Politics
Ekiti Poll: Oni Defects To SDP
Former Governor of Ekiti State, Chief Segun Oni, has defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to contest the June 18 governorship election in the state.
This new development put to rest the rumour makings the rounds in the state that he had joined the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).
Oni who was governor between 2007 and 2010 in the state was defeated in the January 26 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary by former Chairman of the party, Bisi Kolawole, but subsequently dumped the party over alleged electoral malfeasance and irregularities during the primary.
Oni, while speaking on a private radio in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday revealed that the necessary paper work by the national leadership of the SDP for him to be the party’s candidate and his running mate would soon be concluded with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He noted that his decision to move to the SDP was as a result of the continued call by the people for him to contest the June 18 poll as a third force, saying that aggrieved politicians in the two dominant political parties are supporting him in the new political party.
The Ifaki-born politician disclosed that no fewer than four aggrieved governorship aspirants in the All Progressives Congress (APC), members of a factional group in Ekiti APC, the South West Agenda for Asiwaju 2023 (SWAGA); members of the repositioning group in the PDP and others are forming what he described as a grand collation to win the election.
“I have chosen to advance my ambition in the Social Democratic Party(SDP) because we are looking at the future not the present. The party has been around for years and won elections in this country, it is a well known party, that is the reason I chose SDP to contest the June 18, 2022 governorship election in Ekiti State. We have seen the potential in SDP because we believe it is easier to sell as a third force for Nigerians. The process to make me candidate is on going and will soon be completed,” he said.
When asked how the SDP would win without a known structure less than four months to the election, the former governor maintained that the will and aspirations of the people were the most important structure needed to defeat the APC and PDP in the state.
He expressed optimism that his achievements when he was governor coupled with the alleged impunity and injustice in the two dominant parties would sway the votes in his favour
According to him, “I want to say without any forms of contradictions, that we politicians are coming together for this project couple with the opinions of people in the streets. We are looking at a familiar terrain and a party with a potentials and also we are getting supports from people that are well known in Ekiti’s political terrain.
“Let me say that for those who are in APC, four aggrieved aspirants are working with us. In PDP, the people called repositioning group , majority of them are working with us. Also, we are working with SWAGA members, SWAGA is a strong force in APC with strong membership base.
“It is going to be a grand collation that will definitely benefit the people of Ekiti. I believe the goodwill of repositioning group, SWAGA and Segun Oni is almost enough to win election in Ekiti”.
Speaking further, Oni said, “We must come to reality of how a party is properly managed, if it is not properly managed, it won’t attract good people, that is the fact. I believe whatever is right is right . I have been around for sometime, my antecedents is there for us to see, I am not looking for what to eat but service to the people, that is how I see politics.
“It is the people that will challenge the parties, the people are superior than the APC, PDP. It is what Ekiti people want not the political parties, we are listening to what the people are saying in the streets. I worked for the people with everything I had between 2007 and 2010 when I was governor and the citizens can testify to my achievements.”
Oni who advised the people of the state to reject vote buying and other forms of inducement ahead of the poll, stated that everything possible would be done to discourage voters from trading their future on the altar of peanuts.
“We are ready for Ekiti election. We will campaign against vote-buying because it is illegal. We are not going to fold our arms and allow it work here. This condemnable act is against the people and our people must learn from what happened in the past. We must support those who can help our society to develop.
“Will the people still be eating what they got on election day for four years ? It is bad and we will campaign against it because the people are not better now in the last four years in the state, “ he said.
On what transpired during the PDP primaries, Oni reiterated that the party’s guidelines on the secret ballot system were violated, adding that he reacted to the injustice by leaving the party.
“The PDP primary election was manipulated and devoid of known guidelines in any democracy in the world. What is bad is bad, and we must not be afraid to say the truth at all times.
“The guidelines say it is a secret ballot but the ballot is being shown to the former Governor Ayodele Fayose by the delegates.
“Let me say, If a party cannot manage their processes, it is the party that should be blamed, not the people reacting to injustice. We are only reacting to the obvious injustice.”
Reacting to Oni’s claim, the Ekiti SWAGA Coordinator, Bamigboye Adegoroye, described the former Governor’s statement as untrue
According to Adegoroye, “That is not true. Members of SWAGA cannot form a coalition with Segun Oni to win any election”
“The Chairman of SWAGA in Ekiti State is Senator Tony Adeniyi, I am the coordinator of SWAGA in Ekiti State, So, nobody else could have moved SWAGA in Ekiti to anywhere. Nobody has that capacity. Segun Oni was in the PDP, Segun Oni has no capacity to talk about SWAGA at all.
“He can’t talk about SWAGA at all, he left PDP. You can see the act of desperation. Last week, he (Segun Oni) was talking about APGA, this week, he is talking about SDP, maybe he will be talking about Labour Party next week.
“That is the act of desperation of Segun Oni that we are talking about which people have to guard against. He should not be taken seriously. He sounds a little confused and so you don’t take him seriously”.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has insisted on the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise yesterday (Sunday) despite calls by some opposition political parties and civil society organisations for an extension over concerns that millions of citizens could be excluded from the 2027 general elections.
