The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Ogun State, Senator Solomon Adeola has dismissed claims that he hails from Ekiti State, describing those behind the claims as jesters.

According to NAN on Tuesday, Adeola, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, spoke with newsmen in Lagos on his governorship ambition on Monday.

He said he is a bona fide indigene of Ogun, stressing that both his father and mother were from the state.

“My father is from Ogun State, my mother is from Ogun State. I am from Ogun State. Those who claim I am from Ekiti are jesters,” he said.

Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, also debunked the claim that his father was buried in Ekiti.

According to him, his late father was buried in the house he built at Ogunsola Street in Alaguntan, Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos.

“My father was not buried in Ekiti; my father was buried in the house he built at Ogunsola Street at Alaguntan in Alimosho,” he said.

He said the claims were mere political gimmicks, which, according to him, would not succeed.

“They are just playing politics with the ridiculous claims and they will not succeed,” he said.

Adeola said his governorship ambition was driven by passion to serve and develop Ogun and not for personal enrichment.

“My ambition to be the governor of this state is not based on personal interest or plan to enrich myself or to be in that exalted office to be called governor, but based on passion to serve. Passion to serve the people of Ogun,” he said.

He said his journey to securing the Ogun governorship ticket had not been smooth.

Adeola recalled that his first attempt to return home from Lagos to contest was met with “a brick wall”, forcing him to return to Lagos West, where he won the senatorial seat.

He said his second attempt to succeed former Gov. Ibikunle Amosun also met stiff resistance, which again took him back to the Senate.

According to him, it was on the third attempt that God answered his prayers when he later secured the Ogun West ticket and won, and now the governorship ticket.

The lawmaker said that with 24 years in the legislature – eight years in the Lagos State House of Assembly, four years in the House of Representatives and 12 years in the Senate – he had acquired the requisite experience to govern the state.

He said what Ogun needed now was consolidation and continuity.

“I strongly feel that the next person in line must come to consolidate on the gains we have made in the last seven and a half years as a state,” Adeola said.

He said Gov. Dapo Abiodun had laid a solid foundation for economic development.

“Under the administration of Governor Dapo Abiodun, Ogun has done extremely well, and that I can testify to,” he said.

Adeola explained that governance was about the seen and the unseen, stressing that while the seen were physical infrastructure such as roads, schools and hospitals, the unseen were economic foundations that would give birth to the seen.

He cited the $7bn deep seaport project, whose groundbreaking is scheduled for November, and the Gateway International Agro-Cargo Airport as some of the unseen investments in the state.

Others, he said, were the proposed dairy farm in Ilaro with 5,000 cows and a polymer manufacturing company.

The senator said Ogun remained the most industrialised state in Nigeria under Abiodun, with its Internally Generated Revenue growing from less than N100bn to about N300bn annually.

He added that the state was on the verge of becoming an oil-producing state with exploration activities at Tongeji Island in Ogun West and the signing of the OK Gas project at Ewa.

“All of this coming together, they are the unseen. and so for me, I would say that Dapo Abiodun has laid a very solid foundation in the area of economic development of our state,” he said.

Adeola acknowledged public concerns about roads but explained that over 65 per cent of roads in Ogun were federal roads, adding that refunds for state intervention were always difficult.

He promised to prioritise strategic roads that would open up economic corridors and improve intra-state connectivity.

The candidate said he had promised continuity, noting that his emergence would mean the first time power would be transferred from a friendly outgoing governor to a friendly incoming governor.

“I have promised continuity to the people of Ogun State, and this is the first time we are attempting as a state to have a transfer of power from a friendly outgoing governor to a friendly incoming governor,” he said.

Adeola said his blueprint was anchored on nine pillars encapsulated in his ITESIWAJU slogan – governance that works for everybody.

He listed the pillars as Infrastructure, Tourism and Culture, Education and Environment, Security and Law Enforcement, Inclusive Health and Well-being, Women and Youth Development, Agriculture, Job Creation and Industrialisation, and Urban Renewal and Fiscal Planning.

He clarified that continuity would not be blind.

“ITESIWAJU doesn’t mean that I want to take everything that this administration is doing.

“Rather, areas that I need to continue, I will continue, and areas I need to improve upon, I will improve upon. Also areas I need to change, I will change completely,” he said.

Adeola also noted that Ogun West had never produced a governor since the creation of the state 50 years ago.

He said it was only fair that Ogun people supported his governorship bid, being from Ogun West, adding that with his experience, he would reposition the state for greater prosperity.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Ladi Adebutu of the Peoples Democratic Party is another major contender for the number one seat in the state.

NAN

Source: punchng.com

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Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and some leaders of the Rainbow Coalition met with the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, at the latter’s private residence in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.

Also at the meeting were the state governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Kingsley Chinda and Senator Magnus Abe.

