By

Rt Hon Eseme Eyiboh

The controversy surrounding the recent amendment to the Senate Standing Rules has generated more heat than light. Unfortunately, much of the public conversation has been framed around personalities rather than principles, and emotions rather than institutional logic. Yet the real issue before the Senate is neither about Senator Godswill Akpabio nor Senator Adams Oshiomhole. It is about whether legislative institutions should evolve, strengthen themselves, and create continuity mechanisms that deepen parliamentary stability.

Every serious institution in the world periodically reviews its rules, procedures, and qualifications in response to emerging realities. Legislatures are not exempted from this process of institutional self-correction and growth. In fact, the refusal to review procedures in the face of experience is often a sign of stagnation, not democracy.

The recent amendment requiring senators seeking certain presiding and principal offices to possess a minimum level of legislative experience should therefore be viewed through the broader prism of institutional development rather than through narrow political calculations.

Parliamentary leadership is not merely ceremonial. The office of Senate President is one of the most sensitive and technically demanding constitutional offices in Nigeria. It requires not only political popularity but also deep familiarity with parliamentary traditions, legislative procedures, negotiation dynamics, committee systems, constitutional interpretation, and intergovernmental relations. Experience matters.

Around the world, mature legislatures often evolve unwritten and written traditions that favour institutional memory and legislative continuity. Such measures are not necessarily designed to exclude people; they are often intended to preserve stability, reduce avoidable turbulence, and ensure that those entrusted with managing highly sensitive parliamentary processes possess sufficient procedural grounding.

Critics who fear that experience requirements create a closed, self perpetuating oligarchy are not entirely without reason. Many legislatures have, at various points, used procedural thresholds to entrench incumbents rather than protect institutional wisdom. But the answer to that legitimate concern is not to abandon minimum standards altogether. It is to ensure that the bar is set at a reasonable, not prohibitive, level. A requirement of, say, one full term or demonstrated committee leadership is a safeguard against chaos, not a moat against renewal. The Senate must therefore commit to reviewing this threshold periodically, lest a tool of stability calcify into a ceiling on ambition.

Experience without openness becomes arrogance; openness without experience becomes amateurism. The amendment under scrutiny tilts toward the latter’s correction, but it must not be understood as a final word. What truly elevates an institution is not a single rule change but a culture that values both seasoned judgment and fresh perspective. That means pairing experience requirements with transparent mechanisms for advancement, seniority systems that reward competence, not mere longevity, and leadership elections that remain genuinely contested, not coronations.

Seen from this perspective, the amendment is neither unusual nor inherently anti democratic. Rather, it reflects the Senate’s attempt to refine its internal processes based on accumulated experience.

It is therefore inaccurate to reduce the issue to the suggestion that the amendment was crafted merely to “shrink competition” or protect personal interests. Institutions do not become stronger by permanently freezing their rules in time. They grow by learning from experience and adjusting procedures where necessary to protect efficiency, order, and continuity.

Even more problematic is the argument suggesting that because the new qualification threshold did not exist when Senator Godswill Akpabio emerged as Senate President, he should now resign if the new rule is adopted. Such reasoning fundamentally misunderstands one of the oldest principles of jurisprudence and democratic governance: laws are generally prospective, not retroactive.

A law or rule takes effect from the point of enactment forward unless expressly stated otherwise. The amendment cannot logically invalidate a mandate that was legitimately acquired under previously existing rules. Senator Akpabio contested and emerged as Senate President under the constitutional and procedural framework that existed at the time. To argue otherwise would amount to applying today’s standards to yesterday’s circumstances, which is neither legally sustainable nor institutionally rational.

Following that logic, every constitutional amendment would invalidate previous actions taken under earlier provisions, thereby throwing governance into perpetual instability.

What should matter now is whether the amendment serves the long term interest of the institution. That is the proper question, not whether it benefits or disadvantages any single individual in the immediate moment.

