The Chairman, Senate Committee on Women Affairs, Ireti Kingibe, on Wednesday, raised concern over the ongoing election petitions cases at the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal which, she said, were distracting lawmakers from effectively performing their duties.

According to her, for the past eight weeks that the National Assembly has been inaugurated, 90 per cent of the senators have been completely distracted by NAEPT.

She also pledged to work with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, for the development of the nation’s capital.

The federal lawmaker elected under the platform of the Labour Party representing the FCT, said this while speaking with journalists in Abuja.

While applauding the Tribunal for affirming her victory for the FCT Senate seat, she expressed reservations about some of the court verdicts across the country, saying the appellate court must correct some abnormalities.

When asked about what the 10th National Assembly had done so far since its inauguration, she said court cases had affected legislation.

Kingibe said, “Well, the truth of the matter is, I feel that just as you expect your leaders to be kind to you, you also have to be kind to your leaders. Let me give you a scenario of what the last year and a half has been for most of the people in the National Assembly

“Most of the time during sitting, somebody has a tribunal case in one way or the other. He has to raise money for lawyers and all sorts of things. So for the last eight weeks that we have been senators, I will assure you that 90 per cent of the Senators have been completely distracted, which is expected because if you’re not a senator, you cannot represent the people. So that’s the first hurdle you must clear.”

She added that most of the Senators, especially the new ones, are not silent on matters of national importance, adding that matters were properly managed by the Senate President.

Kingibe said, “The only difference is that when we have issues to discuss, and there is going to be a rowdy session, the Senate President calls for an executive session, and you will never know what happens there.

“I know some of the things I have seen in those executive sessions even with the older senators. Sometimes, I’m shocked at how rowdy the House gets, we all are extremely vocal. If not, there are certain things that would have happened that have not. So you need to give us a few months to see what kind of Senators we’re going to be. You cannot judge us for now. We have been on recess for weeks and most of the senators are away. I also went away and I came back because I wanted to be around for my judgment, even if I wasn’t going to be physically in the court.

“The Labour Party members are also not quiet. Even the 50 minority senators are not quiet at all. Also, within the APC, I will tell you that at least 20 per cent of them are definitely not quiet. So you have to wait to see the things that unfold. There were no committees before. But now that we have committees, you will start to see the kind of senators that we’re all going to be, after then, you can judge us.”

Speaking on her relationship with Wike, Kingibe stressed that there are a plethora of problems for them to solve, adding that the FCT needed a lot of by-laws to be passed.

She said, “I have a long list of problems that the minister, I and the National Assembly have to solve. I have also reminded the Senate that the Senate is the equivalent of the State Assembly for FCT. We need a lot of bylaws passed. Before we went on recess, I had brought a motion for urgent discussion but the day it was to be heard was when we started to screen ministers and that was urgent because it had a time constraint.

“I made all the senators know that security was very critical. I know the problems of the FCT. So, as the minister has said that he will work closely with me, we will solve those problems.”

Nigeria’s revenue from sale of crude oil (excluding condensates) increased by N188.7bn in August 2023, following a marginal gain in the production of the commodity by both international and indigenous operators in the sector.

Data obtained from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries confirmed that oil output from Nigeria appreciated in August, as against what obtained in the previous month.

It was observed that in August, the country pumped a total of 36,615,125 barrels of crude oil (excluding condensates), which was higher than the 33,761,767 barrels produced in the preceding month of July.

This indicated that oil production in August was higher than what was produced in July by 2,853,358 barrels.

Data from the World Bank showed that the average cost of Brent, the global benchmark for crude, in August 2023 was $86.16/barrel.

Also, figures from Exchange Rates UK, a global analytical firm, put the average exchange rate of the United States dollar in Nigeria in August at N767.6.

Therefore, by producing an additional 2,853,358 barrels of crude oil in August, Nigeria’s oil earnings rose by about N188.71bn in the review period.

On daily production figures for crude, OPEC stated that oil output from Nigeria increased to 1.181 million barrels per day in August this year.

In its just released monthly oil market report for September 2023, the global oil cartel said oil production in Nigeria rose from 1.081mbpd in July to 1.181mbpd in August.

The country had produced 1.18mbpd in May, which was higher than the 0.99mbpd production figure recorded in the preceding month of April.

Data from the OPEC report, however, showed that though the country’s oil output appreciated in August, it was still lower than the 1.249mbpd recorded in June this year.

