The Senate on Tuesday rescinded its earlier decision on the Electoral Act amendment in which it had rejected the mandatory electronic transmission of election results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Result Viewing Portal (IREV) after vote counting.
The upper chamber consequently re-amended the Electoral Act to accommodate the electronic transmission of results. However, the provision comes with a caveat that, in the event of internet failure, Form EC8A will serve as the primary means of result collation.
Despite the change, the amendment does not make electronic transmission mandatory. Instead, it allows results to be transmitted electronically while providing an alternative in cases of network failure.
The decision followed a motion moved by the Senate Chief Whip, Tahir Monguno, during an emergency plenary session.
Mr Monguno (APC, Borno North) said the decision to rescind the Senate’s earlier rejection of electronic transmission was informed by the need for the Electoral Act to reflect the wishes of Nigerians.
“This amendment is to bring our laws to make it a replica of the wishes and aspirations of the people,” he said.
The Minority Leader, Abba Moro, seconded the motion.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, subsequently put the motion to a voice vote, which was supported by a majority of lawmakers.
During the earlier clause-by-clause consideration of the Electoral Act amendment last Wednesday, Mr Monguno had requested that the Senate retain the provision in Clause 60 of the 2022 Electoral Act, which allows for the transmission of election results to collation centres.
With the latest amendment, the Senate has effectively admitted that its earlier version of the amendment was passed without a provision for electronic transmission of results.
The Gen-Z generation, born between 1997 and 2010, is the very first generation that did worse in school than the generation before them, according to a top neuroscientist.
“They’re the first generation in modern history to score lower on standardised academic tests than the one before it,” Dr Jared Cooney Horvath, 43, told The Post.
“And to make matters worse, most of these young people are overconfident about how smart they are. The smarter people think they are, the dumber they actually are.
“They underperformed on basically every cognitive measure, from basic attention, memory, literacy, numeracy, executive function and general IQ.”
Horvath recently testified to the sad facts before Congress, telling a panel of lawmakers that Generation Zers, who followed the Millennial generation, negatively blew up humanity’s proud academic record.
Horvath, who studied reams of data from standardised academic tests, told Congress that Gen Z’s struggles stem from the fact that they’re the first generation to grow up with constant screen time. And it’s no substitute for real learning.
“More than half of the time a teenager is awake, half of it is spent staring at a screen,” said Horvath, who’s taught at universities around the world, including Harvard and the University of Melbourne in Australia.
“Humans are biologically programmed to learn from other humans and from deep study, not flipping through screens for bullet point summaries.”
But digital devices, called educational technology (Edtech), take up most of their brain matter during class time and homework.
Then, students spend their hours away from the classroom consulting with their phones, tablets and laptops where they scroll through TikTok captions and Snapchats in between skimming through summaries of classic literature — instead of picking up a book and actually reading it.
Learning from screens has turned them into skimmers, Horvath said. And without the heavy lifting, even beautiful minds can turn to mush.
“I’m not anti-tech. I’m pro-rigor,” said Horvath, who wants schools to limit the amount of screen time for students and go back to the good old days when kids had to open a book and pull an all-nighter to pass a test.
“A sad fact our generation has to face is this: Our kids are less cognitively capable than we were at their age,” Horvath told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Technology.
“We have been standardizing and measuring cognitive development since the late 1800s.
“Every generation has outperformed their parents” said Horvath. “Until Gen Z.”
Sadly, it’s not just happening in the US.
“Across 80 countries, if you look at the data, once countries adopt digital technology widely in schools, performance goes down significantly,” said Horvath, who is also founder of LME Global, an Arizona-based group that bridges research and classroom practices to improve academic outcomes.
“Any time tech enters education, learning goes down.”
Looking ahead, he said he hopes for new policies in which schools are forced to pull back on tech in the classrooms and give the upcoming kids, Generation Alpha a better chance at becoming brainiacs.
Chief Whip Senator Monguno, moved the motion to sustain the old Electoral Act; Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, hurriedly seconded it. The Senate Leader, the Villa lickspittle from Ekiti, Opeyemi Bamidele, was salivating! Senator Abaribe raised his hands to alert his colleagues who were chatting and not concentrating. The Elésin Oba, (Remember the Abóbakú in Soyinka’s “Death and the King’s Horseman”), Senator Godswill Akpabio, smartly hit the gavel!! Coup hatched, executed against Electoral Transmission real time.
The above was sent to me by a senior journalist who witnessed the putsch on the floor of the senate last week.
If the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Amendment Bill 2026 passed by the Godswill Akpabio-led senate is allowed to be the guiding laws and principles for the 2027 general elections, Nigerians can kiss democracy goodbye. With the new bill as passed by the senate, everything called credibility, fairness, decency and moral, is gone and gone forever!
With what the senate did last week, it is true that elections are not rigged on the day of balloting. No. The simple analogy is that the Nigerian Senate, with the electoral bill passed, has rigged the forthcoming election for the incumbents – president, governors, senators, House of Representatives members and any other person in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), seeking election or re-election in 2027 and the years to come.
I wished I could find a better way to describe the action of the senate. My frustration at describing the open electoral murder committed on the floor of the Red Chamber was, however, mitigated by the response of the senior journalist above in a chat we had over the matter.
He sent me a 48-second video. It is an edited video of last week Wednesday’s proceedings on the floor of the senate. The discussion was on the controversial electoral bill. Underneath the video, he wrote: “The 3 (three) coup plotters against democracy.” Their names?” I asked. Then he responded.
