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Tinubu Seeks UN Security Council Permanent Seat, Opposition ADC Kicks

Published

5 months ago

September 28, 2025

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, at the general debate of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, reawaken the call for a representation of Nigeria on the United Nations Security Council.

The Nigerian President, who was represented by his Vice, Kashim Shettima, insisted that time has come for Africa to have a louder voice in world affairs, and such could be actualized by a seat in the United Nations Security Council, the highest decision making arm of the world body.

He reiterated that Nigeria, as an African giant, is poised to take up the role.

Below are excerpts from the speech as presented by Vice President Shettima:

“We are here to strengthen the prospects for peace, development and human rights.

“Madam President, I want to make four points today to outline how we can do this:

“Nigeria must have a permanent seat at the UN Security Council. This should take place as part of a wider process of institutional reform.”

The Nigerian leader noted that the United Nations would recover its relevance only when it reflects the world as it is, not as it was.

“Nigeria’s journey tells this story with clarity: when the UN was founded, we were a colony of 20 million people, absent from the tables where decisions about our fate were taken.

“Today, we are a sovereign nation of over 236 million, projected to be the third most populous country in the world, with one of the youngest and most dynamic populations on earth.

“A stabilising force in regional security and a consistent partner in global peacekeeping.

“Our case for permanent seat at the Security Council is a demand for fairness, for representation, and for reform that restores credibility to the very institution upon which the hope of multilateralism rests.”

Pledging solidarity to UN80 Initiative, the president intoned that “A bold step to reform the wider United Nations system for greater relevance, efficiency, and effectiveness in the face of unprecedented financial strain.

“We support the drive to rationalise structures and end the duplication of responsibilities and programmes, so that this institution may speak with one voice and act with greater coherence.

“None of us can achieve a peaceful world in isolation. This is the heavy burden of sovereignty. Sovereignty is a covenant of shared responsibility, a recognition that our survival is bound to the survival of others.

“To live up to this charge, we must walk hand in hand with our neighbours and partners. We must follow the trails of weapons, of money, and of people.

“For these forces, too often driven by faceless non-state actors, ignite the fires of conflict across our region,” the President said.

He added, “From this long and difficult struggle with violent extremism, one truth stands clear: military tactics may win battles measured in months and years, but in wars that span generations, it is values and ideas that deliver the ultimate victory.

“We are despised by terrorists because we choose tolerance over tyranny. Their ambition is to divide us and to poison our humanity with a toxic rhetoric of hate.

“Our difference is the distance between shadow and light, between despair and hope, between the ruin of anarchy and the promise of order. We do not only fight wars, we feed and shelter the innocent victims of war.

“This is why we are not indifferent to the devastations of our neighbours, near and distant.

“This is why we speak of the violence and aggression visited upon innocent civilians in Gaza, the illegal attack on Qatar, and the tensions that scar the wider region.

“It is not only because of the culture of impunity that makes such acts intolerable, but because our own bitter experience has taught us that such violence never ends where it begins.”

Meanwhile, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) faulted Tinubu’s push for Nigeria to secure a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, describing it as misplaced while insecurity continues to claim lives across the country.

ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, in a statement on Sunday, argued that President Bola Tinubu cannot push for expanded global roles while allegedly neglecting the primary duty of safeguarding lives and property within Nigeria.

He noted that Nigeria has long advocated for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.

The ADC questioned how an administration struggling to guarantee peace and security at home could credibly seek a place at the table of global security decision-making.

The party stressed that the concern goes beyond insecurity, alleging that Nigeria’s territorial integrity is being undermined under President Bola Tinubu’s leadership.

“The African Democratic Congress finds it absurd that the Tinubu administration could be requesting a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council even as bandits slaughter Nigerians at home and take control of some of the nation’s territories. We, however, wonder how a government that cannot ensure peace or security at home could demand a seat at the table where global security is negotiated and expect to be taken seriously.

