POLITICS
I’ll be a Life-changing President-Ohaneye
Uju Ohaneye is so far the only female presidential aspirant among the 25 who are presently in the race for bear the flag of the All Progress Congress (APC).
In this interview with Politics Editor, Jude Opara, Ohaneye spoke on her motivation and the challenges ahead.
She did not leave out her Kenuj Shower of Love Outreach, a platform with which she touches the less privileged.Just recently you submitted your nomination forms for the presidential ticket of the APC. What are you doing here today in a hospital?
After submitting my forms as a presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), I decided to come here and give my thanksgiving to God.
I usually come here often, but today’s own is special. I decided to do it after my outing yesterday for a successful filling and submitting my forms to the party, I decided to come here and thank my God for even giving me the means to pay for the forms. Whenever I am happy, I usually go to hospitals to see how I can assist those that are sick by paying for their medical bills and surgeries.How many patients have you been able to visit and intervene in their matter?
I have visited a number of people but there is one particular case of a man that was involved in an accident and nobody knows where he is from, nobody knows his whereabouts. He is at the male trauma section of the National Hospital here and he has been here for a while and even got infected with chickenpox while they were trying to treat him. They have finished treating him of the chickenpox, he has been living off the nurses and doctors and humanitarians that come here to deposit money. The doctors say they had to treat the chickenpox before carrying out the surgery, so now that he is ready for the surgery, we have deposited the sum of N50,000 for that. The N45,000 we deposited earlier was used in treating him of the chickenpox.
There is another peculiar case of a boy who has a hole in his heart, he has been here for a while, he is living with the aid of the equipment they fixed to his heart, his bill is N179,000 they can’t let him go home until he pays the money and he is supposed to undergo a surgery costing N470,000 which he is still expected to pay. Somebody who could not pay N179,000, how can he be able to pay N470,000? Now if we leave him here and he goes home without the surgery, he may die! So what we have done is to pay for them to release him to go home and we also deposited money for them to do the surgery on the 16th of this month. So on the 17th, we have to come back here to offset the entire bill and luckily, my friend here Mrs. Onyia decided to assist him with the sum of N200,000.
Talking politics, you are one of those who obtained the APC nomination forms. Who is sponsoring you, who helped you to pay the N30 million for the form?
My husband! My husband is the man behind all these; I don’t have anybody except my husband and my children. My husband decided to support me, he has always been supporting me, he told me, ‘look I will always give you the opportunity to shine as much as God wants you to shine’ and that is what he is doing. I told him I want to do this, so he paid, and I am happy the money was paid by my husband and that shows he is supports my dream and he has been solidly behind me, so the money was paid by me and my family.
People are on the field campaigning, for instance Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in the last two or three days has visited more than four states and you are here, so how many of the states have you been to because this is a presidential race and there are over 7,000 delegates that are going to converge on Abuja, so how are you campaigning?
I will tell you I have started this campaign long ago. Most of these states they are going to now because of election, I have been there severally and donated materials and equipment. I donated and equipped health centres, I donated and equipped skills acquisition centres, I have been empowering them for a while and some of them, even if I don’t go, they will strongly stand behind me. I have people, some of these vulnerable people are human beings and they are also part of the delegates. You saw what happened when I went to submit my forms, you saw the people with me, nobody is super rich but their presence there made the difference, so I have travelled round to the places I needed to travel to, there are places I don’t need to go to before getting their support because I have been showing my presence there for over a decade.
Why do you want to become the president of Nigerian?
I want to become the president of Nigeria because for a while I have been touching lives all over the country and I don’t want to be limited to a particular region. If I become a governor, I will be limited to my state; if I become a senator, I will be limited to my constituency and those that voted for me but if I am the president, I can touch the lives of all Nigerians, I will have the power to change things for those less privileged I have been working for.
I want to do that because as the president, whatever decision I take, it will touch the entire country. I don’t even want to be a senator because to me it is a very dull job, I want activities, and I work more under stress, so I have the capacity and ability to be able to rule the country.
The women folks will always say the men are marginalizing them, now, you are one of them and probably so far the only woman to have picked the nomination forms in the APC, what are you telling your fellow women?
I am pleading with them to know that there is one thing we have to note as women: all these men that have been ruling and are still having plans to continue to rule were all delivered by women. These bandits we are talking about are women’s children, the armed robbers and kidnappers are people’s children and they were all delivered by women. So I am pleading with our women to try and protect and prevent our children from joining banditry and kidnapping or any source of crime even the infamous “Yahoo Yahoo.”
