The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Unencumbered inauguration

    Unencumbered inauguration

    Reinventing our democratic culture is the main thing

    Lawmakers in the National Assembly (NASS) are reported to be pushing for constitutional changes by which all election petitions will be concluded before poll winners are sworn into office henceforth. The joint National Assembly Committee on Review of the 1999 Constitution seeks amendments that will shorten the timelines for exhausting election litigation, such that poll winners won’t be encumbered by legal challenges against their mandate by the time they take the inaugural oath.

    The joint committee proposes a 60-day period for disposing election petitions at the tribunal level, and another 60 days for disposing appeals arising from the judgment of the lower tribunal in all post-election matters.

    By its recommendations, the Supreme Court is to assume original jurisdiction in all petitions arising from the conduct of the presidential elections, while jurisdiction in governorship petitions resides with the Court of Appeal.

    These proposals are contained in 44 bills harmonised and agreed upon by the joint committee, and they constitute the first batch of prioritised constitution alteration bills presented at plenary sessions of the Senate and the House of Representatives for debate.

    The lawmakers propose an amendment to Section 232 of the 1999 Constitution to stipulate that “the Supreme Court shall, to the exclusion of any other court of law in Nigeria, have original jurisdiction to hear and determine any question as to whether (a) any person has been validly elected to the office of President or Vice President under this Constitution, (b) the term of office of the President or Vice President has ceased, or (c) the office of President or Vice President has become vacant.”

     The amendment to the section also provides: “In the hearing and determination of any election petition under subsection (1A), the Supreme Court shall be duly constituted if it consists of at least five justices of the Supreme Court. In every presidential election petition, the Supreme Court shall deliver its judgement in writing within 60 days of filing of the suit.”

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    An alteration is as well proposed to Section 239 to provide: “(1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Court of Appeal shall, to the exclusion of any other court of law in Nigeria, have original jurisdiction to hear and determine any question as to whether: (a) any person has been validly elected to the office of Governor or Deputy Governor under this constitution; (b) the terms of office of the governor or deputy governor has ceased; or (c) the office of governor or deputy governor has become vacant.” It also stipulates: “In every governorship election petition, the Court of Appeal shall deliver its judgement in writing within 60 days of filing the suit.”

    The joint committee also seeks amendment to Section 286, which prescribes the time for determination of pre-election matters, establishment of an election tribunal and the time for determination of election petitions. It proposes altering sub-section 6 by curtailing the timeline for disposing election petitions from 180 days currently prescribed to 60 days, to wit: “An election tribunal shall deliver its judgement in writing within 60 days from the date of filing of the petition.”

    Similarly, sub-section 7 is to be altered to read: “An appeal from the decision of an election tribunal or court in an election petition shall be heard and disposed of by the Court of Appeal within 60 days from the date of filing the appeal.”

    Pre-election matters are to also be disposed of within 60 days from the date of filing the suit, while appeals in all pre-election matters are to be disposed of within 30 days from the date of filing the appeal.

    This latest push by lawmakers recalibrates an earlier effort by which they proposed fixing election dates six months ahead of the expiration of tenures, just so to allow ample time for conclusion of all petitions arising from polls before the May 29, 2027 inauguration of new tenures.

    The legislators had proposed the change as part of draft amendments to the Electoral Act 2022 tabled at a one-day public hearing jointly organised by the Senate and House of Representatives committees on electoral matters in Abuja in October 2025.

    Under the proposed electoral act amendment bill, elections into the office of the President and state governors are to be held not later than 185 days before the expiration of the tenure of the last holder of respective offices, which would have made the polls fall in November 2026 – some six months before the end of the current administration’s tenure, as against the schedule that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has drawn up for national elections to hold in February 2027 and state elections a fortnight later.

    By the same token, the lawmakers proposed that elections for  federal and state legislative seats be held not later than 185 days before the date on which each of the houses stands dissolved.

    In justifying the proposals, the chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, Adebayo Balogun, said at the time that the amendment would help prevent a situation where court cases linger after persons declared to have won elections had assumed office. “We are proposing that all election litigations be concluded before the swearing-in of declared winners,” he explained.

    To achieve the goal, it wasn’t only the election schedule that was recommended for adjustment, but also the litigation timeframe. Balogun said NASS planned to amend Sections 285 and 139 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to shorten timelines for election petitions – that is, reducing tribunal judgments from 180 to 90 days, while appellate and Supreme Court decisions should take 60 days rather than 90 days presently stipulated. Bottom line, according to him, is ensuring that the entire judicial process does not exceed 185 days precedent to inauguration date.

    Lawmakers at the October forum, however, noted that amendment of legal frameworks alone might not suffice unless the judiciary is strengthened to handle the volume of election cases.

    Legal analysts have also warned that shortening judicial timelines must not come at the expense of justice.

    We have always argued that the idea of exhausting election cases before inauguration is welcome because elected leaders could assume office without the cloud of litigation hanging over them – a significant and practical step towards democratic maturity.

    Besides, the present setup allows office holders to exploit incumbency to their advantage; for instance, they’ve been accused of using public funds to fight private petitions.

