Nigeria is a nation of parties—literal and metaphorical. It is a Nation too vibrant for monolithic politics. From the fiery debates over whose jollof rice reigns supreme to the cultural pride in regional delicacies like Amala, Tuwo, and protein-laced soups, Nigerians are wired to reject monotony. This culinary diversity mirrors the country’s political appetite: a craving for choice, competition, and flavor. The idea of a one-party system? As implausible as a national consensus on the “best” dish. The 2023 presidential election results, and the political drama unfolding since, only reinforce this truth.

While it is a feast of fractured mandates, a look at the 2023 verdict—whether court-backed, IREV-maligned—reveals no landslide, only a smorgasbord of lessons. The figures speak plainly. President Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) secured 8,794,726 votes (37% of valid votes), narrowly defeating Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with 6,984,520 votes (29%) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) with 6,101,533 votes (25%). Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) trailed with 1,496,687 votes (6%). Tinubu’s victory was neither a sweep nor a mandate of invincibility. Notably, Atiku and Obi’s combined votes (13 million) dwarfed Tinubu’s tally, underscoring a fragmented opposition’s self-inflicted defeat. Had Kwankwaso aligned with Obi or Atiku swallowed his ambition to back a single challenger, the APC’s grip might have snapped.

But let’s not sugarcoat it: the opposition’s failure wasn’t just tactical—it was existential. The PDP, once a behemoth that governed for 16 years, now resembles a retirement home for recycled ideas, while the LP’s surge, though impressive, relied more on Obi’s cult of personality than institutional depth. The NNPP? A regional footnote. Meanwhile, Tinubu’s 37%—the lowest winning share since 1999—exposes a leader ruling with a fractured mandate in a nation where 63% voted against him.

We see a geography of discontent with the nation sliced three ways, such that it further diluted Tinubu’s dominance. He won 12 states, the same as Atiku, while Obi clinched 11 states plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). This regional split—Tinubu in the Southwest, Atiku in the Northwest/Northeast, Obi in the Southeast/South-South—reveals a nation divided yet defiant against hegemony. In Lagos, Tinubu’s “kingmaker” aura cracked as Obi snatched the state, a symbolic blow to the godfather’s invincibility. In Kano, Kwankwaso’s NNPP trounced APC, proving that even the North’s political machine isn’t monolithic.

But here’s the rub: Nigeria’s voting patterns are less about ideology and more about identity. Ethnicity and religion still dictate ballots, with parties serving as vehicles for regional champions. The Southeast’s embrace of Obi, a Christian Igbo, and the North’s loyalty to Atiku, a Fulani Muslim, underscore this reality. Tinubu’s “national” victory? A patchwork of backroom deals, not a unifying vision.

For APC, it must be a gathering storm or a gathering rot, two years is a lifetime in Nigerian politics. The PDP’s 16-year rule collapsed in 2015 under the weight of arrogance and corruption. Today, the APC faces similar vulnerabilities, even as it parades new defectors. Since 2023, the party has absorbed governors, senators, and influencers from the PDP and LP—a trend it touts as strength. But history warns otherwise.

Defectors in Nigerian politics are political nomads, driven by opportunism, not ideology. Recall how Governor Godwin Obaseki defected from APC to PDP in 2020, only to later feud with his new party. Or Senator Dino Melaye, a serial defector whose loyalty shifts with the wind. These “fair-weather allies” dilute party cohesion, breeding internal strife and policy paralysis. The APC’s swelling ranks now resemble a crowded marketplace—full of noise, low on trust. Is this a Trojan horse strategy to implode the party from within? Perhaps. After all, a party bloated with rivals becomes a theatre of war.

It is also important to note that there is also the opposition’s inertia, more like the art of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. While the APC grapples with defection-driven chaos, the opposition’s inertia is equally glaring. Beyond critiquing the APC’s failures—rising insecurity, economic ruin, corruption—the PDP and LP offer little innovation. Their playbook? Recycled promises from the 1990s. Where are the bold visions for Nigeria’s 21st-century crises?

Take youth unemployment: 53% of young Nigerians are jobless, yet neither PDP nor LP has articulated a credible plan to harness this demographic time bomb. Where is the Marshall Plan for renewable energy in a nation where 92 million lack electricity? Or the blueprint for healthcare in a country losing doctors to global brain drains? Instead, opposition leaders recycle slogans like “restructuring” and “unity,” buzzwords as empty as a campaign promise.

Peter Obi’s 2023 momentum, fuelled by youth disillusionment, exposed a hunger for fresh faces. Yet, the LP’s post-election strategy has devolved into legal theatrics and social media hype. Meanwhile, Atiku, 77, clings to his perennial candidacy like a relic, oblivious to a nation where 63% of the population is under 25. The opposition’s fatal flaw? Mistaking anti-APC sentiment for pro-opposition fervor. Nigerians crave solutions, not slogans.

Scary for analysts like us, is the silent majority, the 36 Million ghost voters and our democracy’s unseen crisis. They are perhaps the loudest message from 2023, the 36 million registered voters who stayed home. With just 24 million votes cast (29% of 93 million registered voters), apathy overshadowed enthusiasm. In 2015, turnout was 44%; by 2023, it plummeted to a historic low. For many, politics feels like a choice between “the devil and the deep blue sea.”

But apathy isn’t indifference—it’s dissent. Nigerians are protesting a system rigged against them: a 2023 election marred by voter suppression, technical glitches, and allegations of judicial complicity. Why vote when the courts “correct” the people’s “mistakes”? Why engage when politicians swap parties like runway models change outfits?

This disillusionment is a tinderbox. If 2027 mirrors 2023’s apathy, Nigeria risks a legitimacy crisis—a government elected by a minority, ruling over a seething majority. The stakes? Not just democracy’s survival, but social stability in a nation where 70% live in poverty.

Yet, Nigerian politics thrives on chaos and surprise. Today’s underdog could be tomorrow’s kingmaker. President Muhammadu Buhari lost three elections before clinching power in 2015. Peter Obi rose from LP’s obscurity to win 25% of the 2023 vote. Who’s next?

Watch the youth. With 42% of Nigerians under 14, the next generation is a sleeping giant. Movements like #EndSARS proved their power—and their rage. A candidate leveraging youth angst, tech, and social media could redraw the political map. Imagine a “zebra” candidate—an outsider like #EndSARS activist—channelling this energy into a presidential bid.

Or watch the states. Governors like Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos) or Alex Otti (Abia) are building subnational legacies that could eclipse federal failures. A coalition of progressive governors might just bypass Abuja’s dysfunction altogether.  I believe that there are wildcards and game-Changers—the zebras in the room.

