Headline

The Facts and the Fictions about Buhari’s Electoral Invincibility

Published

7 years ago

October 5, 2018

Eric

By Abdullahi Dass

It is generally believed that President Muhammadu Buhari has a near unshakeable stranglehold on the electorate in the North, especially in the North-west zone consisting of Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Sokoto and Zamfara States.

For a fact, in the last 15 years, Buhari has consistently garnered between 11 and 12 million votes in the three zones of the North. The only exception was when he contested against Late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua in 2007 when his acclaimed domination of northern electorate was broken almost along the middle. Yar’Adua polled 48 percent to Buhari’s 52 percent. This might be due to the fact that both men are Fulani Muslims from same Katsina State.

The question therefore arises that: Is it not better for any party that intends to defeat the Buhari administration democratically to field a candidate with similar influence and pluses like Yar’Adua from the North-west?

There is the need, at this point, to note that Yar’Adua’s exemplary performance against Buhari was not all due to political attributes of the former Governor of Katsina State.

Two factors were at play here, the most important being that Yar’Adua contested against Buhari with the solid and strong backing of a highly respected national icon, President Olusegun Obasanjo who was then the incumbent President.

Obasanjo was in firm control of the Presidency and he had tried to stay in power through a third term agenda, which ordinarily going by the culture of politics in Africa, was not too difficult an ambition to achieve. However, the plan failed. The Northern reaction, from both the elite and the grassroots was that of gratitude and relief that Obasanjo was finally leaving and giving the North a chance to gain power back. It was made a lot easier because the candidate, Yar’Adua was a Northern aristocrat and a Muslim.

Against such considerations and situations mentioned above, the Buhari phenomenon paled into insignificance when put alongside an overriding and collective Northern interest and intense desire to get power back. In that particular election, head and tail, the North was sure to win. Sacrificing Buhari was a no issue. However, today, the situation is completely different and not comparable to what existed in 2007.

None of the aspirants in the opposition party – Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, Barrister Tanimu Turaki, Senator Rafiu Musa Kwankwaso, Alhaji Sule Lamido and Sen. Ahmed Makarfi has the political clout capable of doing any significant havoc comparable to that done by Umaru Yar’adua.

First, as common to all of them their maximum influence is nearly limited to their states of origin. This applies to Saminu Turaki, Tambuwal, Bafarawa, Lamido and Makarfi. Only Kwankwaso has a not too significant spread outside Kano, his state of origin. The Kwankwansiya movement essentially exists, at least 90 percent of it, in Kano and its environs. It is not distinctly noticeable in Sokoto or Kebbi, and neither in Yobe or Adamawa, not to talk of Niger and Nassarawa.

Unfortunately, even in Kano, its influence has been slightly whittled down by Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau’s recent defection to Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC). The combination of two of the three strong political pillars in Kano (Gov. Umaru Ganduje and Shekarau) being in APC, is a mortal injury to the Kwankwansiya movement in Kano.

Second, as clearly stated in the Yar’Adua case, the existence of a supportive incumbent Federal Government assisted the candidate in no small measure and the absence of such incumbent support presently, totally renders impotent any dream possibility of depleting or eroding Buhari’s support base in the the North West or the North in general by any of the acclaimed opposition aspirants from the North West.

Third, none of these aspirants from the North-west has any known or politically appreciable presence, followership, support or acceptability in any of the Southern zones. Their penetration in the South is abysmally poor and insignificant and they can only rely on ineffectual acolytes to mobilise support for them in the South.

In conclusion, therefore, none of the six aspirants in the PDP from the North West has what it takes to even reduce Buhari’s electoral value by as much as 10 percent in the North West or North in general. And also, none has a known or visible following in the south with which they can upstage Buhari’s entrenched political associates in the South, especially in the South West, which is the second largest voting population in the country.

THE FICTION:

The greatest political fallacy concerning the 2019 elections however is the postulation that a President cannot emerge in Nigeria without the person winning in the North-west zone. Nothing can be farther from the truth than this assumption or perception. The reality, the national political antecedents and bare electoral facts based on past results do not support this position.

First, if the votes of the North west was of such electoral indispensability, why was it impossible for Buhari to win in his first three attempts at the Presidency, despite his consistent six million votes from the North west and approximately 12 million votes from the entire North in all previous three elections; 2003, 2007 and 2011.

