Politics

Sokoto APC suffers fresh setback as over 700 members reportedly defect to ADC

Published

53 minutes ago

August 19, 2026

Sokoto APC suffers fresh setback as over 700 members reportedly defect to ADC

More than 700 members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State have reportedly defected to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), citing alleged neglect, poor representation and growing insecurity in their communities.

The reported APC defection involved members from Goronyo and Shinaka wards and comes as political parties intensify grassroots mobilisation ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The defectors were led by Alhaji Aliyu Tunau Shinaka, a former APC secretary in Goronyo Local Government and two-time special adviser to the Sokoto State Government.

Others reported to have joined the ADC include former APC youth leader in the local government, Alhaji Ibrahim Ado Taloka; Alhaji Kabiru Malam Isah Mai’alewa; and prominent women leader and youth mobiliser Hajiya Shafa’atu S/Pawa Goronyo.

Speaking during the defection ceremony, Shinaka said the group decided to leave the APC after what he described as prolonged neglect of grassroots members and residents by the party leadership.

He alleged that party members who worked for the APC’s electoral success had not received adequate attention from the leadership and that concerns raised by residents had remained largely unaddressed.

Sokoto APC suffers fresh setback as over 700 members reportedly defect to ADC

Shinaka also criticised Muhammad Bello Goronyo, the Minister of State for Works and a prominent APC figure from the area, accusing him of failing to provide the level of political leadership and development initiatives expected by residents.

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He particularly questioned the progress of federal road rehabilitation across Sokoto East Senatorial District, arguing that the minister’s position at the Federal Ministry of Works should result in greater attention to infrastructure challenges affecting communities in the region.

The allegations were made by the defectors and have not been independently verified. No response from the minister or the APC leadership in Goronyo was provided alongside the claims.

Another defector, Taloka, said the group joined the ADC because it wanted a political platform that would give greater priority to the welfare and security of residents.

He described the movement as a response to what he called the concerns of grassroots supporters who felt they were only remembered during election periods.

The defectors also expressed concern about the deteriorating security situation in Goronyo and neighbouring communities, alleging that banditry had disrupted farming, displaced residents and damaged local economic activities.

They claimed that more than 100 residents of Goronyo Local Government were being held by bandits in camps across parts of Sokoto East. The claim could not be independently verified.

According to the group, insecurity has made it difficult for many residents to access their farms, while some families have allegedly been displaced and others affected by the loss of relatives and livelihoods.

Shinaka said political leaders had a responsibility to remain connected to communities during periods of insecurity and provide support to victims and affected families.

The reported defection comes amid wider political realignments in Sokoto State ahead of the 2027 elections.

The ADC has attracted politicians and supporters from established parties in different parts of the country as opposition figures seek to build a broader political coalition ahead of the next general election.

Sokoto has also recorded previous political movement towards the ADC. In April 2026, seven members of the Sokoto State House of Assembly reportedly defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ADC, including Nasiru Adamu, who represents Goronyo Constituency.

The latest reported movement could further strengthen the ADC’s grassroots structure in Goronyo if the defectors remain active within the party.

The APC, meanwhile, has also recorded political movements into its fold in the area. In November 2025, former PDP figures in Goronyo joined the APC and were received by Minister of State for Works Muhammad Bello Goronyo.

The contrasting movements reflect the increasingly fluid political landscape in Sokoto as parties position themselves for the 2027 elections.

For the ADC, the reported entry of more than 700 APC members could provide additional grassroots strength in Goronyo. For the APC, the development could create a fresh challenge for its mobilisation efforts in an area regarded as an important political base.

The defectors said they were prepared to work for the expansion of the ADC and support what they described as a new political direction centred on security, peace, good governance and development.

With the 2027 elections drawing closer, further defections and political realignments are expected across Sokoto State as the APC, ADC, PDP and other parties compete to strengthen their structures and attract influential politicians and grassroots supporters.

Sokoto APC suffers fresh setback as over 700 members reportedly defect to ADC

Politics

Osun Poll: Fayose Says Federal Might Could Have Swayed Result If Deployed

Published

2 hours ago

August 19, 2026

Trends Admin

Former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose

Osun Poll: Fayose Says Federal Might Could Have Swayed Result If Deployed

Former Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, has declared that if the Federal Government genuinely intended to manipulate an election outcome by force, there would be little anyone could do to stop it. Fayose made this assertion while reflecting on the August 15, 2026 Osun State governorship election, during an interview with TVC News, in which incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke secured re-election under the Accord Party banner. The former governor, who said he remained in Osogbo throughout the election period, explained that he visited markets and communities across the state, including Ilesa, to gauge the mood of voters ahead of the poll, and his interactions with residents suggested the election would be closely contested, with the result capable of going either way.

