Politics

APC retains majority in Senate with 49 seats

Published

2 years ago

March 1, 2023

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has maintained its dominance of the Senate, having secured 49 seats, according to the results of the parliamentary polls so far released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Out of the 89 seats so far declared, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won 28; Labour Party six while New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) secured two seats each.

The Young Progressive Party (YPP) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) have so far produced one senator each.

With 49 senators, the ruling party is set to maintain majority in the 10th Senate. There are 109 seats in the Red Chamber, made up of three seats per state and one for FCT.

A party with a simple majority produces presiding officers called President of the Senate and Deputy Senate President.

Meanwhile, last Saturday’s parliamentary poll has continued to throw up shocks and upsets as more serving governors were defeated in the election.

Governors Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Darius Ishaku (Taraba), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Simon Lalong (Plateau) and Ben Ayade (Cross River) lost their bids to represent their senatorial districts in the parliament.

Only two, governors Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger) and Dave Umahi (Ebonyi) won.

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The result of the Sokoto South senatorial election, which Governor Aminu Tambuwal contested, was declared inconclusive over irregularities, including over-voting.

Aliero floors Bagudu in Kebbi Central

Senator Muhammad Adamu Aliero has been declared winner of Kebbi central senatorial election.

The returning officer, Professor Abbas Yusuf, said Senator Aliero of PDP polled 126,588 votes to defeat Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu in the election.

He said Bagudu, who is also Chairman Progressive Governors Forum, scored 92,389 votes.

Lalong trounced in Plateau

The Director-General, DG Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council and Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, lost the bid to occupy the Plateau South senatorial seat. He was defeated by retired AVM Napoleon Bali of PDP.

Lalong of APC scored 91,674 while Bali scored 148,844 to emerge the winner.

In Plateau North, PDP’s Simon Mwadkwon polled 155,681 votes to defeat the candidate of APC, Christopher Musa who polled 78,302.

FCT: LP’s Ireti unseats Aduda after 3 terms

Ireti Heeba Kingibe of Labour Party has been declared winner of Saturday’s senatorial election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Kingibe defeated incumbent Senator Philip Aduda of PDP, who was elected into the Senate in 2011.

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She polled 202,175 votes to defeat her main challenger, Aduda, who scored 100,544 votes while APC’s Zakari Angulu secured 78, 905 and candidate of NNPP got 3,802 votes.

Sokoto senatorial poll declared inconclusive

No winner emerged in all three senatorial districts in Sokoto after INEC declared the National Assembly elections in the state inconclusive over violence and overvoting.

Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal was leading Senator Ibrahim Danbaba Dambuwa of APC in the Sokoto South senatorial election with 2,050 votes before it was declared inconclusive.

Tambuwal scored 87,850 votes while Dambuwa secured 79,991.

Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko and APC’s leader in the state is so far leading in the Sokoto North senatorial election with 11,732 votes.

Wamakko polled 114,866 votes against the 103,134 votes scored by the candidate of the PDP and incumbent deputy governor of the state, Manir Muhammad Dan’iya.

APC sweeps Kogi senatorial seats, wins 2 in Delta

The ruling APC won all the senatorial seats in Kogi State.

Engineer Abubakar Ohere was declared the winner of the Kogi Central senatorial election, after polling 52,132 votes to defeat his closest opponent, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of PDP, who recorded 51,763 votes.

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In Kogi West, Sunday Karimi of APC polled 70,184 votes to defeat his main opponent, Tajudeen Yusuf, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 51,964 votes.

The incumbent Kogi Central senator, Isah Jibrin (APC), was declared winner after polling 108,784 votes being the highest against his closest rival Victor Adoji of PDP, who scored 81,867.

In Delta, the APC candidates, Chief Ede Dafinone and Thomas Joel-Onowakpo, won in the Central and Southern senatorial zones respectively.

Dafinone polled 109,197 votes to defeat his closest rival, Chief Ighoyota Amori (PDP), who scored 101,385.

Joel-Onowakpa polled 49,955 to defeat other candidates, including PDP’s Prince Michael Diden, who scored 47,656.

PDP clears Kaduna, Rivers

The ruling APC lost all the three senatorial seats to PDP in Kaduna State.