A further analysis of the report indicated that the country pumped an average of 1.144mbpd in the second quarter of 2023, which was lower than the 1.277mbpd output recorded in the preceding quarter.

Nigeria’s oil output had been nosediving lately, despite the marginal rise in August. Operators have called for concerted efforts to boost oil output in order to gain more foreign exchange for the country.

The President, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, had told our correspondent that the drop in oil output posed a dangerous sign.

He said, “That is a very dangerous signal of trouble that is coming. This is because we thought that with what the Tompolo team is doing, we should be approaching about two million barrels of crude oil production per day.

“So if the volume of reduction is this frightening, then it is something that calls for urgent investigation. It portends an economic downturn that could be drastic if the situation continues. However, I believe that with all of these new oil discoveries in Nasarawa and Bauchi, and production commencing, there may be a positive change.”

The Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, had called on the Federal Government to work hard and stop crude oil theft.

He said oil theft was not only stopping Nigeria from meeting its production quota as approved by OPEC, but was denying the country a lot of dollars required for the imports of goods.

“The I&E (Importers and Exporters) window is illiquid. There’s no money there. To buy products (fuel), it costs you between $25m to $30m. You can’t find it in the I&E window. So it doesn’t work and that is why people are not importing.

“You can’t access the dollar, you can’t find it right now. Nigeria has to sort out the security issues in the Niger Delta so that we can increase our daily crude oil output.

“If we increase it to 1.8 or two million barrels per day, then there’ll be dollars in the market. So we need to stop oil theft.”

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, weekend, signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with Indorama Energy Pte Limited for the supply of about 800 million cubic feet of gas that will see the company invest over $7 billion.

The agreement which was signed in Abuja would see the national oil company improve gas supply for Indorama for the production of fertilizer, urea and other products.

Speaking shortly before the deal was signed, the Group CEO, NNPC Limited, Mr. Mele Kyari said the agreement was in line with the Federal Government’s move to improve domestic gas utilization in the country.

He noted that the Petroleum Industry Act mandates NNPCL to do everything possible to boost gas production and utilization.

He said: “The agreement fits into our gasification programme that whoever needs gas because it is available, we must make it available. So that industries can come up, power can be created and ultimately employment will come and the economy will boom.

“We have resources and we will make available the additional gas that is required. We will partner with Indorama so that we sweat the upstream assets and also produce the gas and go down the chain and create the midstream facilities for these slim industries, urea, increased fertilizer production and of course, including the creation of a condensate reel finery.

“They’re very practical and we’re happy with the commitments of Indorama that they are out to, to invest at least $7 billion on this project in the short term. And perhaps this will open more gateway for us to do more business with you and with others.

“And therefore this country is on the threshold of making value out of gas beyond any imagination.

“NNPC is currently pursuing very many other large scale gas projects which we could not take forward but we’re now more than ever before determined to ensure that this also progresses.

“Even in this project alone we are seeing an annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contribution of over $3 billion in perhaps lifetime government revenues of up to $18 billion for this project because this is a huge project”.

In his remarks, the MD/CEO Africa, Indorama Energy Pte, Mr. Manish Mundra said as a partner that has worked with NNPC for over 15 years, the new deal marked a change in direction between both companies.

He said the company would be investing in two more lines of fertilizer, two lines of methanol and one big petrochemical project.

He noted that this would put Nigeria as one of the biggest producers of urea in Africa.

“Nigeria has no reason to stay back in terms of poor downstream sector, that is our responsibility jointly. We have a proven track record in the last 16, 17 years that we have delivered in terms of world class projects in record time, globally.

“And we will now do the same here and we will surprise the nation, we will surprise everybody. And we would like to also thank Mr. President, for his visionary leadership for allowing this to happen”, he stated.

Giving a breakdown of the project, Chief Upstream Investment Officer, NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services, NUIMS, Mr. Bala Wunti said the project would involve drilling for gas.

“The scope of the project involves the delivery of gas, which will require us to do some drilling and development activities. It will require us to put in place a very robust gas delivery infrastructure through pipelines but most importantly, it will also incorporate a liquid management solution in the form of a condensate refinery.

“Overall, the anticipation is that at the peak of the project, about 800 million scuff of gas will be made available for domestic use, part of which will be used to provide the needed quantity of gas by Indorama. And the balance will be supplied to the domestic market to meet power demand, commercial and other activities particularly in eastern Nigeria”, Wunti explained.

In a new twist to counter ECOWAS, three West African countries – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – all under military junta, have signed a security pact promising to come to the aid of each other in case of any rebellion or external aggression.

