News

Tinubu’s Govt Rejects EU’s 2023 Election Assessment, Says Institution Bias

Published

3 years ago

July 2, 2023

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government has rejected the assessment of the February 2023 presidential election by the European Union (EU), saying the institution’s conclusion is bias and not objective.

The government, which added that Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the election fair and square, made the remarks in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President (Special Duties, Communications and Strategy), Mr. Dele Alake, on Sunday.

The Federal government questioned how the EU with only 50 observers for the election can give an objective assessment of an election that took place in 176, 000 polling units. It also defended that bodies such as the African Union, ECOWAS and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has given credible reports of the election.

Recall that the Head of EU Electoral Observation Mission, Barry Andrews, addressed a press conference in Abuja the precious week, stating the final report on the elections. The EU, according to Andrews, monitored the pre-election and post-election processes in Nigeria from January 11 to April 11, 2023 as an INEC accredited election monitoring group, coming out with reports that discredited the process and outcome of the election.

Read the statement in full:

WE REJECT EUROPEAN UNION’S CONCLUSIONS ON 2023 GENERAL ELECTIONS

Sometimes in May, we alerted the nation, through a press statement, to the plan by a continental multi-lateral institution to discredit the 2023 general elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission. The main target was the presidential election, clearly and fairly won by the then candidate of All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. While we did not mention the name of the organisation in the said statement, we made it abundantly clear to Nigerians how this foreign institution had been unrelenting in its assault on the credibility of the electoral process, the sovereignty of our country and on our ability as a people to organise ourselves. We find it preposterous and unconscionable that in this day and age, any foreign organisation of whatever hue can continue to insist on its own yardstick and assessment as the only way to determine the credibility and transparency of our elections. Now that the organisation has submitted what it claimed to be its final report on the elections, we can now categorically let Nigerians and the entire world know that we were not unaware of the machinations of the European Union to sustain its, largely, unfounded bias and claims on the election outcomes. For emphasis, we want to reiterate that the 2023 general elections, most especially the presidential election, won by President Bola Tinubu/All Progressives Congress, were credible, peaceful, free, fair and the best organised general elections in Nigeria since 1999. There is no substantial evidence provided by the European Union or any foreign and local organisation that is viable enough to impeach the integrity of the 2023 election outcomes. It is worth restating that the limitation of EU final assessment and conclusions on our elections was made very bare in the text of the press conference addressed by the Head of its Electoral Observation Mission, Barry Andrews. While addressing journalists in Abuja on the so-called final report, Andrews noted that EU-EOM monitored the pre-election and post-election processes in Nigeria from January 11 to April 11, 2023 as an INEC accredited election monitoring group. Within this period, EU-EOM observed the elections through 11 Abuja-based analysts, and 40 election observers spread across 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. With the level of personnel deployed, which was barely an average of one person per state, we wonder how EU-EOM independently monitored election in over 176,000 polling units across Nigeria. We would like to know and even ask EU, how it reached the conclusions in the submitted final report with the very limited coverage of the elections by their observers who, without doubt, relied more on rumours, hearsay, cocktails of prejudiced and uninformed social media commentaries and opposition talking heads. We are convinced that what EU-EOM called final report on our recent elections is a product of a poorly done desk job that relied heavily on few instances of skirmishes in less than 1000 polling units out of over 176,000 where Nigerians voted on election day. We have many reasons to believe the jaundiced report, based on the views of fewer than 50 observers, was to merely sustain the same premature denunciatory stance contained in EU’s preliminary report released in March.

