The Imo State chapter of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, has dismissed claims suggesting the existence of factions within the party.

The party clarified that it remains one united and indivisible family under the legitimate leadership of Professor James Okoroma, the duly recognised State Chairman.

The national leadership of ADC, which affirmed that there is no faction in the Imo ADC, had directed that all activities, communications, and official engagements are to be conducted solely under the supervision and direction of the Professor James Okoroma-led State Working Committee.

This was contained in a statement issued on Monday by ADC National Vice Chairman, South-East, Sir Bon Unachukwu, and made available to DAILY POST.

“We advise the public, party faithful, and media to disregard unauthorised statements or actions from individuals or groups not recognised by the national leadership. The ADC remains committed to unity, transparency, and democratic advancement in Imo State and Nigeria,” Unachukwu stated.

Former Edo State Governor and Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has urged the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that individuals with political ties, especially spouses of politicians, are not appointed to sensitive positions within the commission.

Oshiomhole made the call during the Senate screening of the new INEC Chairman, citing personal experiences from Edo State as an example of how conflicts of interest can undermine the credibility of elections.

He said, “One last point, an experience we had in Edo State, because the Senate President said we should speak from our own experiences. The chairman of a political party; one that is dying now had his wife serving as a director or heading the ICT unit of INEC in the state.”

According to the former governor, such appointments blur the line between partisan politics and electoral management, creating room for manipulation.

“The husband, being the PDP chairman at the time, had his wife boasting that she could supply information that would help them deal with accreditation issues,” Oshiomhole alleged.

He urged the incoming INEC leadership to create clear policies that will prevent such conflicts from occurring in the future.

“Will you be able, as you have assured us, to make a policy that says if you are a spouse of a politician, you cannot be given a sensitive appointment? We must avoid turning INEC into a family affair,” he added

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has suspended Mallam Adamu Ototobor, Chairman of Ward 9 in Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State, over alleged acts of insubordination and misconduct.

The suspension was announced in a statement issued by the Edo State APC Publicity Secretary, Prince Peter Uwadiae, who confirmed that the decision takes immediate effect following a comprehensive review of Ototobor’s recent activities within the party.

According to the statement, the party leadership found Ototobor’s actions to be “inconsistent with the principles, discipline, and values of the APC in Edo State,” adding that his conduct amounted to a breach of party rules and constituted insubordination to constituted authority.

The statement also directed the APC Chairman of Etsako East Local Government Area to prevent Ototobor from attending or participating in any party meetings, events, or functions pending the outcome of further disciplinary proceedings.

“The All Progressives Congress remains a party founded on discipline, loyalty, and respect for constituted authority. Any act that seeks to undermine these core values will be met with appropriate sanctions. Mallam Adamu Ototobor’s suspension shall remain in force until it is officially lifted by the party’s competent authority,” the statement read.

Chairman of the All Progressives Congress Governors’ Forum and Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, says the All Progressives Congress, APC, remains the only party in Nigeria.

Uzodimma made this statement on Friday during a meeting of APC stakeholders in Birnin Kebbi, the Kebbi State capital, stressing the country is on the path to renewed prosperity under the reform agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

According to him, the positive impact of the reforms was already becoming evident across the country.

“With President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, Nigeria is gradually becoming rich and prosperous again.

“The reforms are geared towards reconstructing, rehabilitating, and rebuilding a new Nigeria that works for everyone,” he added.

He extolled the President’s bold decision to remove fuel subsidy, noting that it had significantly increased revenue available to the three tiers of government.

The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress Governors’ Forum also lauded the administration’s youth empowerment drive, particularly the initiative to empower 1,000 youths from each of the 8,809 electoral wards across the country, describing it as a sustainable pathway to poverty eradication.

The governor also expressed delight over the presence of prominent Kebbi politicians, including Senators Adamu Aliero and Atiku Bagudu, at the meeting, saying their unity signified progress and political maturity in the state.

A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Dele Momodu has stated why former Bayelsa Senator, Ben Murray-Bruce joined the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.

Speaking in an interview on ‘Prime Time’, a programme on Arise Television, monitored by DAILY POST on Friday, Momodu stated that Murray-Bruce moving to APC was not surprising, stressing that that was where the road was smooth at the moment.

The Ovation Magazine publisher said that those of them in the opposition are being regarded as very stupid.

On Murray-Brace defection, Momodu said, “I watched it in utter disbelief because I assumed that he worked with us with the Atiku campaign during the presidential election. That’s my belief and maybe my judgment was wrong.

“However, I give him the right enshrined in the constitution of Nigeria about freedom of association and freedom of movement. So, I don’t have any problem with it. Nothing can ever shock me again about politicians.

“Some people have genuine reasons to move from one party to another, especially if you have some aspirations which we believe will be better served in the next party.

“So Murray-Bruce moving to the APC is not surprising; that is where the road is smooth at the moment. Those of us in opposition are regarded as very stupid and not smart enough for not joining the rat race.”

A political activist, Alisha Yesufu, has thrown her weight behind the call for capital punishment for election riggers.