When asked if he knew Adeleke would win, Fayose said the closeness of the contest meant either candidate could have emerged victorious, stating, “When you have an election that is 52, 48, it could go either way,” contrasting that with an election where one candidate holds a much wider lead of 30 to 70. He expressed concern about the violence and killings recorded around the election, describing them as unnecessary and deeply regrettable, noting that the Nigeria Police Force retained approximately 15,000 personnel deployed for the election and deployed anti-riot policemen and undercover operatives to strategic locations to prevent post-election violence, following at least 34 election-related violent incidents that resulted in 18 deaths recorded since May 2026.

On vote buying, Fayose stated that neither the APC nor the Accord Party could claim innocence, saying the two sides clearly engaged in the practice, and according to reports, vote trading topped the list of electoral offences with 103 cases recorded by observers, with police arresting individuals from both sides sharing money. Official results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) showed that Governor Ademola Adeleke polled 511,067 votes (51.90 per cent) to defeat APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji, who secured 444,815 votes (45.17 per cent), with the margin of victory increasing from 28,344 votes in 2022 to 66,252 votes in 2026, and the wider margin, combined with intense competition, made manipulation more difficult, according to the Athena Election Observatory.

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Fayose broke down the winning margin, arguing that a significant portion of the difference came from Ede, the home base of the Adeleke family, where in Ede North, Adeleke polled 35,427 votes against Oyebamiji’s 10,283, while in Ede South, he secured 26,188 votes compared with the APC candidate’s 6,219, and Adeleke also won in 19 of the state’s 30 local government areas. He addressed claims that the Federal Government wanted to take over the election, saying, “I want to say to you, if the federal government wants to take an election, they will take it. If the federal government… the ones I know of the past, if they want to take an election, there’s nothing you can do,” a statement that echoed comments by Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, who said President Bola Tinubu could have secured victory for the APC in Osun if he wanted it “at all costs,” insisting that the result showed that no federal might was deployed in Osun and that the President allowed a free and fair process, with Fayose agreeing with Wike’s position, responding, “That, that exactly…”

Fayose congratulated Adeleke on his victory and urged him to reconcile with all stakeholders in the state, saying, “So let us commend the Adelekes for winning and remind them they need to be magnanimous in victory. The language now must be right. Reconciliation must be total. Not with the Accord alone, but with all other stakeholders because all of you are from Osun state.” His comments come as political stakeholders continue to analyse the outcome of the closely watched governorship election, which has significant implications for the political landscape in the South-West region and the build-up to the 2027 general elections.

Osun Poll: Fayose Says Federal Might Could Have Swayed Result If Deployed

Politics

Tinubu Allowed Free, Fair Election That Gave Adeleke Osun Victory – Wike

Published

16 hours ago

August 18, 2026

Trends Admin

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike

Tinubu Allowed Free, Fair Election That Gave Adeleke Osun Victory – Wike

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has declared that Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory in the August 15 Osun State governorship election was only possible because President Bola Tinubu allowed the process to remain free and fair. The minister made the statement on Tuesday while inspecting areas affected by flooding in the FCT. He dismissed claims that the Federal Government manipulated the election in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC), arguing that Tinubu’s decision to congratulate Adeleke after his victory demonstrated that federal influence was not deployed to undermine the opposition.

“The President called him… congratulating him (Adeleke). What does it tell you? If Tinubu did not allow a free and fair election, would they have won? No!” Wike said. The minister rejected allegations of “federal might” being used to influence the poll outcome, drawing from his own experience in previous electoral contests. He challenged those making the allegations to compare the situation with what he described as the experience of the 2019 election in Rivers State. “When you say force of the federal government… ask those who have survived it, though—people like me who survived federal might. It’s not by saying ‘they say, they say.’ It’s not true,” he said. “In Rivers State, in 2019, we saw what is called federal might. We saw soldiers taking over everywhere. Did anything like that happen in Osun State?” Wike asked.

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Wike insisted that President Tinubu could have secured victory for the APC had he been determined to win the election “at all costs.” “If the President wanted to win the Osun State election at all cost, I would have been there and we would have won it, and there’s nothing the governor can do,” Wike said. “There was no federal might used in Osun. When you see the force and might of the Federal Government, you will know,” he added. The minister also suggested that Adeleke’s political alignment could have been different if circumstances within the APC had worked out differently. “Ordinarily, Adeleke would have been with APC if things had worked out well,” Wike said.

