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2027: APC kicks as opposition backs single day polls

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A major political storm is brewing over a fresh proposal to amend the 1999 Constitution to allow all elections in Nigeria to be conducted on the same day in 2027.

While leading opposition parties — the Peoples Democratic Party, Labour Party, African Democratic Congress, and New Nigeria People’s Party — have thrown their weight behind the move, the ruling All Progressives Congress has rejected it, warning of dire consequences.

The proposal, spearheaded by the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review, chaired by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, is being considered as part of broader constitutional amendments following zonal consultations across the six geo-political zones.

If passed, the amendment would mandate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct presidential, governorship, National Assembly, and state assembly polls in a single day — a move touted to drastically cut costs and reduce post-election bandwagon effects.

Opposition back plan

Backing the initiative, the National Publicity Secretary of the NNPP, Ladipo Johnson, argued that same-day polls would be both cost-effective and efficient.

He said, “The costs of elections are too high, just like those of governance. And any reasonable thing to reduce the costs should be looked at. Even for the political parties, it is cheaper and more efficient for them to do their elections in one day.”

On concerns over rigging, Johnson dismissed fears, saying, “If these people are going to rig, they will rig. But if you have all your elections in one day, all your candidates are able to pool together resources so that the polling unit is properly manned.”

The Labour Party also gave its full backing. National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, said the proposal would eliminate staggered elections and reduce bandwagon effects.

He noted, “The Labour Party aligns itself with the position that all elections should hold the same day… It’s also going to help reduce the cost of funding elections, logistics, and bandwagon effect where some voters, after knowing who wins the presidential poll, will start moving towards that direction in subsequent elections.”

For the PDP, Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, welcomed the idea but warned against manipulation.

“It is a welcome development if it is done with sincerity, clear intent and purpose. The truth is that the bogus amount that the government spends on elections is mind-boggling. There’s no rational reason why we spend over $350 billion conducting elections in this country, where at the end of the day, you don’t get value for the outcome of such votes,” he said.

The ADC, through its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, also declared support but with a caveat.

“Our support for doing the election on the same day is contingent on INEC logistics being top notch. At the moment, we don’t see any evidence that INEC is committed to improving its logistics,” he said.

APGA, lawmakers caution

But not all stakeholders are convinced. The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) warned that the logistics could be chaotic.

APGA spokesman, Ejimofor Okpara, told The PUNCH, “As laudable as it sounds, we believe it will be chaotic. Our elections, as they are, already appear too cumbersome, logistics-wise, for INEC. One can only imagine the outlook if these major elections are held in one day.”

Lawmakers are also split. North-West caucus leader, Sada Soli (APC, Katsina), backed the bill, describing it as “an idea whose time has come.”

But Osun lawmaker, Oluwole Oke, disagreed, insisting, “It’s INEC’s prerogative to decide which date to conduct elections.”

Lagos lawmaker, Babajimi Benson, added, “I strongly believe that this decision should be included only in the INEC Act so as to make amendments easy… This (proposed) amendment in the constitution may make it very difficult in the future.”

APC rejects move

The APC formally opposed the proposal, describing staggered elections as the better option.

Deputy National Organising Secretary, Nze Chidi Duru, warned, “To hold all elections on the same day puts a lot of pressure on the institution that is governing elections in Nigeria.

“You’re going to be holding elections at the State Assembly, House of Reps, Senate, governors, and the President. After those four years, INEC now sits back and literally does nothing.”

He added that staggered polls would keep INEC “active year-round” and reduce the risk of system collapse.

Lawyers weigh in

A former Director of Voter Education at INEC, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, condemned the plan, recalling that a similar attempt in 2003 was rejected by the courts.

“This is not a new idea. They tried this before when we were in INEC, and we actually went to court before the 2002 and 2003 elections. We won the case then,” he said, warning that Nigeria lacked the logistics and literacy levels required for such an exercise.

However, prominent lawyers see merit in the idea.

Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Lekan Ojo, argued: “From the economic perspective, it is a cost-saving measure… But it may be very clumsy. The electoral officers may be overwhelmed and that may lead to a floodgate of litigations.”

Another SAN, Wale Balogun, was more sceptical: “If our experience is anything to go by, then I’m afraid for Nigeria. I don’t think we have the capacity to do so.”

