A founding member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bisi Akande, has disclosed that late former President Muhammadu Buhari informed him that he never instigated ex-Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to contest against now President Bola Tinubu in 2022. During the APC primary election in 2022, Tinubu emerged as the party’s flagbearer while Osinbajo came a distant third. Osinbajo is widely believed to be a political protege of Tinubu after he served under him as Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General while the now President was governor of Lagos State. There are speculations that Tinubu was instrumental in Osinbajo’s emergence as Vice President to Buhari. However, Akande while featuring on Edmund Obilo’s podcast, State Affairs, said Osinbajo never stepped down for Tinubu because it was his right to contest in the primary election. Akande said: “I wanted everybody to be free to contest the election but I don’t want bitterness, I wanted them to talk on issues and not one to destroy another because I wanted one of them to emerge in the end, I wanted a Yoruba President.” On convincing Osinbajo to step down for Tinubu, he said, “After several meetings, I told them we want only one and I want any of you to voluntarily step down. “On the evening of the primary, some came to me that they were going to step down and they stepped down, it wasn’t too late. “Osinbajo did not step down and I didn’t discuss it with Tinubu thereafter. Osinbajo has every right to contest and he did and I don’t blame anybody for contesting elections.” On if Buhari was against Tinubu, Akande said: “He (Buhari) didn’t tell me so because I put many questions to him, he wanted me to see that he was not the one who instigated Osinbajo to contest against Tinubu and he made it clear that in his own culture when your mentor is interested in one position, you don’t contest with him but when Osinbajo came he was surprised and only wished him well.” Akande’s claim is contrary to claims in Buhari’s biography, ‘From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammad Buhari’, authored by Dr Charles Omole, that the late former president didn’t support Osinbajo’s presidential ambition. The book quoted Buhari as saying he never supported Osinbajo’s ambition in 2022 because he never knew him. Buhari was said to have stated that he knew the ex-Vice President through Tinubu

A founding member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and former Governor of Osun State, Bisi Akande, has disclosed that he was instrumental in the emergence of Yemi Osinbajo as Vice President. Akande said he nominated Osinbajo for the position after consulting with President Bola Tinubu in 2011. His disclosure runs contrary to widespread claims that Tinubu personally nominated Osinbajo as the running mate to the late former President Muhammadu Buhari. However, Akande recalled that he advised Tinubu to replace Buhari’s former running mate, Tunde Bakare, with another candidate. Speaking on Edmund Obilo’s podcast, State Affairs, Akande said: “I nominated Osinbajo for Vice President after consulting with Tinubu. I said it the way it is in my book, I said ‘Tinubu, come, in 2011 you were discussing with Buhari trying to replace Bakare with somebody, who was the person?’ He said Osinbajo, and I said I was going to recommend Osinbajo, which I did.”

The All Progressives Congress has released a comprehensive schedule of activities for its 2025/2026 nationwide ward, local government, state and zonal congresses, culminating in the party’s national convention. The APC National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru, released the schedule via his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle on Saturday. According to the timetable signed by Basiru, the activities are being conducted pursuant to the provisions of Articles 11 and 17 of the APC Constitution and are aimed at electing party officials across all levels. The schedule stated that the process will begin with the commencement of membership e-registration on Monday, December 1, 2025, which will run until January 30, 2026. It added that this will be followed by the issuance of notices of congresses to state and Federal Capital Territory chapters on February 2, 2026. According to the schedule, purchase and submission of forms for ward and local government area congresses are scheduled to take place between February 4 and February 9, 2026. It disclosed that screening committees for ward and LGA positions will be inaugurated on February 10, with screening of aspirants holding from February 11 to February 13. Ward congresses are fixed for Wednesday, February 18, 2026, while appeals arising from the ward congresses will be heard on February 19. LGA congresses, including the election of three delegates, one of whom must be female, to the national convention, will hold on February 20, with appeals scheduled for February 21. At the state level, the purchase of forms for state executive positions will commence earlier, from February 23 to February 27, 2025. Screening and appeals for state executives are slated for late February and early March 2026, while state congresses will hold on Saturday, March 7, 2026. The timetable stated that appeals from state congresses will be entertained between March 9 and March 11, while the party will then move to the zonal level, with the purchase and submission of forms for zonal congresses and the national convention scheduled for March 12 to March 17, 2026. According to the schedule, zonal congresses will be inaugurated on March 18, followed by the screening of aspirants on March 19 and 20. It said they zonal congresses across the six geopolitical zones will take place on Saturday, March 21, 2026. The designated zonal offices are Ibadan for the South West, Enugu for the South East, Rivers/Cross River for the South South, Kaduna for the North West, Gombe/Bauchi for the North East, and Nasarawa for the North Central., while appeals arising from the zonal congresses will be heard on March 23. The timetable shows that the APC National Convention is scheduled to hold from Wednesday, March 25, to Saturday, March 28, 2026.

