Politics
Damagun writes INEC to conduct by-election for 27 vacant Rivers assembly seats
Damagun writes INEC to conduct by-election for 27 vacant Rivers assembly seats
Few days after governors on the platform of the Peoples Democracy Party (PDP) handed down an ultimatum for things to change in the party, the Acting National Chairman of the party, Umar Damagun has moved against the FCT Minister and his loyal lawmakers, the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Damagun in a letter addressed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) dated 13th November 2024 and released on Sunday by the spokesperson of the Opposition Lawmakers Coalition, Ikenga Ugochinyere urged the electoral umpire to conduct a bye-election to fill up the 27 seats, they vacated to join the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Wike has been accused of being behind the crisis in the PDP over his disagreement with the Rivers State governor, Sim Fubara, his successor.
The crisis which started over control of resources divided the party in the state with 27 lawmakers in the state assembly siding Wike and defected to the APC following Wike’s acceptance to serve in the government of the APC.
He has also been accused of working in cahoots with Damagun to damage the PDP by not organising the National Executive Committee which would lead to the acting Chairman’s ouster.
After a series of agitation, the latest being from the PDP Governors’ Forum over the weekend, Damagun has demanded that INEC conduct elections as soon as possible, apparently moving against the FCT minister.
He argued in letter titled, ‘DEMAND FOR IMMEDIATE CONDUCT OF FRESH ELECTION IN 27 STATE CONSTITUENCIES OF RIVERS STATE WHICH HAVE BECOME VACANT PURSUANT TO SECTION 109(1)(g) OF THE CONSTITUTION’ that it’s “unlawful” for the 27 members to defect.
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The members defected to the APC on December 11, 2023.
Damagun said, going by provisions of the Constitution, the lawmakers are no longer members of the Assembly.
The PDP acting chairman therefore urged the Commission to perform its constitutional duties and begin the process of conducting fresh elections to fill the vacancies created in the 27 state constituencies by the unlawful act of the former Assembly members.
Parts of the letter read, “The Leadership of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wishes to draw the attention of the Commission to the gross violation of Section 109 (1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) by 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly following their unlawful defection from our Party, the PDP who sponsored their elections to the All Progressive Congress (APC) on Monday, December 11, 2023.
“The Commission may recall that our Party, the PDP nominated all our 32 State House of Assembly candidates in Rivers State for the 2023 General Election on the 7th of July 2022 via your electronic candidate election nomination portal (See attached acknowledgement).
“The Commission may also recall that following the nomination, the Commission conducted election into the Rivers State House of Assembly on the 18th of March, 2023 and our Party won 32 seats in the state Assembly. The elected State House of Assembly members were inaugurated and sworn-in on June, 2023.
“However, on Monday, 11 December, 2023 a period of just six (6) months after inauguration, 27 out of the 32 members publicly announced their defection from our Party to the All Progressive Congress (APC). This defection is a gross violation of Section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As amended).
“The only two grounds of division and merger provided for in the Constitution that permit such defection are completely non-existent in our political Party. It therefore means that the defections of the 27 members are without lawful excuse and these members have vacated their seats in the Rivers State House of Assembly by the operations of Section 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution.
“In view of the foregoing, we hereby demand that the Commission performs its constitutional duties and begin the process of conducting a Fresh Election to fill the vacancies created in the 27 State Constituencies by the unlawful act of the Assembly members. Find attached the list of the 27 State Assembly Members and their Constituencies.
“While thanking the Commission for its commitment to deepening democracy in our country, please accept the assurances of our highest regards.”
Damagun writes INEC to conduct by-election for 27 vacant Rivers assembly seats
Politics
Lagos APC Orders 2027 Candidates to Stay in Nigeria Until After Election
Lagos APC Orders 2027 Candidates to Stay in Nigeria Until After Election
The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has directed all its candidates contesting the 2027 general elections to remain in Nigeria until after the polls, as the party formally activates its campaign machinery and begins an intensified grassroots mobilisation drive across the state.
The directive was issued by the Lagos APC chairman, Cornelius Ojelabi, on Friday, September 18, 2026, during the inauguration of the party’s 1,235-member 2027 campaign council at the APC secretariat on ACME Road, Ikeja.
Ojelabi told the candidates to cooperate with the campaign council and remain available for campaign activities, stressing the importance of coordination and accountability within the party’s election structure.
“To our candidates, cooperate with the campaign council and make yourself available. After today’s inauguration, no candidate is allowed to travel outside the country until after the general elections,” Ojelabi said.
The directive is an internal instruction by the Lagos APC to its candidates and should not be interpreted as a government-imposed restriction on international travel. It does not amount to a travel ban on members of the general public.
The travel directive came as the party inaugurated a large campaign structure designed to coordinate its activities across Lagos ahead of the 2027 elections.
