The Football Association of England has announced that transgender women will be banned from participating in women’s football starting June 1.

The decision follows a ruling by the UK Supreme Court on April 16, which held that, under equalities law, a woman is defined by biological sex. The association cited this as a key factor in updating its policy.

In a statement released by the English FA on Thursday, the association said it remains committed to making football accessible but must align with the current legal definitions and ensure fairness in the women’s game.

“As the governing body of the national sport, our role is to make football accessible to as many people as possible, operating within the law and international football policy defined by UEFA and FIFA,” the statement reads.

it was further explained that the current policy, which had allowed transgender women to participate in the women’s game, was based on the principle of inclusion and supported by expert legal advice.

The FA disclosed that a review of its policy was inevitable in the event of any changes to relevant laws or regulations.

“This is a complex subject, and our position has always been that if there was a material change in law, science, or the operation of the policy in grassroots football, then we would review it and change it if necessary.

“The Supreme Court’s ruling on April 16 means that we will be changing our policy. Transgender women will no longer be able to play in women’s football in England, and this policy will be implemented from June 1, 2025”.

According to the statement, the FA acknowledged that the decision may be difficult for those affected.

“We understand that this will be difficult for people who simply want to play the game they love in the gender with which they identify.

“We are reaching out to the registered transgender women currently playing to explain the changes and discuss how they can continue to remain involved in the game,” the FA said.

Recall that the Scottish FA board has decided that starting from next season, only biological females will be permitted to compete in girls’ and women’s football under its jurisdiction.

This decision follows the UK Supreme Court ruling that a female is defined by biological sex under equalities law. Only individuals assigned female at birth will be allowed to play in women’s football in Scotland for players aged 13, and above.

[Vanguard]

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is pushing for amendments to the 1999 constitution and the Electoral Act 2022.

At the commission’s retreat with the joint committee of the senate and house of representatives on electoral matters, Mohammad Kuna, special adviser to Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, highlighted necessary reforms to the nation’s electoral legal framework.

Kuna said the commission should be given the power to appoint state directors of elections (SDEs). The president currently appoints resident electoral commissioners (RECs) to oversee polls in the states.

The SDEs would have the same powers as the RECs.

Kuna added that the commission is proposing to amend section 14 (3) paragraph F of the third schedule to the 1999 constitution.

The amendment aims to confer upon the commission the authority to appoint and discipline heads of state and federal capital territory (FCT) offices who would serve as state directors of elections.

“Amend Section 14 (3) Paragraph F of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution to Confer the Power of Appointing and Disciplining Heads of State and FCT Offices,” the statement reads.

“Amend Section 6 (3) of EA 2022 to confer the power of appointing heads of State and FCT Offices on the Commission.

“Developments in recent past and especially during and in the aftermath of the 2023 general election suggests the need for the commission to have greater powers to make appointments to the heads of state and FCT offices.”

The commission said the proposed changes are part of a broader effort to streamline electoral processes and ensure greater integrity and efficiency in future elections.

By virtue of section 16 of the Constitution of Nigeria, the State shall direct its policy towards ensuring: the promotion of a planned and balanced economic development; that the material resources of the nation are harnessed and distributed as best as possible to serve the common good; that the economic system is not operated in such a manner as to permit the concentration of wealth or the means of production and exchange in the hands of few individuals or of a group.and that suitable and adequate shelter, suitable and adequate food, reasonable national minimum living wage, old age care and pensions, and unemployment, sick benefits and welfare of the disabled are provided for all citizens.

Section 17 of the Constitution also provides that the conditions of work are just and humane, and that there are adequate facilities for leisure and for social, religious and cultural life; the health, safety and welfare of all persons in employment are safeguarded and not endangered or abused; there are adequate medical and health facilities for all persons: there is equal pay for equal work without discrimination on account of sex, or on any other ground whatsoever.

In utter violation of the economic objective of the State, the members of the ruling class have sold public enterprises and awarded oil blocks and granted licences for solid minerals to themselves.Thus, the State has engaged in concentrating the commonwealth in the hands of a few people contrary to the letter and spirit of the Constitution. However, some of those who lost out in the criminal diversion of the commonwealth through privatisation and award of oil blocks have engaged in the smuggling of solid minerals.

Even though the members of the ruling class have conspired to make the fundamental objectives and direct principles of state policy non justiciable in any court, the struggle of the Nigerian people for dividends of democracy has compelled the State to adopt policies and enact a numbers of laws that are designed to promote the welfare of the Nigerian people. Such welfare and labour include Labour Act 2004, Trade Union Act 2004, Child Rights Act 2003, Compulsory Free Universal Basic Education Act 2004 and Federal Mortgage Bank Act 2004, Factories Act 2004.

