POLITICS
2023 Presidential Poll: Protesters Storm NASS, Reject Tinubu

By Ubong Ukpong, Abuja
Protesters, in their numbers, under the auspices of Free Nigeria Movement, stormed the National Assembly, rejecting the outcome of the February 25 Presidential election, where Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), Mahmoud Yakubu, declared Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), winner amidst serious controversies.
The angry protesters are pushing for an Interim National Government, (ING), pending the determination of all litigations arising from the 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections held on.
The protesters said the elections fell short of every good standard, even as they accused the Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu of complicity, demanding his arrest.
They wielded placards with diverse inscriptions such as ‘Save our Democracy’, “INEC + Corruption, Politicians are killing our Democracy,” and “INEC killing the Nigerian Democracy”, the protesters called for annulment of the election.
Although they were not granted access into the National Assembly arcade by security agents, as they made use of their spaces by the gate to drive home their demands.
Addressing the crowd, the convener of the protest, Dr. Moses Paul, said the votes of Nigerians must count.
Paul said the protest would also be taken to the court of appeal headquarters in Abuja, from the ministry of justice.
“Today, we mourn the demise of credibility, the rape of trust, the abuse of will. Today, we stand in the ruins of transparency, on the embalming table of inclusion, equity and accountability. Today, we are voices, toneless, stripped of the music of choice. Today, we are Nigerians, broken, calling on INEC to count our votes.
“On February 25, 2023, Nigerians trooped to their polling units with one mission, ‘to cast their votes and choose their next leaders.’ They qualified for this exercise by participating in the yearlong Continuous Voter Registration which witnessed an unprecedented spike as has never been seen in any election since 1999.
”Months later, they returned to collect their Permanent Voters Cards and went home with a commitment to participate and engage with the process. The chain of apathy was broken, tossed to the belly of oblivion.
”We were free, free to experience the full potential of our Nigerianness. Our binding lines were unbroken: in ideology, they held us together; in trust, they washed us like water; in truth, they kept us alive.”
“We breathed the full breathe of what being citizens should be in a progressive, secular society. So, when the day finally arrived, we had no doubt in our hearts, in the portion that always questions truths that our votes must count. But nothing could bolster our belief like the assurances by the President, Muhammadu Buhari, and INEC Chairman, Prof. Yakubu Mahmoud.
“Recall that a little over a year ago, President Muhammadu Buhari appended his signature to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2022. The fanfare that greeted that can well claim recognition as one of the most colourful in our recent history due to its unbroken allegiance to the Nigerian spirit.
”On that day, we were neither Igbo, Hausa nor Yoruba. We were not Efik, Tiv, or Urhobo. No, we were not Gbagyi, Kanuri or Ijaw. On that day, we were Nigerians full of the positive energies of our land.
“I hate to announce that today in the heart of some, all this has gone to waste. You may have seen the video of the diasporan who tore his passport. Some other Nigerians have done same to the fabric of our identity because INEC through Prof. Yakubu Mahmoud chose to silence their voice.
“So I ask, what is the value of democracy if the process that recruits its leaders consistently lacks credibility?
“Perhaps, the answer is at the International Conference Center where Prof. Yakubu Mahmoud began, sustained and concluded collation and declaration of a candidate as winner of the presidential election, based on falsehood, contravening its guidelines and the Electoral Act.
“It is most disturbing that this was done in the full glare of the world. Never has our democracy been so sorely abused by any citizen in either public or private service.
“Prof. Yakubu Mahmood has raised a bar in impunity that will cost our country many years of electoral excellence to correct. This was not the electronic transmission he promised Nigerians and the world at Chatham House.
”Prof. Yakubu Mahmood has lied to Nigerians and abused our right of choice. We pass a vote of no confidence and call for his immediate sack and prosecution. We cannot afford to continue the culture of performing lawlessness without consequences. We are as strong as our laws and as tall as our institutions. We cannot afford to descend any lower than this.
“As microcosm of our demography, the National Assembly represents our collective aspiration, desire, hope, and faith in a country that works for all. The laws you make device the path of our corporate engagement as individuals and institutions.
