Politics
APC Crisis: Pro-Oshiomhole Govs Declare War Against Fayemi, Others
The travail of the embattled National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, has split the APC Progressive Governors Forum (PGF).
A reliable source close to the pro-Oshiomhole governors’ camp told The Tide source that as a result of the crack, about 13 APC governors have declared support for the former Edo governor.
The source said the pro-Oshiomhole governors have declared war on Governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) and Abubakar Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), vowing to remove them both as helmsman of Nigeria’s Governors Forum and chairman of Progressive Governors Forum, respectively.
Oshiomhole has consistently maintained that some governors and a minister were behind his ordeal.
According to our source, “after all these days, the other faction of the NWC have been parading a letter they claimed was approved by Mr President to convene NEC meeting, all the Progressive Governors loyal to Oshiomhole have gone to meet Mr President who denied authorising such letter.
“The President assured them that he is fully with Oshiomhole and not part of any plot to remove him. He also told them that he believes in him.
“Some of the governors that were previously anti-Oshiomhole decamped because they initially thought the governor of Kebbi, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, meant well in his schemes. They realised that the plot against Oshiomhole is not good for the party and an unnecessary distraction for Mr President.
“They essentially noted that these governors fighting Oshiomhole are working for their selfish personal interest against the interest of the party. They said the forces against Oshiomhole were based on flimsy excuses of the claim that he is a dictator and highhanded. Most of them realised that those against him were pursuing narrow interests.
“That was how the pro-Oshiomhole governors resolved to support him and will not be part of any antics to remove him. They have constituted themselves into a camp to battle the anti-Oshiomhole governors.
“They said having tried everything to make the other governors understand and failed largely because they think that they are more PGF than them, they are going to prove to them that they don’t have monopoly of anything.
“Let me confirm to you that 13 governors are now backing and fully in support of Oshiomhole. They are not only going to fight them but I can confirm to you that they have resolved to move against Bagudu who has been using the PGF DG to embarrass Oshiomhole. They want to show them that Mohammed Badaru and Kayode Fayemi of Jigawa and Ekiti states respectively and Bagudu are not the only governors. They have resolved to put machinery in motion to remove Bagudu as chairman of PGF and Fayemi as Governors Forum chairman. They now see them as agents of destabilisation,” the source noted.
Similarly, the embattled APC national chairman has replied his detractors that resigning his office is the last option he is considering.
Apparently replying his detractors through a source in his camp he said: “Quitting is the last thing Oshiomhole will do. On the contrary, he is more prepared to battle his detractors more aggressively now than before.”
The camp of the APC boss has failed to confirm if he would report to office on Monday after securing the court order in Kano State to vacate his suspension.
But reacting to the plot by the pro-Oshiomhole governors against Fayemi, a top politician close to the NGF chairman who did not want his name in print said the whole story was concocted.
He told our source that Fayemi is the chairman of the 36 state governors and not of the APC alone, hence, plotting against Oshiuomhole would not confer any advantages on those planning, if any.
Meanwhile, fresh crisis is looming over who replaces Oshiomhole. While the governors are backing the former governor of Cross River State, Clement Ebri, the legislators are considering former Senate leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba.
Ebri who was a governor in 1991 stepped down for Oshiomhole at the last convention while Ndoma-Egba was secretary of the convention.
However, some party members are also rooting for the acting National Secretary to be considered for the position of acting National Chairman.
Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has renamed The Polytechnic, Ibadan as Omololu Olunloyo Polytechnic, Ibadan, in honour of a late former governor of the State, Dr Omololu Olunloyo.
Dr Olunloyo, who died on April 6, 2025, was the pioneer Principal of the Polytechnic, Ibadan, while he also served as Governor of Oyo State between October 1 and December 31, 1983.
Governor Makinde made the announcement at the state interdenominational funeral service held yesterday in honour of the late former governor at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Liberty Road, Ibadan.
Governor Makinde said Dr Olunloyo lived an eventful life, adding that his attainment and personality could not be summarised in one sentence.
“He was not a man we could summarise in one sentence. He was a scholar, a statesman, a technocrat, a lover of culture and, above all, a man of deep conviction.
“While giving the exhortation, I was listening to Baba Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu and he said in 1983, Baba became Governor of Oyo State. Though his time in office was brief, his election victory over a popular incumbent remains a powerful testament to the trust people gave him.
“I talked about preserving and digitising his library yesterday [Wednesday] as a mark of honour to Baba Olunloyo.
“Today, we will be giving Baba another honour to immortalise him. He was the first Principal of The Polytechnic, Ibadan; that institution will now be named Omololu Olunloyo Polytechnic, Ibadan.”
Earlier in his sermon, a retired Methodist Archbishop of Ilesa and Ibadan, Ayo Ladigbolu, described the late Olunloyo as a role model with intellectual inspiration and unassailable integrity.
The cleric said the deceased also demonstrated leadership in most superior quality during his lifetime.