The kitchen is still hot: No One-Dish Democracy. Nigeria’s political menu will never be a one-dish affair. The APC’s current lead is no guarantee of 2027 success, just as the opposition’s disarray isn’t permanent. For democracy to thrive, parties must evolve beyond transactional defections and tired rhetoric. Voters, too, must re-engage, turning apathy into accountability.

To the political class: Adapt or perish. The youth are watching, the hungry are waiting, and the clock is ticking. To Nigerians: The 2027 pot is simmering. Will you add your ingredient, or let others dictate the flavor?

As the dance toward 2027 begins, one truth endures: in a nation where jollof rivalry sparks passion, political complacency is a recipe for disaster. Nigeria’s democracy, like its parties, thrives on vibrancy, not monochrome. The next act awaits—and the audience is starving for change—May Nigeria win!

Prince Charles Dickson PhD

Matthew Kukah, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, said the election of a Catholic pope is not based on the ideology of ’emi lokan’.

Kukah spoke on the subject during a Channels Television interview that aired on May 21.

‘Emi lokan’ is a Yoruba phrase which means ‘it is my turn’. President Bola Tinubu popularised the phrase in June 2022.

Tinubu, then an APC presidential candidate, had said it was his turn to become president after his political support for former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The phrase has since become common in the country’s political discussions.

On May 18, Pope Leo XIV became the leader of the Roman Catholic Church following the death of Pope Francis.

Before the new pope’s election, social media discussions focused on the possibility of an African becoming the pope.

Asked for his take on the discussion, Kukah said human calculations do not determine a pope’s election. He added that Africa should first win the World Cup.

“I think we still have a long way to go. I did write an article in the course of all of this, and I remember remarking on something that happened when Pope John Paul II died and the speculators thought that Cardinal Arinze came very close,” he said.

“But as you know, electing a pope is not like that, it’s not an ’emi lokan’ scenario in which you say, ‘these people have had their turn, now it’s our turn’.”

“No, it doesn’t work like that. And then the pundits who think that this is like betting on a horse or whatever. You always notice that by and large, when people begin to make their speculations, they are using human parameters of their calculation, and very often, most of those who make these calculations simply accumulate their data and suggest this is where it’s going to go.”

“But always, people are shocked in part because the election of a pope is not like any other election anywhere in the world.”

Kukah said the Catholic Church believes that the Holy Spirit chooses the cardinal who becomes pope.

He added that, unlike African politics, there are no special benefits given to the pope’s home country.

[BusinessDay]

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has mandated telecom licensees in Nigeria to inform consumers of major service outages on their networks through media channels, stating the cause(s) of the service interruption, and the area(s) affected by the service interruption/outage, as well as the time that would be taken to restore service.

Consumers must also be informed one week in advance where operators have planned service outages.

This development, contained in the “Directive on Reportage of Major Network Outages by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs),” is part of the Commission’s drive to ensure timely resolution of outages, enhance quality of experience for telecom consumers, and keep consumers informed.

In the directive issued late yesterday, signed by Ag. Head, Public Affairs, Mrs. Nnenna Ukoha, MNOs, Internet Service Providers and other operators that provide last mile services will also provide proportional compensation, including extension of validity, as may be applicable and in line with the provisions of the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations, where any major network outage continues for more than 24 hours.

NCC identifies three types of major outages to include: Any network operational condition such as fibre cut due to construction/access issues/theft and vandalism and force majeure that impacts five per cent or more of the affected operator’s subscriber base or five or more Local Government Areas (LGAs); having an occasion of unplanned outage of, or complete isolation of network resources in 100 or more sites or five per cent of the total number of sites (whichever is less) or one cluster that lasts for 30 minutes or more; and lastly, any form of outage that can degrade network quality in the top 10 states based on traffic volume as specified by the Commission from time to time.

In furtherance of this, the Commission has further directed that all major outages are to be reported by operators through the Commision’s Major Outage Reporting Portal, which is accessible to the public through the Commission’s website, www.ncc.gov.ng. The portal additionally discloses the identity of the culprit responsible for the disruption.

Commenting on the Directive and the Major Outage Reporting Portal, the Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity, Edoyemi Ogor, stated that, “The Commission has trialled the reporting process and portal with operators for some months now before issuing the directive.

“By providing consumers and stakeholders in the telecommunications industry with timely and transparent information on network outages, we are entrenching a culture of accountability and transparency. This approach also ensures that culprits are held responsible for sabotage to telecommunications infrastructure.

“This also aligns with our broader commitment to the effective implementation of the Executive Order signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which designates telecommunications infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII). It reinforces the need to safeguard these assets, given their centrality to national security, economic stability, and the everyday lives of Nigerians,” Ogor, an engineer stated.

[Guardian]

Super Eagles defender Zaidu Sanusi is set to leave Portuguese club, FC Porto this summer.

According to Portuguese news outlet, A Bola, FC Porto are willing to listen to offers for the left-back.

Sanusi suffered an ACL injury in February 2024 and only returned to action in the second half of the current campaign.

The 27-year-old made just two appearances for Porto in the 2024/25 season.

The player reportedly has suitors in Portugal and Europe.

Sanusi linked up with the Dragons from another Portuguese club, Santa Clara in 2020.

[Leadership]

The announcement of the shutdown of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) otherwise known as Port Harcourt Refinery by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has continued to generate angry reactions from industry stakeholders and analysts who reiterated calls for a full privatisation of the government-owned refineries to achieve efficiency and optimisation in the operation of the refineries.

On Friday, the NNPCL announced the shutdown of the refinery with effect from Saturday for scheduled maintenance.

This is coming six months after the refinery commenced truck loading of petroleum products following a rehabilitation programme that gulped $1.5 billion.

Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Femi Soneye, who confirmed the shutdown in a statement, added that the shutdown was part of a planned maintenance and sustainability assessment aimed at ensuring optimal performance of the facility.

The statement reads: “The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) wishes to inform the general public that the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) will undergo a planned maintenance shutdown.

“This scheduled maintenance and sustainability assessment will commence on May 24, 2025. We are working closely with all relevant stakeholders, including the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), to ensure that the maintenance and assessment activities are carried out efficiently and transparently.

“NNPC Ltd remains steadfast in its commitment to delivering sustainable energy security.”

What to know about the refinery?

When the refinery was revamped in November 2024 after the rehabilitation programme, there were doubts about the operation of the refinery amidst allegations that it was a mere blending plant.

But the NNPCL insisted that the 60,000 barrels per day Old Port Harcourt Refinery was up and running, with loading operations in full swing, contrary to insinuations in certain quarters.