Nothing could be more apt. His response in the opening paragraph is the best I have had over the removal of “real-time” electronic transmission of election results by Akpabio and his co-conspirators against free and fair elections in Nigeria. It is sad; rather unfortunate that we have a National Assembly populated by representatives, who would openly shortchange the destiny of the people on the altar of political desperation!
Here is the Clause 60 (3) of the bill that Akpabio killed with his gavel: “The Presiding Officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to IREV portal in real time and such transmission shall be done after the prescribed Form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the Presiding Officer and or countersigned by the candidates or polling agents available at the polling unit.”
The Clause is simple. Elections shall hold, with voting taking place. The ballots will be sorted. Each participating political party shall have a party agent present at the voting unit. The ballots will be counted. The results of the votes scored by each political party shall be announced openly by the Presiding officer. The Presiding Officer shall proceed to enter the results on Form EC8A, that is, the result sheet.
He or she shall sign the Form EC8A. He or she shall also stamp the form. All the party agents shall sign thereafter. Then, the Presiding Officer shall snapshot the Form EC8A and shall upload it to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) IReV (INEC Election results Viewing Portal). From the IReV portal, any human being can view the results.
The implications of an all-time electronic transmission of election results are too lofty. One, the controversy over result swapping is eliminated. Two, from the comfort of our homes, Nigerians can collate the result of any election, get the result and wait for INEC to officially announce the winner. Again, the idea of political thugs or any undesirable element attacking INEC officials on their way to the physical collation centre, to hijack the result, is eliminated.
More importantly, if there is any controversy, all that is needed is a visit to the IReV portal to ascertain the accurate figure entered. And should there be any litigation, the IReV portal comes handy. So, ask me: what are Akpabio and his gang of electoral murderers afraid of? What can be more honourable than Clause 60 (3)?
Instead, Akpabio’s senate insisted that the existing provision of the 2022 Electoral Act, which stipulates that “The Presiding Officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, in a manner as prescribed by the Commission”, should stand!
Before you shout perfidy, you need to hear this. In addition to rejecting the all-time electronic transmission of results, Akpabio also rejected the 10-year jail term for PVC traders, and opted for a two-year imprisonment term. In essence, the senate is saying that a 10-year jail term is too harsh for anyone caught either selling or buying PVC. Such a felon, the senate voted, should be punished for just two years.
After watching the video and reading the footnote, I changed the topic. Nothing can be sadder than the senate under Akpabio. I doubt if the Akwa Ibom State senator reads or hears what people say about him. Nigeria can never be more unfortunate than to have the present crop of leaders; especially at the executive and legislative levels.
I don’t know what Akpabio and his APC members are afraid of in a real-time ELECTRONIC transmission of election results. All the indices favour the party to win the 2027 general elections without any wùrùwúrú. In terms of spread, APC has 30 state governors out of 36 in its kitty. It has 75 of the 109 senators and in the House of Representatives, the party has over 231 members out of the total 360 members and it is still counting.
All the ministers in the Tinubu cabinet, including Nyesom Wike, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, are APC members without an exception. Forget Wike and his pretension to be a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Truth is that between Tinubu and Wike, nobody knows who is more APC! All board appointees are loyalists of the party and the President. Numerous board members fall over one another to impress the appointing authority, Tinubu. Many more people in the opposition have gotten their boarding passes, ready to board the APC ship.
What then is the party afraid of such that it cannot allow the results of the forthcoming elections to be transmitted immediately the ballot is counted and the results are announced? Why would a party which claims to have the most expansive nationwide spread be afraid of uploading election results immediately they are announced? Why should any nation of this age be afraid of immediate electronic transmission of election results? Whose interest are Akpabio and his hellions in the National Assembly serving?
Expectedly, the uproar against the Akpabio shenanigan has been all-consuming. From the opposition parties and men and women of good conscience, the opinions are on the negative side for the senate. More amusingly, in his response to the public condemnation of the senate under his watch, Akpabio quipped: “Why are people setting up panels on television stations and abusing senators? I leave them to God.”
Suddenly, in the face of public opprobrium, Akpabio knew that there is God! What a sacrilege! Who is Akpabio’s spiritual mentor? Why did his priest fail to tutor him that God is just, fair and good? Where was God when the Senate President inherited an electoral victory in an election he did not participate in?
With his antecedents either as a governor, minister and now Senate President, Nigerians should not be troubled about Akpabio. He could not have been otherwise; he could not have acted differently. He is not just a type character; he is also static and more A-heroic. Our focus should be on other seemingly honourable lawmakers who endorsed this open murder. How Senator Bamidele Opeyemi, the Senate Leader, with his antecedents in human rights struggles, would be a party to the amendment bill baffles any rational mind. But then, as someone suggested: “human rights and politics are two parallel lines.”
The biggest lesson of the senate’s action is that those in charge of affairs of our destiny have taken us for granted for too long. This is why the senate could summon the courage to pass a bill that outlaws an real-time electronic transmission of election results. Akpabio’s excuse that the entire country could be thrown into chaos if network or power failure affected the uploading of results remains as superficial as it is laughable!
His posturing that the senate “will not be intimidated” is an indication that he and his gang of weak-willed, leg-massaging legislators are already intimidated. And we shall continue to ‘intimidate’ them until they do the right thing. This matter, the Senate President should know, is like the proverbial thief who steals the only hen of the poor; he should know that he has stolen from a rabble-rouser (Eni gbé adìye òtòsì, ó gbé t’aláròyé). We shall not rest; we shall not sleep. We will neither curse nor praise; but our mouths shall not be shut over the matter.
