Category: Nigerian Tribune

HAVE we finally reached the point where a girl’s virginity can potentially open the door to her educational future?

Somewhere in Rivers State, a controversy involving female students, virginity and educational assistance has got people talking. Before we even get to the moral arguments, I have a few practical questions for the people behind this idea.

Please, let us reason together.

First, what happens when a girl qualifies for the scholarship but has absolutely no interest in furthering her education? Will she collect the scholarship and use it to start a provision shop? Or will the community insist that she must go to school by fire and by force because, after all, she has successfully preserved the community’s most celebrated educational qualification: her virginity?

Second, what if the girl is academically dull? I mean, she is struggling with Mathematics, English and even the spelling of scholarship, but her virginity is intact. Does she automatically qualify?

Meanwhile, another girl is brilliant, hardworking and desperately needs financial assistance, but she does not meet the virginity requirement. Is she disqualified?

Who exactly are we trying to educate here?

Now, let’s move to the more interesting part.

Suppose our lucky scholarship recipient receives her award today. She is happy, her parents are grateful, and the entire community is celebrating her as a model of chastity. Six months later, love happens. Hormones happen. Life happens.

And then, one day, she is no longer a virgin.

What happens to her scholarship?

Will the scholarship committee convene an emergency meeting? Will there be a review of her eligibility? Will someone knock on her door to announce that her educational funding has been suspended because her personal life has changed?

Imagine a girl studying for her examinations while worrying that a change in her sexual status could change her financial status too.

Would she be reading for WAEC or preparing for a virginity renewal examination?

What if she becomes pregnant?

Does the scholarship disappear immediately? Does the community withdraw its support? Is her education suddenly less important because she is now a pregnant teenager?

If the purpose of the programme is genuinely to empower girls, then surely the support should not evaporate the moment a girl fails to live up to somebody else’s expectations of her private life.

Besides, pregnancy can happen under different circumstances, including contraceptive failure and sexual violence. Should a girl who needs protection and support be punished by losing her opportunity to learn?

Let us be clear: parents, communities and religious leaders can encourage young people to make responsible sexual choices. There is nothing wrong with promoting abstinence as one option for avoiding pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

But encouraging a young person to make a choice is different from making her education conditional on that choice.

And there is another small matter we seem to be overlooking: virginity is not an academic qualification, and a physical examination cannot reliably establish whether someone has had sex.

So, what exactly are we measuring?

Her character? Her intelligence? Her readiness for university? Her financial need?

Or are we simply rewarding a particular claim about her sexual history?

Because if the goal is to reduce teenage pregnancy, let us provide proper sex education, reproductive health information, protection from abuse and support for young mothers to continue their education.

If the goal is to educate girls, let us give scholarships to girls who need them and are willing to learn.

We can promote good values without turning a girl’s body into a scholarship application form.

And perhaps the most uncomfortable question of all is this: if a girl is considered worthy of educational investment because she is a virgin today, does she become less worthy of education tomorrow because she is no longer one?

A girl’s future should be bigger than her sexual history.

Her intelligence deserves investment. Her ambitions deserve support. Her mistakes, if she makes any, should not automatically become the end of her dreams.

So, with all due respect to everybody’s cultural intentions, can we please leave a girl’s virginity out of the scholarship criteria?

Educate her because she deserves an education. Support her because her future matters. And leave her virginity alone!

Because, honestly, if virginity is now a scholarship qualification, I have one final question:

When are we opening the scholarship office for virgins who don’t want to go to school?

Let me begin with a story. Most of you know it. None of you have heard it from me. In September 2018, Femi Hamzat wanted to be governor of Lagos State. He had earned the right to want it. He had been in public service for thirteen years by then, under Asiwaju and under Fashola, and he had the record, the mind and the support to make his case. He was in the race, and he was in it to win.

Then the leaders of our party asked him to step aside or me. I have thought about that day many times in the eight years since. I have thought about what it costs a man to put down the thing he wants most, in public, at the request of people he respects, for the benefit of someone else. Many men would have done it and nursed the wound. Some would have done it and plotted. Femi Hamzat did it, shook my hand, and five weeks later agreed to run beside me. I have never forgotten that. It is why I asked for more than a goodwill message today. I did not come here to be polite. I came here to testify. Because there is something only I can tell you. Anyone can read his CV. Anyone can list his ministries. But the only person who can tell you what a man is like when the doors are closed and the cameras have gone home is the person who was in the room with him. For two thousand, seven hundred and eleven days, I have been in that room. And so has he.

When the first case of COVID-19 in Nigeria arrived in this city, and we had to shut down the largest city in Africa with no manual and no warning. He was in the room. In October 2020, in the hardest week this administration has ever known, he was in the room. When the Blue Line ran its first train, when the Red Line opened, when the first ship came into the Lekki Deep Sea Port, he was in the room. And before every one of those ribbons was cut, he was in the earlier room: the one with the drawings on the table and the contractors across it, asking the questions an engineer asks and a politician forgets. When I travelled to bring investors to Lagos, he was in the room I had left, and Lagos did not notice that I had gone. That is the highest compliment a governor can pay his deputy. I pay it gladly.

