The acting Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Edo State, Jarrett Tenebe, has sparked outrage after allegedly threatening a woman on Facebook for criticising Governor Monday Okpebholo.

The woman, identified as Blessing P. Agho, reportedly shared screenshots of private messages in which Tenebe issued threats against her life following her comments about the governor.

In the messages, Tenebe allegedly wrote, “Your death is close. You are a bastard, just show where you are if you can. APC. Death awaits you, idiot. Send me your address or come out to Wuse 2 in front of Atiku’s campaign office at 9pm tomorrow.”

Agho, reacting publicly, condemned the threat and questioned Tenebe’s conduct as a political leader. In her post, she wrote, “The APC state chairman, Jarrett Tenebe, threatened me via messenger. How did this retarded, mentally unstable person end up becoming a state chairman? No wonder there are calls to remove him from office. Okpebholo, see your state party chairman. When will you demolish his house?”

The incident has triggered widespread criticism on social media, with many Nigerians expressing concern over the tone of political engagement and calling on law enforcement agencies to investigate the matter.

The development also revived attention on earlier remarks by Tenebe, in which he publicly declared unwavering loyalty to Governor Okpebholo while addressing party supporters at the ‘Edo State City Boy employment 2025’ event.

During that appearance, he stated, “That our loyalty to our governor is of no break, no gear, no sense.”

He added, “The explanation is this: Anything the governor tells us to do, we cannot argue, because he has all the special advisers and all the special assistance.”

Using an analogy to describe the party’s posture, Tenebe said, “If you have ever seen a vehicle or truck with no gear and descending; you know how deadly such a vehicle is. That’s what we are as a party in this state. Because we have no sense.”

He further remarked, “The governor has already told us that 3.5 million votes for President Bola Tinubu must be guaranteed and is already settled.”

Mustapha Lecky,

A former National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mustapha Lecky, has said Nigeria is not yet equipped, legally or technologically, for real-time electronic transmission of election results.

Lecky made the remark on Friday while speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, amid growing public debate over the Senate’s decision not to mandate electronic transmission of results in the proposed Electoral Act amendment.

The Senate had faced criticism after declining to amend Section 60 of the Electoral Act to compel INEC officials to upload polling unit results directly to the commission’s Result Viewing Portal in real time.

Reacting to the controversy, Lecky argued that the push for instant transmission was misplaced, noting that Nigeria still operates a manual voting system rather than electronic voting.

According to him, it is illogical to demand real-time electronic uploads when ballots are still cast and counted manually at polling units.

He explained that results must first be physically counted in the presence of party agents and observers before they are documented on official forms, particularly the EC8A result sheet, which he described as central to the electoral process.

Lecky maintained that Nigeria is far from adopting full electronic voting and should not rush into real-time digital transmission without the necessary legal backing and technological infrastructure.

He also pointed to persistent gaps in telecommunications coverage across many polling areas, warning that such limitations could undermine any attempt at nationwide electronic uploads.

Beyond infrastructure concerns, the former commissioner cautioned that premature adoption of real-time transmission could expose the electoral process to cyber threats in a country still strengthening its digital systems.

He advised that, rather than pursue instant uploads, INEC should focus on improving and fully optimising existing tools such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and the Result Viewing Portal to ensure transparency and reliability.

Lecky concluded that strengthening current mechanisms would deliver more credible outcomes than introducing reforms the country is not yet prepared to sustain.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and FCT Minister Nyesom Wike are facing criticism for their curious failure in celebrating Abuja’s 50th anniversary, especially since seven other states created on the same day, February 3, 1976, marked their golden jubilee with a great deal of noisy celebrations.

According to the constitution, Tinubu is the Governor of Abuja and so he only delegates his powers to Wike as FCT Minister.

It is incredible and painfully so that the landmark anniversary, 50th birthday of Abuja passed with little fanfare, sparking outrage among Abuja’s residents and indigenous communities, who feel insulted, marginalised and excluded from the city’s development.

The indigenous communities who are demanding attention from the federal authorities, demand recognition of their rights, compensation for displaced lands, and inclusive governance.

