow due process in determining its candidate.

He said any attempt to substitute a House of Representatives candidate for the House of Assembly ticket without following the prescribed process would be unjust and contrary to democratic principles.

“I have no objection to party supremacy. However, party supremacy must be based on justice, fairness, due process and the rule of law, not falsehood, deception or insincerity,” Akano said.

He appealed to the NDC National Leader, Senator Seriake Dickson; National Chairman, Senator Cleopas Moses Zuwoghe; and South-West Vice Chairman, Pastor Mrs. Adedayo Ekong, State chairman Hon Kings Okunneye to intervene in the matter and address what he described as irregularities by some party officials.

Akano said his expectation was that the party leadership would ensure that the rights of all qualified aspirants were protected and that the nomination process was resolved fairly.

The President of Youths in Politics, Dr. Paul Church Ukah, has called on the NDC leadership to review the circumstances surrounding the Eti-Osa Constituency I nomination process.

Ukah said his organisation became involved following a petition and complaint presented by Akano concerning the party’s nomination process.

He stressed that Youths in Politics was not taking sides because of friendship, political affiliation or personal interest, but was concerned about ensuring that young Nigerians who participate in politics are treated fairly.

According to him, Akano claimed to have purchased the required nomination forms, completed the nomination process, received clearance to participate and mobilised extensively across the constituency.

Ukah said Akano further alleged that following the cancellation or non-conclusion of the primary, there were moves to present another individual who did not participate in the nomination exercise as the party’s candidate.

He said the organisation reviewed materials presented in relation to the complaint and believed there were sufficient grounds for an immediate and transparent review before any irreversible decision was taken.

“Our position is simple: let the process be fair,” Ukah said.

He explained that Youths in Politics was not asking the NDC to deny any individual their rights, violate its constitution or allow external bodies to interfere in its internal affairs.

Ukah said that if a valid primary had produced a winner, the result should be verified and respected unless there was a lawful basis for setting it aside.

Where a primary was cancelled or could not be validly concluded, he said, the party should clearly communicate the legal and constitutional basis for whatever alternative mechanism it intended to use.

He added that if another nomination mechanism was adopted, all aspirants legally entitled to participate should be treated equally and transparently.

Ukah warned that denying young aspirants a fair opportunity after they had complied with party requirements could discourage young Nigerians from participating in politics.

He said political parties could not continue to encourage youths to participate in elections while allowing nomination processes that could erode their confidence in the political system.

“Young Nigerians must not only be encouraged to vote. They must be encouraged to contest, participate, organise, lead and seek elective office,” he said.

According to him, the legal framework provides avenues for aspirants to challenge alleged violations of electoral laws and party guidelines.

He said disputed nominations should be addressed through verification, transparency, dialogue and, where necessary, lawful adjudication rather than political silence or unilateral decisions.

Youths in Politics called on the NDC leadership to immediately review the circumstances surrounding the Eti-Osa Constituency I primary.

The organisation also urged the party to make relevant nomination records available to affected aspirants and give Akano and other stakeholders an opportunity to present their evidence.

The group demanded that any decision concerning the emergence of the party’s candidate should comply with the NDC constitution, nomination guidelines and applicable electoral laws.

It also urged the party to establish a transparent mechanism for resolving any genuine dispute arising from the primary.

Ukah stressed that the organisation’s intervention was not about one individual but about the confidence of young Nigerians in the political process.

Ukah clarified that Youths in Politics was not opposed to any individual who might eventually emerge as the NDC candidate.

“Our concern is the process,” he said.

He maintained that if another individual was legally entitled to the ticket, such entitlement should be established through a process capable of withstanding scrutiny.

Similarly, he said if Akano was entitled to the ticket, that entitlement should be established and respected.

“Our demand is not that the answer must favour John Akano. Our demand is that the answer must favour justice,” Ukah said.

He added that the organisation would neither support the victimisation of any aspirant nor the imposition of candidates without due process.

He also cautioned against supporting unsubstantiated claims merely because the claimant was a young person.

“Evidence must prevail. Rules must prevail. Justice must prevail,” he said.

Ukah appealed to young Nigerians preparing to participate in politics not to become discouraged by challenges within the political system.

He said youths deserved genuine opportunities to contest elections, participate in decision-making and emerge as political leaders.

He urged political leaders to create an environment that would make political participation meaningful and credible for younger generations.

The Youths in Politics called on all parties involved in the dispute to exercise restraint and respect democratic institutions.

The organisation urged the NDC leadership to engage the affected aspirants and resolve the matter transparently, while also encouraging Akano and other aspirants to pursue their grievances peacefully and through lawful channels.

Ukah said Youths in Politics would continue to monitor the matter, stressing that its commitment was to justice, internal democracy, the rule of law and the political future of Nigerian youths.

“Where justice is done, we will acknowledge it. Where legitimate concerns remain unresolved, we will continue to speak,” he said.

By Fransiscus Nanga Roka

The flourishing market in overseas cosmetic surgery offers you a dream — the promise of a new face, a new body, an extra holiday and at half the cost. What it too often delivers is much more sinister — death, disfigurement, and a tripwire/ obstacle course of the law to wear survivors down before any court ever hears their pain.

What is happening? Now instead of having liposuction, rhinoplasty, Brazilian buttlift and breast surgery in the comfort of a private room in an upscale L.