“Only last Friday, gunmen, yet again, attacked a mosque in Yandoto village, Zamfara State, and massacred worshippers while abducting several others. Only a few weeks ago, in the same Zamfara State, no fewer than 45 Nigerians were killed, with entire villages sacked and dozens abducted.

“This was after a similar attack in Katsina State had left about 47 dead and several more injured or taken hostage. In just two months, more than 140 Nigerians have been murdered in Katsina and Zamfara alone. As of May 2025, Amnesty International reported over 10,000 lives lost in Nigeria to attacks by various armed groups. These are not numbers, they were human beings, they were Nigerians that this administration had promised renewed hope.

“Only last month, the ADC alerted the public that armed gangs in Zamfara State had extorted over N56 million from farmers as a precondition to access their farmlands. Indeed, with the level of brigandage going on in that state, we are compelled to ask whether Zamfara is still part of Nigeria. Because when non-state actors collect taxes, control access to farms, and kill with impunity, they are no longer mere criminals, they are a parallel government.

“What is happening is not a mere failure of security. It is clear evidence, written in blood and piles of innocent bodies, of a government that has lost control. In any serious country, these situations would have triggered resignations, emergency meetings, and a strategic overhaul. Here, it only receives routine condolence tweets from presidential propagandists.

“This is why we find it patently absurd that the same administration, under whose watch Nigerians are being massacred without let or hindrance, and under whose watch sundry bandits have taken control of parts of the nation’s territory, could stand before the world and ask to be admitted to the highest level of security conversations in the world.

“Fortunately, the rest of the world can see beyond the fine speeches in New York, they see that parts of our country have turned into killing fields, they see that in our country, lives could be brutish, nasty, and short.

“Nigeria’s request for a Security Council seat would indeed remain laughable until our government demonstrates both the capacity and the willingness to secure the lives of its own people.

“Leadership on the global stage must begin with responsibility at home. You cannot be asking to be admitted into the club of those who take the lives of their citizens seriously, while the very land you govern is soaked with the blood of the very people you have sworn to protect while you do nothing.”

The ADC further denounced Tinubu for reportedly missing the commissioning of Nigerian military officers for a second consecutive year.

It continued, “The Nigerian Defence Academy held the passing-out parade and commissioning of 874 officers into the military last Saturday, but the Commander-in-Chief was once again missing in action.

“With the dire security situation in the country, we would have expected the President to seize the occasion to inspire and charge the new officers to give their best in protecting the country and its people.

“We would have expected the President to seize the opportunity of being in Kaduna, at the apex military training institution in the country, to reassure the people of northern Nigeria of his commitment to protect them and their children, to give hope to Zamfara and Katsina, as well as other northern states under siege. But no, instead, the Commander-in-Chief chose to travel to his beloved Lagos to commission the renovation of the National Arts Theatre.

“What all this signals is that this administration is plagued by misplaced priorities. The President has become a passive spectator, watching from a safe distance, while villages burn and prayers end in gunfire.

“With its tragic indifference, this administration could indeed end up creating the dangerous perception that some lives in Nigeria matter less than others.

“A President that was quick to declare a state of emergency over a political crisis in Rivers but has nothing to say about the existential crisis in Zamfara and Katsina cannot claim to believe that all lives matter.”

The quest for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council has remained in the front burner for Nigeria as successive governments have tried in vain to make it a reality.

Would Tinubu succeed?

Headline

Opposition Parties Reject 2026 Electoral Act, Demand Fresh Amendment

Published

14 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Eric

Opposition political parties have rejected the 2026 Electoral Act recently passed by the National Assembly, which President Bola Tinubu swiftly signed into law.

The parties called on the National Assembly to immediately begin a fresh amendment process to remove what they described as “all obnoxious provisions” in the law.

Their position was made known at a press briefing themed “Urgent Call to Save Nigeria’s Democracy,” held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja on Thursday.

