Announcing his return to the PDP during a telephone interview with our correspondent on Thursday, Fadeyi said, “I am back in the PDP led by the FCT Minister, His Excellency, Nyesom Wike. I have already written to the Senate.

“I can also confirm to you that I am the candidate for Osun Central Senatorial District for the 2027 Senate election.”

Stating his reasons for dumping the APC, in his letter to the Senate, Fadeyi referred to how the 2027 National Assembly primary for Osun Central was conducted by the Osun APC.

“I write to formally tender my resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC), effective immediately. This decision has not been taken lightly. I joined the APC as a progressive party in good faith to support Mr President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, in his ancestral home, which falls within my senatorial district, Osun Central.

“Having got assurances and an agreement reached by Mr President to give me the sole ticket to run for the senatorial seat under the APC in Osun Central, which was passed down to our leader of the party by Mr President, I believed that those understandings would be honoured and that the party would uphold the principles of fairness, equity, mutual respect and internal democracy.

“Regrettably, recent developments from the leadership of the APC in Osun State have created serious trust issues within the party and made my continued membership of the party untenable. It was expressly agreed that the process for selecting candidates would be conducted on the basis of consensus. However, no consensus process was genuinely conducted, nor were party primaries held in a transparent and acceptable manner.

“This departure from our collective understanding has eroded confidence and undermined trust within the party. Furthermore, the manner in which decisions were taken appeared to disregard the authority and leadership of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, whose commitment to due process, party cohesion and democratic values is well known,” Fadeyi’s letter to the Senate President partly read.

He also expressed concern over the decision to hand return tickets to the other colleagues — a serving senator and three House of Representatives members — who defected with him, while denying him the 2027 ticket.

He said the decision to dump the APC was not in opposition to Tinubu but was informed by his conviction that democratic principles, mutual trust and respect for agreements must always prevail.

Deputy Speaker Muhammed Fadeyi, who presided over the sitting in place of Speaker Adebo Ogundoyin, read the governor’s letter to members of the House. Lawmakers approved the request without opposition, expressing confidence that the affairs of the state would continue smoothly under the leadership of the deputy governor.

Following the approval, Lawal will serve as Acting Governor throughout the period of Makinde’s leave, taking charge of the day-to-day administration of the state to ensure that government activities continue without interruption until the governor returns.

Speaking after the approval, Fadeyi wished Governor Makinde a restful annual leave and reaffirmed the Assembly’s commitment to sustaining a healthy working relationship with the executive arm of government. He also expressed confidence in the deputy governor’s ability to provide effective leadership while acting as governor, noting that Oyo State’s stable governance structure would ensure that policies and government programmes continue without disruption.

Other lawmakers also commended Governor Makinde for complying with constitutional requirements by formally notifying the House before proceeding on leave. They described the move as another demonstration of his respect for democratic principles, constitutional governance and the rule of law.

At the end of the plenary, the House directed that its approval of the governor’s leave request be formally communicated to the executive arm for the necessary action.

Recall that a Federal High Court on Wednesday ruled in favour of the Oyo State Government in a case involving the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The court set aside the EFCC’s request seeking extensive financial records from the state government and held that the anti-graft agency could not carry out a blanket investigation without specific allegations.

The case stems from a June 2, 2025 letter in which the EFCC requested copies of all contracts involving the state government as well as details of payments made to contractors from 2021 onward. The Oyo State Government challenged the request, arguing through the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Abiodun Aikomo, that the demand was oppressive, unreasonable and too broad because of the large volume of contracts and transactions involved.

Although the EFCC argued that Section 38 of the EFCC Act, 2004 empowered it to demand information from any person, authority, corporation or company for investigative purposes, Justice Maha ruled that such requests must be reasonable and linked to specific allegations rather than amounting to a blanket demand for financial records.

The ruling came months after Governor Makinde declared his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM). Announcing his ambition at a joint rally of his PDP faction and the APM in Ibadan in May, Makinde said, “The time to reset Nigeria is now. Therefore, today, I, Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde, announce my candidacy for the position of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”Nigeria news updates

He also announced a political alliance between his PDP faction in Oyo State and the APM, saying the partnership would enable the opposition to field candidates for all elective positions in the 2027 general election.

The process also included the submission of Forms EC9 and EC9A to EC9E, as required under Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026.

INEC also fixed the submission of nomination forms for governorship and state Houses of Assembly candidates to run from 9:00 a.m. on July 18 to 6:00 p.m. on August 8, 2026.

The timetable further indicates that the personal particulars of presidential and National Assembly candidates will be published on August 8, while those of governorship and State House of Assembly candidates will be displayed on August 29.

It also sets August 22 as the deadline for the withdrawal or substitution of presidential and National Assembly candidates, while governorship and state House of Assembly candidates have until September 19 to withdraw or be substituted.

When contacted, Bature disclosed that the PDP began uploading its candidates’ details on Saturday, adding that the exercise is ongoing and will be concluded before August 8.

He stated, “The Peoples Democratic Party commenced the upload of its governorship and state Houses of Assembly candidates’ details to INEC’s nomination portal on Saturday.

“The exercise has been progressing smoothly without any technical issues, and we are confident that the upload process will be completed well ahead of the deadline.”

Also, the APC source said the party has commenced the upload of its candidates on the INEC portal, with priority given to the 16 incumbent governors seeking re-election.

He stated, “I can confirm that the party commenced the upload process yesterday (Saturday), with priority given to the 16 governors seeking re-election.

“The party has also established a committee headed by Jibrin Bancir, the Principal Private Secretary to the APC National Chairman, to coordinate the smooth transmission of documents and materials required for upload to the INEC portal.

“The committee is responsible for receiving documents from state chairmen, verifying the details, ensuring all requirements are met, and forwarding them to the ICT department for upload.

“The arrangement is aimed at making the process seamless, efficient and timely.

“There could be slight changes to the initial list of candidates, as the primary election appeal committee had reviewed some petitions and submitted its recommendations to the National Working Committee.

“So, only candidates who passed the appeal committee’s review and received the approval of the NWC were uploaded to the INEC portal.

“We are confident that the exercise will be completed before the deadline.”

The PDP, APC and other political parties are expected to upload a total of 28 governorship candidates and 993 state Houses of Assembly candidates nationwide.

Governorship elections will not take place in the eight states of Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Ondo and Osun due to off-cycle election schedules.

Earlier, political parties participating in the presidential and National Assembly elections had submitted and uploaded their candidates’ lists on the INEC portal.

Source: Punch