Who is responsible? Not only the surgeon. This liability must extend all the way up and down the profit chain, encompassing clinics, hospital operators, medical tourism brokers, influencers, advertising platforms and any spokesperson or intermediary selling safety they cannot validate. The failure to be in the moment The reason is that actors are too heavily monetizing desire and outsourcing risk. Such is the case with clinics who lure foreign patients in with glossy brochures and quick online consultations, then when the body on the operating table turns out to be butchered should not be allowed to hide behind borders.

Where does justice fail? In the space between countries. Patients go home injured, but courts at home routinely throw out claims under forum non conveniens and say: sue where it happened. Which sounds nice in theory and nasty in practice. Here the patient encounters alien laws, an alien tongue, and the range of overseas experts high-priced, privacy provisions very weak while drawing blood defending themselves as masters of delay. And even if a victim prevails at home, enforcing their judgment against the assets of a foreign clinic can be all but unfeasible.

What is the when of these harms being constructed? Long before the first incision. Negligence often starts at the hurried pre-operative evaluation: omitting parts of screening, cursory mental-health assessments, suboptimal risk disclosure and providing timelines for recovery that are dictated by airline flight schedules rather than by medical reality. Patients are discharged too early after surgery, or travel back home before safe follow-up and monitoring in the post-operative period has been achieved. Aesthetic tourism is frequently organized around speed, not care.

Why does this keep happening? Because the economics of the business model incentivizes volume, price competition and image management, above patient safety. Informed consent is often one signature, not a process. Accreditation can be inconsistent. Sterilization and staffing standards vary. Certain facilities are working below the global standard but continue luring foreigners with organized and relatively aggressive social media advertising practices. Global markets; provincial accountability.

Instead of regarding cross-border cosmetic harm as an unfortunate by-product of medical travel, governments and regulators should regard it as a predictable, enforceable policy failure The response cannot be sentimental. The third kind has to be structural, legal and immediate.

By-pass the symbolic nature of litigation and negotiate cross-border malpractice treaties (one) among states. Such agreements must ensure cross jurisdictional evidence-sharing, adequate service of process and real judgment enforcement mechanisms between jurisdictions. Absent that, every suit turns into a frustrating geography lesson: the harm occurs abroad, the evidence is spread far and wide, and away goes the defendant — safe behind borders.

In turn, foreigners patients should be protected through compulsory malpractice insurance. If a clinic exists to treat foreign patients, it must have insurance that specifically covers the complications after returning. That will prevent the insurer from just dumping his ass once he steps on a plane home. If surgery causes infection, disability or death in weeks after, the burden of cost should not be pushed onto bereaved families and already overstretched public health systems.

Third, they should make joint liability apply along the complete referral chain. Brokers, hospitals, platforms and marketing agents that push bad providers should not be able to say “Hey we didn’t know” after the damage is done. They should be legally accountable if they profit from peddling patients into dangerous hands. The model itself is one that privatizes profit and socializes the pain. That is indefensible.

Fourth, they should harmonize minimum informed-consent rules with a global standard. Consent should encompass a genuine recovery window, specific advisories about related travel hazards and explicit disclosure of probable complications, not small-print below fluff. An informed consent is a rushed signature, it is paper in the name of protection.

Fifth, we need an international registry system. Patients should have access to the veracity of clinic accreditation, whether the physician is licensed and serious adverse-event reporting that no public-relations team can scrub. Safe care depends on traceability. A system fails if the record of a doctor is opaque for you.

Make medical records transparent Many of the records, such as anesthesia logs and drug sourcing, operative notes, post-op instructions must be needless cross-border audits or reviewed in a court of law. Hidden records protect negligence. Open records expose it.

International arbitration should only be available if it actually protects the patient. And it must not become a private shield for defendants to evade public scrutiny.

Of course, this is not against medical travel. And that is about stopping the lucrative fiction that cheap surgery can be marketed without rigorous accountability.

Cosmetic surgery overseas is frequently sold as an exercise in consumer choice. But freedom without rights that can be enforced is no freedom. It is exposure. Without regulation from states, cheap beauty will, in short, remain one of the most profitable factions of organized irresponsibility on the world stage.

Fransiscus Nanga Roka, Faculty of Law University 17 August 1945 Surabaya and Managing Partner Law Firm Victorious Indonesia.

By Dan Amasingha, Minna

The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Niger State Council, has congratulated former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd.), on his 85th birthday, describing him as an elder statesman whose policies and initiatives continue to shape Nigeria’s political, economic and socio-economic development.

In a congratulatory message signed by the Council Secretary, Comrade Usman Chiji, the NUJ thanked God for preserving the life of the former leader to witness the milestone, saying his 85th birthday provides an opportunity to reflect on his contributions to the nation.

The Council commended Babangida for policies, institutions and infrastructure initiatives introduced during his administration which, it said, continue to have direct impact on the lives of Nigerians.

It specifically cited the creation of additional states and local government areas, as well as the establishment of institutions including the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) and the Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI).

The NUJ also recalled the deregulation of the electronic media and the economic and financial reforms undertaken under Babangida, which it said created an environment for the emergence of private commercial banks and other enterprises aimed at strengthening the Nigerian economy.

According to the Council, many of the policies and initiatives introduced during the Babangida administration have remained significant milestones in the country’s political and socio-economic development, with successive governments reviewing, remodelling or modifying some of them.

The NUJ described Babangida as an elder statesman, military strategist and former Nigerian leader whose policies and programmes have outlived his administration.

The Council further acknowledged his contributions to regional and international peace, particularly Nigeria’s role in the establishment of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), peacekeeping operations in troubled countries and efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s bilateral relations with other nations.

The journalists’ body prayed to God to grant the former military leader continued good health, wisdom and strength, as well as many more years of fulfilment and service to Nigeria.