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Fubara’s fate hangs, as APC decides on 31 govs, Tinubu’s challenger, others
Siminalayi Fubara, embattled Governor of Rivers State, will know this Wednesday, if he is fit and proper to vie for the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) or end up being a one-term governor after all.
This is on account of the release of its findings by the party on its governors, National Assembly members and the only candidate challenging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the presidential ticket.
Recall that the President had been cleared by the party to recontest for the ticket on the ground of his starling records, which the APC national secretariat made it unnecessary for him to present himself for the rigours once again.
But it is not so for Osifo Stanley, his challenger the about 31 governors, 88 senators, 242 members of House of Representatives and 2,620 others who went through the party’s four-day screening rituals between May 8 and 12.
Vanguard reports that, as part of activities to meet the timelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the polls, the APC will today publish the names of cleared aspirants.
Hope Uzodimma, Imo State Governor; House of Representatives Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu; Ogun East Senator, Gbenga Daniel; former governor of Gombe State, Ibrahim Dankwambo are among those screened by the party, the report said of the exercise which saw no fewer than 2,980 aspirants for one presidential slot, 28 governorship, 109 Senate, 360 House of Representatives, and 991 state assembly positions participating.
Among those screened between May 8 and 12 were a host of serving and former governors, lawmakers and technocrats, who purchased and submitted expression of interest and nomination forms.
Among those whose fate hangs on today’s publication is Osifo Stanley, the only aspirant challenging Tinubu for the presidential ticket.
Another aspirant is Hope Uzodimma, who holds multiple positions as Imo State governor, chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum, and Chairman of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors leading President Tinubu’s re-election push.
Vanguard gathered that the APC hierarchy is under pressure to prevail on Uzodimma to drop his senatorial ambition, which they said would create crisis in the polity, adding that his winning the Imo West senatorial seat would have two positions at the same time given that his governorship will lapse in January 2028.
In Ogun State, former governor and serving Ogun East Senator, Gbenga Daniel is locked in a tough fight for the seat with serving Governor Dapo Abiodun.
Gombe State governor, Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, is also challenging Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo (his predecessor in office) for a senatorial seat in Gombe.
House of Representatives Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, who is gunning for Abia State governorship, recently fought against a petition accusing him of going to the Law School and doing the one year national youth service at the same time. His fate will also be known today
Ogun State Deputy Governor, Noimot Salako-Oyedele, has two formidable opponents in former Senator Gbolahan Dada and ex-Works Commissioner, Olayiwola Taiwo, for the APC ticket in Ogun West senatorial district.
With most of the aspirants insisting on direct primaries, kicking against consensus, and threatening fire and brimstone, if candidates were imposed, National Chairman of the party, Professor Nentawe Yiltwatda, yesterday read the riot act to unruly aspirants.
Yilwatda on Monday put aspirants seeking elective positions on the party’s platform on notice, warning that the forthcoming primaries must be conducted peacefully or sanctions will follow.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy, Abimbola Tooki, Yilwatda said: “The leadership of the party will not tolerate any act capable of disrupting the smooth conduct of the primaries.”
He noted that any aspirant or supporter found instigating violence, sponsoring unrest, engaging in anti-party activities, or attempting to undermine the integrity of the process will face severe disciplinary measures, including immediate suspension from the party.
I’m ready to face any aspirant, beat Abiodun in primaries – Daniel
Meanwhile, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, yesterday declared that he is fully prepared to contest the primary, expressing confidence that he will emerge victorious in a free and fair contest.
Daniel, who spoke during the BAT/OGD Movement Mid-Term Assessment Tour and Empowerment Programme of Ijebu-Ode Local Government, which took place in Ijebu-Ode, said no aspirant within the party could match his popularity and grassroots support across Ogun East.
The former governor maintained that the decision on who will fly the party’s flag ultimately rested with APC members at the ward level, urging party faithful not to succumb to intimidation or political pressure during the primary election.
“I have reached the point of no return in this contest. On the day of the primary election, every APC member should go to his or her ward with their membership card and vote for the candidate of their choice.
“In a free and fair primary, I will not only win, I will win overwhelmingly. The people know those who are working for them and those who truly have their interests at heart.”
Daniel alleged that some forces within the APC were planning to intimidate members and suppress voter turnout during the party primary, warning supporters against being discouraged.
“I have heard that people may be scared from coming out to vote, but they should not be intimidated. This is a democratic process and everyone has the right to participate freely,” he said.
The senator’s remarks come amid growing political tension between him and Governor Abiodun over the Ogun East senatorial seat.
The rivalry intensified recently after a meeting of APC stakeholders reportedly endorsed Abiodun as consensus candidate for the district.
Daniel, however, insisted that only party members have the constitutional right to determine the party’s candidate through the primary process.
Ogun East APC endorses Abiodun for Senate, Daniel camp kicks
However, leaders, delegates and stakeholders of the APC in Ogun East senatorial district, yesterday, presented Governor Abiodun as the consensus candidate of the zone for the senatorial election.
The endorsement, described by party leaders as a collective decision aimed at sustaining unity and ensuring quality representation for Ogun East at the National Assembly, took place in the presence of prominent APC chieftains and stakeholders across the district.
Among dignitaries at the event were the party’s consensus governorship candidate in Ogun State, Senator Olamilekan Adeola, former deputy governors Yetunde Onanuga, Segun Adesegun and Gbenga Kaka, Ogun State APC Chairman, Chief Yemi Sanusi, Deputy Chairman, Chief James Dina, Chairman of Ogun East Senatorial District, Senator Lekan Mustapha, and APC Chairman in Ogun East Zone, Dr. Adeleke Ogundoyin.
Presenting Governor Abiodun to party leaders and stakeholders, a former Deputy Governor, Mr Segun Adesegun, said members of the party across the district had unanimously adopted the governor as the APC consensus candidate for Ogun East senatorial district.
Adesegun said: “The entire Ogun East APC family has resolved to present Governor Dapo Abiodun as our consensus candidate for the 2027 senatorial election. This decision reflects the collective will of leaders and members of the party across the district.”
Responding, Governor Abiodun expressed appreciation to leaders, stakeholders and delegates of Ogun East for the confidence reposed in him, describing the consensus arrangement as a demonstration of political maturity, unity and commitment to the progress of the district and the state.
He said: “I am deeply humbled by this overwhelming support and confidence reposed in me by leaders and members of our party in Ogun East.
“This consensus arrangement underscores our collective resolve to strengthen the unity of the APC and advance the development of Ogun State.”
The endorsement has sparked reactions within the party, as media aide to former Governor Gbenga Daniel, Steve Oliyide, dismissed the move as “coercion and desperation.”
Oliyide, in a statement, said: “How many times did we endorse Senator Yayi as the governorship candidate of the party? This is the third time I am reading stories of endorsement for the Ogun East senatorial race. It is becoming too much of an endorsement and more of coercion and desperation.”
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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