It’s almost midnight, and while many people are already asleep, propaganda merchants and political illusionists are still awake manufacturing confusion for people who do not understand how legislative technicalities, parliamentary procedures, and strategic amendments work.
This is exactly why politics is not for emotionally unstable analysts, noise makers, headline readers, or social media propagandists who celebrate too early without understanding what was actually changed, what was adjusted, what was merely reworded, and what still remains firmly in place.
Some people rushed to the media shouting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ordered the Senate to reverse the controversial amendment. That narrative may sound sweet to emotional followers, but facts do not answer to emotions. Facts answer to records, procedures, legislative language, and technical interpretation.
Now let us deal with the verifiable facts.
According to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Adeniyi Adegbomire, what the Senate revisited was merely a procedural issue relating to oath taking before voting during Senate leadership elections. Previously, senators could vote before being sworn in. The amendment introduced a requirement that senators must first be sworn in before participating in the election of the Senate President and Deputy Senate President.
However, concerns later emerged that this procedural adjustment could create constitutional inconsistencies with Section 52 of the 1999 Constitution. To avoid unnecessary controversy and legal tension, the Senate simply reverted to the previous procedure.
That is what was adjusted. That is what was rescinded. Not the main battlefield clause many people have been screaming about without understanding legislative interpretation.
The controversial eligibility clause remains untouched and comfortably seated where it was strategically planted. Read that again slowly. The real issue was not removed. A few procedural phrases were adjusted, but the core eligibility provision still stands.
This is why emotional reactions, fake propaganda headlines, and political hysteria can mislead people who do not pay attention to technical drafting, parliamentary language, and strategic legislative maneuvering. Politics is not always fought with shouting, insults, or social media noise. Sometimes the real war is hidden inside one sentence, one subsection, one procedural adjustment, or one carefully protected clause that the average observer completely overlooks.
Not every reversal is surrender. Not every applause is victory. And not every celebration means the battle has been won.
Politics is a game of intelligence, technicalities, strategic timing, and calculated positioning.
The wise understand this.
Prof. Sandra Duru, PhD
