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You were broke, Wike bankrolled your election, Dogara tells Bauchi gov

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Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has expressed surprise at the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed’s verbal attacks on the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

According to Dogara, Mohammed’s attack on Wike is surprising because Wike financed Mohammed’s campaign to become governor.

In a long statement on Tuesday, Dogara said he and others supporting Mohammed to become governor were shocked that despite being a former minister he had no money to fund his governorship bid.

Dogara said apart from Wike taking control of the PDP primary to ensure Mohammed’s emergence as the PDP flag-bearer, he went on to provide Mohammed with money and logistics, which enabled him to win the election and become a governor.

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In the last couple of weeks, Wike and Mohammed have been locked in a media war, with Mohammed describing Wike as a transactional politician who is propelled by personal gains.

Mohammed, who is the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, also described Wike as a serial betrayer and a threat to the PDP, urging him to resign from the PDP and join the ruling All Progressives Congress, which appointed him the FCT minister.

However, wading in on Tuesday in his statement titled, “Let the truth be told,” Dogara said that given how Wike helped Mohammed in the past, the Bauchi governor’s attack on Wike smacked of ingratitude and betrayal.

Dogara wrote, “As someone who knows so much because I was the provocateur of the events between the two that I will speak to, I consider my silence not just cowardice but complicity. Therefore, I am not afraid to stand alone or risk conflict. I should not be misunderstood to be defending Wike but simply stating the raw truth that I know, and I don’t give a damn if the truth makes Wike look good. I have learnt to tell the truth as I enjoy my freedom from being a slave to human opinion.

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“For starters, need I remind Governor Bala Mohammed that in the 2018 PDP gubernatorial primaries when we were not too sure he would win because his then major opponent, Senator Abdul Ningi, was the one who constituted the state party structure and had a bosom friend as party chairman, it was Wike we turned to for help.

“I had called Wike to plead with him to help us in Bauchi without necessarily disclosing to him that it was Bala Mohammed that we wanted to be delivered. His response to me, was that ‘Are you sure you are in control of the process 100 per cent?’ I said, I wasn’t too sure and he said to me, ‘Leave it to me, I will help you sort it out.’

“To do it, Wike, first of all, made his bosom friend and close ally, Chief Dan Orbih, the chairman of the panel for the primaries and said I should discuss whatever I wanted with Chief Dan. We got talking, and on the eve of the primaries, Chief Dan was in Benin City, and we needed to get him to Bauchi for the assignment.

“It was Wike that I turned to again, and his response to me was, ‘My brother, I have told you not to bother about this. Tell Chief Dan to come to meet me in Port Harcourt’. I did just that, and amazingly, Wike provided the private jet that flew Chief Dan to Bauchi and out of Bauchi for the assignment. I can say without fear of any contradiction that Wike bore all expenses for the exercise. It’s, therefore, shocking that this so-called transactional character called Wike did not place any condition whatsoever for his support.”

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The former Speaker said Wike did not stop there, stressing that the former Rivers State governor assisted Mohammed during the main election as the latter had no money of his own to fund his campaign.

“After the emergence of Bala Mohammed as the party flag-bearer and having promised to sponsor all the party candidates if he gets the ticket, we were rudely awoken to the reality that Bala Mohammed had no money for his campaigns, let alone for other candidates of the party.

“Initially, I thought it was some kind of a funny joke but as time went, I realised to my utter bewilderment that it was true. It turned out Bala Mohammed had lied to us about his financial capacity. So we had a meeting at my then residence at Wuse II Abuja to help raise money and we thought since Bala Mohammed was a one-time minister for nearly six years, he must have built enough goodwill we could harness if we organised a fundraiser for him.

“A committee was put in place and we spent N20m to organize the fundraiser at the then Lady Kwai Hall, Sheraton Hotels, Abuja. Before then, I had asked Bala Mohammed to give me a list of some of the people he had helped while he held sway as Minister for FCT. He obliged me with the list, and after calling just four people on the list that I know so well, what they said to me jolted me and I reserve that for some other day. But suffice to say that I knew the fundraiser would be a flop, so I was already thinking of alternatives.

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“As predicted, we had the fundraiser, and to cut the long story short, all we raised from the fundraiser was a paltry N48m and If you deduct the N20m invested in organising it, that leaves you with a net of N28m. I have the records and our stakeholders are there to bear witness to this.

“When it was obvious the masquerade would soon turn to a human being, I told our then two serving senators who are alive and can testify that the only option we had was to go to a friend and brother, then Governor Wike for assistance. We got tickets and flew to Port Harcourt with Bala Mohammed without informing Wike that we were coming with him.

“On arrival, we were ushered into the Government House and asked to take our seats and wait for the governor, who was still upstairs, to join us shortly. As soon as Wike walked down the stairs to join us and saw Bala Mohammed, his visage changed and I noticed he was cold to me for the very first time. He asked us to join him at the dining room for breakfast but excused me while those on my delegation waited. What happened next was nerve-racking and humbling, I must say!

