President Goodluck Jonathan's accreditation on Saturday for the presidential election was delayed as three card readers failed to capture his biometric details.
Jonathan, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, who arrived at the Otazi playground polling centre in his home town, Otueke, Bayelsa State, with his wife, at exactly 9:22 am, could not be accredited till after 10:00 am.
However, the same card reader had accredited some other voters before the President.
While waiting for a fourth card reader, a visibly sweating Jonathan urged Nigerians to be patient and ensure they all voted.
Calling the inability to be accredited a little delay, Jonathan told journalists that the elections nationwide should not be viewed through the perspective of only one incident of failed card reader.
Jonathan said: "President Jonathan is just one person, so if we have problem with one person, as far as the elections is going on well nationally.
"I’m not worried, there might be a delay, my interest is that we conduct a credible election.
"What I want to know is that what is happening across the country."
Jonathan, who also placed a call through to the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, to find out what is happening nationwide, added: "I want to use this opportunity to commend Nigerians and congratulate them for coming out to elect the next President, Senators and House of Representatives.
"There maybe issues, but this is the first time we are using this technology of voters card and card readers, I just spoke with the INEC Chairman to know what is happening across the country, President Jonathan is just one voter so even if we have problems with my own card, as long as nationally the process is going on well.
"They may be a way to resolve the hitches but my interest is for us to conduct a peaceful and credible elections and i believe that no matter the hitches.
"Nigeria elections is an election that the whole world is interested in and my conviction is that the election should go on."
There had been complaints in various parts of Lagos concerning the challenges being faced by voters as well as the late commencement of the accreditation.
Mr. Ima Niboro,Director General of the News Agency of Nigeria, said he spoke with the Chairman of the INEC Professor Attahiru Jega, who he said gave approval for President Jonathan to be accredited “based on the register”.
Kaduna State :
Sambo's Accreditation Delayed by Late Arrival of Electoral Materials
In Kaduna, officials of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are yet to arrive Vice President Namadi Sambo's polling unit with election materials
But security men and several aides of the Vice President were already on ground expecting INEC officials to arrive for accreditation of the Vice President.
Already some of the voters who are waiting patiently for INEC officials to come for the accreditation scheduled to commence at 8am are becoming apprehensive and worried as nobody is telling them the reason for the delay.
As at 11:00 am when this story was being filed , it was observed that large number of voters trooped out impressively for the accreditation at the Kabala Doki , Ward 5 polling unit , but the delay in the arrival of election materials is stirring up tension.
However, in other polling units visited within Kaduna metropolis earlier, INEC officials have arrived with materials and have commenced accreditation process.
At WAFF Road, an accredited voted, Emmanuel Kyom told correspondents that he was impressed with quick and orderly manner the card reader and INEC officials are conducting the accreditation exercise.
It was also noticed that heavily armed and battle ready soldiers and policemen were seen at flash points notorious for violence as early as 7am.
For now, the accreditation process in most places visited by Huhuonline.com are peaceful and voters are on queue waiting to for their turn.
Rivers State
The state is under siege as armed men take over the streets of Port Harcourt and other parts of the state, shooting sporadically for two days running.
The Police in Rivers State in obvious connivance with the opposition PDP in the state have embarked on massive arrest of APC stalwarts in the state on trumped up charges.
The State Agent of the APC , Emma Deeyah was yesterday arrested at the state INEC office where he and others went for a briefing by INEC.
At GRA , close to the popular Casablanca area, armed men opened fire shooting in the air while other road users abandoned their vehicles and ran for safety. This was about 6pm yesterday.
At Rumuigbo and Wimpy areas of Obio/Akpor LGA, home of the PDP governorship candidate in the state, Nyesom Wike, there were shootings by armed youths who were seen chanting'PDP'.
In Andoni, the home of the defected Deputy Gov. Tele Ikuru and Prince Uche Secondus, the National Dep Chairman of the PDP, soldiers have taken over the place, intimidating supporters of the State Chairman of APC, Ibiamu Ikanya who is also from the area.
As at 5am today, at Obelle in Emohua LGA, police men were knocking on the doors of APC members to arrest them.
The fear of arrest as well as the presence of these armed men has contributed to the apathy that is witnessed now in the state.
As at press time,, voting materials are yet to arrive in all the 17 wards of Obio/Akpor LGA, home of Nyesom Wike and Tony Okocha who is the candidate of the APC for Obio/Akpor federal constituency. He is Amaechi's Chief of Staff after Wike
Edo State:
Army Stops Journalist from Travelling in Benin, Edo State
Operatives of Nigerian Army have begun what many are describing as the systematic intimidation of Nigerian journalists on Saturday morning in Benin, Edo State.
