Politics

2023: Fresh Plot Against Zoning As APC Govs Scheme Against Tinubu, Osinbajo, Amaechi

Published

4 years ago

April 24, 2022

The claim that some governors are pushing for an idea that one of them should succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023 is creating anxiety in the All Progressives Congress (APC), according to VANGUARD.

Whereas two of the party’s governors – Yahaya Bello of Kogi State and his Ebonyi counterpart, Mr Dave Umehi – have already signified their intention to vie for the APC presidential ticket ahead of the 2023 general elections, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State was expected to conclude his consultations last week preparatory to publicly declaring his presidential bid.

Fayemi is the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), the umbrella body for governors, regardless of party, in the country.

The idea was said to have been floated within the NGF that, with the experience the members serving their second term have garnered, any of them is as good as any of the veteran politicians also aspiring to succeed Buhari.

Other front runners in the race for the presidential ticket in the APC are Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi and Labour Minister Chris Ngige, all from southern Nigeria.

The propenderance of the presidential aspirants of southern origin appears to be so in the APC following the understanding that since the incumbent is from the North, the successor should be from the South.

The North/South rotation of the presidency has gained traction since 1999.

While Yahaya Bello, according to sources, is being supported by the immediate-past National Chairman of the defunct Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee CECPC, Gov. Mai Mala Buni, among others, Fayemi is said to be making further consultations across the country while a group aligned to him, The Nigerian Agenda, TNA, has also been visiting stakeholders and staging pro-democracy events.

And whereas, the governors of Lagos, Osun and Kano, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Mr Gboyega Oyetola and Dr Abdullahi Gandoje respectively, are said to be in bed with Tinubu, the same cannot be said of Osinbajo.

Rather than lose out, some of the governors, it was learnt, are considering the possibility of having a meeting within the next two weeks to deliberate on the subject matter.

“The division among the governors is due to competing loyalties. The fact is that while majority of them want President Muhammadu Buhari to keep to the pre-National Convention agreement to allow them nominate from among themselves, a handful of them have their primary loyalties. You have Bello and Fayemi who are contestants and you have those who are aligned to Asiwaju and the vice president respectively”, a source told this paper.

“However, they don’t want to be ‘ambushed’ like it happened during the National Convention where their inability to present a common front from the word go made Mr President to pick for them”.

Already, Fayemi is said to be in quiet consultations with critical stakeholders. Sources in the know said the consultations are largely driven by some political and corporate players.

“He is at present meeting with his colleague governors to get their buy- in.

“Even though, as NGF Chairman, it could be assumed that he could access his colleagues using the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and or the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) platforms, JKF has chosen to go meet them in their respective states, while he met some in Abuja”.

Plot

Meanwhile, some strategists in APC, Sunday Vanguard learnt at the weekend, have launched a fresh plot against the understanding that the 2023 presidency has been zoned to the South.

The strategists are believed to be scared stiff that the oppositon Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may pick its candidate from the North and, should that be the case, the outcome of the 2023 presidential election may not be favourable to the APC.

They are, therefore, seriously considering drafting a northern governor in their party into the race”, a leader of the APC close to the development told Sunday Vanguard.

“If they succeed, the governor may announce his aspiration anytime from now as the plan was to unveil him immediately after Sallah. They are keeping their choice secret. Yahaya Bello from Kogi State is in the race but the strategists are looking beyond him. They believe he has no electoral value”.

“According to the source, the strategists are also looking at Gbenga Olawepo- Hashim from Kebbi.

“The name came from the blues but they are attracted to him because of his South-West connections and his youthfulness. Until recently, he claimed Kwara as state of origin, but he now says he has traced his roots to Kebbi State. How this plays out is left to be seen”, he said.

“Former President Goodluck Jonathan is also being considered as a viable option. There is renewed pressure on him. They do not mind him if that will pacify the South. For cooperating with the Buhari government, they believe he should be considered. Another factor they are considering is that he will do only one term and power will revert to the North”.

Explosive

The month of May, observers believe, may witness explosive politics the nation has never seen.

Candidates who have declared for the presidency are either pressing on with their campaigns, meeting and wooing delegates to the primaries scheduled for May 30 to June 1, or oiling their campaign machines.

In a related development, there are indications that the emergence of another APC presidential aspirant from Rivers State could impinge on the chances of Amaechi.

Founder and President of Belemaoil Producing Limited, operators of Oil Mining Lease 55, Mr Tein T. S. Jack-Rich, who is also from the state, just declared his intent to run for President.

A member of the South-South APC, who did not want his name mentioned for fear of possible backlash, accused some unnamed forces of trying to whittle down the chances of Amaechi by pushing the aspiration of Jack-Rich.

“Already, you know that Rivers State governor, who is of the opposition, is also contesting. While that may not really affect Amaechi, Jack-Rich’s aspiration has been welcomed by some anti-Amaechi forces who see him as capable of deploying his huge war-chest to split delegates from the zone in the primary election”, he said.

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Politics

Ambassadorial Nominees: Ndume Asks Tinubu To Withdraw List

Published

1 day ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

Ahead of the Senate’s screening and confirmation of the ambassadorial nominees sent to the Red Chamber by the Presidency, former Senate Leader Ali Ndume has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to withdraw the list from parliament.