Nigerians have gotten to a level where they don’t care who wins or loses the 2027 election. They have heard stories of how President Tinubu has done so well and transformed Nigeria to an Eldorado. Good enough for the man in the Villa and his promoters. Methinks it is proper if such a wonderfully-performing President is allowed to go into the next election without the laws tilted in his favour.
Only elements like Akpabio are scared of a real-time electronic transmission of results. Only those who are beneficiaries of past electoral heists look forward to a future electoral robbery, and as such, make laws to promote electoral fraud. This is what the senate did last week. This is what Nigerians must understand. And more importantly, this is what all men and women of good conscience must resist and be counted on the side of that which is fair, just and of good moral standing.
As we await the review of the last Wednesday’s “Votes and Proceedings of the day’s sitting” on the amended electoral bill, we encourage other legislators to take time off their sybaritic fantasies as septuagenarian masseurs, by concentrating on the business of building faith in our electoral processes. All romance and no conscientious legislation make a senator a mere hedonist!
The views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Law & Society Magazine.
Picture Reshona Landfair in 1996 at 12 years old, when she met the R&B superstar R Kelly (real name Robert Kelly). Her world, she says, seemed like “a buffet” spread out before her. She was a popular girl, a seriously talented basketball player and the youngest member – in her words, “the pint-sized girl rapper” – of 4 The Cause, the singing group she had formed with three cousins.
They’d been signed to a record label, made the Top 10 in eight countries and toured much of Europe. Her large extended family from the West Side of Chicago was tight-knit. Life was filled with music, sport, church, Sunday lunch at Grandma’s, family road trips and everybody knowing everybody’s business. “That was a beautiful time,” she says. “I had love and good people all around me. I was living in my true light of who I wanted to become. I felt like I was on my way.”
Nigeria’s fragile democratic landscape edged closer to confrontation on Wednesday as heavily armed security personnel flooded the National Assembly complex in Abuja, where protesters gathered to demand the mandatory inclusion of real-time electronic transmission of election results in the amended Electoral Act.
Under the banner “Occupy National Assembly,” demonstrators converged at the entrance of the legislative complex, warning that any attempt to weaken electronic safeguards would expose future elections to manipulation and further erode public trust in government institutions.
Personnel from the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were deployed in large numbers, underscoring the growing tension around electoral reforms widely viewed as critical to the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
The protest comes amid mounting backlash over the National Assembly’s handling of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2026, with civil society groups, labour activists, legal experts and governance watchdogs accusing lawmakers of preserving loopholes historically exploited to influence election outcomes.
Although the Senate has recently denied rejecting electronic transmission outright, protesters insist the law must explicitly mandate it rather than leave the decision to the discretion of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“We are here because democracy must not be negotiated behind closed doors,” one protester said. “If the law is ambiguous, the will of the people becomes vulnerable.”
Democracy at a Crossroads
For many observers, the scene of armed security guarding lawmakers from pro-democracy demonstrators reflects a deeper national anxiety: that Nigeria may be drifting toward another cycle of disputed elections at a time of worsening insecurity and economic strain.
Critics argue that blocking—or diluting—mandatory electronic transmission risks reopening the very cracks that triggered widespread distrust after the 2023 elections, when failures in uploading results to INEC’s Results Viewing Portal fuelled allegations of electoral manipulation and years of litigation.
The Concerned Citizens Leadership Integrity and Transparency Advocacy Initiative (CLITA) described the Senate’s position as a dangerous regression.
“Mandatory electronic transmission is not a luxury; it is a safeguard,” said CLITA Executive Director Isaiah Davies Ijele. “It limits human interference and strengthens public confidence. Removing certainty from the process suggests some actors prefer discretion over democracy.”
‘When Transparency Is Optional, Democracy Is at Risk’
Governance watchdog Connected Development (CODE) warned that Nigeria’s electoral credibility has historically been undermined not at polling units but during collation and transmission—precisely where digital systems provide oversight.
“With legal ambiguity preserved and timelines compressed, discretionary spaces remain,” said acting CEO Hyeladzira James Mshelia. “When transparency is left to discretion, democracy is left to chance.”
Legal practitioner Louis Koko dismissed claims that technological barriers justify caution, arguing that the infrastructure supporting BVAS and electronic transmission relies on satellite connectivity capable of reaching even remote regions.
“Arguments about technological limitations are misleading,” he said. “They risk confusing the public and weakening reform.”
Beyond Politics: The Cost of Distrust
Analysts warn that electoral uncertainty carries consequences far beyond politics. Nigeria is already battling banditry, insurgency, kidnappings and communal violence, while investors remain wary of instability in Africa’s largest economy.
“Credible elections are a pillar of national security,” said a political risk analyst. “When legitimacy is questioned, social tensions rise, investor confidence falls, and governance becomes harder.”
Labour groups and rights advocates have similarly cautioned that flawed elections could deepen divisions and heighten the risk of unrest, particularly in regions already stretched by violence and displacement.
Senate and House on Diverging Paths
The controversy has sharpened institutional fault lines within the National Assembly itself. The House of Representatives passed a version of the reform bill in December 2025 that explicitly mandates real-time electronic transmission of results—a provision widely supported by civil society.
The Senate’s more ambiguous language now sets the stage for a high-stakes harmonisation process before the bill can be forwarded to President Bola Tinubu for assent.
In a strongly worded editorial, Premium Times described the Senate’s move as a “deliberate assault on electoral transparency,” warning it could enable manipulation in 2027 and entrench public distrust.
