The state government has accused some unscrupulous enemies of plotting to hide under a political protest to cause problem in the state.
In a statement released by the Governor Alex Otti-led government, some political actors from the state are planning to stage a protest tagged: Tinubu Dey Work, Otti dey Chop” aimed at destabilising the state, saying the government is closely monitoring their plan with the aim of dealing with alleged trouble makers.
According to the statement signed by the governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, on Friday, the state issued a stern warning to resident not to take party in the protest, which it said is likely to cause a clash with security agencies, saying anyone caught will be held accountable, and the full weight of the law brought down on them.
Ekeoma stressed that the promoters of the protest are trying to hide under a false narrative that the projects being executed by the governor have been refunded by the federal government, saying there’s no truth in such, adding that nothing of such has happened lately.
Ekeoma: “The alleged plot is designed to trigger confrontation between the protesters and security operatives, particularly the State Task Force in Aba, which could escalate into violence, loss of lives, and a breakdown of law and order.
“The government warns that such actions may be part of efforts to create instability in the state ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“While we reaffirm our commitment to democratic principles and tolerance of opposition, we will take decisive action against any individual or group found attempting to endanger public safety under the guise of political expression”
The magazine recalls that a former governor of the state, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu had alleged that Governor Otti has failed to perform despite the huge federal allegation to the state since he came into office.
A United States of America, USA, advisory and lobbying firm – Von-Batten-Montague – has raised serious concern over the timing and motives behind the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to withdraw recognition from the Senator David Mark-led national leadership of the opposition African Democratic Congress, ADC.
The Washington DC-based Republican Party-affiliated firm said it is preparing to present a formal report of the curious development both to President Donald Trump’s administration and the USA Congress.
The lobbying firm’s position is coming against the backdrop of INEC’s announcement on Wednesday April 1,2026 of its decision to delist the Mark-led National Executive Committee NEC from its portal on the strength of a subsisting Court of Appeal judgment directing parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum in relation to the ongoing leadership tussle in the ADC .
A statement from the INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, informed that the decision to withdraw recognition from the two groups-Mark-led NEC and Bala Nafiu Gombe group was to maintain its neutrality and avoid pre-emptying ongoing legal proceedings on the matter.
However, not a few, including the ADC, and several opposition parties are of the view that the electoral umpire is playing a script from the ruling All Progressive Congress,and President Bola Tinubu to shut out dissenting voices from the 2027 polls.
In a statement posted on its official site, Von-Batten-Montague, while expressing deep concern over INEC’s decision , called on President Tinubu to ensure the enthronement of free, fair and credible democratic processes in Africa’s largest democracy .
According to the US lobbying firm, there is the urgent need to ensure that the conduct and outcome of the 2027 general elections are beyond reproach, free from doubt, as well as fully reflective of the will of the majority of Nigerians.
“The Nigerian Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has withdrawn recognition of the leadership of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, and suspended all official engagement with the party pending ongoing litigation.
“This action has effectively frozen Nigeria’s main opposition political party at a critical moment as it prepares to compete in the upcoming Nigerian presidential election, raising serious concern about the opposition’s ability to organize and participate fully in the process.
“At a time when Nigerians expect free, fair and credible elections, any development that disrupts political participation creates institutional uncertainty or undermines the perceived index of electoral bodies must be addressed with urgency and transparency.
“Nigeria is not only Africa’s largest democracy, but also a critical strategic partner of the United States in regional security, economic stability and counterterrorism .
“The integrity of Nigeria’s electoral process is, therefore, of direct importance to US interests and global stability.
“Accordingly, the firm will be presenting its concerns to members of the United States Congress and the @realDonalTrump”, Von-Batten-Montague stated.
Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has urged members of opposition Party, the African Democratic Congress, ADC, to thank electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for its decision to derecognise factions of the party’s leadership.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria took to his X handle on Friday to say:
“INEC’s action affecting the leadership linked to Senator David Mark is a legal issue
“The David Mark’s faction of the ADC really think they can use emotional reasoning and blackmail to bluff their way out of a purely legal conundrum they brought upon themselves. Unfortunately for them, law does not admit of sentiment. Decisions are based on facts, evidence, and the interpretation of laws, rather than on sympathy, emotion or political considerations,” he said.
Keyamo dismissed arguments about maintaining the status quo, insisting that the real issue is a pending legal challenge over the party’s leadership.