Strangely, Wike, 58 has attributed the lack of elaborate celebrations to focusing on projects for Tinubu’s third anniversary.

According to the Minister, The FCT administration plans to mark the golden jubilee during Tinubu’s anniversary celebrations, highlighting infrastructure projects and achievements.

‘Wike’s belated alibi’ According to a fact file, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said that the FCT administration would celebrate FCT at 50 during the third anniversary of President Bola Tinubu.

Wike disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday this week, during a meeting with members of staff of the FCT Administration as part of activities to celebrate the territory’s golden jubilee.

He said that a committee would soon be inaugurated to plan the FCT golden Jubilee and Tinubu’s third anniversary.

The minister, who thanked God that FCT clocked 50 years during his time as minister, said that a compendium for the golden jubilee would be unveiled during the celebration in three months time.

While justifying the curious merger of Abuja at 50 with Tinubu at three (3), the Minister said that the transformation in the FCT and other achievements recorded in the last two and a half years wouldn’t have been possible if not for the support of Tinubu.

He argued that infrastructural development in the FCT was slow until Tinubu removed the administration from the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which enabled access to funding to execute life-impacting projects across the territory.

“Every time we say, for years, no infrastructure. Why would there be infrastructure when there’s something restraining you, but removing FCT from TSA allows the administration to access funding from commercial banks.

“Today, everybody is saying there’s massive infrastructural development. If that was not made possible, we would still be hanging around; we would still be saying nothing is going on. So, we must appreciate somebody who has laid the foundation for us to get to where we are,” he said.

He pointed out that beyond infrastructural transformation, workers of the FCT Administration had equally recorded a milestone under Tinubu, particularly in career progression to Permanent Secretaries or Head of FCT Civil Service.

His words: “Ministers have come and gone; presidents have come and gone but no one made this possible except Tinubu. Today, every worker is happy that there’s hope that they can be a permanent secretary. There’s hope they can be a Head of Service. This is not easy to achieve but somebody made it possible…”

Earlier, Mr Richard Dauda, the acting Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), raised not a few eyebrows when he noted that the level of achievements recorded within the last two and half years in infrastructural development was unprecedented in the 50-year history of the FCT and the FCDA.

He said that at the inception of the current FCT Administration in August 2023, a number of projects were inherited from previous administrations.

According to Dauda, many of these projects have now been completed and inaugurated while the remaining few have been taken to an appreciable level of completion.

“This is as a result of the commitment, dedication and proactive drive of the leadership of the current Administration under Wike,” he said.

He added that Wike had inaugurated about nine projects during the first-year anniversary of Tinubu in 2024 and 17 projects in 2025 during the second-year anniversary.

Dauda expressed confidence that with the number of ongoing projects being planned for inauguration to mark Tinubu’s third anniversary, “it is likely to hit 50 projects inaugurated since Wike assumed duty as FCT minister in August 2023.

But despite the Minister’s alibi and the Executive Secretary’s hyperbole, critics are still arguing that Abuja’s progress narrative masks governance issues, citing poor service delivery, labour unrest, and uneven growth.

The city’s original vision as a symbol of unity and order has been overshadowed by systemic challenges, which triggered labour unrest suspended on the day of celebration that never was.

Specifically, President Tinubu, as Abuja’s governor, should indeed apologise to the nation and acknowledge the reproachful oversight.

Given Obasanjo’s attendance at Ogun’s 50th celebration, it’s clear the president should’ve prioritised Abuja’s milestone.

Obasanjo was the Head of State who pioneered the development of the 50 years old Capital when his boss was assassinated just ten days after the proclamation.

Apart from Obasanjo, General Yakubu Gowon, who began the original plan, General Ibrahim Babangida who actualised the relocation on December 12, 1991, General Abdusalami Abubakar whose regime approved so many projects including the CBN exquisite building should have been in Abuja on Tuesday February 3, 2026 to celebrate unarguably Nigeria’s most remarkable achievement since independence: building a brand new nation’s capital.

The seven states that were also created on the same day marked their own with pomp and panoply.

They didn’t have to wait for the anniversary of the leader of the country. And so here is the thing, Wike’s alibi is strange and unacceptable.