Others include Employees Compensation Act 2010, Pension Reforms Act 2014, National Senior Citizens Act, 2017, National Housing Fund (Establishment) Act, 2018, Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018, National Health Insurance Authority Act, 2021, Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) (Repeal and Re-enactment) Act 2024 and National Minimum Wage Act, 2024.

In addition to the above laws, Nigeria has ratified and enacted the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. Articles 15, 16, and 17 of the law provides that every individual shall have the right to work under equitable and satisfactory conditions, and receive equal pay for equal work as well as the right to health, and right to education.Furthermore, section 254(C)(1) of the Constitution has conferred exclusive jurisdiction and power to deal with any matter connected with or pertaining to the application of international best practices and international Convention, treaty or protocol of which Nigeria has ratified relating to labour, employment, workplace, industrial relations or matters connected therewith, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Constitution.

It is regrettable to note that the above laws are observed in breach by the Nigerian neocolonial state to the detriment of the working people. An example is the Compulsory Free Universal Basic Education Act which has imposed a legal duty on the federal and state governments to ensure that every child is given free and compulsory education from primary school to junior secondary school. The immediate past Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, during his presentation of the 2020 and 2023 budget implementation report to the Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education in Abuja, disclosed that N135,540,905,308.92 in matching grants have not been accessed by states in the last few years.

Owing to the refusal of state governments to contribute counterpart funds to access the matching grant of about N135 billion in the UBEC Account as stipulated by the law, Nigeria has 20 million out of school children. The Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 and Beyond (ASCAB) dragged the Federal Government and the 36 state governments to the Federal High Court seeking to compel them to comply with the education laws. Since there is no defence to the case, the defendants have challenged the locus standi of the plaintiffs to institute the action. The implication of the preliminary objection is that the state governments are not prepared to provide education for the children of the poor and vulnerable people.

In the public service, top public officers augment their salaries and allowances with payment of security votes and estacodes from foreign trips. Even though the National Minimum Wage Act is a valid and substiting legislation, about 20 states have yet to implement the N70,000 new minimum wage for local government workers and primary school teachers. Several employers of labour have equally refused to comply with the provisions of the National Minimum Wage Act. The federal government has refused to ensure full compliance with the law.

Furthermore, the recent data released by the National Pension Commission show that total assets in the Nigerian Pension industry rose by 23% year-on-year to N22.5 trillion in December 2024. instead of ensuring that pensioners are promptly paid their pension, the federal government has borrowed N10 trillion from the fund. Worried over the concern of pensioners, the House of Representatives has resolved to recover the loan on the ground that most pensioners are unable to access their retirement funds despite complying with the requirements of the contributory pension scheme.

Specifically, the House Committee was mandated to investigate the status of the pension fund assets of over N15.5 trillion with a view to ensuring that the N10 trillion loaned to the federal government from the pension fund is duly recovered and modalities are put in place to hinder the collapse of the pension schemes.

Under the Federal Mortgage Bank Act, workers are required to contribute to housing primarily through the National Housing Fund (NHF), where a mandatory 2.5% of their monthly salary is deducted and remitted to provide affordable housing loans to eligible workers. The contribution, together with other contributions from other lowly placed citizens, helps to fund the NHF.

The National Housing Fund (NHF), like other interventionist administering programmes, has become a subject of abuse and fraudulent practice. In November 2024, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) arraigned Mr. Gimba Ya’u Kumo, former chief executive officer of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), for allegedly diverting $65 million housing funds. The money was for the construction of 962 units of residential houses at the Goodluck Jonathan Legacy City in Kubwa, a satellite town in Abuja.

The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress should closely monitor the trial and request the ICPC to investigate the allegation made in 2012 by Mr. Gimba Ya'u Kumo, that some "unscrupulous employers" had milked the fund dry to the tune of N100 billion. The NLC and the TUC owe workers a duty to ensure that the stolen sums of $65 million and N100 billion are recovered and utilised for building houses for workers.

It is indisputably clear that the enforcement of the above welfare and laws as well as international instruments will go a long way to improve the living conditions of the Nigerian people. Therefore, it is high time that the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress mobilised workers and allies to mount sufficient pressure on the federal government to enforce the welfare laws and international instruments.

There’s a concern that Nigeria could soon become a one-party state, not by law, like in China, but through subterfuge – or in legal terms, de facto – similar to Cameroon, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, or even Rwanda, where the ruling parties are inflicting a slow, painful death on the opposition.