Former Minister of State for Defence and former senator, Musiliu Obanikoro, is serving as Director-General of the campaign council, while Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is listed as chairman and Deputy Governor and APC governorship candidate Kadri Obafemi Hamzat as deputy chairman.
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The campaign structure also includes APC Lagos chairman Ojelabi as Vice-Chairman I, Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa as Vice-Chairman II and Damilola Sonayon James as Vice-Chairman III.
At the advisory level, Prince Tajudeen Olusi is chairman of the Governance Advisory Council, while Sanwo-Olu heads the Advisory Council. Former Lagos governors Babatunde Fashola and Akinwunmi Ambode are listed as co-chairmen.
Other prominent figures in the structure include President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, and former Minister of Health Adeleke Mamora.
The campaign council has multiple directorates and committees responsible for areas including legal and compliance, party and inter-party affairs, administration and logistics, finance and fundraising, ICT, traditional institutions, diaspora engagement and residents’ associations.
The structure also provides for coordination across Lagos’ senatorial districts, local government areas and other grassroots political structures.
Ojelabi said the party would adopt a decentralised grassroots strategy, with members expected to work directly within communities, wards and polling areas.
He described the approach as “operation man your polling booth”, saying the party intended to deploy its members and leaders to polling locations to mobilise voters.
The APC chairman put the party’s target at five million votes from a projected seven million voters in Lagos. That figure is a campaign target announced by the party and does not represent an established election result or independent projection.
Ojelabi also urged members to respect the law and maintain discipline within the campaign structure. He called for an election campaign free from hatred, thuggery and violence, stressing the importance of peaceful political engagement.
Hamzat, who is the APC’s candidate for the 2027 Lagos governorship election, urged party members to base their campaign on what they describe as the records and achievements of APC-led administrations.
He said campaign messages should focus on facts, data and measurable outcomes, citing areas including taxation, infrastructure, agriculture and security.
Hamzat also referenced major infrastructure projects, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, while calling on party members to explain the administration’s policies and programmes to voters during the campaign.
The governorship candidate also urged APC members to mobilise voters at the community level and work for the party’s candidates contesting the Senate, House of Representatives and Lagos State House of Assembly elections.
Obanikoro, as Director-General of the campaign council, also called for unity and commitment among members of the campaign structure as the party begins its electioneering activities.
The inauguration brings together serving and former political office holders, elected representatives, candidates and other party stakeholders as the Lagos APC prepares for the 2027 electoral cycle.
The party’s campaign structure is expected to coordinate its activities across the state while keeping candidates and grassroots members engaged throughout the election period.
The directive that APC candidates should remain in Nigeria until after the election therefore forms part of the party’s internal campaign coordination strategy, coming at a time when political parties are organising their structures ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Lagos APC Orders 2027 Candidates to Stay in Nigeria Until After Election
Politics
Yayi Ancestry Row: Stepmother Sets Record Straight as Legal Battle Looms
Yayi Ancestry Row: Stepmother Sets Record Straight as Legal Battle Looms
Summary: The controversy over Senator Solomon Adeola (Yayi)’s state of origin has intensified ahead of the 2027 Ogun State governorship election. His stepmother has clarified that she—not Yayi’s parents—hails from Ekiti State. Meanwhile, Yayi has issued a 24-hour ultimatum to his accusers, four lawsuits against his candidacy have been withdrawn, and the dispute has become a central issue in the developing political contest.
In a development that adds a new dimension to the dispute, Alhaja Aminatu Abiola, the stepmother of the APC governorship candidate, has come forward to clarify the family’s background. According to her statement, she herself hails from Ekiti State—not Yayi’s father or mother. Yayi’s father, popularly known as Oteko, and his mother are both from Ogun State. This intervention directly addresses the core allegation that Yayi is of Ekiti ancestry.
The controversy has been driven primarily by two political figures: Abayomi Hunye, a suspended APC member from Ipokia Local Government Area, and Folake Marcus-Bello, a former Nigerian Ambassador to Zambia and Malawi and PDP chieftain. Both appeared on Channels Television, alleging that Senator Adeola is an Ekiti State indigene rather than a son of Ogun soil. Marcus-Bello further claimed to possess documentary evidence, specifically citing the funeral brochure of Yayi’s father, which she said contains his Oriki (praise poetry) and progeny. She also alleged that Yayi’s mother was buried in Epe, Lagos State.
Speaking on the programme, Marcus-Bello stated: “Senator Olamilekan is not from Yewa. It saddens me as a mother, as a politician, as a Nigerian that people will come out and tell blatant lies because they want a particular thing.” She challenged Yayi to a public confrontation, saying: “Let him come and sit in front of me. We would bring the documentation that I have.”