    But the real challenge, in our view, isn’t timelines; it is rather the political culture of bad sportsmanship showing in extreme litigiousness of poll losers. In the words of a ranking lawmaker, it isn’t just about changing dates, “it is about changing the culture of our democracy from one of perpetual contestation to one of closure, confidence and credibility.”

  • Judicial integrity test

    Judicial integrity test

    •Transparency is paramount

    As reports went viral that 34 applicants had failed the judicial integrity test, the Secretary of the National Judicial Council (NJC), Ahmed Gambo Saleh, sought to dismiss the story, on the premise that the referenced test was handled solely by the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) and that NJC is yet to take any decision or action concerning the candidates mentioned. The secretary’s intervention appeared more concerned about who released the test result than about its veracity.

    The media had claimed that the NJC disclosed that 34 applicants, including a Chief Superintendent of Police, failed the integrity test conducted by the FJSC. Reports said while 62 applicants passed the computer-based test conducted for the applicants, only 28 were successful after the integrity test was conducted.

    The public was told that the integrity test was introduced by the current Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, in furtherance of her public-feedback-based integrity test for judicial appointments, allowing members of the public to submit petitions or comments on the shortlisted nominees.

    The NJC was reported to have released a statement, saying that “Sixty-two applicants passed the CBT conducted by the Federal High Court. Their names were forwarded to the FJSC. In line with the policy introduced by the CJN, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, the FJSC published the names of the 62 nominees to invite public feedback on their integrity, reputation and suitability for judicial appointment. The publication was made on September 17, 2025.”

    A statement from the NJC’s Deputy Director of Information, Kemi Ogedengbe, confirmed that the NJC would meet on January 13 and 14 to deliberate on issues arising from the selection process.

    The rebuttal by the NJC’s secretary said:  “The Council states categorically that the report is inaccurate and unauthorised, and therefore does not reflect the true position of events as they transpired at the level of the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC).” It went further: “For the avoidance of doubt, the processes referenced in the report were conducted entirely at the FJSC level, and no decision or action has yet been taken by the National Judicial Council in respect of the candidates concerned.”

    The statement further said: “The Council further clarifies that while a few candidates were indeed discontinued from the process at the FJSC level based on adverse findings arising from petitions received by the Commission, several others did not progress further simply because they failed to meet the required qualifying score to advance to the interview stage before the NJC.”

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     While we understand the need to be factual in order not to unduly smear the integrity of the applicants, the NJC must not compromise the benefits of the public feedback integrity test.

    We commend the process, which would help reduce the embarrassing incidents of corruption in the judiciary. Over the years, we have seen incidents of corruption among judicial officers, especially those exposed to adjudicating political cases.

    Many Election Petition Tribunals have been fraught with incidents of miscarriage of justice arising from corruption among the judicial officers.  It is essential to sieve the wheat from the chaff at the entry point by preventing those with a propensity for corruption from being elevated to the bench.

    The NJC must not buckle under pressure, and throw the door open for those who have proven cases of corrupt tendencies, even though we agree that “the publication of inaccurate and speculative details has the potential to mislead the public and unjustly impugn the reputation of candidates.”

    In jurisdictions where judicial officers are elected, candidates face exhaustive public scrutiny. The NJC must realise that even in an appointive system, Nigerians demand no less transparency regarding the progress of the selection process.

  • Biodun Jeyifo at 80

    Biodun Jeyifo at 80

    •Intellectual, activist, and patriot

    Fittingly, the theme of the symposium celebrating Prof. Biodun Jeyifo’s 80th birthday on January 5 captured his abiding concerns: “Pedagogy, Curriculum and Decolonisation: Then and Now.” Held at the MUSON Centre, Lagos, it was organised by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism in honour of the distinguished Nigerian academic, critic, public intellectual, cultural theorist, and specialist in world Anglophone literature and culture.

    Born in Ibadan, Jeyifo earned a first-class bachelor’s in English from the University of Ibadan in 1970, followed by a master’s from the same institution in 1973, and a doctorate from New York University in 1975.

    He also holds a DLitt (honoris causa) from Obafemi Awolowo University—formerly the University of Ife—where he taught for several years. Reflecting on that period, Jeyifo noted that it was at Ife he became “the kind of teacher and person I had always tried to become.”

    His distinguished career further includes senior professorships at Cornell University and Harvard University, where he currently serves as Professor Emeritus of African and African American Studies and of Comparative Literature.

    The range of his scholarly and professional interests demonstrates his purposeful pursuit of knowledge that can bring about social change: African and Caribbean ‘Anglophone’ literatures; theatrical theory and dramatic literature, Western and non-Western; comparative African and Afro-American critical thought; Marxist literary and cultural theory; colonial and postcolonial studies; and twentieth-century revolutionary social philosophy and literature.

    His internationally recognised scholarship and contribution to learning were strikingly captured in a description of his work by Cornell University, where he taught for almost 20 years. The citation noted: “Professor Jeyifo is a leading literary critic and cultural theorist who has attained great prominence in African intellectual circles for his analysis of modernity and its attendant social and cultural crises.”