The Independent National Electoral Commission on Friday intervened in the leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, summoning the party’s rival factions to its headquarters in Abuja. The meeting brought together the faction led by Tanimu Turaki and the group headed by Abdulrahman Mohammed, which is backed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. Turaki attended the meeting alongside members of his National Working Committee, secretariat staff and former Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, while Mohammed was accompanied by members of his national caretaker committee, including its secretary, Senator Sam Anyanwu. Speaking at the opening of the meeting, the INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, said the intervention became necessary following a series of conflicting correspondence received from the party. “This meeting has become necessary because we have received several correspondence from various sides requesting one thing or the other. “And we are aware that INEC is charged statutorily under the Act and under the Constitution to monitor the activities of political parties,” he said. He noted that the intervention was also informed by preparations for the Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections scheduled for February 21, 2026, as well as the governorship polls in Ekiti and Osun states slated for June and July 2026 respectively. “And as a build-up to these elections, we have issued our own schedule of activities to all the political parties. And we are on course to ensure that we have a very smooth election at the area council of FCT and at Ekiti and Osun states. “We have received conflicting correspondence from the PDP, and we felt that rubbing minds together would be a good opportunity for us to forge the way forward concerning the elections. “And I’m happy that this morning we have the very top officials that are present here so that we can discuss as a family and see how the issues can be resolved and we move forward,” he said. The INEC chairman stressed that the commission’s actions were guided strictly by the Constitution, the Electoral Act and its internal regulations, assuring the factions of its neutrality. “So we are mindful of the need for us to maintain the sanctity of the Constitution of Nigeria. Actually, INEC sits on a tripod, comprising three legal regimes: the Constitution, the Electoral Act, and the regulations that have been made. So, we are determined to ensure that we follow the provisions of the various laws, the Constitution and the regulations that we have made. “So without much ado, I want to welcome all of you, and I request that we should have very, very frank discussions to ensure that we can achieve the objective of this meeting,” he said. Following the opening remarks, the meeting proceeded into a closed-door session. The meeting is expected to yield recommendations on resolving the PDP’s internal disputes ahead of the forthcoming elections.

The National Treasurer of the Accord Party High Chief Abdulazeez Salaudeen has declared that the party has no factions. Salaudeen, who made this known in a chat with newsmen in Minna, Niger State, further disclosed that the party conducted its party primaries and Senator Ademola Adeleke emerged as the sole Governorship Candidate “Our Party has conducted its primary election in Osun State on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, in accordance with the Party’s guidelines and the Electoral Act, 2022, as amended under the supervision of the state’s members and the Independent National Electoral Commission “The fact remains that His Excellency, Senator Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, was the sole aspirant of the party at then. Salaudeen further made known via a press briefing which held in his office in Tunga – Minna, Niger State, that the delegates of the Party in Osun State as at then were 150 and they were all accredited. He noted the more that “the votes were cast in order to show that they were democrats and they did not opt for affirmation. “We are democrats, instead of affirmation, we conducted a real election and five votes were voided as a result of some delegates’ mis- thumbprinting, while 145 votes were secured. “The votes were counted in the presence of everyone, including the INEC, journalists, observers, security operatives and His Excellency, Governor Senator Ademola Adeleke, was declared the winner by me as the Secretary of the Electoral Committee,” Salaudeen continued. According to the Accord National Treasurer, “We learned that some enemies of democracy who had been expelled from the party since early last year (2024), saying that they conducted their own kangaroo election that was not known to INEC and recognised by the law. “We are reiterating that we don’t know these people and we believe that they are being sponsored by All Progressives Congress party members in Osun State to cause confusion and destabilise the Accord Party for the people of Osun State “Accord as a Political Party, we don’t have party factions. Instead, we are united under the able leadership of Barr. Maxwell Ngbudem and the National Secretary, Hon. Dr Adebukola Ajaja,” Salaudeen insisted. The politician maintained that “Accord (Party) in the North Central Zone, held their meeting, last Saturday, December 14, 2025, and we affirmed, just as we also gave our vote of confidence on the leadership of the Party,” he stressed.