Interestingly, many of the world’s strongest democratic institutions evolved precisely through incremental procedural reforms. Rules governing tenure, committee leadership, succession, seniority, and qualification standards were not static from inception; they emerged through continuous refinement driven by practical governance realities.

It is also important to note that continuity in leadership structures is not necessarily an enemy of democracy. Stability can strengthen democracy when balanced with fairness and openness. A legislature perpetually trapped in leadership uncertainty, procedural inexperience, and internal volatility weakens not only itself but the democratic process as a whole.

Every rule amendment asks the same underlying question: whom does the institution trust to lead it? When a legislature decides that a Senate President should have served a minimum period as a legislator, it is making a quiet but profound statement about the nature of political authority. It is saying that raw popularity or executive favour is not enough, that the stewardship of a co equal branch requires earned familiarity with its rhythms and restraints. That is not elitism. It is institutional self respect. And in a democracy, institutions that do not respect themselves are unlikely to be respected by the public they serve.

This is why the current debate should rise above personal disagreements or chamber theatrics. Nigerians expect lawmakers to approach institutional reforms with intellectual honesty and statesmanship rather than framing every procedural amendment through the lens of political rivalry.

Senator Adams Oshiomhole is entitled to his views, as every senator is. Debate is healthy in democracy. Dissent is legitimate. However, the conversation should be anchored on whether the amendment strengthens the Senate as an enduring institution, not whether it immediately advances or obstructs the ambitions of specific politicians.

Ultimately, institutions outlive individuals. Senate Presidents will come and go. Senators will rise and fall. But the rules and traditions established today may shape legislative stability for decades to come.

That is why this matter deserves to be viewed not through the narrow window of self interest, but through the wider lens of institutional maturity, continuity, and the long term health of Nigeria’s parliamentary democracy.
Experience matters.

Rt Hon Eseme Eyiboh, mnipr, is a former member and spokesperson of the House of Representatives and currently Special Adviser on Media/Publicity and Official Spokesperson to the President of the Senate.

By George Mgbeleke

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has reacted with outrage, shock and deep national concern over the disturbing revelation by the World Bank that more than N34.53 trillion in Nigerian public revenue was deducted and diverted through opaque “first-line charges” before reaching the Federation Account between 2023 and 2025.

In a statement signed by HURIWA National Cordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko,”This shocking disclosure by a respected international financial institution confirms the long-standing fears of millions of Nigerians that a dangerous shadow fiscal structure now exists within the Nigerian state — one that permits powerful institutions and politically connected agencies to appropriate public wealth outside transparent constitutional processes and beyond effective legislative scrutiny.”

HURIWA stated that the implications of this revelation are catastrophic for Nigeria’s democracy, economic stability and national survival.

At a time when Nigerians are enduring unprecedented economic hardship, mass hunger, collapsing purchasing power, rising unemployment, worsening insecurity, failing public hospitals, underfunded schools and crippling inflation, it is morally indefensible and economically criminal that over N34 trillion could disappear through a system deliberately designed to avoid transparency and public accountability.

The World Bank clearly stated that approximately 41 per cent of federation revenue never reached the Federation Account because it was retained through “first-line charges” by government agencies operating under questionable statutory arrangements.

This means that while ordinary Nigerians were being told to endure economic reforms and sacrifices, powerful government institutions were quietly operating a parallel financial empire outside meaningful public scrutiny.

HURIWA notes with serious concern that agencies allegedly implicated in this scandal include the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Nigeria Customs Service and other major revenue-generating institutions whose internally retained revenues and cost-of-collection mechanisms have now become subjects of international scrutiny.

The World Bank’s conclusion that these deductions weakened legislative oversight and created a pro-cyclical spending structure is a devastating indictment of Nigeria’s public finance management system.

More disturbing is the revelation that some agencies now receive allocations larger than the annual budgets of several Nigerian states and critical federal ministries combined.

This is not merely a technical fiscal issue.

It is a direct assault on constitutional democracy, fiscal accountability and the social contract between the Nigerian state and its citizens.