    Importantly, he is regarded as perhaps the leading authority on the work of Wole Soyinka, Nigeria’s literary legend and 1986 Nobel Laureate. His seminal study, Wole Soyinka: Politics, Poetics, Postcolonialism (Cambridge University Press, 2004), has been described as “arguably the most sophisticated analysis of any single author in African literature.”  He won the Outstanding Academic Texts (OATS) award of the American Library Association for the book.

    Equally remarkable is his work on the illustrious Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe. Through a series of influential essays in the 1990s, he was credited with placing Achebe’s work, including Things Fall Apart, “in an ideological and theoretical perspective not previously considered by other critics.”

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    Impressively, Jeyifo has continued to demonstrate the vital meeting point between theory and praxis. Of particular note is his Marxism-inspired involvement in the formation of a commune in Southwest Nigeria in the 1970s. Furthermore, as National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) from 1980 to 1982, he emerged as a pivotal mobilising figure during an era of intensifying socio-political complications. 

    While the global influence of Marxism as a transformative ideology may have shifted, it has not weakened his commitment to social reform—especially within his home country, where he remains a vocal critic of its disturbing manifestations of underdevelopment.

    His ideologically driven, pro-people activism has never been muted. Parallel to his rich academic life, he has been a consistent columnist for the country’s major newspapers, using his platform to champion the liberation of the Talakawa. His intentional employment of this Hausa term for the poor and downtrodden offers a profound insight into his objective struggle for social justice across Nigeria’s multi-cultural landscape.

    In Jeyifo, we find the inspiring confluence of the intellectual, the activist, and the patriot. His life’s work serves as a reminder that intellectual depth must be matched by social urgency. According to him: “The demand for a better life for our people is urgent and we must not simplify what it takes. Change will come to our country, lives will be better, poverty will reduce and we will truly have a united federal nation only if we pay attention to its complexity.”

    We congratulate him as he enters his octogenarian years.

  • Ethics and integrity failure

    Ethics and integrity failure

    • A sad commentary on MDAs

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other related Offences Commission (ICPC) has lamented the fact that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) and 12 other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government failed its Ethics and Integrity Compliance assessment for 2025. The ICPC stated that of the 357 MDAs screened, “the NNPC ranks last with zero across all four key pillar indicators.”

    While the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission scored 91.83 percent, their midstream and downstream counterparts came a distant 278 on the list with a poor score of 38.25 percent. This should worry Nigerians, given the value of oil to the Nigerian economy.

    The ICPC instituted the Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard (EICS) as a diagnostic and accountability tool to strengthen transparency, ethical conduct and institutional resilience within the Nigerian public sector.

    The scorecard takes cognisance of management culture and structure, financial systems, administrative systems, and anti-corruption and transparency unit. All these add up to the critical measurements of ethics and governance within the public sector.

    The ICPC stated that “the assessment exposed widespread weaknesses in the ethical standards and institutional integrity of most government agencies.” Of all the agencies evaluated, 48 (13.95 percent) recorded substantial compliance, 132 MDAs (38.37 percent) achieved partial compliance, and 141 MDAs (40.99 percent) showed poor compliance. Twenty-three MDAs (6.69 percent) were classified as non-compliant.

    Integrity and adherence to ethical conduct are the pillars of public service, and they determine the level of trust the people have in institutions and governments.

    The global benchmarks for integrity in the public service are usually very high. This accounts for the respect or disdain institutions and individuals that drive them often attract. In many countries, heads of governments and institutions often resign or are sacked when they lower the bar or are caught acting below standards.

    The public sector is the heartbeat of governments and the drivers are expected to make sure there is no trust deficit from the citizens. We are worried that the MDAs under review are too many and too critical to the development of the country. When MDAs lack ethical conduct and integrity, there must be worries across the board: governments, institutions and citizens. It means there are barricades to systemic functionality, trust, social responsibility and cohesion, accountability and effective governance.

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    For an agency like the NNPCL that provides the greater part of the country’s GDP, it is sad that their ethical and integrity quotients are too low. This possibly accounts for the fact that even as one of the global highest oil producers, the country’s citizens are in the global poorest category in terms of income distribution and other indices of a poor nation like unemployment, poverty, illiteracy, low life expectancy, maternal and child mortality. 

    What the lack of ethical conduct and integrity in the MDAs means is that their corruption is rife, inequality gets the fuel to multiply, there is total trust deficit in government at all levels, and the people feel alienated in the country.

    We commend the ICPC for bringing their findings to the public domain. The details of their analysis show some diligence and commitment to national growth.

    The public service in most countries recruits the best of the citizens in terms of professionalism and personal integrity. Questions must be asked about how the public servants that head these institutions are hired. When people are qualified in character and learning, when they head institutions and begin to fail, the system must have a way of purging such public servants.

    The findings of the ICPC must point a very bright torch into the dark tunnel of the executive and legislative arms of governments at all levels, especially for a country running a democracy. How are public servants hired? In the past, public servants used to be some of the most respected individuals in the country. People like Chief Philip, Asiodu, the late Dora Akunyili, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, the late Lateef Jakande, Alhaji Gidado Idris, the late Maitama Sule, all have their names in the public service hall of fame.

