Headline

Edo Decides: The Battle of Godfathers

Published

1 year ago

September 21, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The countdown to the Edo State governorship election winds down, today, September 21, 2024 with 18 candidates slugging it out with one for another in the race to occupy Osadebe House, home of the executive governor of the state.

Much as there are 18 candidates on the ballot paper, observers as well as stakeholders, have narrowed the contest to three main candidates vis a vis Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party (LP) and Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

But even as these candidates are the ones that have their names on the ballot papers, popular opinion across board believe that they are just pawns being controlled by specific godfathers, who are at the sides pulling the strings of support either financially, mobilization or public relations. Consequently, the election has been termed a battle of godfathers behind the scene rather than a game of popularity among contestants.

For the governing PDP candidate, Ighodalo, the accepted norm among political stakeholders has remained that he is an extension of the outgoing governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, who eight years tenure ends on November 12. On the same hand, there is the Adams Oshiomhole factor, solidly pushing the candidacy of Okpebholo, a serving Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

However, while many are of the opinion that the Labour Party candidate, Barr Olumide Akpata, is a standalone candidate, with no particular pressure of godfatherism, many others say he is not alone, but is also being pushed by a godfathers they recognized as Mr. Peter Obi, the LP presidential candidate in the 2023 general election. Peter Obi, who represents the face of a new Nigeria among the youths, has featured prominently in most of Akpata’s campaign.

But for the two major godfathers, Obaseki and Oshiomhole, between whom there’s no love lost, the campaign season had been replete with mudslinging, verbal attacks and on few occasions, physical attacks. These issues have put a question mark to the decency expected as the elections kick off.

The attacks and no love status so far experienced led to the PDP’s refusal to participate in the peace accord signing ceremony, where other contesting political parties including the APC, signed.

The PDP queried the rationale behind the harassment of its members with security agencies, saying that if it did not stop, and if the Special Forces forced on Edo is not to be withdrawn, they will not sign the accord. And they did not.

“We already have a very effective state police command, so why bring in these Special Forces to Edo to harass people,” a party chieftain, Emmanuel Odigie, who defected from APC said.

But this is not the first time Obaseki will Square up against Oshiomhole, who ordinarily, was his political godfather. Both met on the tuff of political exigency in 2020 while Obaseki was seeking a second term and Oshiomhole was supporting Osagie Ize-Iyamu. This present contest is a return or episode of the events that transpiref in 2020. Even if Peter Obi was a godfather in the present disposition, he is yet to get into any shouting match with the other godfathers or contestants.

Obaseki has described the election as do or die, but observers believe it goes beyond that as it is winner takes it all considering the extent of animosity brewing among the contestants. It will be recalled that 24 hours to the election, the three candidates suffered particular setbacks. While it was said that the candidate of the APC, Monday Okpebholo had been disqualified by the courts, it was also rumored that Akpata has withdrawn from the election.

On the other, political thugs allegedly loyal to Ighodalo and the PDP were apprehended with dangerous weapons. A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said they were getting ready to violently disrupt the Saturday election.

THE CANDIDATES

According to a ThisDay report, the election in Edo is described as a three horse race involving Ighodalo, Akpata and Okpebholo. These three are reported to have the highest of followership and has been prominent and visible in the campaigns.

The supporters of the candidates agree that they are not all equally matched, but that each has a comparative advantage his opponents lack.

Consider of review of their profile as portrayed by Wikipedia:

ASUE IGHODALO (PDP)

Asue Ighodalo is a product of King’s College, Lagos. He obtained B.Sc degree in Economics from the University of Ibadan in 1981, an LL.B from the London School of Economics and Political Science (1984) and a B.L from the Nigerian Law School, Lagos (1985).

Upon graduation from Nigerian Law School, Lagos, Ighodalo worked as an Associate in the law firm of Chris Ogunbanjo & Co between 1985 and 1991, and in 1991 he set up Banwo & Ighodalo, in partnership with Femi Olubanwo. The firm is consistently ranked as a leading Nigerian law firm in the areas of Capital Markets, Securities, Mergers & Acquisitions. Ighodalo’s core areas of practice include Corporate Finance, Capital Markets, Energy; Natural Resources, Mergers; Acquisitions, Banking, Securitization and Project Finance.In 2014, Ighodalo successfully advised Zenith Bank Plc in connection with a US$500 million eurobond issuance and Diamond Bank Plc in connection with a US$200 million eurobond issuance respectively.

He resigned from all corporate positions he held to aspire to become the governor of Edo State.

On February 22, 2024, Ighodalo emerged as the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the 2024 Edo State governorship election. However, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja nullified election on the ground that 378 delegates who were to vote during primary election were unlawfully denied their rights to vote.

His candidacy was eventually upheld by the Federal High Court in Abuja, which confirmed Ighodalo as the legitimately nominated governorship candidate of the PDP in Edo State, and dismissed the lawsuit challenging his nomination.

Ighodalo was the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Sterling Bank Plc, Dangote Flour Mills Plc and The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG). He also sat on the boards of other public and private companies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and a statutory body including Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc, the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and the FATE Foundation (an NGO committed to the development of entrepreneurs in Nigeria).

Ighodalo became the Chairman of Sterling Bank in August 2014. He is a member of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), and is a past chairman of The NBA – Section on Business Law (NBA SBL). He is also a member of Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN), USA, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, International Bar Association (IBA), Nigerian Maritime Law Association, Commercial Law & Taxation Committee of the Lagos Chamber Of Commerce & Industry, London School of Economics Lawyers’ Group and Associate Member Chartered Institute of Taxation.