In a communiqué read by the Chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) Ahmed Ajuji, the opposition leaders stated:

“We demand that the National Assembly immediately commence a fresh amendment to the Electoral Act 2026, to remove all obnoxious provisions and ensure that the Act reflects only the will and aspiration of Nigerians for free, fair, transparent and credible electoral process in our country. Nothing short of this will be acceptable to Nigerians.”

Some of the opposition leaders present in at the event include former Senate President David Mark; former Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; former Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi; and former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, all from the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The National Chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Ahmed Ajuji, and other prominent members of the NNPP, notably Buba Galadima, were also in attendance.

The coalition said the amended law, signed by Bola Tinubu, contains “anti-democratic” clauses, which they argue may weaken electoral transparency and public confidence in the voting system.

At the centre of the opposition’s concerns is the amendment to Section 60(3), which allows presiding officers to rely on manual transmission of election results where there is communication failure.

According to the coalition, the provision weakens the mandatory electronic transmission of results and could create loopholes for manipulation.

They argued that Nigeria’s electoral technology infrastructure is sufficient to support nationwide electronic transmission, citing previous assurances by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The parties also rejected the amendment to Section 84, which restricts political parties to direct primaries and consensus methods for candidate selection.

They described the change as an unconstitutional intrusion into the internal affairs of parties, insisting that indirect primaries remain a legitimate democratic option.

The opposition cited alleged irregularities in the recent Federal Capital Territory local government elections as evidence of what they described as a broader pattern of electoral compromise.

They characterised the polls as a “complete fraud” and said the outcome has deepened their lack of confidence in the ability of the electoral system to deliver credible elections in 2027.

The coalition also condemned reported attacks on leaders of the African Democratic Congress in Edo State, describing the incidents as a serious threat to democratic participation and political tolerance.

They warned that increasing violence against opposition figures could destabilise the political environment if not urgently addressed.

In their joint statement, the opposition parties pledged to pursue “every constitutional means” to challenge the Electoral Act 2026 and safeguard voters’ rights.

“We will not be intimidated,” the leaders said, urging civil society organisations and citizens to support efforts aimed at protecting Nigeria’s democratic system.

On February 18, 2026, President Bola Tinubu signed the Electoral Act (Amendment) 2026 into law following its passage by the National Assembly. The Act introduced several reforms, including statutory recognition of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and revised election timelines.

However, opposition figures such as Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi have also called for further amendments, particularly over the manual transmission fallback clause, which critics say leaves room for manipulation.

The president said the law will strengthen democracy and prevent voter disenfranchisement.

Tinubu defended manual collation of results, questioned Nigeria’s readiness for full real-time electronic transmission, and warned against technical glitches and hacking.

The Electoral Act sparked intense debate in the National Assembly over how election results should be transmitted ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Civil society groups under the “Occupy NASS” campaign demanded real-time transmission to curb manipulation.

In the Senate, lawmakers clashed during consideration of Clause 60, which allows manual transmission of results if electronic transmission fails.

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (ADC, Abia South) demanded a formal vote to remove the proviso permitting manual transmission, arguing against weakening real-time electronic reporting.

The move led to a heated exchange on the floor, with Senate President Godswill Akpabio initially suggesting the demand had been withdrawn.

After procedural disputes and a brief confrontation among senators, a division was conducted. Fifteen opposition senators voted against retaining the manual transmission proviso, while 55 supported it, allowing the clause to stand.

Earlier proceedings had briefly stalled during clause-by-clause review, prompting consultations and a closed-door session.

In the House of Representatives, a similar disagreement came up over a motion to rescind an earlier decision that mandated compulsory real-time electronic transmission of results to IReV.

Although the “nays” were louder during a voice vote, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas ruled in favour of rescinding the decision, triggering protests and an executive session.