Out of the three seats, only Southern Kaduna was previously occupied by PDP.

In Kaduna North, the incumbent senator, Suleiman Abdu Kwari (APC), who polled 190,008 votes lost to PDP’s Khalid Ibrahim Mustapha, who secured 260,026 votes.

In Kaduna Central, PDP’s Lawal Adamu Usman, popularly known as (Mr LA), won with over 250,000 votes.

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In Southern Kaduna, Sunday Katung of PDP won with 138,246 votes to defeat his closest rival, Ayuba Michael, of the LP who scored 101,479.

In Rivers, Allwell Onyesoh (Rivers East), Barry Mpigi (Rivers South East) and Ipalibo Harry-Banigo (Rivers West), all PDP, won.

Nyako loses as PDP clinches 2 seats in Adamawa

PDP won two Senate seats while the APC got one in Adamawa.

For the Central senatorial zone, Aminu Iya Abbas (PDP), was declared winner, having scored 145,880 votes to defeat Abdulaziz Nyako (APC), who got 118,555.

Senator Binos Yeroe, PDP candidate for Adamawa South won re-election after scoring 146,407 votes to defeat his closest rival, Adamu Samaila Numan of the APC who scored 94,828 votes.

Senator Elisha Abbo, APC candidate in the northern zone polled 71,927 votes to win re-election against PDP’s Yohanna Amos who scored 61,895 votes.

Umeh unseats Ekwunife in Anambra

LP candidate for Anambra Central senatorial district, Victor Umeh, defeated incumbent Senator Uche Ekwunife of PDP.

Umeh polled 103,608, votes to defeat Ekwunife and other candidates.

Daily Trust

Politics

Delta Governor Oborevwori dumps PDP for APC

Published

3 hours ago

April 23, 2025

Trends Admin

Delta Governor Oborevwori dumps PDP for APC

Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, has announced his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The announcement came after a high-level closed-door meeting held at the Government House in Asaba on Tuesday evening.
The governor’s defection is coming just after a viral video stirred speculation about his political future. In the footage, which sparked online debates, Oborevwori was seen in close company with known APC stakeholders. At the time, his media aide dismissed the clip as “old and misleading.”
Newstrends learnt senior APC figures were present to welcome the governor into their fold, signaling a significant political realignment in the South-South state.

The governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Sir Festus Ahon, said Oborevwori’s decision was based on “wide consultations with political stakeholders and in the interest of Delta’s long-term development.”

“This move was not made lightly,” Ahon emphasized. “The governor is deeply committed to the prosperity of Delta State and believes that working with the APC at the federal level will help accelerate growth and deliver better dividends of democracy to the people.”

Governor Oborevwori was elected under the PDP platform in the 2023 gubernatorial election, defeating his opponents to secure the governorship seat. His defection to the APC, however, is already being interpreted by political analysts as a calculated strategy with an eye on the 2027 general elections

Politics

No candidate can win presidential election without the North – Hakeem Baba-Ahmed

Published

2 days ago

April 21, 2025

Trends Admin

No candidate can win presidential election without the North – Hakeem Baba-Ahmed

Former Special Adviser on Political Matters to President Bola Tinubu, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has declared that no politician can win the Nigerian presidency in 2027 without the support of the northern region.

Speaking in a video interview in Kaduna, Baba-Ahmed, who appeared alongside Professor Usman Yusuf, former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), emphasized that the North would soon define its political direction.

“In the next six months, the North will decide where it stands. If the rest of the country wants to join us, fine. If not, we will go our own way. One thing is clear: nobody can become president of Nigeria without northern support,” he asserted.

He lamented the state of the nation and urged northerners to resist divisive and deceptive politicians ahead of the next general elections.

“We want a government that understands our problems and can address them. After Buhari’s eight years, we became wiser. Now, we are in another government, and we are still crying. Is crying all we know how to do?” Baba-Ahmed asked.

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Reflecting on past experiences, he said the North had suffered greatly during the Boko Haram insurgency, which affected all groups Muslims, Christians, Fulani, Baju, and others highlighting the need for unity.

“Before Buhari became president, Boko Haram was bombing mosques, churches, Abuja, and Lagos. That was a time northerners had to unite. Today, no politician can just show up and expect northerners to fall in line. Who are you?” he questioned.

