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Makoko demolitions: Fate of 1,000 schoolchildren hangs

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Recent demolition exercises in some parts of Lagos State, especially Makoko, have not only led to thousands of people being rendered homeless, but many students having no where to continue their education, at least for the time being. According to figures from community leaders and school owners in the community, no fewer than1,000 children have been driven out of their schools, which are mostly private-owned. The area is one of those underserved in terms of education facilities. A school owner, who preferred anonymity, captured the situation thus: “The demolition exercises in Makoko,  Ekun-Agbo and Shogunro communities have forced over 1,000 children to stop school. As I am speaking with you, only 50 out of over 500 in my school resumed. This is because many have relocated, many are homeless now, with many abandoning school due to the trauma of the demolitions.” The tension of the demolition of homes and properties in the Makoko waterfront community and its environs may be going d...
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Electoral Act: Rowdy session as Senate okays conditional e-transmission of results

*Where electronic upload fails, result sheet to be used for collation, declaration  *12-member conference c’ttee to harmonise bill with Reps, submit report Feb 17 *Abaribe moves, withdraws motion  for division, vote *Amaechi leads son to Occupy NASS protest ground *Electoral Act alteration threatens Nigeria’s democracy, ACF warns *Public pressure forced Senate reversal on e-transmission of results —ADC Proceedings in the Senate turned rowdy yesterday as lawmakers rescinded and re-amended provisions of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026, to accommodate electronic transmission of election results, but without making real-time upload mandatory. The tension followed the Senate’s decision to revisit Clause 60(3) of the bill, barely days after it had rejected a proposal seeking to compel real-time electronic transmission of results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,’s Result Viewing Portal, IReV. After hours of heated debate, the Senate ...
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Electoral Act: Senate rejects mandatory electronic transmission of results

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*Reduces election notice from 360 to 180 days *LP, PDP, George, Okorie slam Senate over results transmission *We retained old law, didn’t reject electronic transmission – Akpabio  *INEC vows to sanitise voters register, says dead men don’t vot  *Declares readiness for Feb 21 Abuja council, Rivers, Kano bye-elections *Senate blocking real-time results to protect incumbents — Atiku AFTER pressure from the media and other stakeholders, the Senate,has passed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill but rejected electronic transmission of results, an item that some stakeholders consider critical for free and fair elections in 2027. The Senate passed the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Amendment Bill 2026 after the third reading. It rejected a proposed amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the bill, which sought to make the electronic transmission of election results mandatory. But Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said in a swift reaction that the Senate retained transmis...
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Gale of defections: Why should anyone vote in Nigerian elections?

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By Olu Fasan BY the end of this year, or even earlier, the All Progressives Congress, APC, Nigeria’s ruling party, may control 30 or more of Nigeria’s 36 state governors. Currently, the party has 29 state governors in its fold. Of these 29, only 21 are APC governors by election, the others are APC governors by defection. The gale of defections has swept away eight of the 12 governors of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and deprived the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, of its only governor. The president, Bola Tinubu, is fully hands-on in his determination to lure and co-opt virtually all opposition governors into his party ahead of his re-election bid in 2027.  But does anyone, not least the president himself, care about the irreparable damage that the whirlwind of defections is inflicting on Nigeria’s party system and its electoral or representative democracy? Any representative democracy derives its legitimacy from the explicit consent of the governed, and, thus...
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FG, Northern leaders, attorneys disagree on terrorist amnesty

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*Govs have powers to grant such amnesty, if... — AGF  *They can't grant amnesty offences under federal laws — Lawyers  lACF, CNG, CAN, MBF, Muslim clerics, others disagree, *Say amnesty'll compound insecurity in region NORTHERN  leaders have disagreed with the federal and state governments over amnesty being granted terrorists who have turned the region into a killing field. The leaders' angst is coming against the backdrop of plans by Katsina State governor, Dikko Radda, to grant amnesty to 70 terrorists, as part of an agreement reached between the state government and terrorists terrorising the state and other parts of the north. The anger of the northern leaders was accentuated by the position of Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, on the matter, as Special Adviser to the President (Communications and Publicity) in the AGF's office, Mr. Kamarudeen Ogundele, yesterday gave vent to governors' powers to grant such pardon. ''Governors have ...
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Osun LG tenure elongation illegal, undemocratic — Adeleke

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GOVERNOR Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, yesterday, described the continuous stay of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chairmen and councillors at the Local Government Council Secretariats as illegal and undemocratic. The Chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria, ALGON, however, disagreed with Adeleke, urging him to desist from media blackmail and allow the court to determine the tenure issue. Governor Adeleke, in a state broadcast, declared that self tenure elongation, the APC officials granted themselves across the council in the State is against all known laws of the country, especially since the said council officials admitted to having tenure that expired on October 22, 2025. He said: “In several filings that have become public documents in our courts, including the Supreme Court, their lawyers and the Attorney-General of the Federation admitted that these APC chairmen and councillors have no claim to office beyond October 22, 2025.  “To further confirm that...
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Police Inspector shoots colleague dead, injures another

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AN Inspector of Police identified as Victor Okus, has shot two of his colleagues, following an altercation in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Although the cause of the shooting is still sketchy, it was gathered that the policemen attached to 17 Police Mobile Force, PMF, were on special duty at Intels, Onne before the incident happened.  It was learned that the suspect, Okus, was quickly arrested and is currently in Police custody. The Police Public Relations Officer of the state Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, who confirmed the development described it as sad. Iringe-Koko noted that the incident happened on Sunday, adding that one of the officers died on the spot while the other was hospitalised. He said: “The Rivers State Police Command is deeply saddened to report a tragic and distressing incident that occurred on January 18, 2026, resulting in the loss of a dedicated Police Officer, Inspector Ibrahim Sani.  "The suspect, Inspector Okus, a colleague and fellow officer attached to 1...
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