Headline

AFP: How Tinubu’s Govt Paid Boko Haram ‘Huge’ Ransom, Released Two Terrorists for Kidnapped Saint Mary’s Pupils

Published

3 days ago

February 24, 2026

Eric

The Nigerian government paid Boko Haram militants a “huge” ransom of millions of dollars to free up to 230 children and staff the jihadists abducted from a Catholic school in November, an AFP investigation revealed Monday.

Two Boko Haram commanders were also freed as part of the deal, which goes against the country’s own law banning payments to kidnappers. The money was delivered by helicopter to Boko Haram’s Gwoza stronghold in northeastern Borno state on the border with Cameroon, intelligence sources told AFP.

The decision to pay the militants is likely to irritate US President Donald Trump, who ordered air strikes on jihadists in northern Nigeria on Christmas Day and has been sent military trainers to help support Nigerian forces.

Nigerian government officials deny any ransom was paid to the armed gang that snatched close to 300 schoolchildren and staff from St. Mary’s boarding school in Papiri in central Niger state on November 21. At least 50 later managed to escape their captors.

Boko Haram has not been previously linked to the kidnapping, but sources told AFP one of its most feared commanders was behind the mass abduction: the notorious jihadist known as Sadiku.

He infamously held up a train from the capital in 2022 and netted hefty ransoms for the release of government officials and other well-off passengers.

Boko Haram, which has waged a bloody insurgency since 2009, is strongest in northeast Nigeria.

But a cell in central Niger state operates under Sadiku’s leadership. The St. Mary’s pupils and staff were freed after two weeks of negotiations led by Nuhu Ribadu, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, with the government insisting no ransom was paid. Nigeria’s State Security Service flatly denied paying any money, saying “government agents don’t pay ransoms”.

However, four intelligence sources familiar with the talks told AFP the government paid a “huge” ransom to get the pupils back. One source put it at 40 million naira per head – around $7 million in total.

Another put the figure lower at two billion naira overall. The money was delivered by chopper to Ali Ngulde, a Boko Haram commander in the northeast, three sources told AFP.

Due to the lack of communications cover in the remote area, Ngulde had to cross into Cameroon to confirm delivery of the ransom before the first group of 100 children were released.

Nigeria has long been plagued by mass abductions, with criminals and jihadist groups sometimes working together to extort millions from hostages’ families, and authorities seemingly powerless to stop them.

Source: Africanews

Headline

Unlawful Invasion: El-Rufai Drags ICPC, IGP, Others to Court, Demands N1bn Damages

Published

4 days ago

February 23, 2026

Eric

Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has slammed a ₦1 billion fundamental rights enforcement suit against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for what he claimed was an unlawful invasion of his Abuja residence.

El-Rufai, in a suit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, also listed the Chief Magistrate, Magistrate’s Court of the FCT, Abuja Magisterial District; Inspector-General of Police, and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as 2nd to 4th respondents respectively.

According to the suit filed through his lawyers, led by Oluwole Iyamu, El-Rufai prayed the court to declare that the search warrant issued on February 4 by the Chief Magistrate, Magistrate’s Court of the FCT (2nd respondent), authorising the search and seizure at his residence as invalid, null and void.

Security operatives had stormed and searched the former Governor’s residence in the ongoing investigations against him.

However, he argued in the case marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/345/2026, that the search was in violation of Section 37 of the Constitution, and urged the court to declare that the search warrant was “null and void for lack of particularity, material drafting errors, ambiguity in execution parameters, overbreadth, and absence of probable cause thereby constituting an unlawful and unreasonable search.”

In the suit dated and filed February 20 by Iyamu, ex-governor, who is currently under detention, sought seven reliefs.

He prayed the court to declare that the invasion and search of his residence at House 12, Mambilla Street, Aso Drive, Abuja, on Feb. 19 at about 2pm and executed by agents of ICPC and I-G, “under the aforesaid invalid warrant, amounts to a gross violation of the applicant’s fundamental rights to dignity of the human person, personal liberty, fair hearing, and privacy under Sections 34, 35, 36, and 37 of the Constitution.”