The Port Harcourt Refineries consist of two units, with the old plant having a refining capacity of 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) and the new plant 150,000 bpd, both summing up to 210,000 bpd.

The refinery was shut down in March 2019 for the first phase of repair works after the government secured the services of Italy’s Maire Tecnimont to handle the review of the refinery complex, with oil major Eni appointed technical adviser.

The Port Harcourt refineries are among the four refineries operated by the national oil company, which has gulped billions of dollars in turnaround maintenance (TAM). The other refineries are the Warri and Kaduna refineries.

The Port Harcourt refinery, which was shut down for maintenance, had gulped over $1.5bn for rehabilitation.

In fact, the federal government had spent billions of dollars on the refineries amidst calls for privatisation to reduce the amount of public spending on the refineries.

In May 2023, the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on the State of Refineries in the country said the federal government spent over N11 trillion on the rehabilitation of the refineries from 2010 to 2023.

Case for privatisation

Daily Trust reports that the debate over the privatisation of the refineries had raged over the years. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had sold the refineries to a group of private investors led by the President of Dangote Industries Limited, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, at $750m, but the money was refunded to them by his successor, late Alhaji Umar Musa Yar’Adua.

An investment analyst, Nnaemeka Obiaraeri, said the government should stop wasting money on the refineries, saying billions of naira had been sunk into the four state-owned refineries without results.

According to him, the decision by former President Obasanjo to sell off the refineries was the best and shouldn’t have been reversed.

In an interview on News Central monitored by our correspondent, he said, “We keep on wasting our time in this country, we keep on romancing and praising the incompetence and inefficiency in the public sector. We keep on wasting our precious time as a nation.

“The truth is, and I dare repeat it again. We wasted billions of dollars, trillions of naira, trying to fix these refineries since 1999. Obasanjo did the right thing in 2007 when he privatised the refineries to the team led by Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola and the rest of the corporate czars.”

He claimed that N4 trillion was wasted under the last NNPC leadership on the refineries.

He added, “Of course, it has always been said that the thing (Port Harcourt refinery) was not revived; they only did it to be a blending plant. The truth is that those refineries will never work under the public sector control of the NNPC. For those refineries to work, we must do what we did at the Eleme Petrochemical Plant. The federal government must sell 80 per cent of the NNPC shareholding in those refineries to deep-pocketed private sector investors who would take 30 per cent, then the rest to Nigerians.

“Sell 50 per cent to Nigerians, list on the floor of the exchange and I tell you this, within the next one year, those refineries would begin to operate at optimum capacity.

“Dangote started its own refinery in 2015 and today, it is the largest single train refinery in the whole world, moving efficiently, no stories, no games.”

According to him, Kaduna Refinery should be scrapped and turned to a depot because the gas supply channel has been compromised.

He said both Warri and Port Harcourt would “Become an investors’ delight to buy those refineries.”

“Those refineries have existing facilities. To collocate a brand new 160,000-barrel-a-day refinery would take about $8bn. Because of the already existing facilities within Warri and Port Harcourt, it would cost that amount of money.”

Shutdown unexpected

On his part, former Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers’ Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mike Osatuyi in a chat with our correspondent described the shutdown of the Port Harcourt Refinery as an embarrassment to the government and Nigeria as a country.

In a chat with our correspondent, Osatuyi stated that the NNPC needs to come out openly and explain what led to the shutdown.

He said, “It is an embarrassment to the government and Nigeria. We felt it was brand new. We didn’t expect it to be shut down like that. What is worth doing at all is worth doing well. After postponing the opening more than six times, they need to come and explain to Nigerians what the problem is.”

According to him, the amount spent on turnaround maintenance is enough to build two brand new refineries at a time naira still had value.

“This amount is more than what we can use to build two refineries when the naira still had value. This is where we are. Because it is government property and government business, people do what they like. If it were a private business, it would not be like this. Only God knows how much they would come up with to bring it back again.

“We don’t have a conscience. If we have conscience, we cannot spend $1.5bn and then, you come back to complain. This wasn’t how it was in the 70s.”

Osatuyi stated that the coming of the Dangote Refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, was the saving grace for Nigerians.

“With Dangote coming up, we are self-sufficient in terms of local consumption. Dangote can load 2,800 trucks per day with two gantries. He has the capacity and what it takes to meet up with our demands,” he added.

‘Incompetence behind shutdown’

The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) said the real reason behind the shutdown of the refinery after spending $1.5 billion on its rehabilitation is incompetence.

The National President of PETROAN, Billy Gillis-Harry, said, “The shutdown of the state-owned refinery showed that the managers of Port Harcourt Refinery are incompetent and insincere all along,” he said.

It would be recalled that the Host Community Petroleum Bulk Retailers of Port Harcourt refinery Depot through its Board of Trustees’ Chairman, High Chief Sunny Nkpe had earlier raised an alarm over what it called “sinister motive” to shut down the refinery.

[DailyTrust]

As the coalition drive to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027 continues to gain momentum across the country, the ruling All Progressives Congress seems unsettled.

DAILY POST reports that some bigwigs in the opposition political parties and aggrieved members of the APC are currently teaming up ahead of the election, aiming at sacking the present administration.

Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last election, Peter Obi, former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-rufai, former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal are among notable opposition figures spearheading the coalition talk.

National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Ralphs Okey Nwosu is also one of the key personalities in the coalition movement.

Obi and Atiku candidacy

There are reports that Peter Obi may deputize Atiku in the 2027 presidential election.

The duo had contested for the nation’s number one seat in 2019 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, against the then incumbent president, Muhammadu Buhari.

Opposition figures, who believed that the election was rigged by the ruling APC, had challenged the outcome, insisting that Obi and Atiku won the election.

However, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Obi and Atiku (PDP) won 18 states, while the ruling party won 19 states, respectively.

INEC declared that PDP garnered 11,262,978 votes, losing the position to Buhari, who scored 15,191,847 votes.

In 2023, Obi and Atiku contested the “election on solo”. While Obi was the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Atiku had the PDP ticket.

Although President Tinubu won the election with 8,794,726 votes with Atiku and Obi scoring 6,984,520 and 6,101,533 votes each, the election was challenged up to the Supreme Court.

According to some political analysts, if Obi had contested the election as Atiku’s running mate, the duo may have scored over 13 million votes to sack the ruling party.

APC fidgets

DAILY POST gathered that the alignment of the opposition forces is not seating well with the ruling party.

It was gathered weekend that APC has formulated more cogent strategies to attract more governors and lawmakers into the party in a bid to have a stronger structure that would resist the coalition.

A source, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said APC has resolved that “all first-time governors will have automatic tickets” to run for the 2027 elections”.