Those who express this concern have given many reasons. The clearest and most troubling, it seems, is the wave of defections to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that has depleted the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Wave after wave

Apart from Federal lawmakers from Osun to Kaduna and Niger States who have defected, as of April 25, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State and his predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa and the entire Delta PDP structure defected to the APC, with more defections still anticipated nationwide. It’s likely that soon, five of the six South-South states, which have been the bastion of the PDP since 1999, may fall.

Concerned persons, mainly those in the PDP and civil society, have said these are not defections. Instead, they argue that they are negotiated exits by politicians to evade trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or for the personal political gain of the governors and other defectors. They have blamed the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for instigating the defections out of a desperation to win the 2027 presidential election because his record in office cannot save him.

Chasing shadows

I think it’s nonsense. And though he did not use these words, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, out of self-interest, put it more elegantly when he said he believed that defections are a fact of Nigerian politics and defectors are merely exercising their freedom of association under the law.

A serial defector himself, and sixth-time contender for the presidency, it would have been a surprise if he said anything else. The problem, according to Atiku, is not the defections but the two-year record of performance that, all things being equal, cannot return the president to office.

However, if the worst fear of Atiku and the opposition comes through, as is likely, and President Tinubu returns to office in 2027, as is probable, it would not be because of the defections; it would be because Atiku paved the way for the destruction of the PDP. He has proved to be the party’s undertaker-in-chief, something not often said, because it is convenient to blame Tinubu.

Best chance lost

For example, Sule Lamido, a leading member of the PDP, reportedly said on Tuesday that “the President should be fair” and save the opposition from being crushed. I’m unsure how much Lamido will pay Tinubu for self-sabotage. It’s surprising that one of the PDP’s founders does not know that a few of the founders ruined the PDP, and no one but its remnant can save it.

The party’s best chance since it lost power 10 years ago was in 2023 when the APC was at its most vulnerable. The government of President Muhammadu Buhari would have viewed a hostile takeover by the opposition PDP as mercy killing, if not as an act of charity. Lamido knows, more than anyone else, that Atiku stood in the way.

Rolling stone, no moss

After contesting and losing the APC primaries to Buhari in 2014, Atiku defected again to PDP in 2017 and contested the PDP primaries in 2019. At that time, the PDP was recovering from the catastrophic defeat of 2015, during which it lost nine of its 22 states and 93 seats in the National Assembly. In the winner-takes-all creed of the presidential system, the PDP faced a long harmattan of recriminations and decay while Atiku was away.

However, the party was gradually rebuilt, primarily through the efforts of Nyesom Wike, the Rivers State Governor at the time. When Atiku returned, the party was not what it was in its heyday. Still, it was not the ramshackle he had abandoned.

The calamitous record of the APC under President Buhari, the party’s division leading up to the 2023 election, and the overall mood in the country at that time indicated that Nigeria was vulnerable to a hostile takeover. The country was fed up with the APC.

Marabout’s prophecy

But Atiku, being Atiku, felt obliged to live up to the marabout’s prediction in 1998 that he would one day be Nigeria’s president. It was this pursuit of prophecy that got him into trouble with President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003; it was the blind pursuit of it that drove him from the PDP to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and later to the APC. The obsession with this prophecy finally brought him back to the PDP. He just had to run.

But it shouldn’t have happened in 2023. While the odds favoured another party to succeed the exhausted APC, it certainly did not favour a northerner to run. Not after eight years of Buhari, a Northerner, not after Tinubu had wrested the flag of the APC, and certainly not when the convention in the PDP favoured rotation.

Atiku cast aside the odds, defied the restraints of common sense, ignored the party’s convention and a last-minute understanding after a key London meeting, and subverted the primaries to carry the flag. Things, quite naturally, fell apart.

Looking for a scapegoat

The rest is history. The PDP lost. The party that boasted that it was Africa’s largest party, destined to rule for 60 years, lost its way, leaving its members desperately searching for shelter and rehabilitation, and looking for rest wherever it may be found.

How can that be Tinubu’s problem when Atiku, the wrecking ball, still sits pretty? I understand the hysteria in the opposition, but it does not have to waste its current misery looking for scapegoats outside. Two years is still a reasonably long time to rebuild. The rise of Peter Obi nine months to the last general election and the impact the Labour Party made show that voters will reward a viable alternative platform.

The word here is viable. Not a party led by opportunists who have made a life career of running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. Say what you like about Tinubu, he has stood with his progressive brand of politics for nearly 30 years, even standing alone against all odds and at significant personal and reputational costs.