For Adedayo Adedeji (SAN), the move would “drastically reduce the cost of conducting elections,” though he warned of doubts over INEC’s capacity.

Civil society

Civil society leaders, including Auwal Musa Rafsanjani of the Transition Monitoring Group and Debo Adeniran of the Centre for Accountability and Open Leadership, endorsed the proposal, insisting it would cut costs and make elections more transparent.

Adeniran said, “There is nothing stopping us from conducting all the elections in one day, except for those who are thinking of how to manipulate elections.”

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Over 6.2 million Nigerians complete online voter pre-registration – INEC

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More than 6.2 million Nigerians completed their online pre-registration for the Continuous Voter Registration during week six of the exercise, according to data released by the Independent National Electoral Commission on Monday.

The figures, published on INEC’s official X handle and website, showed that a total of 6,232,673 pre-registrants were recorded between September 22 and 28, 2025.

Of this number, 3,250,338 were female, representing 52.15 percent, while 2,982,335 were male, accounting for 47.85 percent . Youths aged 18 to 34 continued to dominate the process, with 4,230,715 registering within the period. Students made up a significant portion with 1,565,824 entries, while persons with disabilities totaled 137,865.

INEC also reported that 1,004,132 Nigerians completed both online and physical registrations in Week five, covering the period from September 22 to 26, 2025.

This figure includes 537,743 who finalized their registration online and 466,389 who completed the process physically.

Demographic data for the completed registrations in week five showed that 555,077 were female (55.28 percent) and 449,055 were male (44.72 percent). Youths made up 742,379 of the total, while students were 354,406. The number of registered PWDs during the week stood at 13,987.

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Osun PDP, APC clash as FG releases LG allocations

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The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, on Sunday, confirmed that the Federal Government had released the withheld six-month allocations for the state’s local government areas.

The APC, however, denied that the funds were paid into the private accounts of council chairmen elected on the platform of the APC in October 2022.

It said the funds were paid “into the local government councils’ accounts.”

However, the ruling PDP, which said it was not aware of the payment, demanded that the APC disclose the details of the accounts the funds were paid into.

The PDP wondered how the Federal Government would release the funds into bank accounts unknown to the state’s accountant general, auditor-general for local governments and the ministry of local governments.

The clash between the two parties comes after the National Union of Local Government Employees accused the Federal Government of illegally releasing the withheld six-month allocation to the APC.

Speaking on behalf of the union on Sunday, NULGE Chairman, Dr Nathaniel Ogungbangbe,  said the union had confirmed that the Federal Government paid the March–August 2025 allocations into accounts illegally opened by the APC chairmen and councillors despite pending court cases.

He specifically accused the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun; the Accountant-General of the Federation, Babatunde Ogunjimi; and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), of abusing their offices by facilitating the release.

“Today, we have it on good authority that these three principal officers of the Federal Government have released the Osun State Local Government Councils’ allocations for the month of March 2025 to August 2025 to the illegal bank accounts opened by court-sacked APC chairmen and councillors,” Ogungbangbe said.

“We find this development very scary and alarming.

Paying Local Government allocations into privately opened and illegal bank accounts of politicians is unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented in the history of public administration in Nigeria.”

Ogungbangbe recalled that a Federal High Court had on May 15, 2025, ordered parties to maintain the status quo, an order he said was acknowledged by the Central Bank of Nigeria, which initially withheld payment.

“The Attorney-General cannot assume the role of the Supreme Court by setting aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which affirmed the sacking of the APC politicians by the Federal High Court. The Attorney-General is not above the law,” he declared.

He also accused the APC of trying to destabilise the state.

“Their ultimate goal is to cause anarchy and use it to call on the President to declare a State of Emergency in the state so that they could loot our resources,” he alleged, adding that council workers would not return to duty posts until the issue was resolved.

But the Osun APC dismissed the allegations, describing them as lies designed to favour the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.

In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Kola Olabisi, the APC said: “It is not true that the said federal allocations are paid into the account of any of our local government council chairmen or any of the APC members or chieftain but into the local government councils’ accounts.”

Olabisi further argued that NULGE had no authority to interpret court rulings.

