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Defections: Bamidele Absolves Tinubu of coercing defectors to join APC

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele
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…Says APC Building Govt of National Unity

Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele on Tuesday justified the defection of all federal lawmakers from Kebbi State to the All Progressives Congress (APC), noting that the ruling party “is now running a government of national unity.”

Bamidele, currently representing Ekiti Central in the upper chamber, noted that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not coerce any member of the opposition political parties to defect to the APC contrary to public criticism.

He made this clarification at the Senate Chamber, National Assembly Complex, Abuja on Tuesday when all federal lawmakers from Kebbi State formally announced their defection to the APC.

The formal announcement was witnessed by the APC National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje; Governor of Kebbi State, Alhaji Nasir Idris and APC National Organizing Secretary, Alhaji Sulaiman Argungu, among others.

Senator Adamu Aliero, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, Senator Garba Maidoki and all members of the House of Representatives had at the weekend informed President Tinubu of their decision to join the ruling party at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Consequently, all the federal lawmakers from the Northwest state formally announced their defection from the PDP to the APC at the Senate Chamber, Abuja yesterday in the presence of the party’s key national leaders.

After their announcement on Tuesday, Bamidele defended the defection of the federal lawmakers to the APC, noting that their decision was based on the overriding public interest and had nothing to do with turning Nigeria into a one-party state.

He, thus, noted that the ruling party “will not close our doors to anyone intending to join the party. In the same way, we will not also discriminate against anyone either on the basis of religion, tribe or any other factor. Our doors will continue to be open for more people to join at all levels.

“In the meantime, we will continue to work with the members of the minority political parties. It is not by sheer coincidence that virtually all political parties from the Young Progressives Party (YPP) to the Peoples Democratic Party have to join the ruling APC.

“Even APGA, which has not joined the ruling party, has also graciously nominated and donated a honourable minister of state to the Federal Government of Nigeria under the APC administration. That is to say what we now are running is a government of national unity,” he said.

Bamidele specifically commended the defectors for their decision to join the ruling APC while reflecting on how the PDP was coercing members of the opposition parties to defect to its fold when it was in government at the federal level.

He said: “We were all in this country when PDP was the ruling party. We saw all the things that happened under the PDP in an attempt to get more states, more seats in the Senate and more seats in the House of Representatives. We are not at the polls. No one is being coerced.

“If anyone is coerced, definitely the person is not Senator Adamu Aliero. All of us know that the person cannot be Senator Yahaya Abdullahi that will be co-opted. Neither will Senator Garba Maidoki with a stint in the private sector before he ventured into politics will defect to APC without clear conviction. They are not all in politics so that they can feed themselves and families.

“As far as we are concerned, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi that I know will rather stay in opposition and be very loud. They all recognise that this is not the time for grandstanding. This is the time for all of us to work together to take Nigeria to the next level.

“One of the defectors has been privileged to be the Governor of Kebbi State, precisely from 1999 to 2007. He even served as the Honourable Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Today, he is the most ranking member of the Senate.

“Another one has served as the Leader of the Senate in the 9th National Assembly. These are people who know what they are doing. They can never mislead the people of Kebbi State. They can never mislead Nigeria.

“For us in APC, this is a wonderful development. For those who are keenly watching political developments, rest assured that at the end of the day, this can only be for the good and greatness of Nigeria. To the rest of our colleagues on the minority isle, we will continue to work together for the progress of Nigeria.

“I say it again for the umpteenth time. Those who refer to this parliament as a rubber stamp parliament should note that we are at a very critical stage of our national life when all hands must be on deck.

“Today, it is not about which political party you belong to. Once you are in this hallowed chamber, it does not matter which political party you belong to. What matters to us all is the overriding public interest. In the course of collectively serving overriding public interests, three of our colleagues saw the need to cross to the ruling APC.’’

 

 

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Oyebanji Deserves Second Term Over Outstanding Performance — Outreach Team

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The Special Outreach Team led by the Ekiti State Commissioner for Environment, Chief Mrs. Tosin Aluko, has joined their counterparts in the Ekiti South Senatorial District for a mobilisation campaign in support of Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s second term bid in Ise/Orun Local Government Area of the state.

 

The campaign, which took place in Ise-Ekiti, attracted party supporters, women leaders and stakeholders from the local government area, all expressing support for Governor Oyebanji ahead of the June 20 governorship election.

 

Speaking on behalf of the outreach team in Ise/Orun, Hon. Mrs. Oluremi Ajayi Babinton said the group had continued to work tirelessly across Ekiti State under the leadership of Chief Mrs. Tosin Aluko to canvass support for the governor.

 

Babinton explained that although the group was not politically motivated, members had resolved to support Governor Oyebanji because of what she described as his outstanding performance in office.

 

She assured that the people of Ise/Orun were fully prepared to vote massively for the governor’s second term, expressing confidence that the local government would deliver overwhelming support for the All Progressives Congress candidate.

 

Responding, Chief Mrs. Tosin Aluko appreciated the leaders, women and supporters present at the gathering for their unwavering commitment to Governor Oyebanji’s administration.

 

She also conveyed the appreciation of the wife of the governor to the people for their continued love and support for the administration.

 

The commissioner further urged residents to come out in large numbers to welcome Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, during her scheduled visit to the state on Saturday.

 

She also sensitised the people on the need to vote for Governor Biodun Oyebanji in the forthcoming June 20 election.

 

Among dignitaries present at the event were Hon. Mrs. Omolayo Fayose and Hon. Bukola Olowolaju.

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Stakeholders Reject Result Outcome as Irregularities Bewildered PRP Presidential Primary

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By Our Correspondent

The Peoples Redemption Party, PRP Presidential Primary is marred by irregularities as insiders and stakeholders said the Party is abandoning its own founding principle, engineering election process to suit particular candidate.