The three countries are struggling to contain insurgents linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State and have also seen their relations with neighbours and international partners strained because of the coups.

The latest coup in Niger drove a further wedge between the three and countries of the regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has threatened to use force to restore constitutional rule in the country.

Mali and Burkina Faso have vowed to come to Niger’s aid if it is attacked.

“Any attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of one or more contracted parties will be considered an aggression against the other parties,” according to the charter of the pact, known as the Alliance of Sahel States.

It said the other states will assist individually or collectively, including with the use of armed force.

“I have today signed with the Heads of State of Burkina Faso and Niger the Liptako-Gourma charter establishing the Alliance of Sahel States, with the aim of establishing a collective defence and mutual assistance framework,” Mali junta leader Assimi Goita said on his X social media account.

All three states were members of the France-supported G5 Sahel alliance joint force with Chad and Mauritania, launched in 2017 to tackle extremists in the region.

Mali has since left the dormant organisation after a military coup, while deposed Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum said in May last year that the force is now “dead” following Mali’s departure.

Relations between France and the three states have soured since the coups.

The Oluwo of Iwo, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Abdulrosheed Adewale Akanbi, Telu I, has described former President, Olusegun Obasanjo’s action against traditional rulers in Oyo as a desecration of Yoruba traditional institution, noting that the Obasanjo cannot do it to emirs.

Obasanjo had, as seen in a trending video, ordered some Yoruba traditional rulers in Oyo State to stand up and greet him. He scolded them, saying wherever a governor or President is sitting, traditional rulers must show them respect.

However, Oluwo, in a statement made available to newsmen in Osogbo by his media aide, Alli Ibraheem on Saturday, blamed the traditional rulers present at the event for obeying Obasanjo’s order.

The monarch said Obasanjo ought to have shown some respect on dealing with traditional rulers, saying monarchs were God’s representation on earth, and that such a thing would not happen if he were around.

The statement read: “I trust myself and my stool. At death, there are certain things my soul will not take let alone when alive, active and kicking.

“I only blame the monarchs who stood in obeisance to such an ignoble act and desecration of traditional institutions from the old man. Respects should be earned not demanded.

“Traditional rulers respect their subjects too. There is a way respect is accorded to people of old age and position by monarchs. Kingship is an institution of God. As such, relating with kings requires a high sense of modesty, courtesy and respect.

“The display by the former president of Nigeria, General Obasanjo was an affront, an intentional desecration and sacrilege against revered stools of Yorubaland.

“An injury to one is an injury to all. Yoruba traditional rulers are not uniform men anyone can command at will. I don’t blame him, those royal fathers who stood up to obey such an embarrassing direction are to be blamed.

“I’ve strong assurance that such will never happen in my presence and that of some few monarchs I will not mention “Iwo kogba igbakugba”.

“The show by the former general is condemnable. Yoruba traditional institutions demand an apology for the open desecration to molest and bring down the institution.

“He needs to prove himself as a core Yoruba man with an apology letter. Kings are not toddlers. We are fathers. He will never dare that against the northern emirs.

“This action should be a great challenge to the Yorubas, most especially the royal fathers. This is the result when monarchs joined Ogboni confraternity and became junior to a road side mechanical engineer or carpenter.

“As a responsible monarch, you don’t have to join any secret society where you may be controlled by a teacher or even a herbalist.”

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has described as malicious and untrue reports that there are plans to unseat him as a presiding officer of the 10th Senate.

He further noted that the Senate under his leadership is stable and harmonious and cannot be distracted by “the innuendo of the merchants of political tar brush by what appears to be a syndicated media attack from outside the precincts of the National Assembly.”

There were media reports on Saturday stating that plans were underway to unseat Akpabio as the president of the 10th Senate when the Senate reconvenes on September 26, 2023.

The report also noted that two prominent senators from the North West and other senators across the national assembly are already meeting and mapping out plans to carry out the daring move.

The reports also alleged that the senators believed that the Senate President was a rubber stamp for the presidency and may be unable to carry out his duty effectively.

In response to this, Senator Akpabio, in a statement by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) Hon Eseme Eyiboh, said the reports were “complete imaginations and sometimes laced with malice to achieve what senators are yet to comprehend.”

Noting that the Senate has since gone past the experience of the keenly contested leadership election, Eyiboh said the plot to drag in Senators who initially did not support the emergence of the present leadership into a conspiracy that does not exist was uncharitable to the senators and a needless umbrage.