We strongly reject, in its entirety, any notion and idea from any organisation, group and individual remotely suggesting that the 2023 election was fraudulent. Our earlier position that the technology-aided 2023 general elections were the most transparent and best organised elections since the return of civil rule in Nigeria has been validated by all non-partisan foreign and local observers such are the African Union, ECOWAS, Commonwealth Observer Mission and the Nigerian Bar Association. Unlike EU-EOM that deployed fewer than 50 observers, the Nigerian Bar Association that sent out over 1000 observers spread across the entire country for same election gave a more holistic and accurate assessment of the elections in their own report. NBA, an organisation of eminent lawyers and an important voice within the civic space, reported that 91.8 per cent of Nigerians rated the conduct of the national and state elections as credible and satisfactory. Any election that over 90% of the citizens considered transparent should be celebrated anywhere in the world. It is heart-warming that INEC, through its National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Mr. Festus Okoye, has come out to defend the integrity of the election it conducted by rejecting the false narratives in the EU report. It is also gratifying that the electoral umpire, as an institution that is open to learning and continuous improvements, has also committed to taking on board more ideas, innovation and reforms that will further enhance the integrity and credibility of our electoral process. As a country, we have put the elections behind us. President Tinubu is facing the arduous task of nation-building, while those who have reasons to challenge the process continue to do so through the courts. In just one month in office, Nigerians appear satisfied with the decisive leadership of President Tinubu and the manner he is redirecting the country to the path of fiscal sustainability and socio-economic reforms. We urge the EU and other foreign interests to be objective in all their assessments of the internal affairs of our country and allow Nigeria to breathe.

News

Court Restrains NLC, TUC from Embarking on Strike, Protest in Abuja

Published

9 hours ago

February 2, 2026

Eric

The National Industrial Court sitting in Abuja has stopped the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and their affiliates from proceeding with a planned protest in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Justice Emmanuel Sibilim issued the interim injunction on Monday, barring the labour unions from embarking on any form of industrial action or protest within the nation’s capital. The court also restrained three individuals — Comrades Benson Upah, General NA Toro and Stephen Knabayi — who were listed as respondents in the suit.

The ruling followed an ex parte application jointly filed by the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA). The motion, marked NICN/ABJ/30/26, was argued on behalf of the applicants by a legal team led by Mr. James Onoja, SAN.

In its order, the court restrained the 1st to 5th respondents, “their privies or agents, from embarking on strike pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.” It further directed the 5th to 9th defendants, who are security agencies, to ensure that there is no breakdown of law and order in the FCT.

The claimants informed the court that the Chairman of the FCT Council had circulated a mobilisation message to union members and affiliates, calling for a mass protest scheduled for February 3. They argued that the planned action amounted to a violation of an existing court order.

According to the FCT Minister, an earlier injunction was granted by the court on January 27, after which the NLC and TUC allegedly issued fresh directives to their affiliates to intensify and sustain the strike, citing an appeal they had filed against the restraining order. He maintained that such actions were intended to provoke chaos and disrupt public order in Abuja.

Following the ruling, the court adjourned the substantive matter to February 10 for hearing.

Details contained in an affidavit filed in support of the application outlined the sequence of events that led to the court action. The claimants averred that:

“On the 19th of January, 2026, the workers in the employment of the 2nd Claimant acting under the aegis of the Joint Unions Action Committee (JUAC), commenced an industrial action by locking all entrance to offices and the secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, including closure of schools and all departments and agencies of the 2nd Claimant. Thereby, bringing the governmental functions and activities of the Claimants to a standstill.”

The affidavit further stated: “Being law abiding, the claimants herein instituted an action at the National Industrial Court Abuja, in Suit No: NICN/ABJ/17/2026, between the FCT Minister & anor V. Rifkatu Iortyer & anor, wherein the court on the 27th of January, 2026 made an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants therein JUAC, its affiliate unions, and all employees of the 2nd Claimant were restrained from further embarking on any industrial action, and ordered to resume work pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”

The claimants alleged that the injunction was openly disregarded after it was served on the parties.

“Immediately the order of the court was served on parties, the 1st Defendant acting through the 3rd Defendant issued a directive titled: ‘REINFORCEMENT DIRECTIVE TO ALL AFFILIATE UNIONS IN THE FCT’ urging the workers in the employment of the 2nd Claimant to resume industrial action,” the affidavit read.

