By Amb. Anderson Osiebe

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law, setting off fresh legal and political conversations across Nigeria’s democratic space.

The development comes at a sensitive moment. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had already released the timetable and official notice for the 2027 General Election under the framework of the 2022 Electoral Act.

Now, the pressing question is: What does this new amendment mean for 2027?

A Question of Timing:

Under Section 24 of the 2022 Electoral Act, INEC is required to publish notice of election not later than 360 days before the election date. Once a date is officially declared, it can only be altered under extraordinary conditions such as natural disasters or serious threats to national security.

Since INEC has already fixed and announced the 2027 election date, legal experts argue that the process may already be legally anchored.

If that interpretation holds, the amendment may not disrupt the timetable already issued unless the new law contains explicit transitional clauses applying its provisions immediately to the 2027 cycle.

Retroactive or Prospective?

One of the key principles in legislative practice is that laws generally operate prospectively, not retroactively, unless clearly stated.

If the amendment does not expressly nullify or alter processes already activated under the previous Act, then:

1. The 2027 timetable may remain intact.

2. The 360-day notice requirement would still be calculated based on the already-declared date.

Only procedural adjustments not structural changes might be necessary.

However, if the new law significantly modifies timelines, result transmission processes, party primaries regulations, or dispute resolution mechanisms, INEC may need to realign aspects of its preparations to comply.

Legal and Political Implications:

This development could lead to:

1. Institutional Clarification:

INEC may issue an official statement clarifying whether the 2027 timetable stands unaffected.

2. Judicial Interpretation:

Political parties or civil society groups could approach the courts to seek interpretation of how the amendment applies to an already-declared election cycle.

3. Political Debate:

As 2027 approaches, electoral reforms often become politically charged. Any ambiguity may fuel suspicion among stakeholders.

What This Portends for 2027.

In practical terms, three scenarios are possible:

1. Continuity Scenario: The timetable remains unchanged, and the amendment applies fully only from the next electoral cycle after 2027.

2. Adjustment Scenario: Minor procedural updates are integrated without altering the election date.

3. Judicial Scenario: Courts intervene to determine the scope and application of the amended law.

For now, the declared election date remains the legal anchor. Unless altered under constitutionally permitted grounds, it provides stability to the process.

The Bigger Picture.

Electoral reforms are designed to strengthen democracy, not complicate it. The success of this amendment will depend on clarity, transparency, and faithful implementation.

As Nigeria moves steadily toward 2027, one thing is certain,

Legal certainty and institutional consistency will be critical in preserving public confidence in the electoral system.

Amb. Anderson Osiebe, Executive Director, HallowMace Foundation Africa writes from Abuja – Nigeria.

God bless Nigeria!

The conversion of Maldives extreme weather experience into economic prosperity is possible in Nigeria if the country fix governance, transparency and accountability.

Three things are implicated and prioritized in building good resistance and resilience against extreme weather, climate change and planetary restorations : accountability, transparency and good governance.

However, Nigeria’s limited adaptive capacity, driven by economic, institutional, and infrastructure challenges, leaves the country highly exposed to these climate hazards.

Let look at climate actions across vulnerable countries like the Maldives, the sahel region and the Gulf of Guinea starting with Maldives where extreme weather threats has been transformed into building good governance, transparency and accountability.

In the Maldives, Climate change poses an existential threat with 80% of its islands sitting less than one meter above sea level, risking total submersion by 2100 due to sea-level rises of up to 0.9 meters.

Key impacts include severe coastal erosion, flooding, destruction of coral reefs, depletion of freshwater aquifers, and threats to tourism and fishing, which are critical to the nation’s economy.

The efforts of the government is creating progress and prosperity in recreational communities and attracting over 2m tourists annually is turning adversity into prosperity.

In corollary, Nigeria sits in the 2 most promising economic areas in the world: the Gulf of Guinea and the sahel region. How does Nigeria create economic growth and prosperity from the crisis in this region starting with the Gulf of Guinea.

Climate change in the Gulf of Guinea drives severe sea-level rise (~3.89 mm/yr), causing intense coastal erosion, flooding, and saltwater intrusion that destroy infrastructure and ecosystems.

Rising temperatures and erratic rainfall threaten fishing, agriculture, and livelihoods, particularly in densely populated cities like Lagos, Accra, and Abidjan.

Nigeria can turn her economic challenges into fortunes if she approaches the sahel region with the Maldives model where climate actions changed threat to prosperity and progress.

On the otherhand, the sahel Savannah is the region of contradictions in poverty, insecurity and prosperity.

The Sahel is experiencing rapid, severe climate change impacts, with temperatures rising 1.5 times faster than the global average.

Key effects include erratic rainfall, severe droughts, and intense flooding, which degrade agricultural productivity, destroy livelihoods, drive displacement of millions, and exacerbate conflict over scarce resources.