In many states in this country, a deputy governor is given an office, an official car and very little to do. He is kept in reserve, and everyone hopes he will never be needed. In his first days in office, Femi Hamzat told the staff of his office that he intended to be the best deputy governor in the history of Lagos State. I am here to report that he kept his word. And I am here to tell you this. In seven years, there has not been one day, not one, when I had to wonder whose side my deputy was on. You know how rare that is. Governors and their deputies have torn states apart in this country. Courts have been filled with their quarrels. Parties have been split in two. In Lagos, there has been one government, one direction and one voice. That did not happen by accident. It happened because of who he is. He does not perform. He prepares. That is the man.

Now let me tell you why that matters more in Lagos than anywhere else in Nigeria.Lagos runs on a system. Many people have tried to describe it. Let me describe it the simplest way I know. Think of a relay race. In a relay, the baton is never handed to a man standing still. The next runner starts running before the baton reaches him. He runs beside the first runner, inside the exchange zone, both of them at full speed, and only then is the baton placed in his hand. If the next runner is standing still, the race is lost. If the baton is dropped, the race is lost. And if the two runners have never run together, the baton is dropped. That is how Lagos has been governed for twenty-seven years.

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu ran the first leg. When he passed the baton in 2007, he passed it to Babatunde Raji Fashola,who had been running beside him as his Chief of Staff. When Fashola passed it in 2015, he passed it to Akinwunmi Ambode, who had run beside three governors as a civil servant and as the Accountant-General of this state. When the baton came to me in 2019, I had been running since 2003: a commissioner under Asiwaju, a commissioner under Fashola, the head of a quasi-government agency under Ambode. I did not come to Alausa to learn where the offices were. And Femi Hamzat? Commissioner under Asiwaju. Commissioner under Fashola. Deputy Governor beside me for seven years. No deputy governor in the history of this state has ever been handed the baton. Lagosians have never before been offered a man who ran this long, this close, beside the governor he hopes to succeed. Lagos does not hand the baton to a man standing still.

And look at what he did while he ran! In 2005, Asiwaju gave him the Ministry of Science and Technology and told him to put the government of Lagos on computers. He did. He cleaned the ghost workers off our payroll. He laid the groundwork for the registration of Lagos residents that we still use today. In 2007, the first decision Governor Fashola took about Femi Hamzat was to keep him. In 2011, Fashola gave him Works and Infrastructure, and in four years he built roads across all five divisions of this state and delivered the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge, the first bridge of its kind in Nigeria. When Fashola went to Abuja as Minister of Works, he took Hamzat with him. So, this man has built roads for Lagos and he has built roads for Nigeria, and he knows exactly where the two meet. He is an engineer with a doctorate. He grew up in a house where Lagos was being built at the dining table. His father, Oba Mufutau Olatunji Hamzat served Alhaji Lateef Jakande as Commissioner for Transportation. Jakande gave Lagos its first great plan. The son of the man who helped him carry it is standing here in this hall today. Twenty-one years. Three governors. Two ministries. The second-highest office in the state. He has been in the room for more of the planning of modern Lagos than almost anyone can imagine.

I know what the critics will say. They will say Lagos keeps choosing from the same people. I say Lagos trains its people. There is a difference. This system has produced accountants, a lawyer, a banker and now an engineer, and it made every one of them serve this state for years, in full view of the public, before it asked Lagosians to trust them with the whole of it. A city of more than twenty-three million people is not a place for a first job. Lagos does not hand the baton to a man standing still.

So here is where we are. Lagos today has its largest projects in the middle of delivery. The second phases of the Blue and Red Lines. The Fourth Mainland Bridge. The Lekki-Epe International Airport. The Omu Creek project.

The food hubs and logistics parks that will feed this city. And behind all of them, a plan written out to 2052, so that no government after mine ever has to begin from a blank page. These are not four-year projects. They are projects that cross governments, and they survive only when the baton is not dropped.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are sitting in a building that Nigeria finished in 1976 and then left to decay for decades. It stands again today only because someone finally decided to finish what had been started. Lagos cannot afford lost decades. Lagos has been spared them for twenty-seven years, and I will not be the governor on whose watch that changes. So, let me say it as plainly as I can. This is not the time to experiment with Lagos. This is the time to consolidate. And consolidation is not standing still. I have heard that word used as if it means slowing down. It does not. Continuity does not mean repeating ourselves. It means finishing what was started, fixing what is not working, and starting what comes next, in that order, with a plan. The runner who receives the baton does not run the same leg again. He runs the next one. Faster. What he presents today is not a new Lagos invented on a campaign bus. It is the next leg of a race this state has been running since 1999, written by a man who has run it himself. He has said that he will put people at the centre of every decision. That he will stand with the small businesses that employ most Lagosians. That no one who calls this state home will be left behind because of their religion, their tribe, their gender or where they came from, and that the heritage of the indigenous people of Lagos will be respected and protected. It will be in writing. It will be published. You can hold him to every line.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have seven months left in this office. A governor learns, in his last months, what he actually built. I have built rail lines and bridges, schools, hospitals and a rice mill, and I am proud of every one of them. But I want to tell you the thing I am proudest of, and it is not made of concrete. It is this. Lagos is going to change governors without a quarrel. Think about how rare that is. Across this country, successions have ended in courtrooms, in broken parties, in deputies at war with the men who chose them. In Lagos, the governor and his deputy walked into this hall together. They will walk out of it together. And in May, one of them will hand the other a state that is whole. There is no greater gift a governor can leave his people than a handover that does not break the house.