Though the purpose of the meeting could not be immediately ascertained, it was the first time the FCT minister had visited the governor since the beginning of the political crisis that rocked the state and even after the feud between them was resolved.

Recall that after peace returned to the state, a reconciliation committee headed by former Senator Magnus Abe had met with Fubara twice at the Government House on how to accommodate the governor’s supporters in the new political arrangement.

Fubara himself had, during a public function in Port Harcourt, declared that he had returned to his political family.

On the latest visit to the governor’s private residence, which Wike led, sources described the meeting as “strategic and part of the ongoing fence-mending by the minister ahead of the Rainbow Coalition’s campaign for the 2027 general elections.”

A source who pleaded anonymity said, “It is also part of measures to cement the renewed peace in the state. You know the Senator Magnus Abe-led reconciliation committee has met with the governor twice.

“Now, maybe it’s time for the FCT minister to visit the governor to show that peace has truly returned.”

The coalition had yet to officially kick-start its campaign for the forthcoming poll.

It was learnt that the meeting brought together core supporters of Fubara and Rainbow Coalition leaders in the state.

They were said to have agreed to collaborate and strategise on how to work together for the common purpose of winning the next general elections in the state.

Source: punchng.com

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The Independent National Electoral Commission has commenced the 100-day countdown to the 2027 general elections, with Lagos State recording the highest number of registered voters as the North-West geopolitical zone emerged as the most represented region.

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Tuesday at a world press conference in Abuja, where he provided an update on the commission’s preparations for the elections scheduled for January 16 and February 6, 2027.

Amupitan said INEC had completed nine of the 14 critical milestones contained in its revised timetable and schedule of activities for the elections.

He said the commission had translated the statutory timetable into an operational plan covering its headquarters, departments and directorates, 36 state offices, the Federal Capital Territory and offices across the 774 local government areas.

The commission’s briefing came as stakeholders, including the police, European Union and National Assembly, pledged support for the electoral body ahead of the polls.

Security, misinformation and the implementation of recent judicial decisions also featured prominently at the meeting.

Lagos leads register

Amupitan said the total number of registered voters ahead of the 2027 elections stood at 103,428,715.

Lagos topped the state-by-state breakdown with 7,488,633 registered voters, followed by Kano with 6,570,276 and Kaduna with 4,662,640.

Katsina ranked fourth with 3,876,051 voters, followed by Rivers with 3,736,434, Oyo with 3,588,111, Delta with 3,525,988, Benue with 3,057,225, Ogun with 3,037,981 and Bauchi with 3,012,547.

Ekiti had the lowest number of registered voters at 1,055,708, followed by Bayelsa with 1,200,691.

The Federal Capital Territory recorded 1,732,043 registered voters, while Ondo had 1,733,641 and Gombe 1,768,560.

By geopolitical zones, the North-West led with 25,083,411 registered voters, followed by the South-West with 19,614,274 and North-Central with 16,965,787.

The South-South recorded 15,823,550 voters, while the North-East had 13,965,475 and the South-East 11,976,218.

The North-West therefore had 5,469,137 more registered voters than the South-West.

On the demographic profile of the register, Amupitan said male voters numbered 53,528,218, representing 51.75 per cent, while female voters accounted for 49,900,497, or 48.25 per cent.

Voters aged between 35 and 49 constituted the largest age group, with 43,265,946 voters, representing 41.83 per cent of the register.

They were followed by voters aged 18 to 34, who numbered 29,777,576, representing 28.79 per cent.

Those aged 50 to 69 accounted for 22,982,900 voters, or 22.22 per cent, while voters aged 70 and above numbered 7,402,291, representing 7.16 per cent.

The commission recorded 232,658 persons with disabilities across 10 categories, representing about 0.23 per cent of the total register.

INEC said the voter register would be displayed for public scrutiny from October 9 to 15, 2026, in line with Section 19(1) of the Electoral Act 2026.

INEC deploys AI

As part of measures to strengthen the credibility of the 2027 elections, INEC has established a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Division within its ICT Department to detect anomalies in election results and counter disinformation.

Amupitan said automated AI auditing tools had already been integrated into the commission’s results verification process under a five-pillar AI governance framework, with mandatory human oversight.

He said the commission was also finalising an AI governance policy and working with international technology partners to strengthen its anomaly-detection capabilities.

The commission expressed concern over the growing use of generative AI, voice cloning and deepfake videos to fabricate the voices of election officials, result sheets and other official documents.

Amupitan warned that the threat extended beyond individual falsehoods, saying convincing fabricated content could undermine public confidence in genuine information from constitutional authorities.

He said INEC would combine technology with public education and collaboration with the media to tackle the threat.

The INEC chairman also urged journalists to deploy digital forensic tools and verify election-related information before publication.

He cautioned media organisations against publishing privately collated results or premature declarations, stressing that the authority to declare election results rests exclusively with the commission.