“All those who are arguing about ‘status quo ante bellum’ are dispensing their time and energy chasing shadows and not the substance. This is because whether INEC recognises either faction for now is irrelevant: what is relevant is that there is a challenge regarding the take-over of the Party pending in court by a duly elected Deputy National Chairman,” he stated.
He warned that the unresolved dispute could have serious implications for the party’s participation in future elections.
“As long as that case remains in court, all the actions of either faction may end up being nugatory after the deadline for nominations of candidates by INEC. The implication is that the ADC may end up having no candidate for the election,” Keyamo added.
The Minister said INEC’s decision should be seen as a warning rather than an attack on the party.
“Therefore, instead of vilifying INEC, the ADC should rather thank INEC for this timely action of de-recognising both factions before the close of the window for nominating candidates. It has duly forewarned the party of the danger ahead,” he said.
He advised the party to either resolve its internal crisis, seek an accelerated court hearing, or explore alternative political options.
“It has opened a window for them to either find a new, risk-free platform or ask for accelerated hearing of the case in court, or politically settle the leadership question in the party quickly,” he added.
He, however, rejected claims that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) or INEC was responsible for the crisis.
“To keep blaming imaginary opponents or INEC is purely mischievous: neither APC nor INEC prodded these grown adults and supposedly ‘experienced’ politicians to go and hijack an existing platform without sound legal advice,” he said.
He added that ADC’s plan to proceed with its Congresses despite INEC’s stance is their business, stressing that, “They say they will proceed with their congresses and convention despite INEC’s decision and the ruling of the Court of Appeal. That is fine by us. Never interrupt your opponent when he is making a mistake.”
National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ajibola Basiru, has taken a swipe at the leadership of the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) for blaming their word on the party and President Bola Tinubu.
Basiru pointed out that “It would be disingenuous to blame President Bola Tinubu and the ruling party for the consequences of their own disregard for the rule of law.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Friday, the APC Scribe stated that “We hope that they will not come to tell Nigerians that it is the APC or President Bola Tinubu that is weakening democracy when they meet the consequences of their planned illegality!
“The ADC must also come to terms with a hard truth: blaming other parties will not fix their internal crises. No amount of external finger-pointing can erase their consistent failures or resolve their lingering leadership issues.
“It is wishful thinking to assume that other political parties will step in to rescue them from problems they have repeatedly failed to manage.
“When All Progressives Congress lost all the seats it had won in Zamfara State due to its own unresolved internal crisis, and Peoples Democratic Party became the beneficiary, everyone agreed it was the rule of law taking its course.
“No outrage, no conspiracy theories, just the consequences of failing to put your house in order.
On ADC claim that President Tinubu is weakening opposition to force a one party state ahead of the 2027 election
Basiru stated that “As at today, there are 19 registered political parties in Nigeria with potential to compete in the 2027 election and President Tinubu has no power to deregister any political party.
“Nigerians must know that the present predicament of David Mark and his ilk has to do with the untidy way they hijacked the leadership of an existing political party without carrying along all stakeholders.
“This resulted in court litigation before the Federal Hight Court and the adverse judgment of the Court of Appeal upon which the INEC predicated it decision not to recognise any of the two contending parties for the leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) pending the determination of the pending suit by the court.
“The David Mark factional ADC leadership appear to be indulging in self-delusion by positioning themselves as the leading opposition, when their recent electoral outings clearly suggest otherwise.
“You cannot lay claim to national relevance while your performance at the polls remains abysmal and unconvincing.
“Since the inception of their so- called coalition, they have been roundly rejected at the polls by Nigerians, including during the recently held Local Government Area Council election held in the Federal Capital Territory.
“Leadership of the opposition is not declared through press conferences or rhetoric; it is earned through consistent electoral credibility and public trust, both of which they have struggled to demonstrate.
“Therefore, President Bola Tinubu and indeed the All Progressives Congress cannot be bothered about the contraption of electoral unviability being bandied as a ‘coalition’.”
Femi Fani-Kayode has criticised Presidential Candidate of Labour Party, (LP), Peter Obi over his comments on the pro democracy group, National Democratic Coalition, (NADECO), a group that played a major role in fighting against military rule in Nigeria.
In a post on X, Fani-Kayode argued that NADECO members risked their lives during the 1990s to defend democracy after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election, believed to have been won by late business mogul, MKO Abiola.
According to him, many activists were jailed, forced into exile, or killed during the regimes of leaders like Sani Abacha.
He accused Obi of disrespecting these sacrifices and questioned his role during that period, suggesting he did not stand against military rule.