It added that on January 28, the NLC and TUC issued another directive titled: “‘DEFEND YOUR RIGHTS WITH COURAGE AND DIGNITY: WE ARE WITH YOU’ wherein they directed that workers of the 2nd Claimant should resume industrial action and jettison the order of the National industrial Court made on the 27/1/2026.”

The court filing further stated that the Joint Unions Action Committee (JUAC) subsequently followed the directive, instructing its members to resume the strike through a notice dated January 28, 2026, signed by Comrade Abdullahi Umar Saleh as JUAC secretary.

According to the affidavit, the situation escalated when the FCT Council allegedly issued another mobilisation notice.

“Acting under the directives aforementioned, the 5th Defendant, acting, as the chairperson of the 1st Defendant; FCT Council, issued a directive on the 31/1/2026, to all affiliate unions named therein to mobilize their members who are employees of the 2nd Claimant for a mass protest in the Federal Capital Territory… on the 3rd of February, 2026 by 7.00 am prompt with a view to causing chaos, breakdown of law and order, and prevent the smooth administration of the 2nd Claimant.”

The claimants said they were compelled to return to court out of fear that the planned protest could disrupt vehicular movement and infringe on the rights of residents and visitors to the FCT.

“The Claimants are apprehensive of the breakdown of law and order obstruction of vehicular movement, violation of the rights of the residents of the Federal Capital Territory, particularly those in the private sector and other government establishments, which includes other States of the Federation, expatriates and tourists, hence the resort to court action,” the affidavit concluded.

News

Ex-Cross River Gov Donald Duke Joins ADC

Published

3 days ago

January 30, 2026

Eric

Former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, has resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), formally pitching his tent with the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Duke registered as an ADC member in Ward 5 of Calabar Municipality, where he collected his party membership card, marking his official entry into the opposition party.

His move comes amid recent internal concerns within the ADC in Cross River State. Former ADC governorship candidate, Dr Effiong Nyong, had written to the party’s National Chairman, protesting the inclusion of some individuals from the state in the ADC’s 50 Wise Men and Women Policy Manifesto Committee.

Nyong faulted a statement by the ADC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, which listed persons who, according to him, neither resigned from the PDP nor made contributions to the ADC, calling for their removal.

Political observers believe Duke’s swift formal registration may be linked to the controversy, as the former governor had earlier been named among prominent figures associated with the party.

Recall that Duke previously left the PDP for the Social Democratic Party (SDP), where he emerged as the party’s presidential candidate under controversial circumstances.

Meanwhile, ADC leaders in Bakassi Local Government Area have intensified calls on Cross Riverians to identify with the party, describing it as a credible alternative ahead of future elections.

Rising from a stakeholders’ meeting involving chapter executives, ward chairmen, and secretaries, party leaders accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of misrule and urged Nigerians to reclaim the country.

In a statement signed by the Bakassi Chapter Chairman, Emmanuel Asuquo, and Secretary, Eko Boco, the party reaffirmed its loyalty to the ADC national leadership, pledging support for the National Chairman, Senator David Mark, and National Secretary, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, while urging undecided citizens to join the party’s “transformative agenda.”

News

Police Nab Suspect Behind Dummy Bomb Threat to Lagos Schools

Published

4 days ago

January 30, 2026

Eric

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 25-year-old man over alleged fake bomb threat messages to two private schools in Ikeja Government Reserved Area (GRA).

The suspect was tracked and arrested on January 24 in the Okota area of Lagos State following digital investigations.

According to the sources, the suspect allegedly sent WhatsApp messages threatening a fire explosion to the Human Resources Manager of AVI–CEENA School and the Chief Security Officer of Grange School, both located in Ikeja GRA.

Although the messages were sent from an unknown phone number, police said digital tracking led to the identification and arrest of the suspect, identified as Kosisochukwu Chukwuekenyem Ogbumuo.

The suspect is currently in police custody and will be charged to court on conclusion of investigations.

Police said inquiries are ongoing to determine the motive behind the threats and whether other individuals were involved.

The Lagos State Police Command reassured parents, school authorities and residents of Ikeja GRA of its commitment to maintaining security and preventing panic or disruption within the education sector.