Ighodalo is married to Ifeyinwa, and they have two daughters, Omoehi and Ayomide.

He is the elder brother of Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, senior pastor of Trinity House, Lagos.

MONDAY OKPEBHOLO (APC)

Okpebholo was born on 29 August 1970 in Udomi-Uwessan community of Irrua. Okpebholo attended Udomi Community Primary School and Ujabhole Community Secondary School, both in Uwesan Irrua, Esan Central LGA. He completed his secondary education and obtained his senior school certificate in Jos, Plateau State. Afterwards, he obtained a degree in Business Administration from the University of Abuja and holds Masters’ degree in Policy and Leadership Studies from the same institution.

Okpebholo contested for the Senate Seat in Edo Central senatorial district, under the All Progressives Congress (APC) and was elected on 25 February 2023. On 13 June 2023, he was inaugurated into the 10th National Assembly of Nigeria, as the senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, representing Edo Central senatorial district.

In February 2024, he won the Edo State APC gubernatorial primary election.

In 2024, Okpebholo was summoned by Magistrates’ Court over allegations of falsifying date of birth which was stated as 1 August 1977, on his INEC voter card.

Previously, he was caught falsifying his date of birth as 29 August 1972 on a WAEC certificate while being a student at the West African Examination Council.

During the 2024 campaign, Monday Okpebholo was endorsed by Nollywood actress, Mercy Johnson-Okojie, whose husband is a Service member of the National Assembly under the APC.

Okpebholo is married to Blessing Okpapi Ekpe and together they have two children. Besides being a politician and a family man, he is also a committed Christian and an active member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.OLUMIDE AKPATA (LABOUR PARTY)

Olu Akpata

Akpata was born on October 7, 1972, in Berlin Germany. He started his educational journey at Nana Primary School in Warri, then moved on to Federal Government College, Warri and later King’s College in Lagos. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in law from University of Benin, Edo state in 1992 and was called to the bar in 1993. He served in the National Youth Service Corps in Kano State.

Akpata began his legal practice in Delta state under the tutelage of Dr. Mudiaga Odje, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, OFR, who was one of the most seasoned litigators of his time.

In 1996, Akpata relocated to Lagos and teamed up with his cousin, Oghogho Akpata, who had just set up the law firm Templars the previous year. Akpata joined in the formation of Templars at the age of 23, and has grown the firm into what it is today, as one of the largest law firms in Nigeria with a workforce of about 100 lawyers, including two Senior Advocates of Nigeria, both of whom practice proficiently in diverse areas of Nigerian law.

Akpata is currently senior partner and Head of the Corporate & Commercial Practice Group of Templars. He has participated in some of the major groundbreaking transactions that have shaped commercial law practice in Nigeria and indeed the Nigerian economy. He was chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL).

On July 30, 2020, he was elected as the president of the Nigerian Bar Association after acquiring a total of 9,891 votes of the total 18,256 ballots cast.

Akpata is riding on the popularity of his party leader, Peter Obi, and the sweeping waves the party made in the 2023 elections, where it overwhelmingly won Edo State.

Headline

Israeli Ambassador Accuses Iran of Spreading Terror, Sponsoring Extremist Activities in Nigeria

Published

3 days ago

March 6, 2026

Eric

Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Michael Freeman, has accused Iran of sponsoring extremist activities in Nigeria and other parts of the world, alleging that Tehran supports groups aimed at destabilising countries while pursuing its hostility against Israel.

Freeman made the remarks on Friday while speaking during an interview on The Morning Show on Arise News.

The envoy claimed that Iran is the only country within the United Nations that openly expresses a desire to destroy another sovereign state, referring to repeated threats against Israel.

According to him, the Iranian government has, over several decades, supported militant groups and terror organisations around the world in pursuit of that objective.

Freeman alleged that Iran has backed groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, adding that Tehran was also behind the October 7 attack carried out by Hamas against Israel.

He further claimed that Iranian activities aimed at spreading instability have been observed across several regions, including Europe, Australia, and parts of Africa.

Speaking specifically about Nigeria, the Israeli ambassador alleged that the Islamic Movement of Nigeria receives backing from the Iranian government.

According to Freeman, statements of support from Iran’s leadership, including posts by Ali Khamenei on social media, have openly indicated such ties.

He said: “The issue here is about Iran. Iran is the only country in the world, in the United Nations, who expressly desires to wipe another country off the face of the earth. Iran has stated its very policy is to destroy Israel. Is to wipe Israel off the map is to make sure they kill every single person and no regime, no country that has an express desire to destroy Israel, and it’s not only an expressed desire.

“We’ve seen over 47 years, they’ve taken all the actions they can in order for that to happen. We’ve seen them sponsor terror organizations. They were behind October the seventh massacre of Hamas. We’ve seen them sponsoring Hezbollah. We’ve seen them acting in Europe. We’ve seen them acting in Australia. We’ve seen them acting in Nigeria.

“We’ve seen these people acting all across the world in order to spread disturbance for them to try and carry out their aim of destroying Israel, and Israel will not allow another country to have nuclear weapons when they’ve expressly stated they want those weapons to destroy Israel”.

“I think that it is well documented. We know that there are certain movements, for example, the Islamic movement of Nigeria is sponsored and is backed by the Iranian regime. This is not me saying this, we’ve seen that documented by the Iranian regime.

The Supreme Leader posted on X his support and his backing there. So that’s very open. And there are other areas as well that Iran is working for, destabilizing, not only Nigeria, but all of West Africa.”

Headline

Why Nigerians Must Reject INEC’s Revised Timetable – ADC

Published

1 week 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’.

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

Published

1 week 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.

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