“We want to, as a party which believes in the rule of law, make it abundantly clear that it is not the duty of the NULGE to interpret any court judgment. The Court of Appeal judgement of the 10th of February, 2025, which reinstated the APC local government council chairmen and their councillors, is still in force as there is no record anywhere that it was appealed against.”

He accused the NULGE leadership of pursuing selfish interests and acting as an appendage of Governor Ademola Adeleke.

“The NULGE needs not weave up a series of lies in respect of the payment of the federal allocations… The sing-song of the NULGE before now was that some agencies of the Federal Government were withholding the accumulated federal allocations. Now that the logjam has been laid to rest, what would be their next excuse?” he asked.

The party also urged security agencies to remain on alert.

“We plead with the NULGE to shun brigandage, as Osun, being a subset of the country, is being governed by the rule of law,” the statement read.

Reacting to the revelation and the admission by the APC, Osun PDP called on the APC to disclose the accounts into which the allocations were paid and the signatories of the accounts.

In a statement on Sunday by its Chairman,  Sunday Bisi, the PDP described the release of funds to the APC as a crime against the people of Osun State.

The PDP said rather than attacking NULGE, the APC should “come clean before the people of Osun State by publicly disclosing the exact bank accounts into which the local government allocations were paid and the signatories to those accounts. The APC should also disclose the amount in each of the accounts.”

The PDP said, “We demand these details because all the statutory officers of all the 30 local governments who should be aware of the payment are not aware of it. These officers manage all the accounts of the local governments. They have not seen a dime in any of their local government accounts. Also, none of the state accountant general, the auditor-general for local governments and the ministry of local governments is aware of the payments or where they were paid into.

“The Osun PDP wishes to remind the APC that hurling insults at labour unions cannot change the reality that the people of Osun are demanding answers. The questions are simple: into which accounts were the allocations paid, and who are the signatories?”

The PDP said the APC must urgently provide answers, “or we will conclude that the APC and its leaders have staged the greatest heist in the history of Nigeria by diverting over six months of allocations of all local governments in Osun State.”

“The PDP assures the people of Osun State that under Governor Ademola Adeleke, transparency and accountability will continue to be the guiding principles in the management of public funds. No amount of intimidation or blackmail by the APC will derail this resolve,” Bisi added.

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Adamawa ADC gives Atiku ultimatum to pick membership card

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The African Democratic Congress has issued an ultimatum to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, and other prominent figures in the party to register at their respective wards before the end of the year or risk losing recognition as members.

Speaking exclusively to The PUNCH in Yola, the Adamawa State Chairman of the ADC, Shehu Yohanna, said the party had unveiled its membership register, stressing that only those with valid membership cards would be acknowledged.

“Atiku Abubakar should go to his ward in Jada Local Government and register, Babachir should go to his ward in Hong Local Government and register. That is the only way they can be treated as legitimate members of the party,” Yohanna said.

“You cannot be taking decisions for a party you are not constitutionally a member of. All of you should register for the greatness of our party.

“It is illegal for someone to hold a leadership position in the party at the national level without being a registered member. That makes a caricature of the party,” he declared.

Last Thursday, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, reaffirmed the caucus’ resolution that all coalition members resign from their current parties and register fully with the ADC—a directive dismissed as inconsequential by both the APC and PDP.

Atiku’s much-publicised membership registration, initially scheduled for August in his hometown of Jada, was suspended indefinitely last month without explanation.

The PUNCH gathered that the former Vice President is weighing his chances of clinching the ADC’s presidential ticket, particularly in light of the growing influence of Peter Obi’s political movement within the party.

Yohanna dismissed the ruling All Progressives Congress and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party as incapable of defeating the ADC in the 2027 general elections.

He added that the ADC boasts politically influential figures and is prepared to wrest power from the APC administration.

“The unfriendly policies of the present government have paved the way for our party to take over and reposition the country for authentic democracy,” he said.

On the reported crisis in the party’s Adamawa chapter, Yohanna maintained that he remained the legitimate chairman.

“My tenure expires in 2026 based on the constitution of the party, so nobody can remove me from office. The ADC is not the estate of anyone; it is a political party registered by former President Olusegun Obasanjo,” he said.

He further claimed that the credentials of ADC governorship aspirants are among the best in Adamawa and indeed across Nigeria.

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