”The lawmaker should be on the side of justice, equity, and fair play. Our call to you is to take a stand with the people of Nigeria whosen place you hold in these hallowed chambers in their demand for a system that works for all and call on INEC to count our votes. This is the only way the laws you make can hold the deserved essence and effect.
“We, therefore, call on President Buhari, whose commitment to free and fair elections is engraved in the legacy of the Electoral Act 2022, to initiate processes and procedures that will bring Nigeria under the control of an interim government pending the resolution of all litigations pertaining to the conduct of the February 25 presidential election.
“Our country needs healing. It will be counterproductive to allow a fraudulent process to subsist as fraud will eternally birth fraud. We cannot grow our democracy on falsehood and suspicion. The holes in our national fabric must be woven shut.
”One way is to immediately establish a Truth and Reconciliation Committee in Lagos State and other flashpoints of voter intimidation and violence during the presidential, national assembly, governorship and state assembly elections. This will help build trust, confidence and further ethnic cooperation among Nigerians.
“As concerned citizens, we believe that our country is destined for greatness and are hopeful that in no distant time, our faith will nudge our dreams to reality. This is our prayer as we nurse the bruises of hope.
”For though they force us to precipice, we will not curse our country or stand by those who curse it. We will not steal from our country whatever treasures it possesses in dignity. We will hold on to the promise of unity and faith, peace and progress.
“We are not stopping till they arrest Prof Mahmood and give us an interim government that will conduct credible elections”, the protest convener, Paul said.

President Tinubu Appoints Ex- Speaker, Enugu Assembly, Odo, as UNN Governing Council Member
President Bola Tinubu has appointed the former speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Chief Eugene Odo, and Mr. Muhammad Tahir, as governing council members of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN).
The appointment comes as part of the President’s renewed efforts to reposition federal tertiary institutions for excellence and global competitiveness.
Odo served as a two time speaker of Enugu State House of Assembly between 2007 and 2015.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Chieftain also served under the previous administration of Muhammad Buhari as a governing board member of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife.
Also appointed were the governing councils members of the University of Abuja (UNIABUJA) and Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), Awka.
The appointments were contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by the presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, in Abuja.
Onanuga said President Tinubu charged the new council members to justify their appointments by ensuring that their respective universities move forward.(NAN)
POLITICS
PDP NEC Gets Under Way in Abuja

By Johnson Eyiangho, Abuja
All is set for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 99th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting today at the party’s Presidential Campaign Office, Legacy House, located in the Maitama District, Abuja. After a marathon meeting of the various organs of the PDP at the Bauchi State Governor’s Lodge, officials of the party have converged on Legacy House for the long awaited NEC meeting, which had been postponed for several times.
Security in and around the house has been beefed up with the deployment operatives from the Police, DSS and NSCDC. Many prominent members of the party, including its 2023 Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, and Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno, were absent from the marathon meeting.The NEC, one of the highest decision-making organs of the PDP, comprises of Party National Chairman and other members of the National Working Committee (NWC), state governors, serving and former presidents, former vice-presidents, the chairman and secretary of the Board of Trustees (BoT), principal officers of the National Assembly, state chairpersons, former governors, and founding members, among others. The NEC meeting is expected to address critical issues affecting the party, including strategies for upcoming political engagements, leading to the 2027 general elections.On Monday, barely 24 hours to the much expected NEC meeting, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) keep to its threat and sealed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Secretariat, Wuse Zone 5 for failure to ground rent, a situation the party described as temporary set back.However, reprieve came to the PDP and others who had their properties sealed as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, intervened and gave them 14 days to pay their ground rent.POLITICS
PDP Crisis: Wike Withdraws from PDP Peace Talk

By Laide Akinboade, Abuja
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, at the weekend, said that he was pulling out of all previous agreements reached to ressolve the lingering crisis in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), vowed to “fight on until justice is attained.