According to a well-informed party insider the outcome of the Presidential primary election does not reflect the actual account of what happened, saying that the outcome was engineered and the inflation was not unintentional disorder but a deliberate plan orchestrated to deliver the nomination to a preferred candidate in service of a prearranged ticket.

Those same insiders point to reported plans for Mr. Duke to run alongside Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed, younger brother of the National Chairman, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed.

“We do not state these motives as proven fact. We state them as serious allegations raised by people positioned to know, allegations that the party’s leadership now has an obligation to answer rather than ignore.” The statement added,

The People Redemption Party conducted its presidential primary on May 25th, 2026 under guidelines it issued just one day before the election. The explicit guidelines said only members whose names appeared on the official membership register submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission as of 4 May 2026 were eligible to vote. That register was the governing document. It was the single source of truth agreed by all parties before a single ballot was cast.

Result declared as against that register, defies the fundamental tenet of mathematics.

For example, in Gombe State, a register of 348 members produced 1,431 votes, a 311 percent difference, with more than 1,000 ballots. In Bauchi State, a register of 593 members produced 760 votes, 167 more ballots than there were people permitted to cast vote. In Kwara State, 55 registered members somehow produced 82 votes, an excess of nearly 50 percent. These are only a few examples from the results released.

According to eye-witness, collation at the party’s National Headquarters was itself halted amid widespread irregularities, raising even deeper concerns about the integrity of the overall process.

Across these states, 996 registered members produced 2,273 votes. That is 1,277 ballots that correspond to no eligible voter on the party’s own INEC-approved list. More than half of the total declared vote did not lawfully exist.

According to the statement released by one of the Aspirant, Dr. Ufere, “The phantom votes were not random. They broke overwhelmingly, in state after state, in favour of a single aspirant, Mr. Donald Duke, a man who joined the People Redemption Party only in the days immediately before the primary, having defected from another platform on the eve of the exercise. The pattern is consistent and lopsided enough to demand an explanation the party has so far refused to give.

“The questions deepen when one considers the candidate himself. Mr. Duke did not campaign for a single day of this contest. By available accounts, he was outside the country while the election was being conducted. He joined the People Redemption Party in secrecy after the relevant deadlines had already been breached. He openly offered to refund rival aspirants the costs they had incurred if they would step aside and allow him to emerge as a consensus candidate.

Also, according to a statement by the Yakubu Muhammed Kingsley YMK Nigeria Presidential Campaign Team, signed by the Director, Media and Communication, Prince Abdulrahman Obaje; “if internal democracy can be sacrificed so easily within PRP, then what moral right does the party have to promise Nigerian’s change, justice, fairness, and good governance?

The statement further revealed that the reason why they joined PRP is because of the believed that the party has over-grown money politics, political manipulation, imposition, electoral irregularities, and elite control of democratic processes.

“We believed that PRP was founded on the ideology of Justice, Equality, Accountability, Transparency, People-driven politics, And protection of the ordinary masses.

But today, many of our loyal members are asking painful questions: that

  • HAS THE PARTY ABANDONED ITS ORIGINAL IDEOLOGY?
  • HAS THE VOICE OF THE ORDINARY MEMBERS BEEN REPLACED BY THE POWER OF MONEY AND ARRANGEMENT?
  • HAS PRINCIPLE BEEN SACRIFICED FOR POLITICAL CONVENIENCE?

If genuine concerns raised across the states regarding irregularities, transparency, and credibility are ignored, then confidence in the internal democratic process of the party may continue to weaken.

The Chairman, Media and Communication of the Presidential Campaign Team, Alhaji Suleman Yunusa further said, “A political party cannot successfully fight national injustice while ignoring concerns about fairness within its own structure.

“This moment requires courage, transparency, accountability, and sincere leadership.

The statement charges the leadership of the party to immediately retrack its steps to protect its dignity and integrity.

The statement further said, “The current leadership of PRP still has an opportunity to prove that:

  • The party belongs to the people,
  • Rules still matter,
  • Internal democracy still matters,
  • and justice still matters.

“History will remember whether the party defended its founding principles — or abandoned them when it mattered most, because Justice strengthens institutions, Transparency builds trust and Internal democracy protects party credibility.”, the statement concluded.

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APC Women Rally: Remi Tinubu Drums Support for Oyebanji

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Nigeria’s First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, is expected in Ekiti State on Saturday, May 30, 2026, for a one-day working visit aimed at inaugurating projects and mobilizing support for Governor Biodun Oyebanji ahead of the state governorship election.

 

According to a press release issued by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Yinka Oyebode, the First Lady, who is also the National Chairman of the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), will be accompanied by some state First Ladies and top government officials during the visit.

 

She is expected to be received by Governor Oyebanji, the Ekiti State First Lady, Olayemi Oyebanji, as well as other top government functionaries in the state.

 

As part of her itinerary, Senator Tinubu will commission a newly constructed ICT Centre at Ekiti State University, facilitated through her Renewed Hope Initiative.

 

The First Lady is also scheduled to meet with traditional rulers under the umbrella of the Ekiti State Traditional Rulers’ Council.

 

Another major highlight of the visit will be the official flag-off of the All Progressives Congress Women Campaign Rally for Governor Oyebanji’s re-election bid at the Ekiti Parapo Pavilion.

 

The statement noted that the Renewed Hope Initiative has carried out over 16 interventions in Ekiti State since 2023, including financial and material empowerment programmes targeted at women, youths, students, farmers, vulnerable households, small-scale businesses and People With Disabilities.

 

Mrs Oyebanji assured that adequate arrangements had been put in place to ensure a successful and memorable visit for the First Lady and her entourage.

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