Let us all come out and stand firmly for a woman to take charge, even it is not me, let it be another woman. Let us come because if the country is better it is in the interest of our children and if it continues to degenerate, it is also our loss. We as mothers must guide our children to belong and take part in the governance of the country where they belong. That is why I am pleading with my fellow women to come out and let these men know that time has come for them to step aside because we are not satisfied, they should step aside, let women came on board and that is one of the reasons I am running.
You have been visiting hospitals, what do see considering the fact that most of our leaders have been jetting out for medical treatment, what is your opinion on the health sector and how to hope to tackle it if you become the president?
If I become the president, there are three major things I am going to tackle within six months and people will begin to feel their impact: education, health and road infrastructure. These are the three main areas of concern. I we will use cement, stone and sand that we all have in abundance in the country to fix our roads. The roads must not be tarred before they can be good and motorable. I will also indigenize the road constructions so that the indigenes in a location will have something to contribute in building and maintaining of the roads. We have seen villagers breaking stones, such stones can be used to build the roads, they will be paid and that is also a way of empowering them.
Talking about the hospitals, I will equip them and pay the doctors better. Most of the well-to-do citizens will be able to pay their bills and the doctors will be well paid. Imagine if all these people always going for medical trip abroad were to be treated here at home, that money would have remained here and the hospitals will be better equipped. So the system will run in such a way that the super rich will indirectly pay the bills of the less privileged because when they are treated and they pay well, from there the bill of the poor will be subsidized.
If you eventually pick the APC ticket, will you choose a man or woman as your running mate?
I will choose a man, and I will also advice a male candidate to choose a woman, the opposite sexes function better.
From Christopher Tom, Uyo
Non-indigence in Akwa Ibom State especially the Igbo’s community has promised to give the highest number of votes across the state to Governor Umo Eno come 2027 governorship elections in the state.
The Igbo community said they will not fail to vote massively for the Governor.
The President of Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo Akwa Ibom State Chapter, Hon.
Keyceey Chidiadi made this known while speaking with media practitioners shortly after the Uyo chapter of Igbo community unity day celebration 2025 in Uyo.He said Igbo’s scattered across the 31 local government Area of the state without any doubt seriously doing their businesses without any crisis, showcasing their love, unity among the indigence of the state while also contributing their quotas to boost the state economy.
According to him, the Igbo’s are about five thousand while some have not been recorded because they have not identified with the community and advise others to join the train before it’s too late for them.
He said their vote come 2027 is massively for Pastor Umo Eno without compromise because of his leadership style and developmental strive, showcasing true democracy carrying every individual along not minding the state or religion the people came from but stand on peace, unity among the people to benefit the dividend of democracy.
He called on Igbo’s resident in the state to make sure they vote here without going to their various states to maintain their voting strength as the highest numbers of people across the non-indigence communities in Akwa Ibom State.
He said they are law abiding citizens and not ready to accommodate or entertain any crisis, violence, because of their peaceful nature created by God, especially respect for the government of the day while corporate to preach peace in the state. He commended the community for embracing peace after 27 years of crisis without a leader among them, but now peace has restored to them across the communities in the state.
From Francis Sadhere, Delta
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Delta State Office, has announced the commencement of the display of the Preliminary Voter Register for claims and objections across the state.
According to a press release by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Etekamba Udo Umoren, the exercise will begin on Monday, 15th December 2025 and end on Sunday, 21st December 2025.
The display will take place at all the 25 Local Government Area offices of INEC in Delta State between 9:00am and 3:00pm daily.
INEC explained that the exercise is in line with the Electoral Guidelines and is aimed at correcting any anomalies that may have occurred during the recent voter registration exercise.
The Commission noted that the process is essential to producing a credible and reliable voter register, which remains a key instrument for conducting free, fair and credible elections.
The Commission urged eligible voters in the state to seize the opportunity to visit INEC offices in their respective local government areas to confirm that their names and personal details are correctly captured in the register. Voters were also encouraged to report cases of omission, errors in spelling, or any other discrepancies.
In addition, members of the public were advised to raise objections to the inclusion of names of deceased persons, underaged individuals, or any other doubtful entries found in the register.