Go, Atiku, go

If the PDP is serious about a future, and Atiku cares about it, he must immediately drop his ambition to run again. This ambition is at the heart of the current turmoil in the party; it was why the PDP broke into three factions on the eve of the last election; it was why he has been unable to rebuild the ruins two years later. And it is why he is arguably the first Nigerian presidential aspirant to lose two running mates to defections.  

There’s no point blaming Tinubu for the wreckage, or getting angry with Okowa for sexifying his incredible opportunism as the beginning of a movement. PDP will get a fresh start on life when Atiku, the main obstacle, steps down. Everything else is a waste of time.

The North-West Development Commission (NWDC) has officially announced the opening of applications for its 2025/2026 Undergraduate and Postgraduate Foreign Scholarship Scheme.

The scholarship is targeted at exceptional students from Nigeria’s North-West geopolitical zone.

This was disclosed in a notice issued by the Commission, which highlighted that the programme is aimed at promoting academic excellence and human capital development across the region.

The Commission noted that the initiative is designed to empower individuals from the region to access world-class education opportunities.

 “This initiative seeks to foster academic excellence and empower exceptional individuals from the North-West region to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate studies at reputable foreign universities,” they stated. 

“The North-West Development Commission (NWDC), as established by the NWDC Act, 2024, signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, is committed to driving development, growth, and infrastructure enhancement in the North-West region.” 

Eligible courses and levels of study

The scholarship is open to applicants intending to pursue studies at the undergraduate, Master’s, or PhD levels. Approved fields of study include:

• Engineering
• Medical Sciences
• ICT and Education

Who can apply 

To qualify for the scholarship, applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Indigene status: Must be from one of the North-West states—Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, or Zamfara.
• Undergraduate applicants: Must possess five O’Level credits, including English, Mathematics, Biology, Physics, and Chemistry.
• Master’s applicants: Must hold a minimum of Second Class Upper in their First Degree.
• PhD applicants: Must have a minimum CGPA of 4.00 in their Master’s degree.
• Age limit: 35 years for Undergraduate and Master’s applicants, 40 years for PhD candidates.

Interested candidates are to apply via the NWDC’s official scholarship portal: nwdc.gov.ng/scholarships

Required documents

Applicants are required to submit the following documents during the application process:

• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Primary School Certificate
• Bachelor’s Degree Certificate (if applicable)
• LGA and State Indigene Certificates
• NYSC Discharge Certificate/Exemption Letter
• International Passport
• Birth Certificate or Age Declaration
• WAEC/NECO Certificate
• Master’s Degree Certificate (for PhD applicants)
• Official Transcript
• Letter of Motivation

What you should know 

The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), have also opened applications for the 2025/2026 Overseas Postgraduate Scholarship Scheme (OSS).

The PTDF scholarship covers fully funded MSc and PhD programmes in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Malaysia, and the PTDF College of Petroleum and Energy Studies in Kaduna.

The scheme includes tuition, return flights, health insurance, living expenses, and bench fees, and aims to cultivate indigenous talent for Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. Both scholarship programmes reflect a broader government effort to strengthen local capacity and invest in human capital development.

[Nairametrics]

The popular English proverb “Good riddance to bad rubbish” is often uttered in frustration or finality when someone or something unpleasant is finally out of the picture. It is a phrase steeped in exasperation, relief, and sometimes vindication. In the past few years, and more pointedly in the post-2015 political reality of Nigeria, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),  once the self-proclaimed largest political party in Africa , appears to be undergoing a slow, painful, but possibly divinely orchestrated self-cleansing. Could it be that this proverbial saying is finding expression in the PDP’s current woes? Could the turmoil that has rocked the party from within be God’s way of flushing out the bad eggs that contributed to its fall from grace? It is a question worth pondering, analytically and spiritually.

In fact, to appreciate the gravity of the PDP’s current predicament, one must recall where it once stood. For sixteen years, from 1999 to 2015, the PDP held the reins of power in Nigeria. It boasted of national spread, robust war chests, and a grip on political patronage. It was a party of godfathers, rainmakers, and kingmakers. It was the “big tent” that every politician aspired to shelter under, until it was not.

In retrospect, the PDP’s descent began subtly, with internal contradictions and an over-reliance on incumbency power rather than genuine party discipline or ideology. It reached a climax when, in 2015, it suffered a historic defeat at the hands of a rebranded opposition coalition, the All Progressives Congress (APC). That loss not only ended its uninterrupted streak but also exposed the fissures and self-inflicted wounds that had been festering under the surface.

