Human-rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria Femi Falana says a new bill that would force every eligible Nigerian to vote and punish absentees with six months in jail or a ₦100,000 fine conflicts with the 1999 Constitution.

The proposal, introduced by House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas to combat low turnout and make voting a “legal obligation,” ignores several charter guarantees, Falana argued Monday.

“I doubt that the speaker and his colleagues paid sufficient attention to the relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution,” he said.

“Otherwise, they would have realised that compulsory voting is constitutionally invalid in every material particular on the ground that it is inconsistent with sections 37, 38, 77(2), 135(5), and 178(5) of the constitution.”

Those clauses, Falana noted, protect privacy, freedom of thought and conscience, and the right to register and vote voluntarily.

He cited Supreme Court precedents upholding personal choice, including Medical and Dental Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal v Okonkwo (2001), where the court affirmed a patient’s right to refuse blood transfusion on religious grounds.

Justice Emmanuel Ayoola’s opinion in that case held that “the right to privacy implies a right to protect one’s thought, conscience or religious belief … and a right not to be coerced into acting contrary to one’s religious belief.”

Falana also referenced the court’s decision supporting Muslim students’ right to wear hijab, underscoring the judiciary’s defense of individual liberties.

Beyond legal hurdles, he called the plan unworkable: “It is practically impossible to prosecute millions of Nigerian voters who may decide to boycott national and local elections.”

Instead of coercion, Falana urged lawmakers to revive substantive reforms recommended by the Uwais Electoral Reform Panel such as unbundling INEC, adopting proportional representation, resolving election petitions before inaugurations, and creating an electoral offences commission.

The Peoples Democratic Party’s South-East zone has alerted members to “disregard” a circulating invitation to a supposed stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja, calling it a scheme to fracture party unity.

In a statement on Monday, South-East publicity secretary Sir Chigozie Igwe said the notice, signed by one Chidiebere Egwu, who “falsely claims to be the PDP South-East National Vice Chairman”, is “nothing more than a deceptive ploy aimed at misleading members and disrupting our unity.”

“We urge all party faithful to disregard this invitation entirely, as it does not originate from the PDP,” Igwe stressed, describing the move as the handiwork of “paid agents working to undermine the cohesion reaffirmed at the last Zonal Executive Committee meeting.”

He reminded members that “all discussions and decisions concerning the South-East PDP must take place within the region,” noting that the last legitimate gathering occurred at Enugu Government House on 14 May 2025 under Governor Peter Mbah.

Igwe added that the zonal congress which elected Chief Ali Odefa as chairman “has been ratified by the National Working Committee” and is “not in dispute.”

“Let it be unequivocally stated that Chidiebere Egwu is not recognized as a PDP member and has willingly positioned himself as a tool for destabilization,” the statement reads.

“Unity remains our greatest strength, and any unauthorized actions aimed at weakening our resolve will be met with disciplinary measures.”

Sule Lamido, former Jigawa governor and one-time national secretary of the defunct Social Democratic Party, says the SDP threw its weight behind Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 because party leaders wanted “a Yoruba who could lead all Nigerians,” not a figure seen as championing strictly Yoruba interests.

In Chapter 9 of his new memoir Being True to Myself, launched May 13, Lamido recalls that some Yoruba leaders initially proposed Chiefs Olu Falae, Bola Ige, or Abraham Adesanya for the PDP ticket.

But, he writes, “none of these could make a fair and effective president in Nigeria.”

“The effort then was to support Obasanjo,” he says, explaining that retired generals inside the PDP argued the ex-head of state carried nationwide trust and already “had the profile of a prominent Nigerian.”

Obasanjo’s military résumé, chief of staff to Murtala Muhammed, then military head of state, reinforced that view.

Lamido also cites Obasanjo’s decision in 1979 to accept Shehu Shagari’s election victory, despite Yoruba pressure to back Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s court challenge.

That choice, he notes, “upheld the results of the elections” and burnished Obasanjo’s nationalist credentials.

Choosing the former general angered many Yoruba elites, Lamido concedes, in part because Obasanjo had not championed Chief MKO Abiola during the June 12 crisis.

Yet party strategists believed only Obasanjo could serve as “a Yoruba Nigerian President and not president of the Nigerian Yoruba.”

Suspended lawmaker, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has asked the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, to investigate what she calls an attempt on her life by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

In a petition dated 15 May 2025, Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central, alleges that Akpabio is behind “a malicious campaign of criminal defamation, cyber-stalking, conspiracy, and attempted assassination” against her.

Her counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria Sen Ehiogie West-Idahosa, wrote that the complaint is backed by “incontrovertible evidence from public broadcasts, witness testimonies, media reports, and expert analyses.”

The senator says available facts show “a deliberate retaliatory campaign by Senator Akpabio, using proxies and resources at his disposal, to harm her.”

She also urges the Attorney-General to scrutinize “the statements and actions of third-party collaborators who publicly endorsed the defamatory broadcast” to establish their role in the alleged plot.

“We maintain that the actions against our client amount to a criminal enterprise violating multiple laws.”

“We respectfully urge your service to painstakingly investigate the contents of this petition and ensure that justice is expeditiously dispensed to all who may be found wanting regardless of their status in the Nigerian society,” the petition reads.

Vatican security briefly steered Seyi Tinubu aside on Sunday while President Bola Tinubu greeted the newly installed Pope Leo XIV in Vatican City.

Seyi, the president’s eldest son and a visible figure in Nigerian business and politics, was part of the official delegation.

As he moved toward his father during the reception, a plain-clothes Vatican security officer gently redirected him, according to video clips circulating online.

The moment occurred while President Tinubu was exchanging pleasantries with the Pontiff.

The trip also drew attention for a cordial encounter between Tinubu and Peter Obi, his 2023 election rival who famously won Lagos State, the president’s long-time political base.