Second, in 2003, Obasanjo polled a total votes of 24.2 million against Buhari”s 13.12 million. If all the votes Obasanjo garnered from the North Central, North East and North West (9 million) were to be removed from his votes, he would still have won with a total of 15.2 million votes against Buhari’s total 13.12 million across the country.

Third, in 2011, former President Goodluck Jonathan defeated Buhari, polling a total of 22.2 million as against Buhari’s 12.09 million. Of this vote for Buhari, a whopping 10.7 million came from the three northern zones

Also, as it was with Obasanjo in 2003, so it was with Jonathan in 2011. If all the 8.3 million votes scored by the former President in the three Northern zones were to be totally deleted from his votes he would still have defeated Buhari because Jonathan would have had 13.9 million votes left to Buhari’s 12. 09 million votes.

In 2019, there are new considerations which make Buhari’s victory against a nationally acceptable opposition candidate an electoral impossibility.

One, 2015 was Buhari’s finest year politically. He was packaged and widely accepted as a national saint, poor but with unparalleled integrity; with great expectations about competence and capability. Unfortunately, even among his most ardent supporters, these “dream” attributes have simply evaporated.

Gross incompetence, lack of capacity and lack of direction has replaced Buhari’s erstwhile “white coated” qualities and general perception.

The prevailing economic conditions, pervasive poverty, hunger, insecurity and growing unemployment across the social strata in the country has made Buhari’s ratings and acceptability to nose-dive. The frightening effect of the unchecked activities of the herdsmen and the obvious and undisguised parochialism that is rife in this administration has further eroded the confidence people have in this administration.

It is safe, therefore, to assume that of the 12 million regular votes for Buhari in the North, a conservative 20 percent of these votes must have been lost because of all the facts stated above plus the fact that some of the major support pillars, the strength of which supported Buhari to come to power have left him and his party. This will include members of the new PDP like Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Kwankwaso and others. This effectively will reduce the 12 million votes to (12-2.4 million) 9.6million votes.

Buhari garnered two million votes from the six states of the North Central in 2015. Today, only Nassarawa, Kogi and Niger remain in the group. This easily can be translated to another loss of about one million votes.

Effectively, the Buhari electoral “supremo” value has grossly reduced to between 8 and 9 million votes. If we make allowance for the 10 million increase in registered voters nationwide and with the projected voter turnout of about 50 percent, Buhari’s vote may however increase by an extra one million votes.

From all the above, without rigging or any widespread electoral malpractice, as witnessed in the Osun State case, the maximum votes Buhari will get from the North will be less than 10 million votes in total.

To make matters worse, any vote lost by Buhari from his Northern homestead, he will not recover it from any other zone in the South. Also, any candidate that can poll the kind of votes from the North Central, and the entire South like Obasanjo did in 2003, and Jonathan did in 2011 will win the 2019 elections with an overwhelming majority.

In the South-east and South South zones, Buhari’s performance will not change significantly. The IPOB phenomenon will definitely predominate 2019. A rehearsal was what happened in Anambra governorship elections where the two big parties; APC and PDP with their massive resources were thoroughly beaten and disgraced. The masses disobeyed and ignored their elite leadership and voted not for just the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), but against the interest of the incumbent Federal Government in the South-east.

The South-south is not expected to be much different. There may be a spike of support in Akwa Ibom State due to the influence of Senator Godswill Akpabio, but a spike it will be. No more!

The South-west presents a totally different scenario. Today, and all-through the presidential election in 2019, all the six states in the South- west will be under the control of APC governors. In theory, they will be expected to deliver their states. But this will not happen .

Two of the governors will be lame duck; Oyo and Ogun. Others like Ondo, Ekiti and the new one in Osun are not popular and cannot really exercise much political authority on the voters. The most sophisticated electorate is in the South-west. The electorate here has discerning capabilities and has an antecedent of punishing erring governments and political groups. The leader of APC in the South-west, has lost so much political goodwill and currency. He is almost an expiring political ‘generalissimo’.

In the South West, the results of local elections, that is; governorship, senate, House of Representatives and state assemblies will be different from that of the presidential election.

