A bill that would grant immunity to the presiding officers of the National and State Assemblies narrowly scaled second reading in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The bill seeks to amend Section 308 of the 1999 constitution.
Section 308 of the Constitution shields the quartet of the president, the vice president, state governors and their deputies, for their period in office, from all forms of civil and criminal prosecution.
The sponsor of the bill, Odebunmi Olusegun of Ogo-Oluwa/Surulere federal constituency (APC, Oyo), wants the presiding officers of the federal and state houses to enjoy similar privilege for them to shrug off “frivolous suits while in office.”
Mr Olusegun argued that the bill is targeted at avoiding distraction for the leadership of the legislative arm. He said it is his aim to “protect, stabilize the house” and ensure “our democracy continues to flourish at national and state levels.”
Proponents
Toby Okechukwu (PDP, Enugu) pitched his tent with the bill’s sponsor. He said, if passed, the bill would shield presiding officers from the prying eyes of witch hunters.
He argued that once the leadership of the legislature is protected from possible blackmail while in office, then they can do their job without fear. He urged his colleagues to give their nod to the bill and allow Nigerians to decide during its public hearing.
Nkem-Abonta Uzoma (PDP, Abia) took off from where Mr Okechukwu stopped. He argued that the bill is not about the sitting speaker but the office itself. He said any criminal blemish ascribed to the office of the Speaker would cast the entire House in a bad light.
If the president, his deputy, state governors and their deputies can enjoy immunity, why can’t the leadership of the National Assembly, he asked.
“Let us protect the (legislative) institution from institutional embarrassment with suits, arraignment from the EFCC, CCB, ICPC,” he said after which the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, cut in.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila. [PHOTO CREDIT: Official Twitter handle of Femi]
The Speaker buttressed this by saying potential lawsuits against a presiding officer can come not only from agencies of the executive but also from individuals.
Opponents
Minority Leader Ndudi Elumelu (PDP, Delta) begged to differ. He said the bill should not be allowed as it is coming at the wrong time because “people should be held accountable for their actions.”
He called for the bill to be jettisoned and that attention should be redirected to tackle insecurity ravaging the country.
Also, Sergius Ogun (PDP, Edo) frowned at the bill. He said if he had his way, he would “remove the immunity the president and the governors enjoy.”
“As parliamentarians, I do not believe this is what we need today. We should lift the immunity that presidents and the governors enjoy. There is no reason why a sitting president or governor should not go to jail,” Mr Ogun noted.
As Mr Ogun rounded off, House Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila asked: “Is the head of the executive covered by immunity? And directly or indirectly, is the head of the judiciary covered by immunity?”
To that, he got a response in the affirmative. He then said he asked to weigh the various angles to the debate at hand. He called for equity in terms of privileges enjoyed by the each arms of government.
While the debate lasted, Mr Gbajabiamila said he was against the bill and was not willing to benefit from the privileges the bill might bring. He, therefore, suggested that the bill, should it be passed and assented to, would not take effect while the current leadership is in office.
In 2016, the same bill was read on the floor of the lower house. It came in the wake of the charges filed against former Senate President Bukola Saraki by the Code of Conduct Bureau during the eighth assembly. It was, however, thrown out, having divided the House over whether or not it should be passed.
Mr Gbajabiamila, then Majority Leader, was one of the fierce opponents of the bill.
The bill, however, still has a long way to go to become law. It will still pass through a public hearing and is expected to be included among the issues to be debated by a National Assembly committee to review the Constitution. The Senate is also yet to debate the bill.
Group Condemns Bill
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has condemned Tuesday’s passing of the bill.
Responding to the development, SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare said: “Providing immunity for presiding officers against crimes of corruption is tantamount to ripping up the constitution. It’s a blatant assault on the rule of law and breach of public trust.”
SERAP said: “The leadership of the House of Representatives must immediately withdraw this obnoxious bill. We will vigorously challenge this impunity.”
