Politics

Obasanjo Hails Tinubu’s Economic Reforms, Affirms Interest For Ogun Gov’ship

Published

8 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, has thrown her weight behind the economic reforms of President Bola Tinubu, saying recent policies have stabilised the economy and strengthened the purchasing power of Nigerians.

Speaking during a media parley on Saturday at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, the former senator said there had been “a lot going on, positively” in the last two and a half years.

“I think a lot is going on, positively. One is the stabilisation of the Naira. What that does is that people can predict how much money they will spend on imports and how much income they will get. So stabilisation of the Naira is a big one,” she said.

“I think that the economic stability cannot be overstated, because when people can predict income and exports, things get better, because then you are not buying something at one price due to dollar instability and having to sell it at a higher price when it changes.

“So for economic stability, there has been progress and there has been some security improvement, mainly because now we have a lot of collaboration going on. There is international collaboration, the President’s visits to different countries for trade, and economic development is rising and that is the key to everything we do.”

Senator Obasanjo also defended the proposed Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, describing it as a strategic investment that would unlock growth along the corridor and ease traffic pressure on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

“Although there was a lot of negativity around the Lagos-Calabar Coastal road, it is a developmental move that will help to generate income as it helps to connect the ports within the axis,” she said.

“It will also help to ease transportation on the Lagos-Ibadan corridor. Right now, to go north in Nigeria, to go east, you have to come through Ogun State on that road.

“Yes, it’s good that they go through, but if they’re going through and congesting that road, it’s also a problem, right? So that road will help us decongest Ogun State roads in ways that will actually help us with development, too.”

On her political future, the former Ogun Central senator made it clear she is in the race for the 2027 governorship election to win.

Her ambition, she said, is neither symbolic nor a placeholder for another aspirant. She intends to contest for the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket and succeed Governor Dapo Abiodun.

Senator Obasanjo pledged to deepen industrialisation in Ogun, citing the growing number of factories in the state.

“The current administration has made impressive moves with industrialisation, the number of factories we have, because with those factories come jobs, opportunity and taxation,” she said.

“But also, those resources can then be turned into products. So we are becoming the industrialisation hub of Nigeria.

“That was how China started. Factories were taken from America to China. So now China is bringing factories here. This is an opportunity for the state to become the Guangdong of Nigeria.”

She identified agriculture as another priority, stressing Ogun’s proximity to Lagos and the ports as a clear advantage.

“Also important is agriculture. We need to do even more in that regard because we do have a lot of land and we are close to Lagos, which is a city where people need a lot of food. Since we all have to eat every day, let us do that,” she said.

“And also, we are close to the port. So if we produce food for export or industry for export, we are in a good position to send products across the world. So focusing on agriculture as we add value to agricultural products will be something for us to do.”

Explaining her decision to join the APC, Senator Obasanjo said political relationships influenced her move.

“One major reason why I settled for the APC is that some of the chieftains whom I knew before from other parties are now with the ruling party. I felt comfortable being among these people,” the former senator noted.

“And one other very important thing that attracted me was that all the people who communicated with me and reached out to me after I left politics are now in the APC.

“So it’s like, if you leave a party and nobody reaches out to you, why would you go back there? Does that make sense? Even in politics, relationships are very, very important.”

Politics

LP Crisis: Ex-NWC Member Dumps Dumps Abure Faction

Published

7 hours ago

March 2, 2026

The Tide

A former National Organising Secretary of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Clement Ojukwu, has expressed regret that the several legal cases brought against the party since the 2023 general elections have impacted the party’s performance.

Mr Ojukwu, who recently returned to the interim National Working Committee led by Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, noted that the party had 34 elected members in the House of Representatives, eight Senators, and 80 members at the state Houses of Assembly after the 2023 general elections.

“Now we lost all of them,” he said. “I don’t think we have as many as five members in the National Assembly.”

The former national officer of the LP talked to journalists in Abuja and said he chose to join the caretaker committee led by Senator Nenadi-Usman because they are now the officially recognized leaders of the Party.

“I chose to work with the caretaker committee to help save the Labour Party, for the benefit of the party. I also want to use this chance to ask my colleagues at the national, state, and local government levels to come together and help rebuild our party.

“Another election is around the corner. We lost everything we have. They have left to other political parties. So I’ll reach out to all my friends in the other group to get together and work on making this party stronger again.

“The caretaker committee has formed a reconciliation committee. Let’s come together and talk so that we can restore the first opposition political party in Nigeria.”

Mr Ojukwu, who was part of the Julius Abure’s group, said there are no more factions in the LP.

He added, “There is a court ruling, and since it is valid, the right people are in the correct positions.”

He urged Barr Abure and others to drop the legal cases they have filed because they are not helping the party.

“Litigations are killing political parties”, he said. “They’ve seen many political parties disappear because of legal battles, and the Labor Party is losing support every day, which makes me feel sad.”