He urged the court to declare that “any evidence obtained pursuant to the aforesaid invalid warrant and unlawful search is inadmissible in any proceedings against the applicant, as it was procured in breach of constitutional safeguards.”

El-Rufai, therefore, sought an order of injunction restraining the respondents and their agents from further relying on, using, or tendering any evidence or items seized during the unlawful search in any investigation, prosecution, or proceedings involving him.

“An order directing the Ist and 3rd respondents (ICPC and I-G) to forthwith return all items seized from the applicant’s premises during the unlawful search, together with a detailed inventory thereof.

“An order awarding the sum of N1,000,000,000.00 (One Billion Naira) as general, exemplary, and aggravated damages against the respondents jointly and severally for the violations of the applicant’s fundamental rights, including trespass, unlawful seizure, and the resultant psychological trauma, humiliation, distress, infringement of privacy, and reputational harm.”

The breakdown of the ₦1 billion in damages includes “a N300 million as compensatory damages for psychological trauma, emotional distress, and loss of personal security;

“A ₦400 million as exemplary damages to deter future misconduct by law enforcement agencies and vindicate the applicant’s rights.

“A ₦300 million as aggravated damages for the malicious, high-handed and oppressive nature of the respondents’ actions, including the use of a patently defective warrant procured through misleading representations.”

He equally sought ₦100 million as the cost of filing the suit, including legal fees and associated expenses.

Iyamu argued that the search warrant was fundamentally defective, lacking specificity in the description of items to be seized, containing material typographical errors, ambiguous execution terms, overbroad directives, and no verifiable probable cause.

He added that the warrant violated Sections 143-148 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015; Section 36 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences (ICPC) Act, 2000, and constitutional protections against arbitrary intrusions and several other constitutional provisions.

“Section 146 stipulates that the warrant must be in the prescribed form, free from defects that could mislead, but the document is riddled with errors in the address, date, and district designation;

“Section 147 allows direction to specified persons, but the warrant’s indiscriminate addressing to “all officers is overbroad and unaccountable.

“Section 148 permits execution at reasonable times, but the contradictory language creates ambiguity, undermining procedural clarity,” he submitted.

Iyamu stated that the execution of the invalid warrant on Feb. 19 resulted in an unlawful invasion of his client’s premises, constituting violations of the rights to dignity (Section 34), personal liberty (Section 35), fair hearing (Section 36), and privacy (Section 37) of the Constitution.

He further argued that the search was conducted without legal justification and in a manner that inflicted humiliation and distress.

“Evidence obtained without a valid warrant is unlawful and inadmissible, as established in judicial precedents such as C.O.P. v. Omoh (1969) NCLR 137, where the court ruled that evidence procured through improper means contravenes fundamental rights and must be excluded,” he said.

In the affidavit in support of the application, Mohammed Shaba, a Principal Secretary to the former governor, averred that on Feb. 19 at about 2p.m., officers from the ICPC and Nigeria Police Force invaded the residence under a purported search warrant issued on or about Feb. 4.

According to him, the said warrant is invalid due to its lack of specificity, errors, and other defects as outlined in the grounds of this application.

He said the “search warrant did not specify the properties or items being searched for.”

Shaba stated that the officers failed to submit themselves for search as provided by the law before proceeding with the search.

“That the Magistrate did not specify the magisterial district wherein he sits.

“That during the invasion, the officers searched the applicant’s premises without lawful authority, seized personal items including documents and electronic devices, and caused the applicant undue humiliation, psychological trauma, and distress.

“Now shown to me and marked as ‘EXHIBIT B’ Is the list of the items carted away.

“That no items seized have been returned, and the respondents continue to rely on the unlawful evidence.

“That the applicant suffered violations of his constitutional rights as a result, and this application is brought in good faith to enforce same,” Shaba said.

Source: Naijanews.com