The federal lawmaker declared that the composition of nominees was in clear breach of the Federal Character principle, as enshrined in the Constitution.

Checks revealed that while certain states have three and four nominees, states like Gombe have no representation, while the only nominee from Yobe, Senator Adamu Garba Talba, died last July.

The entire North East state has 7 nominees in the list.

Further checks revealed that the South West geopolitical zone has 15 nominees, while the North West and South East have 13 and 9, respectively.

North Central region has 10 nominees in the list of career and non-career ambassadorial nominees, while South South region has 12 nominees.

The Senate President at plenary on Thursday formally read the list of nominees and referred it to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs for further legislative action.

The Senator representing Borno South in a statement issued on Saturday maintained that the list of nominees was in clear breach of Section 14(3) of the Nigerian Constitution which mandates that the composition and conduct of the federal government must reflect the “federal character of Nigeria” to ensure national unity and loyalty.

The section reads: “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.”

The former Chief Whip of the Senate admonished President Tinubu to avoid taking decision that will fuel ethnic tension and promote distrust in the country, amidst the wrong narrative being promoted by the Western world against his administration.

He said: “My sincere appeal to President Tinubu is to withdraw this list. At this critical time in the life of his administration, he should avoid missteps that could endanger national unity and promote ethnic distrust.

“I know him to be a cosmopolitan leader who is at home with every segment and stakeholders in the country.

“He should withdraw that list and present a fresh set of nominees that will align with the spirit of the Constitution on Federal Character Principle that government’s structure and operations must represent the diverse states and peoples of Nigeria.”

Politics

PDP Issues Certificate Of Expulsion To Wike, Fayose, Anyanwu, Others

Published

5 days ago

December 3, 2025

Editor

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said it has issued certificate of expulsion from the party to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and other 10 members earlier expelled from the party.

The party National Chairman, Tanimu Turaki, disclosed this while speaking with newsmen after the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.

The other members, according to him, include the embattled National Secretary, Sen. Samuel Anyanwu, the Legal Adviser, Kamarudeen Ajibade, former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose.

They also included Sen. Mao Ohuabunwa, Austin Nwachukwu, Abraham Amah Nnanna, George Turna and Chief Dan Orbih, expelled during the party National convention in Lagos.

Turaki said that the original copies of the certificate had been dispatched to the owners through a courier service to serve as proof that they were expelled from the PDP.

“We have taken note of the fact that Nigerian law frowns on dual membership of political parties, and so we have sought to make it easy for them.

“Now that they are no longer members of our party, and now that the National Convention, which is the highest decision-making organ of our party, has expelled them, we have decided to issue them certificates of expulsion.

“So, when they go to register with other political parties in Nigeria, they will show these certificates as proof that they are no longer members of the PDP.

“By that, those parties will not accuse them of trying to belong to more than one political party,” he said.

He called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies, including the Nigeria Police, the Department of State Services, and other government agencies, to take note.

“Very soon, members of the society will be informed via proper disclaimers that any person henceforth who decides to do business with them, any or all of them, does so at his or her own risk.

“They are no longer members of the PDP. They have been expelled,” he added.

He added that the NWC also reviewed some of the cases filed against the party and lawsuits instituted by the party, particularly the one that related to the “unlawful and illegal” closure of the party’s national Secretariat, the Legacy House, and the Wadata Plaza.

“The brief we received from our lawyers is that we are on sound ground, and that very soon, the law will take its course,” he said.

Turaki said the NWC was prepared to be saddled with the responsibility of performing its functions as the leading opposition party in Nigeria.

“We are going to provide a credible alternative to Nigerians. We are going to provide credible leadership to Nigerians by the special grace of God from 2027,” he said.

Politics

Adebayo Adedamola Wins Osun PDP Governorship Primary

Published

6 days ago

December 2, 2025

Editor

Adebayo Olugbenga Adedamola, popularly known as FRYO, has emerged as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate for the August 8, 2026 governorship election in Osun State.

The primary election took place in Osogbo on Tuesday amid heavy security presence.

Announcing the result, chairman of the primary election committee, Humphrey Abba, stated that Adebayo secured 919 votes out of 957 accredited ballots, giving him a clear victory in the contest.

Explaining that there were 20 void votes following the withdrawal of one of the candidates, believed to be Governor Ademola Adeleke, Abba added, “The candidate that got the remaining votes is Adebayo Adedamola with 919 votes and he stands elected and returned.”

DAILY POST reports that despite announcing his resignation from the party, Adeleke’s name appeared on the ballot paper for the PDP governorship primary.

Party officials said the exercise was conducted in accordance with established guidelines, with accredited delegates participating in the voting process.

Adeleke announced his resignation in a letter dated November 4, 2025, and addressed to the PDP leadership at his ward.

On Monday, Osun PDP chairman, Sunday Bisi, had announced that the governorship primary slated for Tuesday, December 2, 2025, has been postponed due to leadership crisis at the national level.

But a faction of the party went ahead with the exercise in Osogbo on Tuesday.