Politics

Ondo Poll: APC Group Backs SDP Candidate, Rejects Aiyedatiwa

Published

8 months ago

November 9, 2024

Ahead of the upcoming Ondo State governorship election, a group within the All Progressives Congress in the state has thrown its weight behind Benson Akingboye of the Social Democratic Party, rejecting the party’s candidate, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

The group criticised Aiyedatiwa’s emergence as the party’s flag-bearer, citing concerns over alleged irregularities and their disenchantment with the leadership’s handling of the primaries.

This was revealed in a petition written to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Ganduje, and made available to journalists in Abuja on Saturday.

This comes barely a week before the Ondo governorship poll.

Aiyedatiwa was declared the winner by Governor Usman Ododo-led Primary Election Committee following a poll conducted in all 18 local government areas of the state.

However, the result was contested over allegations of irregularities and violence in some polling units.

Consequently, the senator representing Ondo South Senatorial District, Jimoh Ibrahim, and five other aspirants filed petitions challenging Aiyedatiwa’s victory.

The other aspirants were Olusola Oke, Folakemi Omogoroye, Olugbenga Edema, Jimi Odimayo, and Wale Akinterinwa.

In response, the APC national chairman summoned all the aspirants to the party secretariat in Abuja and urged them to bury the hatchet and work with Aiyedatiwa.

Trouble flared again in the APC camp on Saturday with the declaration of this APC group.

In a fresh petition signed by the Coordinator of Ondo Patriots, Dele Oyewo, the party leaders vowed to shun Aiyedatiwa and support the Social Democratic Party candidate, Otunba Benson Akingboye.

The letter partly read: “Following the position our dear party in Abuja has taken, supporting Governor Aiyedatiwa’s questionable emergence at the shadow primaries conducted in April 2024, the leadership of our various organising groups within the party structure hereby reiterates that it will be almost impossible to work with the governor in the November 16 gubernatorial election.

“This is not unconnected to the fact that our kindness and loyalty have repeatedly been taken for granted, not only in Ondo state but across the country. We also discovered that the party leadership in Abuja is not in any way concerned about the well-being of the citizens of Ondo State.

READ ALSO: Ondo Poll: PDP, APC Trade Words Over Violence

“Rather, they prefer their own choice of settlement over any resulting consequences. The voices of Ondo APC hereby condemn what it describes as gross misconduct against party ethics in the choice of Aiyedatiwa, if we are truly different from the PDP and what we preached before the 2015 general elections.

“Having reviewed the credentials of all the major contenders for the forthcoming governorship election in our state, we, the major APC groups in Ondo, have decided to support Otunba Benson Akingboye of the Social Democratic Party as our choice. We cannot continue to suffer in silence.”

Efforts to reach the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka, for a response were unsuccessful.

As of the time of filing this report, Morka had neither returned the calls nor replied to the messages sent for clarification.

Politics

Coalition: Abure-led LP Gives Obi 48 Hours To Leave Party

Published

12 hours ago

July 3, 2025

Editor

The Abure-led faction of the Labour Party has given the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, a 48 hours ultimatum to leave the party haven formally joined the coalition party.

This was contained in a statement signed by the faction’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, in Abuja, on Thursday.

He explained that the Labour Party under Abure’s leadership remains vehemently opposed to joining the coalition while dismissing members of the coalition as “power mongers whose only interest was self and not the people.”

The party warned Nigerians that the often mouthed ‘new Nigeria is Possible’ is a ruse and cannot be achieved with the assemblage of old, recycled, desperate and frustrated politicians in the coalition.

Ifoh said the party is aware that all those who mismanaged Nigeria over the years are the ones that gathered themselves in the coalition while noting that desperate politicians can’t birth new Nigeria.

He said, “We are aware of several nocturnal meetings between Peter Obi and some of our members, lobbying them to join him in his new party. We’re also aware that a number of them has refused to defect with him.

“Labour Party has consistently said it is not part of the coalition and therefore, any of our members who is part of the coalition is given within 48 hours to formally resign his membership of the party.

“Labour Party is not available for people with dual agenda, people with deceptive persona. The party will not avail itself to individuals who have one leg in one Party and another leg elsewhere.

“People who in the morning they will claim to be in the Labour Party and in the evening they are in coalition.

“Nearly 70 per cent of the Nigerian population are youths who are tired of the old order, tired of gerontocrats deciding their fate. The new Nigeria that the youths are dreaming of, is not what can be realized from what we are seeing in the coalition.

“These people are opportunistic politicians who are only interested in relaunching themselves into circle of power, people who are desperate to continue holding on to power.

“The new Nigeria of our dream can only be realised through the Labour Party, and the party is willing to lead Nigerians along that trajectory.

“I therefore urge all members of the party to remain loyal and keep the party structure intact ahead of future elections.”

Politics

Only A Formidable Coalition Can Salvage Nigeria, Says Peter Obi

Published

12 hours ago

July 3, 2025

Editor

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has given his full support for the coalition of opposition parties aimed at ending President Bola Tinubu’s rule in 2027.

He explained that it was a fact that no single group can change Nigeria alone, hence the need for people to come together to pursue the goal.

The former Amambra State Governor said this in a post on his verified X handle, on Thursday.

He said this just as the Julia Abure-led faction of the Labour Party has given him 48 hours within which to formally resign from the party or risk expulsion.

Obi in his post wrote, “Yesterday, the coalition members formally adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 Nigeria General Elections with Distinguished Senator David Mark serving as the National Chairman and H.E. Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola serving as the National Secretary.

“Our commitment is to sacrifice and work together towards the 2027 General Elections, ensuring that Nigeria gets a competent, capable, and compassionate leadership that will prioritise the nation’s future by putting the welfare of Nigerians first.

REAS ALSO: Peter Obi Speaks As Port Harcourt Refinery Begins Production

“This decision was not made lightly. It comes from deep reflection on where we are as a country and what must be done to move forward.

“No one group can change Nigeria alone. To dismantle the structures that keep our people in poverty and insecurity, we must build bridges, not walls even when those bridges are uneasy. A New Nigeria is Possible. -PO.”

Politics

I Don’t Owe Anybody Explanation On Truce With Fubara – Wike

Published

16 hours ago

July 3, 2025

Editor

Federal Capital Territory FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, on Thursday, declared that peace has returned to his home state, Rivers, saying he does not owe anyone an explanation on the terms of the truce.

Wike disclosed this during a Media chat monitored in Abuja.

According to him, several people had turned the crisis in Rivers State into an “oil well”, from which they were drawing illicit funds for their selfish interests, saying such fifth columnists are no longer happy that he has reconciled with the suspended Governor of the state, Siminalayi Fubara.

Details later…