     In recent times, looking for exceptional public servants has become a herculean task. The recruitment process seems to have undergone some political metamorphosis in ways that people with less personal integrity often get recruited and the result is what the ICPC has published.

    We are worried that both state and federal legislators seem to be failing in their oversight functions. We wonder how they can be earning salaries and allowances more than most legislators across the world but cannot as much as perform their oversight functions. The seeming rot in the MDAs is not an overnight issue. If the legislative arm had been thorough and consistent in their duties, we would not have what the ICPC has published.

    The country’s development is dependent on the value the people place on the systemic functionality of the public service. As is obvious from the report, most institutions of government are performing below par. We cannot continue to do things the same way and expect a different result.

    There must be a deliberate effort to investigate reasons for the lack of adherence to ethical behaviour and integrity in the public service. There must be a willingness to punish or reward those who have either excelled or failed in their duties in the public sector.

    The recruitment process must be more stringent and result-oriented. A situation in which poor performance is not enough reason to lose a job cannot produce the best result. Our global reputation is at stake; the ICPC report does not help our image internationally.  Public servants, through their actions, become good or bad ambassadors of the country.

     In a highly digitalised world, this ICPC report is in the public domain and investors cannot have confidence in an economy with a public service with zero in ethics and integrity. The situation demands a comprehensive cleansing. 

  • Almajiri earns degree

    Almajiri earns degree

    •Ahmad Isa’s story is also about an Edo man who rescued him

    It was news as an epiphany. When the northern youth are under scrutiny as the neglected segment of our youth population and as the flotsams that have coarsened into the bandits and murderers of our peace, Ahmad Isa breaks the mould.

    He used to be an almajiri. Today he is the proud possessor of a second-class upper degree in Criminology and Security Studies from the Federal University at Dutse, Jigawa State. Isa hails from Kano.

    “Years ago, as a Hausa/Fulani by origin, I arrived in Dutse with nothing but hope and a desire to learn the Qur’an,” Isa recalled. “To survive, I ran errands for people around my neighbourhood and worked in people’s homes rather than beg for what to eat before and after my Islamiyya school lessons,” he added.

    Isa belonged to a familiar sight in the North. Boys who bear pans and rely on the beneficence of society for the next meal. They have no jobs, and they do not have any hopes of any form of career. They beg, bowls in hand with their tongues blaring out a medicant register as chants. They move from house to house, from lowly homes to mansions and even palaces.

    They have no homes properly so called. They are brought up under the tutelage of their Islamic teachers or mallams. The mallams also have no resources and sometimes rely on these children for daily returns.

    This practice that began in the Northeast as a worthy idea to indoctrinate children, especially boys, in the ways of the holy book, has been appropriated, as humans often do to sacred things, for personal profit. The consequence is that we have had generations of wasted youth in that part of the country.

    “I was once a barefoot almajiri boy who roamed the streets of Dutse in search of Quranic education, now a proud university graduate serving my nation,” Isa said proudly.

    This young man was rescued from a potential rut of a future not by a government policy, or a social and cultural organisation, or the Jigawa State’s warmth, or a federal agency. It was the kind heart of one man. Not a wealthy man but a regular Nigerian distinguished by his humanity.

    “One day, when I was running errands, I ran into Mr. Alan Maiyaki, a civil servant, just transferred to Dutse, the Jigawa State capital, from Benin, the capital of Edo State,” the fresh graduate narrated.

    “My benefactor (Maiyaki) enrolled me into a public primary school, then secondary school, paid for me to sit for JAMB, secured my admission into the Federal University Dutse, and paid all my fees from the beginning to end – up till now that I’m a graduate.”

    This is an extraordinary act, rare in a nation being torn apart by ethno-regional prejudices. Maiyaki is a civil servant and his type is not what anyone would describe as the sort that would sponsor another man’s child through the university for at least four years. But then, he hails from Edo State, and might have thought it worthy to pay for a kindred poor from his home village in the Niger Delta.

    Rather, he saw beyond tribe and tongue. He was living in Jigawa State when he met Isa, and he did not dismiss him as a hopeless urchin of the North. He saw a human like himself. He knew as a civil servant that he was a beneficiary of education. He was paying back. He did not pay back in Edo State. He paid back in Nigeria, anywhere even if that place was Jigawa State.

    Maiyaki bucks the trend in the country where we want things for our tribes, be they appointment or facility, even though we may not even live in the place of birth. A man from Anambra State, for instance, who has thrived in Ondo all his life may want a facility or an appointment for his kinsman against the state where he has prospered, and vice versa. It is the tyranny of prejudice.

     “What makes my story even more remarkable is not just my rise from the streets to academia, but the bond that made it possible – a Hausa/Fulani almajiri boy and my Niger Delta benefactor united by compassion and patriotism,” he said for emphasis.

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    Maiyaki was not an offhand helper. He was involved in the success of his beneficiary. Hear Isa: “While at 100 level, my sponsor encouraged me to take my studies seriously as he assured me the sky would be my limit.”

