Abubakar Umar 

Governor Uba Sani has said that Northern Nigerian Women Ulama endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election for a second term because of his record of achievements and inclusive style of governance.

Speaking at the stakeholders’ engagement with delegates from all the 19 northern states at Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Conference Centre on Sunday, the Governor noted that the delegates represent millions of members across the region.

According to him, the delegates  expressed  ‘’their support for our leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. They made their point clear through their leaders.

‘’They are not endorsing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu based on sentiments or some selfish reasons. It is simply because of what he has done for Nigeria and for Northern Nigeria in particular,’’ he added.

Governor Uba Sani said that they endorsed the president  because of his  giant strides ‘’in the areas of education, infrastructural development, healthcare and in the area of agriculture.’’

Organised by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Alhaji Ibrahim Masari,  the stakeholders’ engagement was attended by  Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, Alhaji Mai Mala Buni, the Yobe State Governor and  Professor Babagana Zulum of Borno State.

Other dignitaries at the event include Minister of Defence, Alhaji Bello Matawalle and Minister of Housing, Engr Muttaqa Rabe Darma and other senior government officials.

The host Governor Uba Sani noted that they were at the event to support the women ulama  because ‘’they are talking about issues,’’ adding that what the president  has done in terms of inclusivity is unparalleled.

 According to him, the Northern Women Ulama noted that President Bola Tinubu ‘’has been able to treat every part of Nigeria equally, with fairness, and  has been taking  development to every part of Nigeria.’’

‘’But most importantly, he has invested a lot in education, which is the most important area of focus in Northern Nigeria. You will agree with me that the gap that exists in the north is very wide,’’ he noted.

 Governor Uba Sani said that  within three and half years, the president has invested in ‘’not only conventional education, but most importantly in skills-based education.’’

 ‘’Through the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and  the support of Nigerian Education Loan Fund(NELFUND), the President has done a lot for the north.

 ‘’As some of them(women ulama) have said  here, if you go to the dashboard of NELFUND and TVET, Northern Nigeria has benefitted to the tune of over 60%.

‘’That is simply because President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is detribalised, he is someone who believes in one Nigeria without discrimination. That is the reason why they are motivated, they are inspired and they decided to come together from the 19 northern states, to endorse President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,’’ he added.

Governor Uba Sani argued that ‘’we as Governors who are supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we are here to support them , to motivate them to do more and take  their message to all the 19 northern states, and all our wards and local governments.’’

The Governor further said that ‘’the north has benefitted under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu more than any leader in the history of Nigeria. We have the data and the statistics and we can prove it any day anytime.’’

He pointed out that politicians who campaigning on the basis  the north and  south, ‘’are just engaging in a lazy argument.  Virtually all of them  have had opportunity in the past.’’

According to him, some were Vice Presidents, some where governors, some were ministers but have done little to benefit the north as much as President Tinubu has done.

Concerned Middle Belt stakeholders have urged the leadership of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), to resist pressure from some quarters to conduct a fresh primary election for the party’s governorship ticket in Plateau state

The stakeholders, under the aegis of Middle Belt Young Political Stakeholders (MBYPS), therefore, urged the national leader of the NDC, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, to intervene in what they described as a move to displace the party’s gubernatorial candidate, Da Jonathan Sunday Akuns through a dubious repeat primary election.

Leaders of the stakeholders , Gaius Shekwolo’ (president)and Abdulahi Illiya (Secretary ), who made the call during a press conference in Abuja at the weekend, said time has come for Dickson to look into the shenanigans of some political jobbers in Plateau State.

The group urged Dickson to ensure that the planned substitution or rerun governorship primary scheduled for Tuesday September 15, 2027 is unwarranted for Da Akuns who remains the original sole aspirant; the plan is simply a part of the broader effort to displace the sole candidate that emerged unopposed at the initial primary on 29th May 2026.

While arguing that the time for the sale of forms had already elapsed, MBYPS noted that if the exercise throws up a different governorship candidate it would go a long way to confirm the fears in many quarters that the party has been compromised in Plateau State.

 “We heard that an influential political leader in the state doled out large sums of money to some NDC leaders to set the ground work for possible disqualification of the party for the February 2027 governorship election in the state. 

 “With the experience of PDP that suffered a judicial loss of its election victory of the the 2023 national election during which the party won the National Assembly and State House of Assembly seats, it was expected that political leaders in Plateau State should avoid actions capable of repeating that costly mistake.