Eyiboh said, “Senators are presently concluding their holidays in their constituencies and other places they have chosen to spend their time after the rigours of the inauguration and ministerial screening and other constructive engagements.

“All senators are also refreshing themselves ahead of the resumption, therefore, any suggestions that they are presently engaged in other subversive plots against the institution is rather uncharitable. It is mostly uncharitable for those senators who initially did not support the emergence of the leadership but who have all unanimously endorsed the Senator Akpabio-led leadership. Continuing to link these senators with needless conspiracy with barely disguised innuendo is rather unkind.

“We call on the media not to give in to the conspiratorial tales, and not to give damage to the reputations that they have built over time,” Eyiboh added.

An early morning rainfall in Lagos on Saturday has left many communities in the commercial city flooded with houses submerged and properties damaged.

The flood that followed the rainfall took residents by surprise and kept them indoors in a pool of water.

The areas most affected include Satellite Town; Oko-baba in Agege; Egbede; Ikotun; Ajegunle; and Ojo.

As the floods continue to sweep through streets and houses, residents have called on the Lagos government for help.

Bunmi Aduloju, a resident of Satellite Town, who spoke to TheCable, said the flood entered her family’s living room, adding that she has never experienced such.

“The heavy downpour started at about past 6 a.m. The intensity of the rain didn’t reduce until past 9 a.m.,” Bunmi recounted.

“It seemed like a joke at first when the compound was waterlogged. I thought it wouldn’t go past the compound.

“But, it flowed into the living room for the first time in the over 10 years that I have lived on the street. We had to use small buckets to drain the water. I panicked.”

While thanking God that the flood did not destroy any of the family’s valuables, Bunmi said other residents were not so lucky.

“Some residents on my street didn’t have it easy. One told me of how her two young daughters had to stand on her cushion chairs for hours as she watched her gadgets and other valuables float in the water,” she added.

Lagos was among the states predicted to experience heavy rainfall and thunderstorms by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).

See photos below:

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The recent incident of a fire outbreak and explosion sound on the Kainji/Jebba 330KV Line 2 (Cct K2J) blue phase CVT, along with the burning of the blue phase line isolator of Kainji/Jebba 330KV Line 1, which led to a System Collapse that threw the entire country into darkness and huge economic and financial losses could have been prevented, if safety and preventive measures had been put in place.

Since my four- year contract appointment from the private sector as an Executive Director in TCN was over and I left the company in 2017, I may not be in a position to exactly ascertain what really went wrong, except for the reports in the media which gave the reason for the nation-wide blackout as a result of the fire incident that occurred.

Nigerians and most power experts had thought that the hitherto frequent System Collapse was a thing of the past, only for it to rear its head again this week. The challenges and weaknesses in the entire Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), which seem to have defied several governments in the past, must now be addressed and put on the front burner by the President Tinubu administration.

For the immediate to long term solution in resolving the frequent fire hazards which damage power equipment and infrastructure such as transformers, substations, yards, lines and other, there is now an urgent need for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to implement preventive measures. Fire outbreaks in power transmission systems can have catastrophic consequences, leading to power outages, infrastructure damage, and even loss of life. The following international best practices should as a matter of urgency be put in place and monitored closely as preventive measures that TCN can adopt to mitigate the risk of fire outbreaks and ensure the safety and reliability of Nigeria's power transmission network.

The occurrence of fire outbreaks and explosions in power transmission systems poses a significant threat to the stability, reliability and functionality of the national grid. To address this issue, the Transmission Company of Nigeria must prioritize the implementation of preventive measures. There are many strategies that TCN can adopt to prevent fire outbreaks, including regular maintenance, equipment inspections, training programs, and the installation of advanced monitoring systems, such as the use of drones in monitoring the entire grid.

Regular Maintenance:
Regular maintenance is crucial for identifying and rectifying potential issues before they escalate into fire outbreaks. TCN should establish a comprehensive maintenance schedule that includes routine inspections, cleaning, and testing of critical equipment such as CVTs (Capacitor Voltage Transformers) and line isolators. By adhering to a proactive maintenance approach, TCN can detect and address any signs of wear, corrosion, or malfunctioning components, reducing the risk of fire outbreaks.
TCN should ensure that it Implements a monthly maintenance routine for CVTs and line isolators, including visual inspections, cleaning, and electrical testing, can help identify and rectify potential issues promptly.