Journalists who set out to monitor the presidential and national assembly elections were barred from moving in their private vehicles by soldiers who insisted that they could only commute in official cars.
Gabriel Ordia of Galaxy TV and his crew were turned back from travelling to Edo Central senatorial district.
As at the time of filing this report, the Public Relations Officer of 4 Brigade, Nigerian Army in Benin, Captain Abubakar Abdulahi, who was called for intervention, promised to talk to the military operatives.
Some members of the public are however sceptical that the presence of the military operatives could intimidate electorates from coming out to exercise their franchise.
Card Reader: Oyegun, Others Yet to be Accredited
It appears the failure of INEC’s card readers to function is not isolated in Edo south senatorial district alone, as accreditation of eligible voters is underway in Edo central and north part of state.
All polling units in Edo south are yet to be accreditation of eligible voters as at 11:00 am.
National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief John Odigie Oyegun, who arrived at Ward 2 Unit 2 located in the premises of Civil Service Training School, GRA, by 11 am, was told by INEC staff that the the card readers were not functioning.
Addressing the press, Chief Oyegun called on the people to remain calm and wait peacefully, hoping that the situation will be resolved as soon as possible.
“We are keeping an eye on the situation. We will not allow the people to be deprived the opportunity to express their will," Oyegun said.
"I have heard that it is a generalised problem in Edo south. Messing up the process in Edo south will be messing up the result in Edo state.
"If it is a genuine technical problem which we hope will be resolved in a matter of minutes, because Edo south constitute 56 percent of the population of the state."
The process of accreditation was already in progress at Ward 7 Units 1 to 39, located inside Ologbosere Primary School, Upper Sakponba as the card reader issue was already resolved.
Rev. Eta Okon, confirmed that the card reader actually failed to work initially but that the issue has been resolved and he has been accredited.
Enugu & Gombe State : Bomb Blast Rocks Polling Unit in Enugu, Gombe
The entire Enugu State was thrown into panic on Saturday as an improvised explosive devices loaded in the white-coloured Honda car with registration number: KU J971 ABJ went off at a polling unit inside WTC primary school while accreditation of voters commenced on Saturday.
Nobody died in the incident, but it was learnt that the driver of the bomb-laden car got injured, but how he was evacuated from the car remains a mystery to security operatives at the scene.
The security operatives also said there were some unexploded explosives inside the car.
As at the time of filling this report, Police anti-bomb squad were at the scene trying to defuse the remaining unexploded bombs.
Prior to the explosion, it was learnt that the security operatives had defused two bombs at about 9.05 am.
As a result of this incidents, many residents have returned home in order to save their lives as they expressed fears that more of such incidents could be experienced.
Commissioner of Police in the state, Dan Bature, who visited the scene with top officers of the Force and journalists, advised residents not to panic as the Police was in control.
Journalists were however barred from taking photographs of the scene.
In the Gombe incident, it was learnt that the explosive was planted in one of the polling units.
Witnesses said one person was killed in the incident, but it is not known if the victim was a suicide bomber.
APC raises alarm over use of FG facility in Lagos
The APC has raised the alarm over suspicious, election-related activities being carried out at the Federal Government Press on Mobil Road, opposite Coca Cola, at Ajegunle, Lagos. In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said workers at the facility were sent home early on Friday, apparently so it can be made ready for use today (Saturday, March 28th) for a ‘presidency’ assignment. ”A concerned Nigerian alerted us to these developments, and we wonder what a federal government facility can be needed for on election day if it is not part of the facilities designated by INEC for election collation purpose. ”We are therefore compelled to alert the security agencies to urgently put the Federal Government Press at Mobil Road in Lagos under surveillance, with a view to stopping any possible illegal activities that may be going on there on this election day.” APC said with the avowed desperation of the PDP to capture Lagos State at all cost, it cannot be trusted not to resort to underhand activities to manipulate the polls in the state, hence the alarm.
PDP Agent Arrested in Ikorodu For Possessing Spy Cameras
APC Agents Without Tags denied Entry to Polling Area
One of the agents of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP in Igbogbo area of Ikorodu Division has been arrested with a spy camera.
The cameras were hidden in his sunglasses and ball point pens.
Except in exceptional cases authorised by the appropriate quarters, the use of cameras at polling centres goes contrary to electoral laws.
