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Transmission of election results: ADC Differs With Senate; ” Pass the law, don’t decide for INEC”

Akpabio said the concern was that mandating real-time transmission could lead to legal disputes if network failures occurred during elections.

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• Book Launch: “The Burden of Legislators in Nigeria”, authored by Senator Effiong Bob, in Abuja.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has dismissed criticisms trailing the Senate’s amendment of the Electoral Act, saying commentators and civil society actors are misjudging the legislature based on an incomplete legislative process and misunderstanding of parliamentary procedures.

Akpabio spoke in Abuja as special guest of honour at the unveiling of a book, “The Burden of Legislators in Nigeria”, authored by Senator Effiong Bob, in Abuja.

Speaking on the controversy surrounding the removal of the phrase “real-time” electronic transmission of election results, Akpabio said that the Senate had not concluded work on the bill and that public debate was premature.

“The Electoral Act amendment is incomplete. We have not completed it, but they are already on television. They don’t understand lawmaking.

“They don’t even know that what is in the Senate is not completed until we look at the Votes and Proceedings,” he said.

Akpabio explained that the Votes and Proceedings stage allows senators to correct, amend, or clarify decisions made on the floor before final approval, stressing that only after this process can the Senate’s position be considered final.

“When we bring out the Votes and Proceedings, any senator has a right to rise and say, ‘On clause three, this was what we agreed upon.’ That is the only time you can talk about what the Senate has done or not done,” he said.

He criticised commentators for what he described as “abuse” of the legislature, accusing some civil society actors of attempting to impose their views on lawmakers.

“People have become mouth legislators. Go and contest election if you want to talk about lawmaking and go and join them and make the law.

Retreats are not lawmaking; retreats are part of consultations. So why do you think that the paper you agreed in Lagos during a retreat must be what is agreed on the floor?” he asked.

Akpabio insisted that the Senate did not remove electronic transmission of election results, clarifying that lawmakers only questioned the requirement for real-time transmission.

“I must state clearly, without ambiguity, that the Senate has not removed any means of transmission. If you want to use a bicycle to carry your votes from one polling unit to the ward centre, do so. If you want to use your phone to transmit, do so. If you want to use your iPad, do so,” he said.

Akpabio said the concern was that mandating real-time transmission could lead to legal disputes if network failures occurred during elections.

“All we said was that we should remove the word ‘real time,’ because if you say real time and there is grid failure and the network is not working, when you go to court somebody will say it ought to have been real time,” he explained.

According to him, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should determine the mode and timing of result transmission within the framework of the law.

The Senate President warned that insisting on real-time transmission could invalidate results in areas with poor connectivity or insecurity.

“Real time means that in over nine states where networks are not working because of insecurity, there will be no election results.

Nationally, if the national grid collapses and no network is working, no election results will be valid,” he said.

He cited a Supreme Court ruling which, he said, acknowledged Nigeria’s inadequate infrastructure and emphasised that electronic transmission is only supplementary to the statutory collation process.

“The result is in Form EC8A. It will be carried from the polling unit to the ward centre, from there to the local government collation centre, to the senatorial collation centre, to the state collation centre, and finally the national collation centre,” he said.

Akpabio stressed that the amendment bill had not yet completed the bicameral legislative process and that a conference committee would reconcile differences between the Senate and House of Representatives versions before final passage.

“It is only when we have finished that that you will now say the National Assembly has passed any amendment to the Electoral Act,” he said.

He urged critics to allow the process to run its course, warning against attempts to “rubbish the process” before its conclusion.

Akpabio said electoral reforms must be grounded in legal and institutional capacity, warning against imposing technology beyond the country’s infrastructure.

“We insist that electoral reforms must be anchored in law, guided by capacity, secured against abuse and applied uniformly across the nation.

Technology must serve democracy; it must not endanger democracy,” he said.

He added: “You stay in a place that has no wire, no light, and you want to put in the law ‘real time.’ Progress must not bring about injustice.”

The Senate President warned that mistrust of institutions without understanding legislative processes could weaken democracy.

“When people do not understand their legislature, democracy is at risk. Democracy is measured not by passion alone, but by principles,” he said.

He also recalled that the current Electoral Act enabled competitive elections in 2023, including losses by the then ruling party in key states.

“This same Electoral Act made the incumbent party almost lose millions of votes. We lost in places like Lagos and Kano. New parties won whole regions with the same act, whether real-time electronic transfer or not,” he said.

Akpabio concluded that laws must be made for posterity rather than partisan advantage, adding: “You don’t make law for an individual or for opposition. You make law to outlast you, for generations unborn.”

Earlier in his opening remarks, the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, who was the chairman of occasion, urged the National Assembly to pass the Bill and not to speak for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“What the ADC is saying is, pass the law. Let INEC decide whether they can do it (real-time electronic transmission) or not. Don’t speak for INEC.

“The stand of ADC is clear; pass the bill and let INEC decide on what it will do with it”, Mark said.

Several speakers at the event, including Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, and the book reviewer, Professor Maxwell Gidado SAN, praised Senator Bob’s courage in writing the book to bring to light the challenges the Nigerian legislator faces in the course of performing his duties.

The author Senator Bob enumerated some of the challenges, saying that they included electoral battles, conflict with governors/godfathers, the judiciary through cancellation of victory, addressing the private issues of the electorate and self-inflicted challenges.

“The courage to defend democracy is in the legislature and the legislators”, he said.

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Governorship candidates Speak On Next Chapter For Lagos

Doherty maintained that government must become the biggest housing developer in the state and provide alternatives to private rental accommodation.