In attendance were the state Deputy Governor, Chief Abdulraheem Bayo Lawal; wife of a former Military Governor of the old Oyo State, Chief (Mrs) Dupe Jemibewon; wife of a former Governor of Oyo State, Chief (Mrs) Mutiat Ladoja; former Deputy Governor and PDP Deputy National Chairman (South), Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja; and former Deputy Governor, Hazeem Gbolarumi.
Others were the member representing Ibadan North-East/South-East Federal Constituency, Hon Abass Adigun Agboworin; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Otunba Segun Ogunwuyi; Oyo State Exco members; Chairman of Oyo State Elders’ Council, Dr Saka Balogun; Chairman of All Local Government Chairmen in Oyo State, Hon Sikiru Sanda; President-General of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), Chief Adeniyi Ajewole; religious leaders and family members, among other dignitaries.
Ten members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC) have countered the Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, on the reinstatement of Senator Samuel Anyanwu as National Secretary.
The dissenting members, led by the Deputy National Chairman ( South), Taofeek Arapaja, in a joint statement, said no organ of the opposition party could overturn the decision of the 99th meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC).
The dissenting NWC members include Arapaja; Setonji Koshoedo, Deputy National Secretary; Okechukwu Obiechina-Daniel, National Auditor; Debo Ologunagba, National Publicity Secretary; Ologunagba; Woyengikuro Daniel, National Financial Secretary and Ahmed Yayari Mohammed, National Treasurer.
Others are Chief Ali Odefa, National Vice Chairman (South East); Emmanuel Ogidi, Caretaker Committee Chairman (South South); Mrs. Amina Darasimi D. Bryhm, National Woman Leader and Ajisafe Kamoru Toyese, National Vice Chairman (South West).
The group also insisted that contrary to the position of the acting National Chairman, the 100th NEC meeting of the party would be held on June 30 as earlier scheduled.
The statement read: “The attention of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been drawn to a press briefing by the acting National Chairman, Amb. Umar Damagum, today Wednesday, June 25, wherein he attempted to overturn the resolution of the 99th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting which scheduled the 100th NEC meeting for Monday, June 30.
“The acting National Chairman in the said press briefing also reportedly announced that Senator Samuel Anyanwu has been asked to resume as National Secretary of the party contrary to the resolution of the 99th NEC meeting, which referred all matters relating to the office of the National Secretary to the 100th NEC meeting.
“The pronouncements by the acting National Chairman have no foundation as no organ of the party (including the NWC), individual or group has the power to cancel, overrule, veto or vary the resolution of the National Executive Committee (NEC) under the Constitution of the PDP (as amended in 2017).
“For the avoidance of doubt, the NEC is the highest decision-making organ of the party, second only to the National Convention. By virtue of Section 31 (3) of the PDP Constitution, the resolution of the NEC to hold its 100th meeting on Monday June 30, is binding on all organs, officers, chapters and members of the party and no organ, group or individual can vary or veto this resolution of NEC.
“Furthermore, the claim by Damagum that Sen Anyanwu has been asked to resume office as the National Secretary of the party is, therefore, misleading being contrary to the resolution of NEC.
“In the light of the foregoing, the 100th NEC meeting as scheduled for Monday, June 30, has not been canceled or postponed.”
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has fired back at former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, following the latter’s scathing criticism of President Tinubu’s administration and his 2027 re-election prospects.
In an interview on live television, Mallam El-Rufai said it would take a “miracle” for President Tinubu to be re-elected in 2027, citing an internal poll that purportedly shows a 91 percent disapproval rating for the president across key regions in the country, including the South-East and the North. He also claimed that President Tinubu’s disapproval rating in Lagos stood at 78 percent.
Reacting on Wednesday via a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mr Onanuga took a swipe at the ex-governor, quoting a harsh assessment of Mallam El-Rufai’s character from former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s memoir, My Watch.
“Nasir’s penchant for reputation savaging is almost pathological,” Mr Onanuga wrote, citing Chief Obasanjo’s words. “Why does he do it? Very early in my interaction with him, I appreciated his talent. At the same time, I recognised his weaknesses; the worst being his inability to be loyal to anybody or any issue consistently for long, but only to Nasir El-Rufai.”
The presidential adviser emphasised Chief Obasanjo’s remarks that Mallam El-Rufai often tries to elevate himself by diminishing others. “He lied brazenly, which he did to me, against his colleagues and so-called friends,” Mr Onanuga continued, quoting the former President. “I have heard of how he ruthlessly savaged the reputation of his uncle, a man who, in an African setting, was like a foster father to him.”
Chief Obasanjo, who appointed Mallam El-Rufai as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory between 2003 and 2007, did not mince words in the memoir, describing Mallam El-Rufai as suffering from “small man syndrome.”
Mr Onanuga’s post is seen as a direct rebuttal to Mallam El-Rufai’s recent criticism and growing opposition role. The former governor is reportedly playing a central role in forming a new coalition to challenge President Tinubu in the 2027 general election.
In March 2025, El-Rufai officially dumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP), intensifying speculations about his 2027 political ambitions.
As the political rift deepens, Mallam El-Rufai remains one of the most vocal critics of the Tinubu administration, while Mr Onanuga and other presidential allies continue to push back against what they describe as “reckless” opposition rhetoric.