In a notice issued on its X (formerly Twitter) handle on Saturday, the commission reminded the public that the exercise would end on Sunday, July 26, with designated registration centres open from 9am to 3pm.
“Your future won’t wait. Neither should you. The Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise ends Sunday, 26 July 2026,” the Commission stated.
INEC also reminded prospective voters that they could complete the registration process online through its dedicated CVR portal or visit designated INEC offices and registration centres nationwide for physical assistance.
The new Electoral Act stipulates that INEC is required to stop voter registration, updating and revision of the voters’ register 90 days before an election to allow for data clean-up, the printing of Permanent Voter Cards and other logistical preparations.
The law also requires the Commission to display the voters’ register for claims and objections within the stipulated period to enable eligible Nigerians to challenge omissions and errors and help ensure the credibility of the final register for the polls.
The INEC National Commissioner on Information and Voter Education, Mr Mohammed Haruna, told The Tide source that the Commission would not extend the deadline, stressing that the registration exercise had to close to allow the electoral body to begin cleaning the data already collected.
“By midnight on Sunday, voter registration ends. There won’t be any extension. There are so many things that we need to do at the back end. We have to draw a line; otherwise, we won’t be able to produce a clean copy of what has been posted,” he said.
Mr Haruna explained that the commission’s Information Technology team and the Voter Registration Department would begin processing the data immediately after the closure of the registration window.
He said INEC would deploy its Automated Biometric Identification System to detect and remove multiple registrations before the provisional voters’ register is displayed for public scrutiny.
“We have this automatic biometric system that will check whether somebody has registered more than once. They will publish the register for claims and objections. That is, if anybody thinks a name shouldn’t be on the register, or if he has some claims, for instance, that his name has been omitted or some of his details are incorrect,” he said.
According to him, the final number of newly registered voters would only be known after the biometric verification and the claims and objections process.
“So, it’s after all that has been done that we will have a final figure, which we will now add to the existing 93 million or so. That will then become the voters’ register. We are mandated to give every political party a copy ahead of the election,” Mr Haruna added.
Responding to concerns over the number of Nigerians who may be excluded from the 2027 electoral process by the closure, the national commissioner said INEC could only account for eligible citizens who presented themselves for registration.
He added that the commission had recorded registrations through its online platform, physical registration centres and INEC offices across the 774 local government areas.
According to a public announcement signed by Mr Ariyo Rufus, Head of Department, Voter Education, Publicity, Gender and Inclusivity on behalf of Mr Oluwatoyin Babalola, the INEC Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), the said exercise is aimed at assessing its operational readiness and testing the efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) ahead of the governorship poll.
INEC stated that the exercise would simulate Election Day accreditation procedures but clarified that no voting would take place during the exercise.
The commission explained that “the mock accreditation would be conducted in selected polling units spread across the three senatorial districts of Osun State, covering Osun Central, Osun East and Osun West.
“In Osun Central Senatorial District, the selected local government areas are Osogbo, Olorunda, Ifelodun and Boripe, with designated polling units identified for the exercise.
“For Osun East Senatorial District, the exercise will take place in selected polling units across Ilesa West, Ilesa East, Oriade and Obokun local government areas.”
INEC also listed Egbedore, Ede North, Ede South and Ejigbo local government areas as the selected councils for the mock accreditation exercise in Osun West Senatorial District.
The commission urged all registered voters whose polling units were selected to participate in the exercise, stressing that only holders of valid Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would be accredited.
“This exercise is designed to test the functionality and efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) under conditions similar to Election Day. There shall be no voting during the exercise,” the Commission stated.
INEC reaffirmed its appreciation to residents of Osun State for their continued cooperation and support throughout the electoral process.
INEC also assured political parties, the media, civil society organisations and other stakeholders of the Commission’s commitment to conducting a free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive governorship election in Osun State.
Mr Dare made the remark while criticizing Alhaji Abubakar for hiring a United States of America lobbyist with $1.2 million, in preparation for the 2027 elections.
In a statement he personally signed, Mr Dare said the former vice president can’t take Nigeria down the path of self-destruction.
The statement read in part: “Worse still, for a man who presumes to offer leadership to Africa’s most populous nation, his recent resort to grievance offshoring, outsourcing political warfare to Washington and reportedly paying $1.2 million to an American lobbying firm to peddle petitions against a sitting Nigerian President, stands as an affront to Nigeria’s sovereignty and a vote of no confidence in its democratic institutions.
“It is also a stinging slight, an implicit condescension directed at generations of Nigerian journalists, policy analysts, academics, and public intellectuals who have spent decades analysing, critiquing, and carrying the burden of the nation’s democratic evolution.
“The Atiku Abubakar of today cuts a pitiable figure, a grotesque portrait of what a politician becomes when ambition overwhelms judgment and every political faculty becomes programmed for self-destruction.
“No, Atiku cannot take Nigeria down that path with him. He must travel it alone. But first, Nigerians deserve Atiku Abubakar’s report card. Charity, they say, begins at home, not in Washington.
“Nigerians deserve to know whether the Atiku Abubakar who has long presented himself as a democrat is, in reality, a politician of many colours. He has erected for himself a throne built simultaneously on sand and bayonets. It is time to explode the bayonets.”
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