Politics

2023: Fresh APC Crisis Threatens Tinubu’s Chances In Kano

Published

3 years ago

November 5, 2022

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State is facing a fresh crisis that is threatening the presidential candidate of the party, Bola Tinubu.

This time, there is sharp disagreement between some members of the House of Representatives, led by the Majority Leader, Ado Doguwa, and the Deputy Gubernatorial candidate of the party, Muritala Garo.

DAILY POST recalls that during the week, Garo had alleged that he was assaulted by the majority leader, who he claimed disrupted an ongoing meeting by some stakeholders in the State.

However, Doguwa had also countered the claim, stating that Garo is leading the capturing of the State apparatus and excluding members of the National Assembly.

According to people familiar with the matter, the deputy governorship candidate, who is from a famous Garo Family, was the commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs, a position that allowed him to amass considerable power in the State. He is also reported to be married to the daughter of Atiku Abubakar.

Garo also indicated interest to contest for the governorship election, however, Governor Umar Ganduje settled for Nasiru Gawuna. To appeal to the young Garo, he was offered the running mate slot.

On the other hand, Doguwa has been in the House of Representatives since 2003 and he is one of the lawmakers expected to indicate interest in the speakership of the 10th Assembly if he is elected.

This latest row may indicate a major problem in the party considering that Doguwa won the 2019 elections after a rerun, and he faces the battle to return to the House.

It would be recalled that during the primaries, the Kano APC almost collapsed due to an internal crisis that led to several politicians decamping to the NNPP. To stem the flow, Ganduje suspended his senatorial ambition by allowing two senators from the State to return during the primaries.

However, the crisis in the State appears to have returned, and both Atiku and Rabiu Kwankwaso are waiting to pick from the fallout from the crisis.

Kano and 2023 race

For years, Kano State remained the largest voting State, and the votes from the State have decided the outcome of several presidential elections. In 2019, Buhari won Kano State with 1,464,768 (78.9 percent) of the total votes cast to beat Atiku, who polled 391,593 votes.

With Buhari out of the picture, Kwankwaso and his NNPP is one of the favourites in the State, alongside Mr Atiku of the PDP.

For months, Tinubu has prioritised the State ahead of the elections. Aside from Lagos and Abuja, Tinubu has spent more time in Kano than any other State since he declared to run for president.

In his timetable for campaign activities, he is going to have two rallies in Kano State, one in January and another before the grand finale in Lagos State.

During a press briefing on Thursday at the National Assembly, Doguwa said despite the side talks, Rabiu Kwankwaso remains powerful in the State, adding that APC will lose the State if the crisis is allowed to linger.

“Before becoming the running mate, he (Garo) was the commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs. I am sure you journalists know what we call those ministries in the State. We call them the ministry of petroleum resources. This is someone that got the opportunity to serve in a ministry that has a stupendous amount of money.

“His last wife now is the daughter of Atiku Abubakar. When he was not given the ticket, I visited him, and he told me that since you have messed me up, I will rather become an inlaw to the president than a deputy governor who will make me just like a messenger. He has no interest to work for the APC, he is working to become an in-law to the next president,” he said.

Doguwa in the press briefing also praised Kwankwaso, stating that he would be ready to reconcile with the former governor of the State if he is willing to reach out to him.

He explained that his grievance with Kwankwaso is a personal one, not political. He stated that a single phone call from the ex-governor will resolve the crisis between the duo.

Doguwa stressed that if the leadership of the party is not ready to intervene, APC should forget Kano.

For Tinubu, the bickering between Messrs Doguwa and Garo could cost the party the 5,927,565 votes in the State.

DAILY POST

Politics

Probe Natasha’s Allegations Against Akpabio, Afenifere Urges FG

Published

18 hours ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

The pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has urged the Federal Government to investigate sexual harassment allegations levelled by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

The call followed the Senate’s decision to lift Akpoti-Uduaghan’s six-month suspension.

This, Afenifere said should not overshadow the need to establish the truth of her claims.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Afenifere’s National Organising Secretary, Kole Omololu, said the senator’s recall reflected commitment to the rule of law.

“We commend the Senate President, His Excellency Senator Godswill Akpabio, and the Senate leadership for taking a decision that further reinforces the country’s rule of law,” Omololu said.

The group, however, insisted that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s allegations must not be ignored.

“For over six months, where are the facts and evidence of her grave allegations?” Afenifere asked.

It called on the “Nigeria Police, Department of State Services (DSS) and National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to carry out a full investigation into the matter.”

Afenifere also recalled Akpoti-Uduaghan’s past false sexual harassment claims against former presidential aide Reno Omokri, which ended in an out-of-court settlement.

“Does this not suggest that, without proof, her allegations against Akpabio are suspicious?” Omololu asked.

The group further criticised Akpoti-Uduaghan for taking her claims to international media, including BBC, CNN, Sky News and Deutsche Welle, saying the move portrayed Nigeria negatively abroad.

It also queried her participation in a session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in New York.

“If Natasha truly participated in the IPU meeting without due nomination, then it simply revealed her compromise or manipulation of our public institutions for pecuniary ends,” the group said.