In fact, prior to its ongoing crisis of unprecedented mass defections of its members, the PDP had wobbled from one crisis to another: leadership tussles, mass defections, lack of internal democracy, and contradictory messaging. Most recently, the party’s inability to field a united front in the 2023 elections,  including the G5 Governors rebellion, the Atiku-Wike standoff, and the endless tug-of-war between the old guard and emerging forces,  has shown that something is fundamentally wrong.

Let us not sugar-coat it: the PDP has become a party weighed down by egos larger than its logo. Many of its leading figures are more interested in personal political survival and fiefdom-building than national development or ideological cohesion. Some have used the party as a personal estate, others as a springboard for negotiation and cross-carpeting, while some others remain embedded merely to block younger or more competent individuals from rising.

How else do we explain the kind of internal sabotage that marked the 2023 elections? Why was it so difficult for a party that governed Nigeria for 16 years to put aside internal wrangling to form a united front against a ruling party burdened with economic crises, insecurity, and public discontent?

It would not be an exaggeration to say that some PDP chieftains, by their actions or inactions, were more interested in destroying the house if they could not control it. This is where the phrase “good riddance to bad rubbish” begins to make spiritual and political sense.

Given the backdrop of the foregoing, it is germane to ask, “Could this be divine intervention?”

From a spiritual lens, which cannot be ignored in a religious society like Nigeria, one is tempted to see the PDP’s gradual unravelling as a divine pruning process. The Scriptures are replete with examples of God purging institutions, nations, and people before rebirth or redemption. Could it be that God is using the chaos in PDP to flush out the political merchants, power-mongers, and wolves in sheep’s clothing who hijacked the party?

In this context, those who have exited the party, whether voluntarily or due to suspension, may actually be the proverbial bad eggs. Those whose activities have brought nothing but division, suspicion, and backstabbing might just be receiving divine redirection, or rejection.

From the ouster of Uche Secondus to the rebellious stance of Governor Nyesom Wike, from the defection of prominent figures like Dave Umahi, and from the tornado-like defection just witnessed in Delta State few days ago, to the seemingly unending friction between northern and southern blocs within the party, every shake-up could be interpreted as part of a larger divine design to flush and purge.

It is worth noting that even Jesus had to cleanse the temple of moneychangers and political opportunists in His time. Why should the PDP not go through its own purging season?

For those still holding onto hope for the PDP, this ongoing self-cleansing may be a good thing, if properly channeled. The party now stands at a crossroads: reform or become irrelevant. It must choose between remaining a vehicle for political rent-seekers or transforming into a truly ideologically driven opposition party.

Against the backdrop of the foregoing view, it is expedient to suggest in this context that a new PDP must rebuild its core ideology, democratize internal processes, encourage youth participation and hold leaders accountable.

Explanatorily put, it is not out of place to opine that for too long that the party has operated like a non-ideological platform of convenience. Therefore, it must define what it stands for and articulate policies that genuinely connect with Nigerians.

In a similar vein, the party’s primaries, delegate systems, and leadership selection must be transparent and inclusive, and most importantly, godfatherism must give way to meritocracy.

Also in a similar vein, there is an urgent need for the party to encourage youth participation. This is as a party whose average leader is 65+ cannot effectively represent a country where the median age is 18. The party must empower new voices, fresh ideas, and youth-driven leadership.

Again, loyalty to the party must not trump accountability. Those who sabotage, defame, or trade the party for personal gain should not be protected, and the party must reconcile warring factions, even as it must also learn from past mistakes, considering the fact that loyalty must be earned, not begged for.

At this juncture, it is expedient to ask, “Who’s next in the dustbin?” To answer the foregoing question, it is germane to opine that as the PDP gropes for a new path that there are still individuals within the party whose personal ambitions outweigh party interests. There are still those who treat the PDP as a retirement home or bargaining chip. If the party is serious about rebirth, more exits, voluntary or enforced, may still come. And perhaps they should.

The reason for the foregoing view cannot be farfetched as sometimes, survival requires subtraction before addition. The wheat must be separated from the chaff. The lion’s den must be cleared of foxes.

In fact, topnotch affiliates of the PDP should not regret that their members are defecting to other parties, particularly the APC, rather, they should use the unarguable disguised opportunity to reflect on the future of the party.

The PDP must reflect deeply. The mass exodus, defections, internal implosions, and trust deficit are painful, but perhaps necessary. If the party sees this season as a divine wake-up call and not a death sentence, it may yet rise from the ashes.

Let no one mourn the departure of the bad eggs. Let no tears be shed for political spoilers, saboteurs, and opportunists. If anything, their exit opens a path for younger, smarter, and more ideologically sound minds to steer the PDP back to relevance.

