General
Why We Can’t Create Electoral Constituencies Now—INEC
By Ahmed Rahma
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday explained its inability to create new electoral constituencies.
The explanation was given in a statement issued in Abuja by the National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr Festus Okoye.
The electoral umpire, which said it was responding to recent reports regarding its responsibilities in the division, revision and adjustment of electoral constituency boundaries in Nigeria, noted that while the division of the country into electoral constituencies for Senate, House of Representatives and State Houses of Assembly was its responsibility, once they are established, subsequent revision of the constituencies and/or adjustment of their boundaries are the joint responsibilities of the agency and the National Assembly.
According to Mr Okoye, any such revision or adjustment must be passed by a resolution of the two houses of the National Assembly, namely the Senate and the House of Representatives.
He said, “As a result, the commission has been in discussion with the relevant committees of the National Assembly to arrange a meeting with the leadership of the Assembly to address some of the difficult issues in the division, revision and alteration of electoral constituency boundaries in Nigeria.
“Some of these issues, which the commission had previously brought to the attention of the National Assembly, include the following: ‘The 1999 Constitution (as amended) does not place an obligation on INEC to revise or alter the boundaries of constituencies every 10 years, as has been canvassed by some opinions in the media. For the avoidance of doubt, Section 73 (1) of the Constitution provides for that to happen at intervals of ‘not less than 10 years.’
“This implies that it can only happen from 10 years and above. Therefore, the commission is not in breach of the Constitution, since the revision could happen in 10 years or more.
“The Constitution also provides that the commission may embark on revision and adjustment after a national census, creation of States or by an Act of the National Assembly [Section 73 (2)].
“None of these conditions actually exists at the moment. The last population census was conducted in 2006, about 15 years ago. The commission feels that revising and/or altering constituencies based on 15-year-old population data is inappropriate because the well-known rapidity of population changes in Nigeria would make nonsense of any outcome.
“In any case, the National Population Commission (NPC) is working on conducting another census and it seems reasonable to await its outcome.
“On the other hand, no new states have been created in Nigeria since the Constitution came into effect in 1999 nor is there an Act of the National Assembly requesting INEC to activate the relevant sections of the Constitution on division, revision and alteration of electoral constituencies.
“On the state constituencies to be created in each state of the federation, the Constitution provides that the number for each state should be three or four times the number of its federal constituencies (seats in the House of Representatives), subject to a minimum of 24 and a maximum of 40.
“The problem is that some states presently have three times the number of their seats in the House of Representatives, others have four times; others have the minimum of 24 and yet others have reached the maximum of 40.
“For some, their present number of State Assembly constituencies is neither three nor four times the number of their House of Representative seats. This motley distribution calls for more clarity in the division, revision and alteration of electoral constituency boundaries, which in fact may require constitutional amendments.
“There is also the question of the so-called suppressed constituencies. Essentially, these are constituencies that existed prior to the coming into force of the 1999 Constitution. The canvassers for these constituencies argue that they have been “suppressed” in the present dispensation.
“Forty-two cases were filed in various courts across the country requesting INEC to be compelled to ‘restore’ 62 constituencies. The Commission has consistently argued that the idea of ‘restoration of a constituency’ is both legally questionable and practically improbable.
“It is questionable to ask INEC to restore constituencies that existed under an old constitutional order in the present one. For example, the present Constitution provides for the maximum seats in the House of Representatives and the multiples of that for State House of Assembly constituencies. Restoring all old constituencies from a different constitutional order would definitely mean that the number set by the present Constitution may be exceeded.
“Besides, there have been many previous constitutional orders, each with its own specification of limits on the number of constituencies. Furthermore, which of the old constitutional provision should we restore? Perhaps, some people may even ask for the restoration of the four constituencies in Calabar and Lagos created in 1922 following the Clifford Constitution.
“Also, it is a misnomer to talk of suppressed constituencies because some of the constituencies have been divided territorially as a result of state creation and boundary adjustments, creation of Local Government Areas, as well as the creation of the subsisting electoral constituencies.”
Mr Okoye further noted that while some of the court judgments in the cases on these so-called suppressed constituencies have agreed with the position of the commission, others have gone for the “suppressed constituency” canvassers and that in yet other cases, the commission has appealed the judgments.
“These are some of the challenges that have constrained the commission on the question of revision and adjustment of electoral constituencies.
“Yet, the commission is not oblivious of the importance of balanced constituency delimitation on the democratic and electoral processes. However, these are complicated legal, political and practical issues.
“This is why the commission has requested for a meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly to resolve these issues and build the necessary consensus that will ensure that any revision of electoral boundaries will be passed by the National Assembly, unlike in the past when the Commission’s proposals on revision and alteration of electoral constituencies received no response from the Assembly.
“The commission is presently preparing a comprehensive discussion paper on these issues to assist in its engagement with the National Assembly.
“The commission wishes to put on record the frank and open discussions with the leadership of several committees of the National Assembly and their support on these issues and also appeals for public support to ensure that the right atmosphere exists for the commission to continue to do its work in this regard.
“For emphasis, the Commission also wishes to state that the issue of electoral constituencies is separate and distinct from the ongoing consultation on voter access to polling units in Nigeria”, he added.
General
Kwara Governor Removes Deputy Chief of Staff, Others in Minor Shake-up
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Governor of Kwara State, Mr AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has removed his Deputy Chief of Staff and the Principal Private Secretary.
In a statement on Monday by his Deputy Chief Press Secretary, Mr Mashood AbdulRafiu Agboola, it was disclosed that the Governor also removed all Special Advisers, Advisers, Senior Special Assistants, and Special Assistants in the “minor cabinet shake-up.
