Politics

Labour Party Makes Inroads Into NASS, Clinches Six Senate, 34 Reps Seats

Published

3 years ago

March 4, 2023

After over 20 years of its formation, pro-workers political organisation, Labour Party (LP) seems to be gradually making inroads into mainstream politics as the party has got six Senate and 34 House of Representatives seats in the February 25 National Assembly (NASS) elections.

Relatively obscure in the political arena before now, LP, which was previously known as the Party for Social Democracy (PSD), gained unprecedented popularity with what has been described by many as the Peter Obi phenomenon. The milestone of LP in the just-concluded elections for the red and green chambers is no doubt credited to the fame and acceptance of the party’s flag bearer by an overwhelming youth majority known as ‘Obidients’.

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) on Saturday, said, “In last Saturday’s elections, winners have also been declared for 423 national legislative seats while supplementary elections will be held in 46 constituencies.

“In the Senate, 98 out of 109 seats have been declared. So far, seven political parties have won senatorial seats while in the House of Representatives, 325 out of 360 seats have been won by eight political parties.”

In terms of party representation for the 10th Assembly, the INEC chief said APC won 57 Senate seats; the PDP, 29; LP, 6; SDP, 2; NNPP, 2; YPP, 1; and APGA, 1. For the lower chamber, the electoral chair said the APC has 162 seats; PDP, 102; LP, 34; NNPP, 18; APGA, 4; ADC, 2; SDP, 2; YPP, 1.

Yakubu also said Certificates of Return would be presented to Senators-elect on Tuesday at the National Collation Centre (the International Conference Centre), Abuja, while Members of the House of Representatives-elect would receive theirs the following day, Wednesday at the same venue.

Compared to its phenomenal stride in the 2023 elections, the LP did not get a single seat in the 2019 National Assembly elections. Four years ago, out of the 360 seats in the house, the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the majority seats with over 211 members and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got over 111 members. The other seats were shared amongst the smaller parties.

For the Senate, the APC commanded the Senate majority with 64 senators, trailed by the PDP with 44 and the Young Progressives Party (YPP) with a single seat. The figures have since changed with the series of defections in the 9th National Assembly.

Obi, the trader and former Anambra State governor changing the game and leading the new third force in Nigeria’s political sphere, was able to galvanise the support of millions of youths, especially in southern Nigeria, in less than a year since he moved to the LP from the PDP.

Obi, 61, was adjudged by INEC to have lost the presidential election after having won 12 states, including Lagos and other former strongholds of the two previously dominant parties with a total of 6,101,533 votes. INEC subsequently on Wednesday declared Bola Tinubu of the ruling APC winner of the contest, having scored 8,794,726 votes ahead of Obi; and Atiku Abubakar of the PDP who scored 6,984,520 votes.

Although Obi has vowed to head to court to challenge the results of the presidential poll on the claim that he won the election, citing the failure of the electoral umpire to transmit results electronically, widespread rigging and reports of violence and disruption at many polling units during the poll, many observers would argue that the 2023 NASS election, especially, was a fairly good start for the ‘Obidient’ family.

With the March 11, 2023 governorship and state assemblies’ elections just days away, ‘Obidients’, who seem to be causing a political hailstorm in Nigeria at the moment despite claims of having no structure, are bent on producing LP governors and state assembly members, especially in states where Obi won the presidential poll. Nigerians will be electing 28 state governors come next Saturday in the seasonal poll.

The last and only governor produced by the LP in the last 20 years is Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State who was in office from February 2009 to February 2017.

Observers are certain the days ahead will be one for the books.
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Politics

FLASHBACK: How Tinubu Blamed Jonathan For Killing Of Christians In 2014

Published

9 hours ago

November 1, 2025

Editor

As allegations of an ongoing ‘Christian genocide’ in Nigeria intensify, a 2014 statement from President Bola Tinubu condemning former President Goodluck Jonathan for failing to protect Christian worshippers has resurfaced, drawing sharp parallels to criticisms now leveled at Tinubu’s administration.

