{"id":198464,"date":"2026-04-05T21:05:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T20:05:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension"},"modified":"2026-04-05T22:14:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T21:14:11","slug":"mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension","title":{"rendered":"Mahdi Shehu Critiques Tinubu Over INEC Suspension"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Public affairs commentator Mahdi Shehu has reacted to the suspension of the planned voter revalidation exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), taking a swipe at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.<\/p>\n<p>INEC had earlier announced that it would commence a nationwide voter revalidation exercise on April 13, 2026, as part of efforts to update the voter register ahead of the 2027 general elections.<\/p>\n<p>However, the commission later directed Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) to suspend all publicity and preparations for the exercise.<\/p>\n<p>Reacting in a post shared on X on Sunday, Shehu described the development as a welcome reversal, though he criticised the president\u2019s handling of public concerns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell done, PBAT, for agreeing to be a loser on the ill-conceived voter\u2019s card revalidation,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>He noted that the decision suggests that the president can listen to public opinion when necessary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt appears PBAT can decide to listen to public objections on certain issues like his reversal of the ill-conceived voters card revalidation,\u201d Shehu said.<\/p>\n<p>Shehu, however, accused the president of ignoring other concerns raised by Nigerians, including issues around appointments, project execution and spending.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe has ignored several other public outcries, such as his lopsided public appointments, lopsided project execution, lopsided spending of foreign and local loans, lopsided and selective response to emergencies and tragedies,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Shehu urged the president to always heed the voice of the majority, stressing that such an approach is necessary for democracy to thrive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe pray that whenever the voices of reason, wisdom and common sense speak louder than his, he will have the courage to accept what the majority voices speak and endorse. This is the only way democracy can thrive and allow Nigeria to be great,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCongratulations for seeing the writing on the wall with or without medical glasses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Referencing Exodus 18:19, Shehu added, \u201cListen now to me, and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people\u2019s representative before God and bring their disputes to him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He concluded with a prayer, saying, \u201cMay PBAT be well guided by the spirit of truth, especially in moments when satanic drums are louder than the voices of reason. Amen. Amen. Amen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Public affairs commentator Mahdi Shehu has reacted to the suspension of the planned voter revalidation exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), taking a swipe at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. INEC had earlier announced that it would commence a nationwide voter revalidation exercise on April 13, 2026, as part of efforts [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":198462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[254],"class_list":["post-198464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mahdi Shehu Critiques Tinubu Over INEC Suspension - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Public affairs commentator Mahdi Shehu has reacted to the suspension of the planned voter revalidation exercise by the I ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mahdi Shehu Critiques Tinubu Over INEC Suspension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Public affairs commentator Mahdi Shehu has reacted to the suspension of the planned voter revalidation exercise by the I ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-05T20:05:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-05T21:14:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/sm_1775423604.932728.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"411\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Mahdi Shehu Critiques Tinubu Over INEC Suspension\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-05T20:05:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-05T21:14:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension\"},\"wordCount\":385,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/sm_1775423604.932728.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension\",\"name\":\"Mahdi Shehu Critiques Tinubu Over INEC Suspension - Nigeria\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/sm_1775423604.932728.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-05T20:05:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-05T21:14:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Public affairs commentator Mahdi Shehu has reacted to the suspension of the planned voter revalidation exercise by the I ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/sm_1775423604.932728.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/sm_1775423604.932728.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":411,\"caption\":\"Mahdi Shehu Critiques Tinubu Over INEC Suspension\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mahdi Shehu Critiques Tinubu Over INEC Suspension\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\",\"name\":\"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mahdi Shehu Critiques Tinubu Over INEC Suspension - Nigeria","description":"Public affairs commentator Mahdi Shehu has reacted to the suspension of the planned voter revalidation exercise by the I ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mahdi Shehu Critiques Tinubu Over INEC Suspension","og_description":"Public affairs commentator Mahdi Shehu has reacted to the suspension of the planned voter revalidation exercise by the I ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension","og_site_name":"Nigeria","article_published_time":"2026-04-05T20:05:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-05T21:14:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":411,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/sm_1775423604.932728.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Mahdi Shehu Critiques Tinubu Over INEC Suspension","datePublished":"2026-04-05T20:05:31+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-05T21:14:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension"},"wordCount":385,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/sm_1775423604.932728.jpg","keywords":["Nigeria"],"articleSection":["all news","Policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension","name":"Mahdi Shehu Critiques Tinubu Over INEC Suspension - Nigeria","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/sm_1775423604.932728.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-05T20:05:31+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-05T21:14:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Public affairs commentator Mahdi Shehu has reacted to the suspension of the planned voter revalidation exercise by the I ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/sm_1775423604.932728.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/sm_1775423604.932728.jpg","width":720,"height":411,"caption":"Mahdi Shehu Critiques Tinubu Over INEC Suspension"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/mahdi-shehu-critiques-tinubu-over-inec-suspension#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mahdi Shehu Critiques Tinubu Over INEC Suspension"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/","name":"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198464"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":198472,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198464\/revisions\/198472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}