Politics
2023: Oyegun Explains How 13 APC Presidential Aspirants Were Cleared
Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC) 2023 Presidential Screening Committee, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has revealed that the committee engaged the twenty-three presidential aspirants that appeared before it on issues of consensus.
Odigie-Oyegun said this on Friday in Abuja while submitting the 7-man committee report to the party’s National Chairman, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu.
He said, “Our respected national chairman and other distinguished members of the National Working Committee(NWC), it’s our pleasure to be here with you today to present our report to you.
“We had the privilege of being inaugurated by you on May 30, and we immediately started work the same day after a brief meeting.
“All the aspirants were engaged on the issue of consensus and it was a pleasant surprise that 98 to 99 percent of them agreed that the party is supreme, that whatever it finally decides with proper consultations would likely be accepted.
“Though one aspirant said that; yes, I’ll accept consensus so long as it is settled on me.
“First, we had twenty-three presidential aspirants that we interacted with and my first comment is that we’re indeed a very lucky party.”
Odigie-Oyegun also said that though twenty-three presidential aspirants presented themselves for screening, there were other prominent Nigerians within and outside the country that applied but couldn’t proceed with their applications.
He disclosed that the quality of the aspirants were unquestionable, insisting that the committee was surprised at the active participation of youthful members of the party.
Odigie-Oyegun said that the committee’s report was on two aspects: the ability to lead and background of the aspirant, and the basic constitutional qualification to aspire to be a president of the country.
He said, “It’s on that basis, that who you’re, what are you and what have you achieved.
“And the understanding of your mission and what you think you can do to move the country forward made our final list.
“I don’t want to read the names, I think we’ll leave that to you, but we have a shortlist which brought the number severely down to thirteen.
“We could’ve cut it a little shorter, but we wanted all the younger elements deliberately to surface.”
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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