Mr Ojukwu said he did not think joining the Senator Nenadi-Usman’s NWC was a betrayal of the Abure group, describing himself as “the oxygen” of that faction.

“I’m with this group because of the verdict. But I never betrayed anybody. Rather, I was betrayed,” he added.

Politics

2027: NIGERIANS FAULT INEC ON DIGITAL MEMBERSHIP REGISTER DIRECTIVE

Published

7 hours ago

March 2, 2026

The Tide

A number of Nigerians have strongly criticized the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its directive to all political parties in the country to submit digitalized membership register within 32 days.

It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), following it’s reversed timetable, directed all political parties in the country to submit their digitalized membership registers within 32 days.

Speaking on the reversed timetable in an interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt, respondents said the directive amounted to disqualifying opposition political parties from fielding candidates in all the elections next year.

They said if the directives by the commission is implemented, only the All Progressives Congress (APC) would participate in the elections since it started it’s digital membership registration since February, last year.

Responding, an elder statesman in Rivers State, Chief Sunnie Chukumele, said the revised timetable was okay, but the timeframe for submission of digital membership register was being made at the wrong time.

Chief Chukumele said, for the past two years, all opposition political parties have been battling various issues in court, adding that they did not have the time to embark on membership drive, talk less of digitalizing their membership registers.

“My reaction is that the only issue with this revised timetable is the timeframe given by INEC for parties to submit digitalize memberships register in all the states of the federation, while giving notice of Congresses and convention. That is not possible”, he said.

He said only the ruling APC is likely to meet up with the directive, since it began its registration since last year.

Chief Chukumele, who is also the National Coordinator of Coalition of Rivers State Leaders of Thought (CORSLOT), alleged that the directive of the electoral body may have been targeted to prevent other parties from fielding candidates for the elections next year.

“When you say all the parties should submit digitalized registers of membership in 32 days, how will that be possible to conclude it in 32 days”, he queried.

He noted that “APC used one year ago to do, so APC has one year in the kitty plus 30 days. This is highly regrettable”.

The CORSLOT national leader urged the election umpire to do away with stringent conditions that will make it hard for opposition political parties to field candidates in the elections.

Also speaking, Mr Jacob Enware from Edo State queried the rationale behind the directive, especially when some opposition political parties are still having cases in court.

In his words, ”What opposition political parties are you talking about, is Labour Party not in court or PDP that is yet to resolve their issues?

”For me, INEC should provide a level playing field for all, because aside the APC, no party can meet up this criteria.”

In his own response, Mr Nathaniel Ebere said he was not prepared to vote for anybody whether INEC provides a level playing field or not.

He alleged that his vote would not count, “so I will not waste my time”.

By: John Bibor

Politics

IT’S A LIE, G-5 GOVS DIDN’T WIN ELECTION FOR TINUBU – SOWUNMI

Published

7 hours ago

March 2, 2026

The Tide

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Convener of The Alternative, Otunba Segun Sowunmi, has expressed reservations about the political stance of Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, while calling for reconciliation among key party figures.

Otunba Sowunmi made the remarks during a television interview on Saturday, when asked about the relationship between Gov. Makinde and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike.

He said, “I don’t believe Seyi Makinde. Because I know them all. I’ve been in this party since it was registered. And I’ve been loyal, faithful, diligent with this party from the get-go, and I’ve never left.”

He underscored his longstanding commitment to the PDP, referencing prominent figures who had exited the party at different times: “I’ve had the grace, and the honor, and the dignity of watching even my father, Obasanjo, shed his card. As much as I love him, I didn’t leave the party”.

He added, “I’ve had the privilege of watching my beloved senior brother, Governor Gbenga Daniel, leave the party a few times. As much as I respect his vision and his ideas, I’ve never left. I’ve watched my former principal, Atiku Abubakar, leave a few times. I’ve never left.”

Otunba Sowunmi stressed that his comments were rooted in deep involvement with the party: “So when I talk about PDP, I’m not talking as an outsider, I’m talking as one of their totems, who was actually carrying them.”

He disclosed that he wrote to Makinde during the governor’s last birthday, urging reconciliation among a bloc of five governors who had formed a movement during the 2023 elections.

“At Governor Seyi Makinde’s last birthday, I wrote him a letter where I tried to say, look, you guys, the five of you, succeeded to the extent of creating a movement of your own”, he said.

He added, “And you fought very hard to make a point in the 2023 election. Although I don’t believe you won the election for the president, that’s a lie. They contributed, but I hate when people take the glory of other people’s work.”

Otunba Sowunmi warned that unresolved differences among the group could weaken the party: “You guys, you must go back to your four friends, your five friends, and you guys go and sort it out. Because not sorting it out with your five friends is going to leave the party worse off.”

He added, “But now that you’re fighting, or you’re not agreeing with yourselves, why don’t you go back to that same energy that allowed you to agree, so that you can use that energy inside to agree, and then we can lead the party.”