“He was like, ‘Speaker, why did you bring Bala to my house without even caring to find out what our mission was?’ I said to him, ‘I thought he was your friend since both of you served in the same cabinet under President Jonathan’. He said, ‘Let me tell you what you don’t know. When we were ministers, Bala Mohammed allocated plots of land to all ministers except me’. He also recalled how he humiliated him when he went to see him in his office as a colleague minister just to get approval to increase the number of floors on a building he had in Abuja, not to beg for the plot, which he refused to allocate to him.

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“He said Bala Mohammed kept him in his waiting room for hours and later sneaked out of the office. From that day, he (Wike) made up his mind never to have anything to do with him again. He added, ‘I wish you had told me it’s Bala you were rooting for but whatever you want, I will assist you guys because I don’t say no to a brother, but I assure you, you will regret your decision if Bala Mohammed becomes governor’. The rest is history,” Dogara recalled.

The former Speaker also added that Wike confronted Bal,a who admitted to his wrongdoing and pleaded for forgiveness.

“He said to me ‘Let’s join them at the dining so that I can confront him with these issues for you to know that I am not making things up. We joined them at the dining and Wike confronted Bala with these issues in the open and in our very presence, Bala admitted and pleaded for forgiveness, assuring that he was now a changed man. The two senators with me that day can confirm this to anyone who wants to establish the veracity of these narratives.’

“We spent the night at the Government House and the next morning, Wike called and directed that his cash assistance be handed over to me to pass to Bala. I said, ‘Your Excellency, it’s better I call him so that he can collect the assistance himself lest he thinks you are still angry with him’. I sent for Bala and when he came, Wike’s aide handed over the package to him and he collected it while almost kissing the ground. Wike, therefore, gave us the lifeline we needed to kick-start Bala’s campaigns.

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“If Bala has forgotten how much we left with that day, I will remind him. Wike didn’t stop there, he gave us a private jet to ferry us back to Abuja. And I must add that was not the only time Wike helped Bala with resources and logistics. What is baffling is that the so-called transactional Wike did not demand anything in return nor place any condition for all that he did.”

Concluding, Dogara stressed that “When Wike was his benefactor, he (Bala) said he knew Wike had done better than him and referred to him as ‘someone courageous, focused and determined, a person qualified and competent to help salvage Nigeria’. ”

Dogara said the Bauchi governor’s record of betrayal is common knowledge.

“Time will not permit me to list those Bala has betrayed, which includes his known godfather and our father, Baba Waziri, Alhaji Bello Kirfi, elder statesman and former Minister under President Shehu Shagari in the Second Republic.”

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Politics

OSUN DECIDES: APC studying results across 332 wards, reveal next move

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After the outcome of the just-concluded governorship election in Osun State, the All Progressives Congress, APC, has disclosed that it is studying the results before determining the next line of action.

Governor Ademola Adeleke, while addressing newsmen after he was declared victorious, disclosed that he is expecting his opponent, Mr Bola Oyebamiji, to call and congratulate him.

However, the APC, in a statement issued by its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, said the party leadership is currently studying the results of the governorship election in each of the 332 wards across the state with a view to exploring further allowed constitutional steps within the window of opportunity.

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His words, “We are not unaware of the fact that election is a process which begins at the registration of the voters through the primary election to the election proper which extends to the Tribunal, the Appeal Court and terminates at the Supreme Court.

“An election cannot be said to have been concluded without having explored all these constitutionally allowed legal opportunity to correct anomalies observed in the process of the election as enshrined in the Electoral Act 2026 as amended.

We commend the steadfastness, sagacity and loyalty of the numerous members and supporters of our party for their contributions in getting to this juncture in the political history of the state.

“We make bold to state categorically that as a progressive party which is founded on the unalloyed principle of the rule of law, fairness and justice, we shall not hesitate without further delay to explore the window allowed by the extant Electoral Act after due consultation with the team of our lawyers based on their professional advice.

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The new development is a beauty of democracy with reference to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s declared governorship election results in the state which would not propel us to deviate from embracing the culture of the rule of law.”

While appealing to members of the party to remain calm and go about their businesses lawfully, he urged the police to be on alert to rescue members of the party, who have become victims of molestation by members of the ruling party.

“As a result of the foregoing, we are imploring our ever loyal members and supporters to remain cool and calm while they carry on with their businesses and refuse to respond to any provocative action or inaction from any of the members of the ruling party across the state.

“It is necessary to assure our members and supporters not to despair about the current situation and have it in mind that it is not over until it is over.

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“While we are appealing to the Nigeria Police Force to come to the aid and rescue of our members and supporters who are being needlessly molested by the ruling party, we are assuring them that we won’t have any cause or reason to abandon them,” he said.