Equipment Inspections:
Regular inspections of all electrical equipment within the transmission network are essential to ensure their proper functioning and identify any potential fire hazards. TCN should establish a comprehensive inspection program that covers transformers, circuit breakers, isolators, and other critical components. This program should include visual inspections, thermal imaging, and electrical testing to detect any abnormalities or signs of overheating.

Conducting annual thermal imaging inspections of transformers and circuit breakers can help identify hotspots or abnormal temperature patterns, indicating potential fire risks.

Training Programs:
Investing in training programs for TCN personnel is crucial to enhance their knowledge and skills in fire prevention and safety protocols. Employees should receive comprehensive training on fire safety, emergency response, and the proper handling of electrical equipment. This will enable them to identify potential fire hazards, respond effectively in case of emergencies, and take appropriate preventive measures.

The 10 Regional offices of TCN, must as a matter of routine, conduct regular fire safety training sessions for their employees, including theoretical and practical exercises, which can significantly improve their ability to prevent and respond to fire outbreaks.

The use of Advanced Monitoring Systems:
Implementing advanced monitoring systems can provide real-time data on the condition of critical equipment, enabling early detection of potential fire risks. TCN should invest in technologies such as temperature sensors, fault detectors, and fire detection systems to continuously monitor the transmission network. These systems can alert operators to abnormal conditions, allowing them to take immediate action and prevent fire outbreaks.

By Installing temperature sensors on critical equipment, such as CVTs and line isolators, this will provide real-time data on temperature variations, enabling early detection of overheating and potential fire risks.

For Nigeria to rapidly industrialize and achieve its full potential as the undisputed economic power house of Africa, the perennial power challenges that have dogged the country must be overcome. The current monopoly and centralization of the TCN should be reviewed with a view to unbundling the company, first into the Transmission Service Provider (TSP) and Independent Systems Operator (ISO), as per the licenses issued to both companies in 2014.

Finally, grant full administrative and financial autonomy to the 10 regional offices of the company and open up the transmission network to credible private sector players. The past administration’s Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), which as far I could decipher then, seemed to be an excellent initiative, and should be reinvigorated and any bottleneck therein removed

The electricity market, by now, should have matured to a “Willing Seller and Willing Buyer” level, with the gradual dissolution of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trader (NBET), which according to the provisions of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSR), 2005, was a temporary intervention vehicle.

I finally got a chance to read the verdict of the Presidential Elections Petitions Tribunal. Being completely emotionally uninvested in the outcome of the last presidential election (because on the issues that really matter— such as subsidies for the poor—Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, and Peter Obi are indistinguishable), most of the tribunal’s judgment was unsurprising. 

Because the conduct of elections in Nigeria are typically shambolic and inept, as with everything else in the country, I think it’s valid to question the credibility of electoral outcomes. It’s equally legitimate to suspect the independence of the judges who hand out verdicts, including the current one, more so that the first certified true copies of the judgment that circulated in the public sphere had a header that read “Tinubu Presidential Legal Team.”

In any case, in an August 29, 2020, column titled “Aso Rock Cabal’s Judicial Cabal on Election Petitions,” I exposed confidential information that a high court judge shared with me about the sodding moral hideousness of electoral tribunal judgements. The judge said there was a cabal of judicial bandits in Buhari’s Aso Rock who wrote election tribunal judgements.

 “The actual writing of the judgments is usually done by a consortium of justices and legal practitioners,” I wrote. “This subversion of justice by a conclave is a low-risk-high-reward undertaking.  Members of the judicial cabal are routinely compensated with promotion and financial reward.” So, it isn’t far-fetched to accuse judges of the PEPT of wheeler dealing. 

Nonetheless, no neutral, independent-minded person would fail to see that Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi had really weak cases. If a judicial cabal wrote the PEPT judgement, Atiku and Obi made the job easy for the cabal.

The centerpiece of the electoral petitions against Tinubu’s victory was that Tinubu should be disqualified from running for the last presidential election because of a whole bunch of things they alleged against him, most of which revolved around questions of his irrefutable moral turpitude. Unfortunately, immorality isn't always illegality. 

The petitions were high on emotions, conjectures, moral posturing, grandstanding, logical absurdities (such as insisting that candidates must win 25 percent of the FCT to win a presidential election thereby making Abuja more important than every part of Nigeria, that Tinubu should be disqualified for a voluntary civil forfeiture of drug money in the US more than three decades ago, that Tinubu should be disqualified because of false and ignorant claims that he didn't graduate from Chicago State University, or for perjuries he committed more than 20 years ago, etc.) than on legally sound, substantive arguments about the election itself. 