Concerns have been raised by many that this rule is widely being broken.
Meanwhile, agents of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in polling booth 001, Ikorodu are not being allowed in the polling booth because they are not in possession identification tags.
Some of the agents, however are presenting letters of confirmation of their status, but officials insiste that they must produce identification tags.
The same situation is occurring in Cele area of Ikorodu Division where party agents without identifications are also sent out.
As at 10:30 am, accreditation had not commenced in a lot of places in Ikorodu as some of the smart card readers for the accreditation had not been programmed for the process.
In Aga and Borokini areas, all the card readers have failed and accreditation is terribly slow in the area.
Blockage of APC leaders phone lines
The opposition All Progressive Congress (APC) party said the phone lines of key APC leaders have been bombarded with calls from an unknown number with a view to rendering them useless on election day. The calls, which started in the early hours of Saturday, were so persistent that genuine calls could not come in while no calls could be made from the phone lines.
17 card readers stolen in Imo
Security was beefed up at both the INEC headquarters along Port Harcourt Road, Owerri by soldiers who cordoned the area after violence erupted by some youths who protested what they alleged as missing 17 Card Reader Machines in the area.
Borno State
Vehicles, Houses torched as PDP, APC clash, in Borno
Over 250 PDP and APC members and supporters in Borno state clashed at Marama town in Hawul Local Government Area of state, torching several houses and vehicles over an alleged “importation of Boko Haram insurgents” to disrupt elections in the state. The clash was triggered when the PDP supporters alleged that one of the Borno state commissioners stormed southern Borno with armed APC thugs to allegedly disrupt the elections. The two sides clashed with dangerous weapons, burning each other’s’ flags, posters and party buildings, including two Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) of the council chairman and the alleged Borno commissioner. It took the deployment of soldiers from Biu town to intervene and quell the bloody clash that did not result into loss of lives, as the wounded were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Gombe for treatment..
DELTA STATE:
Voting postponed in two LGAs in Delta
Voting was postponed in Ethiope Federal constituency comprising Ethiope East and West Local Government Areas of Delta State because of inadequate supply of voting materials. The distribution of voting materials by the Warri office of INEC ended at 8.20am.
EBONYI STATE:
Man arrested for Distributing Stolen PVCs in Ebonyi
A man identified as Ozoemena Odenta was arrested by police in Ikwo Division of Ebonyi state for allegedly distributing stolen PVCs in Ekawoke ward in the area. The suspect was accused to have stolen the cards, numbering over 300, from INEC officials during the last distribution exercise and disappeared, only to resurface on the election day with the cards, which he distributed based on his discretion to his loyalists.
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The daughters of veteran Yoruba actor Taiwo Hassan, popularly known as Ogogo, have appealed for urgent medical assistance for their father, who they say is battling stage-four cancer.
Lima and Kira Taiwo made separate emotional appeals on Instagram, asking Nigerians, medical professionals, cancer specialists and well-wishers to help the actor access further treatment.
The family stressed that the appeal was not for financial donations but for medical intervention and access to specialists or healthcare facilities capable of reviewing the actor’s condition and determining whether further treatment options are available.
In an emotional video, Lima said her father’s condition had deteriorated significantly and claimed that hospitals were no longer willing to continue treating him.
She explained that the family only became aware of the seriousness of his condition about three weeks earlier, noting that his appearance had not initially suggested that he was seriously ill.
According to her, the family was willing to explore any legitimate medical option that could give the actor another chance.
Lima appealed to anyone with connections to oncologists, hospitals or other qualified medical professionals to contact the family.
She also acknowledged the support of a relative who, according to her, had stepped in to assist the family during the difficult period.
Kira, in a separate video, disclosed that her father had been diagnosed with stage-four cancer and said the hospital treating him had informed the family that he could no longer continue with chemotherapy.
She similarly appealed for medical assistance, asking anyone with access to cancer specialists or facilities capable of managing advanced cancer to reach out to the family.
Kira also mentioned the support of Senator Yayi, whom she said had been helping the family with medical expenses.
While pleading for help, she became emotional as she described the pain her father was experiencing and said he had expressed his fear of dying.
The daughters' appeals have since attracted support from several prominent figures in the Nigerian entertainment industry.
Actor and filmmaker Femi Adebayo urged the public to rally around Hassan and help the family connect with qualified oncology specialists and advanced treatment centres.
Adebayo said the family's immediate need was medical direction rather than financial assistance. He encouraged people with contacts in the oncology field, both in Nigeria and abroad, to help the family have the actor's medical records reviewed and identify possible treatment options.