That is why I would like to suggest from the most powerful office in the land, the Office of the Citizen in Nigeria that the Governor of the FCT (the President) should apologise to the nation for making us to miss the frills and thrills of celebrating Nigeria’s most significant achievement and milestone on the day and time it mattered.

This is worth reiterating. Abuja’s celebration shouldn’t have been overshadowed by other engagements such as politics in Rivers state.

The FCT Minister and the Governor of Rivers state were at the presidential Villa for some conflict resolution issue when the Minister should be receiving guests for the special anniversary at the International Conference Centre, Abuja where Malam Nasir el-Rufai organised a month-long 30th Anniversary 20 years ago (2006).

I was one of the recipients of the many awards and certificates signed by the then President, Olusegun Onasanjo. It was glorious and majestic.

Here is the inconvenient truth: The lack of celebration for Abuja’s 50th anniversary risks eroding the nation’s memory and history.

Wike’s explanation seems inadequate, and it’s concerning that the FCT’s administration is being overshadowed by other priorities.

FCT is more than a state. It is the capital of the federation (of 36 states). It is the seat of power and the Minister is the landlord to the President and all heads of Government among other senior officers in the three arms of government.

He signs even Certificates of Occupancy for the president who gives him office and power and other governors in the federation, let alone other citizens.

That is part of the majesty of democracy and the law. After all, as he (Wike) had observed, it has pleased God to keep him as FCT Minister when the capital clocked 50.

He was only eight years old when General Murtala Muhammed proclaimed Abuja as the capital of the federation on February 3, 1976.

Meanwhile, the President should not continue to allow the Minister to be beating chest openly that his performance has within two and half years trumped all the ministers before him.

While justifying the curious merger of Abuja at 50 with Tinubu at three (3), the Minister attributed too much to the Tinubu administration and himself as quoted above.

He pointed out too that beyond infrastructural transformation, workers of the FCTA had equally recorded a milestone under Tinubu, particularly in career progression to Permanent Secretaries or Head of FCT Civil Service.

As I was saying, even the acting Executive Secretary, FCDA surprised many when he noted that the level of achievements recorded within the last two and half years in infrastructural development was unprecedented in the 50-year history of the FCT and the FCDA.

The same Dauda said that at the inception of the administration in August 2023, a number of projects were inherited from previous administrations.

According to the same Dauda, many of these projects have now been completed and inaugurated while the remaining few have been taken to an appreciable level of completion.
Facts are sacred.

The FCT Minister’s claim that development had been slow before the President approved the TSA isn’t accurate. The FCT infrastructure and superstructure had been developed for 47 years before Wike was appointed.

What is the major infrastructure apart from completion of roads (infrastructure) that the ES, Dauda was referring to last Wednesday? There are about 50 Districts in Abuja and more than 30 had been developed with inner-city road infrastructure in Garki, Wuse, Wuse 2, Maitama, Maitama Extension, Asokoro, Asokoro Extensions, Wuye, Jahi, Guzape, etc.

Yes more than thirty of the Districts had been developed long before APC won election in 2015. All the major Hospitals in Abuja Garki, Wuse, Maitama, Asokoro, Life Camp, Karu, Kunwa, Nyanyan, etc had been completed long before Wike assumed office. What of the many schools and other agencies of the federal government and the FCT in Abuja?

What of the Federal Secretariat and the Head Office of Head of the Civil Service of the Federation? What of the elegant Foreign Affairs Ministry? Did he build the Central Bank of Nigeria? Who built all the houses the federal government sold to civil servants in Abuja under the Obasanjo administration?

Who founded the University of Abuja in 1988? Who built the Supreme Courts official Quarters? Who built the original NICON-NOGA-Hilton Hotel where they used to spoil people a little? What of the old Sheraton Hotel (now Abuja Continental Hotel)?

Who built the Old Le Meridien Hotel, (now NICON Luxury)? Who developed the Apo Legislators’ Quarters? Who built the iconic Life Camp? Who dreamed of the massive Federal Housing Authority in Gwarimpa?

Who built the magnificent Aso Presidential Villa? Who built the DSS Head quarters? What of Louis Edet House, Police Force Headquarters?