Opposition lawmakers have also raised concerns, alleging that provisions backed by a majority were sidelined during closed-door deliberations led by Senate leadership.
Reform Window Narrowing
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission has cautioned that delays in finalising the legal framework are already disrupting election planning. The statutory notice period for elections has reportedly been reduced from 360 days to 180 days, compressing preparation timelines.
Democracy advocates say such uncertainty risks repeating a familiar pattern—rushed reforms, contested results and prolonged court battles.
Nigeria has amended its electoral laws five times since returning to civilian rule in 1999, yet each cycle has produced fresh controversies tied to vague provisions and inconsistent enforcement.
A Test of Political Will
As protesters faced rows of security operatives outside the National Assembly gates, the symbolism was difficult to ignore: a democracy under guard, wrestling with the question of whether clarity or ambiguity will define its next election.
Civil society groups are urging lawmakers to choose decisively.
Quoting former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, one advocacy group reminded legislators that elections must be anchored on two non-negotiable pillars—credibility and integrity.
With the 2027 elections approaching against a backdrop of insecurity and economic pressure, the battle over electronic transmission has evolved into more than a legislative dispute.
It is increasingly seen as a referendum on whether Nigeria’s leaders are prepared to rebuild constitutional trust—or risk pushing Africa’s largest democracy toward another legitimacy crisis.
Nigeria’s fragile healthcare system is facing renewed scrutiny after 17 newly qualified doctors alleged they were rejected by the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) on ethnic and regional grounds — a claim the hospital has neither confirmed nor directly addressed but insists is rooted in administrative procedures.
The dispute has quickly grown beyond a local staffing disagreement, exposing deeper fractures in Nigeria’s medical training pipeline, where thousands of graduates each year are unable to secure mandatory clinical placements required for full licensure.
At the heart of the controversy is the country’s Centralised Housemanship System, a bottleneck that regulators warn is accelerating the exodus of young doctors abroad.
A System Under Pressure
Appearing before the Senate Committee on Health during the 2026 budget defence, Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) Registrar Dr Fatimah Kyari revealed a stark mismatch between supply and capacity.
“About 6,000 medical doctors are produced annually from various medical schools, while the Centralised Housemanship System has the capacity for only 4,000,” Kyari told lawmakers.
The shortfall leaves roughly 2,000 graduates stranded each year, unable to complete the one-year housemanship programme that unlocks independent practice.
Kyari urged urgent reforms, including expanding the scheme to state-owned and private hospitals to eliminate the backlog — a delay she warned is fueling Nigeria’s worsening brain drain.
The Calabar Flashpoint
The latest storm erupted after the affected doctors claimed they were turned away upon reporting to UCTH despite receiving approval for placement.
One doctor, whose complaint was obtained by local media, described the moment their expectations collapsed.
“To my surprise, he rejected us — all 17 of us,” the doctor said, alleging that concerns were raised about the ethnic composition of the group and the absence of Cross River indigenes.
The doctor further claimed an official suggested that Igbo graduates were “saturating the place,” while accusing them — without evidence — of paying for the placements.
“I never for once thought I would face this level of tribalism in my life,” the doctor said, warning that experiences like this only intensify the ‘Japa’ migration wave among healthcare workers seeking opportunities overseas.
Some of the stranded graduates reportedly endured harsh living conditions, with a few allegedly sleeping on the floors of senior colleagues’ rooms while awaiting clarity.
Hospital Pushes Back
UCTH, however, rejected suggestions that the doctors were endangered or mistreated.
“All House Officers who reported to UCTH are safe and not at any risk as their welfare remains important to the hospital management,” the hospital said in a statement.
Management described the situation as strictly administrative and regulatory, adding that it had contacted the Federal Ministry of Health and other authorities for guidance.
“The issues currently being discussed relate to administrative and regulatory processes connected to postings and clearance,” the statement noted, urging calm while the matter is resolved.
MDCN Denies Posting Doctors
Complicating the narrative, an MDCN official insisted the council does not post graduates to hospitals.
“It is wrong to say that MDCN posted the graduates to UCTH. We don’t post people. What we do is approve the choices made by candidates based on available vacancies,” the official said.
The graduates selected UCTH themselves, the council maintained, and approvals were granted based on reported capacity at the time.
When asked what happens next for the affected doctors, the official was blunt:
“It is not MDCN that should tell them what to do. I believe they themselves know what to do at this point.”
Illegal Fee Allegations Surface
The dispute has been further inflamed by a January 9 petition accusing the council of sharp practices through a proxy group, Doclumina Networking, allegedly charging prospective House Officers between ₦250,000 and ₦300,000 for preferred postings.
The petition, signed by Dr. Felix Archibong, Deputy Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee (Training & Research), raised questions about transparency in a system already strained by limited slots.
Efforts to reach UCTH’s Chief Medical Director were unsuccessful.
NMA Moves to Contain Fallout
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) sought to cool tensions, emphasizing that the matter is being handled internally.
“We are in touch with the MDCN… and we don’t want it to turn into a matter of unionism because we are very confident that the issue will be resolved,” said NMA President Prof. Bala Abdul.
He stressed that accredited institutions are obligated to accept candidates approved by the council, which remains the sole authority empowered to determine training capacity.
Funding Woes Add to Crisis
Even as the dispute unfolds, the MDCN itself faces financial constraints.
Kyari disclosed that none of the ₦1.2 billion capital allocation approved in the 2025 budget had been released. Only ₦37.5 million of the ₦100 million overhead provision was disbursed, though most personnel funds were paid.