HURIWA therefore declares that the National Assembly has failed woefully in its constitutional responsibility to protect public resources and defend the interests of Nigerians.

A legislature that permits the operation of massive off-budget spending systems amounting to tens of trillions of naira cannot honestly claim ignorance.

The continued silence, passivity and inaction of senators and members of the House of Representatives strongly suggest institutional compromise and political capture.

Nigerians elected lawmakers to oversee the executive, not to function as ceremonial spectators while public funds disappear through bureaucratic manipulations.

The association further states that if the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), the Nigeria Police Force and other anti-corruption institutions fail to launch immediate criminal investigations into this monumental scandal, then the Nigerian people would be justified in concluding that these agencies have become mere decorative institutions incapable of confronting elite corruption.

Anti-corruption agencies that aggressively pursue petty financial crimes while remaining silent over allegations involving N34.53 trillion lose all moral authority and public credibility.

HURIWA warns that Nigeria cannot survive as a functional democracy where trillions of naira are spent outside transparent appropriation systems while citizens are repeatedly subjected to taxation, subsidy removals, borrowing and austerity measures.

No nation can develop under a fiscal culture driven by opacity, impunity and elite entitlement.

The association therefore demands the following immediate actions:

The immediate establishment of an independent judicial commission of inquiry to investigate all first-line charges, statutory deductions and retained revenues between 2023 and 2025.
A comprehensive forensic audit of the NNPCL, Nigeria Customs Service, and every revenue-generating agency operating retention mechanisms tied to gross federation revenues.
Immediate emergency public hearings by both chambers of the National Assembly to identify all officials and institutions responsible for approving, supervising, or benefiting from the deductions.
Full public disclosure of all beneficiaries, amounts retained, legal authorisations, and expenditure records associated with these deductions.
Suspension and prosecution of any public official found to have violated constitutional appropriation procedures or abused statutory revenue-retention provisions.
Immediate reform of all cost-of-collection structures and elimination of automatic percentage-based allocations operating outside transparent annual budgeting systems.

HURIWA further calls on Nigerian citizens, civil society organisations, organised labour, student unions, professional associations, religious bodies, and pro-democracy groups to rise in defence of constitutional governpublic accountability.

The association specifically urges constituents across the country to commence democratic recall processes against lawmakers who continue to shield executive misconduct and institutional corruption through silence and complicity.

Public office must never become a licence for organised economic sabotage.

Nigeria can not continue to function as a republic where ordinary citizens are subjected to suffering while politically connected institutions operate unchecked financial empires funded by public resources.

HURIWA is therefore giving the Federal Government, the EFCC, ICPC, the Attorney-General of the Federation and the leadership of the National Assembly until 12 noon tomorrow to publicly announce concrete investigative and accountability measures regarding this scandal.

Failure to act decisively will confirm growing public fears that Nigeria’s anti-corruption framework has collapsed completely under political interference, institutional capture, and elite conspiracy against the Nigerian people.

History will not forgive those who remain silent while the nation’s resources are systematically stripped away under the guise of administrative deductions and fiscal procedures.

By George Mgbeleke

Following the daredevil terrorist attack launched on Wednesday’s night targeting stidents living in the hostels of the Federal University of Technology Owerri, in Imo State and the fact that the Fulani terrorists who attacked were over 50 armed marauders who shot at every moving and living beings on sight within the vicinity of the students residential area in Owerri, a call has gone to the Imo state Governor Mr. Hope Uzodinma who does not live in Owerri due to his involvement in the nationwide political campaigns for the reelection of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to resign and hand over to his deputy governor to provide quality and focused governance. HURIWA alleged that intelligence revealed that there are hundreds of armed Fulani terrorists pretending to be herders who are hibernating in the thick forests scattered all over Imo State, the Heartland of Nigeria.