Who built the Nigerian Intelligence Agency, NIA extraordinary edifice? Who built the FCT and Federal High Courts, the Courts of Appeal, the Supreme Court edifices?

And this: who built the National Assembly Complex and the NASS Offices? Did the current administration meet the 10-lane Road from the City Gate to Giri and from the City Centre to Zuba (the so-called Murtala Muhammed Way they didn’t label anywhere? Who built the massive Defence Headquarters in Area 10? Who constructed the Radio House?

Who built the numerous armed forces quarters and estates? Who built the International Conference Centre Wike renovated and named after the President last year? Lest we forget, the Buhari government actually enacted the Abuja Civil Service Act (signed by Ag President Yemi Osinbajo, which Minister Bello didn’t implement.

There are many more questions in this regard. But the point is that no doubt, Minister Wike has remarkably completed so many road projects, yes road projects he inherited from the colourless Musa Bello, his successor.

But he should not continue to claim that what he has done in just two and half years has diminished what others had built for 47 years before his arrival. In the main, the belated 50th Anniversary Committee should remember the legacies of all the founding fathers and builders who had laboured to build Abuja for 47 years before May 29 2023.

May the labours of Abuja’s heroes past not be in vain whenever they celebrate Abuja!

By Dr. Oby Ezekwesili,

The wisest and free advice that the Nigerian Senate, as well as the House of Representatives, can receive from all well-meaning citizens of our country now is to know when to stop playing with fire.

Nigerians mostly see the Senate as an ignoble and withering institution that delights in deliberate betrayal of public trust. Our lawmakers at large are well known for consistently prioritising personal and partisan interests over constituent welfare: Blocking or watering down reform legislation (electoral reform, anti-corruption measures, constitutional amendments for devolution of power); their selfish custom of inflated budgetary allocations for the legislature while public services collapse; a pattern of confirming clearly unfit nominees for executive positions in exchange for political favours; and several other perfidious actions at the public expense.

The Senate on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, voted against a proposed amendment to make electronic transmission of election results mandatory in the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill and then proceeded to try to deceive Nigerians by claiming that it “did not reject electronic transmission.”

What the Senate did is worse, and their denial is disingenuous. Let us dispense with euphemisms and doublespeak. What the senators did in that opaque Closed Plenary Session was retain the critical clause–Section 60 of the Electoral Act 2022, specifically subsection (5) with the current wording: “The presiding officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.”

By deliberately retaining the vague language that leaves the method and timing of transmitting election results to the discretion of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), rather than requiring real-time uploads from polling units, the Senate has once again weaponised ambiguity in our electoral law.

The brazen actions of the senators were neither an innocent choice nor some sort of technical oversight. It was also not a neutral legislative compromise of “letting sleeping dogs lie,” because there must surely be a few of them who know better, as they are daily in touch with our public reality and the extremely angry mood of the majority of impoverished citizens who are exhausted by corruption and bad governance.

Calling a spade a spade, as I am wont to do, the senators took a calculated decision despite their full knowledge of recent history. No reasonable Nigerian is fooled by the shenanigans of the Senate. Every Nigerian who paid attention to the 2023 general election knows that the exact clause the Senate deliberately reaffirmed is the same discretionary loophole that was at the centre of the crisis that terribly eroded public trust and fatally damaged the integrity of our democracy.

Real-time electronic transmission from polling units was promised in practice but not enforced in law. When it failed, Nigerians were told to accept “procedural explanations” instead of verifiable outcomes.

It was that same clause retained by the Nigerian Senate at their sitting that created a gap between what Nigerians were repeatedly reassured would happen in the 2023 elections and the fiasco that the law permitted INEC to actually carry out in betrayal of public trust. It was that clause that offered a badly compromised judiciary the opportunity to pronounce a judgment which created confusion, distrust, national tension, and delegitimised the government that was sworn into office.

That gap nearly pushed the country into turmoil.

For the Senate to now deliberately preserve the same ambiguity, after witnessing its consequences, is an act of grave irresponsibility. When lawmakers reject clear, enforceable safeguards and instead cling to ambiguity, they are not protecting institutions–they are protecting a predetermined outcome.

