National

INEC Chair’s Vacancy Should Be Advertised for People to Apply – Falana

Published

1 month ago

October 23, 2025

Eric

A notable rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has insisted that a thorough process for the selection of the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will go a long way to make the body free from external control.

Falana said that advertising the vacant positions of members of the electoral commission and resident electoral commissioners, as recommended by the Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais panel in 2008, would guarantee the independence of INEC.

According to him, such a process was already in place in African countries.

“What other countries in Africa have done – Lesotho, Botswana, and the rest of them – is to put in place a mechanism whereby vacant positions in the electoral bodies are advertised.

“And this was the recommendation of the Uwais Panel as far back as 2008, that in choosing members of the electoral commission and resident electoral commissioners, we should advertise the positions,” the lawyer said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.

“Right now, such an advert has just been published in Lesotho, an African country, so that those who believe they are credible will conduct good elections, men and women of character and integrity will apply.

“Members of the public will be given the opportunity to object to any of them who are not qualified morally or otherwise. And then the names are shortlisted, and the best three are sent to the National Assembly,” he explained.

“The Uwais Panel had recommended that the National Judicial Council be the body that will scrutinise the candidates and recommend the best three.

“So the President will simply take the names to the National Assembly for the legislators to choose from the list.

“This goes a long way to make the body free from control,” the SAN added.

Falana’s position came amid concerns over the ability of INEC to conduct transparent and fair elections without interference.

Last Thursday, the Senate has confirmed a Law professor, Joash Amupitan, as the new Chairman of the INEC after screening him at the upper chamber.

The 58-year-old academic was nominated by President Bola Tinubu earlier and received formal endorsement from the National Council of State.

When sworn in, Amupitan will become the sixth substantive Chairman of INEC, succeeding Mahmood Yakubu, who has officially concluded his tenure.

National

Tinubu Names Immediate Past CDS Chris Musa As New Defence Minister

Published

3 days ago

December 2, 2025

Eric

President Bola Tinubu has named retired General Christopher Gwabin Musa as the new Minister of Defence.

This comes barely 24 hours after the presidency announced the resignation Of Mohammed Badaru Abubakar from the position.

While presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, had said Badaru resigned on health grounds, the 63-year-old former Jigawa State governor’s resignation may not be unconnected with the recent surge in insecurity in the country.

Onanuga said, “In a letter to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu conveyed General Musa’s nomination as the successor to Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who resigned on Monday.”

General Musa, 58, served as Chief of Defence Staff from 2023 until October 2025.

He won the Colin Powell Award for Soldiering in 2012.

Born in Sokoto in 1967, General Musa received his primary and secondary education there before attending the College of Advanced Studies in Zaria. He graduated in 1986 and enrolled at the Nigerian Defence Academy the same year, earning a Bachelor of Science degree upon graduation in 1991.

General Musa was commissioned into the Nigerian Army as a Second Lieutenant in 1991 and has since had a distinguished career. His appointments include General Staff Officer 1, Training/Operations at HQ 81 Division; Commanding Officer, 73 Battalion; Assistant Director, Operational Requirements, Department of Army Policy and Plans; and Infantry Representative/Member, Training Team, HQ Nigerian Army Armour Corps.

In 2019, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff, Training/Operations, Headquarters Infantry Centre and Corps; Commander, Sector 3, Operation Lafiya Dole; and Commander, Sector 3 Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad Region.

In 2021, General Musa was appointed Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai. He later became Commander of the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps before being appointed Chief of Defence Staff by President Tinubu in 2023.

In the letter to the Senate, President Tinubu expressed confidence in General Musa’s ability to lead the Ministry of Defence and further strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture.

National

Pastor Bakare Advises Tinubu to Apologize to Traumatized Communities, Accept Responsibility for Failure

Published

4 days ago

December 1, 2025

Eric

The Lead Pastor of the Citadel Global Community Church, Tunde Bakare, has urged President Bola Tinubu to publicly apologize to communities devastated by insecurity.

Bakare made the call on Sunday during his State of the Nation Address in Lagos, saying the gesture would mark a commitment to justice and national healing.

The cleric acknowledged that the president had taken initial steps to address the crisis but insisted that deeper action is required to restore confidence.

He said the government must first accept responsibility for decades of failure to protect citizens from terrorism, banditry and other violent crimes.

Bakare said the plan should include a Victims and Survivors Register, a national apology to affected communities after three months, and midterm compensation, stressing that accountability is crucial to restoring public trust and ending the cycle of violence.

National

Jonathan Finally Returns to Abuja After Evacuation from Coup-Hit Guinea-Bissau

Published

7 days ago

November 28, 2025

Eric

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has returned to Abuja after being evacuated from Guinea-Bissau in the wake of a military coup in the West African country.

He arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Thursday.

A video shared by ARISE News captured his arrival, showing Jonathan stepping down from a Guinea-Bissau government aircraft at night as supporters and officials received him.

Jonathan had travelled to the country as the head of the West African Elders Forum Election Observation Mission to monitor last Sunday’s presidential and legislative elections.

His delegation was still on the assignment when the military announced it had taken over the government.

Reports later said that Jonathan was trapped, prompting the House of Representatives, during Thursday’s plenary, to urge the Federal government to use every diplomatic channel to ensure his safe return.

The Federal government subsequently issued a statement confirming that he was safe and had left the country.

“Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is very safe and out of Guinea-Bissau. He left with a special flight with members of his delegation, including Mohamed Chambas,” the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, said in an interview with journalists.