Headline

APC: Crises in the Ruling House

Published

6 years ago

June 27, 2020

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The ripple effect the crisis that visited the Edo chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) shortly after the 2019 general elections is far from from reaching its climax, the big stick wielded by the president, Muhammadu Buhari, notwithstanding.

On Thursday, within the confines and safety of the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Buhari had put his foot down, dissolving the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, in a bid to bring to end a crisis that has attempted to puncture the rolling tyres of the ruling party. It must be noted that the president’s stick notwithstanding, mutterings, rancours and loud whispers can still be heard within the rank and files of opposing party members.

Stakeholders, analysts and commentators have traced the APC quagmire to the war of attrition between now suspended party chairman and former governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and his supposed mentee, who is the current Governor of the state, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, which came to the fore as states began inaugurating Assembly members. Out of the 24 members elected into the House (all APC members), 19 unceremoniously lost interest in the governor, pegging their stakes with the party chairman. Only five stood with the governor. In frantic politicking, Obaseki convinced additional five, bringing the number of his loyalists to 10. He therefore invoked protocol and inaugurated. The other 14 members failed to show up. As it is today, the other 14 are yet to be inaugurated since their election, over one year down the line.

Many others have said that the baton of the crisis was just held in lieu for the heavyweights by the corner in the person of Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi and National Leader of the party, Senator Bola Tinubu.

However, with the widening of the division among members loyal to Obaseki and Oshiomhole, accusations and counter accusations began to flow from both camps, and in most cases fisticuffs followed among loyal foot soldiers. It got to a stage where Oshiomhole became wary of coming into the state, and was eventually suspended from the party by his Etsako Ward 10 constituency under the chairmanship of Stephen Oshawo.

Oshiomhole’s suspension gave the crisis a more national outlook as political foes capitalised on the laguna to cease the chairmanship. He was however saved by whiskers as a high court voided the suspension. He was shaken, but not stirred. He bounced back to what looks like fragile peace. But he bidded his time. Revenge was in his mind and in his heart. Oshiomhole wanted to hit back at Obaseki for many reasons. he snubbed his loyal lawmakers, who till today are yet to be inaugurated. Not only that, he accused the governor of sacking government loyal to him. The fast approaching governorship primaries was his bargaining chip; his trump card. He used it to the fullest and Obaseki was disqualified based on discrepancies found in his certificates. Much as Obaseki refused to contest the disqualification, the appeal committee upheld the verdict. From every indication, Oshiomhole was winning.

Then enter the Federal Appeal Court sitting in Abuja!

Oshiomhole’s suspension was upheld, on the day Obaseki lost hope and decamped to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

And the then the mother of the all crises ensued!

In total disobedience to the announcement that Senator Abiola Ajimobi (now late) becomes the Acting Chairman of the party, three other parties sprang out, claiming the position. They were Mr. Victor Giadom and Hilliad Etta. They all clearly represented different factions of the party.

In the midst of the ensuing melee, an FCT High Court extended an order earlier permitting Victor Giadom to act as the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress to 14 days, deepening the already catastrophic crisis even as two important governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states lurk around the corner.

On March 16, Justice Samira Bature had granted the interim order in a motion ex-parte, marked FCT/HC/M/6447/2020, filed by APC National Vice Chairman (North-East), Mustapha Salihu, with Babatunde Ogala, Lanre Issa-Onilu, Waziri Bulama and the party, APC as defendants.

Mr Salihu had approached the court, through the exparte motion, seeking for an interim order allowing Mr Giadom to pilot the affairs of the party as acting chairman.

Also to preside at all meetings of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) pending the decision of the party’s NEC fixed for March 17.

The applicant also sought an interim order restraining the APC and its officers or anyone purporting to act as an officer of the 4th defendant (APC) from preventing or in any way disturbing Mr Giadom from functioning as the acting chairman. Needless to say that the judge granted all the prayer, and went ahead to grant additional two weeks of the court’s March 16 interim order in line with Rule 3 of the COVID-19 Practice Direction of the FCT High Court

Mr Giadom announced he had taken over the leadership of the party in spite of the party’s announcement of the former Abiola Ajimobi, as acting chairman. In his self acclaimed capacity, he annulled the Edo screening exercise, and ordered a fresh one. He followed up his powers by convening a National Executive Committee meeting, the first in a long time.

While the Eta Hilliad’s camp rejected Giadom and the NEC meeting, dismissing both as illegal, President Buhari, through his aide, Garba Shehu, announced that he would be attending the meeting. He claimed that he had considered all the claimants to the chairmanship stool and found Giadom to be on the side of the law.

The high point of the NEC meeting was the dissolution of the NWC by the President replacing it with a 13-member Caretaker Committee, headed by the Governor of Yobe State, Mala Buni, to run the party for a period of six months when another national executive committee members will elected at a national convention. The meeting also ratify the candidature of Pastor Ize-Iyamu to fly the party’s flag at the September 19 Edo election.