The statement read in part: “It’s a huge setback for the rule of law that the same privileged and powerful leaders of parliament that regularly make laws that consign ordinary, powerless Nigerians to prison for even trivial offences yet again want to establish elite immunity to protect themselves from any consequences for serious crimes of corruption and money laundering.”
“Whereas countries like Guatemala has voted unanimously to strip their president of immunity from prosecution for corruption our own lawmakers are moving in the opposite direction.”
“The message seems to be that in Nigeria, powerful and influential actors must not be and are not subject to the rule of law. It’s simply not proper for lawmakers to be the chief advocates of immunity for corruption.”
“It’s a form of political corruption for the parliamentarians to abuse their legislative powers, intended for use in the public interest but instead for personal advantage. This is an unacceptable proposition as it gives the impression that both the principal officers of the National Assembly are above the law.”
“If the House of Representatives should have their way, this will rob Nigerians of their rights to accountable government.”
“Public officials who are genuinely committed to the well-being of the state and its people, and to the establishment of an effective and functioning system of administration of justice, should have absolutely nothing to fear.”
Former Rivers State Governor and ex-Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, has said that he, and not President Bola Tinubu, played the pivotal role in making late Muhammadu Buhari president in 2015.
In a Friday interview on Arise News’ Prime Time, Amaechi, who is now a presidential aspirant under the African Democratic Congress, addressed longstanding claims by Tinubu.
During his pre-2023 campaigning, Tinubu said Buhari would not have become president without him and that it was his turn to become one too.
But Amaechi explained that as a serving minister under Buhari, he could not publicly challenge Tinubu’s assertions to avoid risking his position.
“When we decided to form the APC, while I was a minister, (Tinubu) was claiming he made Buhari president and I couldn’t respond because I was a minister under President Buhari. That would have been suicidal because Buhari could fire you,” Amaechi said.
He continued, “So I couldn’t have said, ‘You are wrong.’ He didn’t make President Buhari president. Not only was I the DG of the campaign, but everybody will bear witness that I did all the battle.
“I led the Governors’ Forum, criss-crossed the country fighting here and there trying to get Nigerians to know that this is the time for change.”
Amaechi served as Director-General of Buhari’s 2015 and 2019 presidential campaigns.
He was a key figure in the 2013–2014 defection of PDP governors that helped form the APC alliance, which ultimately defeated President Goodluck Jonathan.
However, Tinubu was also instrumental in Buhari’s emergence, leading the merger of major opposition parties, including his Action Congress of Nigeria, to form the All Progressives Congress, which challenged and defeated the then-ruling PDP.
The remarks come amid Amaechi’s positioning for the 2027 presidential race as part of the growing opposition coalition under the ADC.
He has been vocal in recent months criticising the Tinubu administration over economic hardship.
In medicine, oxygen is the invisible molecule upon which all human life depends. Remove it, and the body shuts down almost instantly. The brain weakens, the heart struggles, and every organ begins to fail. As someone who studies how the human body works, I have always understood the centrality of oxygen to biological existence. But in recent years, watching Nigerian society evolve in the digital age, I have arrived at another conclusion: connectivity has become the oxygen of modern civilisation.
Without network connectivity today, businesses freeze, students lose access to learning, hospital records fall into jeopardy, POS transactions struggle, markets slow down, and families become disconnected. Digital access is no longer a luxury; it is the infrastructure upon which modern life breathes.
And in Nigeria, one network increasingly stands out as the supplier of that digital oxygen: GLO.
Across campuses, markets, offices, villages, and urban centres, millions of Nigerians now depend on the Glo network for the daily rhythm of their lives. For students, it powers e-learning, research databases, virtual classrooms, and academic collaboration. For traders and entrepreneurs, it sustains mobile banking, online transactions, advertising, and customer communication. For farmers in rural communities, it ensures communication with farmland workers. For doctors and healthcare professionals, it enables telemedicine and rapid information exchange. In many homes, Glo is the invisible bridge connecting families separated by distance.
This is why many Nigerians increasingly describe Glo not merely as a telecom company, but as a necessity.