 “Plateau State should not be a Guinea pig for political merchandising that robs voters the power to elect their leaders. NDC should fish out those building the foundation for another judicial intervention in the electoral process due to breach of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) guidelines,” the group stated. 

   According to MBYPS, the recourse to placeholder by NDC after its direct governorship primary had produced an unopposed winner does not reflect the party’s promise of upholding the rule of law and ensuring that the son of a nobody can become somebody without knowing somebody.

    The group stated: “You cannot rescue Nigeria or effectively fight corruption by encouraging electoral manipulation and politics of imposition. Why did NDC sell the expression of interest and nomination form to a candidate in the first place? What is happening in Plateau State NDC has a deeper context than intra-party contestation for influence.    

    The group noted that it was regretful that at a time when they are making efforts to unite the Middle Belt into a common region to solve its socio-political and economic challenges, some overzealous politicians were trying to sustain bad political example.

    Going down memory lane, the Middle Belt Political Stakeholders said the region was determined to right the wrongs of the area which culminated in poor political choices and divisions that characterized the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) era.

    “It is painful that the leadership which the Middle Belt provided during the PDP era was allowed to go to waste. Now, we have seen a possible recourse to the same wrong steps in the choice to manipulate the replacement of a sole governorship candidate of Nigeria

Democratic Congress (NDC) in Plateau State.

   “We are at a great loss on how a party that sold expression of interest and nomination forms for the governorship primary should orchaestrate a purported suspension of the candidate that emerged unopposed. What examples does the NDC want to set in Plateau State?

   “The MBPS is grossly pained by the dangerous narrative in Plateau because the state represents the arrowhead of Middle Belt political renaissance. We have it on good authority that Governor Caleb Muftwang is now regretting his defection to All Progressives Congress (APC).

    “It is therefore mindboggling that some elements in NDC are determined to deny the party of a strong contender just because they want ensure that Governor Muftwang does not have strong contenders in the opposition parties. We have therefore decided to draw the attention of the NDC leader to this surreptitious plot to destabilise the Middle Belt by weakening the democratic compass of Plateau State.”

** Reveals register inflated with underaged, fictitious, duplicate registrants
***Says many Nigerians have lost confidence in democracy 
A former national commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Festus Oloyede, has called for Ex-National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Festus Okoye, has stayed that only a fresh and immediate compilation of a new biometric voters’ register can give Nigeria a reliable voter register ahead of the 2027 general election 

Okoye, who was a national commissioner, during the Professor Mahmoud Yakubu led INEC that conducted the 2023 general election, revealed that the current voter register contains fictitious, underage, and duplicate registrations

The former INEC national commissioner who made the revelation when he appeared on a podcast, Deep Insight with Agbonsuremi, said the current voter register could not provide an accurate picture of Nigeria’s genuine voting population, adding that it has been inflated with several multiple registrations, underage registration, as well as those of deceased persons and Nigerians who had left the country.

He noted further that the current register was compiled when INEC lacked the technological capacity to effectively detect multiple registrations.

“We must have a new biometric voters’ register. If we have a new biometric voters’ register, then we can be sure of the number of individuals that are on the voters’ register,” Okoye said.

“People registered and registered and registered. Some registered 10 times, some registered 20 times. Some of those people, their names are still on the voters’ register,” he said.

Okoye also alleged that underage persons were captured in the register in some communities, while there was no effective mechanism for removing the names of deceased persons or Nigerians who had relocated abroad.

He argued that these factors made the register unreliable as a basis for measuring voter participation.

The former commissioner, who said he monitored the recent Osun State governorship election, also rejected the suggestion that low voter turnout was solely an indication of voter apathy.

He described the situation largely as “voter disengagement,” saying many Nigerians had deliberately withdrawn from the electoral process because they had lost confidence in democracy.

According to him, insecurity, fear of electoral violence, distrust in the system and the belief that elections had already been decided were among the reasons many registered voters stayed away from polling units.

“What we have in Nigeria is voter disengagement. Some people have completely and absolutely and fundamentally disengaged from the electoral process.

They believe that democracy is not working for them. So why waste my time?” he said..

Okoye argued that the existing Electoral Act as amended was sufficient to conduct credible elections, noting that the major challenge was not the absence of adequate legislation but the failure to enforce it.

The former INEC commissioner called for the establishment of an Electoral Offences Commission to investigate, arrest and prosecute electoral offenders, while allowing INEC to focus exclusively on election management, adding that electoral offences persisted because institutions responsible for investigating and prosecuting offenders were not sufficiently empowered.

“The commission should concentrate fully on its core mandate of organising and undertaking and supervising elections,” he said.