Author: Abimbola Ogunaike

Ogun State Governor and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prince Dapo Abiodun, on Friday, 21 August, 2026 formally welcomed hundreds of former members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC), including party leaders across the nine local government areas of Ogun East Senatorial District, into the ruling APC. The defectors were received at an elaborate reception held at the Ojude-Oba carnival ground in Ijebu-Ode, which was filled to capacity with APC members, supporters and the new entrants. Welcoming the defectors, Governor Abiodun described their decision to join the APC as a demonstration that they…

By Olalekan Oni The outcome of the recently concluded Osun State governorship election offers an opportunity to undertake a broader empirical assessment of the electoral performance of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Rather than interpreting the Osun result as an isolated political event, the more meaningful approach is to examine it as part of a larger sequence of off-cycle elections conducted since the emergence of the Tinubu administration in May 2023 Sometimes, politics is best understood not by the noise around the ballot box, but by the numbers that emerge from it. Since President Tinubu assumed office, the country has witnessed eight off-cycle governorship elections across eight states and four geopolitical zones. Here is the breakdown: In Bayelsa State, Duoye Diri of the PDP won with 175,196 votes, while Timipre Sylva of the APC had 110,108 votes. In Imo State, Hope Uzodinma of the APC recorded a landslide victory with 540,008 votes, while Samuel Anyanwu of the PDP came a distant second with 71,503 votes. In Kogi State, Usman Ododo of the APC came atop with 446,237, while Murtala Ajaka of the SDP came second with 259,052. In Edo State, Monday Okpebholo of the APC won with 291,667 votes, and Asue Ighodalo of the PDP came second with 247,274 votes. In Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the APC was victorious with 366,781 votes, while Agboola Ajayi of the PDP came second with 117,845 votes. In Anambra State, Charles Soludo of the APGA recorded a resounding triumph with 422,664 votes, while Chukwuma Umeoji of the APC came a distant second with 99,445 votes. In Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji of the APC triumphed with 319,224 votes, while Wole Oluyede of the PDP came a distant second with 40,543. In the recently concluded Osun State gubernatorial contest, Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party came first with 511,067, while Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji of the APC came second with an impressive 444,815 votes Of these eight governorship elections conducted since Tinubu became President, APC won five; PDP won one; APGA won one; and Accord won one. The eight elections collectively produced 4,875,767 votes, of which APC candidates secured 2,618,585, approximately 53.7%. And remember: these were battles fought across North Central, South East, South South and South West. APC won convincingly in Imo, Ondo, Ekiti, Edo and Kogi. It competed strongly in Bayelsa, where PDP retained the state, and fought a remarkably close contest in Osun, where Accord eventually prevailed. The only state where APC recorded a genuinely poor showing was Anambra, won by APGA. But there is another statistic the opposition would rather not discuss. In every one of these eight states, APC finished either first or second. Not third. Not fourth. Not scattered into political irrelevance. First or second; every single time. That is not the record of a party that has disappeared from the political map. That is the record of a party that remains consistently competitive across multiple regions of the country. Now, let’s look at the National Assembly by-elections. The governorship figures are only one part of the story. Since the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly, there have been 19 National Assembly by-election contests considered in this scorecard. And the result? APC — 15 wins, PDP — 3 wins, APGA — 1 win. That means APC won 15 out of 19, representing approximately 78.9% of the National Assembly by-election seats in this tally. Let that sink in. The same opposition that routinely announces the imminent collapse of APC has watched the ruling party win nearly four out of every five National Assembly bye-election seats in this record. And this is not confined to one geopolitical zone. It is a national electoral footprint. Now put both scorecards together, combine the two categories: Governorship elections: 8; National Assembly bye-elections: 19. Total electoral contests: 27. Out of these, APC won 5 governorship victories and 15 National Assembly seats — 15. That gives APC 20 victories out of 27 contests; approximately 74.1%, while the PDP and other opposition parties collectively accounted for the remaining seven victories, around 16% So when the opposition says APC has been rejected nationally, the obvious question is: Rejected where? Because the electoral record since Tinubu assumed office tells a substantially different story. APC has won governorships in the South East, South-South, South West and North Central. It has remained either first or second in every one of the eight off-cycle governorship contests listed above. And in the National Assembly bye-election scorecard, it has won 15 of 19 seats. That is not perfection. No political party wins every election. But politics is not a mathematics of permanent invincibility. It is a contest of electoral competitiveness, geographical spread, organisational strength, and the capacity to remain relevant when the votes are counted. A fox that cannot always catch the hare still commands respect for how close it always comes. And then came the political realignments. There is an even more interesting dimension when we begin looking toward 2027. Of the states listed above, Bayelsa Governor Duoye Diri has since moved to the APC. In Anambra, Governor Charles Soludo has publicly endorsed President Tinubu for a second term. And in Osun, Governor Ademola Adeleke has also publicly aligned himself with the President’s re-election bid. Politics is dynamic. Alliances change. Politicians move. Interests realign. But those developments make one thing clear: The political map heading into 2027 is not the same map the opposition is still campaigning against. And this is where the opposition needs to be careful. It is easy to mistake social-media noise for electoral strength. It is easy to mistake criticism of government for rejection of a political party. It is easy to look at one election, particularly Osun, and declare that APC has been swept away. But serious political analysis requires looking at the aggregate evidence. Eight governorship elections. Nineteen National Assembly by-election contests. Twenty APC victories in this combined scorecard. 20 out of 27. That is approximately 74.1%. So, remind me again: Where exactly is the electoral collapse? And if the opposition wants to argue that the 2027 presidential election will be different, that is legitimate. Elections are won on election day. Conclusively, in scientific terms, the available evidence points more convincingly to electoral resilience than electoral decline. Politically, it means the APC enters the 2027 cycle with substantial organisational and electoral advantages. The challenge before the party is to consolidate those advantages, learn from its defeats and prevent isolated setbacks from developing into a wider trend. The broader electoral record tells the story more clearly than Osun alone: under Tinubu, APC has not achieved perfection—but it has achieved something arguably more important for a governing party: repeated proof that it can compete, win, retain and recover political ground across Nigeria’s most closely watched off-cycle electoral contests. The conclusion, therefore, is not that APC is unbeatable. It is that the party has performed exceptionally well by the more rigorous standard of cumulative electoral resilience. Osun may have interrupted the winning sequence, but it has not fundamentally altered the larger trajectory. If anything, it provides the APC with valuable diagnostic information ahead of 2027: where its structures are weak, where internal cohesion is necessary, and where opposition alliances can successfully exploit its vulnerabilities. Oni, a social commentator, wrote from Gbajobi Street, Ikeja, Lagos.