Femi, my brother and my friend. In a few months, Lagosians will hand you the heaviest baton in this country. I ask three things of you.

Keep listening. The people who elected us did not elect us to stop hearing them.

Finish the work. Every line, every bridge, every hub. Let no Lagosian ever say that what we started together was abandoned.

And when your own time comes, hand over the way you were handed over to: to someone who has run a similar race, and who understands the journey of Lagos. Keep the system that made you. It made all of us.

Princess Damilola Sonayon-James: you bring the entire Lagos-West, and especially Badagry to the top of this government for the first time.You bring the young people and the women of this state into the front row. The partnership you are about to enter is the one I have had for seven years. Protect it, and it will protect Lagos.

To our party: on the 21st of May 2026, six hundred and fifty-seven thousand, nine hundred and seventeen of you voted for this man, in every ward of this state. That was the party speaking. Now go and speak to the people – from Ikeja to Ikorodu, from Badagry to Epe, to Lagos Island where this state began. Street by street, until the last vote is counted.

To the people of Lagos: read this manifesto. Argue with it. Test it against your own street, your own market, your own child’s school. Then ask yourself one question. Who is more likely to deliver it: the man who has run beside the governor for seven years, or someone who would be touching the baton for the first time? I have done my part. I have governed with him. I have watched him. I have told you the truth about him. The rest is in your hands. Lagos does not hand the baton to a man standing still. Today, Lagos, you have seen the man who is already running. Lagos, let us move forward together.

OGUN State government has commenced the distribution of 20,000 cashew seedlings to farmers in Abeokuta North and Yewa North local government areas to boost agricultural productivity and food security, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), has said.

Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Bolu Owotomo, disclosed this at the flag-off last Friday, in Abeokuta.

Owotomo, represented by the Director of Tree Crops and Rural Development Services, Mr James Oyeshola, explained that the initiative was aimed at empowering farmers economically and increasing agricultural output.

He said the two local government areas were selected because of their comparative advantage in cashew cultivation.

The commissioner assured the government remained committed to agricultural development and strengthening the food production value chain.

He explained that the distribution also aims at helping farmers recover from crop losses caused by irregular rainfall earlier in the year.

In his goodwill message, chairman of the Nigeria Cashew Association, Ogun State chapter, Mr Ganiu Adeniji, commended the government for the initiative.

Adeniji urged the beneficiaries to plant the seedlings promptly and adopt appropriate agricultural practices to ensure good yields and early maturity.

Also, the Chief Executive Officer of FAAB Ayoka Group Limited, Mrs Fausat Ibrahim, urged the government to establish a cashew processing factory in the state.

She said local processing would create employment opportunities for youths and increase the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

Similarly, the Director of Agriculture, Abeokuta North Local Government Area, Mr Yinka Oyebade, described the initiative as a welcome development for the benefiting communities.

The former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has said his campaign in Sokoto will proceed despite alleged intimidation, declaring that the party will resist any attempt to turn Nigeria into a one-party state.

Atiku stated this on Tuesday in Abuja while addressing the press on developments ahead of the party’s campaign in Sokoto.

He said what was unfolding in Sokoto was not ordinary political competition but a calculated campaign to frustrate the ADC, obstruct its campaign and deny Nigerians the freedom to choose.

‘Public facilities that should be available to every political party for legitimate campaign activities have been blocked. Logistical support has been withheld. These are not harmless administrative delays. They are deliberate attempts to deny ADC a level playing field,’ he said.

Atiku alleged that the leadership of the Department of State Services was recruiting people to stage protests in Sokoto to create disorder and give the APC-controlled state government a pretext to impose a curfew and prevent the campaign from taking off.

‘We know where some of these protesters are assembled: an office behind Zenith Bank on Koko Road. Trucks are stationed there and dispatched to key points, including roundabout. These mobilised protesters are causing gridlock. Commuters are being threatened and, in some cases, beaten,’ he said.

He said security agencies existed to protect Nigerians and uphold the law, not to recruit protesters or help a political party manufacture a crisis.

‘This is not intelligence work. It is political interference dressed in official uniform. I call on every officer involved to stop immediately and return to constitutional duty of impartial service,’ he said.

Atiku accused the Tinubu administration of devoting too much energy to weakening credible opposition and too little to solving the problems facing Nigerians in the last three and a half years.

‘It has pursued politics of absorption and intimidation, while drawing former opposition figures into APC and narrowing space for political competition. Aim is to reduce Nigeria to one party state in all but name,’ he said.

