General
Rising Electoral Violence Cases Frighten CNPP
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has expressed concerns over the spate of attacks on facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and campaign rallies across the country.
Nigerian heads to the polls in February 2023 to elect a new President, governors and lawmakers.
Ahead of the general elections, there have been pockets of violence at political rallies, with attacks on politicians and their followers becoming rampant, in a few cases, leading to death.
In a statement issued on Monday, CNPP feared that the exercise is under threat despite assurances by relevant stakeholders, including INEC, that the poll would not be shifted.
The group, in the statement signed by its Secretary General, Mr Willy Ezugwu, warned that “unless political thugs were treated as enemies of the state, the ongoing attacks on political opponents would gravely endanger the credibility of the 2023 elections.”
“Despite the recent matching orders to the security agencies by President Muhammadu Buhari, which was reiterated by the National Security Adviser (NSA) to the President, Mr Babagana Monguno, to the effect that the President has given the go-ahead to all security agencies to deal decisively with individuals or groups trying to prevent peaceful conduct of the 2023 general election, the hope of a violent free electioneering campaign may be dashed.
“Our major fear is that from the records of the federal government, as revealed by the NSA that Nigeria recorded 52 acts of political violence across 22 states in one month, between October 8 and November 9, 2022, there seems to be gross inaction on the part of security agencies, particularly the Nigeria Police Force to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of this violence.
“Worse still, after the recent emergency meeting of the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja, Nigerians have seen nothing but inactions by security agencies in preventing or arresting and diligently prosecuting perpetrators of the ongoing electoral violence and their sponsors.
“Every lover of Nigeria and her future knows that, as far as violent attacks on political opponents and opposing political parties in states is concerned, the situation is becoming alarming as one of the elementary security measures is crime prevention.
“For instance, last week, there was a suspected politically motivated assassination of Victoria Chintex, the Labour Party women leader in Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State, who was reportedly killed last Monday after gunmen invaded her residence and shot her.
“At the weekend, there were reports that the Labour Party’s rally in the Lakowe town area of Lekki, Lagos State, was visited with violence by suspected political thugs allegedly sponsored by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the area.
“In November, suspected APC supporters attacked supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubarkar, in Maiduguri, Borno State, just as on October 17, suspected thugs also disrupted the campaign train of the PDP in Kaduna State.
“In the same month of October, some supporters of the APC in Oyo State were reportedly injured in Ibadan during a campaign rally when some hoodlums in some vehicles allegedly launched an attack on the crowd.
“In Ebonyi State, a State Government sponsored security outfit, Ebubeagu, has been severally reported to have been unleashing against political opponents of the APC leadership in the state, among other several incidents of political violence in other states across the country”, the CNPP recalled.
“If truly President Muhammadu Buhari has given his directive through the NSA to all the operational intelligence and law enforcement agencies to ensure that the 2023 elections are held in an atmosphere devoid of any rancour, as the NSA has disclosed recently, why are we not seeing security agencies discouraging political thuggery in the country?
“We, therefore, call on all political party leaders at all levels to restrain their supporters both online and offline from carrying out violent activities against oppositions.
“This has become imperative as retaliations and counter-attacks by victims of the ongoing violence could degenerate the issues and worsen the current security situation in the country.
“We call on President Muhammadu Buhari, who was said to be extremely pleased with the outcome of the results of elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun states to ensure a repeat of such performance in 2023, both by INEC and all security agencies, including the anti-graft bodies because an election is not war”, the CNPP stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria is eyeing stronger diplomatic and strategic ties when it comes to sustainable development as it participates in the 2026 edition of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW).
President Bola Tinubu arrived in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Sunday. His plane landed at the Presidential Wing of Zayed International Airport at exactly 11:30 pm local time.
He was received by Sheikh Shakhboot Nahyan Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs; the UAE Ambassador to Nigeria, Salem Saeed Al-Shamsi; Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar; and members of the Nigerian diplomatic mission in Abu Dhabi.
Several other ministers, including the Minister of Budget and Planning, Mr Atiku Bagudu; the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs Jumoke Oduwole; and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Mr Mohammed Mohammed, welcomed President Tinubu at his hotel.
President Tinubu arrived in Abu Dhabi from Europe, where he spent part of his end-of-year break, engaging in fruitful discussions with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and French President Emmanuel Macron, according to a statement by the presidency.
The 2026 Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, with the theme The Nexus of Next, All Systems Go, is a global platform that brings together world leaders, policymakers, investors, and experts to advance dialogue and action on sustainable development, climate action, energy transition, and inclusive economic growth.
This visit further reinforces the strong diplomatic and economic ties between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), while positioning Nigeria as an active contributor to global conversations on sustainable development.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to account for about N55.9 billion earmarked for the purchase of some materials for the 2019 general elections has forced the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) to file a lawsuit against the commission.
In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/38/2026 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP asked the court for an order of mandamus to compel INEC to disclose the names of all contractors paid the sum of money.
It was claimed that the N55.9 billion was meant for the purchase of smart card readers, ballot papers, result sheets and other election materials for the 2019 general elections, which produced the late Mr Muhammadu Buhari as President for a second term in office.
SERAP is relying on the latest annual report published by the Auditor-General on September 9, 2025, to ask for the use of the funds, which is said to be missing or diverted.
The organisation argued that the electoral umpire “must operate without corruption if the commission is to ensure free and fair elections in the country and uphold Nigerians’ right to participation.”
“INEC cannot ensure impartial administration of future elections if these allegations are not satisfactorily addressed, perpetrators including the contractors involved are not prosecuted and the proceeds of corruption are not fully recovered,” a part of the statement issued by the group stated.
“INEC cannot properly carry out its constitutional and statutory responsibilities to conduct free and fair elections in the country if it continues to fail to uphold the basic principles of transparency, accountability and the rule of law.
“These allegations also constitute abuse of public office and show the urgent need by INEC to commit to transparency, accountability, clean governance and the rule of law,” it further declared.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Ministry of Finance has directed all shipping companies and airlines operating in Nigeria to submit their manifests through the Single Window Project (SWP) as part of efforts to strengthen cargo tracking and transparency.
The submission of shipping manifests before the change of policy was handled exclusively by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) for onward cargo processing and port clearance.
However, following a memo from late last year signed by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, all shipping firms and airlines were directed to integrate with the National Single Window platform to ensure seamless Manifests submission.
“I would like to bring to your attention that His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inaugurated the National Single Window (NSW) Project on the 16th of April 2024.
The NSW Project aims to streamline and automate import and export processes at Nigeria’s entry & exit ports, with the dual goals of enhancing trade facilitation and increasing government revenue.
“By integrating the operations of multiple government agencies involved in trade processes on one platform, the NSW platform will ensure faster clearance of goods and services, improve operational efficiencies at the imports and significantly reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks.
“Key components of the Single Window as defined by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and World Customs Organisation (WCO) include: (a) a single-entry point i.e. traders, shipping lines, airlines and other stakeholders should submit all required import and export documentation through a single-entry point on a centralized digital platform, and (b) single submission i.e. all documentation should only be submitted once and data only entered once.
“As a result, the NSW Platform will be the single-entry point of submission for all Sea and Air Manifests. Therefore, all shipping lines and airlines are therefore directed to integrate with the NSW Platform to ensure seamless Manifests submission,” parts of the memo read.
The Comptroller-General of the NCS, the chairman of the Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS), the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) were copied in the memo.
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