According to him, “the decision is that all first-time governors will be given automatic tickets and it’s not just a ticket, the party will fight for such a governor to ensure his re-election.

“So, most governors from the opposition parties, who are not sure of their victory are joining our party.

“For example, Akwa-Ibom and Delta State governors would have lost their re-elections if they remained in the opposition parties.

“In Delta for instance, Tinubu had settled for Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo as the next governor of the state.

“The governor knows that he cannot beat Keyamo, especially when backed by Tinubu so he decided to defect to APC.

“Regarding Akwa-Ibom State, if the Governor had refused to join APC, Akpabio could flush out his government by 2027. At the end of the day, it is all about personal interest”.

According to the source, the governors have also been allowed to handpick candidates for the national assembly.

Coalition faces setback

Some setbacks have started creaping into the proposed coalition particularly due to the choice of political party to be used as umbrella for the coming election.

DAILY POST gathered that following viral reports that the coalition adopted ADC, the party secretly amended its constitution to grant equal rights and privileges to incoming members.

The move was interpreted by insiders as a strategic step to accommodate high-profile defectors like Atiku, Obi and others ahead of the coalition.

However, the decision sparked resistance among some powerful stakeholders, especially from states, vowing that they will not relinquish their positions to new entrants.

Also, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Prince Adewole Adebayo, in a recent interview, ruled out the possibility of him stepping down for another candidate ahead of the 2027 general elections.

In another confusing development, Peter Obi in a viral video on Friday said he would contest the 2027 election on the platform of the Labour Party, fueling speculations that the coalition may adopt LP.

However, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh told DAILY POST weekend that the Labour Party is not aware of any coalition going on.

He insisted that the LP has no plan to accommodate other political parties.

According to him, “we are contesting the election on solo and we have said before that there would be no automatic ticket for anybody.

“If Peter Obi chooses to contest via the party, he will follow due processes right from the primary election. We have said earlier that there will be no automatic ticket for anybody.”

On Obi deputizing Atiku, Yunusa Tanko, the National Coordinator of Obidient Movement, told DAILY POST that Obi is yet to decide.

“What I know is that Peter Obi has not told anybody that he is going to be a vice presidential candidate. He stands to contest as a presidential candidate.

“What we are having now is politicians who have a common interest coming together to plan ahead of the 2027 election”, he said.

[Daily Post]

Politics in Nigeria over the years has always been denominated by notable peculiarities. This of course is relative to time and season. The gamut of its aesthetics resides in the frills and thrills, dramas and theatrics, which it throws up. Electioneering engenders colourful rallies in stadia and open arenas, complete with songs, chants and dance. Oftentimes, such events build up into resplendent carnival crescendos in the African sunshine. Roadshows offer similar excitement, music booming and blaring from loudspeakers mounted on branded automobiles, electrifying the streets and cities, as huge processions accompany mobile platforms. It is the season when aliases are minted and sobriquets conjured, when major political dramatis personae are conferred with novel honorifics and nomenclatures.

Nigeria’s First and Second Republic politics featured notable legends like Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo; Samuel Ladoke Akintola; Augustus Meredith Adisa Akinloye; Moses Adekoyejo Majekodunmi; Busari Adelakun and Adeniran Ogunsanya, from Nigeria’s present day South West. From the South East came icons like Alvan Azinna Ikoku; Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe; Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe; Michael Iheonukara Okpara, while today’s global North had the Abubakar Tafawa Balewas; Sa’adu Zungurs; Aminu Kanos; Yusuf Maitama Sules, among others. Awolowo was nicknamed Awo evidently derived from the full spelling of his surname, while the fearless, daring Adelakun was festooned with the alias Eruobodo, which means the “river fears no one.” For his pan-Africanist endeavours, Azikiwe was commonly referred to as Zik of Africa, while Aminu Kano was the Baba’n Talakawa, on account of his strident advocacy for the proletariat, the down-trodden.

Aliasing on the political trail subsists even up until the present. Lamidi Adedibu a colossus in the politics of Oyo State in his time, was reputed for his affinity with the underprivileged. As many urchins and street kids who accessed his expansive home in Molete, Ibadan, were assured of regular meals, the staple being amala, yam flour. While Adedibu in one breath was the exemplar of amala politics, he was also famously known as Alaafin Molete. Alaafin is the title of the king of Oyo, a foremost kingdom in Yoruba and Nigerian history. Adedibu was said to have been eminently influential in his district, Molete, Ibadan, his hands strengthened by the swarming army of youngsters beholden to him as their ultimate benefactor. His wishes were his commands. The title of Alaafin, arguably the Number One royal in Oyo State, was therefore appropriated and honorarily bestowed on him. For as long as he lived, Adedibu was a major factor in the politics of Oyo State, whose voice indeed echoed in Aso Villa, seat of national governance.

Nigeria’s botched Third Republic brought forth Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke as Governor of Osun State, in January 1992. He was a very cosmopolitan and charismatic personality who was born in Enugu in Nigeria’s South East. He was noted for the remarkable styling of his headgear, which pointed skywards like that of a chef, as against the norm in Yoruba land. He contested for the governorship of Osun State on the platform of the extinct Social Democratic Party, (SDP) and won, just months after the creation of the entity in August 1991. The manner of his first time sweep of the gubernatorial poll earned him the sobriquet Serubawon, the one dreaded by his adversaries. Isiaka Adeleke’s younger brother, Ademola Adeleke who like his older sibling is Governor of Osun State, has since adopted and popularised his brother’s signature cap. Such are the variegated spin-offs of politics in our own part of the world.

Conversations around Nigeria’s 2027 presidential poll have begun rather early. The administration of President Bola Tinubu is barely two years in office, yet the national space has been drowned in the din of an election which is more than 700 days away. Cross-carpeting and defections have assumed fever-pitch as politicians try to secure their places in the political scheme, post-2027. Governors, parliamentarians, government appointees, serving and retired continue to move around like yo-yos. Their whole lives, their eternal relevance seem solely predicated on the sustenance of their proboscis, deep inside the torso of our collective patrimony. Many politicians in the present milieu have become permanent fixtures in our politics. As though they are the only Nigerians capable of adding value to governance and nation-building.

Proclamations about Tinubu being the sole presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) in the 2027 presidential ticket have been made. He will run unopposed. Olusegun Obasanjo, the First President of the ongoing Fourth Republic, was challenged at the 2003 presidential primary of his party at the time, the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), by no less a politician and statesman, than Alex Ekwueme, Nigeria’s Second Republic Vice President, a foundation member of the PDP. This underscores the politics of accommodation promoted by Obasanjo a strong President in his own era. Affirmations are equally being chanted, as affixture to the on your mandate we shall stand chant, popularised by Tinubu promoters during the 2022/2023 electioneering exercise. Mere mortals are making matter-of-fact declarations and pronouncements with the manner of certitude and conviction about the future which presupposes they know the plans and workings of the mind of the Almighty God Himself.