However, because the entire South-west will be governed by APC governors, and because the South West represents the second largest voting population in the country, it will be impossible for the opposition to win in 2019, if it leaves the South-west completely open and the electorate without any choice if it selects a candidate that on his own does not have any special appeal to the electorate in this zone.

The political irony here is that a North-west candidate is not what is required for PDP to win in 2019 against Buhari. Rather, the political imperative is in the choice of a candidate that can split the South-west votes. This actually is the master key that can ensure victory for the opposition in 2019.

Dass, a political analyst, writes from Abuja

Culled from ThisDay

Headline

Senate Passes Electoral Bill 2026, Rejects Real-time Electronic Transmission of Results

Published

2 days ago

February 5, 2026

Eric

The Senate, yesterday, passed the Electoral Bill 2026 following hours of robust debate. But it rejected a proposal to mandate real-time electronic transmission of election results while approving significant reforms to election timelines, penalties for electoral offences and voting technology.

At the centre of the controversy was Section 60, which governs the transmission of polling unit results. Senators voted down a recommendation by the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters that would have compelled presiding officers to upload results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal in real time.

Instead, lawmakers retained the approach in the 2022 Electoral Act, which allows electronic transmission after votes are counted and publicly announced at the polling unit.

Relatedly, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which concluded work on the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 general election, is unable to release it due to ongoing amendments to the Electoral Act by the National Assembly.

It also identified the inclusion of deceased persons on the voters’ register, prompting plans for a nationwide verification exercise.

On its part, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) raised the alarm over the National Assembly’s delay in passing the Electoral Act amendments, warning that the situation could expose political parties to technical and legal pitfalls ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Under the retained provisions, presiding officers are required to: count votes at the polling unit, record results on prescribed forms, announce them publicly and transmit them electronically to the appropriate collation centre.

Copies must also be provided to polling agents and security personnel where available. Violators face fines of up to N500,000 or a minimum of six months’ imprisonment.

Senators opposing the real-time upload argued that inconsistent network coverage and logistical challenges could trigger legal disputes and undermine electoral credibility.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Adeyemi Adaramodu, described the debate as largely semantic.

“Electronic transmission remains part of the law,” he said, “and results will continue to be available to the public both electronically and through physical forms, ensuring verifiable records for disputes.”

Beyond the transmission debate, the Senate approved far-reaching amendments to Nigeria’s electoral calendar. The election notice period was reduced from 360 days to 180 days, the deadline for submission of party candidate lists was shortened from 120 to 90 days, and the nomination period was cut from 180 to 90 days.

To deter electoral malpractice, the fine for unlawful possession of voters’ cards was increased from N500,000 to N5 million, though the Senate rejected a proposal for a 10-year ban on vote-buyers, opting for stiffer financial penalties instead. The smart card reader was officially removed from the electoral framework and replaced with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, noted the delay yesterday in Abuja at INEC’s first quarterly consultative meeting with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).

The e-transmission of results, if approved, would have required INEC presiding officers to upload results from each polling unit to the IReV portal in real time, immediately after completing Form EC&A, which must be signed and stamped by the presiding officer and countersigned by party agents.
Instead, the senators chose to retain the present Electoral Act provision, which mandates that “the presiding officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.”

The rejected proposal was contained in the new Clause 60(5) of the draft bill, which aimed to mandate presiding officers to electronically transmit polling unit results in real time after completing and signing Form EC8A.

The clause was designed to strengthen transparency and reduce electoral malpractice through technology-driven result management.

The motion to reject the electronic transmission clause was swiftly seconded by the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin.

Similarly, the Senate also rejected a proposed amendment under Clause 47 that would have allowed voters to present electronically-generated voter identification, including a downloadable voter card with a unique Quick Response (QR) code, as a valid means of accreditation.

The Senate further upheld the provision mandating the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) or any other technological device prescribed by INEC for voter verification and authentication, rather than allowing alternative digital identification methods as proposed in the new bill.

With these decisions, the Senate reaffirmed the use of PVC and BVAS-based accreditation while rejecting efforts to expand digital voter identification and make electronic transmission of results compulsory.

The Guardian

Headline

Wike Remains Undisputed Rivers APC, PDP Leader, Tinubu Rules

Published

4 days ago

February 3, 2026

Eric

President Bola Tinubu has, again, intervened to halt the escalating feud between Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and his predecessor and estranged godfather, Nyesom Wike.