Actress Toyin Abraham also shared the family's appeal on Instagram, asking anyone who could assist to contact Kira, Lima or her directly.
Meanwhile, medical doctor Olusina Ajidahun, known on X as The Bearded Dr Sina, offered a different perspective on the daughters' description of the situation.
Ajidahun cautioned that saying hospitals had “refused to treat” the actor could create the impression that medical professionals were deliberately abandoning him.
He explained that patients with advanced, stage-four cancer may sometimes be moved from active cancer treatment to palliative care after available chemotherapy and other therapies have been considered or exhausted.
Palliative care focuses on controlling symptoms, relieving pain and improving quality of life when a disease can no longer be effectively cured. It does not necessarily mean that healthcare professionals have simply abandoned a patient.
Ajidahun also warned the public against unverified claims that herbal preparations can cure advanced cancer. He said such remedies could potentially cause additional complications, particularly if they interfere with established medical treatment or damage other organs.
He further explained that stage-four cancer generally indicates that a cancer has spread from its original site to other parts of the body, although the exact implications and available treatment options depend on the particular cancer and the individual patient's medical circumstances.
The doctor clarified that he was not involved in Hassan's treatment and was commenting independently in response to the videos posted by the actor's daughters.
Taiwo Hassan, 66, is one of the most recognisable figures in Yoruba-language cinema. With a career spanning more than four decades, he has appeared in hundreds of Nigerian films and has built a reputation as one of the industry's veteran performers.
As of the time of the reports, Hassan's management and family had not released a detailed official statement identifying the type of cancer, the hospital where he is receiving care, or the specific treatment he has undergone.
The family's appeal has nevertheless prompted renewed calls for qualified medical professionals and cancer treatment centres to review the actor's case and advise on any medically appropriate options that may remain available.
News
Twenty-four companies now account for nearly three-quarters of the total value of Nigeria’s equities market, highlighting the growing concentration of market wealth among a relatively small group of large-cap stocks.
As of August 17, 2026, the companies had a combined market capitalisation of N117.01 trillion, representing 74.8 per cent of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) equities market, whose total capitalisation stood at N156.52 trillion.
The NGX market capitalisation has increased by N57.14 trillion, or 57.5 per cent, from N99.38 trillion at the end of 2025.
The sharp rise has been supported by strong gains across several sectors, particularly banking, consumer goods, industrial goods and energy. However, the concentration of market value means that the performance of a relatively small number of heavyweight stocks can have a significant influence on the broader market.
Large-cap stocks dominate the market
Dangote Cement Plc emerged as the most valuable company on the NGX, with a market capitalisation of N17.15 trillion, overtaking MTN Nigeria Plc.
BUA Foods Plc and BUA Cement Plc followed with N13.69 trillion each, while Aradel Holdings Plc was valued at N6.72 trillion.
Other companies among the most highly capitalised stocks included First Holdco Plc, HBM Nigeria Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, GTCO Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Transcorp Hotels Plc, Presco Plc and Nestle Nigeria Plc.
The 24 companies are spread across several major sectors, with banks accounting for a significant portion of the list.
Banks maintain a strong presence
First Holdco led the banking stocks with a market capitalisation of N6.37 trillion, followed by Zenith Bank at N5.04 trillion and GTCO at N4.70 trillion.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings was valued at N2.56 trillion, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) stood at N1.99 trillion.
Access Holdings and Fidelity Bank had market capitalisations of N1.45 trillion and N1.38 trillion respectively. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated and Wema Bank followed with N1.27 trillion and N1.16 trillion.
The strong performance of banking stocks has been linked to improved investor sentiment and the sector's recapitalisation programme, which has encouraged expectations of stronger balance sheets and greater capacity for future growth.
Consumer goods stocks remain prominent
BUA Foods was the largest consumer-related company on the list, with a market capitalisation of N13.69 trillion.
Presco followed at N2.40 trillion, while Nestle Nigeria was valued at N2.22 trillion.
Nigerian Breweries and International Breweries recorded market capitalisations of N2.10 trillion and N1.79 trillion respectively.
Although consumer-facing companies have benefited from expectations of improved operating conditions, the sector continues to contend with elevated production costs, inflationary pressures and weak household purchasing power.
Industrial giants drive market value
The industrial goods sector is another major source of market concentration.
Dangote Cement led the sector with a market capitalisation of N17.15 trillion. BUA Cement followed with N13.69 trillion, while HBM Nigeria had a market value of N5.38 trillion.