Senate Health Committee Chairman Senator Banigo Ipalibo pledged legislative support to improve funding.
Bigger Than One Hospital
The Federal Ministry of Health had yet to issue an official response as of press time, but analysts say the episode underscores a troubling paradox: Nigeria desperately needs doctors, yet structural failures — from limited training slots to alleged discrimination and opaque placement practices — continue to push young professionals away.
For many graduates, the housemanship year is meant to mark the transition from student to physician.
Instead, for these 17 doctors, it has become a test of whether merit — or identity — ultimately determines who gets to heal in Africa’s most populous nation.
Suspected Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters intercepted a trailer loaded with maize and three trucks carrying building materials in northern Borno State, underscoring the Nigerian government’s continued failure to secure key territories more than a decade into the insurgency.
The attack occurred around 2:35 p.m. on Monday at Garin Kashim in Guzamala Local Government Area, barely 24 hours after insurgents massacred at least 17 civilians in nearby Guzamala-Abbari village. Despite repeated assurances from Abuja, the area remains effectively ungoverned.
Local and security sources said the insurgents mounted a roadblock, deflated the trucks’ tyres, and set the trailer’s head ablaze. The fire was narrowly contained before destroying the maize consignment. Two drivers remain missing, feared abducted or killed.
The ambush came shortly after 10 newly sworn-in local government chairmen held a meeting with military officials in Mairari village—one of the communities the Borno State Government plans to resettle internally displaced persons (IDPs) in.
“The terrorists don’t want civilians to return,” a security source said. “They have controlled Gudumbali and surrounding communities for over a decade. Any attempt to restore civil authority is violently resisted.”
Gudumbali, the headquarters of Guzamala LGA, has been deserted for years and remains firmly under Boko Haram control, despite repeated calls for federal military intervention.
IDP Resettlement Stalls Amid Renewed Attacks
The Borno State Government recently announced plans to repatriate more than 3,000 refugees from Cameroon and resettle thousands of IDPs. Mairari village was identified as one of the return locations, with temporary shelters already under construction.
But displaced persons in Monguno say the renewed violence has shattered confidence.
“There is no real military presence, no civil authority, and the surrounding areas are controlled by Boko Haram,” one IDP told reporters. “How are we supposed to go back?”
On Sunday, Borno State House of Assembly Speaker Abdulkarim Lawan confirmed that 12 bodies recovered from Guzamala-Abbari were buried in Monguno, while five others killed in nearby Nganzai were interred in Gajiram town.
Lawan, who represents Guzamala, again urged the federal government to reclaim the territory and reconstitute civil governance.
‘Repentant’ Militants vs Abandoned Victims
The latest attacks have reignited criticism of Abuja’s controversial policy of rehabilitating so-called “repentant” Boko Haram fighters while survivors struggle without justice, reparations, or psychosocial care.
In February 2020, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume warned that many rehabilitated insurgents were returning to violence. His fears appeared validated on April 30, 2024, when gunmen dressed in military uniforms attacked a police station in Maiduguri to free detained fighters, later torching Nigeria Immigration Service and NDLEA checkpoints.
Human rights groups say the focus on deradicalisation has sidelined victims—especially women and girls subjected to rape, forced marriage, trafficking, and unlawful military detention.
A recent dialogue convened by the Al-Amin Foundation for Peace and Development in Maiduguri demanded accountability, reparations, and transitional justice for survivors. Amnesty International has repeatedly accused Nigerian authorities of unlawful detention, forced reintegration, and failure to prosecute perpetrators on both sides of the conflict.
A War Without Governance
More than 15 years after Boko Haram’s emergence, entire local governments in Borno remain outside state control. Roads are unsafe, food supplies are attacked, and civilians continue to die, while Abuja insists progress is being made.
For residents of Guzamala, Monguno, and Nganzai, the question is no longer whether Boko Haram is still active, but whether the Nigerian state has abandoned them altogether.
For many millennials and Gen Z Christians, Ron Kenoly and Don Moen were the go-to gospel ministers in the early 1990s to mid-2000s.
On Sundays, pre- and post-morning services or Holy Mass, you’d hear signature songs like ‘Lift Him Up’, ‘Let Everything That Has Breath’, ‘Righteousness, Peace and Joy’, ‘We Are Going Up to the High Places’, blasting on the stereo and from TV screens in homes.
And those are songs from just one of Kenoly’s albums, Lift Him Up, released in 1992.
Kenoly meant so many things to many Christians in Nigeria. While his concert music style is different from the typical hymns, chants, and choral music of the Catholic Church, he made non-denominational Christian worship possible. His songs permeated Catholic and Pentecostal homes.
In an era when gospel music was largely traditional-based, rendered in local languages and often featuring lyrical retelling of Biblical events like Princess Njideka Okeke’s ‘Aka Nchawa 2 – Ihe Eji Amara Dike Erue’, or petitions for God’s blessings in Reverend Fr Mbaka’s ‘Chidera’ and ‘Gozie Mu’, Kenoly’s music provided the missing factor in the Nigerian gospel music culture, which is praise, worship and adoration of God, not for what he can do for, or to ask for his blessings, but for who he is.
He was particularly a bridge for younger, urban-raised Christians who were yet to appreciate the finer points of traditional gospel music rendered in local languages, because they could understand his songs, and relate to the uplifting atmosphere created by the diverse, modern musical instruments deployed in his songs that complement the human voices of both the choir, orchestra, and the lead worshipper.
