POLITICS
APC Chieftain Faults Obi’s Call for Tinubu’s Resignation
Ayoola Lawal, a former Secretary of the APC Committee of Diaspora Chairmen, has filtered calls by NDC Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, urging President Bola Tinubu to resign, saying the Nigerians should allow the ballot to decide.
Lawal, a former House of Representatives candidate, made this known in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos.
Obi, a former Anambra governor recently urged President Tinubu to step aside, arguing that the country needed a different level of leadership to confront its growing challenges.
Lawal acknowledged that Obi had raised legitimate concerns about Nigeria’s economic hardship, rising cost of living, insecurity, unemployment and declining purchasing power.
According to him, these challenges are real and continue to affect millions of Nigerians.
Lawal, however, argued that Tinubu’s administration had been working aggressively to address these inherited structural problems through a series of ambitious economic and institutional reforms.
“Anyone who has objectively followed the administration of President Bola Tinubu will acknowledge that these challenges are indeed legitimate.
“They will also recognise that the administration is working hard to confront them through far-reaching reforms aimed at stabilising the economy, strengthening institutions and laying the foundation for long-term national growth,” he said.
The APC chieftain noted that since assuming office, the Tinubu administration had implemented some of Nigeria’s most significant structural reforms, including the removal of the petrol subsidy.
He added that others were liberalisation of the foreign exchange market, fiscal and tax reforms, the establishment of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), ongoing power sector reforms and renewed investment in strategic road infrastructure.
Lawal said among others were initiatives to strengthen local government financial autonomy, digital economy reforms, expanded military recruitment and security operations, and policies designed to restore investor confidence.
He said there were major infrastructure projects, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the Sokoto-Badagry Super Highway, ongoing rehabilitation of key federal highways, railway development, and port modernisation.
The chieftain said these demonstrated that the administration was pursuing long-term development in spite of immediate economic difficulties facing the country.
While maintaining that the government should continue to be held accountable for the impact of its policies, Lawal said criticism must remain anchored on constitutional principles and democratic norms.
“In every constitutional democracy, disagreement with an incumbent administration is resolved through constitutional institutions and, ultimately, through the ballot box.
“Calling for the retirement of a sitting President, in the absence of constitutional grounds such as resignation, impeachment or incapacity, neither advances democracy nor strengthens public accountability,” he said.
Lawal questioned the practical implications of Obi’s position, asking what constitutional or national purpose would be served if a sitting President were to resign only months before another general election in a couple of months.
He said: “If Tinubu was to retire today, then for whom? And to what immediate national benefit? Nigeria is already approaching another electoral cycle.
“The democratic path is clear: allow the reforms to be assessed, let the opposition present a superior alternative, and allow Nigerians to make their decision at the ballot box. That is how constitutional democracies function.”
Lawal further argued that while the opposition had a constitutional responsibility to scrutinise government policies, it also had a duty to provide practical alternatives rather than focus on personalities.
He said Nigeria’s democracy was sufficiently mature to resolve political disagreements through elections, not through calls for the resignation or retirement of elected leaders outside the constitutional framework.
He maintained that President Tinubu’s administration should continue to be evaluated on measurable outcomes and that Nigerians remain the ultimate judges of whether the ongoing reforms have delivered on their promises.
He said: “The Tinubu administration must continue to account for every policy and every promise. Equally, the opposition must continue to perform its oversight role.
“However, whether the President deserves another mandate is a decision that belongs exclusively to the Nigerian people at the next general election-not to political rhetoric.”
Lawal said judging by all the administration had done so far, Tinubu deserved a second term to consolidate his policies and projects.
Steve Otaloro, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Public Engagement to Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State, has dismissed rumours that the governor is supporting opposition candidates against the All Progressives Congress (APC) flagbearers.
Otaloro stated this in a statement made available to journalists on Sunday in Akure.
He denied reports suggesting that Aiyedatiwa had shifted support from the APC candidates in the 2027 general election.
He noted that the clarity was necessary due to alleged reports that the governor had dumped the APC candidate for Ondo South Senatorial District, Dr Isaacs Kekemeke, for an opposition party candidate.
Otaloro described the allegation as untrue, insisting that Aiyedatiwa remained firmly committed to the APC and its candidates.
“There is no truth whatsoever in the insinuation that Governor Aiyedatiwa has abandoned the APC candidate or is supporting the candidate of another political party,” he said.
The governor’s aide said Aiyedatiwa’s political history demonstrated his longstanding commitment to the progressive political family, dating back to the Alliance for Democracy(AD) and the Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN), which eventually metamorphosed into the APC.