The size of these companies means that changes in their share prices can significantly affect overall market performance.
Energy stocks gain prominence
The energy segment also featured prominently among the largest companies.
Seplat Energy and Aradel Holdings each recorded market capitalisations of N6.72 trillion, while Geregu Power stood at N2.06 trillion and Transcorp Power at N1.65 trillion.
The growing representation of energy companies reflects increasing investor interest in Nigeria's oil, gas and power businesses.
Market rally masks wide differences among stocks
Despite the strong performance of the broader market, individual stocks have produced vastly different returns.
Zichis Agro Allied Industries was the best-performing stock year-to-date as of August 17, gaining 1,744.22 per cent to N18.35 per share.
SCOA Nigeria rose 365.49 per cent to N33.05, while Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank gained 221.43 per cent to N11.25.
Berger Paints Nigeria increased by 207.50 per cent to N147.60, while Premier Paints appreciated by 204 per cent to N30.40.
Other major gainers included First Holdco, up 198.51 per cent to N140; Vitafoam Nigeria, which gained 153.04 per cent to N194; and HBM Nigeria, which rose 149.25 per cent to N334.
However, the market rally did not benefit all investors.
Sovereign Trust Insurance was the worst-performing stock, falling 50.39 per cent to N1.89.
Ellah Lakes declined 41.52 per cent to N8.10, while Guinea Insurance dropped 43.37 per cent to N0.76.
SUNU Assurances Nigeria fell 39.64 per cent to N3.32, while Austin Laz declined 39.06 per cent to N2.84.
Royal Exchange, Triple Gee & Company, Champion Breweries and Universal Insurance also recorded significant declines.
Transcorp Power fell 28.45 per cent to N219.60 despite the overall strength of the market.
Asset size paints a different picture
Market capitalisation is not the only measure of corporate size.
When companies are ranked by total assets, the picture changes considerably.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated had the largest asset base in the second quarter of 2026, with total assets of N49.15 trillion.
First Holdco followed with N30.65 trillion, while Aradel Holdings recorded N10.88 trillion.
FCMB had total assets of N8.36 trillion and Oando N7.89 trillion.
Dangote Cement reported N6.62 trillion in assets, followed by MTN Nigeria with N5.97 trillion and Sterling Holdings with N4.67 trillion.
BUA Cement and BUA Foods recorded total assets of N1.92 trillion and N1.67 trillion respectively.
However, a large asset base does not necessarily translate into high profitability or strong shareholder returns. For financial institutions in particular, substantial assets are often accompanied by significant liabilities.
Negative equity raises investor concerns
The second-quarter balance sheets also highlight differences in financial strength.
Ecobank Transnational had shareholders' equity of N3.17 trillion, while First Holdco recorded N3.63 trillion.
MTN Nigeria had positive equity of N930.61 billion, while Sterling Holdings reported N547.67 billion.
Dangote Cement had equity of about N3.17 trillion. Jaiz Bank and United Capital recorded positive equity of N93.6 billion and N187.09 billion respectively.
However, Aradel Holdings reported negative equity of N2.16 trillion despite having total assets of N10.88 trillion.
Oando also recorded negative equity of N530.45 billion against total assets of N7.89 trillion.
Negative equity does not automatically mean that a company is incapable of recovering, but it warrants closer examination of its debt obligations, cash flows, capital structure and plans to strengthen its balance sheet.
Analysts urge investors to look beyond the index
Market analysts have cautioned investors against interpreting the NGX's strong headline performance as evidence of a broad-based improvement across all listed companies.
David Adonri, an analyst and Chief Executive Officer of Highcap Securities Limited, said the concentration of market value among a relatively small number of companies makes it important for investors to examine individual stocks rather than rely solely on the All-Share Index.
According to him, strong market performance can conceal significant differences in company fundamentals, earnings and valuations.
He also warned investors against buying stocks simply because they have recorded exceptional year-to-date gains, noting that substantial price appreciation does not necessarily correspond with an equivalent improvement in underlying business performance.
Another analyst at InvestData Consulting Limited advised investors to pay particular attention to companies with negative shareholders' equity.
The analyst said investors should determine whether negative equity is temporary, whether management has a credible recapitalisation or restructuring strategy, and whether the underlying business generates enough cash to meet its financial obligations.
Analysts divided on investment prospects
Analysts' recommendations also show that the market rally has created both opportunities and valuation concerns.
Of the 32 stocks assessed, 17 received Buy or Strong Buy ratings, while 12 were rated Sell or Strong Sell. Three stocks received Neutral ratings.