The peace deal came after months of failed settlements that had pushed the state to the brink of governorship impeachment, legislative paralysis, and prolonged instability.

The president had previously intervened in the rift between Fubara and Wike in December 2023, when he brokered a fragile peace, which broke down soon after, leading the declaration of a six-month emergency rule in the state on March 18, 2025 by Tinubu and suspension of the governor.

However, in the fresh push to defuse one of the country’s most combustible political disagreements in recent times, Tinubu ordered an immediate suspension of any impeachment moves against Fubara, but with very strict conditions.

Multiple highly placed sources familiar with the issue told THISDAY that Tinubu, who acted just before departing for an official trip to Türkiye on January 26, laid down the political terms aimed at restoring peace between the two key political actors in Rivers State, a state seen as critical to the president’s re-election in 2027.

Tinubu’s intervention came with a blunt message to Fubara: Wike remains the undisputed political leader of the party, whether APC or Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, and he must be respected in that regard.

THISDAY was told that the president, visibly displeased by the depth of the rift, despite his efforts in the past, warned that continued hostilities would undermine governance in the state and lead to instability, a situation Tinubu said he was not ready to condone.

Tinubu was said to have clearly told Wike to back off any impeachment plots against Fubara and allow governance in the state.

Fubara and his predecessor, Wike, have had a cat and mouse relationship just within months of the governor’s swearing into office in May 2023. What is now out in the open is that Wike, who personally engineered Fubara’semergence as his successor, has sought to control the levers of power from Abuja, while the governor has resisted what many see as the FCT minister’s chokehold on him.

The relationship began to fracture within months of Fubara’s inauguration, as the governor quietly sought to assert his independence, with political actors in the state immediately taking sides. Notably, in the ongoing fight, almost all the state lawmakers align with Wike.

Subsequently, attempts to impeach Fubara emerged from the pro-Wike group in the House of Assembly. Although the governor has tried to wriggle out of the situation several times, the shadows of impeachment continue to haunt him every time there is a disagreement with the minister.

Several efforts have been made to resolve the crisis, all of which failed to produce lasting peace. The failure of one of the peace meetings eventually led to the declaration of a state of emergency in the oil-rich state, which lasted six months.

While Wike’s camp continues to accuse Fubara of betrayal and political ingratitude, the governor’s allies argue that Rivers State cannot be run from outside the state by a former governor now serving as the FCT minister.

Still on the latest attempt to seek an end to the prolonged imbroglio, one insider recounted the president’s thinking, drawing a parallel with Lagos State, where Sanwo-Olu is the leader of the party.

Tinubu was said to have stated, “Is Babajide Sanwo-Olu my leader in Lagos, or was Babatunde Fashola my leader when he was governor?”, according to a source.

The president was equally said to have stated that Fubara should respect elders, saying Wike is an elder statesman in Rivers politics and should be regarded as such. Tinubu, one of the sources added, made it clear that political seniority could not be wished away because of personal disagreements.

As part of the peace deal, the president directed Wike and his camp to immediately halt all impeachment-related actions against Fubara, citing his overriding concern about stability in Rivers State.

In return, Fubara was instructed to make significant concessions. Chief among them was the formal recognition of Wike as the “political leader” in Rivers State, with final authority on party matters.

Sources said Tinubu stressed that all internal party disputes in the state must ultimately defer to Wike.

However, the complexity of Wike’s case is that he is not a card-carrying member of APC in Rivers State. Officially, he remains a member of the struggling opposition PDP, although he is a top minister under the ruling APC government – A position he has used to weaken his party, the PDP.

Besides, the understanding covered the upcoming state House of Assembly bye-elections in Rivers State. Tinubu directed that candidates loyal to Wike should be recognised by the APC leadership for the two vacant assembly seats. “It was explicitly stated that Wike has two candidates for the by-elections and that those candidates are to be recognised by the APC party structure,” one source said.

Already, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed February 21, 2026 for the contentious by-elections into Ahoada East II and Khana II State Constituencies of the state.

THISDAY learnt that while the Ahoada-East II seat became vacant following the resignation of its former occupant, Edison Ehie, who was appointed Chief of Staff (CoS) to Governor Fubara, the Khana II seat was vacant since the death of its lawmaker, Dinebari Loolo, in September 2023.

