Akpabio Pronounces Jimoh Ibrahim’s Seat Vacant

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has pronounced the Ondo South Senatorial District seat vacant.

Akpabio made the announcement during plenary yesterday at the National Assembly in Abuja.

According to him, the declaration followed the appointment of Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, who previously occupied the seat, as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

The Senate President called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a by-election within the next 30 days to fill the vacancy, in line with extant laws.

Akpabio also directed the clerk of the National Assembly to transmit the Senate’s resolution to INEC for urgent action.

Ndume Hails Tinubu Over N68bn Support For Maiduguri Power Plant

Senator Ali Ndume has applauded President Bola Tinubu for approving N68 billion operational support supportthe Maiduguri Emergency Power Plant (MEPP).

The EPP is a presidential intervention initiated in 2021 to mitigate prolonged power outage, caused by insurgents vandalising power infrastructure, leaving the state without electricity for nearly two years.

The fund will be released in phases with

N2 billion monthly OPEX intervention from March 2026 to December 2028, totaling N68 billion to bridge the existing funding gap in the operations of MEPP.

Ndume who represents Borno South in the National Assembly, in a statement he issued yesterday, expressed gratitude to the federal government for responding to the long agitation of the people who have been at the receiving end of prolonged power outage.

He said that restoration of electricity would add value to the economic life of the people, particularly in the informal sector.

The lawmaker also declared that stable power will complement the resilient efforts of the military in routing insurgents whom he described as agents of darkness and thrive better in environment where there is no visibility particularly at night.

He said: “I join the Borno State governor, Professor Babagana Zulum and other well meaning people of my state to express profound gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for this great gesture, aimed at ensuring stable electricity in the state.

“The fund released to the

Maiduguri Emergency Power Plant is a life line that would ultimately, engender economic activities particularly operations of Medium and Small Scale Enterprises (SMES).

 ” As the saying goes, an idle mind is a devil’s workshop. When the informal sector thrives in a place like Borno state, the government would have succeeded in cutting off the supply chain for recruitment of able bodied men by the terrorists.”

“Apart from that, the stimulus for the seamless operations of our military would have been strengthened. “

The former Senate Chief Whip however called on the relevant federal and state agencies, the military and the citizenry to ensure that power infrastructures were no longer destroyed, either by insurgents or the nefarious activities of vandals.

” It is to the eternal credit of the federal government that it has responded speedily to our lamentations over power shortage,” he said