Public Affairs Analyst

  Nigeria is on the march again to have its eighth general elections in this Fourth Republic. Party primaries are underway in the 22 registered political parties, with the All-Progressives Congress, the ruling party, leading the pack. The party held its House of Representatives and senatorial primaries on May 16 and 18, respectively. Today, May 20, the party will hold its State House of Assembly primaries. Lesson from the APC primaries conducted so far shows that we still have a long way to go in our democratic journey. The party obviously needs to improve its internal democratic process. Amid the preparations for the next elections is the growing insecurity and dearth of welfare for the citizens. Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, as altered, said the security and welfare of citizens shall be the primary purpose of government. Unfortunately, past and present governments have failed to deliver on these two desiderata for good governance. I hate to speak ill of ...

  Politics is the authoritative allocation of values, according to David Easton. Harold Lasswell in 1936 said, “It is about who gets what, when and how.”   As I predicted in January this year, 2026 is a year of high-wire politics. This is because Nigeria is preparing for its eighth general elections in this Fourth Republic, which started in 1999. Recall that we have a quadrennial electoral process where general elections are held every four years. We have successfully had polls in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2023. The eighth one is scheduled for January 16 and February 6, 2027.   Gradually, the political temperature of Nigeria is heating up. A lot has happened since January that I need to bring you up to speed on. It will be recalled that President Bola Tinubu, on February 18, 2026, signed the sixth Electoral Act into law. The passage of this piece of critical legislation was deliberately delayed by the National Assembly for whatever selfish reason(s). Niger...

  Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been buzzing with activities in the recent past. Since November 2025, the ministry has been involved in nomination of career ambassadors and the induction of about 65 ambassadors recently appointed by President Bola Tinubu. In March 2026, in adherence to the president’s charge for all minister and aides nursing political ambitions to resign, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar was among those who voluntarily resigned. We learnt he wants to vie for the governorship seat in his home state of Bauchi.   And just last week, President Tinubu upgraded Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu to the substantive position of Minister of Foreign Affairs. She’s the third female to occupy that prestigious office after Dr.   Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (2006) and Prof. Joy Ogwu (2006–2007). Information garnered from the website of Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs says “Nigeria, as a significant player o...