Politics

2023 Polls: Concerns As Over 3 Million Students Face Disenfranchisement

Published

3 years ago

January 25, 2023

Barely 30 days to Nigeria’s presidential election – the world’s first big election of 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, faces myriads of complaints.

These include difficulties in picking up voters’ cards, alleged extortion by INEC officials and reported refusal to distribute the cards to non-indigenes in some States.

As the January 29 deadline for collection of the Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, inches closer, there are fears that about as high as 3.2 million Nigerian students who were at home during the continuous voters’ registration exercise might be unable to participate in the 2023 general elections.

The development is a fallout of the eight months of protracted industrial action embarked upon by the members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, for the larger part of 2022.

Recall that ASUU had declared strike on February 14, 2022, over the Federal government’s lackadaisical attitude towards the demands and plight of lecturers.

While announcing the labour action, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, ASUU President, said, “the government’s response to the union’s demands had not been satisfactorily addressed”.

However, ASUU called off the strike after it had lasted eight months in October 2022, following an intervention by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.

DAILY POST reported that Gbajabiamila had intervened in the dispute to broker peace between the Federal government and ASUU after all negotiations had failed.

During the period between the strike, the nationwide Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, exercise was ongoing across the country.

It commenced in June 2021 and hit its peak when many students were at home.

On July 31, 2022, the INEC announced the end of the voters’ registration exercise to enable the electoral body to clean up the register and remove multiple registrants using the Automated Biometric Identification System, ABIS.

Speaking at the commission’s 2022 third quarterly meeting with political parties in Abuja, INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu disclosed that the total number of newly registered voters in Nigeria stood at 9,518,188, adding that the 2023 general elections were for the youths.

“In terms of demographic distribution, 7.2 million new voters or 76.5 per cent, are young people between 18-34 years, while there is a slightly higher number of females (4.8 million or 50.82 per cent) than males (4.6 million or 49.18 per cent) voters. In terms of occupation, 3.8 million (40.8 per cent) are students,” Yakubu said.

As expected, the commission announced the timeline for the collection of PVCs for those who registered after the voter register cleanup. It said the collection of PVC would take place from December 12, 2022, and was expected to end on January 22, 2023.

However, following widespread complaints from many parts of the country, the INEC extended by seven days the deadline for the collection of PVCs.

The INEC Commissioner for Voter Education, Festus Okoye, who announced the new deadline for the PVC collection, said the exercise would now end on January 29 instead of January 22, as earlier scheduled.

“The commission is determined to ensure that registered voters have ample opportunity to collect their PVCs ahead of the forthcoming election.

“For this reason, the timeframe for the collection of PVCs is extended by eight days. Instead of ending on January 22, 2023, the collection of PVCs will continue until January 29, 2023. At the moment, the period of collection is 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. daily (including Saturdays and Sundays),” Okoye said.

But not satisfied with the one week extension, some stakeholders, including political parties, have raised concerns about Nigerian students who registered at their various home locations while the ASUU strike lasted but are now unable to collect their PVCs.

One of such stakeholders, a renowned scholar and Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thoughts, Dr Sam Amadi, believed it is necessary to allow students to leave school and return home to collect their PVCs.

Amadi spoke to DAILY POST following a press conference organised by the School of Social and Political Thoughts in Abuja on Tuesday.

He noted that the youths (18-35) totalled 37,060,399, representing 40 per cent of the total 93,469,008 eligible voters announced by the INEC.

“Some stakeholders, including political parties, had raised concerns about the process before the extension was granted. They complain about the slow pace of work. Others complain of obstruction of INEC officials or inadequate arrangement for a more grassroots collection. There are concerns about students who have returned to school but registered at home while schools were closed due to prolonged strikes. The question is whether it is reasonable to expect these students to leave school, go back home and collect their PVCs within the period allocated by INEC for PVC collection,” Amadi questioned.

He added that many registered voters are yet to collect their voter cards due to the misbehaviour of INEC staff who colluded with politicians to deny some registered voters their PVC, and in many cases, due to avoidable operational hitches.

Meanwhile, the University of Abuja students, who spoke to DAILY POST, lamented that the strike had affected their participation in the forthcoming elections.

They knocked the tertiary institution’s management for their inability to consider a break for students to collect their PVCs, an indispensable requirement for participating in the poll.

“From the look of things, we students are helpless. Many of us live in homes far from the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, and we can’t force ourselves home to collect our PVCs. It is left for the university management to decide if we are to have a break or not,” Kephas, a 400-level student of Political Science from Kaduna State lamented.

Edozie, an Abia State indigene studying English, said, “I just wish I could travel and pick up my PVC, but as it stands, I can’t help it. It is quite unfortunate that the youths have become a scapegoat for Nigerian leaders.”

DAILY POST also sought to contact the university’s Public Relations Officer to ascertain if the school management had made arrangements to grant students a break period, but it was unsuccessful.

