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Senate set to reverse self on ET! *No cause for alarm – Senators
Senators may have bowed to a groundswell of outcries by Nigerians and now on the verge of reversing themselves on the decision not to include real-time transmission of results into the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), to ensure the credibility of elections in Nigeria.
Their refusal to allow the amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the new electoral bill, which passed the third reading on Thursday, following the flaws noticed in the 2023 general elections, in line with the inclusion of the mandatory clause by the House of Representatives, left many Nigerians outraged.
A Senator, well into the issue, told WhirlwindNews, on Monday that there was nothing to the provision and that the Senate neither had anything to hide nor one to fear, but was only acting in the best interest of Nigerians.
His words: “We have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. If that is what Nigerians want, that is what they will get. I think, as you heard the Senate President explained, all we want is to ensure that the elections are credible. We don’t want a situation in which anyone is disenfranchised. We’re all working for the same purpose.
“There is therefore no need for the hues and cries. There is no need for street demonstrations or foul words against the Senate. Nobody is more Nigerian than the other. We’re all working for the betterment of the country.
“So, go to sleep. We’re reconvening tomorrow and we’re going to vote and our vote will reflect the wishes of Nigerians. Nobody is afraid to lose elections. I’m sure nobody is born a Senator. If you win, you win. If you lose, you lose. So, there is no question of not doing it because somebody will lose.”
Emmanuel Odo, Clerk of the Senate, in an official notice dated February 8, 2026, while conveying the directive of the Godswill Akpabio, Senate President, said: “I am directed by President of the Senate, Distinguished Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, to inform all senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that an emergency sitting of the Senate has been scheduled to hold as follows: Date: Tuesday, 10 February, 2026. Time: 12:00 Noon.
“Venue: Senate Chamber. Senators are kindly requested to note this emergency sitting date and attend. All inconveniences this will cause to senators are highly regretted.”
The Senate had adjourned plenary last week after the passage of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026, to allow lawmakers participate in ongoing budget defence sessions by ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs, ahead of the final consideration of the ¦ 58.47 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill, scheduled for March 17.
The Senate, during the clause-by-clause consideration of the Electoral bill, had adopted a motion moved by Senate Chief Whip Tahir Monguno, APC, Borno North and seconded by the Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, APC, Kano North, to reject the proposed Section 60(3).
The rejected amendment sought to make real-time electronic transmission of election results from polling units to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal mandatory. It proposed that:
“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 candidates or polling unit agents, where available.”
The Senate is said to also reconvened to take the votes and proceedings, that would arm its conference committee constituted by Akpabio last week to harmonise the bill with the House of Representatives to effectively commence work.
Members of the conference committee include Senator Simon Lalong (Chairman); Senators Niyi Adegbonmire, APC, Ondo Central; Tahir Monguno, APC, Borno North; Adamu Aliero, APC, Kebbi Central; Orji Uzor Kalu, APC, Abia North; Abba Moro, PDP, Benue South; Asuquo Ekpenyong, APC, Cross River South; Aminu Iya Abbas, Adamawa; and Tokunbo Abiru, APC, Lagos East.
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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