Otaloro noted that it would be inconsistent with the governor’s political antecedents and his current position as the leader of the APC in Ondo State for him to support an opposition candidate against his party’s candidate.
“It is inconceivable that the governor, who currently leads the APC in Ondo State, would deliberately pitch his tent against the candidate of the same party in favour of a candidate contesting on the platform of another political party,” he said.
Otaloro said the governor had not authorised anyone to speak on his behalf in support of any opposition candidate.
He urged the public to disregard any claim suggesting otherwise.
The SSA described the alleged shift in the governor’s support as “false, mischievous and politically motivated.”
He said such claims were capable of creating unnecessary tension and division within the party.
Otaloro also referred to recent comments by Kekemeke, who reportedly dismissed speculations about a disagreement between him and Aiyedatiwa.
He said the governor’s position as the leader of the party in the state required him to uphold and support the party’s candidates.
“Governor Aiyedatiwa is an APC leader, an APC loyalist and a supporter of the party’s candidates.
“He will not support any candidate against the party he leads in Ondo State,” Otaloro said. (NAN)
The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has affirmed Nasiru Sule-Garo as its senatorial candidate for Kano North Senatorial District in the 2027 general elections.
The affirmation followed the party’s decision to substitute Sunusi Danbatta as its substantive candidate for the senatorial election.
Usaini Mai-Riga, the Chairman of the party in Kano State disclosed this at a ceremony held at the party’s senatorial office on Sunday in Bichi.
He said the decision followed extensive consultations and consideration of Sule-Garo’s experience as a former member of the National Assembly.
Mai-Riga, who was represented by the party’s Zonal Vice Chairman, Alhaji Bello Yandadi, said the affirmation marked the conclusion of the party’s internal process for selecting its candidate ahead of the 2027 elections.
In his remarks, Danbatta described his withdrawal as voluntary and pledged his full support and cooperation to the candidate.
He promised to work for the success of NDC candidates in the 2027 general elections.
Accepting the nomination, Sule-Garo pledged to carry all members of the party along and provide effective representation if elected.
He appealed to voters across the district to support his candidacy and the party’s political agenda.
Sule-Garo was a three-time member of the House of Representatives representing Gwarzo/Kabo Federal Constituency.
The State Organising Secretary of the party, Alhaji Sunusi Kwankwaso, said Sule-Garo’s candidacy would strengthen the NDC’s preparations for the 2027 election in Kano North.
Kwankwaso said the party’s campaign would focus on issues affecting constituents, including economic empowerment, agricultural development, education, healthcare, infrastructure and improved representation.
From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja
It was a dark day for the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State on Friday when the party’s local government chairman, Oyewole Mayowa Solomon, reportedly slumped and died during a reconciliation meeting in Iyara, the council headquarters.
The meeting, convened by a former chairman of Ijumu Local Government Area, Funsho Olumoko was aimed at bringing together party stakeholders and leaders to promote unity and reconciliation within the APC ahead of the coming elections.
According to an eyewitness account, Solomon was actively participating in the meeting held at Iyara Town Hall when he suddenly slumped, throwing participants into confusion and panic.
Efforts were reportedly made to revive him and secure medical attention, but he was said to have died shortly afterwards in a hospital in Kabba, where he was rushed to.
The development sent shock waves through the gathering, with party leaders and other participants said to have been left devastated by the sudden death of the APC chairman.
The meeting came against the backdrop of recent efforts by APC leaders and stakeholders in Ijumu to address disagreements within the party and strengthen unity ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Our Correspondent gathered that earlier this month, APC stakeholders in the LGA had held a meeting in Iyara at which they endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo for second terms.
The stakeholders had also called for greater unity among party members, although the earlier meeting was reportedly marked by disagreements over the leadership of the local government, where the deceased and some other top government functionaries were said to have walked out of the Local government council chairman.
Olumoko, who convened Friday’s meeting, was a former chairman of the Local Government and has previously been tasked by the Ijumu Consultative Forum with helping to unite political stakeholders in the area.
The meeting was expected to bring together selected political leaders, local government and ward executives, women and youth leaders as well as government appointees from Ijumu’s 15 wards, according to the earlier notice announcing the gathering.
The death of Solomon is expected to cast a fresh shadow over ongoing efforts to reconcile the various tendencies within the Ijumu APC, coming barely two weeks after party stakeholders publicly canvassed unity and support for the APC leadership ahead of the 2027 elections.
As of the time of filing this report, the circumstances surrounding Solomon’s sudden death had not been officially disclosed, while attempts to obtain an official statement from the party on the incident are ongoing.
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