News
How three Southern Senators aborted ET after Senate’s endorsement
A move by three Senators from the “South” was all it took on Thursday to scuttle a supposed agreement by the upper legislative chambers of the National Assembly from including real-time mandatory transmission of election results into the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), a development that has now left the Nigerian polity restive.
Vanguard reports that Senators, like their counterparts in the House of Representatives, which had since passed the same provision in December 2025, were on the verge of toeing the same line when the three Senators made their move, which changed everything.
The development came on the heels of the proposal of the Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal and Enactment) Bill, 2026 (SB. 903), specifically an amendment to Clause 60(3), which sought to compel presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to upload polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal, IReV, in real time.
The recommendation, which also triggered wider reforms on election timelines, penalties for electoral offences and voting technology, was voted down by the 10th Senate under the leadership of Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio.
At the centre of the controversy is Section 60(3) of the bill, dealing with the transmission of polling unit results. The provision was recommended by the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, chaired by Senator Simon Lalong (APC, Plateau South).
The paper, quoting a source, reported that during clause-by-clause consideration of the committee’s report, the Senate initially worked on a version that retained real-time electronic transmission.
However, after hours of deliberations and as plenary dragged late into the evening, the final version passed by the Senate was altered at the last minute to expunge the provision.
The same source, said to have acknowledged that both the Senate which had already upheld the new provision during a closed session, in tandem with the recommendation of an ad-hoc committee, chaired by Niyi Adegbonmire, APC (Ondo Central), which earlier endorsed it after more than one year of consultations.
The Adegbonmire committee was said to have engaged INEC, civil society organisations and stakeholders through joint sessions and zonal public hearings, where consensus was reportedly reached that electronic transmission must be explicitly legalised to avoid the legal controversies that trailed the 2023 general elections.
Page 45 of the report of the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, Clause 60(3) provided: “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 agents available at the polling unit.”
Still quoting the source, which stated that many Senators got to the clause, on assumption it would pass smoothly, given prior resolutions,” as saying: “That was when the unexpected happened. Three ranking Southern Senators allegedly intervened. The Senators approached the Senate President and urged him to retain the provision of the 2022 Electoral Act.”
Acting on this, Akpabio was said to have upheld the existing law, allowing electronic transmission only after votes were counted and publicly announced at polling units, and instead of “transmission,” the word “transfer” was adopted, in line with the 2022 Act, even though no fresh debate was conducted on the floor.
The rejected amendment, which would have mandated real-time upload of results to IReV immediately after completion of Form EC8A, read: “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.”
President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday, announced the approval of the establishment of a Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats and ordered the immediate release of ₦10 billion as emergency intervention funding.
Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesman, who conveyed the development to the public, said the fund would strengthen the operational preparedness of the National Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and support critical national public health emergency response activities.
To be chaired by Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President, the committee with membership drawn from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and state representatives is also expected to get briefings on their plans to contain the disease.
Onanuga, stated that Tinubu also specifically directed all states hosting international airports and international border corridors, as well as relevant MDAs, to submit their plans, funding requirements and intervention needs for consideration and coordinated implementation.
Stating that the President’s move followed a stakeholder meeting convened under the CoS to review Nigeria’s preparedness and develop strategies against the possible importation of Ebola into the country., the statement informed that the Task Force would also intensify passenger screening at all international airports through enhanced temperature checks and crowd-control protocols.
Other measures would also include enhanced monitoring of passengers arriving through high-risk airline routes, including Air Uganda, Rwanda Air, Air Tanzania, Air Angola, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines; and the immediate activation of referral and isolation centres at the Lagos and Abuja international airports, with other airports to follow.
Other measures include the mandatory activation of QR code-based pre-arrival health declaration systems for passengers originating from or transiting through designated high-risk countries, as well as the disinfection of departure halls, cargoes, baggage areas and airport facilities as precautionary environmental measures.
The President also directed the advisory group to consult with security, diplomatic and aviation bodies on regulating flights from affected and designated high-risk countries and mandated the task force to designate specific airports or terminals for high-risk flights to enable controlled screening and isolation procedures, and to consider adjusting flight schedules to minimise interaction between high-risk passengers and other travellers.
Justice Akintoye Aluko of the Federal High Court, Lagos on Tuesday ordered the remand of Paul Jibrin Oweleke in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) over alleged cybercrime offences linked to social media broadcasts that allegedly called for overthrow of President Bola Tinubu.
Specifically, Oweleke, in a two-count charge was accused of publishing posts on his online platform known as “Oweleke TV”, urging the Nigerian military to remove the President from office in a manner similar to takeovers in some West African countries, an act the agency said bordered on incitement and the use of a computer system to disseminate content considered prejudicial to national security and constitutional governance.
Oweleke’s broadcasts, the agency stressed, were capable of inciting public disorder and promoting disaffection against the government, which will undermine the country’s democracy.
Legal argument had ensued immediately after Oweleke, pleaded not guilty to the charges, with his lawyer kicking vehemently against the prayer of the agency that the court should order his remand pending the commencement of trial, on the ground that a bail application had already been filed and served on the prosecution.
But Aluko, who was persuaded to grant the prayer, went with the DSS, while adjourning the matter to June 16 for the hearing of the bail application, stating that Oweleke, would remain in the facility of the agency pending the outcome.
By June 29 all medical doctors in public hospitals in Nigeria will drop their stethoscopes and other instruments of healthcare, unless the Federal Government settles all unpaid allowances, salary arrears, delayed training funds, and worsening welfare concerns of its members across the country’s health sector.
This was the notice served to the government on Monday, through The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), the umbrella under which the doctors operate, after rising from Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) held in Kano.
In the 21-day ultimatum to the government, the doctors warned that it would not be able to guarantee industrial harmony if the issues remain unresolved within the 21-day period.
In the resolution conveying their position, signed by Mohammad Suleiman, President, Shuaibu Ibrahim, Secretary-General, and Abdulmajid Yahya Ibrahim, Publicity and Social Secretary, on Friday, the body regretted that government had failed to fulfil several commitments to doctors despite repeated assurances and engagements.
“The association hereby declares an industrial dispute with the federal government of Nigeria on the outlined matters above and cannot guarantee industrial harmony after the 21-day window period given to address all the demands,” the communique reads.
The association said it is giving the federal government the 21-day window to commence concrete actions towards the development and implementation of a national healthcare workers assault prevention and response protocol
and the initiation of the necessary legislative process to address the menace.
NARD also demanded the release and payment of the 2026 medical residency training fund (MRTF) to all eligible resident doctors nationwide within the next 21 days.
The association questioned the unpaid salary and promotion arrears in several federal and state health institutions, as well as discrepancies in professional allowances reflected in members’ May 2026 salaries.
It highlighted the welfare issues affecting house officers, including salary delays, unpaid arrears, and difficulties with internship placement and onboarding processes that remain unresolved.
It also accused Motunrayo Omidiran, executive chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), of delaying the issuance of letters of compliance to federal health institutions, noting that the delay has hampered recruitment efforts, manpower shortages, and brain drain in the sector.
NARD expressed worries about the increasing assaults, harassment, intimidation, and violent attacks against doctors while on duty, demanding the arrests, investigation, and prosecution of perpetrators.
It called for the establishment of a national healthcare workers’ assault prevention and response protocol within 21 days by the federal government and security agencies.
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