He said the government was afraid of the people’s verdict, having unleashed a crushing cost-of-living crisis.

‘Food, transport, fuel, electricity and other essentials have become unaffordable for millions. Families are struggling to feed their children, pay school fees and keep their businesses alive. That is record this government should be defending before people, instead of trying to stop rally,’ he said.

Atiku promised to make life affordable again if elected.

‘We will support local production, strengthen food production, create jobs and reduce cost of doing business. We will pursue targeted production subsidy tied to fuel refined in Nigeria, so that support reaches consumers through measurable relief while also strengthening domestic industry,’ he said.

He said the APC had still not recovered from the abysmal failure of its last rally in Kaduna and should have taken it as a warning that Nigerians were withdrawing their confidence.

‘Instead, it has chosen intimidation and obstruction. These are last kicks of dying horse. The more this government tries to silence people, the clearer it becomes that it has already lost their confidence,’ he said.

Atiku described the 2027 general election as a defining moment in Nigeria’s democratic history.

‘This is more than contest between parties or candidates. It is choice between government that has shown indifference to people’s suffering and Nigerians who have endured enough and want their votes to count,’ he said.

He said the ADC would resist every gimmick, administrative roadblock and underhand manoeuvre designed to exclude the opposition.

‘We will not be intimidated into silence or irrelevance. Our campaign will proceed, and I will be in Sokoto tomorrow, God willing, to address good people of state,’ he said.

He urged the people of Sokoto to remain calm and peaceful and not allow anyone to provoke them. He also urged security agencies to protect commuters, residents and rally participants without favor.

‘To voters of Nigeria, remain resolute. Stand your ground. Democratic freedom is not a gift from any government. It is your right. Do not allow anyone to intimidate you,’ he said.

Atiku added that the ADC would stand with officers who refused to be used against democracy.

‘Those who choose to betray their duty and collude in suppression of political freedom will be held accountable under law. Nigeria belongs to its people, not to any party or temporary occupant of power,’ he said.

Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has inaugurated a Parliamentary Campaign Council as part of efforts to strengthen its mobilisation machinery ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The party, in a statement by the Osun APC Chairman, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, said the initiative was aimed at consolidating its electoral preparations and ensuring victory for its candidates contesting National and State Assembly seats in the forthcoming polls.

The newly constituted council, comprising selected party leaders and members across the state, is also expected to complement the activities of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) in mobilising support for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The development followed the inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council by Tinubu, the party’s presidential candidate, in Abuja on October 14, 2026, and the subsequent inauguration of the Osun State Presidential Campaign Council on October 22.

He said the establishment of the parliamentary campaign structure was considered necessary to reinforce the party’s existing campaign framework and strengthen its collective drive towards electoral victory.

Lawal explained that the council was carefully constituted to promote effective coordination among party leaders, stakeholders and members, particularly in mobilising supporters across the state.

He said the additional campaign structure would work closely with members of the State Presidential Campaign Council to advance the party’s political objectives and secure victory for Tinubu and other APC candidates.

The APC chairman expressed confidence that the initiative would enhance the party’s preparedness for the elections, stressing that the success of its candidates would depend largely on unity, cooperation and effective grassroots mobilisation.

He urged party members and stakeholders to work together towards achieving the party’s electoral aspirations, assuring that the APC remained committed to a coordinated campaign strategy ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Trade unions led by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and civil society organisations, with support from the Solidarity Centre, have called on the Federal and state governments, as well as private employers, to improve wages, expand social protection and guarantee decent working conditions for care workers.

The coalition said care workers, despite their contributions to healthcare, education, childcare and the national economy, remained undervalued, underpaid and inadequately protected by existing labour laws and social security systems.

They made the call on October 29 in Abuja at an event to commemorate the 2026 International Day of Care and Support.

Speaking on behalf of the coalition, Acting General Secretary of the NLC, Comrade Benson Upah, said care work was fundamental to economic productivity and social stability but continued to be undermined by poor wages, unsafe working environments and limited access to labour protections.

The coalition comprises the NLC and the Careworker Advocacy Network, which includes the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), the Federation of Informal Workers’ Organisations of Nigeria (FIWON) and the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM).

Other partners include Accountability Lab, International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW) and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC).

The coalition noted that care work cuts across formal and informal sectors, involving healthcare and social care workers, childcare providers, domestic workers and millions of women and family members who provide unpaid care for children, older persons and people living with chronic illnesses or disabilities.

It said many paid care workers, particularly domestic caregivers and private health aides, earned below the national minimum wage and lacked access to social security and retirement benefits.

The groups also raised concerns over the disproportionate burden of unpaid care responsibilities on Nigerian women, attributing the situation partly to inadequate public infrastructure, including limited access to clean water, electricity and affordable childcare services.

They identified long working hours, physical strain, inadequate personal protective equipment, harassment and arbitrary dismissal as some of the challenges confronting informal domestic and community care workers.

According to the coalition, many informal care workers are excluded from statutory labour protections and collective bargaining arrangements, leaving them without adequate legal protection, sick leave and maternity benefits.