Nigeria’s former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has remained a very formidable factor in Nigeria’s politics since the days of the primordial SDP, back in 1992. Despite being a newcomer to partisan politics having just retired from public service at the time, Atiku posted a notably strong performance for a newbie at the party’s presidential primary in 1993. This ensured he was a decider in the subsequent emergence of Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, (MKO), as presidential candidate of the SDP. Abiola beat Baba Gana Kingibe, in the runoff between both men, in Jos that year, largely because of Atiku’s personal sacrifice. Atiku continued to hone his skills as a politician, build cross-national friendships and relationships and to align with democratic elements even under the dreadful regime of Nigeria’s former pseudo-maximum ruler, Sani Abacha. He was tracked to his Kaduna home by Abacha agents and attacked. A number of armed security operatives on guard in his house were neutralised just as he escaped by the whiskers and went into exile.

Atiku was Governor-elect of Adamawa State, early 1999. He was awaiting inauguration when he was chosen to pair Obasanjo’s presidential ticket, after the PDP presidential primary. Instructively, the primary took place in Jos, where the SDP presidential primary in which he previously participated, held six years before. The Obasanjo/Atiku ticket won the presidential election proper and Atiku Abubakar became the First Vice President of Nigeria subsisting Fourth Republic. Talk about one politician who has friends and associates across all of Nigeria’s 774 local government areas and you find that in Atiku Abubakar. He needs not grope in the dark searching for acolytes. And because he is ever in touch with his affiliates and foot soldiers, they rally spontaneously to his beckoning and causes.

If there is one politician today whose name evokes trepidation in the ranks of the establishment, that person has to be Atiku Abubakar. His vast public service experience; his successful forays into the private sector; his profound knowledge of the Nigerian conundrum; his deft organisational skills; his flexibility as a team player; his charm and charisma, combine to underline his formidability. Concerned Nigerians in recent weeks and months, have been reaching out to Atiku to lead the charge for change in the nation’s political leadership. While the overall socioeconomic health of the nation is draped in gloss and fine print by incumbents, the situation is excruciating on the streets. There is palpable hunger, worsened by skyrocketing inflation. Insecurity continues to pummel the citizenry by way of kidnappings, banditry, insurgency and wanton killings across the breadth of the country. Depression has accentuated suicide rates as many succumb to despair and despondency. The national space is thick and dark with tangible foreboding.

True, Nigeria’s opposition parties are almost irredeemably discombobulated as we speak. The very thought of Atiku commitedly attempting to sew a pathway out of the tatters, however, is very concerning to the status quo. The experience of the 2023 presidential election where the APC capitalised on the fact of the dismemberment of the PDP behemoth into three political smithereens remains very fresh. Hopefully, political archaeologists will some day unearth the debauchery and chicanery which attended the tallying of the final results of that election. To forestall a recurrence of that incident, a viable cross-party partnership is being conceived to rescue Nigeria from its present abyss, as Nigerians continue to agonise about the glaring failures and failings of the incumbent regime. This underlines mass angst, with the Tinubu administration consistently fingered for excruciating hardship and the attendant national lachrymose.

The evolving political alliance calculated to confront the incumbent dispensation, is gathering adherents by the day. At the centre of this movement is Atiku Abubakar whose every guest, every visit to like-minded politicians, every event he participates in, evokes interest and debate, in opposing political quarters. Atiku is fittingly the contemporary Serubawon. He is the one whose sneezes reverberate across the political sphere, causing tremors in the ranks of his adversaries. The journey to 2027, by the way, is just beginning. There are no foreclosures as yet. Not at all.

Olusunle, PhD, Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (FANA), is an Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Abuja

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has explained why he may not be able to contest for presidency after 2027.

He said the 2027 general elections may be his final shot at the presidency.

Obi confirmed he would contest in 2027 on the LP’s platform and hinted at a possible exit from active politics after that.

He spoke in a seven-minute, 16-second video clip that has since gone viral. Obi’s media aide, Umar Ibrahim, confirmed the video saying “it was recent.”

Obi explained that he would be 65 in 2027 and might not be willing to pursue public office beyond that age.

He said: “I believe we should have a retirement age for politicians. By 2027, I will be 65.

“If the presidency goes back to the North in 2031, it may not return to the South until 2039 — by then, I will be 77. I wouldn’t want to run for office at that age. It would make a mess of everything”

Obi assured his audience of continued support for young Nigerians who are serious about national transformation.

“Even if I’m not contesting, I will always support those of you who are committed to real change, with whatever resources I can provide,” he stated.

The growing conflict between the factions loyal to Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has intensified the crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party, threatening the planned 99th National Executive Committee meeting scheduled for May 27.

In a statement released on Sunday, Wike announced his withdrawal from the reconciliation efforts, blaming Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah for the crisis within the PDP.

Anonymous sources within the PDP National Working Committee told The PUNCH that due to the ongoing crisis and the threat to the NEC meeting, the party’s Board of Trustees called for a meeting on Monday (today) in Abuja

Multiple sources disclosed that recognising the potential harm a postponement could cause to the party’s future, the reconciliation panel led by former Senate President Bukola Saraki held an emergency meeting with key stakeholders on Sunday night.

The PDP has been struggling with internal political turmoil before and after the 2023 elections.

Issues such as the political crisis in Rivers State, disputes surrounding the South South Zonal Congress, the position of National Secretary, and now the North Central Zonal Congress have further complicated the party’s stability.

Wike, backed by Governors Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), Ahmadu Fintiri (Taraba), and others, angered that decisions made by the National Working Committee and the PDP Governors’ Forum — largely influenced by Governors Makinde, Mbah, and Bala Mohammed (Bauchi) undermined the political structure of the Minister Federal Capital Territory.

Despite interventions from key organs like the NWC, the Board of Trustees, NEC, and the Governors’ Forum, attempts at resolving the disputes have only widened internal rifts across states and zones. This ongoing discord has delayed the NEC meeting and hindered the party from making critical decisions about its direction.

The 98th NEC meeting, held on April 18, 2024, failed to resolve major issues, further fueling disunity. Though the 99th NEC meeting was initially scheduled for August 15, it faced multiple postponements—to October 24, then November 28—before being put off indefinitely.

Under increasing pressure, the PDP Governors’ Forum, led by Bauchi Governor Bala Mohammed, directed the NWC in December 2024 to convene the NEC no later than February 2025. This was reiterated during a meeting on January 31 in Asaba, where March 13 was suggested as the new date. However, the meeting was again postponed on March 8 to May 15, after further internal consultations.