So yes, perhaps the proverb “good riddance to bad rubbish” is not just a saying, it is a prophecy finding expression in the PDP’s journey. And who knows, just maybe, this is how God chooses to save Nigeria’s opposition from itself.

The gale of defections in Nigeria’s political sphere has become not only repetitive but increasingly dangerous to the integrity and growth of our democracy. Politicians now switch political parties with reckless abandon, often for selfish gain, without consideration for the electorates that handed them the mandate. What was once considered an exception has now become the norm. It is high time this damaging trend is confronted and curtailed. The urgency now lies in making defection both legally costly and politically unattractive.

Unless Nigeria enacts and enforces stringent legal and judicial frameworks that make defection a serious political gamble, one that comes with the forfeiture of political office, the phenomenon will persist, to the detriment of our democratic evolution.

In fact, since the return to civilian rule in 1999, Nigeria has witnessed countless high-profile defections. Politicians hop from one party to another, particularly during election seasons or when a different party assumes power at the federal or state level. These defections are hardly based on ideology or genuine dissatisfaction with governance structures. Instead, they are driven by political expediency, pursuit of influence, protection from probes, or access to public funds.

Unfortunately, voters are made powerless spectators in this charade. They elect leaders based on party ideologies and manifestoes, only for those leaders to abandon the very platforms that brought them to power. This act of betrayal undermines representative democracy, reduces voter confidence, and destroys the principle of political accountability.

Worse still, entire legislative houses in some states have flipped allegiances overnight without a single vote being cast. The ease with which this occurs suggests a total breakdown of democratic values.

Aptly put, political defections in Nigeria political sphere has become a constitutional loophole, and a tool for manipulation. This is as Nigeria’s constitution does make some provisions against defection. Specifically, Section 68(1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) states that a legislator shall vacate his seat if he defects from the party that sponsored him, except where there is a division in the party. It is this exception clause that has become a major loophole.

To worsen the matter, politicians and their lawyers often conjure up evidence of “factional crisis” within their former party, whether genuine or fabricated, just to escape disqualification. Sadly, the courts have in many instances upheld such arguments, further emboldening the practice.

For members of the executive, governors and presidents, the constitution is even more silent. Despite the fact that they also rise to power through political parties, their defection is seen as a personal decision that does not affect their mandate. This perception is both illogical and dangerous.

If we are serious about strengthening our democracy, this lacuna must be fixed immediately. The mandate should be tied to the political party, not just the individual. The current system allows politicians to abuse the electoral process and walk away without consequences.

Against the backdrop of the foregoing view, it is germane to opine that the judiciary must play its role in defending the sanctity of the people’s mandate. Courts have occasionally stepped up, sacking defectors or ordering reruns, but these rulings are sporadic and lack consistency. The highest court in the land, the Supreme Court, must step in and provide a uniform interpretation on the issue of defection.

One route the judiciary can take is to revisit and clarify Section 221 of the Constitution, which provides that it is political parties, not individuals that contest elections. If a party owns the mandate, then logically, any defection should trigger a loss of seat or position.

There should be a binding judicial pronouncement that compels any politician who defects to resign immediately and seek a fresh mandate under the platform of their new party. Anything less is a rape of the democratic process.

To arrest this menace once and for all, Nigeria needs new laws that compel defectors to vacate their positions immediately upon defection. They must then recontest and win elections under the new party if they wish to retain their positions. This is not a novel idea. It is a democratic ideal that reaffirms the supremacy of the electorate.

Let the voters decide whether they support the change in political affiliation. If the defector is truly popular and the switch is ideologically justified, then he or she will win again. If not, they must be shown the exit door.

This reform will drastically reduce the culture of political prostitution and restore sanity to our political space.

Furthermore, political parties that receive defectors should be held responsible for encouraging anti-democratic practices. There should be penalties, financial or administrative, for any party that promotes or rewards defections.

In fact, there are lessons to be learnt from other parts of the world on political defection. This is as other democracies have handled this challenge with firmness and clarity. For example, India introduced the Anti-Defection Law in 1985 via the Tenth Schedule of its Constitution. This law mandates the disqualification of any elected lawmaker who defects without just cause. It was specifically designed to stop the frequent party-hopping that plagued Indian politics during the 1960s and 70s.

Thanks to this law, political stability improved in India, and elected officials became more cautious about switching affiliations. Nigeria must follow suit and craft similar legislation that reflects our political realities.

Appraising the real cost of defection, it would be revealed that at its core, defection hurts governance. It shifts focus from development to political survival. It creates rifts within legislative houses, frustrates policy continuity, and encourages loyalty to power rather than to people or ideology. It also promotes political blackmail, where lawmakers use defection as a bargaining chip to escape consequences or extract concessions.