What is even more fascinating is the growing public confidence in Glo’s reliability, something I have personally witnessed. I recently observed a man asking a shop attendant to call his boss. After placing the call once, the attendant calmly replied, “Sir, his phone is switched off.” The man insisted he should call repeatedly before concluding. The attendant smiled and responded, “Sir, I am using Glo network. If Glo says the phone is unavailable, then it is unavailable.” Everyone around laughed, but beneath the humour was a powerful reality: people increasingly trust the reliability and clarity of the Glo network. That brief moment was more than a casual conversation; it was a testimony to the confidence Glo has quietly built among Nigerians.
The reality becomes even clearer during moments of national stress. In an era defined by climate change, unstable electricity supply, flooding, extreme heat, and infrastructural disruption, telecommunications networks face enormous pressure. Floodwaters damage fibre optic cables. Heat weakens sensitive electronic systems. Power failures destabilise base stations. Yet despite these challenges, millions of Nigerians continue to experience remarkable connectivity stability on Glo.
That stability is not accidental. Globacom has continued to invest heavily in infrastructure upgrades and network improvement projects aimed at enhancing customer experience nationwide. For millions of Nigerians, clearer calls and faster internet are no longer wishes but daily realities because of the company’s sustained commitment to expanding and strengthening its network systems.
What makes Glo exceptional is not simply its coverage, but its resilience. The company has increasingly embraced hybrid energy solutions involving solar systems and battery storage technology to reduce dependence on diesel-powered infrastructure. This improves network reliability during grid failures while simultaneously reducing environmental pressure. Glo has also undertaken extensive fibre reconstruction and relocation projects across Nigeria, redesigning network routes to withstand environmental disruptions such as flooding, erosion, and climate-related damage. Its investments in expanded spectrum capacity and advanced technologies have further improved efficiency, enabling stronger data delivery and smoother connectivity for subscribers across the country.
From my vantage point in Kano, a region experiencing intense heat and significant environmental pressure, the importance of resilient connectivity cannot be overstated. For traders in Sabon Gari Market, network access means economic survival. For students at Bayero University, it means uninterrupted learning and research. For countless young Nigerians trying to build digital businesses, it means opportunity itself.
In many respects, Glo functions like the respiratory system of Nigeria’s digital society. The Glo-1 submarine cable and Glo fibre optics act like lungs, bringing global bandwidth into the country. The national fibre network resembles blood vessels distributing connectivity nationwide. The 4G LTE base stations function like capillaries, delivering data directly to the individual user whether in Kano or far beyond.
The subscriber shouting “Glo Unlimited!” during a blackout while data continues flowing is not merely celebrating affordable internet. They are experiencing the result of years of investment, resilience engineering, and technological foresight.
Calling Glo “The Digital Oxygen” of Nigeria is therefore not poetic exaggeration, it is an acknowledgment of reality. In a country where millions now live, learn, trade, communicate, and dream through digital connectivity, Glo has become more than a network provider. It has become the vital breath upon which modern Nigerian life increasingly depends…
Dr. Sani Sa’idu Baba writes from Kano, and can be reached via drssbaba@yahoo.com
The Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has announced the birth of twin princes with his wife Mariam Ajibola, to the Royal House of Oduduwa.
The monarch disclosed this in a post shared on his official Facebook page on Friday, expressing gratitude to God for the safe delivery of the children and the wellbeing of their mother.
“To God be all the glory and adoration for His wondrous works and abundant blessings once again.
The announcement has drawn congratulatory messages from admirers and members of the Yoruba royal institution celebrating the arrival of the newborn princes.
After his marriage to Naomi Silekunola ended, the Ooni married several queens within a short period in 2022.
Among the queens are Mariam Anako, Elizabeth Akinmuda, Tobiloba Phillips, Ashley Adegoke, Ronke Ademiluyi and Temitope Adesegun.
During celebrations marking his 48th birthday and seventh coronation anniversary, the monarch explained that his marriages were connected to the traditional heritage and responsibilities attached to the throne of Ile-Ife.