Eventually, during a governors’ meeting in Ibadan on April 11, a new date of May 27 was set. To ensure it goes ahead, the serving and former governors seven-member committee led by former Senate President Saraki was formed to tackle remaining challenges.

On May 18, Sunday PUNCH exclusively reported that the South East, led by Governor Peter Mbah, along with governors like Seyi Makinde and Bala Mohammed, as well as the PDP Board of Trustees, are opposing the Saraki-led committee’s efforts to reinstate Senator Samuel Anyanwu as the party’s National Secretary.

In response to their refusal to acknowledge his allies, Anyanwu, as Secretary and yield to his demands, Minister Federal Capital Territory, Wike on Sunday officially withdrew from all prior agreements aimed at resolving the PDP’s internal crisis.

The former Rivers State Governor citing repeated violations, accused Oyo State Governor of being the “chief culprit” behind the party’s troubles.

In a personally signed statement on Sunday titled “PDP Crisis: My Position,” Wike declared that the PDP has been plagued by “dishonesty and lack of trust amongst its key stakeholders,” and vowed to “fight on until justice is attained.”

“Since after the 2023 General election, the PDP has been wantonly swinging from one part of a slippery precipice to another, owing fundamentally to dishonesty and lack of trust amongst its key stakeholders,” the minister stated. “To stem this ugly trend, efforts have been made to arrest this pernicious virus of dishonesty and treachery and enthrone fidelity to agreements.”

Wike disclosed that during a G5 meeting in Lagos, he directly confronted Governor Makinde over what he described as a betrayal of trust, adding that there had also been a subsequent expanded meeting held at the Abuja residence of former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, also attend by Governors Umaru Fintiri, Bala Mohammed, and where certain resolutions were reached.

Among the resolutions were “that Senator Samuel Anyanwu remains the National Secretary of the PDP in tandem with the Supreme Court judgement, all legal matters relating to Rivers State must be withdrawn by the National Legal Adviser, the suit on the State of emergency be withdrawn forthwith, and nobody should deviate from the agreements so reached,” he noted.

However, the former Rivers State Governor lamented that those resolutions were soon violated.

“It is disheartening to note that even before the Bukola Saraki Reconciliation Committee began its work, the gentleman’s agreement we reached at Saraki’s Guest House was already being crudely violated,” Wike said.

He specifically accused Makinde of working with Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, to undermine the agreement.

“Seyi Makinde had connived with Peter Mbah of Enugu State to orchestrate the summoning of the meeting of so-called South-East leaders to recommend that if Ude Okoye was not adopted as secretary, they would pull out of the PDP.”

“Seyi Makinde organised some people in the National Secretariat to insist that the Deputy National Secretary should act as National Secretary, in violation of the agreement earlier reached,” he added

According to him, this led to confusion within the party’s leadership and affected official communications, including a situation where a letter properly signed by the National Secretary and Acting National Chairman confirming a gubernatorial candidate in Anambra was undermined through a rebuttal allegedly ordered by Makinde and Mbah.

“On the 24th of May 2025, in Jos, for instance, a well-publicised and properly attended zonal elective congress of the PDP was aborted because the letter inviting INEC to the congress was signed by the Deputy National Secretary… INEC refused to attend because the proper signatory recognised by law, that is Senator Samuel Anyanwu, was not a signatory to the invitation notice,” Wike said.

Decrying the situation as “undeniably distasteful, provocative and annoying, Wike asserted that his commitment to the party since 1998 has never wavered, unlike those he accuses of “playing games to the detriment of the party.”

“I have now firmly decided to pull out of all agreements hitherto reached. I have decided to fight on until justice is attained,” he concluded.

Attempts by our correspondents to obtain reactions from Governors Makinde and Mbah regarding Wike’s accusations were unsuccessful, as their Chief Press Secretaries refused to comment.

Responding to the renewed tensions, former Senate President Bukola Saraki pledged to persuade the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory to rejoin the negotiation process.

Speaking through his media aide, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki gave this assurance during an exclusive phone conversation with our correspondent on Sunday.

He said, “Wike’s pulling out of the arrangement is not really a setback as you inferred. It’s just an indication that we still need to do more work and intensify more efforts.

“A mediator cannot be seen reacting to every issue arising conflicts otherwise in the process of speaking, he may say something that the various parties may misintepret.

“Even in the first statement issued by Wike, you can see where he referred to his position in the reconciliation committee.”

The former Senate President also warned that Nigerians, including stakeholders of the PDP, could not afford to allow the opposition go into oblivion, stressing that the development would see the country evolved into a one-party state.

“The alternative to PDP is one party state. The PDP goes beyond party. That is the only legacy party that is remaining. Out of the three parties with which we started this democracy, AD is gone, APP is gone.

“So, this is the only legacy party. Allowing it to die will be a major setback for democracy” he warned.

A source in the NWC who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, revealed that the Saraki-led panel summoned an emergency meetings late Sunday night.

He said the meeting was to pacify all leaders and to see if there was a way the NEC meeting could hold without complicating the crisis.

He stated, “As of now, with the latest developments, it is uncertain whether the NEC meeting scheduled for Tuesday will hold. However, the Saraki-led panel is meeting with some party leaders tonight.

“Those expected to attend the meeting, either in person or virtually, include Governors Seyi Makinde, Peter Mbah, Caleb Mutfwang, PDP Acting National Chairman Umar Damagum, National Legal Adviser Kamaldeen Ajibade, among others.

“This meeting is critical—it will determine whether the NEC meeting will proceed, how peaceful it will be if it does, and, by extension, the future of the party.”

Another reliable source told The PUNCH that while Wike’s faction is resolute in its efforts to prevent the NEC meeting from taking place, the group aligned with Makinde is equally determined to hold the meeting in order to legitimize their actions and proposals.

Another source told The PUNCH that the PDP Board of Trustees was scheduled to convene in Abuja on Monday to address the ongoing crisis within the party.

He stated, “Wike’s camp is doing everything possible to prevent the NEC meeting from taking place. With the way things are going, I wouldn’t be surprised if they bring a court order tomorrow to stop the NEC.

“I also know that Makinde and some other governors are making efforts to ensure the NEC meeting can hold peacefully. The Board of Trustees is expected to meet on Monday. So, the next few days will be critical for the future of the PDP.”

In a meeting notification signed by the party’s National Director of Publicity Chinwe Nnorom and obtained by The PUNCH on Sunday, the PDP confirmed that the Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for today.