“I recall that he worked assidiously for General Abacha whilst our NADECO leaders and footsoldiers resisted him and were being locked up, driven into exile, subjected to the most brutal form of oppression, persecution and torture, blown to pieces with bombs and slaughtered by soldiers in the streets.
“Worse still the unrecognised and defunct Association of Destructive C*nts (ADC) of which he is a leader has a National Chairman by the name of Brigadier General David Mark (rtd) who, in 1993, said that if the winner of the June 12th 1993 election, Chief MKO Abiola, was sworn in as President he would shoot him in the head!
“It is because of people like Peter, David Mark and Abacha that the military Head of State at the time, General Ibrahim Babangida, was compelled to annul Abiola’s election after which the nation was thrown into chaos and turmoil with many innocent and defenceless Nigerians killed over the next 6 blood-soaked and terrifying years.
Mr Peter Obi
“Peter’s Obidient supporters were not born at the time and do not know the shameful role he played in that chapter of our history, but we will educate them.
“He was a quivering and chicken-hearted coward then and he remains one till today.
“He and the members of his deregistered and defunct party should be the last people to talk about fighting for democracy and accusing others of not being democrats and of being dictators.
“Most of them were part and parcel of the brutal military regimes that terrorised our people and, unlike others, he did not have the guts to resist tyranny and oppression at the time, but instead wholeheartedly espoused, embraced and supported it.”
He also flayed the African Democratic Congress (ADC), linking it to figures such as David Mark, whose past actions during the military era remain controversial.
Fani-Kayode further expressed disappointment that some former NADECO figures, including Dele Momodu and Rauf Aregbesola, are now politically aligned with individuals he believes were connected to past military governments.
While he acknowledged that Atiku Abubakar opposed Abacha, he maintained that Obi’s alleged past associations weaken his moral standing to speak on democracy.
Fani-Kayode maintained that the sacrifices made by NADECO members should not be ignored or rewritten, stressing that Nigeria’s democratic freedoms today were earned through years of struggle and suffering.
In his words, “Peter Obi’s attack on NADECO and his attempt to denigrate the leaders of that movement and its members, who single handedly fought military rule and made the ultimate sacrifice for democracy in our country is a crying shame and shall not go unanswered.”
For the records, Obi had vehemently distanced himself from either working for, or supported the Abacha Regime. Fani-Kayode was also in the PDP with David Mark and a number of ADC members, a crime he now accuses Mark and Aregbesola of commiting.
It becomes obvious each day that Mr Peter Obi is the abiding nightmare of the ruling party.
Indications are clear that the All Progressives Congress has switched into a panic mode in the last few weeks. Like a man who’s suffering acute nightmares, the party’s top echelon seems to be in severe trauma and psychological distress.
This column wagers that the Obi-Kwankwaso outing in Kano recently may have jolted the ruling crew to a near thrombosis.
Their response has been predictable. Rev up attack on Obi. Acquire more ferocious hounds and press them to work, including unlikely breeds and hybrids of canines. Activate black legs in the opposition ADC and get both the courts and INEC to ‘legalise’ it. Having wooed the Kano political kingpin to join the APC without success, he running with Peter Obi is a proposition that must never happen. One politician with an organic following is bad enough. Two such politicians coming together would spell doom for APC.
THE SOWORE’S SHADOW BOXING:
It is not by coincidence that Omoyele Sowore, the playboy-activist, presidential huckster and travel-by-night politician growled at Obi the other day.
Sowore gave his true nature away during the so-called press briefing in which he said Peter Obi’s anointing oil had expired.
Like a marionette on strings, Sowore was on an errand. After his usual ramble about coalition, he jumped into his real mission which was an attempt to deflate Obi-Kwankwaso Kano outing. He berated Obi for latching on the Kwankwasiya crowd. He belly-ached about Obi shunning Kwankwaso in 2023 and on and on. When did it become a crime for politicians to jibe at each other? When did it become wrong to align and re-align. But of course, Sowore is on activation mode. How could he tell Obi’s anointing had expired, was he a witness when God anointed Obi?
Author: Steve Osuji
FANI-KAYODE’S AGONISTES:
Femi Fani-Kayode had this famous quote in The Sun last Friday: “I looked at someone like Obi, God forbid Obi should be president. I won’t go into why I said that.”