The co-founder of BringBackOurGirls campaign made this call in a post on her verified X handle on Friday.

Her comment comes after Governor Alex Otti of Abia State had recommended unforgivable sanctions on those championing election malpractice in the country.

“You see that thing that is reported that Alex Otti said ‘anybody planning to rig election should first write their will’, is the mentality Nigerians should have!

“I have repeatedly said anyone that rigs election should be treated as a terrorist,” Yesufu stated.

Member representing Ijebu Central Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Femi Ogunbanwo, has thrown his weight behind a proposal before the National Assembly to move Nigeria’s next general elections to late 2026, six months earlier than the traditional February 2027 schedule.

The proposal, contained in the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2025, was unveiled on Monday during a joint public hearing organised by the Senate and House Committees on Electoral Matters in Abuja.

The bill, which seeks to repeal the 2022 Electoral Act and enact a new one, has drawn wide input from lawmakers, civil society groups, and electoral stakeholders.

Ogunbanwo argued that the move would allow ample time for election litigation to be concluded before the swearing-in of newly elected officials in 2027.

He spoke on Thursday while featuring as a guest on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, monitored by our correspondent in Abeokuta.

According to him, the adjustment will strengthen political stability and improve public trust in Nigeria’s democratic process.

Ogunbanwo recalled his own experience awaiting a court judgment while in office, describing it as “a psychological burden that creates uncertainty and affects performance.”

The lawmaker said, “One of the proposals is that we should move the election forward to maybe late 2026 as against early 2027, so that there could be enough time to resolve election litigation matters and allow the judicial process to conclude before swearing-in.

“We have not brought it to the House yet; it’s still being considered at the committee level. After gathering all the submissions, the committee will come up with its recommendations. So, as we speak, it remains a proposal.

“It will allow whoever wins the election to concentrate from day one. After swearing-in, you see people spending three to six months in court, unsure of their fate. I remember my own experience — on the day judgment was to be delivered in my case, I was in plenary, and colleagues asked why I wasn’t at home.

“They said, ‘If the judgment isn’t in your favour, from here you’ll just go home and your office will be sealed.’ That uncertainty affects performance.”

DAILY POST reports Ogunbanwo’s position aligns with growing calls for electoral reform following the prolonged court battles that trailed the 2019 and 2023 general elections.

In both cases, several governors and lawmakers were inaugurated while still facing petitions, creating months of uncertainty and governance disruptions.

While some support the proposed reform, critics warn that it could compress governance periods and deepen Nigeria’s campaign fatigue, and others advocate judicial reforms such as directing presidential election petitions straight to the Supreme Court, as practiced in Kenya.

Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ibrahim Abdullahi, has said that there is no compelling reason for a sitting governor to leave the PDP at this point apart from greed and selfishness.

He maintained that the PDP is currently in good standing as the party has addressed its major problems.

Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, was the latest governor to resign his membership of the PDP.

He left the PDP and announced he was joining the ruling APC alongside 23 members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly on Wednesday.

This is coming barely 24 hours after the Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah had joined the ruling party.

“It’s nothing other than greed, avarice, and you know, selfishness on the part of those leaving.

“You cannot find compelling reason, in the words of Senator Seriake Dickson that would warrant a governor rounding up a second term, for example, in the case of Bayelsa, to want to leave the party, you can’t find a justifiable reason other than covetousness, greed and avarice,” he said on Arise News.

“Our party is in good stead. We have internal challenges like every other political party and we have since addressed major problems that would have afflicted the possibilities of our having, you know, a platform for Nigerians to serve as opposition as we journey towards 2027.

“So these few elements are driven by self, greed, and probably a few of them that are having a second term ambition, coercion, intimidation and temptation of the ruling party, which it keeps, you know, offering them.

“Other than those, we can’t find any other reason, but to the best of PDP is good riddance to bad rubbish, if only we can have the opportunity of, you know, weeding these terrible elements out of the PDP as we head towards our convention, exactly a month from today, you would find out that we will get to that convention ground better.

“We would understand our problems and appreciate them and come out not just more cohesive, but prepared, you know, to retrieve this country from this army of occupation called government, you know, masquerading in the gap of Democrats, Nigeria has not had it funny the last 10 years, but particularly two years plus now.

“And so I can’t understand why a sitting governor, of all persons who must have been promoted by a political party and campaigned against this rudolphus element, you know, who are vicious elements of democracy, you know, to want to now get attracted to them, to want to go.

“A lot of persons have called a lot of them and were asking questions. What could have been the reason? Because there’s no available reason out there, and in all of the states, PDP is in good state, like you heard, you know, the deputy with that you interviewed earlier, saying there’s no problem, no rationale whatsoever, in most of the states other than selfishness and greed.

“But then we bid them farewell. Let’s see what happens. You know, as we journey towards 2027 it’s not about PDP and APC, or in other political parties, as it were, it’s now against APC, against Nigerians.

“Let them do all the things they can do. We have had worse temptations than this,” he added.