Public Affairs Analyst

  One issue that politicians have been using to campaign since the birth of Nigeria is the provision of electricity, otherwise known as power. An online source claimed that electricity in Nigeria began with a 60KW plant in Marina, Lagos, in 1898, making it one of Africa’s earliest electrified cities. The sector evolved from localised colonial generators to the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria in 1951, later merging in 1972 with the Niger Dams Authority to form the national grid monopoly, NEPA. Despite its 128-year history, there is an acute shortage of power in Nigeria. The sector has undergone several reforms without much to show for it. The country’s economy is still largely powered by private electricity generating set despite billions of dollars invested to improve public power supply. In the last couple of weeks, Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu (Pemkelemesi), has been in the eye of the storm as he’s been caricatured as Minister of Darkness. There is a trending sarcastic vi...

On Monday, March 9, 2026, there was a press release that Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State have dumped the Peoples Democratic Party and has decided to pitch his political tent with the ruling party at the center, All Progressives Congress. The development was confirmed on Monday in a statement issued by the governor’s media aide, Nuhu Anka, who said the defection followed his principal’s engagements with party leaders, elders and supporters in the state. According to the governor’s aide, “This decision was reached after wide consultations with political stakeholders and supporters, particularly in view of the prolonged internal crisis, leadership disagreements, and unresolved structural challenges within the PDP at both the national and state levels.” Recall that PDP after 2023 General Elections had 12 governors under its umbrella but the lingering internal strife within its fold has robbed the party of 10 out of the dozen it had three years ago. Those who had previously defected...

  I have been fortunate to work in the field of Democracy and Good Governance, popularly called D&G, for over 25 years. I have been an accredited observer of elections in Nigeria since 1999. I have worked for both domestic and international organisations on elections and electoral reforms. I have built capacities of different actors and stakeholders in the electoral process, from election management bodies, namely the Independent National Electoral Commission and State Independent Electoral Commissions, political parties and contestants, civil society organisations, national and state legislative assemblies, media, and security agencies. I am a development consultant, author of three books on governance and a renowned public affairs analyst. I say without any fear of contradiction that Nigeria’s major challenge is our vicious, self-centred and desperate politicians who will stop at nothing to win elections. Nigeria has been having electoral reforms since 2001, yet the quality...