Notably, the sensitive issue of Fubara’s second term ambition also came up for deliberation, the source said, but was deliberately side-lined, with the president alleged to have said such discussions were too early for now. One source said Tinubu described any talk about the 2027 governorship in the state as still premature.

ThisDay/Arise News

Headline

Otunba Adekunle Ojora: Farewell to a Good Man

Published

5 days ago

February 1, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The curtain dropped on the elitist life of prominent Lagosian, traditional custodian, boardroom guru, refined journalist and elaborate philanthropist, Otunba Adekunle Ojora, on January 28, 2026, bringing to an over nine decades of spreading good tidings, prosperity, unity and humanity. He was 93 years.

His death was announced via a statement by his daughter, Mrs Toyin Ojora-Saraki, on behalf of the Ojora Family, saying he died early in the morning in full submission to the will of Almighty Allah (SWT)

“With total submission to the will of Almighty Allah (SWT), the Ojora family of Lagos hereby announces the passing of our beloved patriarch, Otunba Adekunle Ojora, the Otunba of Lagos and Lisa of Ife, who returned to his creator early this morning.

“We say Alhamdulilahi for a life well lived, and we comply with Allah’s words: ‘Surely, to Allah we belong, and to Him we will all return’ (Q2:156),” the statement reads.

A distinguished businessman, people-oriented-person, the Olori Omo Oba of Lagos and the Lisa of Ife, Adekunle Ojora’s passing came with a much ancipated heartbreak, wailings and regrets, among his hugely extended family members, circle of friends, mentees, colleagues in and across business and traditional terrain, associates and the well impacted general public.

With the announcement of his death came the heavy traffic of personalities, dignitaries and nobles to his Ikoyi palatial home, where his adorable wife, Ojuolape Ojora, and one of his distinguished daughters, Mrs Toyin Saraki, who is the wife of the former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, played significant hosts.

President Bola Tinubu was one of the first mourners with a statement signed by his spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, acknowledging the dimunitive personality of the deceased, noting how he had affected humanity in a positive light.

Tinubu commiserated with the government and people of Lagos State, as well as the Ojora and Adele royal families.

“The passing of Otunba Ojora is a significant loss to the country, the private and public sectors, and traditional institutions,” the President said, describing the late industrialist as a man whose life was defined by humility, perseverance, hard work and generosity. He further noted that his values shaped his long and distinguished career.

“He remained a towering figure whose counsel and experience benefited institutions at both national and subnational levels,” Tinubu added.

In his condolence message, former President Olusegun Obasanjo described Ojora’s death as painful, saying his absence would be difficult to fill, according to a statement released by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi.

The ex-president described Ojora as “an amiable and distinguished Nigerian who, during his lifetime, built a remarkable legacy of integrity, wisdom, and unwavering dedication.”

“By his death, the country has lost a notable captain of industry and commerce, but there is no doubt that his memory lingers on through his many landmark contributions to the development of the South-West zone in particular, and the country in general,” Obasanjo added.

He also stated that “He was a remarkable entrepreneur whose vision, determination, and resilience added value to the community and to hundreds of families who depended on his commercial activities. He was a role model and exemplar whose personal life and achievements inspired a generation of entrepreneurs, industrialists, and merchants. Over the years, with his wise counsel, unquestioned strength, and gentle guidance, Otunba Ojora commanded respect and reverence, and took particular pleasure in mentoring younger men and women to succeed in life.”

Also reacting, a former Minister of Communications, Major General Tajudeen Olanrewaju (Rtd) described Ojora as a “veteran journalist and boardroom titan”.

The former General Officer Commanding (GOC) 3 Division Nigerian Army noted that he made positive contributions to the industrial and entrepreneurial sectors of the economy, lightened up the social fabric of his time in Lagos, in particular, and across our nation.

Among dignitaries that called to the home of the Ojora’s to express heartfelt condolences were the Governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke and his elder brother, Dr. Deji Adeleke; Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Mr. Femi Otedola and former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel.