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Senator Adeola reacted with a strongly worded statement through his Media Adviser, Kayode Odunaro, giving his accusers 24 hours to publicly present evidence or face libel lawsuits. The statement read: “I watched in utter disbelief as these characters that I hardly know utter assertive and outrageous lies about my origin without any proof. One falsely claimed on TV that I am from Ekiti and when asked where exactly in Ekiti went moronically blank and could not provide an answer.” He described the other accuser as “lying about the locations of the graves of my parents as if she was part of the undertakers at the burial.”
Yayi’s camp has consistently maintained that he is a bona fide indigene of Ogun State. According to Odunaro, the senator is historically a native of Isaga-Orile in Yewa, whose families were dispersed by the Dahomey War to places including Ilaro and Lagos. APC chieftain and lawyer Kayode Oladele elaborated further, stating that Adeola’s paternal ancestral roots are firmly established in Pahayi and Isaga Orile, in Yewa South and Abeokuta North Local Government Areas respectively. He cited the recent funeral of Chief Michael Adelani Ogundimu, head of Adeola’s family, as evidence of the senator’s ties to Pahayi. Oladele also drew a key legal distinction: “Yayi has never denied being born and raised in Lagos. However, birthplace is a geographical fact; ancestry is a genealogical fact. One does not erase the other.”
From a constitutional perspective, Oladele argued that the accusations were legally flawed. “Section 177 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, sets out the qualifications for election as governor. Ancestral origin from a particular part of a state is not one of them.” A historical analysis published by Newspot noted that Ilaro itself was a place of refuge following the Dahomey invasion, not the original ancestral homeland. The common ancestral denominator for Yayi’s lineage is Ishaga-Orile, not Ilaro. The analysis stated: “The historically consistent formulation would seem to be: Ishaga-Orile by ancestral origin; Ago-Ishaga/Pahayi, Ilaro by the post-Dahomey settlement of his particular paternal branch; and Lagos by birth, upbringing and much of his adult and political life.”
In a significant boost for Yayi’s candidacy, four major court cases challenging his emergence as the APC governorship candidate have been voluntarily discontinued by the litigants. The cases included Suit No. FHC/AB/CS/87/26 instituted by Professor Awolola Awoniyi pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act 2011, discontinued on August 24, 2026, and Suit Nos. FHC/ABJ/CS/844/26, FHC/ABJ/CS/989/2026, and FHC/ABJ/CS/884/26, instituted by officials and members of the Booth Party, Young Progressive Party, Action Democratic Party, and Labour Party, withdrawn on September 7, 2026. Yayi welcomed the development, stating that his focus remained on delivering the dividends of democracy to the people of Ogun State.
The dispute is rooted in the unique political geography of Ogun State. Ogun West (Yewaland) has never produced a governor since the state was created in 1976, and many in the zone believe 2027 represents their opportunity. Marcus-Bello articulated this sentiment: “If what you have stated is true, Yewa has a better chance to produce a governor because they have never produced one. But give us—and I am speaking authoritatively also on behalf of Hon. Ladi Adebutu—a real son or daughter of Yewa and we will support that daughter or son of Yewa.” However, Yayi’s supporters view the ancestry controversy as a political smear campaign. Oladele argued: “Questioning Yayi’s ancestry has become a worn-out political cliché and the last refuge of an opposition that has run out of ideas. You cannot defeat a man’s record by rewriting his ancestry.” PDP governorship candidate Ladi Adebutu has also entered the fray, daring Yayi to sue him and claiming he has documents to prove Yayi is not from Ogun State.
Yayi Ancestry Row: Stepmother Sets Record Straight as Legal Battle Looms
Politics
No Office of the First Lady Under My Presidency, Vows Omoyele Sowore
No Office of the First Lady Under My Presidency, Vows Omoyele Sowore
The AAC candidate pledges to slash governance costs by ₦4 trillion, abolish gubernatorial security votes, and end unconstitutional spending.
African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has pledged to eliminate the Office of the First Lady if he wins the 2027 presidential election, describing the ceremonial post as an unconstitutional drain on national resources. Sowore emphasized that Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution provides no legal standing or budgetary allocation for the spouse of the head of state.
Consequently, Sowore clarified that while entering the State House will not alter his marriage, his administration will refuse to assign official duties, staff, or public funds to his spouse.
Instead, he promised to champion women’s voices across all levels of government by appointing qualified female leaders to legitimate, constitutional offices rather than maintaining a ceremonial platform.
He condemned the continued allocation of taxpayer revenue to unofficial positions, arguing that such expenditures divert critical capital from infrastructure and social welfare.
Furthermore, the AAC candidate outlined a comprehensive austerity framework intended to slash the cost of governance by approximately ₦4 trillion. Central to this strategy, Sowore vowed to initiate constitutional amendments to outlaw discretionary security votes for state governors, a long-debated pool of funds historically shielded from public accounting.
Ultimately, he insisted that transferring these discretionary funds directly into state treasuries will help governments pay public sector wages consistently and fund vital public services.
No Office of the First Lady Under My Presidency, Vows Omoyele Sowore
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