To address these challenges, the coalition urged the Federal and state governments and private employers to adopt and implement the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) 5R Framework for Decent Care Work.

The framework advocates the recognition of paid and unpaid care work in national economic planning and labour statistics; reduction of unpaid care burdens through investment in social infrastructure; redistribution of care responsibilities; decent rewards for paid care workers; and representation of care workers in policy decisions.

The coalition also called for the ratification and domestication of ILO Convention 189 on domestic workers and Convention 190 on violence and harassment in the world of work.

It urged governments to invest in affordable public childcare centres, clean water, rural electrification and specialised eldercare facilities to reduce the burden on households and improve access to care services.

On workers’ welfare, the groups called for the enforcement of the national minimum wage across care services, equal pay for work of equal value, safer workplaces, and access to health insurance and pension schemes.

They also demanded that care workers in both formal and informal sectors be guaranteed the right to join trade unions, engage in collective bargaining and participate in decisions affecting labour and economic policies.

The coalition stressed the need for greater collaboration among governments, employers, households and workers to ensure that care responsibilities were shared fairly between men and women and supported through progressive maternity, paternity and parental leave policies.

It further insisted that care workers must be included in discussions on public infrastructure, social protection and labour budgets, stressing that policies affecting them should not be developed without their participation.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening collaboration to ensure peaceful, credible and violence-free general elections in Nigeria in 2027.

The commitment was made when the Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Chief Tony Ojukwu, SAN, received a delegation of UNOWAS led by its Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, Mr Leonardo Santos Simao, during a visit to Abuja.

Speaking during the meeting, Ojukwu called for increased vigilance, accountability, and strict respect for human rights throughout the electoral process, warning that unresolved electoral offences, political intimidation, and hate speech could threaten the credibility and peaceful conduct of the 2027 general elections.

He said the Commission was engaging relevant stakeholders to ensure that Nigerians could exercise their democratic rights freely without intimidation, discrimination, or violence. He added that efforts were being intensified to promote public awareness and active participation in the electoral process.

On election security, the NHRC boss said the Commission would closely monitor the activities of security agencies to ensure that their deployment at polling units was primarily aimed at protecting voters, electoral officials and other stakeholders, rather than intimidating citizens or political opponents.

Addressing concerns about freedom of expression, Ojukwu warned against the misuse of cybercrime legislation to silence legitimate public discussions and political opinions, particularly during the election period. He maintained that citizens must be able to express their views without undue restrictions or violations of their constitutional rights.

On electoral accountability, Ojukwu lamented the continued absence of a dedicated Election Offences Tribunal despite recommendations from previous electoral reform processes.

He argued that the lack of an effective mechanism for prosecuting electoral offences had allowed some perpetrators, particularly individuals acting on behalf of influential politicians, to escape justice through political interference.

He therefore advocated the establishment of an Election Offences Tribunal, describing it as an important mechanism for ensuring the effective prosecution of electoral violations and deterring political violence, intimidation and other offences.

Ojukwu also reaffirmed the NHRC’s readiness to work with UNOWAS and other international partners to strengthen preventive measures ahead of the elections.

Earlier, Simao explained that his visit to Nigeria was aimed at assessing the country’s preparedness for the 2027 general elections and identifying areas where the United Nations could provide support to sustain peace and stability before, during and after the polls.

He described elections as particularly challenging periods for countries, stressing that political competition must be conducted within the confines of the law and with due regard for human life.

He noted that West Africa was already confronted with terrorism, organized crime, and other security threats, making it necessary to prevent electoral disagreements from escalating into violence.

Simao said UNOWAS was engaging relevant institutions to understand Nigeria’s preparations, identify emerging challenges, and assess measures being implemented to guarantee a smooth electoral process.

The UN representative reaffirmed the United Nations’ commitment to supporting Nigeria in conducting peaceful and secure elections that reflect the genuine will of the people in choosing their leaders at all levels.

The APC South East Integrity Movement has called on Governor Hope Uzodimma to explain the indefinite postponement of local government elections in Imo, particularly after arrangements for the exercise had reportedly been completed.

The group also warned that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would not tolerate any form of anti-party activity by its members ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The APC group, in a statement issued in Enugu on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, and signed by Chijioke Afamefuna, expressed concern that the council elections were postponed after preparations had been concluded, raising questions about the reasons behind the decision.

It questioned why the state government would suspend the exercise at that stage without providing what it considered a satisfactory explanation, and called on the governor to clarify the circumstances surrounding the postponement.

The group urged the APC national leadership to investigate the development and ensure that the party’s interests were protected in the state.

It said the party would not condone actions by any of its members that could undermine its electoral prospects or strengthen the position of opposition parties, adding that members should remain committed to the party’s decisions and objectives.

The movement also expressed concern about the implications of the postponement for the APC’s political structures in Imo, particularly its preparations for the 2027 elections.

Citing the Supreme Court’s July 2024 judgment on local government autonomy, the group appealed to the Federal Government, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission to ensure that local government funds were administered in line with the court’s position on elected council administrations.