Of course the only reason he blurted such impulsive, inelegant sound bite is the overwhelming Kano show. It has set the clay-footed APC behemoth running amok. That unprovoked statement can only come from a place of deep angst. Of course, unstable people like FFK would loathe Obi as number one because they would never be allowed anywhere near a government office. But today, Nigeria suffers the affliction of an FFK as an ambassador. On the contrary, Obi in his magnanimity, would have offered FFK government-sponsored rehab to Germany.
INSALUBRIOUS JUSTICE SALAMI:
The serial attacks on Obi continued. Not even the infamous mandate switcher, the retired Justice Ayo Salami would be allowed to enjoy his retirement booty in peace. Remember how as Chief Justice of the Courts of Appeal, he single-handededly dashed out mandates to three governors in repudiation of INEC and in favour of then Governor Bola Tinubu. He set the infamous precedence of courts usurping the powers of INEC. He was acting like a hit-and-run driver.
That power of the appellate court which Salami abused was hurriedly changed before more havoc was done. The final word on guber election cases is now vested on the Supreme court. Now if there was any doubt about who Salami was working for, this unprovoked lash-out against Obi is proof. If Baba Salami was a statesman, he would be discussing Nigeria’s starving and traumatised populace and the shrinking of our democratic space, not a virulent attack an innocent citizen Obi who’s crime was to contest election as a citizen of Nigeria.
Unfortunately, Baba Salami got his facts spectacularly wrong. This column hopes that Baba would muster the grace and honour to apologise to Obi soon enough.
To blurt that Obi should never have contested in the last election in 2023 suggests that the pain of Obi’s triumph still sits deep among the APC top hierarchy of which Baba Salami is probably one.
If Baba Salami is so peeved about Obi’s eligibility what does he have to say about Godswill Akpabio’s and Ahmed Lawan’s eligibility? Men who contested and lost in the APC’s presidential election. Salami should be telling us what judicial magic allowed Akpabio to return to contest the senate election and sit as Senate president today?
ASARI DOKUBO’S SALVO:
Savaging Peter Obi must be the key to Aso Rock and the password for accessing APC’s bounties. This much can be discerned from Asari Dukubo’s interview last weekend. Apparently, he had visited Aso Rock but was fenced from seeing Baba.
Embittered as he shambled away in disappointment, it must have been whispered to him that the only thing that catches Baba’s attention is Obi- bashing.
After lamenting how Presidential aides were keeping Number One in the dark; about how insecurity is on the rise and how the condition of his people in the Niger Delta worsens, he segued into Obi- flogging: how his vote and that of his people is for Tinubu and never for Obi. Ah, he almost forgot to reinforce his Obi thrashing! For APC goons, no interview is complete without a mention of Obi.
AZU: THE BIG FISH, THE REDUX:
One would be hard put to believe that Azubuike Isiekwene, a brother, friend and a most respected professional colleague would succumb to APC’s frenzied pressure. But the loaded ruling party’s gravy train is chugging on furiously, picking partakers. The admission ticket code is: shred_obi.
Boarding this grimy train would be beneath the Azu one knows. But his last output on his column seems to give the lie to my conversations about him. If he has been sucked in by the rampaging ruling party bent on worsting all opposition before election day, then he’s indeed a big catch. His outing too is probably the best Obi_shred by anyone.
But the obverse of it is that Azu may have ended up shredding himself to bits and leaving himself naked. Beautiful as the piece is, it has turned out the ultimate Azu redux. If there was an instrument, say, an imageometer for gauging personality rating, one wagers Azu’s would have surged south now, hovering just above zero.
First, the Azu we know should never be found in the sordid company of Reno, Bwala, FFK and Asari.
These are people this column is too decent to describe by their proper appellation. Suffice to say that these are long-pouted foragers – oink, oink, gruff, gruff insatiable, oink, oink!
First, to suggest that Obi has transitioned from a serious contender to a mascot is akin to the famous position of APC’s media ‘strategists’ who insisted that the overwhelming OBiDIENTS were mere four persons in a room tweeting. The 2023 election results put the lie to this position.
But all the APC big guns always want to hear is that Obi is no threat. So Azu starts by positing that Obi is now a mascot. Where’s the survey driving this weighty assertion? None. He’s selling deception in place of data.
He feeds in the same fallacy by asserting yet again that Obi’s social media based troops have no voters card. How did Azu know this? Again where’s the survey? Does he know something APC is doing that we don’t know.
