The Obidient Movement has rejected plans by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the management and verification of results for the 2027 general elections.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

In a statement issued on Wednesday and signed by its Director of Media and Communications, Onyeka Dike, the movement described the proposed deployment of AI at a critical stage of the electoral process as “reckless and unacceptable.”

The group argued that INEC should not introduce the technology while, according to its assessment, the regulatory framework governing its use was still being developed.

“INEC cannot tell Nigerians that it intends to introduce AI into one of the most sensitive stages of the electoral process while simultaneously admitting that the rules governing its use are still being developed,” the statement said.

The movement urged INEC to prioritise rebuilding public confidence in the electoral system, particularly in light of controversies that followed the 2023 general elections.

It called for a results management system that is transparent, auditable and verifiable, with every result traceable from the polling unit through the various stages of collation to the final declaration.

The group also raised concerns over a warning by INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, against announcing or declaring election results that had not been officially released by the commission.

While acknowledging INEC’s statutory responsibility to declare official results, the movement said the warning, when considered alongside the proposed AI deployment and what it described as an incomplete governance framework, raised concerns about the commission’s preparations for the 2027 elections.

The Obidient Movement further alleged that there were rumours that Amupitan had travelled to France with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and other political actors to strategise ahead of the 2027 elections.

However, the allegation was presented by the group as a rumour rather than an established fact.

The movement also accused INEC of failing to adequately address concerns arising from the 2023 elections, particularly issues surrounding the electronic transmission and publication of results on the INEC Result Viewing Portal, IReV.

According to the group, the challenges experienced during the 2023 polls were not primarily caused by inadequate technology but by what it described as shortcomings in the electoral process.

It therefore called on INEC to immediately abandon its proposed use of AI in the collation of election results.

The movement also demanded that the electoral commission publish a clear framework, subject to independent auditing, for every technology it plans to deploy during the elections.

It insisted that election results must remain traceable to individual polling units and be independently verifiable by political parties, observers, journalists and citizens.

The group further urged INEC to adopt what it described as Mundus Analytics’ five commitments, including the publication of Forms EC8A, EC8B, EC8C, EC8D and EC8E on IReV.

It also called on the INEC chairman to “retrace his steps” and ensure that election outcomes are determined by voters rather than the preferences of political actors or electoral officials.

“In 2027, Nigerians will not surrender their votes to technology, bureaucracy or manipulation. Every vote must count, every result must be verifiable, and the true choice of the Nigerian people must prevail,” the statement added.

The Presidency has rejected claims by The Economist regarding President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s popularity among Nigerians, describing the publication’s assessment as “intellectual fraud” while defending the administration’s economic reforms.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

In a statement titled “Beyond the Economist Condescension: Nigeria’s Re-engineering Under Tinubu is Unstoppable,” the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, accused the international publication of presenting a distorted picture of developments in Nigeria.

Dare argued that The Economist failed to adequately consider the economic challenges inherited by the Tinubu administration and the impact of reforms implemented since May 2023.

“The Economist claims Nigerians dislike their President, but it’s a claim that smells of opposition and is riddled with inconsistencies,” he said.

The presidential aide also accused some foreign publications of relying on what he described as “sensationalist half-truths” in their coverage of Nigeria.

He dismissed the suggestion that Nigerians were broadly rejecting Tinubu, describing such a conclusion as an oversimplification of the country’s political and economic realities.

According to Dare, foreign commentators have repeatedly viewed Nigeria through a “cracked, distorted lens,” focusing on predictions of economic collapse, institutional paralysis and widespread public despair while overlooking developments across the country.

He said some publications had promoted what he called a “lazy, hollow fiction” that Nigerians hated President Tinubu, arguing that such narratives reduced complex administrative challenges to a simplistic story of national rejection.

“This is not merely analytical laziness; it is an intellectual fraud,” Dare stated, adding that such assessments ignored what he described as the “monumental” task undertaken by the Tinubu administration since May 2023.

The former Minister of State for Information said Tinubu’s performance should be assessed against the economic conditions that confronted the administration when it assumed office.