Kenoly influenced the praise, worship, and adoration in contemporary Nigerian music, appealing to the African music ‘call and response style’ which still exists today. His music comprises the lead worshipper, the choir, and the orchestra. Songs often follow a verse-chorus structure, with the chorus repeated several times, making it easy for listeners to join in.
There are songs for every occasion, worship, praise, adoration, and supplication, and they aid listeners into a state of prayer, worship, even joyful and heartbreaking tears when considering the Lord’s goodness in their lives.
One can still enter and in God’s presence with the songs ‘Majesty’, ‘We Shall Behold Him’, ‘I Bow My Knees’ from his 1998 album Majesty, or roar and dance with joys from tracks as ‘Sing Out’, ‘The Lord Be Magnified which featured an African choir’, ‘Joyfully Joyfully’ from 1995 album Sing Out with One Voice, among others.
The 1990s and early 2000s saw his multiple visits to Nigeria, ministering musically at the Experience concerts in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Jos, Plateau State, in 2016. And he has influenced gospel artistes like Sinach, Dustin Oyekan, Nathaniel Bassey, among others, whose music enunciates the cultivation of a deeper connection with God – via praise, worship, and adoration.
He’s also had an impact on Nigerians of the Catholic faith and the classical music profession.
Chorister Emmanuel Atoku, who grew up with Kenoly’s songs used as song-and-dance choreography in children’s ministry, said the singer-songwriter’s passion, expression, and deep connection with God in worship helped him develop a genuine devotion to Christian worship when he eventually joined the choir at age 14.
And while Kenoly’s style differed from the Classical root of Catholic Choir Music, “he inspired my dynamic musical identity, allowing me to embrace both classical and contemporary worship. He was truly a role model, and his music formed part of my love for choir and Christian music as a whole.”
Sam Ezeugwu, the musical director of the Abuja Metropolitan Music Society (AMEMUSO), said he crossed paths with the gospel music minister as a child, and he would go on to influence his music.
“Kenoly was a part of my childhood musically. Personally, His music crossed paths with mine, influencing my approach to choral arrangements. I have had the privilege of working across diverse genres. Ron Kenoly’s contributions to Gospel music are a testament to the power of music in worship ministry. His impact on Nigerian gospel is undeniable. His legacy will live through the countless lives he has touched,” said Ezeugwu.
Born December 6, 1944, Ron Kenoly was an American Christian worship leader and singer-songwriter. His musical career began after his military service with the US Air Force from 1965 to 1968, during which he sang with the army band The Mellow Fellows.
After some years in the secular music scene, he transitioned to gospel music, where he found his musical break with the album ‘Lift Him Up’, which sold over 500,000 copies and became a major hit among Christian albums in Nigeria and across Africa. His albums Sing Out with One Voice (1995), Majesty (1998), and High Places: The Best of Ron Kenoly were also huge successes.
Kenoly was married to Tavita Kenoly in the 1960s. Their 42-year-old marriage was blessed with three sons, Samuel, Tony, and Ronald Kenoly, who are also singers, until she died in the early 2000s. He died at the age of 81 in February 2026 and is survived by his three sons, his second wife, and a UN Ambassador-at-Large, Diana Kenoly.
Nigeria’s legal establishment has been thrown into open confrontation following explosive claims by the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, that corruption within the judiciary has reached crisis levels—so severe that court judgments increasingly depend on the “fatness of envelopes” rather than evidence or law.
Speaking at the Ralph Opara Memorial Lecture organised by the National Association of Seadogs in Enugu, Osigwe described Nigeria’s justice system as facing a “moral crisis and democratic emergency,” warning that public confidence in the courts is collapsing.
“The judiciary, once revered as the last hope of the common man, is now widely perceived as a marketplace where justice is auctioned to the highest bidder,” Osigwe said. “This perception alone is fatal to democracy.”
‘Name Names or Stop’: Senior Advocate Fires Back
Osigwe’s remarks immediately drew sharp pushback from senior figures within the profession.
Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama, SAN, a Life Bencher and former Chairman of the Benchers Mentoring Committee, said the allegations, while serious, were incomplete and potentially damaging unless backed by specifics.
“There is nothing wrong with accusing the judiciary of corruption,” Gadzama told Vanguard. “But it is not enough. The NBA President must provide details, name the corrupt judicial officers and their accomplices, and take concrete steps to ensure investigation and prosecution. Anything short of this is spurious and unfair to the many honest judges.”
Gadzama warned that sweeping accusations risk tarnishing the reputation of diligent judicial officers who continue to uphold their oaths under difficult conditions.
The Data Behind the Accusations
Osigwe anchored his claims in official data. He cited a 2024 joint survey by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics, which found that public officials received an estimated ₦721 billion in cash bribes in 2023, with judicial officers ranked among the top recipients.
An earlier Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) survey showed that ₦9.4 billion in bribes passed through the justice sector between 2018 and 2020, with lawyers and litigants identified as major bribe-givers.
Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Nigeria 140th out of 180 countries.
“This rot has decimated public trust,” Osigwe said. “A compromised justice system protects the powerful and punishes the poor.”
Global Consequences of Domestic Failure
Osigwe warned that judicial dysfunction has driven Nigerians to seek justice abroad, citing landmark cases such as Okpabi v Royal Dutch Shell, where Niger Delta communities pursued redress in UK courts, and the controversial P&ID arbitration case, where a multi-billion-dollar award against Nigeria was overturned in London after fraud was exposed.
“These cases represent a global vote of no confidence in Nigeria’s justice system,” he said.