He digs with a surprisingly uncharacteristic illogic that one takes liberty to say is “unAzu”! That Obi claims to have won the election in 2023 though his Labour Party could only muster agents in 50 per cent of polling centres nationwide. And the question is: are agents the deciding factors in winning elections? If an entire party like the giant PDP, ADC and even LP can be railroaded by the ruling APC, What’s the fate of a common agent in a remote polling unit? When shall we trust INEC to conduct our elections (as obtains in decent climes) without the abiding rogue tactics that have become our norm. This agent business in Nigeria’s election is akin to asking football clubs to acquire their own VAR!
Azu’s maladroit in this piece is a low in his long, and one dares say, exemplary career in penmanship.
He says Obi wasted energy and resources in litigation without suggesting options available, but litigation is part of the process.
That Obi watched the unraveling of his platform, the LP. But before our eyes, APC has destroyed PDP using a certain Nyesom Wike as a battering ram.
Azu says so much in his article that are untenable, tendentious and self-annihilatory.
There’s no point reeling them all out. Let’s sum it up that Azu has harmed himself with that singular write-up more than Obi. He may have tainted years, even decades of a glorious public engagement. Pity.
LAST LINE: NIGERIA’S FUEL CONUNDRUM:
Why is petrol cheaper in Egypt, for instance, than in Nigeria. Subsidy.
Egypt is not a major crude oil producing country. But government still subsidises petrol for her people .
Why is the NNPCL still importing petrol from foreign refineries? Why is Dangote Refinery importing crude oil?
Why hasn’t the National Assembly investigated the so-called forward sales arrangement of Nigeria’s crude oil which it is claimed, has been sold for indeterminate years ahead?
Why is there so much opacity in Nigeria’s energy sector. Oil and gas are the most open businesses in the world safe for in Nigeria. In other oil producing countries, information is available on every bit of the business, including refining margins and forward deals. Not so in Nigeria. To think that President Bola Tinubu is also the Petroleum Minister… Nigeria’s oil industry seems like underground business now. Meanwhile, Nigerians suffer in a time of supposed oil boom!
Human Rights lawyer and social critic, Inibehe Effiong, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC of collaborating with the All Progressive Congress-led Government to foist on Nigeria and Nigerians a one party system.
This is as he urged the electoral body to go ahead and declare President Bola Ahmed Tinubu the winner of the 2027 polls and save the country further waste of resources and energy.
Effiong’s position is coming against the backdrop of INEC’s controversial decision to withdraw its recognition of the Senator David Mark-led National Leadership of the opposition Coalition platform the African Democratic Congress ADC.
The Source reports that the INEC, in a statement on Wednesday, April 1, 2026 from its National Commissioner/Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, cited a Court of Appeal ruling which directed the maintenance of status quo ante bellum in the ADC’s leadership contest involving the Mark-led National Working Committee, NWC, and the former National Deputy Chairman, Bala Nafiu Gombe, as a major reason for its action.
But in a statement, Effiong strongly berated INEC for its questionable and partisan handling of the ADC’s leadership crisis.
The Human Rights lawyer pointedly accused the leadership of the INEC of working in concert with the Government to undermine and completely stifle opposition voices in the country.
He challenged the electoral umpire to come clean, and let Nigerians know if the intention behind the orchestrated plot to frustrate opposition parties is to favour President Tinubu.
He expressed serious concern that the steps being taken by INEC are capable of undermining and eroding multi-party democracy in the country.
Effiong emphasized that INEC’s obviously biased handling of ADC leadership crisis has clearly distabilised the party ,as well as severely hampering its ability to to organize and prepare for the 2027 polls .
According to Effiong ,INEC’s controversial decision to withdraw recognition of the Mark-led NWC has created a serious a leadership vacuum within the ADC ,a development he believes serve the interest of the ruling APC.
He accused the INEC of wilfully misinterpreting the Court of Appeal judgment on the leadership tussle to suit its hidden motives .
On the Court of Appeal judgment directing parties to maintain the status quo, pending the determination of a case at the Federal High Court, the human rights lawyer argued that the Mark-led NWC was already in place before the ruling, a development that raises serious questions about INEC’s interpretation and enforcement of the court order.
He, therefore, questioned INEC’s actual motives behind creating a leadership vacuum within the ADC , until the final determination of the case .
Effiong warned that INEC’s erosion of credible opposition platforms could undermine and erode public confidence in the entire electoral processes as well as cast doubts on credibility of the 2027 polls.
As voices continue to rise against one party system in the country, Activist lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, has called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene against what he described as growing anti-democratic actions capable of undermining Nigeria’s political system.