INEC reiterated its commitment to electoral integrity and called on all Deltans to actively participate in the exercise as part of their civic responsibility.
The Commission concluded the notice with a call to action, encouraging eligible citizens to register and participate in the electoral process.
…Says Defectors to Ruling Party Will Regret
By Mike Odiakose, Abuja
A former chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Jackson Lekan Ojo has given further insight into why governor Ademola Adeleke chose the Accord Party instead of the APC when he left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
All the governors that dumped the PDP had detected to the ruling APC, including governor Simi Fubara of Rivers State who joined the party last week.
Speaking at the weekend, Dr Jackson Ojo said the people of Osun State prevailed on Governor Adeleke not to join the ruling APC when it became apparent that there was no point in remaining in PDP over the festering crisis in the PDP.
According to him, the people of Osun State already have deep hatred for the APC and joining the party was never an option for the governor.
Dr Ojo maintained that the performance and achievements of Governor Adeleke is his biggest selling point ahead of campaign for his reelection and the people of Osun State will troop into the Accord Party with him.
“Governor Adeleke trusted himself. He trusted his performance and achievements as governor of Osun State that is why he crossed over to a relatively unknown political party, the Accord Party. All of us have been talking to our people in Osun State to give him maximum support. I have featured of recent at least three times in Osun Broadcasting Corporation to talk to our people. I have been discussing about this, I have been contributing.
“I was one of the people that told the governor to go to Accord Party. I told my governor you don’t need to go to APC because the people of Osun State already hated the APC. I told him to go to any other political party, go to APGA, go to Accord Party because of your performance it will make everybody follow you. And he is going to win the election.
He added that the PDP is already a dead party and that is the reason gales of defection have been hitting the party.
He, however, warned that politicians who are defecting to the APC will regret it as they will be denied the automatic ticket that was used as bait to lure them into the party.
“I don’t think there is any miracle that can resurrect PDP today because they are already in the grave and it just to cover the earth on them. I don’t blame anybody crossing from the PDP because the party is already factionalized. But why are they all going to the APC, the APC is over saturated now. There are persons in APC before that have been fighting.
“You know I belonged to this party before and I know their modus operandi. This is a party that will tell you to go and queue and wait for your time because some people are already working before you came. APC is not a party you just cross to and they give you ticket the second day.
“When my brother who is a member of the House of A Representatives decamped from the PDP to the APC I told him it is good to decamp from the PDP but for going to the APC you are going to regret it. They promised them that they are going to give them automatic ticket but at the end of the day he went and picked the membership card but they called them and told them that crossing to the APC does not mean you are going to have automatic ticket. I hope it will not happen to Simi Fubara in Rivers State.”
Speaking on cold war in Rivers state between Governor Fubara and Lawmakers in the State, Dr Ojo declared that the loyalty of the Lawmakers should be to the people of Rivers State and not to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
“Former governor Nyesom Wike did not give life to the members of the House of Assembly that are loyal to him. Whatever he must have done for them the governor is there today and he could do better.
“The law is already there in place. Nobody should teach the governor how to settle with these people (Lawmakers). These people are not stones, they are not abstract. They are people you can call on phone, they are people you can meet. You don’t need any other person or intermediary. You have direct access to them and they have direct access to you.
“He should deploy more diplomatic ways and he has to settle with them.
“The members of the House of Assembly don’t need to be loyal to the governor, they just have to do their work according to the dictates of the law. Then the governor too has to do his work according to the dictates of the law. We are greeting or not greeting does not matter.
“What is loyalty? Loyalty of the governor and loyalty of members of the House of Assembly is to Rivers people. Greeting or no greeting, when it is time for the governor to send Bill to them he will send it, they will study it holistically and if it is for the benefit of the people of Rivers State they should approve it.
Reacting to the defection of Governor Fubara, Dr Ojo said: “Fortunately or unfortunately I am not one of his consultants. Possibly he must have consulted with his loyalists. I monitored his statement when he said those of you that suffered with him here and there that now we are going to the APC. He knows the best why he decamped to the APC.
“Decamping to APC does not matter anything to me because a political party is just a vehicle. Every achievement of Fubara in Rivers State today is not because he belonged to the PDP. If all his co-travelers are well contacted and they are well informed that the situation will not boomerang against them, then I say kudos to them, congratulations to them.
“But I hope whatever chased them out of PDP will not chase them out of APC.”
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