Calls for Radical Reform
To restore credibility, Osigwe proposed sweeping reforms, including:
Merit-based judicial appointments
State-level judicial academies
Automated case assignment to eliminate manipulation
Mandatory suspension of judges under investigation
Removal of the Chief Justice of Nigeria as chair of the National Judicial Council
Full implementation of judicial financial autonomy
“History will judge us not by our speeches, but by our willingness to act,” he said. “The temple of justice must be cleansed.”
Divided Bar, Shared Anxiety
Other senior lawyers acknowledged corruption but rejected blanket condemnation.
Kunle Edun, SAN, said corruption is a systemic national problem and not unique to the judiciary, adding that its impact is more painful because courts hold society together.
Ken Ahia, SAN, cautioned against equating poor judgments with corruption, noting that heavy caseloads, fatigue, and inadequate preparation also contribute to flawed decisions.
“There are many judges who would never trade their oath for any inducement,” Ahia said.
Similarly, Abuja-based senior lawyer Lamilekan Bakre said sweeping accusations amounted to “hasty generalisation” and ignored the sacrifices of upright jurists.
‘Some Judges Are Corrupt’: A Victim Speaks
Human rights lawyer Maxwell Opara, however, backed Osigwe’s claims, recounting his own experience with what he described as judicial bias and intimidation.
“Some judges are corrupt,” Opara said. “Some are swayed by fat envelopes; others by personal vendettas. The earlier we confront it, the better for all of us.”
Opara detailed a prolonged legal battle in which a judge allegedly refused to recuse himself despite petitions and sworn affidavits alleging bias, eventually forcing him to petition the National Judicial Council.
Judges as Kingmakers?
The controversy echoes arguments made by constitutional scholar and ex-Chair of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Odinkalu in his book The Selectorate: When Judges Topple the People, which argues that Nigerian courts, particularly in election disputes, have effectively replaced voters as the ultimate deciders of political power.
Drawing from political science and Nigeria’s electoral history, Odinkalu contends that judges now act as both kingmakers and kings, determining who governs through rulings that often override ballots.
“Democracy no longer collapses with coups,” he argues. “It collapses quietly, with the gavel of a judge.”
A Judiciary at a Crossroads
Despite the criticisms, constitutional rights activist Chief Nkereuwem Udofia Akpan insisted that most judges remain upright and that the National Judicial Council has disciplined erring officers through suspensions and dismissals.
Still, the fierce debate exposes a deepening legitimacy crisis.
As Osigwe warned, the survival of Nigeria’s democracy may hinge on whether the judiciary can reclaim its role as an impartial arbiter, or whether public faith will continue to erode in a system many now see as serving power, not justice.
When the Senate passed the 2022 Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday, many Nigerians expected it to close the gaps exposed in the 2023 general election.
A major reform Nigerians had looked forward to was the legal backing for compulsory real-time electronic transmission of election results. The Senate, however, rejected the proposal, extinguishing expectations of a stronger accountability framework.
The rejection triggered public outrage, renewed distrust in the electoral system, and reopened debates about transparency.
Supporters of the Senate’s amendment insisted that nothing has changed: electronic transmission remains in the law. But critics say something fundamental was lost: a chance to make transparency compulsory.
So what exactly did the Senate do? Why is it controversial? What have the courts said that has led Nigerians to demand real-time electronic transmission of election results? And what does it mean for future elections?
This explainer breaks it down.
WHY ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF RESULTS IS A BIG ISSUE
BVAS | File photo
For decades, Nigeria’s elections have been marred by allegations of manipulation during the collation of results. While voting often proceeds peacefully at polling units, disputes usually arise later — when results are moved from one collation centre to another.
To address this, INEC introduced technological tools such as the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) and the INEC result viewing portal (IReV) ahead of the 2023 elections. The goal was to ensure that once the results are counted and signed at polling units, they should be uploaded online for everyone to see.
This would reduce human interference, improve transparency, and allow citizens to verify results independently, no matter their location.
However, because these tools were not clearly entrenched in law, their use remained discretionary. That legal lacuna became a major problem in 2023.
WHAT DID THE SENATE REJECT?
At the centre of the controversy is clause 60(3) of the amendment bill.
The proposed amendment reads: “The presiding officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IREV portal in real time, and such transmission shall be done after the prescribed Form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and/or countersigned by the candidates or polling unit agents, where available at the polling unit”.
It clearly stated that this must occur after Form EC8A has been signed and stamped. Form EC8A is used to record political party votes at the polling units.
This amendment intends to make electronic transmission compulsory, ensure it is real-time, and link it directly to IReV. In other words, it would have transformed electronic transmission from a discretionary exercise into a legal duty.
But the Senate rejected this proposal. Instead, it adopted section 60(5) of the existing Electoral Act 2022, which says: “The presiding officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, in a manner as prescribed by the Commission”.
This version leaves everything to the discretion of the electoral umpire, implying that INEC may choose electronic transmission where it is practicable. There have been arguments that several communities in the country are not covered by a telecommunication network to support the electronic transmission of results.
WHAT’S AKPABIO’S DEFENCE?
Akpabio said the Senate merely retained what existed in the 2022 Act — the same provision used in the 2023 elections.
As public criticism mounted, Senate President Godswill Akpabio moved to clarify the chamber’s position.
“The social media is already awash with reports that the Senate has literally rejected the electronic transmission of results. That is not true,” he said.
“This senate under my watch has not rejected the electronic transmission of results. It is in my interest as a participant in the next election for such to be done. So, please don’t go with the crowd.”