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PDP not part of Osun governorship elections, says INEC

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that despite the Court of Appeal’s judgment that the PDP candidate be included in the Osun State governorship elections, the party will not field any candidate in the elections.

Chief Press Secretary and Media Adviser to the INEC Chairman, Adedayo Oketola, told The Nation that they filed a stay of execution and appealed the judgment.

A three-man panel of the Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday that the candidate sponsored by the Tanimu Turaki camp of the PDP be allowed to participate in the election.

Under the electoral guidelines, only party leadership recognised by the Commission and listed in its database can present candidates for an election, but the Turaki camp is not recognised by the Commission.

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Oketola said the Commission was proceeding with the conduct of the Osun elections, adding that neither of the two PDP camps was presenting any candidate for the election.

National Publicity Secretary of the Wike-backed National Working Committee, Jagunda Haruna Mohammed, said they were not presenting any candidate for the elections because Gov. Ademola Adeleke, the only person who bought the party nomination form, pulled out of the party.

Oketola said, “Although the Court of Appeal delivered a judgment on Thursday directing the inclusion of the PDP on the ballot, I want to make it clear that the judgment does not affect the Commission’s operational arrangements for tomorrow’s election. The Osun State Governorship Election remains scheduled for Saturday, 15 August 2026.

“INEC has already taken the necessary legal steps by filing an appeal against the judgment, together with an application for a Stay of Execution. The Commission will continue to pursue the matter through the appropriate judicial process while maintaining its preparations for the election.

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“From an operational standpoint, the situation on the ground remains clear. Neither faction of the PDP is presently fielding an active candidate in the election. Accordingly, the judgment does not affect the Commission’s existing preparations or the conduct of tomorrow’s poll.

“There is no postponement or disruption to tomorrow’s election. The Commission’s logistical arrangements across Osun State are in place, and the necessary security arrangements have been made. Voting will commence at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow as scheduled.”

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24hours to guber poll: Osun govt wants police investigate election threats

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Barely 24hours to the Osun State governorship election scheduled for August 15, 2026, the state government has initiated legal action seeking to compel the Nigeria Police Force to investigate statements attributed to Senator Francis Fadahunsi, which allegedly called for violence against members and supporters of the Accord Party.

In the suit filed by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, on behalf of the state, the government is seeking an Order of Mandamus compelling the Inspector-General of Police and the Commissioner of Police, Osun State Command, to investigate the alleged inciting statements contained in a circulating video.

The suit, dated August 12, 2026, was filed at the Osogbo Division of the Osun State High Court.

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The Inspector-General of Police and the Osun State Commissioner of Police are listed as the first and second respondents, respectively, while Senator Fadahunsi, who represents Osun East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, is named as the Person Affected/Interested Party.

The video allegedly shows Senator Fadahunsi addressing a political gathering in front of the Owa Obokun’s Palace in Ilesha, where he is alleged to have made statements calling for violence against members of the Accord Party.

According to the court documents, the alleged remarks included a call for APC members to kill Accord Party members wherever they encountered them, as well as threats involving their wives and children.

The applicant further alleges that the senator called for Accord Party members to be chased out of hotels and warned that the governorship election would not hold if Accord Party members resisted APC members.

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However, the Attorney-General makes clear that the application is not asking the court to determine Senator Fadahunsi’s criminal guilt.

Rather, the state wants the police compelled to investigate the allegations, secure and preserve the electronic evidence, and take lawful preventive measures where necessary.

The application specifically seeks the complete and unedited version of the video, its authentication and forensic examination, as well as an investigation into its location, date, audience, sponsors, publishers, circulators and other persons connected with the alleged statements.

The documents state that the video was obtained from Facebook on August 11, 2026, by Nurudeen Kareem, Special Adviser to the Osun State Governor on Legal Matters, who deposed to the supporting affidavit and provided a certificate of compliance relating to the electronic evidence.

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The Attorney-General argues that the police have a statutory responsibility to prevent and detect crime, maintain public order, and protect lives and property, adding that the alleged statements, if authenticated, could amount to serious criminal conduct and threaten electoral peace.

The state is also asking the court to compel the police to take preventive measures to protect Accord Party members, supporters, candidates, agents and officials, as well as voters and other residents who may be endangered by the alleged incitement.

It further wants the police to submit a comprehensive report on the steps taken in compliance with any order of the court within 48 hours, or within such other period as the court may direct.

In its written address, the state argues that “time is of the absolute essence”, given the August 15 governorship election.

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It contends that any delay in the investigation, preservation of evidence and preventive policing could expose innocent citizens to avoidable danger, potentially resulting in loss of life and irreparable harm.

The Attorney-General maintains that the reliefs sought are preventive, rather than an invitation to the court to determine Senator Fadahunsi’s guilt, and asks the court to compel the police to perform their statutory duties in the interest of public safety, electoral peace and the rule of law.

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