Legislature
Party Primaries: Senate Amends Electoral Act to allow Buhari, Lawmakers, others Vote
The Senate, has amended the Electoral Act, 2022, to pave way for ‘statutory delegates’ – all those elected – to participate and vote in the conventions, congresses or meetings of political parties.
In what appears to be a major oversight in the new electoral act, elected party leaders such as the President, National Assembly members, Governors would have been shut out from voting during party primaries.
The Electoral Act as passed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari made provision for only elected delegates, excluding those often referred to as “statutory delegates’.
The amendment came after expeditious consideration of a bill which scaled first, second and third readings, respectively, and was passed during plenary by the chamber after consideration by the Committee of the Whole.
In his contribution to the debate, Leader of the Senate, Abubakar Yahaya said the proposed amendment was to “correct an unintended error” of excluding ‘statutory delegates’ from participating in their political parties conventions, congresses and meetings.
The error if not detected and amended could prevent
“Statutory delegates’ like President Muhammadu Buhari, his Vice, Yemi Osinbajo, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan and other members of the National Assembly from participating in their respective party primaries.
Others that would have been excluded include State Governors, and National Working Committee (NWC) members of the various political parties.
Aware of the far reaching consequences, the Senate quickly moved to amended Section 84 of the Principal Act by deleting the existing subsection (8) and inserting a new subsection (8) after subsection (7) to read as follows:
“A political party that adopts the system of indirect primaries for the choice of its candidate shall clearly outline in its constitution and rules the procedure for the Democratic election of delegates to vote at the convention, congress or meeting, in addition to statutory delegates already prescribed in the Constitution of the party”.
With this amendment by Senate, the House of Representatives is expected to within the week work on the same document and concur with the upper legislative chamber before it could be sent to President
Muhammadu Buhari for his assent.
With about three weeks to political parties’ primaries; federal lawmakers may need to exert some pressures on Buhari to urgently assent to the document.
While presenting his lead debate Omo-Agege, indicated that the bill was seeking to amend the provision of section 84(8) of the Electoral Act.
According to him, the provisions of the section “does not provide for the participation of what is generally known as ‘statutory delegates’ in the conventions, congresses or meetings of political parties.”
“The extant section only clearly provides for the participation of elected delegates in the conventions, congresses or meetings of political parties held to nominate candidates of political parties.
“This is an unintended error, and we can only correct it with this amendment now before us”, the Deputy Senate President said.
The President of the senate, Ahmad Lawan, indicated that the amendment became imperative in view of the deficiency created by the provision of section 84(8) of the extant Act.
He said, “The amended Electoral Act of 2022 that we passed this year, has a deficiency that was never intended and that deficiency will deny all statutory delegates in all political parties from participation in congresses and conventions.
“And, therefore, such a major and unintended clause has to be amended before the party primaries starts in the next eight days. This is an emergency legislation, so to speak.
“Our expectation is that the National Assembly – the two chambers – would finish with the processing of the amendment of this bill, between today (in the Senate) and tomorrow (in the House of Representatives), and then the Executive will do the assent.
“That is so important to enable every statutory delegate to participate in the party primaries right from the beginning that will start on the 18th of May, 2022.
“So, this is an emergency effort to ensure that nobody is denied his or her rightful opportunity as a delegate, especially the statutory delegates, and these are those who are elected.
“These are the President, Vice President, Members of the National Assembly, Governors, Members of the State Houses of Assembly, Chairmen of Council and their Councillors, National Working Committee Members of all the political parties and so on.
“This is a fundamental effort to ensure that we address this within the week, so that by next week, the Electoral Act, 2022 (amended version), will be very salutary for us to start our party primaries.”
***Allocates N23.96 Trillion for Capital Projects, N14.31 Trillion for Debt Servicing
The Nigerian Senate along with the House of Represebtatives have passed the 2025 Appropriation Bill, approving a record-breaking budget of N54,990,165,355,396 to finance government activities in the coming fiscal year.
The budget, titled A Bill for an Act to Authorise the Issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, was approved after deliberations on its allocations and implications for economic growth, debt management, and infrastructure development.
The chairman of the National Assemble Godswill Akpabio who is also the President of the Senate gave the beakdown of the 2025 Budget to show that Statutory Transfers: ₦3.65 trillion, debt Servicing: ₦14.32 trillion, Recurrent (Non-Debt) Expenditure: ₦13.06 trillion and
Capital Expenditure: ₦23.96 trillion
The largest chunk of the budget, ₦23.96 trillion, was allocated for capital expenditure, aimed at infrastructure development, healthcare, education, and security.
