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Makinde has qualities to unseat Tinubu in 2027 – PDP
Hon. Abiodun Awoleye, a former member of the House of Representatives and a senior figure in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has stated that Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde possesses the necessary political influence and managerial skills to guide the PDP in wresting the presidency from President Bola Tinubu by 2027.
In an interaction with reporters at his home in Bashorun, Ibadan, during the festivities for Nigeria’s 65th Independence Day, Awoleye characterized Makinde as a modest political figure, a reliable organizer at the community level, and an executive with exceptional abilities.
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“Governor Makinde has shown rare political will and administrative strength. I strongly believe he has what it takes to reposition our great party and ensure we take back power at the national level,” Awoleye said.
The PDP leader went on to note that Makinde’s achievements in bringing together the party’s branch in Oyo State and operating a government that includes diverse voices demonstrate his potential to reorganize the PDP on a broader scale.
His comments resonated with Makinde’s recent statement at the PDP’s state congress in Ibadan, where the governor promised supporters that the time of aggressive, rival gatherings had ended, and emphasized that the framework of harmony and member participation developed in Oyo could be extended across the country.
Awoleye also commended Makinde’s track record in leadership, especially his reliability in disbursing wages, retirement benefits, and lump-sum payments, viewing it as a key element in maintaining balance during the country’s financial difficulties.
“Even the late Alaafin of Oyo once remarked that he was amazed at how Governor Makinde has managed governance seamlessly without owing workers a single month,” he recalled.
He credited Makinde’s consistent and timely disbursements of employee compensation, end-of-service benefits, and retiree allowances as drivers of social and economic steadiness, as well as consistent development in the state, labeling the governor a brilliant strategist whose methods for handling national fiscal pressures deserve examination as a blueprint for broader renewal.
He portrayed Makinde as someone endowed with innovative thinking for tackling challenges and voiced his respect for the governor’s expertise in navigating conflicts, while appealing to party supporters to keep Makinde in their daily thoughts and supplications.
Separately, contributors at Awoleye’s birthday event observed that the ex-lawmaker’s faith in Makinde’s capacity to overhaul the party matches the governor’s vision for a more unified, orderly, and progressive PDP ready to steer Nigeria toward financial rebound and overall steadiness.
Ademiyiwa Mustapha, the PDP Chairman for Ibadan North, who brought along executives from the local government and ward levels to the event, depicted Awoleye as a calm individual with a notable history in politics.
He called on party members to stay committed, foster sincere relationships among themselves, and collaborate harmoniously for the PDP’s collective advancement.
Wrapping up, Hon. Awoleye disclosed that he shares a birthdate with Alhaja Mutiat Ladoja, the state’s former First Lady, and that his spouse shares hers with the current Olubadan of Ibadan, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja Arusa I.
He viewed this alignment as a delightful link to Ibadan’s traditions in royalty and leadership.
In his address, a senior party member, Pastor Gbenro, called the gathering a combined festivity, given its overlap with Nigeria’s 65th Independence milestone.
He highlighted Awoleye’s past service as interim head that facilitated the PDP’s establishment in Ogun State, terming it a point of honor for Ibadan North.
Hon. Awoleye continues to stand out as one of the most approachable politicians, boasting extensive knowledge in political affairs and public administration.
“He is humble, accessible, and a blessing to this generation,” Gbenro said, extending blessings to the honoree and his loved ones.
Additional participants at the function lauded Awoleye’s career in politics and his personal qualities. One fellow PDP leader called him a direct and trustworthy community organizer whom emerging politicians regard as an example to emulate.
The PDP Youth Leader for Ibadan North mentioned that he has never second-guessed his admiration for Awoleye, referring to him as a leading political voice marked by remarkable modesty.
Nevertheless, party affiliates voiced confidence in the PDP’s prospects at the local level in Ibadan North, statewide in Oyo, and nationally by 2027.
Justice Muhammad Nuraddeen Bello of High Court sitting in Sokoto State has sentenced three men, including a foreign national, to death by hanging, after convicting them on charges bordering on terrorism and arms proliferation.
The convicts, Yusuf Muhammad (alias Sallau), a Nigerien; Jabbi Alhaji Yalle; and Kabiru Muhammad, were apprehended on 13th June, 2025, by the Department of State Services (DSS) Counter Terrorism Unit in connection with cross-border criminal activities bordering on arms trafficking and terrorism.
Bello, who found all three defendants guilty as charged and sentenced them to death by hanging, while also ordering the forfeiture of all monetary exhibits recovered from the convicts to the Federal Government, said: “The conviction is the latest in a series of successful prosecutions by the DSS in its sustained operations against terrorism and organised cross-border criminal networks across Nigeria.”
The sentencing is coming about two weeks after the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja sentenced each of the five suspects arrested on May 31, 2026, by the DSS for their involvement in the November 21, 2025, attack on St Mary’s Catholic School, Papiri, Niger State, to 25 years’ imprisonment.