He warned against further marginalization of the North, noting that continued disregard for the region would have consequences.

“If they plan to rig the election, they should be careful. It won’t be good for Nigeria. The North is watching. Elders, masses, and interest groups will soon say ‘enough is enough.’ The injustice and sidelining must stop,” he said.

Baba-Ahmed also urged the region to look beyond identity politics, stressing that competence and integrity should guide voter decisions.

“We are tired of being deceived into voting based on religion or ethnicity. That era is over. We just want a right leader let him falls from heaven, we just want someone who will solve our problems,” he said.

He concluded by asserting that the northern electorate had learned hard lessons from past choices and would approach 2027 with a new mindset.

No candidate can win presidential election without the North – Hakeem Baba-Ahmed

Politics

Malami, others in CPC started plotting against Tinubu in 2024 — Obono-Obla

Published

3 days ago

April 20, 2025

Trends Admin

Okoi Obono-Obla

Malami, others in CPC started plotting against Tinubu in 2024 — Obono-Obla

Okoi Obono-Obla, former special adviser on public prosecution to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, says members of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) bloc led by Abubakar Malami have been plotting against President Bola Tinubu since April 2024.

He said some members of the bloc recently criticized the president and their purported plan to dump the ruling All Progressives Congress started less than a year into Tinubu’s administration.

Obono-Obla accused Malami of initiating the plan, adding that the former Attorney-General of the Federation should not be speaking for the CPC because he is not a founding member of the bloc.

“He has no right. Malami cannot speak for CPC. He came from PDP. He had even ran for election in 2007 under the platform of PDP,” Obono-Obla.

Recounting the early days of the CPC, he said, “I was among the people who put the political association known as CPC together.

“When we went to register that association as a political party, I was among the national officers who went to INEC to register that political association as a political party. That was in 2008. He was not there.

“I became the national interim adviser from 2008 to 30th December 2010. And then the party was already registered by INEC in 2010. We were going to have our first national convention.

“So they asked those of us who were interim officers and interested in contesting in the national convention to resign, and I resigned.”

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After the party was registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2010, Obono-Obla said he held the national deputy secretary in 2011, while Malami served as the party’s national legal adviser until the CPC was dissolved.

How Malami’s plot against Tinubu started

Obono-Obla revealed that some members of the CPC bloc started a move to undermine Tinubu’s government at a dinner in a hotel in Abuja.

“This thing did not start because President Bola Tinubu is not doing well,” he said.

“Last year, 28th of April, Emeka Nwajiuba, who was minister of state for education, he was also a member of the CPC merger committee.

“He’s from Imo state. He invited me for a meeting. He said, ‘Obla, come, we want to have dinner in a hotel in Maitama, Abuja, to celebrate Sallah.

“So I went, innocently. I didn’t know what they were going to do. I just went to have dinner.”

He said Malami, former CPC state chairmen, and individuals previously expelled attended the dinner.

“All those people were there, and something told me that this thing is political.”

According to him, the dinner quickly turned political as Nwajiuba and Malami criticised the Tinubu administration.

“That government was not yet up to one year in office. It was on the 28th of April, 2024. Then Malami spoke. Then the people they invited, some of them were very unhappy, they were angry.

“They said, ‘Look, we put you in government, ministers for eight years; you were very powerful.

“Somebody like Abubakar Malami, he was very powerful. ‘What did you do to help CPC as a party? What did you do to ensure that CPC is not marginalised? Why are you now coming to us?”

He said it became clear to him that the grievance was longstanding and politically motivated.

“They couldn’t say anything, and so they started planning this thing since last year. It’s not today,” he added.

Obono-Obla maintained that the recent move by some CPC bloc members against the President was planned.

“It’s planned, it’s not because the current president is not doing well. They have something that is disturbing them, and we don’t like it.”

Meanwhile, founding members of the CPCP, Farouk Aliyu, former minority leader of the House of Representatives and Osita Okechukwu, former director-general of the Voice of Nigeria, have refuted the claim that the CPC bloc within the ruling party plans to defect ahead of the 2027 elections.

The ruling party chieftains said the CPC bloc remains committed to supporting Tinubu’s second-term bid.