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Photo: APC candidate, Obafemi Hamzat; ADC candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, NDC candidate, Funsho Doherty, and PDP candidate, Adedeji Doherty during the 2027 Lagos State governorship debate organised by Vanguard Newspaper ,Channels Television, TVC, Punch Newspapers, and The Cable on Sunday.

Governorship candidates of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), All Progressives Congress (APC), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have presented their proposals for addressing some of Lagos State’s major challenges, including housing, transportation, and healthcare, ahead of the 2027 governorship election.

The candidates unveiled their manifestos during the 2027 Lagos State governorship debate organised by Vanguard Newspaper ,Channels Television, TVC, Punch Newspapers, and The Cable on Sunday.

The ADC candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, promised to deliver more than 100,000 housing units if elected, saying his administration would prioritise affordable accommodation for ordinary residents rather than the wealthy.

He said the proposed houses would be allocated transparently to prevent individuals from acquiring multiple units under the scheme.

“The elites, the rich, can do it for themselves.

The government’s role is to lift up people that cannot do it for themselves, and this comes into housing to ensure that we deliver 100,000-plus housing units and make it affordable so that it is transparently allocatable. We are not going to have a situation where one person can own ten units,” Rhodes-Vivour said..

The ADC candidate also promised legislation to protect tenants against arbitrary rent increases, proposing that landlords should give at least six months’ notice before increasing rents, with the increment guided by a stipulated percentage.

The All Progressives Congress candidate, Obafemi Hamzat, who is the incumbent deputy governor, pledged to enforce existing regulations against arbitrary rent increases and the demand for multiple years’ rent in advance.

Hamzat said his administration would ensure compliance with the Lagos State Real Estate Registration Agency Law, stressing that tenants should not be required to pay two or three years’ rent upfront.

“The next chapter for Lagos is to enforce. To make sure people are not asked two or three years ahead, because people don’t get paid two or three years ahead,” he said.

He also said the state had established 24 housing estates in the last eight years, promising to expand access to quality accommodation through increased mortgage facilities and the completion of ongoing housing projects across the state.

The NDC candidate, Funsho Doherty, called for greater government involvement in providing affordable housing, arguing that private developers alone could not meet the accommodation needs of low- and middle-income residents.

He also proposed the establishment of an ombudsman’s office to address what he described as exploitation of tenants to address what he described as exploitation of tenants through excessive agency, legal and other charges.

Doherty said the housing shortage was largely driven by the failure of supply to keep pace with population growth and demand, particularly in the affordable and social housing segments.

He argued that government should take the lead in addressing the gap rather than leaving housing provision largely to private investors.

He emphasised that the last major government-led housing intervention in the state was during the administration of former Governor Lateef Jakande.

The PDP candidate, Adedeji Doherty, proposed that the Lagos State Government should become a major property developer and build houses which residents could rent directly from the government.

He argued that government regulation alone could not force private landlords to reduce rents, insisting that the state should compete with them by providing more affordable accommodation.

“There is no landlord, and there is no government that can control a landlord. What we are going to do is very simple.“We are going to rent those houses ourselves, and then you can come and rent from us if you want to,” he said.

Doherty maintained that government must become the biggest housing developer in the state and provide alternatives to private rental accommodation.

“If they (government) cannot compete with the landlords, then let us forget it,” he said.

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Tinubu Woos Nigerian Youths At Rivers Rally

“It is left for you to use the weapon you have. And that weapon is the PVC. If you have not collected yours, please go ahead and collect it. Please. I beg you. I take God beg you,” Tinubu said.

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• Tinubu speaking at a state reception held in his honour at the newly constructed Banquet Hall of ARISE Palm Resort in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, following the APC rally at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, on Friday, November 6, 2026.

President Bola Tinubu has called on Nigerian youths to actively participate in the 2027 general elections.

He spoke during the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential rally in Rivers on Saturday.

The President said that the outcome of the 20Ralky27 elections would have significant implications for the future of young Nigerians.

Addressing the youths at the rally, the President said they had a responsibility to shape the country’s future through active participation in the electoral process.

“To the youth of Nigeria, I’m looking at you. This election is about you. It’s not about me. Your future depends on this election,” he said.

He urged those who had registered as voters but were yet to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to visit the appropriate collection centres, describing the voter card as an important instrument for determining the country’s leadership.

The President appealed to young Nigerians not to disregard the opportunity to participate in the electoral process, saying their votes would give them a voice in deciding the direction of the country.

“It is left for you to use the weapon you have. And that weapon is the PVC. If you have not collected yours, please go ahead and collect it. Please. I beg you. I take God beg you,” Tinubu said.

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JUST IN: Court sacks Mark-led ADC, invalidates Atiku Abubakar’s nomination

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A Federal High Court in Abuja has sacked the Senator David Mark-led executives of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and voided all actions taken by them on behalf of the party, including the nomination of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections.

In a judgment delivered on Thursday by Justice Peter Lifu, the court declared the Mark-led Caretaker Committee illegal. The committee had organised the primary that produced Atiku as the party’s flag bearer.

The court upheld a suit filed by Nafiu Bala Gombe, the party’s former National Deputy Chairman (North-East). Gombe challenged the process by which the Mark-led committee assumed control of the party. He argued that following the resignation of former National Chairman Chief Ralph Nwosu, he was next in line to lead the ADC and sought the nullification of all actions taken under Mark’s leadership.

Defendants in the suit are the ADC, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Senator David Mark, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Chief Ralph Nwosu.

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