The Courtroom is Closed: Why the Case Against Tinubu Must Move to the Court of Public Opinion by Lawson Akhigbe

There is a peculiarly Nigerian brand of optimism that believes the Supreme Court exists to do the dirty work politicians were too distracted to handle during campaign season. Whenever an election outcome tastes like ash, the losing side inevitably sprints to the appellate bench clutching heavy binders, confident that the judiciary will casually unravel an entire presidential mandate on a crisp technicality.

A NATIONAL EMERGENCY PROCLAMATION (On the Capture of the Republic by Corruption, Procedural Acrobatics, and Other Lawful Nonsense) by Lawson Akhigbe

WHEREAS Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) declares—perhaps optimistically—that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”;

Tinubu and the Great Business of Winning the Next Election by Lawson Akhigbe

The Nigerian voter, having spent considerable time queueing at polling stations, arguing about PVCs, fighting over results and eventually accepting that Nigeria had chosen its president, might reasonably have expected the new administration to get on with the business of governing.

Edo State Moribund Local Governments — The Glorified Cashier by Lawson Akhigbe

The narrative above is replicated across the 774 local governments in Nigeria. The Supreme Court judgment on Local Government financial autonomy remains iced over in practice. State governors continue to treat local councils as administrative subsidiaries rather than an autonomous arm of government.