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2019 Elections: Delay In Budget And Amendment To The Electoral Act Won’t Affect Us – INEC

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The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, has said the delay in the passage of its budget and amendment to the Electoral Act won’t affect the conduct of the 2019 elections.

Mahmood assured that the Commission won’t suffer any difficulty in conducting 2019 general elections due to the delay.

News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, quoted the INEC Chairman as giving the assurance while speaking in Abuja, on Friday.

The INEC boss insisted that there was “no discrepancy between the figure of N189.2bn the commission submitted to the executive and what the National Assembly appropriated for the commission.”

Mahmood stated that the Commission had discussed with the Ministry of Finance on the disbursement of fund for the elections.

He expressed confidence that the “Commission was not going to suffer any encumbrances in that respect.”

On procurements that required long term, Yakubu said that INEC had initiated the actions, as contracts were already awarded in line with the provision of the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, as money would only be paid for work done.

He said, “We have awarded those contracts that we needed to award for procurement we needed to make before the elections.

“Basically, the sensitive materials, ballot boxes, smart card readers, the permanent voter cards, the voting cubicles and components for the enhancement of card readers.

“Our hope is that by the first week of December all these components will be delivered to the commission.

“The election is holding on Feb. 16 and March 2, so, we don’t hope to suffer any difficulties in meeting these requirements in the conduct of the elections.

“Other items of the expenditure will come close to the elections. For instance, payment of the ad hoc staff will be done February next year, not earlier.

“Engagement of transporters for electoral logistics will be done next year not this year.

“So, we should be able to meet these entire commitments base on the appropriation by the NASS and also the cash flow discussion we had with the ministry of finance.

“We don’t expect to suffer any inconvenience in that regard.
“Election is a sovereign responsibility and we must say that the government of Nigeria has responded to proper funding of the 2019 general elections.’’

On delay in the amendment of the Electoral Act, Yakubu said that the Commission would also not have “difficulties on implementation, if the amended electoral Act is signed into law.”

He said, “In our discussions with the NASS we have been preview to some of the provisions in the draft bill and we took a proactive step.

“We took some of the new provisions and assumed that eventually these provisions will be passed and assented to.

“We started looking at the possibilities of introducing regulations and guidelines, in case these provisions become laws, what can we do to implement them?

“I want to say that we have gone really far with these. If tomorrow the bill is assented to there are provisions that we immediately implement. But there are provisions that we cannot implement simply because of time.

“For instance, full blown electronic voting; it is impossible because of the time frame available to the general elections, which is 112 days to make provision for electronic voting in the 2019 general elections.

“So, we are aware of the provisions, we have worked closely with the NASS and also we made some draft regulations and guidelines.

“In case some of the provisions become laws we will have no difficulties in implementing them. So we have been proactive.’’

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BREAKING: Kano gov dumps NNPP with lawmakers, LG chairmen

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Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, has resigned from the New Nigeria People’s Party, alongside 21 members of the State House of Assembly, eight members of the House of Representatives and 44 local government chairmen in the state.

Yusuf announced his decision in a letter addressed to the Chairman of the Diso-Chiranchi Ward of the NNPP in Gwale Local Government Area, with the resignation taking effect from January 25, 2026.



Details later…

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Rivers Impeachment Suit Put On Hold As Court Adjourns Indefinitely

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An Oyigbo High Court of Rivers State in Port Harcourt has adjourned indefinitely the suit filed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, challenging the impeachment process initiated against them by the Rivers State House of Assembly.

Justice Florence Fiberesima of the Oyigbo High Court took the decision after being informed that two separate appeals had been entered in respect of the matter. The adjournment, the court held, would allow the Court of Appeal to first determine the issues before it.

At the resumed hearing, counsel to the Speaker of the House, Martin Amaewhule, and 27 lawmakers, S.I. Amen, (SAN), notified the court of the pending appeals and applied orally for a stay of proceedings.

The application was not opposed by counsel to the claimants, Paul Orikoro (SAN) nor by Lawrence Oko-Jaja (SAN), who represents Victor Oko-Jumbo, Orubienimigha Timothy, and Sokari Goodboy, the other defendants in the suit.

Justice Fiberesima consequently adjourned the matter sine die, pending the outcome of the appeals.

The development comes amid an earlier interim injunction granted by the same Court, which restrained the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, several lawmakers, the Clerk of the House, and the Chief Judge of the state from taking further steps toward the impeachment of the governor and his deputy.

The injunction barred the forwarding or consideration of impeachment notices or related documents for the purpose of constituting an investigative panel over alleged gross misconduct.

Rivers CJ Declines Assembly’s Request
Meanwhile, the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon C. Amadi, has declined a request by the Rivers State House of Assembly to constitute a seven-man investigative panel to probe allegations of gross misconduct against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Nma-Odu, citing subsisting court orders and a pending appeal.

Justice Amadi’s position was conveyed in a formal letter addressed to the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, acknowledging receipt of two separate requests from the legislature dated January 16, 2026.

The requests were made pursuant to Sections 188(4) and 188(5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), following resolutions of the House to initiate impeachment proceedings against the governor and his deputy.

But he said, “By the doctrine of ‘lis pendens’, parties and the court have to await the outcome of the appeal,” the letter read in part.

“In view of the foregoing, my hand is fettered, as there are subsisting interim orders of injunction and appeal against the said orders. I am therefore legally disabled at this point from exercising my duties under Section 188(5) of the Constitution in the instant.”

According to the Chief Judge, the Assembly’s requests were accompanied by extensive documentation, including copies of the notice of allegations of gross misconduct, the Rivers State Impeachment Panel (Conduct of Investigations) Procedure, 2025, and relevant newspaper publications.

However, Justice Amadi disclosed that his office had earlier been served with two interim injunctions issued by the Rivers State High Court sitting in Oyigbo on January 16, 2026.

The suits—OYHC/6/CS/2026 filed by the Deputy Governor and OYHC/7/CS/2026 filed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara—listed the Speaker and 32 others as defendants, with the Chief Judge named as the 32nd defendant.
The interim orders expressly restrain the Chief Judge from “receiving, forwarding, considering or howsoever acting on any request, resolution, articles of impeachment or other communication” from the House of Assembly in relation to the impeachment process for a period of seven days. Certified true copies of the court orders were attached to the correspondence.

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2027: Plot against Tinubu’s re-election will soon collapse — APC

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The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos State, has claimed that opposition coalition moves against President Bola Tinubu’s re-election will soon collapse.

Spokesman for the party, Seye Oladejo, who said this in a statement on Friday stressed that the coalition talks lacked cohesion and were undermined by competing personal ambitions.

According to Oladejo, the arrangement was unstable and driven mainly by power struggle.

“What is being marketed as a coalition is, in reality, a congregation of serial presidential aspirants, each unwilling to subordinate ego to collective purpose.

“From the outset, this assemblage has lacked ideological glue, moral cohesion, or a shared vision for Nigeria beyond a desperate fixation on power. Coalitions thrive on compromise; this one suffocates under entitlement.

“Beneath the noise and contrived optimism, however, lies a fragile contraption wobbling under the weight of personal ambitions, mutual distrust, and irreconcilable contradictions,” Oladejo said.

The APC spokesman maintained that public ultimatums and pre-conditions among opposition leaders had exposed deep divisions.

He reiterated that demands for guaranteed presidential or vice-presidential tickets had replaced consensus-building.

According to him, appeals urging supporters to stop attacking one another showed worsening internal hostility.

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