The notification read in part, “The above subject refers, please. The leadership of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) has scheduled a meeting to hold as follows: on Monday, May 26, 2025 (tomorrow) at The NEC Hall (Ground Floor), PDP National Headquarters, by 3:00 PM.

“Please endeavor to attend and punctually.”

In a related development, the PDP state chapters voiced differing opinions regarding the crisis affecting the major opposition party.

The Ekiti State PDP Caretaker Committee Chairman, Dare Adeleke, stated that the behaviour and statements of Wike indicated that he was acting against the interest of the party.

Adeleke said the action and utterances of the FCT minister and former River State governor showed that “he has a hidden agenda.”

“I think he is working against the interest of his party, PDP. It is a devilish act for anybody that has reaped from the PDP, that has benefitted immensely from the party, to now turn around saying that the party must be dead. It is quite unfortunate. This is not democracy.

“We should condem this act – it’s an attempt to turn Nigeria to a one-party state. Forget whoever is involved. You said you don’t like Siminalayi Fubara, (the River State Governor under suspension), you said you are not happy that Fubara was not impeached, you are now the one bargaining with the governors to withdraw their case from the Supreme Court.

“To me, I think that is undemocratic and highly condemnable that the likes of Wike should not be part of democracy in this country.”

Additionally, on Sunday, the Secretary of the PDP in Ogun State, Sunday Solarin, described Wike as a disengaged member of the opposition party adding that he was free to leave the party.

Solarin said, “For the past two years, what significant thing has Wike done to suggest that he is still a member of the opposition party, the PDP?

“What constructive criticism has he offered to this terrible government of the APC? What plans has he rolled out to bring the opposition back to power? Rather it has been unnecessary noise here and there.

“The truth is that Wike knows what he’s doing, he is only acting a script, he is looking for excuses to declare for APC but with or without him, the PDP will overcome its challenges.”

On his part, the Chairman of Gombe PDP, Mamman Kwaskebe, on Sunday said the party was unperturbed about what it described as the “antics” of the FCT minister.”

He said, “When Wike joined PDP he didn’t join from Gombe; he joined from his own Local Government Area in Rivers State. Whatever he is doing now is to dance to the tune of APC, we as a party will not succumb to that it’s is not part of our commitment and loyalty to PDP as a party.

“The PDP has a constitution, whatever is the level, he has done something extraordinary that no one can talk to him. We in Gombe are a PDP state.”

In Bayelsa State, PDP Chairman Solomon Agwanana stated that they had been anticipating Wike to quit the party.

Speaking to The PUNCH on Sunday, Agwanana said Wike had been working for the APC and had openly said he wanted President Bola Tinubu to return in 2027.

He added, “Though I do not know the details, the NEC is meeting on Tuesday and they will definitely address the matter.

“He is not a member of the PDP. We have been waiting for him to go and leave us alone. We know who he is working for.

“He is working for the APC and has stated publicly that he wants to return President Tinubu in 2027. That is not the only issue; he has threatened to seal our Wadada House. You can understand that he is working for his master.”

Furthermore, the PDP Sokoto State chapter spokesperson, Hassan Sahabi Sanyinnawal, declined comments on the latest development.

“We cannot talk anything about his (Wike) withdrawal at the state level, the committee was set up at the national level, so it is only the national headquarters that can talk about the development,” he added.

Also speaking, the Bauchi State PDP Publicity Secretary, Dayyabu Ciroma, declared that Wike’s time in the party is limited.

Ciroma, while stating that Nigerians were aware that Wike might not submit to reconciliation, noted that “Everyone knows that Wike is out to destroy PDP.

“All I can say is his days are numbered in PDP once the NEC meeting is conducted. The final decision is made on the party’s crisis at the office of the national secretary.”

On his part, Chief Osita Madu, former Deputy Publicity Secretary and a senior PDP figure in Anambra State, alleged that Wike was working to keep the PDP weak in order to justify maintaining ties with the APC.

He said, “Wike is an APC member in the day and PDP at night.

“The FCT minister is the real architect of the party’s present predicament. He is happy about the present state of the PDP because he knows that if PDP stabilises today, he will not have any justifiable reason to continue in the APC government, except he resigns.

“There are no two ways about it, Wike is the problem of the PDP and he should be bold enough to announce his resignation or defection from the party and stop being an APC in the day and PDP at night. Since 2023, what has he done to convince the people that he is still a member of the PDP?

“How is it possible that he is a member of this anti-people government of the APC and still claims to be a PDP member? He knows that he stands to lose out if the PDP stabilises today and that is why he is fighting tooth and nail to ensure the party remains weak.

“Truth be told Wike and the President knew what they are doing, they are looking for an excuse to perpetrate some scripts, especially in Rivers State with the 2027 elections as their aim.”

Last week’s column took state governors to task, and the response was electric: inboxes flooded, phone lines buzzed, and hashtags trended. Nigerians are starved for public office scorecards that rely on more than rumour and partisan noise. In that spirit, and with the second anniversary of the 10th National Assembly staring us in the face, the spotlight now swings toward the legislature.

In Washington, where we borrowed our presidential model, lawmakers live under the unforgiving glare of the Legislative Effectiveness Score: fifteen indicators that weigh everything from the originality of bills to the art of steering them through committees. Add the Healthy Congress Index (HCI),which checks the institution’s pulse—how often it debates and how transparent the votes are—and you have an ecosystem where inertia is quickly shamed. Abuja, by contrast, offers no such dashboard. All we possess are lofty promises voiced from the rostrum on Inauguration Day and the quiet, often-seething expectations of 220 million citizens. Those promises form the spine of this mid-term review; those expectations supply its moral urgency.

First, the numbers. In its opening year, the Senate introduced 464 bills and passed 19; in the second year, up to this May, 341 bills produced a meagre seven enactments. The House looked busier—1,727 bills filed by December 2024, 114 of them passed—but peel away the seven executive-sponsored measures and the apparent productivity deflates. Committee clerks admit that roughly one-third of all texts are recycled from earlier parliaments, some lifted almost verbatim from the 8th and 9th Assemblies. It is legislative déjà vu: copy, paste, rename, re-announce. Quantity, yes. Originality and rigour, no. This Assembly would languish in the bottom quartile by the American yardstick that prizes innovation and shepherding skill.

The quality deficit shows up in what lawmakers choose to rush. The National Anthem Bill of 2024—re-introducing the 1960 song “Nigeria, We Hail Thee”—sailed through first, second and third readings in a single sitting, then became law within eight days. Critics wondered why a symbolic lyric change earned lightning attention while food-price bills languished. A similar haste-then-rethink story dogs the Students’ Loan Act: passed in 2023, repealed and reenacted in 2024 after design flaws emerged. Speed seems reserved for headline bills and presidential priorities; everything else becomes legislative traffic.