    Isa as an almajiri was at the beck and call of recruiters. Many like him are bandits today because they did not have any mentor or role model or helper like Maiyaki. We might muse on what trajectory lay ahead for Isa if he did not meet his benefactor. Many of them are cut off from their parents and home, and they have become mere followers of the cruel tide of time and society.

     A few years ago, the almajiri formed a grim spectacle in the North as they were loaded onto trucks with no state willing to welcome them. They became pariahs in the land of their birth.

    “Today, I wear the khaki uniform of the National Youth Service Corps in Zaria, Kaduna State, symbolising my transformation and triumph. I had my passing out parade from NYSC on Thursday, 18th December 2025, where I was given a certificate of national service,” he says with pride. His triumph is not Maiyaki’s or Isa’s alone. It is of kind hearts everywhere in the country, triumphs not beholden to biases.

    We also note that Isa was a determined beneficiary. “Meanwhile, I learnt tailoring as a skill while schooling during my secondary school and undergraduate days—today, I’m a tailor with a shop in Hakimi Street in Dutse, with five apprentices learning under me.”

    This is the spirit of a good Nigerian. He was not just a receptacle. Isa’s story makes it clear that the so-called northern rabble can be saved. If one man can save a boy, government policy can save millions. It begins with a will. The resources are not lacking to help them.

     The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) holds meetings year after year, but it keeps up obsessions about the place of the North in the polity. It is high time it looked at the place of the poor in their midst.

  • Debt forgiveness for NNPCL

    Debt forgiveness for NNPCL

    • A strategic move towards improvement

    We are not entirely surprised at the range of opinions that have been expressed after the confirmation that President Bola Tinubu had approved the write-off of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPCL) dollar-denominated debts totalling $1.42bn, alongside local currency liabilities amounting to N5.57tn owed the Federation Account.

    The move, contained in a document prepared by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and presented at the November meeting of the Federation Account Allocation Committee, was said to be subsequent to a review of records by the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) and the NNPCL.

    The debts are said to relate to production sharing contracts under which NNPCL acts as concessionaire on behalf of the federation, domestic crude supply obligations, repayment agreements, modified carry arrangements, and unpaid royalties.

    Interestingly, while Nigerians are at it, questioning the approval, particularly the powers of the president to write-off the debt, the energy intelligence firm, Argus, has since provided a context that is as compelling as it is difficult to ignore: the need to preserve the treasure pot – a necessary measure to prepare the state-owned energy firm for the long-advertised initial public offering in 2028.

    The firm– referencing industry sources – says the clean-up of the corporation’s balance sheet, which the president’s broad stroke represented, was a necessary exercise to position the company for a public listing, as the country pursues reforms aimed at attracting foreign investment and boosting transparency in the oil and gas sector.

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    Of course, that the NNPCL had earlier indicated its intention to list part of the company on the stock market following its commercialisation under the Petroleum Industry Act is an open secret. The company had early last year notified Nigerians that the process of hiring IPO advisers, an issuing house, and investor relations consultants had begun, with Lagos, London, and New York being named as potential listing venues – with 20 percent of NNPCL’s equity proposed for grabs.

    Clearly, if we understand the choice facing the country in the circumstances, it comes to whether those debts should be allowed to stall the process and, indeed, the on-going reforms to reposition the sector, or, as the president has done in the case, to proceed by removing institutional obstacles that might impede the successful listing, as potential investors would require clarity on the company’s financial position.

    Given the unenviable position that the country has found itself on the NNPCL debt matter, we are persuaded that the president was right that things proceed as planned. As far as we can see, the alternative, in which the NNPCL would continue in its footloose accounting practices to the detriment of the economy, is unfathomable.

    To the extent that there have been no suggestions that the president acted arbitrarily, given that a body composed of the stakeholders – the Stakeholder Alignment Committee on the Reconciliation of Indebtedness between NNPC Ltd and the Federation – actually prepared the recommendation to the president for approval, we actually consider the hair-splitting over pure legalese a most unhelpful distraction at this time.

    Or are the critics saying that the president should simply do nothing? Short of an invitation to stasis, does anyone actually believe that the NNPCL could successfully transition into the envisaged global commercial player without the burden of those legacy debts being laid to rest, particularly now with NNPCL only beginning to crawl out of its ignoble past? Would some Nigerians rather prefer that things drag on interminably because the parties couldn’t agree on the way forward?

     Rather than vilify the president, he should rather be commended for taking the very difficult step to get things moving.

  • Reduced debts

    Reduced debts

    • Positive outcome of increased allocations from Federation Account

    Reports that states and local government councils reduced their bank indebtedness by about N547.52 billion in one year between 2024 and 2025 are another indication of the economy‘s continued cautious recovery following the painful reforms undertaken by the President Bola Tinubu administration.

    One of the positive outcomes of the reforms, particularly the removal of fuel subsidy, had been a marked increase in revenue accruals to the Federation Account, which is distributed as constitutionally stipulated to the three tiers of government, although inflationary spirals have had negative effects on cost of living.

    Also, the merger of the parallel exchange rate markets resulted in substantial devaluation of the Naira, with the attendant weakening of its purchasing power. Even then, the magnitude of the increased inflows into their coffers affords the states and local councils opportunities to more effectively meet their obligations to citizens.