”The FCT Minister, who said he had pointed out to the Oyo State Governor. Seyi Makinde, that he was the architect of the party’s present problems, disclosed that he told Governor Makinde that “non-adherence to agreements reached was the bane of the party, and that he was the chief culprit of this anomaly. ”This was contained in a statement titled; “PDP Crisis: My Position,” which he personally signed, the Minister insisted that resolutions reached that Senator Samuel Anyanwu remained the National Secretary of the PDP in tandem with the Supreme Court judgement, all legal matters relating to Rivers State must be withdrawn by the National Legal Adviser, the suit on the State of emergency be withdrawn forthwith and that nobody should deviate from the agreements so reached, must be respected by all the parties involved. The statement read; “Since after the 2023 General election, the PDP has been wantonly swinging from one part of a slippery precipice to another, owing fundamentally to dishonesty and lack of trust amongst its key stakeholders. To stem this ugly trend, efforts have been made to arrest this pernicious virus of dishonesty and treachery and enthrone fidelity to agreements with a view to stabilizing the party and moving it forward.”To this end, a meeting of the G5 was held in Lagos. In that meeting, I made it clear to the Governor of Oyo State, HE. Seyi Makinde, that he was the architect of our problems, pointing out to him that non-adherence to agreements reached was the bane of the party, and that he was the chief culprit of this anomaly. At the end of the meeting, we resolved to bury the hatchet and make progress.”As a follow-up to the aforementioned meeting, there was an expanded meeting in Abuja involving HE. Seyi Makinde, HE. Umaru Fintri, HE. Bala Mohammed, HE, Bukola Saraki, and I in Saraki’s guest house. In that meeting, I made it clear that I had no personal problems with HE. Bala Mohammed, except that he hides under the facade of Chairman of PDP Governors Forum to serially renege on agreements. Tensions rose mightily in the meeting and it took all concerned to calm frayed nerves. At the end of the meeting, we came to some resolutions, including: that Senator Samuel Anyanwu remains the National Secretary of the PDP in tandem with the Supreme Court judgement, all legal matters relating to Rivers State must be withdrawn by the National Legal Adviser, the suit on the State of emergency be withdrawn forthwith, and obody should deviate from the agreements so reached.”In the light of the foregoing, they pleaded with me to attend the stakeholders’ meeting at the Bauchi Government Lodge, regardless of my many engagements. I attended the meeting and clearly reiterated my earlier concerns, and to this end and in order to resolve all other lingering and pending issues, a committee was formed, headed by HE. Bukola Saraki.”It is disheartening to note that even before the Bukola Saraki Reconciliation Committee began its work, the gentleman’s agreement we reached at Saraki’s Guest House was already being crudely violated. To my chagrin, Seyi Makinde had connived with Peter Mba of Enugu State to orchestrate the summoning of the meeting of so-called South-East leaders to recommend that if Ude Okoye was not adopted as Secretary, they would pull out of the PDP. I have since granted an interview to the effect that, that resolution of the South-East leaders can not hold.”Again, Seyi Makinde organized some people in the National Secretariat to insist that the Deputy National Secretary should act as National Secretary, in violation of the agreement earlier reached. To attempt to give credence to this farce, a letter was written by the Deputy National Secretary, calling for a meeting of the NEC of the party. Furthermore, the letter confirming the candidacy of the Governorship candidate of the party in the forthcoming Governorship elections in Anambra State, duly signed by the National Secretary, Senator Anyanwu and the acting National Chairman, was portrayed as rejected by the party through a rebuttal letter signed by the National Publicity Secretary, acting on the orders of Seyi Makinde and Peter Mba. All these actions are in complete violation of the agreements reached and would not do the party any good whatsoever. On the 24th of May 2025, in Jos, for instance, a well publicized and properly attended zonal elective congress of the PDP was aborted because the letter inviting INEC to the congress was signed by the Deputy National Secretary of the party. INEC refused to attend because the proper signatory recognized by law, that is Senator Samuel Anyanwu was not a signatory to the invitation notice. This is undeniably distasteful, provocative and annoying, to say the least.”I have painstakingly put out all these facts so that PDP members and the general public would know the truth. I have been in this party since 1998 and have worked tirelessly for the survival of this party with all my strength and it is on record that none of these persons have done anything close to what I have done to sustain this party. What is more painful is that I contributed substantially to most of these governors winning their elections, yet I have not made any personal demands on any of them and I would never do so.”Most importantly, I had thought that we could keep the trust amongst us, but since it is now obvious that they would continue to play games to the detriment of the party, as is the case in the current debacle in the North-Central zonal elections, I have now firmly decided to pull out of all agreements hitherto reached. I have decided to fight on until justice is attained.”