Also speaking to the DAILY POST, a communication scholar at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Dr Chidiebere Nwachukwu said the youths should be given adequate support to participate actively in the democratic process.

“I do think that adequate provisions should be made for the students to go and collect their PVCs since we want to make this election as inclusive as possible. This is the only way the youths who are driving the process can have every avenue to participate actively in electing the next leaders.

“There is no way we can be talking about democracy if we do not have the input mechanism for making sure that those who should participate are given the opportunity to participate actively in the democratic process,” he said.
DAILY POST

Politics

In Defence Of Khalifa Jarrett Tenebe: The Generational Shift Reshaping Edo Politics

Published

19 hours ago

May 27, 2026

Editor

By DAN Osa-Ogbegie

For decades, Edo politics remained trapped within a narrow and predictable cycle of political recycling. The same ageing actors moved endlessly from one office to another, from one administration to the next, and from one political alignment to another, as though leadership in Edo State had become the exclusive inheritance of a permanent political aristocracy.

Meanwhile, thousands of intelligent, energetic, and capable young Edo people watched helplessly from the margins while opportunities for leadership, governance, party administration, and public service remained tightly controlled by individuals whose political relevance dated back several decades.

That unhealthy political culture is now gradually changing.

Today, one of the most important political transformations taking place within the All Progressives Congress in Edo State is the deliberate transition from recycled political gerontocracy to a younger generation of political actors. That transition is unfolding under the leadership of Senator Monday Okpebholo, Governor of Edo State and Leader of the APC in Edo State, together with the State Chairman of the party, Khalifa Jarrett Tenebe.

Predictably, such a shift has unsettled entrenched interests.

Those who became accustomed to monopolising political relevance naturally feel threatened by the emergence of a younger generation that is increasingly assertive, visible, influential, and institutionally empowered. Yet, history teaches a simple lesson: no political structure survives indefinitely without renewal.

No serious political party can continue recycling the same exhausted political machinery forever while expecting innovation, grassroots energy, modern governance ideas, and long-term political sustainability.

That reality appears to be clearly understood by Governor Monday Okpebholo and Khalifa Jarrett Tenebe.

Much of the criticism unfairly directed at Khalifa Jarrett Tenebe in recent times stems from the fact that he has become one of the visible faces of this generational transition within Edo APC. Beneath the noise, propaganda, and political bitterness lies an undeniable truth: the party is consciously opening spaces for younger people in ways not seen for many years.

From the youthful Deputy Chairman of APC in Edo State, Sylvester Aigboboh, to several younger commissioners, Special Advisers, members of the State Executive Council, board chairmen, local government administrators, and strategic appointees across government, the evidence of deliberate political renewal is becoming increasingly impossible to ignore.

In Uhunmwode Local Government Area, Hon. Austin Imafidon has emerged as one of the young faces of focused governance and grassroots administration. Beyond politics, he has already established himself successfully in business, bringing into governance the mindset of productivity, enterprise, and modern administrative engagement.

In Etsako, Hon. Sunny Ekpeson has continued to attract national attention as the youngest ALGON Chairman in Nigeria, representing a clear departure from the era where local government leadership was treated as the permanent preserve of ageing political operators disconnected from younger demographics.

In Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area, Hon. Eric Osawaru represents another example of the younger political generation now entrusted with leadership responsibilities, while in Oredo Local Government Area, Engr. Gabriel Iduseri equally reflects the growing confidence being reposed in younger administrators within the APC structure.

In Owan, Hon. Aitalegbe Ernest, popularly known as “China Boy,” has also emerged as one of the prominent young political figures gaining traction as the incoming Chairman of the local government, further reinforcing the expanding generational transition currently taking shape across Edo State.

The same pattern is visible across government institutions and strategic agencies.

Pastor Stanley Dave Ighodaro, a successful entrepreneur with thriving business interests in Europe, now heads the Edo State Parks and Gardens Agency. His emergence reflects an increasingly important shift towards bringing professionally exposed and globally minded younger individuals into governance and public administration.

Similarly, Kassim Otono, who serves as Special Adviser on Oil and Gas to the Executive Governor of Edo State, represents another example of younger technocratic involvement within the present administration. His inclusion within such a strategic sector underscores the growing confidence being placed in younger professionals and politically aware technocrats within government.

This is how enduring institutions are built.

A political party that refuses to regenerate itself eventually becomes intellectually stagnant, structurally weak, and electorally disconnected from evolving social realities.

Governor Monday Okpebholo deserves commendation for recognising that governance in a rapidly changing society cannot remain permanently tied to political methods and leadership assumptions developed several decades ago. Contemporary governance demands adaptability, technological awareness, stronger grassroots engagement, administrative energy, and a deeper connection with younger populations.

Khalifa Jarrett Tenebe equally deserves credit for helping stabilise the party while managing this difficult but necessary transition process. Generational shifts are never easy within political systems historically dominated by established interests. Resistance is inevitable. Political resentment is expected. Internal anxieties naturally emerge whenever old monopolies begin to weaken.