It was explained that the action was to extend opportunities to more party members and inject fresh energy into the administration.
Mr AbdulRazaq directed them to hand over all government properties in their custody to the Office of the Secretary to the State Government.
He thanked the affected appointees for selfless service to the state and his administration, wishing them well in their future endeavours.
“His Excellency expresses his gratitude to all the appointees for their priceless service to the state. He wishes them the best in their future endeavours,” the statement noted.
General
Xenophobia: FG Evacuates More Nigerians as South Africa Protests Loom
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has announced that another batch of Nigerians will be evacuated from South Africa on Tuesday as part of ongoing efforts to safeguard citizens ahead of planned anti-immigrant protests in the country.
Anti-immigrant groups in South Africa have set a June 30 deadline for immigrants to leave the country, planning widespread demonstrations on that date and threatening a national shutdown if the country’s government does not take significant action on immigration.
According to the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Kimiebi Ebienfa, an Air Peace aircraft departed Nigeria on Monday and is expected to return to Lagos on Tuesday morning with another group of Nigerians who opted for voluntary evacuation.
The latest operation comes as anti-immigration groups prepare to stage demonstrations from June 30. The government has continued its evacuation programme for Nigerians who have indicated a willingness to return home.
Providing details of the latest flight, Mr Ebienfa said, “Nigeria will resume the evacuation of our nationals from South Africa today.
“Air Peace aircraft will depart Nigeria today, Monday, June 29, 2026, at 3:00 pm and is expected to arrive in South Africa at approximately 9:00 pm local time.
“The return flight is scheduled to depart South Africa at 12:00 midnight and is expected to arrive at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, on Tuesday morning.”
He added that 271 Nigerians are expected to arrive on the evacuation flight.
President Tinubu approved the voluntary evacuation programme earlier this month to enable Nigerians willing to leave South Africa to return home safely.
Earlier in June, the federal government disclosed that five Air Peace evacuation flights had been approved after more than 500 Nigerians were screened for repatriation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the flights were intended to ensure that all registered Nigerians who wished to return would be evacuated safely.
Before the latest operation, 328 Nigerians had already been repatriated in two batches. The first flight, which landed on June 11, brought back 262 returnees, while a second batch of 66 arrived in Lagos on June 25.
The evacuation exercise is being coordinated by the Federal Government in partnership with Air Peace and other relevant agencies.
General
Why Ad Platform Policy Changes Are a Hidden Risk in Every Outsourced Paid Media Relationship
The rules governing digital advertising landscapes are never set in stone. Major platforms like Google, Meta, and TikTok frequently update their privacy frameworks, compliance requirements, and algorithmic bidding logic without giving agencies much time to prepare. When a marketing team decides to delegate its active campaigns to an external production partner, these sudden policy shifts can introduce a major element of vulnerability into the relationship. Integrating a professional white label ppc management structure allows your business to scale production and tap into high-level optimization talent without building a massive internal department. However, if your fulfillment partner is not built to monitor, interpret, and rapidly deploy adjustments in response to changing platform guidelines, your clients risk facing sudden account suspensions or massive spikes in customer acquisition costs.
Decoupling Technical Adaptability from Account Ownership
When an advertising platform changes its rules, the changes need to be made away in the live ad accounts. This is so the ads do not stop working. Sometimes there is a problem when one team thinks another team is taking care of making sure the ads follow the rules. The team that is supposed to make sure everything is working thinks the other team is doing this job. This can cause problems like missing information and ads that do not work. To keep your clients happy, you need a plan that says who is in charge of checking for rule changes, who updates the ad information, and who updates the ad text rules when the advertising platform changes its rules. You need to know who does what so everything runs smoothly. Advertising platforms and ad accounts are important for your clients.
Managing the Financial Fallouts of Compliance Delays
The real-world financial cost of failing to adapt to sudden policy changes can ruin an agency’s reputation and cause high client turnover. If an automated ad platform updates its rules for a specific industry—such as healthcare, real estate, or finance—and your campaign structure fails to adjust within the grace period, entire accounts can be paused overnight. While your backend team works to fix the errors, your client loses valuable inbound leads while their fixed overhead costs remain. Agencies must make sure their fulfillment partners don’t just focus on basic optimization but also maintain a proactive stance toward platform compliance to prevent budget waste and operational downtime.
Maintaining Strategic Alignment Through Platform Shifts
Relying on a partner to manage the daily execution of your paid media means you must remain highly aligned on how macro-level platform changes alter your broader strategy. When networks restrict traditional targeting methods, your backend white label ppc management team must quickly pivot to alternative solutions, such as first-party data loops or contextual targeting systems. If your vendor operates on autopilot without adjusting to these shifts, your campaigns will slowly lose efficiency as the old targeting methods become obsolete. Regular strategy sessions are essential to confirm that your optimization partners are actively adjusting their setups to remain effective beneath the latest network rules.
Building a Resilient Operations Partnership
To do well with ad networks, you need to work together with your partners and be able to change quickly. You also need to be open with each other. Ad agencies can not just set up their paid media. Forget about it. They need to keep an eye on it and make changes when needed. If you work closely with the company that provides your white-label service, you can protect your business from losing money. You should expect this company to tell you about changes to the network rules and to take action. The best partnerships are the ones where people work together all the time and make changes fast. This helps your clients make money consistently from their investments even when the rules of the ad networks change. Modern ad networks are always changing, so you need to be able to change with them to do well. Modern ad networks require a lot of work to navigate successfully.
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