Senator Adams Oshiomhole has called on Senate President Godswill Akpabio to resign over the recent amendment to the Senate Standing Orders guiding the election of leaders in the Red Chamber. Oshiomhole made the call while speaking with journalists in Abuja on Thursday. The former Edo State governor said the new rules had created what he described as a moral problem within the Senate. According to him, the amendment has raised questions about fairness and the qualifications needed to occupy top positions in the chamber. The Edo North senator argued that Akpabio should not continue to preside over the Senate if the new requirements are applied strictly. He said the Senate President himself may not meet the condition being discussed under the amended rules. Oshiomhole explained that the new arrangement demanding longer years of service before anyone can contest for Senate President would also affect Akpabio. He noted that Akpabio had not spent up to eight years in the Sen...
The Nigerian Senate has approved fresh amendments to the Electoral Act 2026, repositioning the Court of Appeal as the highest judicial authority for resolving pre-election disputes across governorship, National Assembly, and state Houses of Assembly elections. The upper chamber of the National Assembly also granted the Court of Appeal original jurisdiction to hear pre-election cases tied to presidential elections, with any further appeals channelled straight to the Supreme Court, effectively cutting out intermediate courts from the process. The legislation, which cleared both second and third readings on the floor of the Senate, was sponsored by Senator Simon Bako Lalong, who represents Plateau South. Tackling Conflicting Judgments The amendments push to end the damaging practice of forum shopping, which is described as a tactic where litigants deliberately file cases in courts perceived to be sympathetic to their cause. This has long produced conflicting rulings from court...