President Bola Tinubu is currently presiding over a meeting of the National Caucus of the All Progressives Congress, APC, at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja. Our correspondent reports that the meeting is the party’s second caucus gathering in 2025, following an earlier session held on February 25. The meeting is also the first since Prof Nentawe Yilwatda emerged as APC national chairman in July. It comes a few days after the party rescheduled its National Caucus and National Executive Committee, NEC, meetings from December 15–16 to 18–19, with the NEC now expected to hold on Friday at the Presidential Villa. Present at the meeting are governors and top party chieftains, including serving APC governors, former governors and principal officers of the National Assembly. THENEWSCREDIT reports that the APC National Caucus is a meeting of the party’s top leadership.

The lawmaker representing Abia South Senatorial District, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has said that supporters of President Bola Tinubu cannot openly express their support at home. Speaking in an interview on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television monitored by THENEWSCREDIT on Monday, Abaribe said they would be stoned by their people if they showed their support for Tinubu in their villages. “I come from Aba in Abia State and I was discussing this particular thing that oh, APC has this government and people were a little worried. “Most of the people saying they are supporting Tinubu cannot go to their homes and say it; they can’t, because they would be stoned if they did. People are suffering. The suffering is monumental. “We have never had this before. Not just the suffering, the whole economy has collapsed. The security is a nightmare. Where then would you get that vote from?” he asked. Our correspondent reports that politicians and their supporters have begun warming up ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has said that he would not stop dancing, stressing that dancing would not affect his work. Governor Adeleke made this statement on Wednesday when he appeared as a guest in an interview on ‘Politics Today’, a programme on Channels Television monitored by our correspondent. THENEWSCREDIT reports that Adeleke is popular known for his dancing when he was a Senator, hence, the name ‘dancing senator’. “Let me tell you something. I will keep dancing because I love to dance, I love to praise my God. That doesn’t change anything. You understand what I’m saying? “Everybody has their way of relaxing or hobby. My hobby is to dance and praise my God. That does not affect my work,” he said. Recall that the governor on Tuesday evening joined the Accord Party after resigning from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, ahead of the 2026 Osun State gubernatorial election. The Accord Party on Wednesday handed him the party ticket during its primaries in Osogbo.

Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has emerged the governorship candidate of the Accord Party for next year’s governorship election. The election came as he is the sole candidate of the Accord Party in the governorship primary that was held on Wednesday in Osogbo. THENEWSCREDIT reports that no fewer than 150 delegates were accredited while five ballots were invalid making a total of 145 valid votes at the end of voting. The Chairman of the Electoral Committee, Hajia Mariam Saleh represented by the Secretary, Abulazeez Salaudeen, while announcing the result, said Governor Adeleke pulled 145 votes to win the Osun Accord Party governorship ticket at the end of ballot counting exercise. According to her, the electoral committee had delivered on its mandate to ensure a free and fair governorship primary.” Saleh further stated that this was done after voting and counting witnessed by the agents and INEC representatives. The Accord Party national chairman, Maxwell Mgbudem presented the party flag and certificate to Governor Ademola Adeleke and charged him to continue with his good works even as he seeks a second term in office as governor under the banner of the party. Adeleke, while accepting the election result, thanked the Accord Party, the members and the electoral committee for deeming him fit to be their candidate for the 2026 election, urging all party members and electorates to vote for the Accord Party in the election. “I accept my nomination as candidate of Accord Party for the Osun 2026 governorship election. The confidence you repose in me will not be regretted. “My candidacy signals the success of the journey of development as it continues to shine across our state in the service of our people,” Governor Adeleke said. The governor reiterated that Osun State would never go back to the dark days after witnessing failed promises for a long time, adding that with his endorsement by the Accord Party, the opposition against the will of the people has been rejected.

At least seven Osun State governorship aspirants under the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, have stepped down after meeting with President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday. They have all agreed to support Bola Oyebamiji as the consensus governorship candidate in the forthcoming primary. The meeting, called by President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, was boycotted by one of the aspirants, Iyiola Omisore. Omisore had earlier described his disqualification from the primary as a joke. The aspirants who stepped down include former Deputy Governor Benedict Olugboyega Alabi, Dotun Babayemi, Akin Ogunbiyi, Senator Babajide Omoworare, Kunle Adegoke, Babatunde Haketer Oralusi, and Mulikat Abiola Jimoh.