Leadership, however, requires courage.

The recently concluded primaries further revealed this evolving direction within the APC. The emergence of candidates such as Rt. Hon. Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, Osazee Igbinovia, Dr. Emmanuel Paddy Iyamu, Omosede Igbinedion, Sir Lucky Eseigbe, and Odianosen Okojie reflects a growing political philosophy that increasingly values capacity, grassroots relevance, contemporary appeal, and generational continuity.

Equally symbolic is the emergence of several young Acting Local Government Council Chairmen who are now candidates of the party in the forthcoming local government elections. That development sends a powerful message across Edo State that political participation is gradually becoming more accessible to younger people with competence, commitment, and organisational value.

For too long, many young people in Edo politics were reduced to political spectators, social media defenders, praise singers, or election-day foot soldiers while actual power remained tightly guarded elsewhere. Such a model was never sustainable.

A society that continuously sidelines its younger generation ultimately weakens its own political future.

The ongoing transition within Edo APC does not amount to hostility towards elders or experienced political actors. Experience remains valuable. Elder statesmen still possess institutional memory and political wisdom that younger actors can benefit from immensely. Mentorship, however, must never become political suffocation. Guidance must never evolve into permanent political domination.

Every generation deserves the opportunity to participate meaningfully in shaping the future it will eventually inherit.

That is precisely why the current direction of the APC leadership in Edo State deserves objective acknowledgement rather than emotional hostility.

Many of those attacking Khalifa Jarrett Tenebe today are not truly angry about party administration. Their deeper discomfort arises from the reality that political influence is gradually shifting away from old centres of control towards a newer generation of actors who may no longer depend entirely on traditional political gatekeepers for relevance or survival.

Societies evolve.

Political cultures evolve.

Leadership itself evolves.

No generation owns political power forever.

Ultimately, the future of Edo State cannot be built exclusively around recycled political veterans whose greatest political moments belong largely to the past. A forward-looking society must continuously create room for younger leadership, newer ideas, fresh administrative energy, and modern political thinking.

That future is already unfolding within the APC in Edo State.

History may eventually remember Khalifa Jarrett Tenebe and Governor Monday Okpebholo as central figures in the difficult but necessary political transition that began moving Edo away from recycled political dominance towards a broader and younger leadership culture capable of preparing the state for a different era.

Daniel Aroren Noah Osa-Ogbegie is a Benin based legal practitioner and public intellectual from Uhunmwode Local Government Area.

Politics

JUST IN: Omo-Agege Resigns From APC

Published

20 hours ago

May 27, 2026

Editor

Former Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege has resigned his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with immediate effect.

In a letter to the Chairman of Orogun Ward 2, Ughelli North Local Government, Delta State, dated May 22, 2026, Omo-Agege said after reviewing recent developments within the ruling party and consulting with his associates and supporters, it is clear that his political objectives and those of his constituents are better served outside the party.

“I will not remain a sitting duck in a party where I cannot advance the interests of Delta Central, Delta State and Nigeria,” he said.

On Ovie Omo-Agege’s castle-in-the-air
“I thank the APC for the opportunity to serve as Deputy President of the 9th Senate. I wish the party well and have requested that my name be removed from all membership records, registers, and communication lists,” Omo-Agege added.

Omo-Agege, in a statement by his media adviser, Sunny Areh, affirmed that his focus remains on delivering development and effective representation for Delta Central, Delta State, and Nigeria. He added that he will seek to pursue these goals outside the APC.

Details shortly…

Politics

Amaechi Rejects ‘Concocted’ ADC Presidential Primary Results

Published

2 days ago

May 26, 2026

Editor

Former Minister of Transportation and presidential aspirant of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Rotimi Amaechi, has rejected the outcome of the party’s presidential primary election, describing the exercise as deeply flawed and lacking credibility.

The ADC on Monday conducted a nationwide direct primary to select its candidate for the 2027 presidential election, with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, former Managing Director of the defunct FSB International Bank, and Amaechi emerging as the leading contenders.

Reacting in a statement issued on Tuesday, Amaechi alleged widespread voter disenfranchisement, manipulation and serious electoral malpractice during the exercise, insisting that the results being announced were “concocted” and did not reflect the will of party members.

According to him, the primary process was compromised from the outset, with several genuine party members allegedly denied the opportunity to participate in the election across different states.

Amaechi accused some party officials of undermining the integrity of the exercise through what he described as coordinated irregularities capable of damaging the credibility of the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He maintained that the conduct of the primary fell short of the democratic standards, transparency and fairness expected in a credible internal party election.

The former Rivers State governor called on the leadership of the ADC to urgently address the alleged irregularities and protect the democratic rights of party members.

He warned that failure to uphold transparency and internal democracy could weaken public confidence in the party and its ability to present itself as a viable alternative ahead of the next general elections.

Amaechi’s rejection of the process is expected to deepen internal tensions within the ADC as opposition realignments and political calculations ahead of 2027 continue to gather momentum.