As a revered Muslim, versed in Islamic doctrines, the nonagenarian’s burial followed the very next day, drawing an avalanche of well wishers and mourners to the Central Mosque, on Lagos Island, where the funeral rites or the Janazah, led by the Chief Imam of Lagos, Sheikh Sulaiman Abou-Nolla, and assisted by other prominent Islamic clerics, were conducted, and finally to the Vaults and Garden, Ikoyi, where the remains were committed to mother-earth. The events were a meeting point of some sort, as they drew together prominent Islamic scholars, family members, political bigwigs and other distinguished guests.

A roll call of the elite callers at the events include the deceased’s wife, Erelu Ojuolape Ojora; his daughter, Toyin Ojora-Saraki, and her husband, former Senate President and Kwara State Governor, Bukola Saraki. Also in attendance were Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, former Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun, former Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly Ali Ahmad, former PDP National Chairman Kawu Baraje, Mufti of Ilorin Sheikh Sulaiman Onikijipa, and National President of Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria Prince Adeniji Kazeem.

The burial ceremonies began with a recovery of the remains, which were borne by pallbearers for a burial procession before it was a motorcade bore it to the venue of the Janazah.

The long convoy of dignitaries that accompanied the body to the mosque spoke volumes of the personality of Adekunle Ojora. As the solenm approached, Imam Sulaiman Abou-Nolla led the congregation in prayers, asking for the repose of the siul of the deceased.

At the conclusion of the prayers, the body was conveyed to the Ikoyi Vault, where pallbearers and Muslim Ummah as well selected members of the family and notable dignitaries accompanied the remains, amid chants, to its final resting place.

THE MAN, OTUNBA ADEKUNLE OJORA

The highly principled businessman was born Isiaq Adekunle Ojora on June 13, 1932, into the distinguished Ojora Royal Family of Lagos, where he grew with a deeply-rooted tolerance for the history, culture and traditional governance of the Yoruba race and Lagos in particular.

His lineage placed him among the foremost royal families in the state, a heritage he upheld with dignity throughout his long life. Over several decades, he emerged as one of the most influential figures within Lagos’ traditional institutions, commanding respect across royal, cultural and civic circles.

Ojora was a member of the Ojora and Adele royal families of Lagos and was himself the holder of the chieftaincy of the Otunba of Lagos. He studied journalism at Regent Street Polytechnic, with the intention of developing a career in journalism. He started work as a staffer at the BBC where he rose to become an assistant editor.

In 1955, he switched his services to the Nigerian government as a reporter with the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. He was soon transferred to Ibadan as an information officer in the office of the regional premier. Ojora’s stint with NBC lasted until 1961 when he took up appointment as the public relations manager at United African Company.

Ojora soon developed interest in the commercial units of enterprises, he became an executive director of UAC in 1962. After a military coup truncated the first republic, Ojora was nominated as a member of Lagos City Council in 1966. A year later, he was given political appointments in two government agencies, in 1967, he was managing director of WEMABOD, a regional property and investment company and also in 1967, he succeeded Kola Balogun as chairman of Nigerian National Shipping Line.

After leaving WEMABOD, he became an investor in various firms including AGIP petroleum marketing and NCR Nigeria. He also founded the private firms Nigerlink Industries, Unital Builders and a holding company Lagos Investments. After the Nigerian Enterprise Promotion Act, he took equity interest in some foreign companies operating in Nigeria such as investments in the Nigerian operations of Bowring Group, Inchape, Schlumberger, Phoenix Assurance, UTC Nigeria, Evans Brothers and Seven-Up. He married Erelu Ojuolape, and among their children is Toyin Saraki.

Beyond royalty, Otunba Ojora was widely regarded as a bridge between tradition and modern governance.

The Otunba Adekunle Ojora would be remembered as a quintessential gentleman, astute businessman, excellent in speech, dignified in conduct, and deeply respected across generations.

For as many as those who know him, Ojora has for decades, remained a familiar and revered presence in elite social and cultural spaces, where his highly sought-after counsel and calm disposition have proved relevant and needful.

He is also known for his refined lifestyle and strong family values, an embodiment of a “brand of old-school nobility that earned him admiration well beyond wealth or status. He was often described as a man of honour whose life reflected discipline, tradition, and unwavering integrity.

Otunba Adekunle Ojora is survived by his wife, Erelu Ojuolape Ojora, his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.