Adeleke, who contested on the Accord Party platform, secured 511,067 votes to defeat the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who polled 444,815 votes. The governor won 19 of Osun State’s 30 local government areas, while Oyebamiji secured victory in the remaining 11. Adeleke’s victory margin of 66,252 votes represents a 133.7 per cent increase over his 2022 winning margin. A comparative analysis by the Athena Election Observatory (AEO) shows that voter accreditation increased by 22.2 per cent, with registered voters rising from 1,952,387 in 2022 to 2,339,544 in 2026. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salaam, came a distant third with 17,180 votes.

Wike declared that the opposition had been “crippled” ahead of the 2027 elections, predicting that Tinubu would secure re-election with considerably less difficulty than in 2023. “This time around, the opposition has been crippled, homeless, no feather,” Wike said. “This election, 2027, is where the opposition have been crippled, crippled, you know what it means crippling people? Depleted, they finished them. They have nothing to do,” he said. According to him, a credible opposition capable of defeating an incumbent government must have a stable political structure and spend years building its base, rather than continually moving from one political platform to another. Wike urged political analysts and observers to avoid treating the outcome of an off-cycle governorship election as a direct indication of what could happen during a presidential election.

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Wike dismissed suggestions that Adeleke’s victory represented a defeat for President Tinubu and the Federal Government, or that it indicated the opposition was gaining momentum ahead of the 2027 general elections. He argued that had Tinubu been determined to deploy federal might to secure victory for his party, he would have been involved in the process. “I’m part of the Federal Government. I’m sure that if the President wanted to win Osun at all costs, I would be involved, and I would have been there, and the governor would have known that it would have been different,” Wike said.

During his inspection of flood-affected areas in Maitama, Wike also addressed the recurring flooding affecting parts of the FCT, vowing to demolish houses built on designated water channels, including properties belonging to senators and other influential Nigerians. The minister said his inspection revealed that some property owners had blocked waterways designated for drainage under the Abuja Master Plan, creating obstructions that contributed to the flooding. “Now you have done your own by blocking the water channel, and nothing has happened. Thank God the flood has come; it has drawn our attention to the place. Now, something will happen. I am going to bring those houses down. Any house that falls on the water channel will go down,” Wike said. He stressed that the demolition exercise would not spare property owners based on their political or social status. “Some of them are Senators, some of them are big men… All those houses will go down,” he said. Wike gave the FCT Development Control Department until Saturday to identify and act against structures built on waterways. He said both government authorities and residents had responsibilities in preventing flooding, while rejecting suggestions that poor residents were primarily responsible for structures built on waterways and other restricted areas. According to the minister, several structures obstructing drainage channels were allegedly built by wealthy Nigerians and had existed for years before the current administration.

The Osun election has drawn attention to the possibility of opposition collaboration ahead of the 2027 presidential election. The ADC had earlier disclosed that it collaborated with the Accord Party to prevent the APC from reclaiming power in the state, a claim Adeleke later denied. The election outcome and the subsequent exchanges between political actors have set the stage for intense political realignments as Nigeria approaches the 2027 general election.

Tinubu Allowed Free, Fair Election That Gave Adeleke Osun Victory – Wike

Politics

‘No Electoral Agreement with ADC’ – Adeleke Rejects Collaboration Claims, Credits God

Published

17 hours ago

August 18, 2026

Trends Admin

‘No Electoral Agreement with ADC’ – Adeleke Rejects Collaboration Claims, Credits God

Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has firmly dismissed claims of a political pact with the African Democratic Congress (ADC) ahead of the August 15 governorship election, insisting that the party was never part of the coalition that backed his re-election bid. The governor’s clarification came on Tuesday through his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, following comments by the ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, that his party had deliberately collaborated with the Accord Party to prevent the All Progressives Congress from reclaiming power in the state. The contrasting narratives have sparked a fresh debate about opposition politics in Nigeria, with the ADC framing its low vote tally as a strategic victory while the governor insists he had no electoral agreement with the party before, during, or after the poll.

Bolaji Abdullahi, while speaking on Trust TV on Monday, said the ADC recognised early enough that splitting opposition votes could give the APC an advantage in the election. He explained that the party therefore chose to work with the Accord Party as part of efforts to stop the APC from returning to power. “We saw the possibility of collaboration. We saw the possibility earlier enough that if we decided to go full throttle, the possibility that the opposition would divide the votes and the APC would take the victory was there,” Abdullahi said. “And that was why we saw the opportunity to work together, and that was what happened.” The ADC’s governorship candidate, Najeem Salaam, polled 17,180 votes in the election, while Adeleke, who contested on the Accord platform, secured 511,067 votes to defeat the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who garnered 444,815 votes. Adeleke won 19 of Osun’s 30 local government areas, while Oyebamiji carried the remaining 11. The victory gives Adeleke a second four-year term, making him only the second governor in Osun State’s history to win re-election, after former governor Rauf Aregbesola. The final tally gave Adeleke a winning margin of 66,252 votes over Oyebamiji.