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Adding salt to injury, the Senate’s statement that “we did not reject electronic transmission” while refusing to make it mandatory is political sleight of hand. Electronic transmission that is optional, discretionary, and unenforceable is no safeguard at all against the systemic electoral fraud that has plagued our country with a long history of electoral manipulation and weak institutional trust.

The Senate knows that “discretion” does not reassure citizens. That is why Nigerians see this Senate vote against a legal mandate for electronic transmission of results for what it is–a willful and deliberate refusal to close the door that was abused in 2023. This action sends a clear signal to Nigerians that lessons from 2023 have been ignored, that transparency is negotiable, and that those in power prefer plausible deniability to democratic certainty.

No one is deceived. The senators must never again insult the intelligence of Nigerians by pretending this is about “INEC’s independence” or “operational flexibility.” Institutional independence does not require opacity, and flexibility should never be a cover for unverifiability. Every serious democracy hardwires clarity, transparency, and compulsion into its electoral laws precisely to protect the system from bad actors–especially those in power in the case of Nigeria.

The 2023 elections tested Nigeria’s cohesion. Our country survived not because the system worked well, but because citizens restrained themselves in the face of deep frustration. If future elections are again disputed under the cover of discretionary loopholes, responsibility will be clear.

It will lie with those who saw the danger, understood it fully, and chose to plunge Nigerians into it anyway. I am certain that by now the senators have heard the unified stance of Nigerians on electronic transmission of results since the news of their unpopular decision was published and will therefore avoid plunging the country into crisis.

I am therefore certain that the Nigerian Senate now knows what it must do immediately.

Senators, cancel that emergency two-week break announced on February 5, all return to the Red Chamber of the National Assembly complex, and in a broadcast Plenary Session, unanimously pass into law the exact text of the reform that was proposed to the clause on electronic transmission of results.

For avoidance of any confusion, here is the exact text of the key proposed provision from the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill: “The presiding officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in real time, and such transmission shall be done after the prescribed Form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and, where available, countersigned by candidates or polling unit agents.”

Simple! It is not wise to play with fire. Transparency is always better.

Ezekwesili is the Founder, School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG).

The Obidient Movement Worldwide has warned of a possible mass protest against the National Assembly following the Senate’s stance on real-time electronic transmission of election results, saying the decision could weaken public confidence in the 2027 general elections.

The group’s National Coordinator, Yunusa Tanko, made this known in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, noting that while no specific date had been fixed, preparations for a nationwide demonstration were underway.

The development comes after the Senate declined an amendment to Clause 70(3) of the Electoral Amendment Bill that sought to make electronic transmission of results from polling units mandatory.

Explaining the position of the upper chamber earlier, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said lawmakers did not reject electronic transmission outright but retained the current provision in the Electoral Act.

The law states that presiding officers are to transfer results, including details of accredited voters and ballots cast, using a method prescribed by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

In a statement titled Obidient Movement Rejects Non-Passage of Electronic Transmission of Results, Calls for March to National Assembly, Tanko criticised the Senate’s decision, describing it as a move that could sustain manual collation and undermine electoral transparency.

He argued that the decision represents a setback for electoral reforms and threatens democratic accountability, stressing that Nigerians have consistently demanded credible and technology-driven election processes.

According to him, failing to make electronic transmission compulsory could erode public trust and reopen controversies that trailed the 2023 general elections, particularly disputes linked to result collation and transmission.

Tanko further accused the political class of prioritising vested interests over democratic progress and questioned why technological tools used in party processes are not fully adopted for national elections.

He also alleged double standards by the ruling All Progressives Congress, claiming the party supports digital processes internally while resisting broader electoral transparency measures.

The movement, however, said its planned action would be peaceful, calling on Nigerians to join in demanding urgent legislative reconsideration of the matter.

It urged the National Assembly to reconvene and pass a law mandating real-time electronic transmission of results to the INEC Result Viewing portal, insisting that such reforms are necessary to safeguard the credibility of future elections.

“A stitch in time saves nine. A New Nigeria is Possible,” the statement added.