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2019: Ondo APC Members Protest, Reject Senatorial Candidate

Published

7 years ago

November 2, 2018

Eric

Thousands of members of the ruling All Progressives Congress in Ondo State on Thursday took to the street of Ore, the headquarters of the Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State, to protest against the alleged imposition of Senator Yele Omogunwa as the candidate of the party in the Ondo Senatorial District.

Senator Omogunwa, who is currently representing the Ondo South Senatorial District at the upper chamber of the National Assembly, was alleged to have been imposed on the members of the party in the district by the National Working Committee of the APC. The senator was given an automatic ticket to be the candidate of the party in the 2019 senatorial election.

Omogunwa was elected into the Senate in 2015 under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party but he later joined the APC in 2016 shortly before the governorship election in the state.

The protesters, who were from the six local government areas of the district, converged on the party secretariat in Ore with different placards with inscriptions, saying the party would lose in the senatorial district if Omogunwa remained the candidate.

The placards had inscriptions such as “Ondo South Rejects Yele Omogunwa”, “Ondo South says No to imposition”, “Ondo South APC says No to Yele Omogunwa”, “Omogunwa is a liability, no more second term”, and “We demand a replacement for Omogunwa”, among others.

The leader of the protesters and an APC leader in the district, Mr Olatunbosun James, said members of the party were concerned with the victory at the poll in 2019, adding that the party would suffer defeat if Senator Omogunwa was fielded as the party’s candidate.

James also noted that the rejection of Omogunwa’s candidature would affect the chances of President Muhammadu Buhari at the 2019 presidential election in the senatorial district.

He alleged that the senator had failed the people of the senatorial district, adding that he was a dormant representative of the district in the Senate.

He said, “The fact is incontrovertible that our senatorial district is suffering from misrepresentation at present in the red chamber. Yele Omogunwa, the man positioned to represent us, is nothing but a political misfit. Under his watch, our district suffered untold and unbearable hardship including the extant infamous electricity blackout ravaging the land.

“Senator Omogunwa is identified with incompetence and his candidature becomes unsellable because we deserve better representation in Ondo South which lay the golden egg for the state and the country. Yele has become analogue and the best thing to do for President Buhari and the party to win in 2019 is to replace him with a more competent fellow before it will be too late.

“We reject his candidature; we don’t want him because he has failed us in the last three and half years. He has no capacity to win the Senate election for APC and that will affect the president on the day of the election.”

James also called on the National Working Committee and the National Chairman of the party, Mr Adams Oshiomhole and other party leaders to replace Omogunwa for a better and more competent candidate in the interest of the party and the senatorial district.

However, the embattled Senator Omogunwa, in a statement, said the protest was sponsored by some aggrieved aspirants of the party.

“As far as I am concerned, the sponsored protest coming amid my concerted effort to reconcile all cleavages within the party in the district is highly regrettable and unconscionably misdirected and mischievous in all ramifications,” he stated.

The Punch

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Tinubu Nominates Oyedele As Minister of State for Finance, Moves Anite-Uzoka to Budget Ministry

Published

11 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

A statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga, has announced that “President Bola Tinubu has nominated Taiwo Oyedele as the minister of state for finance, replacing Doris Anite-Uzoka.

“Mrs Anite-Uzoka will now move to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, as the Minister of State, her third portfolio in the administration.

“President Tinubu has today conveyed the nomination of Mr Oyedele to the Senate for confirmation in a letter to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

“Until President Tinubu nominated him as a minister, Mr Oyedele from Ikaram, Akoko, Ondo State, was the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, which overhauled Nigeria’s tax system.

“Mr Oyedele, 50, is an economist, accountant and public policy expert.

“He attended Yaba College of Technology, where he obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND) in accountancy and finance. He attended Oxford Brookes University and earned a BSc in applied accounting.

“He also completed executive education programmes at the London School of Economics, Yale University, the Gordon Institute of Business Science, and the Harvard Kennedy School.

“Mr Oyedele spent 22 years of his working career at PwC, joining in 2001 and rising to become the Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader.

“Mr Oyedele is also a professor at Babcock University in Ogun State and a visiting scholar at the Lagos Business School.”

Featured

Defection: Atiku’s Son, Adamu, Resigns As Adamawa Commissioner

Published

16 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Adamu Abubakar, the first son of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has resigned as Adamawa State’s commissioner for works and energy development, days after Governor Ahmadu Fintiri defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

Abubakar’s resignation letter, dated 2 March 2026, was addressed to the governor through the Secretary to the State Government. He gave no reason for his departure.

The timing is pointed. Fintiri announced his defection to the APC in a statewide broadcast last Friday, saying his cabinet and the PDP’s state structure had moved with him. Within 24 hours, 22 commissioners and special advisers publicly announced they were following suit. Abubakar, whose father remains one of the PDP’s most prominent national figures, was not among them.

In a statement issued Monday night, Abubakar’s media aide Abdulaziz Jauro said the former commissioner thanked the governor for the opportunity to serve and pledged continued loyalty to the administration’s developmental agenda. He also expressed gratitude to his father “for granting him the moral support and blessing to serve the people of Adamawa State” — a line that, read in context, suggests Atiku was consulted on the decision.

Abubakar said his resignation was not a withdrawal from public life. “This does not mark the end of his commitment to public service,” the statement read, “but rather the beginning of new avenues for developmental collaboration.”

The resignation leaves unresolved the question of whether it reflects a political break with the governor over his defection or a personal decision unconnected to the broader party realignment now reshaping Adamawa’s political landscape.

Featured

DSS Nabs Man over Assassination Attempt on Peter Obi

Published

18 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Eric

Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) has detained a man in connection with the recent attack and alleged assassination threats targeting Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

According to AIT, the shooting incident took place on February 24, 2026, in Benin City, Edo State, during a political gathering attended by Obi and several figures from the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The meeting was hosted by former APC National Chairman, John Oyegun. Gunmen reportedly opened fire at the venue, causing panic and forcing attendees to disperse for safety.

According to security sources, shortly after the attack, an individual identified as Udeme Monday Stephen allegedly took to social media claiming responsibility and issuing additional threats against Obi, warning of further violence.

Intelligence officials reportedly initiated swift investigations, employing digital tracing and forensic tools that led to the arrest of the 26-year-old suspect in Rivers State. He is said to be a teacher at a private secondary school in the Eliozu area of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area.

The suspect remains in DSS custody and is expected to face prosecution. The agency reiterated its commitment to responding to credible threats and safeguarding lives and national interests without bias.