In March 2025, Natasha was suspended for six months after a row in plenary and her petition accusing Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment.

She claimed the incident happened in December 2023, but the Senate’s Ethics Committee dismissed her petition on procedural grounds. Despite a court order halting disciplinary action, the Senate went ahead with her suspension, which also froze her pay and barred her from official duties.

Akpoti-Uduaghan challenged the suspension in court, insisting it was tied to her allegations. While the Senate said it acted over misconduct, the case attracted global attention after she granted interviews to international media. The matter remains unsettled, with Afenifere now urging federal authorities to investigate her claims.

Meanwhile, Natasha formally resumed her duties at the National Assembly on October 7, 2025, after her six-month suspension ended – and immediately claimed that Akpabio is a dictator.

And almost immediately, Akpabio’s media aide Kenny Okolugbo debunked the claim.

Politics

2027: Drama As Atiku Disowns Media Consultant Over Statement On Yoruba

Published

2 days ago

September 25, 2025

Editor

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party and a former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has denied any association with a media consultant named Kola Johnson.

This is as he also rejected statements released by the media consultant on Wednesday that he would protect Yoruba interests if elected as president in 2027.

Atiku, in a statement issued on Thursday by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, alleged that “faceless mercenaries” are behind the false press statement just to discredit him.

He also dismissed the claim as “false and offensive,” describing it as part of a calculated propaganda project to ridicule him in the media.

The statement specifically mentioned one Kola Johnson, described as a “self-styled media consultant,” who allegedly released a publication claiming that an Atiku administration would be dominated by a single ethnic group.

The statement read, “Our findings point directly to the Presidency, which, in its desperation to smear opposition leaders, has resorted to hiring faceless mercenaries to fabricate fake stories and circulate unauthorised statements on Atiku.

“Particularly offensive is the false claim attributed to this individual that an Atiku administration would be dominated by a single ethnic group. This disinformation is part of a calculated propaganda project designed to ridicule Atiku in the media.

“Let it be clear: Atiku Abubakar has never engaged one Kola Johnson as a media consultant, aide, or associate. Any statement issued in that name is fake and should be disregarded. We urge media houses that have published such falsehoods to immediately retract them.”

The statement also clarified that authentic information on the former Vice President is only released through his Media Adviser or Special Assistant on Public Communications.

“Editors and media gatekeepers are strongly advised to verify with the Atiku Media Office before publication,” the statement added.

It was widely reported on Wednesday that Atiku has assured people of the South-West geo-political zone that their interest would remain central to his policy direction if elected President in 2027, noting that his long-standing marital and cultural ties to the region make him family.

The report quoted a statement by one, Kola Johnson, as saying that the former Vice President spoke during an engagement with select stakeholders.

The report said Atiku described the people of the South-West as one of the finest species of the human race, noting that his marriage to a Yoruba woman in the 1970s forged a permanent bond between him and the Yorubas.

He dismissed fears of Hausa/Fulani domination under his leadership as unfounded, insisting that the Yoruba were his larger extended family and in-laws.

The former vice president added that his Yoruba connections extend beyond family, as some of his closest friends and associates were from the region.

“In case you don’t know or have forgotten, I was married to my first wife, Titi, a Yoruba woman, in the 70s, and we have four Yoruba children together. She is now over 75 years old, and we are still together.

“Besides, the Yoruba are so sophisticated and highly educated that you can only toy with them at your peril,” Atiku stated. “My Ijesha-born Yoruba wife is more than a wife to me. Aptly put, she is my Jewel of Inestimable value and anybody who knows about my family, even from a distance, can easily tell you this.”

Politics

PHOTOS: Atiku, El-Rufai, Tambuwal, Others Attends ADC Meeting In Abuja

Published

2 days ago

September 25, 2025

Editor

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on Thursday attended a meeting of the African Democratic Congress coalition leaders in Abuja, alongside several prominent politicians.

Among those present were former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai; ex-Minister of Digital Economy, Isa Pantami; ADC National Chairman and former Senate President, David Mark; former Kwara State governor, Abdulfatai Ahmed; and ex-Sokoto governor, Aminu Tambuwal.

In a post on his official X handle, Atiku described the gathering as part of efforts to resist what he called entrenched interests holding back Nigeria’s development.

He stated that the meeting was also against the oligarchs who promote poverty and insecurity in the country.

He wrote, “I am currently at the stakeholders meeting of the Coalition African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Abuja. It’s a meeting of the Nigerian people against the oligarchs who promote poverty and insecurity in the land.”

The ADC coalition was adopted in July by opposition politicians as the platform to challenge for power in the 2027 general elections.

The African Democratic Congress, originally formed in 2005 as the Alliance for Democratic Change, later changed its name to ADC and was officially registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission in 2011. The party positioned itself as a centrist alternative to the dominant Peoples Democratic Party and All Progressives Congress.

Over the years, it has attracted defectors and reform-minded politicians seeking to build a third force in Nigeria’s political landscape.

Other members of the coalition include former PDP National Chairman, Uche Secondus; 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi; ex-Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; former Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola; former House of Representatives Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha; ex-Kogi Central Senator, Dino Melaye, and a former National Chairman of the APC, Odigie Oyegun.