Let’s understand the real issue of climate change in Nigeria and the need to redouble efforts and create the pathway and framework for economic growth and development.

How has governance, transparency and accountability change the fight against climate change in Nigeria.

Climate change in Nigeria drives severe environmental and economic crises, including devastating floods in the south, rapid desertification in the north, and extreme heatwaves nationwide, making it one of the world’s most vulnerable countries.

These shifts destroy agriculture, reduce food security, and cause violent conflicts over dwindling resources. As the country prepares for the 2026 season of extreme weather conditions, the choice between politics, elections and environmental protection and economic consequences stares at the nation.

Nigeria must remember that the World Economic Forum has identified extreme weather conditions as the third most disruptive action against global economy because anywhere there is natural disasters, there are also economic disasters.

AVM RTD AKUGBE IYAMU MNSA fsi

CONSULTANT ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND ANALYST ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES

PRESIDENT ASSOCIATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE PRACTITIONERS

By Frank Tietie

A man who is neither drunk nor high on drugs, but in his clear and sane mind, goes on a prime-time show on a continental television network like the Arise News Channel and proclaims that he got information from someone who tapped the phone line of the National Security Adviser (NSA) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. How should the Nigerian government react?

It becomes a Catch-22 for the Nigerian government whether to respond to El-Rufai’s latest tirade. But to react hastily would fail to see the damning point Nasir El-Rufai is trying to make, which is to show the ineptitude of Nuhu Ribadu as NSA. The government should have seen through the former Kaduna State governor’s bravado.

Of course, El-Rufai knows the possibility that Ribadu would fall for the trick and might actually order his detention, either for statements made on live international television or for the bared waiting fangs of the EFCC. Sonit appears he had prepared for the worst, but probably not for death in the hands of his sworn enemies through poisoning. Hence, he immediately alerted the world to the Gestapo treatment that is usually given to some government enemies when they are in detention. So he quickly accuses the same Nuhu Ribadu of importing thallium sulphate, a lethal poison suitable for eliminating political enemies quietly. This he has done, in case he, himself or any other opposition politicians die in detention as 2027 approaches. What a way to shift the burden?

The choice of the government to charge El-Rufai for cybercrimes over the claims he made on live on Arise News Prime Time show about tapping the NSA’s phone is a tacit yet loud acknowledgement that any NSA whose phone can be tapped so easily is not only incompetent, but highly undisciplined and lackadaisical on national security matters. Tell me, which serious country, like the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, or Saudi Arabia, would take the National Security Adviser of Nigeria seriously if they knew that an ordinary citizen could easily tap his phone?

What Malam Nasir El-Rufai has done is not to present technical evidence of interception. Rather, he has thrown a political gauntlet designed to provoke a reaction. The trap is simple: once the state moves against him, the conversation shifts from the accuracy of his claim to the conduct and capability of those charged with safeguarding national security.

A hurried resort to criminal prosecution risks missing the wider implication that public officers, particularly those occupying sensitive security positions, are expected to inspire confidence, not anxiety.

Therefore, if the state frames a prosecution around a claim that the NSA’s line could be tapped, the unintended consequence is that the allegation receives international circulation, renewed media life and diplomatic attention. In effect, the courtroom becomes a megaphone for the NSA’s failures.

Consequently, if the charge against El-Rufai is driven by reputational discomfort or the political embarrassment that he has caused Ribadu or the Tinubu government. It risks being counterproductive, especially in a democratic setting that has a high tolerance for speech directed at public officials.

Statements that are provocative, speculative or even reckless are often part of political contestation, especially as 2027 approaches. They should not be the basis for criminal charges. Such statements are best answered by clarification, transparency, and institutional reassurance, rather than the coercive weight of arrest, arraignment, and trial.

To prosecute El-Rufai in circumstances such as this may therefore produce the exact opposite of deterrence. It can elevate and transform him into a cause, especially among Northern Nigeria elements, and suggest that the government is more eager to punish criticism than to disprove it.

The other dimension is the possibility that such a trial would invite scrutiny, arguments, cross-examinations, and global reporting, further exposing Ribadu or the government. Meanwhile, silence would have buried it faster.

Instead of dismissing El-Rufai as someone probably chasing political clout, the choice to charge him would validate his point and expose Nuhu Ribadu as unfit to be NSA.

El-Rufai is no ordinary politician. He combines the arts of casuistry, statecraft, populism and activism for political relevance, and he is yet on another journey to reinvent himself politically to the detriment of his foes like Ribadu. But he also wants to come out alive. And even if he dies in the process, he seems not to care much, as long as such would deal the maximum blow to the political careers of his traducers.

If anyone thinks El-Rufai is being diminished by his latest travails, they should think again. In fact, it is he who is putting some persons on trial in the court of reason.

Frank Tietie

Lawyer and Public Affairs Commentator,

Writes from Abuja