They didn't present foolproof, unimpeachable evidentiary facts, like Atiku did in 2019, to show that their actual votes were higher than INEC gave them—and thereby higher than Tinubu’s actual votes. Wishful thinking, online bullying, tendentious accounts of events, and coarse, primitive, illiterate invective against people who have different opinions are not substitutes for substance. Neither are mass delusion and blind political cultism guarantees of electoral victory.

The evidence for electoral irregularities they presented to the tribunal were, for the most part, inept, tangential, weak, and easily disputable. Plus, they are also guilty of these irregularities in their own areas of popularity. It isn't enough to allege; you should prove your allegations beyond all shadows of doubt, beyond merely providing libidinal raw materials for the wet dreams of your worshipful supporters.

You don't need to be a lawyer to know that the petitions had not a snowball's chance in hell of upending Tinubu’s victory. Only self-indulgent, illusory hope would dispose people to expect to get anything out of the petitions.

Obi’s wildly Trumpian dissimulation is the most mystifying for me. It beats me how, with a narrow electoral focus, he thought he won a "mandate" that was "stolen" and how he could somehow have been declared the winner of an election in which he finished third without first asking the tribunal to invalidate the votes of the second-place finisher. By what logic would the tribunal have declared Obi the winner without first nullifying Atiku’s votes, which Obi didn't ask for in his petition?

In other words, the petitions weren't as much about the vote as they were about who Tinubu was and wasn't (most of which made more moral than legal sense) and why Tinubu should be disqualified, and a rerun ordered that would exclude Tinubu. That doesn’t strike me as a serious challenge.

The petitions are predictably heading to the Supreme Court where they will get a final legal burial. But I am glad that the appeals will help get us legal closure on two thorny issues once and for all: the electoral worth of the Federal Capital Territory and the intent of the framers of the 1999 constitution when they barred dual citizens from running for elective positions.

It’s apparent to anyone with even a basic understanding of the English language that the constitution merely regards the FCT as equivalent to a state for the purpose of determining the geographic spread of votes cast during a presidential election. It would be absurd for the constitution to confer supernumerary electoral value to the votes of the residents of the FCT by requiring that winning 25% of votes there is a precondition to be declared president. 

It makes neither logical, linguistic, nor political sense to isolate a small part of a whole and arbitrarily elevate its electoral value above others. The verdict of the Supreme Court will bury this nonsense forever.

The tribunal’s ruling on the challenge to Tinubu’s alleged dual citizenship is its worst, and I hope the Supreme Court will give us clarity on it. Sometime last year, I had an impassioned dialogic exchange about dual citizenship with a newspaper editor who has a law degree. It was from him I first became aware that I had been misinformed about the issue.

Full disclosure: I am a dual citizen of Nigeria and the United States. I thought I could never run for an elective office in Nigeria, but wondered why former Senate President Ahmed Lawan, former House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, and several others who are dual citizens held elective offices.

Well, it has turned out that there are preexisting court judgments that basically say dual citizenship is disqualifying only if Nigerian citizenship is acquired through naturalization.

In a 2004 case between Dr. Willie Ogebide and Mr. Arigbe Osula, for example, Justice Walter Onnoghen held that “… it is clear and I, hereby, hold that the acquisition of dual citizenship by a Nigerian per se is not a ground for disqualification for election… particularly where the Nigerian citizen is a citizen by birth. That is the clear meaning of the provisions in sections 66(1) and 28 of the 1999 constitution when taken together.

“The only Nigerian citizen disqualified by the said sections is one who is a citizen of Nigeria by either registration or naturalization, who subsequently acquires the citizenship of another country in addition to his Nigerian citizenship…”

Similarly, in 2022, Justice Oghohorie ruled that the dual citizenship of Cross River State deputy governor Peter Odey didn’t invalidate his eligibility to run for office because his Nigerian citizenship was acquired at birth. 

However, in spite of these precedents, the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt invalidated the candidature of Rivers State APC governorship candidate Tonye Cole on account of dual citizenship. Our courts obviously have no respect for precedents, but I hope the ruling of the Supreme Court on the matter will establish once and for all whether people who were born Nigerian but acquired another citizenship later in life are disqualified from running for elective offices.

Of course, it would also be reassuring if the Supreme Court grants legal protection to the technological safeguards that INEC spent billions to acquire in order to assure voters that it would run a credible poll but whose use the tribunal said was optional and discretionary.