If legislative output has been underwhelming, economic stewardship has been positively somnolent. The economy has seesawed from subsidy removal through currency free-fall to inflation that makes a mockery of monthly pay slips, yet Parliament has rarely mounted an independent critique of budgets, revenue forecasts or tax proposals. Hearings on the 2025 Finance Bill—an instrument that will decide whether families stay afloat or sink—featured more cabinet ministers than civil society witnesses. The optics are unmistakable: the legislature has abandoned its role and now promoting the agenda of the executive . The National Assembly held just two stand-alone debates on monetary or fiscal strategy and rubber-stamped the record-sized 2025 budget in 31 sitting hours—barely one-third the time the 8th Assembly devoted to the smaller 2016 estimates.

Where the economy goes, social misery follows. Nigerians now speak of poverty, food prices, banditry, kidnappings and unemployment as if they were the weather—inescapable, ever-present, uncaring. One might expect a flurry of poverty-reduction bills, police reform blueprints, or social welfare overhauls. Instead, the Order Paper remains eerily devoid of landmark initiatives. The lone poverty-relief measure that did clear both chambers has been trapped in the harmonisation mill for half a year, gathering dust while food queues at all gatherings lengthen.

Public sentiment is matching the numbers. Citizens have noticed. A media sentiment scan across 18 dailies found a 72-per cent negative slant toward the Assembly this year. The latest Afrobarometer country brief finds that only 19 % of Nigerians trust National Assembly “somewhat” or “a lot,” a figure lower than the police and barely above political parties. In an era when Instagram comedians draw bigger live audiences than oversight hearings, that statistic feels less like survey data and more like lived reality.

When the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) set out to gauge public faith in National Assembly, its findings were bleak: confidence in the National Assembly hovered near rock bottom. Wanting to test whether that verdict was an outlier or a mirror, I sifted through months of news coverage and then spoke, quietly and without a script, to two hundred Nigerians spread across markets, campuses and motor parks. Their verdict echoed PLAC’s numbers—distrust has hardened into something close to resignation. The Speaker of the HOR, writing in the Guardian, conceded that Parliament must “earn back the people’s faith.” It takes no political genius to decode that sentence: the legislature’s legitimacy is in free fall, and even its highest officers can feel the rush of air.

Why the distance? Many civil society voices point to the Electoral Reform Bill, which should sit at the heart of any democracy worth the name. Instead, it idles on committee desks, adjourned and re-adjourned while more photogenic bills leapfrog it on the order paper. Electoral rules shape everything else—how leaders are chosen, how accountable they feel, and how national resources are shared. Treat that foundation lightly, and the cracks spread into every social and economic wall we’re trying to shore up. Until lawmakers urgently confront that truth, the trust deficit they bemoan will only widen.

Another reason for that collapse is the anaemic quality of debate. Plenary sittings open without forming a quorum. Though you have 100 per cent attendance on the register, the Senate hardly witnesses more than 40 persons on the floor. The House of Representatives (HOR) is worse; not more than 50 members are out of 360 on a good day. Bills often sprint through first and second readings in minutes. Committee rooms—those sweatshops of legislative business —registered a mere 14 investigative hearings in two years, compared with 61 during the equivalent stretch of the 8th Assembly, confirming that the watchdog’s bark now registers as a whimper. Civil society groups invited to testify say draft bills sometimes arrive the night before or not at all. Oversight this thin cannot scarify an errant minister, let alone a recalcitrant bureaucracy.

Institutional reform, loudly trumpeted on inauguration day, has suffered the same fate. The presiding officers promised digital voting boards, live attendance logs, televised committee sittings and a root-and-branch rewrite of the standing orders. Two years later, the boards are dark, the logs are unpublished, the cameras are absent, and the rulebook is “with consultants.” Promises postponed are promises broken. Misuse of voice voting for a serious national issue, such as declaring a state of emergency in Rivers state, screams of a National Assembly ready to sell its soul for the “porridge” of the Executive.

And then there is money—the ₦6.9 trillion worth of projects smuggled into the 2025 budget, spanning a staggering 11,122 individual schemes. There is no need assessments, community consultations, or GPS-tagged disclosure of location —just pork-barrel politics on a scale large enough to feed an ark. This total legislative add-on is above the combined capital votes of health and education. Just imagine that!

Civil society trackers can find locations for barely a quarter of the projects, procurement portals list even fewer contractors. The optics feed a perception of “Legis-looting” so potent that 21 citizens have already sued the presiding officers for budget opacity, while anti-graft agencies circle but have yet to pounce.

Patterns emerge: a recycling culture that dilutes policy innovation; deference to the Executive that hollows out checks and balances; token oversight that lets scandals slip through the net; opaque spending that deepens the conviction that everyone under the dome is on the take. Each pathology feeds the next like cogs in a depressing machine.

What to do? Borrow, yes—but not mindlessly—from the United States. The National Institute for Legislative Studies could design a Nigerian Legislative Effectiveness Index in concert with civil society and the media, weighting originality, cross-party sponsorship, committee diligence and real-world impact. Every bill should face a “rigour filter” before the second reading: a clear problem statement, a fiscal note, and evidence of stakeholder consultation.

Constituency projects could be forced into the sunlight by a public, geo-tagged dashboard that lets citizens upload smartphone photos of progress—or the lack thereof. Committees deserve independent counsel, research budgets and minority-party chairs for at least 30 per cent of probes, reversing the rubber-stamp culture. And National Assembly must anchor quarterly, nationally televised debates on the economy, timed to the budget cycle, forcing lawmakers either to defend fiscal choices or fold under the klieg lights.

None of this is utopian. All of it is achievable. The 10th National Assembly is not the laziest in purely numerical terms—thousands of bills tell that story—but by any honest qualitative yardstick, it is the least consequential in a decade. Nigeria’s cascading crises require a legislature that legislates, scrutinises and inspires confidence. The good news is that redemption is still possible; the bad news is that the window is shrinking by the week. Citizens have started counting the seconds aloud. Whether lawmakers can still convert this chorus of disillusion into a spur for reform will decide not only the legacy of the 10th Assembly but also, in part, the trajectory of Nigeria’s fragile democracy.

Two years remain. That is enough time to pivot from legislative theatre to legislative therapy: subject every new bill to rigorous stakeholder input , schedule quarterly macro-economy debates that cannot be waived; and adopt a Nigerian-tailored Legislative Effectiveness Index data. These and not outrage should drive the end-term review. Until such reforms take root, the 10th National Assembly’s legacy risks being summed up in one brutal statistic—nineteen per cent.