Above all, it disempowers the voters. When a person elected on the platform of Party A defects to Party B without returning to seek the people’s approval, it reduces the electorate to mere pawns in a power game.

Without a doubt, the prevailing gale of defection in Nigeria at the moment does not speak well about democracy. It is daylight robbery!

Given the anti-democratic nature of the foreboding gale of defection, it is germane to contextually raise the red flag by saying that time to rescue Nigeria’s democracy is now.

If we are serious about reforming Nigeria’s political landscape and building enduring democratic institutions, then we must make defection unattractive. We must make it a serious political offense that carries weighty consequences, including the forfeiture of position and a compulsory reelection.

The time has come for the National Assembly to move beyond endless rhetoric and take legislative action. Let them pass a comprehensive Anti-Defection Law that mirrors the realities of our political system. Let the judiciary interpret and enforce these laws boldly. Let the electorate demand accountability from those who betray their trust.

Until defection becomes a gamble with real consequences, Nigerian politicians will continue to treat political parties as disposable tools and voters as expendable. Our democracy cannot grow under such a system.

The expediency of making defection costly and unattractive cannot be overemphasized. The nation stands at a crossroads, we either choose to defend the sanctity of the ballot or continue to let our democracy be auctioned to the highest bidder.

As the world marks another International Workers’ Day, a day traditionally set aside to celebrate the sacrifices, struggles, and achievements of the working class, one cannot help but ask a painfully honest question: “Do Nigerian workers truly have anything to celebrate?” The answer, for many, is a resounding no.

Across various sectors, from the civil service to private enterprise, from factories to farms, classrooms to clinics, Nigerian workers are breaking their backs daily, yet have little or nothing to show for it. While the world uses this day to appreciate workers as the engines of the economy, in Nigeria, the occasion often serves more as a grim reminder of the broken social contract between the state and its workforce.

Without a doubt, not a few workers in Nigeria are earning salaries that cannot feed their families. Perhaps the most glaring injustice Nigerian workers face is the insultingly low remuneration. When compared with other nations, even within Africa, Nigerian workers are paid among the least. As of today, the national minimum wage stands at a paltry ₦70,000 per month, and which is not being paid by majority of employers in the private sector.  You can imagine! A full-grown adult working full time in Africa’s largest economy earns the equivalent of less than a week’s grocery bill in most countries.

To put it into perspective, in South Africa, the minimum wage is undeniably higher, and also in Ghana, which has a higher minimum wage than Nigeria. Meanwhile, the Nigerian worker is expected to live, pay transport, feed a family, and maybe send children to school with ₦1,000 a day, and that is  for those even lucky enough to receive the minimum wage consistently.

Ironically, even those in relatively well-paying jobs, and who are majorly medical doctors, engineers, lecturers, mid-level civil servants are not spared. Inflation has swallowed their salaries whole. By the time rent, food, transportation, and school fees are paid, there is little or nothing left. Most survive on multiple side hustles. A university lecturer, for instance, might be running tutorial centers, farming, consulting, and other side hustles, all just to keep the home running.

Without any iota of exaggeration, inflation has remained a silent killer of workers in Nigeria. Even more troubling is how inflation has silently and steadily eroded whatever value those wages once held. The cost of living has skyrocketed. A bag of rice now sells for roughly ₦85,000, up from ₦7,000 just ten years ago. A loaf of bread that cost ₦100 a few years ago now costs ₦1,500. Public transport has tripled in cost. Electricity bills have risen sharply, even when power supply remains epileptic. For those living in cities, especially Lagos and Abuja, it is a daily miracle to survive.

Medical bills? Out of reach. Most workers today can no longer afford quality healthcare. In emergencies, many resort to traditional remedies or prayer. Sadly, even death has become a luxury, coffins are expensive, and burials even more so.

Another plague Nigerian workers face is debt. Many are buried in personal loans, cooperative deductions, and loan apps just to make ends meet. Salary advances are normalized, and pension savings, if they exist at all, are either tampered with or inaccessible.

Then there is the modern-day slavery practiced by many employers, especially in the private sector. In some establishments, workers are overworked and underpaid, denied leave, compelled to work weekends, and even forced to sign “no union” agreements. Domestic workers, security guards, factory hands, and junior staff are among the worst hit, with no protection whatsoever.

Worse still is the fact that job insecurity hangs over every employee like a sword. Retrenchments happen without warning. Contracts are terminated without compensation. The average Nigerian worker lives in fear; fear of speaking up, fear of being replaced, fear of unemployment.