It argued that local government allocations should not be channelled through caretaker arrangements and urged the relevant authorities to ensure that elected council officials were in place.

The group also referred to the dispute over local government administration in Osun, where the handling of statutory allocations became a subject of controversy following the February 2025 council elections and subsequent legal proceedings.

It urged the APC to uphold its position on local government autonomy and apply the same principles consistently across states, irrespective of the political party in control.

Real politicians would tell you that ‘elections are not rigged on the day of voting.’ They would say that real rigging of any election begins with the voters’ registration process. It is at this stage that those who would win would win, and those destined to fail would fail. Election days are mere coronation days.

I recall an incident that occurred years back in December 1987 during the zero-party local government election introduced by the regime of Military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.

In the voters’ register of one of the polling units in a neighbouring community where I served as the Presiding Officer (PO), we saw names like Akikaragba Joseph, Esiso Jumoke and Usemole Gbenga.

The first name, Akikaragba, in Ekiti dialect, means broken calabash; Esiso means palm fruit’s sharp spine and Usemole is the name of a popular festival in the locality! Our would-be ‘voters’ registered with those names, collected their voter cards and the unit had about 500 registered voters in all! We laughed at the names. I asked my Assistant Polling Officer (APO) to look out for the names and their bearers. We waited for the prospective voters to show up and vote, they never did!

That was a period when voters’ registration was done manually and no photograph was attached to the voters’ card issued. The advent of technology ought to have eliminated such demons in our electoral system. One would have thought that in this 21st century, Nigeria would have moved beyond the level of having ghosts as voters. But, we now know that Nigeria is a country of ghosts, and ghosts are immortal, they don’t die.

Nigeria is ranked the 36th most corrupt country in the world! The ranking by the Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index shows that ‘Nigeria ranks 142nd out of 182 countries with a score of 26 out of 100.’ The index is for the year 2025 as released early this year. For the year 2024, Nigeria ranked 140th out of 182 countries. The 2025 figure indicates that the country has gone down by two points!

Nothing worries us again here. Nigerians would only be scared if the result had shown a strand of improvement. Corruption in Nigeria permeates every segment of the society; governments, private sector, corporate institutions and individuals. We all have our share of the blame. This is why corrupt practices have become the new normal for us. A few who try to do things differently are viewed as weird! Na only him wan make Nigeria better, is a common saying among the people!

And we spare no institution. Nothing is too sacred for Nigerians to corrupt; we compromise just any system! The latest victim of the malady is the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The electoral umpire, in the last one week, has been in the news for the wrong reasons. The voters’ register compiled and released by the Commission came up with Artificial Intelligence-generated photos and names of non-existent people. Ghosts are potential voters come 2027!

INEC has admitted the error. The Commission’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Lawrence Bayode, stated that INEC’s Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) flagged 268 records for review. He blamed the irregularities on registration officers, whom he claimed used their login details to introduce questionable records into the database. ‘What we are currently doing now is looking at all these 268 records that ABIS already flagged as AI-generated or even something of irregularities’, he said.

This was just as Professor Joash Àmúpìtàn, the Chairman of INEC, assured that the Commission would investigate the matter and ‘take corrective action based on verified findings.’ This is the only beautiful thing about the saga; the admittance of error by INEC. However, the admittance does not vitiate the danger the discovery poses to the credibility of the January 2027 general election. It does not also erase the people’s fears that the electoral system has been compromised. Rather, it heightens the fear among the people that the 2027 election would go the way of others before it!

During the 2023 general election, we observed so many anomalies on the INEC Election Result Viewing Portal (INEC-IReV), where the results of the elections were viewed. While the Presidential and the National Assembly election took place simultaneously, the portal could only display the results for the senatorial and the House of Representatives elections. The result for the presidential election remained completely grayed out.

In some states, on the portal, what one found were photographs of people in bathrooms, in restaurants and other funny items. Later, INEC declared the incumbent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner of the election! That was Nigeria’s eighth wonder of the world; the INEC system that could display the results for the other two elections failed to display that of the presidential election which was held on the same day, time and places as the other two!

This is why the latest discovery of AI-generated voters’ photos on the INEC voters’ register should arouse more than our curiosity. Our elders say: bí ?j?´ ti má rí, àár?` la tií m?` (morning shows the day). It is not an issue that should be viewed as a mere error imported into the system by ‘registration officers, who used their login details’ as explained by Bayode. It is even more worrisome that Edo State is one of the states where the issue of fake voters’ identity is more pronounced!

Nigerians, home and in the Diaspora, will recall that since his assumption of office in November 2024, the greatest preoccupation of Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State has been the re-election of President Tinubu. No matter the seriousness of the event, Okpebholo will never allow any opportunity to slip by without reiterating his commitment to Tinubu’s second term and the assurance that Edo State will deliver 2.5 million votes to the President in the coming election.

Just last Wednesday, while speaking with pensioners in the state, Governor Okpebholo told them that he was able to pay the retired senior citizens because, when he raised their matter with the President, ‘he gave me the go-ahead. The President cares for us. That is why, whenever I am taking a decision, I consult him, and when he gives me the go-ahead, I proceed.’