Former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke has opened up about one of the more unusual rumours that followed him during the build-up to the 2007 presidential election — a claim that he was an operative of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency. Duke shared the story while recounting the political calculations and behind-the-scenes events that shaped his relationship with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his own bid to play a bigger role in the 2007 presidential race. According to him, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had approached him before the election about the possibility of forming a presidential ticket. Duke…

The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, (NDDC), Dr Samuel Ogbuku, has been conferred with the Fellowship of the Nigerian Institute of Management (FNIM), the Institute’s highest professional membership grade, in recognition of his leadership, professional excellence and contributions to national development. The conferment took place during the investiture ceremony of the Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered), at the 2026 Fellows’ Award and Spouses’ Day, held in Lagos as part of activities marking the institute’s 65th anniversary. In his remarks after receiving the Fellowship, Ogbuku described the recognition as a call to greater responsibility. He expressed his appreciation…

By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the Saturday, 15 August, 2026 governorship poll in Osun State, Bola Oyebamiji, popularly known as AMBO, has disclosed that his party is still reviewing the outcome of the election and will soon announce its next line of action after completing its assessment. Oyebamiji, who lost the election to incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party, made this disclosure while speaking with journalists on Friday, 21 August, 2026 after a closed-door meeting with his party’s national leader, President Bola Tinubu, at the State House, Abuja. He explained that the…

By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has commended the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, for advocating peace following his recent visit to President Bola Tinubu, describing the initiative as a positive tone after weeks of a heated campaign and election season. The Governor, who also met with President Tinubu on Thursday, 20 August, 2026 disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday, 21 August, 2026 by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, noting that the peace advocacy was a welcome development for the people of Osun, who endured trauma and violence in the months leading up…

By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola The Kaduna State Police Command has rescued 75 kidnapped victims, including men, women and children, who were abducted by armed men in Folwaya Village, near Birnin Gwari. The victims, identified as Fulani travellers, were abducted while travelling in commercial buses on Wednesday, 19 August, 2026, at about 5:30pm, following an attack by unknown gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles and other sophisticated weapons. The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Mansir Hassan, disclosed this in a statement, explaining that the operation to rescue the victims was carried out following information received from the National Union of Road Transport…

By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola The Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) has raised the alarm over the circulation of fake recruitment links on social media and other online platforms, warning Nigerians against falling victim to fraudsters posing as recruitment agents. The Commission, in a statement issued on Friday, 21 August, 2026 by its Head of Press and Public Relations, Ibraheem Zakariyya, said members of the public risked exposing their personal information and losing money by responding to unauthorised recruitment advertisements. It urged prospective applicants to treat any recruitment message that cannot be traced to the Commission’s official communication channels as suspicious.…

By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola Two officers of the Ondo State Security Network Agency, Amotekun Corps, have been killed in an ambush by gunmen in Akure, the state capital. The officers were attacked on Tuesday, 11 August, 2926 while emerging from their base along the Ago-Oyinbo farming area, around Ala Daadaa in Akure North Local Government Area, Ondo State, with the assailants engaging them in a fierce exchange of gunfire. The spokesperson for the Ondo State Amotekun Corps, Jimoh Adeniken, disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday, 21 August,2026 saying the operatives were attacked suddenly while carrying out their duties.…

By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola Nigerian music executive Michael Collins Ajereh, popularly known as Don Jazzy, has said singer Ayra Starr changed his life, years after he discovered her through an Instagram freestyle and signed her to Mavin Records. Don Jazzy made the disclosure on Friday, 21 August, 2026 while reacting to a post on X by a user, @_Fabianszn, who shared an old photograph of Ayra Starr and praised the music executive for helping to shape her career. The user had suggested that Don Jazzy’s intervention had saved Ayra Starr from remaining a kindergarten teacher, prompting the Mavin boss to…