This signals the government’s commitment to addressing Nigeria’s infrastructural deficit.
However, the ₦14.32 trillion earmarked for debt servicing highlights the country’s rising debt burden, sparking concerns over long-term financial sustainability.
With the National Assembly approval, the budget now awaits President Bola Tinubu’s assent, after which implementation will begin. Analysts predict a challenging fiscal year, balancing economic growth with prudent spending and debt repayment.
However, time will tell whether the historic budget will deliver on its promises, or economic realities force adjustments down the line?
***Says addittional fund is to Prioritize Infrastructure, Health, Economic Growth
The chairman of the senate committee on Appropriation Senator Adeola Solomon Olamilekan has explained the approval of the 2025 Appropriation Bill by the national Assembly which it increased from N49.7 trillion to N54.99 trillion—the highest in the nation’s history.
The adjustment followed legislative reviews that uncovered additional revenues from key government agencies.
While explaining the Budget Expansion and Revenue Sources Olamilekan indicated that the additional N4.99 trillion was sourced from Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Government-Owned Enterprises (GOEs)
These he said led to an increase in funding for critical sectors, including N1.5 trillion for Bank of Agriculture, N500 billion for Bank of Industry, 1 trillion for Ministry of Solid Minerals, N1.5 trillion for Renewable Infrastructure Fund, N300 billion – Road construction and N400 billion for Rail transport.
Others are N380 billion of Water resources, irrigation, and dam projects, N250 billion for Military barracks renovation N120 billion for New military aviation projects, N50 billion for Border security agencies
Following the suspension of U.S. health aid, which previously provided funding for HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and polio treatments, President Tinubu approved $200 million (N300 billion) to ensure continued medical supplies and healthcare support for affected patients.
On the major Boost for Infrastructure Development he said a record N23.7 trillion has been allocated for capital projects, marking a significant leap in infrastructure investment.
He listed the areas the funds will focus on to include Roads and railways,nEducation and healthcare improvements and Other critical public infrastructure
To prevent delays in budget implementation, the 2026 budget process will begin in July 2025, with the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) submitted early and the Appropriation Bill expected by October 2025.
Concerns over inadequate rail infrastructure funding in the South East were raised, but legislative leaders clarified that rail projects are primarily funded through public-private partnerships (PPPs).
According to him, the 2025 budget focuses on light rail development in Lagos, Ogun, Kaduna, and Kano, while further discussions on South East projects are ongoing.
He explained that to maintain Economic Stability the budget parameters remain unchanged, with key revenue sources including FIRS increasing its revenue target to N25.1 trillion, Nigeria Customs Service boosting revenue collection through stricter enforcement and Independent revenue agencies contributing 100% of their generated funds to the federal government
The House of Representatives has directed its Joint Committee on Communications and Interior to investigate reports of unauthorized National Identification Number (NIN) linkages by telecom service providers across Nigeria.
The decision followed the unanimous adoption of a motion jointly sponsored by Hon. Patrick Umoh (APC, Akwa Ibom) and Hon. Julius Ihonvbere (APC, Edo). The House also instructed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to probe the allegations and sanction any telecom operator found guilty of violating privacy laws.
Additionally, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has been asked to clarify whether telecom providers were authorized to link NINs to subscriber lines and if such actions comply with existing regulations.
Hon. Umoh raised concerns about recent reports indicating that telecom companies have linked NINs to subscribers’ SIM cards without their consent. He warned that this unauthorized linkage exposes Nigerians to criminal activities, such as identity theft, financial fraud, and other cybercrimes.
“This action is a clear violation of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 and the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) 2019, which guarantee the right to privacy and the protection of personal data,” Umoh stated.
He further emphasized that while the NIN system was introduced to enhance national security and streamline identification processes, unauthorized linkages undermine public trust and jeopardize citizens’ safety.
“Aware that innocent citizens have been wrongly implicated in crimes, suffered reputational damage, harassment, and legal challenges for offenses they know nothing about, it is imperative that we address this issue immediately,” Umoh added.
The House has mandated the probe committee to submit its findings within four weeks, as lawmakers seek to protect Nigerians from potential data breaches and uphold the integrity of national security protocols.
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