Dare argued that the President did not inherit a “functioning, well-oiled state,” but rather an economy facing severe financial and structural challenges.

He pointed to the fuel subsidy regime, multiple foreign exchange windows, public debt pressures and years of underinvestment in critical infrastructure as some of the problems inherited by the administration.

“The Nigerian economy groaned under multiple, distorted foreign exchange windows that bred corruption and choked legitimate enterprise,” the Presidency stated.

It added that the debt service-to-revenue ratio had risen to about 95 per cent, leaving government finances under severe pressure, while decades of underinvestment had weakened critical national assets, security infrastructure, energy systems and other essential infrastructure.

Dare maintained that addressing such deep-rooted problems could not happen without some transitional hardship.

He argued that, rather than postponing difficult decisions, Tinubu chose to confront what he described as structural contradictions within the Nigerian economy.

According to the Presidency, the administration’s reforms have begun to reshape the economy through policies aimed at eliminating longstanding distortions.

It cited the removal of the petrol subsidy as one of the administration’s major decisions, arguing that it had stopped the loss of public resources and enabled government to redirect funds towards capital development and fiscal sustainability.

The Presidency also highlighted the foreign exchange reforms, claiming that the unification and rationalisation of the market reduced opportunities for arbitrage, attracted foreign investment and contributed to improvements in trade balances and external reserves.

It further pointed to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), saying the programme had enabled hundreds of thousands of students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds to access higher education without the burden of tuition fees.

Other achievements highlighted by the Presidency included local government financial autonomy, the increase in the national minimum wage, mass-transit Compressed Natural Gas buses and various measures aimed at reducing the impact of rising transportation costs.

The administration also cited fertiliser distribution, agricultural loans and the provision of modern farming equipment, including tractors, as part of its efforts to improve food production and revitalise rural economies.

On the suggestion that Nigerians were broadly hostile towards Tinubu, the Presidency rejected the claim, arguing that such a narrative did not reflect the experiences of many citizens.

It maintained that the impact of government programmes could be seen among students, parents, farmers and other Nigerians who had benefited from various interventions.

The Presidency therefore urged Nigerians and international observers to assess Tinubu’s administration within the context of the economic conditions it inherited and the reforms it has implemented since assuming office.

The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has said he would restore the petrol subsidy regime if elected president in the 2027 election.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

The former Anambra State governor, however, said his administration would ensure that the subsidy programme was not undermined by the corruption he believes characterised its previous implementation.

Obi made the comments during an interview with the BBC on Tuesday, marking a change from his position during the 2023 presidential campaign, when he supported the removal of the petrol subsidy.

He argued that the subsidy itself was not the major problem, but rather the corruption associated with its administration.

“From day one, I’ve talked about subsidy. I talked about corruption; corruption is the problem of subsidy,” Obi said.

When asked directly whether he would reintroduce the subsidy if elected president, Obi answered in the affirmative but stressed that he would first tackle the corruption surrounding the policy.

“Yes. But remember, I have qualified it, not with the corruption that’s associated with it. I’ll remove the corruption and retain the subsidy,” he stated.

Obi also outlined his approach to fighting corruption in government, saying the conduct of the president and members of his immediate family would play an important role in reducing corruption.

“If you are not stealing, if you are not involved, your wife and family are not involved, you reduce it by 50 per cent,” the presidential candidate said.

During the 2023 presidential campaign, Obi had supported the removal of the petrol subsidy, arguing that funds spent on the programme could instead be channelled into critical areas such as education, healthcare and infrastructure.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu subsequently announced the end of the petrol subsidy regime during his inauguration on May 29, 2023.

Obi’s latest position also comes after comments by his running mate, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who said in September that an NDC government led by Obi would introduce its own form of subsidy arrangement.

Meanwhile, during the BBC interview, Obi rejected suggestions that he should withdraw from the 2027 presidential race in favour of another opposition candidate if opposition parties eventually agree on a consensus candidate.

“We don’t need to step down. We need to do the right thing,” he said.