The African Democratic Congress has claimed it won two out of three seats in the state and National Assembly bye-elections in Kaduna State.

The ADC Coalition mobilisation wing, known as ‘ADC Vanguard,’ disclosed this in a terse statement on its X account Saturday.

DAILY POST reports that Kaduna State conducted elections in the Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency, the Zaria Kewaye State Constituency, and the Basawa State Constituency. 

Reacting to the polls in a statement, ADC Vanguard said on X, “ADC Coalition Dominates Kaduna State, Securing 2 out of 3 constituencies insStunning victory.”

However, official results from the state electoral commission are yet to be released.

Earlier, All Progressives Congress chieftain, Ayekooto Akindele took a swipe at the former Governor Nasir El-Rufai, saying emerging results showed Kaduna people spoke loudly against him.

“Unfortunately for him, Kaduna people said loudly today that UBA SANI IS THEIR LEADER.

Primate Elijah Ayodele, the founder and spiritual leader of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, has issued a stern warning to Nigerian governors regarding their aspirations for a second term in office in 2027.

In a public statement released by his media aide, Osho Oluwatosin, Primate Ayodele elaborated on the challenges these governors may face in their quest for re-election,  indicating that without sincere efforts and dedication, their ambitions for a second term might be hindered.

The warning serves as a wake-up call for these leaders to recognize the potential obstacles ahead and to engage in the necessary actions to secure their political futures.

“The governors of Akwa Ibom, Delta, Enugu, Cross River, Kaduna, Zamfara, and Ondo must work well to get a second term in office.

“It’s not certain for them except they work hard and pray. This is a hint of what they should be expecting.

“They need to work very well so that they won’t lose their second-term ambition,” he revealed.

Primate Ayodele also warned the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, to be careful and prayerful so that his second term as Senate President will not be traded.

“Senate President Godswill Akpabio must be very careful and prayerful to get a second term as Senate president. I see his position being traded; he must work very hard to avoid it.”

Likewise, Primate Ayodele revealed that prominent senators and members of the House of Representatives will not return for a second term, too, while warning Ned Nwoko of Delta against his governorship ambition, saying it’s not yet his time.

By Kola Odepeju

I doubt if Shola Fasure will ever cease to amuse the people in his blind defense of his paymaster, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola who was recently described as “Asín ti kò mò pé òhun n rùn” (the shrew that doesn’t know that it smells) by governor Adeleke of Osun for verbally attacking his benefactor, PBAT. But little can one be surprised about Fasure’s blind defense of his boss because he must justify his earnings and secondly, since he himself lacks integrity, it’s easy for him to always come out to come up with drivels in the name of defending his boss.

Fasure’s continued attempts to distort history only shows that he’s either a poor student of history or he’s simply being mischievous. But I like to believe more in the latter being in his DNA. Just like the leopard that doesn’t change its spots, so will a person given to mischief comes out regularly to ply his/her trade. This is the case with Fasure who himself doesn’t believe his own stories with respect to Tinubu/Aregbesola political relationship. Fasure has been trying so hard to distort history though; misinforming the public that Aregbesola is the one that made Tinubu but not vice-versa, he subjects himself to ridicule each time he comes out to turn history upside down and to do surgery to the already battered image of his boss.

One of Nigeria’s veteran journalists, Mayor Akinpelu came out recently to call a spade a spade by telling the public the truths about Aregbesola/Tinubu political relationship. Of course his narration wasn’t in any way different from what the general public had already known before about Aregbesola and his relationship with Tinubu. There was no addition or subtraction in what Mayor Akinpelu said about Aregbesola. All what he said about him are nothing but the truth. No attempt did he make – in the least – either to blackmail Aregbesola or tarnish his image. So my question is; when has saying the truth become an offense under the sky for Fasure to now come out again from his shell and be attacking Akinpelu, an apolitical person who was just doing his job as a social commentator?

Like Akinpelu said in his article, was Aregbesola not scruffy looking prior to his being catapulted by Tinubu? Wasn’t he a pauper before his path crossed with that of Tinubu? Was his usual and regular wear then not Jalamia? Wasn’t his car rickety and smoky like a locomotive? The point is that Aregbesola was a complete pauper before he met Tinubu, a fact known to so many people – except only Fasure – and a fact Aregbesola himself testified to in some occasions; that it was Tinubu that God used to uplift him. I recall here that Aregbesola said in one of our media meetings with him at the State House in Osogbo when he was governor that “if l had not met Tinubu, l would have also still be struggling like you people by now”.

Ogbeni Aregbesola had also said in a video which is in public domain that after God, he owes whatever he’s today to Tinubu. So only God knows where Fasure conjures his own side of the story from which l see as only tales by moonlight different from reality. His story can only be believed by fools and accepted by idiots.

Comparing Aregbesola’s case with that of Yemi Osibajo, Babafemi Ojudu and other names he mentioned in his write-up is preposterous and doesn’t align with common sense in the least. One, these are people who had recorded appreciable successes in their chosen careers and living comfortably before their paths crossed with Tinubu. They were accomplished professionals on their own as at the time their political relationships with Tinubu started; unlike Aregbesola who was a nobody by the time he met Tinubu. I say this without any fear of contradiction because l was on ground at Cresta Laurel where these people served on the transition committees set up by Tinubu then as the governor-elect.

Two, even though these people may have at one time or the other had disagreements with Tinubu, did they ever insult Tinubu as Aregbesola did? Did they display insolence to Tinubu like Rauf? Disagreements are normal in politics but attacking your God-sent benefactor is the most unwise and stupid thing to do by anybody. This is where Shola Fasure’s boss disappointed many of his admirers including this writer.

In conclusion, Shola Fasure in his warped thinking opined that “Batists have slavery in their DNA”. This, to me, is a fallacious opinion of a mind filled with ingratitude. Rather than proving Mayor Akinpelu wrong with evidence about what he (Akinpelu) said about Aregbesola, Fasure was busy attacking him and calling Batists names.

This is a fallacy of ad hominem. Of course Fasure cannot pretend not to know that politics is about hundred percent loyalty. It’s either you’re completely loyal or you take the exit door. Batists are loyal to Tinubu because he deserves it as he has proven to be a reliable and dependable leader. But if Fasure in his wrong perception of Batists as having slavish mentality in their DNA still holds on to this fallacy, then they’re by far better than Aregbesola’s followers who have ingratitude in their DNA just like their leader.

● Odepeju, newspaper columnist and political activist writes from Lagos.