Besides, HURIWA condemned the security institutions and their state directors such as the Army with a large presence in Owerri, Imo state, the police with a huge state command, the Department of State Services with a massive state directorate for dereliction of duties and for not preventing such a massive numbers of terrorists masquerading as herders to invade Owerri Imo state and to launch such deadly attacks just as the Rights group wondered why it took the security forces a long time as reported by eye witnesses before intervening in the horrendous and bloody attacks on students and other residents of that suburb of the Imo State capital. HURIWA demanded the upgrading of military and intelligence activities of security agencies not focused solely on arresting or crushing IPOB but should be basically focused on eradicating, decimating, degrading and neutralising the massive numbers of Fulani terrorists just as the Rights group urged Imo state government to audit the cattle owners in Imo State, register them and mount surveillance on their activities, abolish open grazing of cows in the towns and cities of Imo State to protect farmers and residents from the bloody attacks of Fulani terrorists.

“HURIWA is aware that there is also a contingent of special forces from the military but whose single focus is on the members of the self determination group the Indigenous People of Biafra but yet, armed Fulani terrorists have often launched several deadly attacks in Imo State and particularly around the Federal Highway linking Imo state to Aba and PortHarcourt.

“It is unfortunate that the police and the Nigeria Army that are noticeably seen mounting roadblocks all over the Federal Highways of Imo State and are mostly extorting and harassing Road users and particularly commercial drivers, have failed to protect the sacredness of the lives of Imo state citizens and prevent the wanton destructions of their priced assets and properties.”

“The Imo state government has so far failed to protect the students of FUTO and over 50 percent of the vast lands of Imo state and communities are ungoverned spaces whereby armed insurgents and Fulani terrorists are busy killing, maiming and attacking residents of communities spread across the three Senatorial Zones of Imo State.

“Our proposal is that GOVERNOR HOPE UZODINMA SHOULD QUIT OR TAKE A LONG VACATION AND EMPOWRR HIS DEPUTY TO FULLY PROVIDE GOVERNANCE IN IMO STATE. HOPE UZODINMA HAS ALREADY BEING Tipped AND HIRED BY PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU TO COORDINATE HIS CAMPAIGNS FOR 2027 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ABD THIS IS AN HERCULEAN TASK. COMBINING THIS JOB AND THAT OF GOVERNING A STATE WHICH IS A 24/7 JOB BY HOPE UZODINMA IS IMPRACTICABLE. ALSO HOPE UZODINMA IS FOCUSED ON BECOMING BOTH A SENATOR AND A GOVERNOR AT THE SAME TIME AND HE SPENDS ALL HIS TIME OUTSIDE IMO STATE SO HOW CAN HE PROTECT THE CITIZENS OF IMO STATE OF SOUTH EAST OF NIGERIA.”

HURIWA in a statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko recalled that fear has gripped students, staff, and residents of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) and surrounding areas in Imo State after reports of an invasion by heavily armed Fulani herdsmen.
Eyewitnesses say over 50 armed men on motorcycles stormed the Eziobodo and Ihiagwa areas near the university. They opened fire on residents in what many described as an ambush attack. Gunshots rang out for several minutes, causing students to run helter-skelter from hostels and lecture halls. Some people were reportedly injured, while others are said to be missing.
Many blamed the slow response of security agencies. Despite police posts and military checkpoints nearby, the attackers reportedly moved freely before disappearing into nearby bushes. The university community remains tense, with some students fleeing to safer areas.
On social media, reactions have been swift and angry. @Romeo_Onchain wrote:
“Yesterday was not funny in FUTO. Students were running helter-skelter. Lives were lost, several injured, at least 4 kidnapped. The government must come to our aid now!”
@MAGNITUDE0003 added: “This is my area.
Police and army are around but these Fulani men still entered with bikes. God we are finished!”@BadmanVizzy posted: “Small FUTO wey we dey manage. These Fulani herdsmen don come for us. This is serious!”
Security agencies are yet to issue an official statement, but residents are calling for urgent action to restore calm and protect lives.