    An extensive report in The Punch indicates that, following the surge of inflows into the Federation Account, the sub-national units “collectively cut their indebtedness to commercial and merchant banks by 20.4 per cent year-on-year.” According to the report, banks’ exposure to the states and councils dropped from N2.73 trillion in January 2024 to N2.44 trillion in January 2025, showing a reduction in debt repayment of about N292 billion.

    And from bank debt levels of between N2.44 and N2.45 trillion in April and May 2025, the amount owed had dropped to N2.13 trillion in June 2025, which is a reduction of about N313 billion in the indebtedness of the two levels of government. This, the report states, signalled “an aggressive push to unwind bank obligations at the end of the second quarter amid high interest rates and rising FAAC allocations.”

    The report states further that “State governments’ FAAC share rose from N5.19 trillion in 2024 to N7.31 trillion in 2025, an increase of N2.13 trillion, equivalent to a 41 per cent rise year-on-year. Local government councils followed the same pattern, with allocations rising from N3.77 trillion in 2024 to N5.35 trillion in 2025 – a jump of N1.58 trillion or 41.8 per cent.

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    However, this sharp leap in federal allocation to states masks the continuing problem of insufficient financial viability of most sub-national governments, which continue to be over-reliant on allocations from the centre. Thus, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) noted in a report that states ranked in the lower half of FAAC allocations continue to bear high burdens of debt deductions.

    It has thus become imperative for states and local councils to devise more effective and efficient mechanisms of generating autonomous internal revenue.

    We agree with the Director -General of Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO), Patience Oniha, that state governments should prioritise tax revenue generation and the adoption of Public-Private-Partnerships for infrastructure development over borrowing to fund projects.

    “Borrowing should not be the major way to source funds.  You must increase your revenues by increasing your tax revenues,” she remarked during a one-day workshop in Lagos, organised under the States Action on Business Enabling Reforms Programme with World Bank support.

    She also said: “Public-private partnerships can help improve Nigeria’s economy by attracting private sector investment and expertise to develop infrastructure and deliver public services. This reduces the financial burden on the government, accelerates project delivery, and often results in higher quality outcomes. PPPs can also create jobs, stimulate local businesses, and foster innovation.”

    However, it is doubtful if more people and corporate bodies can be motivated to voluntarily pay taxes without a significantly higher degree of transparency, efficiency, probity and discipline in the utilisation of public resources by all levels of government as well as concrete evidence of the positive impact of governance on citizens’ well-being.

  • Freedom for farmer

    Freedom for farmer

    •Governor Fintiri’s pardon saves inmate from execution

    Sunday Jackson, an Adamawa State farmer sentenced to death for killing a herder who attacked him on his farm, has been saved from a date with the hangman. Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, as part of the state’s Christmas and New Year clemency exercise, granted him a state pardon after Jackson spent 10 years incarcerated, including five years on death row.

    Fintiri’s act of clemency was announced in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Humwashi Wonosikou. The announcement sparked spontaneous jubilation across Yola, the Adamawa State capital, as residents trooped out to celebrate what they perceived as justice done.

    The governor said his decision followed recommendations by the Adamawa clemency panel, based on assessments of inmates’ conduct while in custody. “In the exercise of my prerogative of mercy as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and in line with the recommendations of the Adamawa State Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy, I have granted pardon to three persons and directed the remission of the remainder of the sentences of five others,” Fintiri explained, saying the beneficiaries had showed good behaviour in incarceration.

    The governor also granted state pardon to Joseph Eugene, serving his term at the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Yola, and Maxwell Ibrahim, serving his sentence at the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kaduna. Five inmates whose remaining terms were remitted are Joshua James, Adamu Ibrahim, Mohammed Abubakar, Ibrahim Usman and Saidu Abubakar, serving sentences at the Medium Security Custodial Centres in Numan and Jada.

    Jackson, a local farmer in Kodomti village, Demsa council area of Adamawa State, was convicted of killing a Fulani herdsman who invaded his farm to graze cattle. The incident occurred in January 2015 while cultivating his farm, as the herder allegedly attacked him for objecting to cattle being grazed on the farm. Jackson managed to overpower the herder during a struggle in which he sustained severe injuries, but which also resulted in the herder’s death.

    The Adamawa farmer was charged under Section 221(a) of the Penal Code Laws of Adamawa State 1997 for the death of a herdsman. According to court documents, he testified that the deceased had approached him on his farm, questioned him about the whereabouts of some passersby, and then began to graze his cattle on Jackson’s farmland. When confronted, the herder allegedly drew a knife and attacked Jackson, stabbing him at the back of the head and in the leg as he tried to flee.

    The accused recounted that fearing for his life, he managed to disarm the herder and, in the process, stabbed him. During cross-examination, Jackson said he never thought his actions would result in the herder’s death.

    In its case, however, the prosecution presented Jackson’s confessional statement to the police by which he admitted to stabbing the herdsman.

    In its verdict in 2021, the Adamawa High Court found him guilty and sentenced him to death by hanging for the killing, saying he had the opportunity to escape rather than kill the assailant.