Even in the public sector, where job security is supposedly guaranteed, workers suffer. Many are owed months of salary arrears. Promotions are delayed. Pensioners are treated like afterthoughts. Some states still struggle to pay gratuities owed to retirees from as far back as 2010. These old men and women, who spent their productive years serving the country, now die waiting for their entitlements, some collapsing in queues at government offices.

Many federal workers, teachers, and health workers have protested poor working conditions in the past year, but these protests are often met with empty promises or outright threats. Strikes, which ought to be a last resort, have become routine in Nigeria, not because workers enjoy abandoning their duty posts, but because it has become the only language governments and employers understand.

Given the backdrop of the foregoing view, it is disheartening that May 1st, a day that should serve as a beacon of appreciation and hope, has become a mere photo-op for politicians and employers. Year after year, we hear the same platitudes: “We appreciate our workers,” “We are working on improving salaries,” “We are committed to better welfare.” Yet nothing changes.

Beyond the empty speeches and token gestures, workers are left to navigate the same harsh realities year-round. Even worse, some state governors and government parastatals have hijacked the Workers’ Day celebration as a platform to campaign for popularity or divert attention from their failures. The parade grounds are littered with branded T-shirts, hollow speeches, and choreographed applause, but no real policy shifts or structural reforms.

Let us be clear: no nation can rise above the quality of life it provides its workforce. The real strength of any economy lies not just in GDP numbers but in the lives of the people who grease its wheels. The doctors saving lives in government hospitals. The teachers nurturing future leaders in under-equipped schools. The police officers and soldiers risking their lives for security. The journalists digging out the truth. The market women, drivers, bankers, engineers, factory workers, and artisans.

These people are the true heroes of our nation. They deserve more than one day of remembrance. They deserve more than token increments. They deserve dignity, respect, and most importantly, fair compensation.

Having lamented much in this context, it is high time the Nigerian government and corporate entities started treating workers like humans, not tools. The much-hyped minimum wage being paid to somewhat privileged workers in the civil service and some corporate bodies in the private sector of the economy, is not enough.  Frankly speaking, it is still far below subsistence as it does not align with the real cost of living. Wage policies must be linked to inflation indices, reviewed periodically, and enforced uniformly across states.

Also, there is a dire need for stronger labor laws and stricter enforcement. Employers, both public and private, must be held accountable for violating workers’ rights. Pension systems must be sanitized, arrears cleared, and retirees paid promptly.

In a similar vein, unions must wake up. Some labor leaders have become too cozy with government, selling out the people they are meant to represent. A reawakening of principled, uncompromising labor activism is needed now more than ever.

Finally, we must all, as a society, change our perception of workers. Let us restore honor to labor. Let us recognize that there is dignity in work, whether white-collar or blue-collar.

In fact, workers deserve daily recognition, not just a date on the calendar. Therefore, as Nigeria joins the rest of the world to mark Workers’ Day, we must move beyond shallow celebrations. Workers do not need fanfare. They need food on the table, salaries that make sense, housing they can afford, and the assurance that their future, and that of their children, is secure.

Let this year’s May Day be a wake-up call to all stakeholders. Because, until the Nigerian worker has genuine reasons to celebrate,  not just today, but every day,  then May 1st will remain a mockery rather than a tribute.

While there is need for us to let the applause stop, and let the action begin, it is expedient to ask “Do Nigerian Workers Have Anything To Celebrate today, being Workers’ Day?

Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai has stated that he is not mobilising against the present administration, but simply concerned about prevailing security issues and the general condition of the country.

Speaking in a press conference in Kano, he asserted that he is standing up against any individual or action that poses a threat to Nigeria’s interests.

He argued that even if his father stands against the good of the nation he would take him out because Nigeria is important.

He said, “Yes. I am not mobilising against the present administration. This is not about the present administration or power.

“It is about Nigeria’s economic and social conditions. Are you happy with the current situation? If you are not, let’s work together to find solutions. But if you are happy, it is okay.

“Go ahead and do ‘Emi lo kan’ which means it’s my turn. Look, this very trivialisation is a very serious threat to the existence of Nigeria.

“It is not about one is against the government of Nigeria, I am against anybody if Nigeria’s interest is threatened. Even if that person is my father, I will take him out because Nigeria is more important than that relationship.

“I went to university and got educated. I can face anyone anywhere in the world with confidence because of what Nigeria did for me. I want that opportunity for every young Nigerian.

“It doesn’t exist now. This is what some of us are fighting for. If you say it is because of this or that, I can say thank you.”

[NaijaNews]