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2027: Coalition’s bid to unseat Tinubu faces setback as PDP suffers mass exodus
With two years to the next presidential election, mixed reactions have trailed the gale of defections by high-profile politicians from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, into the All Progressives Congress, APC.
This comes as it was hinted that the coalition spearheaded by former PDP’s presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar may not succeed against the President Bola Tinubu-led APC due to moves by some Fulani interests to escalate the Fulani war that has birthed itself in Nigeria.
Recently, Atiku, his counterpart from the Labour Party Peter Obi, Babachir Lawal, former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, announced the formation of the coalition under the Social Democratic Party.
Since the announcement, no political bigwig has joined the party in their push to wrest power from Tinubu in 2027.
This is as the PDP and Atiku’s camp lost two major stakeholders from the South-South, Ifeanyi Okowa and Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State.
Okowa, who was Atiku’s presidential running mate in the 2023 election, had dumped the PDP for the APC alongside Oborevwori at a stakeholders’ meeting in Asaba, Delta State.
It was observed that Oborevwori’s defection now puts the APC in the lead in the Nigerian Delta region, Delta, Edo, and Cross River states are APC, while the governors of Akwa Ibom and Rivers states have backed President Tinubu, leaving only Bayelsa State with the PDP.
In the Southwest, the APC may likely retain votes from the region because Tinubu hails from the area.
For the North, there have been agitations over the region’s political leaning ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with former presidential aide Hakeem Baba-Ahmed saying the North will decide its political direction in the next six months because the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari made the region wiser.
Baba-Ahmed said, “In the next six months, the North will decide where it stands. If the rest of the country wants to join us, fine. If not, we will go our own way.”
While Baba-Ahmed, a former spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), El-Rufai has been trying to galvanize the North to tilt their votes towards the opposition coalition with his visit to the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, and former presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Rabiu Kwankwaso amid talks with other prominent politicians from the rregion.
News
I’m Proudly Nigerian, says Fashola
Former Lagos State Governor and immediate past Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, made the declaration on Tuesday in Abuja during his keynote address at the Nigeria Reputation Summit 2026, organised by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, where he spoke extensively on national identity, migration, patriotism and Nigeria’s global image.
” I remain firmly Nigerian by choice, conviction and identity.”
Former Lagos State Governor and immediate past Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, made the declaration on Tuesday in Abuja during his keynote address at the Nigeria Reputation Summit 2026, organised by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, where he spoke extensively on national identity, migration, patriotism and Nigeria’s global image.
He stressed the need for Nigerians, at home and abroad, to take collective ownership of the country and its problems.
“I don’t think we own Nigeria enough. So, I heard some of our colleagues and our compatriots who, by virtue of the 1999 Constitution, have dual citizenships. But I have only one,” said Fashola.
“And when they talk to me, they say, your country. I say, stop. It’s our country. Your problem is our problem. There must be a common ownership on every platform. If we have common ownership, we will solve it. So, from my childhood experience, I tell people I’m not just a proud Nigerian, I’m an arrogant one. I’m arrogant about my country.“I tell people that I have not received one day’s education outside this country.
All my education was here. So, proudly made in Nigeria. Arrogantly, too. So everything, every inch that we think that we have lost, we can get back if we decide to,” he stated.
News
Opral Benson is alive, safe and not missing – AREF , Family
AREF confirms that Mrs. Benson is currently in Liberia, her presence there is voluntary and known.
The African Refugees Foundation (AREF) and family source said that its president, Opral Benson, popularly known as the Iya Oge of Lagos, is alive, safe and not missing.
Her family earlier said that the 90-year-old was last seen on January 13 and had not returned home since then.
However, a statement , titled, Dear Friends, RE: My Mum, signed by her daughter, Bimbo, confirmed that Benson was in Liberia.
Also, the chief executive officer of AREF, Olujimi Olusola III, Said that Benson is hale and hearty, and there is no cause for concern.“
AREF confirms that Mrs. Benson is currently in Liberia, her presence there is voluntary and known.
News
Lagos urges residents to prepare for 64 days traffic from Lekki Phase 1–Ajah Bridge as reconstruction begins
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Infrastructure, Olufemi Daramola, said that the rehabilitation works on Sections 2 and 3 of the expressway will commence on Sunday, 25 January 2026, and last for an estimated 64 days.
• Sangotedo – Bogije section of Lekki -Epe expressway / Ohibaba.com
The Lagos State Government on Tuesday announced a 64-day traffic diversion for the reconstruction of the Ajah Bridge to Admiralty section (inbound Lagos) of the Lekki–Epe Expressway.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Infrastructure, Olufemi Daramola, said that the rehabilitation works on Sections 2 and 3 of the expressway will commence on Sunday, 25 January 2026, and last for an estimated 64 days.
Daramola said that the project will follow a traffic management plan, with work carried out intersection by intersection rather than along the entire corridor at once.
Construction will be carried out both day and night to accelerate completion.
He explained that though a stakeholder meeting had been held late last year with plans to begin work, the project was postponed due to the yuletide festivities.
The festivities are over, and the state government has instructed the contractor to move to site to commence work on Sunday,” he said.
Intersections will be worked on at night to maintain better traffic flow.
I’m Proudly Nigerian, says Fashola
Opral Benson is alive, safe and not missing – AREF , Family
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