But it is not yet uhuru as many had thought. The Hilliard Eta group has dismissed the dissolution as illegal, threatening to go to court. They said, in a statement signed by party’s acting national secretary, Waziri Bulama that the National Executive Committee meeting where the decision was taken to dissolve the NWC violated the APC constitution.

“Article 25(B) of the Constitution of the APC is explicit that only the National Chairman or the National Working Committee (NWC) is given the prerogative of summoning meetings of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Party either for statutory quarterly meetings or for emergency meetings,” the statement said.

“The same provision of the constitution makes it compulsory for a notice of a minimum of 14 days in respect statutory quarterly meetings and 7 days in respect of an emergency meeting.”

While Hilliard and Bulama are “studying the unfolding drama” and “consulting with stakeholders and a team of lawyers on the next line of action,” President Buhari, according to sources, is making underground moves to clip the wings of the aggrieved members, or at worst break their ranks. The President understands that if the NWC members head to court over the issue, they could have the dissolution upturned, embarrass him and further plunge the ruling party into crisis.

To avert the obvious, Buhari is said to have reached out to governors of the states the aggrieved members are from, requesting that they be stopped from going to court or take further action on the issue. It is believed that since it is their governors that nominates them to the NWC, they should have an element of control over them.

As envisaged, Premium Times reported that two of the sacked NWC members, one from the North, the other from the South, confirmed receiving calls from their state governors, advising them to withdraw from “the group”.

Beyond the tussle for supremacy, a party stalwart, who do not wish to be named, told The Boss that the crisis as it is, is about who controls the party structure for the 2023 elections.

“It is believed that since Buhari will not be contesting, it will become an all comers affairs, and will surely end with battle for the survival of the fittest. So everyone is playing the game of no return. At a stage, the respect being accorded will erode.

Some have said that the power-war is between a faction of the party loyal to the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and a faction loyal to the former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu.

If the tussle is decided by rounds, it is obvious that round one has been won, and of course lost. However, there are many more rounds to go before a winner finally emerges in the crises that have engulfed the ruling house.

Headline

Why Nigerians Must Reject INEC’s Revised Timetable – ADC

Published

3 days ago

February 28, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), during the week, released a fresh elections timetable, with major amendments to accommodate the just passed and signed Electoral Act 2026 by the National Assembly and President Bola Tinubu respectively.

Following the repeal of the Electoral Act, 2022 and the enactment of the Electoral Act, 2026, which introduced adjustments to statutory timelines governing pre-election and electoral activities, the Commission has reviewed and realigned the Schedule to ensure full compliance with the new legal framework.

Accordingly, the Commission has resolved as follows:

Presidential and National Assembly Elections will now hold on Saturday, 16th January 2027 as against the earlier stated February 20, 2027
Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Elections will now hold on Saturday, 6th February 2027 as against the former date of March 6, 2027

Also in accordance with the approved Schedule of Activities, the electoral bidy noted in the revised timetable that:

Conduct of Party Primaries, including resolution of disputes arising from primaries, will commence on 23rd April 2026 and end on 30th May 2026.

Presidential and National Assembly campaigns will commence on 19th August 2026.

Governorship and State Houses of Assembly campaigns will commence on 9th September 2026.

As provided by law, campaigns shall end 24 hours before Election Day. Political parties are strongly advised to adhere strictly to these timelines. The Commission will enforce compliance with the law.

But in a swift reaction, the opposition coalition, African Democratic Congress (ADC), rejected the revised 2026–2027 general election timetable, describing it as a politically biased schedule designed to favour the re-election agenda of President Bola Tinubu, and calling on all Nigerians to speak up enmasse to reject the revised timetable.

The ADC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, on Friday argued that the new deadlines and compliance requirements under the Electoral Act 2026 create near-impossible hurdles for opposition parties seeking to field candidates.

On February 13, INEC initially scheduled the 2027 Presidential and National Assembly elections for February 20, 2027, while the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections were fixed for March 6, 2027.

The timetable, however, faced objections from some Muslim stakeholders who noted that the dates coincided with the 2027 Ramadan period.

Following the concerns, the National Assembly amended Clause 28 of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, reducing the required election notice period from 360 to 300 days, allowing INEC to adjust the election dates.

Subsequently, INEC released a revised schedule on Thursday, signed by its Chairman, Joash Amupitan, moving the Presidential and National Assembly elections to January 16, 2027, and the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections to February 6, 2027.

Reacting, the ADC said the requirement that political parties submit a comprehensive digital membership register by April 2, 2026, effectively bars opposition parties from participating.

The party stated: “The African Democratic Congress rejects the updated 2026–2027 electoral timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission. What has been presented as a routine administrative schedule of the upcoming general elections is, in fact, a political instrument carefully structured to narrow democratic space and strengthen the incumbent administration ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“According to the timetable, party primaries are to be conducted between April 23 and May 30, 2026, just 55 to 92 days from today. However, more significant is that, pursuant to Section 77(4) of the Electoral Act 2026, political parties are required to submit their digital membership registers to INEC not later than April 2, 2026.