The question Nigerians have been asking is: where will Governor Okpebholo get the 2.5 million votes for Tinubu? If the All Progressives Congress (APC) gets 2.5 million votes, how many votes will the other opposition parties get? And more importantly, what is the voting population of Edo State?

These questions are germane for the obvious reason that in the election that brought in Okpebholo in 2024, the total votes for him; his close rival, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP), came to 561,704, with Okpebholo scoring 291,667 votes; Ighodalo, 247,724 and Akpata scoring 22,763. If in September 2024, all the three major political parties scored a total of 561,704 votes, which magic will give APC alone 2.5 million votes in January 2027?

It will be too dangerous for us to guess that the answer lies in the fake voters’ identity scam that was just discovered in the voters’ register released by INEC! This is why the electoral umpire must do more than taking ‘corrective action based on verified findings’, but should, and must go the whole nine yards of identifying who smuggled those AI-generated voters into the register. And that should not be rocket science for the Commission.

In the first instance, INEC recruited the registration officers. The Commission took the bio data of all the ad hoc staff it used for the exercise. The umpire has the backend to check where the AI-generated voters were prevalent and those responsible for their uploading into the system. So, the Commission has all it takes to ensure that everybody involved in the scam is brought to book.

For Pete’s sake, the issue interrogates the credibility of the forthcoming poll more than anything else. This is the position the Director of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, Clement Nwankwo, raised last Thursday, and was relayed on the Arise TV News. Nwankwo’s interrogation of how the figure of 90 million registered voters jumped to 103 million is very crucial. How many of the additional 13 million names in the register are AI-generated? How many are fake, manipulated and imposed?

In the mess, Governor Okpebholo’s Udomi Primary School Polling Unit 001, Ward 2, Udomi, Esan Central Local Government Area, Edo State was named. Likewise, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole’s Etsako West Local Government Area was also tagged as where the AI-generated register was prevalent. These two areas cannot be treated as mere coincidences. How a figure of 397 voters suddenly rose to 4,783 voters in a single registration exercise should attract world attention for an election that has put Nigeria on the edge!

This is why Professor Àmúpìtàn should take a deep reflection of his name. I alluded to this in my April 7, 2026 offering on this page, when, while writing on the topic, ‘We are all Àmúpìtàn’, I submitted thus: ‘…. On this Àmúpìtàn’s shoulder lies the fate of over 200 million Nigerians. His pronouncements as the head of the nation’s electoral umpire can make or mar the nation. His decisions, actions and inactions have the capacity to break Nigeria or bind it together in unity.’

Àmúpìtàn, as a professor, is by all means a great philosopher and thinker. The 18th century English classical writer, Benjamin Jowett, while analysing Plato’s Republic, Book IX, says, choosing among a philosopher, an ambitious soldier, and a greedy businessman, who should be engaged as an umpire, Plato picks the philosopher. His argument is that ‘only the philosopher can serve as an unbiased umpire because only he possesses the reason, experience, and insight required to weigh all three pleasures objectively.’

This is the burden nature has imposed on Professor Àmúpìtàn at this critical stage of our nation. The task is herculean, no doubt. But the professor of Law must have weighed his options before accepting to serve as INEC Chairman. Let it not be said that it was during his time, ghosts voted to elect a president.

Let it not be recorded that Àmúpìtàn presided over an exercise which allowed artificial human beings to be part of our electoral system. I warned in April that ‘Nigeria is on edge.’ Nothing has changed. Rather, the tension in the land has heightened. We cannot afford to have AI-generated voters to be part of those who will decide the fate of the country in 2027.

Our electoral problem starts with the skewed Nigerian system that allows a sitting President to appoint INEC Chairman. This is what the sophist, Thrasymachus, vigorously argues in Book I of Republic, when he says: ‘justice is nothing other than the advantage of the stronger.’ Only men of honour can change the narrative. Plato devotes the remaining Books of Republic, arguing that the narrative can be changed and that ‘true justice must be an objective cosmic harmony rather than a rigged game managed by biased elites.’

This is what Professor Àmúpìtàn is called upon to do at this critical stage; get to the roots of the AI-generated voters’ register. Let the Commission pay more than due attention to states like Edo where the reality of less than 700,000 votes, two years ago, does not support the projection of 2.5 million votes in 2027. Human beings are not like a litter of pigs. This is the only way the INEC Chairman can avoid, as predicted on this page on April 7, 2026, the substitution of his name, Àmúpìtàn, ‘with a new multi-syllabic phonological realisation of À-mú-pì-tàn-bu-rú-kú (the one whose deeds will be retold in bad history).’

The irony is disturbing. A government that claims to have done so well should not be caught in the web of voters’ register manipulation! While every other political party has come out to condemn the AI-generated voters’ photos, only the ruling APC appears to be comfortable with the saga with its deafening silence.