    Dissatisfied with the verdict, Jackson approached the Court of Appeal to overturn the trial court’s decision. But the appellate court affirmed the conviction and sentence.

    Early in 2025, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction and sentence in a majority verdict, thereby exhausting Jackson’s hope for a reprieve through the courts. A dissenting opinion among the justices canvassed clemency for him, though.

    Following his conviction, Jackson was moved from Adamawa to Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre in Abuja, where he spent years on death row. Several interest groups, however, argued that self-defence was obviously the motive on which he acted and called for a review of the case – citing moral, legal and humanitarian deficits of executing a man who acted to save himself from attack. Such interests – among them civil society and human rights groups, faith-based organisations and members of the public – clamoured for clemency for Jackson, which they equated to true justice.

    The case has, thus, been trailed by years of sustained advocacy. On the other hand, Fulani groups hailed the Supreme Court verdict, which they construed as affirming their right to freely graze cattle, and a legal response to seeming targeted attacks against their members.

    The case also attracted international attention. In November 2025, a member of the United States Congress, Riley Moore, called on the Nigerian government to pardon Jackson, describing his offence as a patent act of self-defence. Moore argued that Jackson acted to protect his life during the encounter, and he questioned the fairness of imposing the death penalty under such circumstances.

    Jackson’s case also came up in the US legislature during a debate on President Donald Trump’s designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern over alleged Christian genocide.

    The most prominent responses to the state pardon came from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), as well as US Congressman Riley Moore. CAN, in a statement by its chairperson, Yakubu Pam, lauded Governor Fintiri for a “courageous and compassionate decision” that the association said had brought “immense relief, hope, and reassurance to citizens across the region and beyond.” The statement added that the pardon “affirms the belief that justice, when guided by wisdom and mercy, can still prevail within our legal and political systems.”

    Moore, for his part, described Jackson’s pardon as a “positive development” in Nigeria-United States relations. “After more than a decade in prison serving a death sentence for defending himself, Sunday Jackson has now been pardoned,” he noted, urging that the clemency beneficiary be protected during and after his release. Moore also noted that the case had become symbolic of broader security and justice concerns affecting rural communities in Nigeria.

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    The Jackson affair is symptomatic of the national menace that informed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s establishment of a presidential livestock reforms panel co-chaired by former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Professor Attahiru Jega. The panel was raised in July 2024 to address challenges in the livestock sector, including farmer-herder conflicts, and to unlock the sector’s economic potential estimated to exceed N1.7trn in value chain.

    Key recommendations by the panel included a 10-year transformation process through which Nigerians and the government can harness gains in the sector. The committee also proposed that livestock grazing and ranching be operated side-by-side as the country pursues a long-term objective of having an intensive livestock sector.  Besides, it recommended operational guidelines for the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development that the Tinubu administration newly created.

    The Jackson reprieve should serve as a stark reminder that Nigeria’s livestock-keeping culture is work in progress, and efforts must be intensified to evolve a practice that will foster long-term harmony between farmers and herders.

    The Jackson pardon, in our view, is also an appropriate juncture for national reflection on the stipulation of the death penalty in our statute books. Nigeria is reported to currently have more than 3,500 persons on death row. However, the last known implementation of capital punishment occurred in 2016 in Edo State, meaning the country has maintained a de facto moratorium on capital punishment while the penalty remains legal and the courts continue to issue death sentences, with no actual executions taking place. There’s a sense in which keeping people interminably on death row is itself avoidable injustice.

  • Extremely exorbitant

    Extremely exorbitant

    • Maryam Abacha University’s exploitative convocation fee

    The management of Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria (MAAUN) in Kano State had stirred a hornet’s nest with their “intent to Graduate and Clearance Process” letter to graduating students of the university recently. The letter had directed each graduating student to pay the sum of N750,000 as “requirement to obtain a result, proceed to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and graduation ceremony.” The memo was reportedly signed by the university’s Vice President, Campus Life, Dr Hassan Garba.

    “Failure to meet the deadline may result in delay in processing your results, delay in submission of your name to NYSC for mobilisation and potential delay in your graduation process,” the letter stated.  It is, however, curious that the management reportedly denied having sent out such a letter, following the outcry it had generated from parents and students. 

    If the management denied the letter, what did the Kano State High Court base its Order of Restraint on? Justice Sanusi Ado Ma’aji granted the Order following the ex-parte application filed by counsel to the concerned parents, Sagir Sulaiman Gezawa. The court, in addition, ordered the university to immediately issue the students’ statement of results and mobilise them for the NYSC.

     The case was adjourned to January 13, 2026. We await the judicial outcome, given the argument of the counsel to the students that they would revisit the admission letters to ascertain whether there are financial obligations yet to be met by the students.  The reported denial of the university management regarding the source of the letter is of further public interest.

    While the legal battle rages, we must point out that universities must operate based on not just a level of systemic order and adherence to certain unwritten ethics; they must realise that students under their care are expected to be groomed citizens greatly impacted by the proverbial ‘four walls.’

     The idea of reportedly coming up with some exorbitant fees as pre-requisite for the issuance of statements of result, certificates and mobilisation for NYSC is akin to arm-twisting students at the last minute. Holding students to ransom at the last minute is unacceptable.  It is as demoralising for students as it is bad PR for the institution that ought to operate from a pedestal of trust.

