By Tukur Garba Arab

More than 800 professionals across Africa applied. Fifty-five graduated.

The OpenSchool Initiative has concluded its Pan-African AI Governance Fellowship, marking what organizers describe as a deliberate effort to strengthen the continent’s capacity to regulate and oversee artificial intelligence systems as adoption accelerates across sectors.

The four-month programme, delivered in collaboration with Cosmopolitan University, System Strategy and Policy Lab, and Tanzeel, selected just over 70 participants through a competitive process spanning 22 countries. Fifty-five completed the Fellowship.

The initiative comes amid growing global concern over AI safety, regulatory fragmentation, and the concentration of technological influence among a handful of major economies. African policymakers have increasingly emphasized the need for governance frameworks tailored to the continent’s legal systems, economic structures, and developmental priorities.

The Fellowship was co-led by Engr. Abba Muhammad Gadanya, and. Najeeb G. Abdulhamid, a lead volunteer with OpenSchool, who structured the governance and regulatory framework underpinning the training.

Participants engaged with algorithmic accountability, risk classification models, public-sector AI procurement safeguards, cross-border regulatory coordination, and policy harmonization strategies. Capstone projects included draft national AI policy frameworks and sector-specific governance models designed for institutional consideration.

The closing ceremony was held virtually and featured Keynote remarks from Catherine Muraga, Managing Director of Microsoft’s Africa Development Center, based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Organizers framed the Fellowship as part of a broader shift from AI adoption toward AI governance. “Africa must not remain a consumer of artificial intelligence. We must become architects of its governance,” Gadanya said during the closing ceremony.

Observers note that while major AI regulatory frameworks are being shaped in the United States, the European Union, and China, African governments face the dual challenge of accelerating digital transformation while building institutional oversight capacity.

By convening policymakers, engineers, academics, and civil society actors, OpenSchool aims to develop a distributed governance network capable of contributing to national and regional AI policy development.

The graduation marks the end of the current cohort. Organizers say future iterations of the programme are under consideration.

By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

The Nigerian National Committee of the International Press Institute (IPI Nigeria) has issued an urgent appeal to the newly appointed acting Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, urging him to make press freedom and the safety of journalists a cornerstone of his leadership.

IPI Nigeria, in a statement, urged Disu to immediately halt the harassment, intimidation, and attacks against journalists that marked the tenure of his predecessor, Mr Kayode Egbetokun.

Under Egbetokun’s leadership, journalists were reportedly harassed, unlawfully detained, and in some cases assaulted while performing their constitutional duties.

“The police, as a critical institution in a democratic society, have a constitutional responsibility to uphold the fundamental rights of all Nigerians, including freedom of expression and the press,” the organisation said in the statement signed by Musikilu Mojeed, President of IPI Nigeria, and Tobi Soniyi, Legal Adviser.

IPI Nigeria specifically urged the new police chief to end all forms of harassment, intimidation, and unlawful detention of journalists; review and withdraw pending cases targeting journalists for legitimate professional work; introduce a reorientation programme for police personnel focused on press freedom and human rights; and establish clear communication channels between the police and media stakeholders to prevent and resolve conflicts.

IPI Nigeria noted that persistent violations under the previous administration led to Mr Egbetokun being included in its “Book of Infamy,” a record of individuals and institutions whose actions or inaction facilitated attacks on press freedom in Nigeria.

The body urged Mr Disu to chart a different course and rebuild trust between the police and the media, emphasising that press freedom is essential for Nigeria’s democracy.

“A free and independent press strengthens accountability, enhances transparency, and supports law enforcement by responsibly informing the public,” IPI Nigeria said.

Concluding on a note of constructive engagement, IPI Nigeria emphasised that the roles of the police and the media are complementary, not adversarial. It reiterated its full readiness to work with the new police leadership to address concerns and promote a relationship built on mutual respect and shared democratic values.

By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has rejected the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) newly released timetable for the 2026-2027 general elections, describing it as a “political instrument” designed to benefit the incumbent administration.

In a statement issued on Friday, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, alleged that the schedule contains deliberately obstructive provisions that could exclude opposition parties from participating in the upcoming elections.

According to the timetable, political parties are required to submit digital membership registers to INEC by April 2, 2026—just 34 days from now. Abdullahi warned that Section 77(7) of the Electoral Act 2026 stipulates that any party failing to meet this deadline “shall not be eligible to field a candidate for that election.”

“This is not a product of foresight, but insider knowledge,” Abdullahi said. “The ruling party had commenced the process of this registration since February 2025, long before it became a requirement of the law.”

The ADC spokesman noted that Section 77(2) of the Electoral Act mandates that registers contain detailed information including names, National Identification Numbers (NIN), photographs, and complete address details of all members—data that must be submitted in both hard and soft copies.

“What makes this requirement particularly insidious is that the ruling party had one whole year to carry out an exercise that they expect other political parties to execute in one month,” Abdullahi said. “This is more or less a practical impossibility.”

The party primaries are scheduled to hold between April 23 and May 30, 2026, approximately 55 to 92 days from today.

The ADC claimed the combined effect of the Electoral Act and the INEC timetable appears “designed to serve President Tinubu’s automatic self-succession project.”

“The ADC has joined other opposition political parties to reject the corrupted Electoral Act 2026,” Abdullahi said, adding that the party would not do anything that would “appear to confer legitimacy on a fraudulent system.”

He stated that the party is reviewing its options and would announce its position in the coming days.

The ADC called on civil society organisations, democratic stakeholders, and Nigerians to scrutinise the timetable and demand fairness.

“No democracy can endure if the rules that govern it are written to suit pre-determined outcomes,” Abdullahi said.