From a strictly legal standpoint, Akpabio is correct.
Section 50(2) says that “Subject to section 63 of this Act, voting at an election and transmission of results under this Act shall be in accordance with the procedure determined by the Commission”.
Section 62 (2) further stipulates that the commission “shall compile, maintain and update, on a continuous basis, a register of election results to be known as the National Electronic Register of Election Results which shall be a distinct database or repository of polling unit by polling unit results, including collated election results, of each election conducted by the Commission in the Federation, and the Register of Election Results shall be kept in electronic format by the Commission at its national headquarters”.
The senate did not remove electronic transmission from the law.
WHY CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS ARE DISPLEASED
Civil society organisations that worked on the proposed amendment see the Senate’s decision as a step backwards.
One of the strongest critics is Samson Itodo, executive director of Yiaga Africa.
“What the senate has done is to betray the trust of Nigerians and to make a mess of all the gains that we have made,” he said.
More importantly, Itodo accused the Senate of ignoring clear judicial guidance. According to him, courts have already ruled that electronic transmission is “unknown to the law” because it is not explicitly stated. Therefore, the national assembly had a duty to fix that gap.
HOUSE OF REPS VERSION
Unlike the Senate, the House of Representatives adoptedthe clause mandating real-time transmission.
This difference reflects two approaches to the reform. While the house made it mandatory, the senate favours discretion, leaving INEC flexibility as provided in the extant law.
Both chambers must now harmonise these differences, among others. The outcome will depend on which amendment the conference committee adopts.
WHAT THE COURTS SAID ABOUT E-TRANSMISSION OF RESULTS
Before the 2023 election
Before the 2023 elections, the Labour Party (LP) went to the federal high court in Abuja, seeking to compel INEC to adopt an electronic method for transmitting 2023 election results.
In January 2023, Emeka Nwite, the presiding judge, dismissedthe case. He ruled that section 60(5) allows INEC to choose its method.
“This is to say that the commission is at liberty to prescribe or choose the manner in which election results shall be transmitted,” the judge said.
He added that nowhere in the law is INEC mandated to use electronic means.
“In view of the foregoing, can the act of the defendant (INEC) in collating and transferring election results manually in the forthcoming 2023 general elections be said to be contrary to the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022? The answer can only be in the negative as there is nowhere in the above-cited sections where the commission or any of its agents is mandated to only use an electronic means in collating or transferring election results,” the judge said.
“If any, the commission is only mandated to collate and transfer election results and the number of accredited voters in a way or manner deemed fit by it.”
After the 2023 election
After the 2023 election, disputes over IReV and the transmission of results reached the Supreme Court.
In a ruling, Inyang Okoro, who read the lead judgment, made several crucial clarifications.
IReV is not a collation system
The judge said IReV is not a collation system, but is meant to allow the public to view polling unit results on election day; therefore, if IReV fails, the election process does not stop.
The court noted that where the IReV portal fails, it does not stop the collation of results, which, up to the last election, was manually done, adding that the malfunctioning of the IReV deprives the public and even election administrators and monitors of the opportunity of viewing the portal and comparing the result collated with the ones transmitted into the IReV.
INEC has the power to choose transmission methods
The court interpreted sections 60(5), 62(1), and 64 of the Act, stating that INEC is at liberty to prescribe the manner in which election results are to be transmitted.
Although “shall” is used in the law, the court said it does not impose a strict obligation to use electronic means.
IReV failure cannot invalidate elections
The court ruled that the unavailability of the election result on the IReV portal cannot be a basis for nullifying an election, since hard copies are held by INEC, the police, and party agents.
“Thus, the unavailability of the election result on the IReV portal for whatever reason cannot be a ground upon which an election could be nullified, particularly as it was not the case of the appellants that the hard copies of the result sheets did not exist at any level of collation,” the court said.
WHY THESE RULINGS MATTER TO THE AMENDMENT BILL
These rulings created a clear legal reality. Under the current law, electronic transmission is optional. Courts will not compel it. This is why critics expected the amendment to close that loophole.
By refusing to mandate real-time transmission, critics believe the Senate preserved the same legal weakness identified by the courts.
The controversy cannot be separated from what happened in 2023.
During the February 25 presidential election, many polling units failed to upload results promptly. INEC blamed technical glitches, while opposition parties alleged manipulation.
Despite protests, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared the winner. His main challengers — Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party — went to court. Although they lost, many Nigerians felt the system failed.
That is why this amendment matters so much. It was seen as a chance to prevent a repeat in the upcoming 2027 elections.
A GLIMMER OF HOPE
The Senate and House have set up a conference committee to reconcile the amendment since they both passed different versions.
The Senate conference committee is made up of Simon Lalong (Plateau, APC), Adeniyi Adegbonmire (Ondo, APC), Tahir Monguno (Borno, APC), Adamu Aliero (Kebbi, APC), Orji Kalu (Abia, APC), Abba Moro (Benue, PDP), Asuquo Ekpeyong (Cross River, APC), Aminu Abass (Adamawa, PDP), and Tokunbo Abiru (Lagos, APC).
The House of Representatives panel comprises Bayo Balogun (Lagos, APC), who chairs the panel, Fred Agbedi (Bayelsa, PDP), Sada Soli (Katsina, APC), Ahmadu Jaha (Borno, APC), Igariwey Iduma Enwo (Ebonyi, APC), Saidu Musa Abdullahi (Niger, APC), and Zainab Gimba (Borno, APC).
This committee will decide whether the House version prevails or the Senate position is adopted.
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