Politics
Nigerian-born American, Gabe Okoye on the ballot in US 2020 election race
Gabe Okoye, a Nigerian-born American, is on the ballot in the Democratic Party’s senatorial primary runoff election in the United States.
Okoye is seeking the party’s ticket for the November 3 general election into the Georgia State Senate to represent District 9.
The civil engineer, from Enugwu-Aguleri in Anambra State, moved to the U.S. in 1981, and has lived in Lawrenceville, headquarters of Gwinnett County since 1992.
He will face main challenger, Nikki Merritt, in the second round scheduled for August 11.
Okoye and Merritt advanced to the runoff stage after defeating a third aspirant, Cheryle Moses, in the first round of the primary held on June 9.
The winner will face the incumbent, Senator Peter Martin.
The Republican, who has been representing the district since 2015, is seeking a fourth term.
Okoye told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that he was aspiring to give the black community in Gwinnet County a strong voice at the state level.
“Under my leadership of the party, we elected the first black commissioner, first black school board member, and also the first black Solicitor-General of the county in its 200-year history as of 2018. The Democratic Party also produced the first black state judge from this county under my watch,” he said.
The politician assures that he will give “a fearless, strong voice to the silent majority in our district and our county in general.”
Okoye, currently a Planning Commissioner in Gwinnett County, is the first black man to serve as a commissioner in the county’s 202-year history.
He serves on the Executive Committee Board of the Gwinnett and state chapters of the Democratic Party.
As the local government party chairman between 2016 and 2018, Okoye led the party into the 2018 mid-term elections and recorded historic wins.
Under his leadership, the Democrats captured 13 elected offices, including the majority of Gwinnett seats in the Georgia state legislature.
The Dems also won the two county commission seats, one of the two School Board seats, and claimed the office of the Solicitor General of Gwinnett County from the Republicans.
The Georgia House of Representatives in Resolution 313 of 2019, designated November 6 of that year as Gabe Okoye Leadership Day.
The Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, has initiated impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Deputy Ngozi Odu, issuing them a seven-day notice to respond to allegations of gross misconduct.
The Assembly cited eight specific allegations of gross misconduct as the basis for the move.
This is the third time Fubara and Odu would be facing impeachment proceedings from the Assembly since coming to office in 2023.
Attempts to impeach them in 2023 and 2025, amid political feuds between the Governor and his predecessor and erstwhile political god-father, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, had been halted by presidential intervention.
Here are the allegations below:
1. Reckless and unconstitutional expenditure of public funds
2. Unconstitutional misappropriation of public funds
3. Hindering the Rivers Assembly from performing its constitutional duties
4. Illegal appointments of persons without screening by the House of Assembly as provided by the Constitution
5. Seizure of salaries and funds meant for Assembly members
6. Seizure of salaries of the clerk of the Rivers House of Assembly, Emeka Amadi
7. Refusal to implement provisions of the Constitution on financial autonomy of the legislature and the judiciary
8. Withholding of funds meant for the running of the Rivers House of Assembly Service Commission and hindering its activities
Lilian Adebayo, the wife of the 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, has said that the party will unseat the ruling All Progressive Party at the 2027 election if Nigerians are true to themselves.
Mrs Adebayo made this assertion known on Wednesday during an interview with journalists after an event in Abuja.
According to her, the opposition party has overcome its crisis after the expulsion of its former chairman, Shehu Gabam and others.
She said Nigerians should vote the APC out in the 2027 general election due to the hardship the party has plunged citizens into.
“There is always a crisis in the party; the SPD has been able to handle its own. The problems in the party have been resolved.
“He has a great chance of winning the election if Nigerians are honest with themselves. If Nigerians think that the ones they consistently vote for would move the country forward, they live in denial,” she concerning the husband.
Recall that SDP recently expelled Gabam and other party executives.
The party’s state chairmen on Wednesday urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the police to investigate Gabam over alleged misappropriation.
In a significant political move, Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah officially defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.
Mbah announced his decision during a televised broadcast in Enugu after weeks of speculation.
He said, “Today, after a long reflection, we have made the decision to leave the Peoples Democratic Party and join the All Progressives Congress.”
Mbah explained that his decision to join the PDP was informed by the need to reshape Enugu and reorganise the politics of the state.
“Today, I stand before you to announce a break from the past and to share a decision that will shape the road ahead. This concerns our values, how we organize ourselves politically and how we secure the future of our project and our people.
“Leadership sometimes demands painful decisions in the service of higher principles and goals. And there comes a time, when everyone must make a bold choice to determine their destiny.”
Ahead of the governor’s defection, all members of his cabinet had on joined the ruling party.
Governor Mbah’s Senior Media Aide, Dan Nwomeh, confirmed the mass defection in a video posted on his social media handles on Monday. In the video, several government officials were seen openly declaring their allegiance to the APC, chanting praises for President Bola Tinubu and affirming their commitment to the new party.
“Enugu State Cabinet Members join the APC with full chest along with Governor PN Mbah,” Nwomeh stated.
The officials, including commissioners and top aides, could be heard in the video declaring, “We are now in APC; tomorrow is here; it is APC all the way; it is Jagaban all the way; from top to bottom.”
The collective defection marks a significant political shift in Enugu State, which has been a PDP stronghold since 1999.
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