Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq, has ordered the Rector of the Kwara State Polytechnic, Engr. Dr. Abdul Jimoh Mohammed, to immediately step aside from his role until further notice.

The suspension of Mohammed follows Tuesday’s protest by students of the institution over the use of the school’s facilities as a temporary camp for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation service.

A statement on Wednesday by the state Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Hajia Sa’adatu Modibbo Kawu, said the Governor has set up a committee to investigate the protest.

The Governor ordered the Rector to step down and hand over to the most senior Deputy Rector pending the outcome of the investigation.

The Governor also announced a three-person panel to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the recent student protest at the Kwara State Polytechnic.

The committee is headed by the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Bar. Senior Ibrahim Sulyman. Other members are the Commissioner for Environment Hon. Nafisat Buge and the Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare, Dr. Mrs Mercy Olufunke Shittu.

The statement by the Commissioner reads: “Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has announced a three-person panel to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the recent student protest at the Kwara State Polytechnic.

“The committee is headed by the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Bar. Senior Ibrahim Sulyman. Other members are the Commissioner for Environment Hon. Nafisat Buge and the Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare, Dr. Mrs Mercy Olufunke Shittu.

“The committee has two weeks to submit its report to the Governor, while their terms of reference are: (1) to look at the remote and immediate causes of the protest and handling of same; (2) recommend ways to prevent such things in the future; (3) make further recommendations on the growth of the school.

“The Governor has meanwhile directed the Rector of the Polytechnic, Engr. Dr. Abdul Jimoh Mohammed, to immediately step aside from his role until further notice, while the most senior Deputy Rector acts in his place in the interim.

“The committee will engage with all relevant stakeholders on its assignment.”

A Federal High Court in Abuja has removed Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party, ruling that his tenure has expired and is no longer valid in law.

In its judgment, the court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately recognise the leadership of the party under the Senator Nenadi Usman–led National Caretaker Committee as the lawful authority of the Labour Party.

The court held that the decision to replace Abure followed due process and was consistent with existing legal precedents, rejecting arguments that the matter was purely an internal party affair beyond judicial review.

With this ruling, the Nenadi Usman–led committee is now recognized as the legitimate leadership of the Labour Party, pending the conduct of a properly constituted national convention to elect a substantive executive.

By Dan Opara

Civic Action for Democracy, CAD, a prominent political pressure group and civic rights organisation in Nigeria, has instituted a major legal action at the Federal High Court, Owerri, Imo State, seeking an order compelling the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to delist and deregister the Action Peoples Party, APP, from its register of political parties ahead of the 2027 General Elections, particularly the 2027 Imo governorship election.

The suit, filed as FHC/OW/CS/03/2026, was formally announced on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, during a world press conference addressed by CAD’s Executive Director, Mazi Franklin Ngoforo, with some members of CAD, alongside a team of senior legal practitioners.

ThePressman Newspaper and other media organisations were in attendance at the Federal High Court premises on Owerri and Port Harcourt Road.

Ngoforo disclosed that CAD’s legal action seeks twenty-one reliefs against INEC and APP, insisting that the party was legitimately deregistered by INEC on February 6, 2020, alongside seventy-three other (73) political parties.

He recalled that the Supreme Court in March 2022 upheld INEC’s constitutional powers to deregister parties that failed to meet stipulated electoral performance benchmarks.

He criticised INEC for what he described as “the fraudulent retention of a deregistered political party”, noting that the Commission had repeatedly claimed that a non-existent court injunction had prevented it from enforcing APP’s deregistration.

According to Ngoforo, CAD’s investigations revealed no evidence of such a court order, no case file, and no judicial process to support INEC’s assertions.

CAD is urging the court to order the immediate removal of APP from INEC’s database, as well as the issuance of a perpetual injunction restraining the party from participating in any electoral process.

The group is also seeking an order of mandamus compelling INEC to publish a notice confirming the party’s deregistration.

Furthermore, CAD is asking the court to compel INEC to produce the alleged interim injunction or openly admit that it never existed, and to ensure the identification and prosecution of officials involved in what CAD describes as “institutional fraud”.

The organisation has also filed a Motion on Notice for interlocutory injunction, seeking to stop APP from participating in any political activity pending the determination of the substantive suit.

Ngoforo warned that permitting APP to participate in the 2027 general elections could trigger a constitutional crisis, particularly if candidates of a deregistered party find their names on the ballot.

He maintained that APP’s participation in the 2024 local government elections in Rivers and Jigawa states was “illegal and void”.

The Executive Director of CAD, called on the new INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, to restore credibility to the Commission and address what CAD terms “the fraudulent manipulation inherited from past INEC administrations”.

Ngoforo appealed to the judiciary, civil society organisations, the media, and the international community to closely monitor the matter, stressing that the integrity of the 2027 electoral process depends on ensuring that deregistered political parties like APP are not allowed to participate.

He emphasised that CAD’s action is a constitutional intervention aimed at safeguarding Nigeria’s democracy, not a politically motivated effort.

“This is a constitutional fight, not a partisan one. We are unrepentantly committed to ending the fraudulent retention of APP in INEC’s register. Nigeria’s democracy must never be compromised,” he stated.

The suit is expected to be assigned to a judge in the coming days, after which hearing dates will be communicated.