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    If it is proved that the said fee was not included in the admission letters of the students as expected graduation payments, then the university must be sanctioned by the relevant government agency, possibly the ministry of education.

    The university’s reported defence was that they are a private university and can issue any order at any time because even individuals are not directed on how to run their private homes or businesses. If this is factual, then the relevant agencies must not sweep the issue under the carpet. Public or private schools operate under certain laws and guidelines, and we assume the institution is legally registered and must play by the rules.

    Generally, there are basic rules of engagement between students and institutions. The students must attend classes, complete the needed academic work, pay the required fees (tuition and other declared fees) and be of good character to earn their certificates. This is precisely why most certificates indicate that the holders had been considered “Worthy in Character and Learning” to be awarded degrees.

    It is a well-known fact that graduating students pay some money for graduation gowns but hiking the amount to hundreds of thousands and basing the legal obligations of the school to qualified students like statements of results, certificates and mobilisation for NYSC on the payment of what many see as extremely exorbitant do not impart integrity to the students.

    The report that the school rebuffed some form of arbitration to resolve the issue shows institutional arrogance that must be discouraged by the system. The founder of the institution, Prof. Adamu Abubakar Gwarzo, was reported to have ignored both the parents and the state government. Leadership demands greater sensitivity and empathy. Even the intervention of the Emir of Kano didn’t yield results.

    We, however, commend the attitude of the parents and students who sought civilized ways to resolve the issue. Seeking judicial intervention was the right thing to do.

    The MAAUN is not alone in breaching certain rules of engagement in the education sector. The ministry of education and other supervisory bodies like the legislative houses at both state and federal levels must begin to take their duties and obligations to the citizens more seriously. Many institutions take liberties that hurt the system and the people, and impede development.

     We expect the university to make amends for the distress it has caused all involved. That is the justice needed.

  • Arthur Mbanefo (1930 – 2025)

    Arthur Mbanefo (1930 – 2025)

    • Accountant, diplomat, statesman

    In an interview, Chief Arthur Mbanefo noted that his major hobbies while growing up “were international affairs, lives of great men and African artifacts.” Having achieved that very greatness himself, his passing in December 2025 at the age of 95 drew significant tributes from national and international figures acknowledging his “remarkable service to Nigeria and the global community.”

     A posthumous presidential tribute described him as an “accounting icon, thought leader and administrator.” President Bola Tinubu, in a statement, added that he was “one of the finest stocks of Nigeria’s elder statesmen, set apart by integrity, hard work, and patriotism.”

    Notably, his role as chairman of the Committee on State Creation, under the Gen. Sani Abacha military regime, led to the creation of six new states in the country, in 1996: Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Gombe, Nasarawa and Zamfara. It was described as a challenging and complex assignment.    The Mbanefo Committee had received 72 requests for new states; it recommended one from each of the six geopolitical zones. 

    Following the country’s return to civilian rule in 1999, he served as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations until 2004, a critical period for re-establishing the country’s diplomatic standing. His appointment to this position spoke volumes about his stature.

    In the education sector, he served as pro-chancellor and chairman of the Council of University of Lagos (1984-86), Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife (1986-1990) and Ahmadu Bello University (1990-93). Also, he established the Arthur Mbanefo Digital Resource Centre at the University of Lagos – a philanthropic gesture that underscored his lifelong commitment to education and technological advancement in Nigeria.

    After qualifying as a chartered accountant in the United Kingdom in the mid-1950s, he returned to post-independence Nigeria and joined the firm of Akintola Williams and Co as a partner. He became a senior partner before resigning from the firm in 1986 to establish his own consulting firm, Arthur Mbanefo and Associates. 

    A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, he was President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and was instrumental in establishing accounting standards across Africa. As a titan of the private sector, he was credited with pioneering innovations in the country’s accountancy, tax, and audit systems that remain foundational today.

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    He was a boardroom giant and promoter of good corporate governance. He served on the boards of directors of several blue-chip companies, including the UAC of Nigeria Ltd., Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, Reckitt and Coleman, Standard Flour Mills Ltd and Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Ltd.

    His reputation for unwavering integrity earned him a seat on the Justice Irikefe Panel—the 1980 Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the NNPC’s crude oil sales, famously known as the ‘N2.8 billion Loss Inquiry.’

    Mbanefo’s acknowledged patriotism was remarkable, considering his pivotal role in the short-lived Biafra Republic under Gen. Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. He was involved in the procurement of arms and fundraising in Europe and other parts of the world for the secessionists during the Nigerian Civil War. His eventual transition to a leading diplomat for a united Nigeria was a great leap. 

    He said in an interview that gave an insight into his philosophy: “And the spirit of contentment that I have – contented with what I have – is one of the greatest gifts that God has given to me…  and then what is most important for me is the appreciation of others developing… We must know when to move on and give a chance to others.”

    His life of service attracted two Nigerian national honours: Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) and Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON). He also received high-level state honours from foreign governments, including Italy and Brazil, which acknowledged his role as a “bridge builder” between nations.