• Edo APC meeting February 23, 2026

Hgh-ranking leaders and members of the Edo State chapter of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) party were been locked out today during a meeting convened at the residence of one of the national leaders of the party and former governor of the state, John Odigie-Oyegun.

Among the affected juggernauts was the former Senate Chief Whip, Rowland Owie who called on the ADC National Leadership to call Odigie-Oyegun to order.

One of the financiers of the party in the state, Sunny Aguebor, a national leader of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Douglas Iyike among others were also shut out.

The development got the members infuriated and they later took over the entrance to the compound of Odigie-Oyegun until a Police unit from the State Command persuaded the leaders to be law-abiding before they later left the place.

Odigie-Oyegun in a phone chat told reporters that he was still attending the leadership meeting and would speak on the issues after the meeting.  

A former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, lamented that his party abandoned him after his removal from public office.

Adams Oshiomhole was removed as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on June 16, 2020, when the Abuja Court of Appeal upheld his earlier suspension by an FCT High Court. His suspension originated from a vote of no confidence by his ward in Edo State.

Speaking at a ceremony in Benin City, where Governor Monday Okpebholo handed over 54 heavy-duty trucks to the 18 local government areas, Oshiomhole said that he was shocked the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, called him to commission a flyover project.

“This is a man who knows the meaning of friendship. He (Wike) also identified with people when they are in distress.

“After I was dismissed as National Chairman of the APC, even after I led them to victory, I became lonely and abandoned by my own party. People were even afraid to visit me because it could be termed anti-party.

“I got a call from a Nigerian who identifies with those who are lonely, and he invited me to Port Harcourt to commission a flyover. Wike honoured me by giving me the highest honour of the River State. He also renewed my hope.”

Former Vice President of Nigeria and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has expressed deep concern over the alarmingly low voter turnout in Saturday’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections, describing the figures as a clear indictment of the state of Nigeria’s democracy under the present administration.

Official results showed an average turnout of below 20 per cent across the six area councils, with the Abuja Municipal Area Council recording a particularly dismal 7.8 per cent.

Atiku described this as “a damning verdict” on the health of the nation’s democratic process, especially in the symbolic capital city that represents the heartbeat of the federation.

He attributed the widespread disengagement not to voter apathy, but to a deliberate and sustained assault on democratic norms by the Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government.

According to the former Vice President, the low participation is the predictable result of a political atmosphere marked by intolerance, intimidation, harassment of dissenters, coercion of political defectors, and the systematic stifling of opposition voices.

“When citizens lose faith that their votes matter, democracy begins to die,” Atiku declared. “What we are witnessing is not mere voter apathy. It is a direct consequence of an administration that governs with a chokehold on pluralism. Democracy in Nigeria is being suffocated—slowly, steadily, and dangerously.”

He cautioned that the ongoing erosion of participatory governance, if allowed to continue unchecked, risks inflicting irreversible damage on the democratic institutions and freedoms built over decades through sacrifice and struggle.

“A democracy without vibrant opposition, without free political competition, and without public confidence is democracy in name only,” he warned. “If this chokehold is not released, history will record this era as the period when our hard-won freedoms were traded for fear and conformity.”

Atiku called on all opposition parties, civil society organisations, and democratic forces nationwide to urgently set aside differences and form a united front to defend the Republic.

“This is no longer about party lines; it is about preserving the Republic,” he emphasised. “The time to stand together to rescue and rebuild Nigeria is now.”