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Abdullahi said the ADC did not consider its candidate’s failure to win the governorship as a defeat, insisting that its major objective was to prevent the APC from taking control of the state. “That is why we can confidently celebrate what is going on in Osun, because for us, victory means that APC was defeated,” he said. “So we don’t see the fact that our governorship candidate did not emerge as an occasion of defeat or failure. The failure, the defeat of the APC, was a real victory for us.” He further clarified that the ADC did not necessarily direct its supporters to vote for Adeleke, but rather entered into an understanding with the Accord Party. “We cooperated with the Accord Party,” he said. Abdullahi also argued that the Osun election had provided evidence that opposition parties could pose a serious challenge to the APC in the 2027 presidential election if they were able to overcome their differences and work together. “It’s something that was deliberate, and we are glad that the outcome has justified the confidence that everyone has put in the process, and it has proved that the opposition working together can actually defeat this incumbent, no matter how awesome they are,” he said.

However, Adeleke rejected any suggestion that the ADC was part of the political alliance that supported his campaign. The governor said the ADC had no agreement with him “before, during and after” the election, while crediting God and the people of Osun for his victory. “For the sake of history, it is important to clarify that the ADC was never part of the rainbow coalition that canvassed, mobilised, and supported our campaign in the battle leading to last Saturday’s election,” Adeleke said. “I commend political partners who went all out to make Saturday a victory day for all Osun people. But we must clarify for the sake of history that ADC was never part of the alliance,” the governor stated. Adeleke also struck a conciliatory tone, saying: “Now that the election is over, I am a governor of all Osun people irrespective of political groups, religion or race.” He added that his administration would focus on uniting the people and continuing the progress and prosperity of Osun State.

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Meanwhile, former Minister of Interior and former Osun governor, Rauf Aregbesola, who is also the ADC National Secretary, on Monday congratulated Governor Adeleke on his re-election, urging him to use his renewed mandate to unite the state and govern all residents fairly. Aregbesola said the outcome of the August 15 governorship election reflected the choice of the people and should be respected by all political actors. In a statement, he noted that “the people of Osun have spoken through the ballot; their decision must be respected.” He urged Adeleke to “see the outcome as a renewed mandate to unite the state, deepen development and govern with fairness, humility and a strong sense of responsibility to every citizen, irrespective of political affiliation.” Aregbesola also commended ADC members and supporters for their steadfastness, courage, and commitment throughout the campaign, praising the party’s candidate, Dr. Najeem Folasayo Salaam, for conducting his campaign with dignity and accepting the election outcome with maturity. The ADC National Publicity Secretary dismissed claims that the party’s poor showing was linked to resentment against Aregbesola, insisting that the party’s leadership had witnessed the level of support the former governor still enjoyed in the state. He described such claims as untrue and uncharitable, noting that the entire leadership of the party was in Osun in the days leading to the election.

At the time of the reports, neither the Accord Party nor Governor Adeleke had confirmed the opposition alliance claimed by the ADC. The APC, which recorded its highest-ever vote total in Osun at 444,815 votes, said it was reviewing the results and may explore legal options under the Electoral Act. The party’s candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, had earlier congratulated Adeleke on his victory, but the party leadership has since indicated that it is examining the election process for possible irregularities. The Independent National Electoral Commission declared Adeleke the winner after he secured 511,067 votes, a significant improvement over his 2022 victory margin. The election was largely peaceful, though there were isolated reports of irregularities in some polling units, which the APC has said it is reviewing as it considers possible legal action. The contrasting narratives from Adeleke and the ADC have raised important questions about the nature of opposition collaboration in Nigeria. While the ADC insists that its strategic alliance with the Accord Party was instrumental in preventing an APC victory, Adeleke’s denial suggests that the governor is keen to assert his independent political identity and avoid being seen as indebted to any particular party. However, political analysts note that the ADC’s disclosure has already fueled discussions about the possibility of a broader opposition alliance ahead of the 2027 presidential election. The party’s willingness to subordinate its own electoral ambitions for a larger political objective could serve as a template for opposition cooperation in future elections, particularly as debates about a unified opposition front gain momentum. The election outcome and the subsequent exchanges between Adeleke and the ADC have therefore set the stage for intense political realignments as Nigeria approaches the 2027 general election, with opposition parties exploring various strategies to challenge the ruling APC at the national level.