“That is only about 34 days away. Section 77(7) further provides that any party that fails to submit its membership register within the stipulated time shall not be eligible to field a candidate. These are not routine administrative rules but are deliberately constructed barriers designed to exclude the opposition from participating in the election.”

The party further noted that Section 77(2) of the Electoral Act 2026 requires the digital register of members to contain name, sex, date of birth, address, state, local government, ward, polling unit, National Identification Number (NIN) and photograph in both hard and soft copies, while Section 77(6) prohibits the use of any pre-existing register that does not contain the specified information. It warned that failure to meet these requirements would lead to disqualification.

The ADC questioned the fairness of the digital membership requirement, noting that the ruling All Progressives Congress began its registration process in February 2025, long before the requirement became mandatory.

“It is not a product of foresight but insider advantage. They knew what was coming. They therefore had one full year to carry out an exercise that other political parties are expected to complete in one month, during which they must collect, process, collate and transmit large volumes of digital data to INEC under the threat of exclusion. This is practically impossible.

“Democratic competition is based on a level playing field that does not give any contestant an undue advantage. A system where one party exploits incumbency to gain a one-year head start on a requirement that other parties only became aware of when it was nearly too late is a rigged system.”

The ADC said it has joined other opposition parties in rejecting the Electoral Act 2026, adding that the INEC timetable is equally rejected as it appears designed to serve what it described as a self-succession agenda.

“Let it be clear that ADC will not take any action that appears to confer legitimacy on a fraudulent system. We are reviewing our options and will make our position known in the coming days,” the party said.

The party also called on civil society organisations, democratic stakeholders and Nigerians to scrutinise the timetable and demand fairness, stressing that democracy cannot survive when electoral rules are structured to produce predetermined outcomes.

The party has consistently accused the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) of scheming to silence the opposition as the 2027 General Elections draw closer, citing his manipulation of state governors and Assembly members from jumping ship, and settling with the ruling party.

Presently, the president’s party has a total of 31 out of 36 states governors, more than majority of the national and states Houses of Assembly.

A frontline publisher and chieftain of the ADC, Chief Dele Momodu, has warned that Tinubu is gradually transforming into full-blown dictatorship, stressing that his second term in office would turn state governors into ‘total slaves’.

Headline

Second Term for Tinubu Will Turn Governors into Total Slaves, Dele Momodu Warns

Published

3 days ago

February 28, 2026

Eric

Chairman, Ovation Media Group, and former presidential aspirant, Aare Dele Momodu, has expressed strong concern over what he described as growing political support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu among state governors across the country.

Speaking during an interview on News Central TV, Momodu said he was shocked by the level of backing the president is reportedly receiving, warning that Nigeria’s democracy could face serious risks if the current political trend continues.

The media entrepreneur cautioned that allowing Tinubu to secure a second term in 2027 could, in his view, lead to excessive concentration of power. He particularly criticized what he described as a growing wave of opposition figures aligning with the ruling All Progressives Congress> (APC).

Momodu referenced reports of opposition governors, including Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, allegedly moving closer to the ruling party, describing the development as politically troubling.

According to him, some governors are allegedly competing to demonstrate loyalty to the president ahead of future elections.

“The governors are fighting to ensure Tinubu wins a second term, fighting to be the biggest thug for him. If a man in his first term can capture the bodies and souls of Nigerians this way, imagine what he would do with a second term. It will be a full-blown dictatorship, and the governors will regret it as they become total slaves to him,” Momodu said.

He concluded by urging Nigerians to remain vigilant and actively protect democratic institutions, warning that unchecked consolidation of political power could threaten the nation’s democracy and future stability.

Gistmania

Headline

Court Validates PDP 2025 Convention in Ibadan, Affirms Turaki-led NWC

Published

4 days ago

February 27, 2026

Eric

The Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan has affirmed the validity of the 2025 Elective Convention of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), which produced Dr. Kabiru Turaki as the substantive National Chairman of the party.

Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Ladiran Akintola upheld the convention in its entirety, ruling that it was conducted in full compliance with the relevant constitutional and statutory provisions governing party elections in Nigeria.

The decision marked a significant legal victory for the party’s leadership and brought clarity to the dispute surrounding the convention’s legitimacy.

The ruling followed an amended originating summons filed by Misibau Adetunmbi (SAN) on behalf of the claimant, Folahan Malomo Adelabi, in Suit No. I/1336/2025.

In a comprehensive judgment, the court granted all 13 reliefs sought by the claimant, effectively endorsing the processes and outcomes of the Ibadan convention.

Justice Akintola held that the convention, organised by the recognised leadership of the party, satisfied all laid-down legal requirements as stipulated in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended), and the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.

The court found no breach of due process or statutory non-compliance in the conduct of the exercise.

In the same proceedings, the court dismissed the Motion on Notice seeking a stay of proceedings and suspension of the ruling, filed by Sunday Ibrahim (SAN) on behalf of Austin Nwachukwu and two others. The applications were described as lacking merit.

Earlier in the proceedings, the court had also rejected a bid by Ibrahim to have his clients joined in the suit.

Justice Akintola ruled at the time that the joinder application was unsubstantiated and consequently dismissed it.