Adeyanju urged Tinubu to halt attempts to foist one party state on Nigeria, while urging ex-presidents and statesmen to condemn the plot.
In a statement he signed, Adeyanju urged the president to restrain individuals and groups within and around his administration allegedly working to weaken opposition parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“I call on the President to urgently rein in all anti-democratic forces operating within and around his government, including those using the courts to frustrate the opposition and prevent them from fielding candidates in the 2027 general elections.
“These actions are fundamentally undemocratic and must be halted,” he said.
He also cautioned that advisers who portray a strong opposition as a threat to the president’s re-election prospects may be acting against his interests.
“The President must recognise that those advising him that a strong opposition threatens his chances of re-election are, in fact, his greatest enemies,” he added.
Adeyanju expressed concern over what he described as a sustained effort to weaken opposition parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), warning of the implications for Nigeria’s democracy.
“The sustained efforts to weaken opposition parties, first the PDP and now the ADC, raise serious concerns about an emerging attempt to impose a one-party state.
“Such actions pose a grave threat to Nigeria’s democracy and long-term stability, and risk undermining public confidence in our democratic institutions,” he said.
He further called on former presidents and national leaders to speak out against any perceived threats to democratic pluralism.
“I also call on all former Presidents and statesmen to rise to this moment and speak out.
“This is a defining time for our democracy, and all well-meaning Nigerians must stand firmly against any attempt to erode pluralism and democratic choice,” he stated.
Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), has responded to the call by the African Democratic Congress, (ADC), for its Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, to resign immediately.
The ADC, through its national chairman, David Mark, had, during a World Press Conference in Abuja on Thursday, called for the sack or resignation of Amupitan, alleging partisan bias.
Mark declared that “We demand the immediate resignation or sack of the INEC Chairman, Professor Amupitan, and all the National Commissioners.
“We no longer have confidence in them. We are convinced that they are6 incapable of conducting any credible election.”
The development followed the decision of the commission to remove the name of the party’s leaders from its portal, a decision it described as obedience to a recent Court of Appeal judgment.
Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Adedayo Oketola, in a statement, noted that the appointment, tenure, and removal of the chairman and national commissioners are strictly governed by Section 157 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The Commission explained that it recognises the right of stakeholders to express their views, but said it was imperative to clarify that INEC is a creation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, has cautioned the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the Federal Government against indulging in acts capable of escalating the already precarious security situation in the country.
This is as the body rejected INEC’s planned voter revalidation exercise.
The apex socio-cultural organization of Northern Nigeria said that the country is already facing enough challenges in all fronts, warning against moves that could imperil national security ,and unity of the country.
The ACF warning is coming amidst the controversy and tension generated within the polity by the Independent National Electoral Commission’s decision to withdraw recognition for the Senator David Mark-led National Executive Committee NEC of the opposition Coalition platform the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
The electoral umpire, citing a subsisting Court of Appeal order on the leadership tussle in the ADC on Wednesday April 1,2026 opted to maintain the status quo ante bellum by way of not recognizing both the Bala Nafiu Gombe and Mark leadership of the party.
But speaking in an interview with the Leadership, spokesperson for the ACF, Prof. A Muhammad-Baba, described the action of INEC as a recipe for a political crisis that could endanger the 2027 general elections,as well as national security.
The ACF spokesperson expressed serious concern that democracy in Nigeria is being threatened by those who could pass as its greatest beneficiaries.
“The only thing I can tell you is that it is very, very unfortunate (INEC’s withdrawal of recognition for David Mark-led NEC and Voter revalidation exercise) because it looks like those who are beneficiaries of democracy are now trying to destroy democracy in Nigeria.
“The path INEC is now taking in not just delisting ADC leadership, but in asking people to revalidate their permanent voters’ card are for me a landmine . We hope it is not a landmine .But it looks like a landmine.
” It looks like every step taken by INEC or the political authorities is putting the 2027 election in jeopardy.
“It is not too late, and we hope we call on the Government, we call on INEC, we call on all those concerned to retrace their steps ,and stand by the principles and tenets of democracy.
“Otherwise, all these things really portend a crisis. We have enough. We have enough problems with insecurity. We have enough problems with economic hardship.
“We don’t want to add political crisis that could seriously endanger national security. So we call on all to please retrace their steps” ACF stated .
According to the ACF, the proposed Voter revalidation exercise and the controversial delisting of the Mark-led ADC leadership are steps that are capable of not only undermining public confidence in the electoral process ,but also compromising the national security.