57,000 BVAS

Beyond its AI initiative, INEC said it was upgrading its Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices, conducting nationwide audits and stress tests, and planning a nationwide mock accreditation exercise in November.

The commission is expected to deploy 57,000 newly procured BVAS devices for voter verification and other election-related processes during the polls.

INEC also said it would establish a situation room for real-time monitoring before, during and after the elections.

Training and technical support for election personnel, the commission added, would continue into 2027.

Police on security

The Nigeria Police Force has assured Nigerians that it is working with other security agencies to stabilise areas affected by security challenges ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, represented by the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Police Mobile Force, Alinyenu Idu, said the Force had activated operational and tactical assets to assess security threats and protect voters, election materials and collation centres.

He said security planning would cover the entire electoral process, from polling units and the movement of election materials to collation centres and the final declaration of results.

According to him, the police would rely on legitimate authority rather than “power” in regulating the conduct of the elections.

Idu said the security situation had created pockets of fear in some parts of the country, adding that the police were working to stabilise affected areas and ensure that citizens could participate freely in the electoral process.

He said clearance operations were ongoing in parts of Kogi, Niger, Benue and Taraba states to address security threats ahead of the polls.

Idu said the police would review their preparations by November and provide Nigerians with a comprehensive update by the end of December.

EU Backs INEC

The European Union Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, pledged continued support for Nigeria’s electoral process, describing the 2027 elections as an opportunity to reaffirm the strength of the country’s democracy.

Mignot said credible elections would provide elected leaders with the popular legitimacy required to discharge their mandates over the next four years.

He urged stakeholders to support INEC and ensure that the commission had the resources required to conduct the elections.

According to him, INEC would be represented on election day by hundreds of thousands of Nigerians, many of them young people, who would be deployed across the country to conduct the polls.

He said the commission faced the continuing challenge of rebuilding citizens’ confidence in the electoral process, particularly following recent off-cycle elections.

Mignot said credible results accepted by stakeholders would help reduce post-election tensions.

He disclosed that the EU would again deploy an electoral observation mission to Nigeria comprising experts who would monitor preparations for the election, the conduct of the polls and the immediate aftermath.

The mission, he said, would build on recommendations from the EU’s 2023 Electoral Observation Mission.

He urged political parties, candidates, security agencies, the media, civil society organisations and citizens to play their respective roles in ensuring credible elections.

The EU representative also called on stakeholders to prevent electoral violence and promote accurate information, stressing that the media had an important role to play in countering misinformation.

He further stressed the need for an inclusive electoral process, particularly respect for the rights of women and persons with disabilities to participate.

Senate pledges support

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, Senator Simon Lalong, said the National Assembly remained committed to supporting improvements to Nigeria’s electoral framework and democratic institutions.

He said the legislature had a responsibility to provide the legal and institutional framework for the administration and continuous improvement of elections.

Lalong, however, said electoral credibility was a collective responsibility involving political parties, candidates, security agencies, the media, civil society organisations, voters and other participants.

He urged political parties and candidates to respect electoral rules, engage on issues and conduct themselves peacefully.

The senator also called on the media to maintain accurate, balanced and responsible reporting to strengthen public understanding, counter misinformation and promote confidence in democratic institutions.

He said the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters would continue to engage INEC and other stakeholders on legislative and institutional issues affecting the electoral system.

INEC reviews judgment

Meanwhile, INEC said it was reviewing the Supreme Court judgment concerning the Electoral Act and its implications for the conduct of the 2027 elections.

The commission said the review was necessary to ensure that its timetable and preparations remained aligned with the legal position established by the apex court.

Amupitan said INEC had received complaints from political parties, aggrieved aspirants and the National Assembly drawing attention to the Supreme Court’s September 24, 2026 judgment in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party.

He said the judgment affirmed the constitutionality of Section 77(5)-(7) of the Electoral Act 2026 and upheld the commission’s revised timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 general election.

“We only received the certified true copy of this judgment this morning, and it is being reviewed,” he said.

The development comes amid continuing legal and institutional discussions over aspects of the electoral framework ahead of the polls.

1.4m ad hoc staff

Amupitan also disclosed that INEC would engage 1,414,768 ad hoc personnel for the two phases of the 2027 general elections.

He said 707,384 personnel would be required for the Presidential and National Assembly elections on January 16, 2027, with the same number to be deployed for the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections on February 6.

The figure represents an increase from the approximately 1.2 million ad hoc personnel engaged during the 2023 general elections.

According to Amupitan, the 1,414,768 personnel would be deployed across 176,846 polling units nationwide.

With 100 days to the presidential and National Assembly elections, INEC said its remaining preparations would focus on completing outstanding milestones, testing election technology, strengthening security coordination, training personnel and ensuring that the voter register was subjected to public scrutiny.

Source: punchng.com

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