The silence from Aso Rock Villa and the ruling APC over the matter notwithstanding, like our elders are wont to say, if the neighbourhood Ìyá Alákàrà will not allow another woman to fry, the palm oil seller should also learn not to sell palm oil to her in large quantities. This is the fair game INEC under Professor Àmúpìtàn is called to play. May the Kogi-born INEC Chairman know the true import of his name, Àmúpìtàn – the one whose deeds will be retold in history!

The kidneys may be small, but they perform some of the body’s most important functions. They filter waste and excess fluid from the blood, help regulate blood pressure, maintain the balance of minerals in the body and support the production of red blood cells.

When the kidneys are damaged or urine cannot flow properly, these functions can be affected. Some kidney conditions develop slowly over several years, while others can cause a sudden decline in kidney function. Kidney problems may also go unnoticed in their early stages because some people have few or no obvious symptoms.

In this article , Tribune Online highlights nine common kidney diseases and conditions you should know.

Kidney stones

Kidney stones are hard deposits that form when certain substances in the urine become concentrated and form crystals.Some stones are small enough to pass through the urinary tract without causing major problems. Larger stones, however, can become stuck and cause severe pain in the side, back or lower abdomen.

A person may also experience nausea, vomiting, pain while urinating or blood in the urine. Some stones pass naturally, but larger stones or those causing an obstruction may require medical treatment. Drinking adequate fluids can help reduce the risk of some types of kidney stones.

Chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease occurs when the kidneys become damaged and gradually lose their ability to function properly. The condition can develop over months or years and may eventually lead to kidney failure if it becomes severe.

Diabetes and high blood pressure are major causes of chronic kidney disease. Other causes include certain kidney disorders, inherited conditions and repeated damage to the kidneys. Because early CKD may produce no obvious symptoms, people at increased risk should have their kidney function checked regularly.

Kidney infection

A kidney infection is usually caused by bacteria that enter the urinary system and travel upwards to one or both kidneys. It can develop from a urinary tract infection that has not been treated or has spread to the upper urinary tract.

Symptoms may include fever, chills, pain in the side or back, nausea, vomiting and painful or frequent urination. Kidney infections should be treated promptly because the infection can become severe and may spread into the bloodstream.

Polycystic kidney disease

Polycystic kidney disease is an inherited disorder in which numerous fluid-filled cysts develop in the kidneys. Over time, these cysts can enlarge the kidneys and interfere with their normal function. The condition can also be associated with high blood pressure, kidney stones and other complications.

Because PKD can run in families, people with a strong family history of the condition may need medical assessment. The severity varies, but regular monitoring can help doctors manage complications and protect kidney function for as long as possible.

Acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury , or AKI, is a sudden decline in kidney function that can occur over a short period. It can happen when the kidneys do not receive enough blood, when the kidneys are directly damaged or when urine is blocked from leaving the body. Severe dehydration, serious infections, major blood loss, certain medicines and urinary obstruction are among the possible causes.

Unlike some forms of chronic kidney disease, acute kidney injury can sometimes improve considerably when the underlying problem is identified and treated quickly. A sudden reduction in urine output, swelling, weakness, confusion or nausea in someone who is acutely ill should be assessed urgently.

Glomerulonephritis

The kidneys contain millions of tiny filtering units called glomeruli. These structures help remove waste and excess fluid from the blood.

Glomerulonephritis occurs when the glomeruli become inflamed or damaged. Depending on the cause and severity, it may lead to blood or protein in the urine, swelling, high blood pressure and reduced kidney function.

Infections, autoimmune disorders and other medical conditions can trigger different forms of glomerulonephritis. Because treatment depends on the underlying cause, persistent blood or protein in the urine should be medically investigated.

Diabetic kidney disease

Diabetes can gradually damage the kidneys, particularly when blood sugar remains poorly controlled for a long period. The high blood sugar associated with diabetes can damage the tiny blood vessels and filtering structures within the kidneys. This may eventually reduce kidney function.

One early sign can be increased levels of albumin, a type of protein, in the urine.

People with diabetes should therefore have regular checks for kidney damage. Controlling blood sugar and blood pressure can help reduce the risk of kidney complications.

Hydronephrosis

Hydronephrosis occurs when urine cannot drain normally from a kidney and begins to build up, causing the kidney to swell.

It is usually a result of an obstruction somewhere in the urinary tract rather than a disease on its own. Kidney stones, an enlarged prostate, narrowing of the urinary tract and other blockages can cause the condition.

Some people may have no obvious symptoms, while others can experience pain, difficulty urinating, nausea or repeated urinary tract infections. Treatment focuses on finding and removing the obstruction so urine can flow normally and further kidney damage can be prevented.

Nephrotic syndrome

Nephrotic syndrome occurs when damage to the kidney’s filtering system causes large amounts of protein to be lost through the urine.

The loss of protein can lead to fluid accumulation in the body, causing swelling around the eyes, feet, ankles or legs. Foamy urine can also occur because of the increased amount of protein in the urine.

Nephrotic syndrome can result from several different diseases, including diabetes, certain kidney disorders, infections and autoimmune conditions. Treatment depends on the underlying cause and may include medicines and other measures to reduce protein loss, control blood pressure and manage swelling.