Justice Binta Nyako, had handed down the judgment after the men, including two Nigeriens, pleaded guilty to all four terrorism-related charges, bordering on support for the commission of an act of terrorism, breaching both Section 16 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and the Firearms Act, were pressed against them.
According to Count One, the men were accused of jointly conspiring to assist a terrorist by agreeing and intentionally playing various roles towards conveying 15 AK 103 rifles as well as about 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition from the Diffa region, Republic of Niger, to one Malam Ahmad, a member of the Boko Haram terrorist group based in Borgu, Niger State, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 26(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Primate Elijah Ayodele, is on the verge of coughing out a whopping N10billion, if he fails to offer unrestrained apology to Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, former Governor of Kano State within the next 24 hours, and retract his claim that the former Minister of Defence is bidding his time to betray Peter Obi, to whom he is to contest the 2027 presidential election as a running mate.
Without doing so, the controversial cleric, should be ready for a major court battle with the vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), the platform on which the pair is to contest the election.
In a letter indicating a legal action against Ayodele of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church over defamatory remarks, Kwankwaso, through Magaji Mato Ibrahim, SAN & Co., his lawyers demanded an immediate retraction and apology from the cleric over the allegations.
Details of the letter, dated June 11, and unveiled through the X platform of the legal team, was based on a viral video recorded during a live-streamed church service, where the preacher made allegations targeting Kwankwaso’s integrity as Peter Obi’s running mate under the NDC.
Quoting the cleric as stating: “KWANKWASO IS A FAKE TO OBI, KWANKWASO WILL BETRAY YOU. KWANKWASO HAS BEEN PAID TO BE VICE PRESIDENT TO OBI AMONG OTHER LIBELOUS COMMENTS WHILE PRETENDING TO BE A PREACHER,” the former governor said the comments were unprovoked, grossly unfounded, and carefully designed to create a rift within the ranks of the political party and its supporters.
Handing Ayodele a 24-hour ultimatum to publish a full and unequivocal retraction across all social media platforms and news outlets with the same prominence as the original video, they also demanded a written undertaking that he would cease and desist from making any further malicious statements against their client, warning that failure to comply, would lead to full legal actions.
The letter stated: “We shall claim substantial damages to the tune of Ten Billion Naira and cost of the action on a full indemnity basis amongst other reliefs.”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday demanded the immediate end to the exportation of minerals from countries in Africa in their raw forms, which he said had led to massive exploitation of the continent.
The President, told member countries of the African Minerals Strategy Group (AMSG), a forum of Ministers in charge of Mining and Solid Minerals on the continent to speak with one voice to promote, collective interests, ensure value addition, and prevent the continent from becoming merely a source of raw materials for the rest of the world.
As the Grand Patron of the group, chaired by Dele Alake, Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, gave the charge while receiving a delegation of AMSG in the State House, Tinubu told the delegation that the group had a critical role to play in strengthening Africa’s bargaining power in the global mineral market and ensuring that the continent derives maximum value from its natural resources.
His words: “ What we should do is avoid bureaucracy and deceit; we must put an end to exploitation. The rest of the world won’t mind if your country is a cesspit of dams and rubbish and excavates your raw materials without giving value.
“It is our responsibility to collaborate and cooperate to ensure that these metals and minerals bring value to us, bring technology to us, and we can do it. It is how much each country will put into the research, development and refinery. I don’t see reasons we cannot demand centralisation of that conversation somewhere on the continent. So why not utilise that in our research and development and knowledge-based economy to enhance the quality of life and bring prosperity to our people.”
Emphasising that Africa possessed enormous mineral wealth that should be strategically harnessed to drive industrialisation, create jobs and accelerate economic transformation across the continent, the President, said the era of exporting raw minerals without local processing and beneficiation must give way to a new model that encourages investment in local industries, technology transfer and the development of value chains that retain wealth within Africa.
Alake, who had earlier expressed gratitude to the President for his exemplary leadership under the Renewed Hope Agenda, said the gesture had shown support for Nigeria’s mineral sector, especially in the local value-addition and economic diversification drive, where artisanal miners are empowered.
He told the President: “You encouraged us to look at the focal point of the establishment of this group, which is to ensure that the African natural resources, especially with regards to minerals, critical matters, are localised, the beneficiation coming directly to Africans generally.
“You charged us that we should set our sails very high and ensure that local value addition is a pivot around which all the objectives of this organisation should revolve.
“So, sir, we have gone implemented your charge and we are quitted that today local value addition is reverberating all over Africa.”
He added that some member countries have gone ahead to ban the export of raw minerals.
He explained members of the body were in Abuja for the Fifth edition of the African Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit (AFNIS 2026), to push for a new continental approach to resource management and industrial development.
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