In January 2014, Tinubu, then an opposition leader, lambasted Jonathan over attacks by Boko Haram in Borno and Adamawa states that targeted Christian communities.

“The slaughtering of Christian worshippers is strongly condemnable. It calls into question the competence of Jonathan to protect Nigerians,” Tinubu stated at the time.

By April 2014, amid escalating violence including the Nyanya bombing in Abuja, Tinubu doubled down, emphasising the president’s non-negotiable duty to ensure citizen safety.

“My heart bleeds for our people and the country over the deaths in Nyanya. A government unable to protect its citizens deserves to be queried,” he said.

Eleven years on, Tinubu’s words are being repurposed by critics amid reports of widespread violence against Christians across northern and central Nigeria.

According to a recent report from the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety), at least 7,087 Christians were killed in the first 220 days of 2025 alone—an average of 32 deaths per day.

Advocacy groups like Open Doors and International Christian Concern describe the attacks by Islamist militants, including Boko Haram and Fulani extremists, as targeted persecution amounting to genocide, with over 7,000 Christian deaths recorded in 2025 and thousands more displaced or kidnapped.

The Nigerian government has denied claims of religious targeting, insisting the violence stems from broader security challenges affecting all communities.

The crisis gained fresh international spotlight on October 31, 2025, when U.S. President Donald Trump declared Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” over the “existential threat” to Christianity there. In a Truth Social post, Trump stated: “Thousands of Christians are being killed by radical Islamists in Nigeria… The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening.”

He urged Congress to investigate and affirmed US readiness to protect global Christian populations, echoing calls from allies like Senator Ted Cruz, who has described the violence as a “religious genocide.”

Opposition figures and faith-based organisations in Nigeria have invoked Tinubu’s 2014 rhetoric to demand urgent action, arguing that the same standards of accountability he once applied to Jonathan now apply to his own leadership.

Security experts caution that while the violence has complex ethnic and resource dimensions, the failure to curb targeted attacks on Christians risks further eroding trust in federal institutions.

The Tinubu administration has not yet responded to the renewed scrutiny or Trump’s designation.

Source: Nigerian Tribune

Politics

Court Stops 2025 PDP National Convention

Published

19 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday halted the planned 2025 National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) until the party complied with the statutory requirements of the party, the Constitution and the Electoral Act.

The suit was filed by three aggrieved members of the party namely, Hon Austin Nwachukwu (Imo PDP chairman), Hon Amah Abraham Nnanna (Abia PDP chairman) and Turnah Alabh George (PDP Secretary, South-South) seeking to stop the convention on the ground of violation to the Electoral law.

Delivering the judgment, the Judge also restrained INEC from accepting report on the outcome of any national convention of the party without following the due process of the law as well as its guidelines and regulations.

The Judge held that INEC is not entitled to give effect to the convention a party not done in accordance with the Constitution, Electoral Act and the guidelines/regulations of political parties.

The plaintiffs instituted the suit seeking to stop the planned November 15 and 16, 2025 National Convention of the PDP scheduled for Ibadan in Oyo State where new National Officers are expected to be elected on the ground of breach of the party’s Constitution.

The nine defendants are, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); PDP; Samuel Anyanwu, National Secretary of the party; Umar Bature, National Organizing Secretary of the party; National Working Committee (NWC); and National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party; Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagum; Ali Odefa; and Emmanuel Ogidi.

Politics

2027: Why Jonathan Can’t Run For President – Appeal Court Ex-President

Published

19 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

Former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, has clarified why former President Goodluck Jonathan cannot contest the 2027 presidential election.

According to Salami, the Nigerian Constitution explicitly bars any individual from holding the office of President for more than eight years, making Jonathan ineligible to run again.

He explained that Jonathan had already completed the tenure of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua before serving his own full term, which constitutionally disqualifies him from seeking another.

In an opinion piece, Salami argued that any attempt by Jonathan to contest and win in 2027 would amount to a violation of the law, stressing that such a victory would be nullified by the courts.

“It is painstakingly and dispassionately demonstrated that the ambition of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to contest for the office of the president in the 2027 general election is effectively and undoubtedly shot down,” Salami stated.