Among those rated Buy or Strong Buy were Aradel Holdings, Access Holdings, Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar, FCMB, GTCO, Guinness Nigeria, HBM Nigeria, Honeywell Flour Mills, Nigerian Breweries, Nestle Nigeria, UACN, Transcorp Corporation, UBA, Zenith Bank and Cadbury Nigeria.
Stocks receiving Sell or Strong Sell recommendations included BUA Cement, BUA Foods, Conoil, First Holdco, International Breweries, Julius Berger, Okomu Oil, Presco, PZ Cussons, Stanbic IBTC, TotalEnergies Marketing and Unilever Nigeria.
Fidelity Bank, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated and NASCON Allied Industries were rated Neutral.
The divergence in recommendations suggests that investors are becoming more selective as valuations rise.
Analysts said investors should focus on earnings growth, dividend potential, debt levels, cash generation and return on equity when assessing individual stocks.
Concentration presents both opportunity and risk
The dominance of 24 companies in the NGX's total market value underscores the growing influence of large-cap stocks on Nigeria's equity market.
For investors, the strong market rally presents opportunities, but it also highlights the importance of distinguishing between rising share prices and improving business fundamentals.
A stock market can deliver a strong headline return while individual companies experience very different outcomes.
With nearly three-quarters of market capitalisation concentrated in a small group of companies, movements in these stocks will remain critical to the direction of the NGX.
The message for investors is therefore clear: a rising market is not necessarily a uniformly attractive market. Understanding valuations, earnings, balance sheets and cash flows remains essential when deciding where to invest.
Business
In The Spotlight
The Osun election is over, and Governor Ademola Adeleke has won another term. That fact invites a revisit of the prophets, defectors and sages who explained why Osun voters must reject him. Hubris, the Greeks knew, often enters wearing wisdom’s costume and leaves carrying its shoes. In politics, certainty is often merely ignorance wearing a tailored suit.
The first lesson is elementary, yet apparently postgraduate in Nigeria: voters are not an audience waiting for pundits to announce the correct answer. Temitope Ajayi, a Senior Special Assistant to Mr President wanted the voters to elect a “CEO rather than an entertainer”. APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr Felix Morka called Adeleke first term “very dismal” and “lacklustre.” Benjamin Adereti called the administration a “colossal failure,” while Oluremi Omowaye predicted voters would remove him. Ajibola Basiru, Tajudeen Lawal and Iyiola Omisore joined the indictment. Their criticisms were legitimate; their certainty was the experiment.
The Court of Adjectives
One can accuse a government of failure; one cannot appoint oneself clerk of the voters’ conscience. “Dismal,” “lacklustre,” “colossal failure” and “incompetent” are adjectives, not polling units. A ballot does not admire rhetoric; it asks citizens what they think. This does not sanctify Adeleke or invalidate criticism. It demonstrates the difference between argument and verdict: one belongs to commentators, the other to citizens.
Then came the entertainment thesis. Ajayi and others treated Adeleke’s dancing as though Terpsichore had amended the Constitution. Monday Okpebholo, the Governor of Edo State mocked the dancing, questioned meeting attendance and joked about “dancing roads.” Bashir Ahmad, the Former Personal Assistant to President Buhari reportedly bookmarked Davido’s post, anticipating an APC victory and future victory lap. What a museum of premature triumph! As the Yoruba proverb says, when the drummer changes rhythm, the dancer must listen; here, the electorate changed the rhythm.
There is a deeper irony. Governance is not judged by whether a governor looks miserable while working. A dancing governor can fail; a solemn governor can fail magnificently. An exuberant politician can govern competently. The serious questions are roads, schools, health, jobs, debt, investment, institutions and outcomes. President Olusegun Obasanjo’s counsel to Adeleke – do not stop dancing, but work – contains more wisdom than the anti-dance industry. The dance is personality; the work is the test.
The Insiders’ Paradox
Morka, Adereti, Omowaye, Basiru, Lawal and Omisore should not confuse electoral disappointment with a prohibition on criticism. Democracy needs vigilant opposition. But the stronger the allegation, the stronger the evidence required. If the government was catastrophic, show figures, baselines, procurement records and outcomes. In the Republic of Evidence, adjectives are unemployed.
Then there are former insiders: Moyoade Lukman and Azeez Kazeem, who served as Adeleke’s aides before breaking ranks and campaigning against him. Lukman called his APC move a “homecoming”; Kazeem abandoned his appointment for Bola Oyebamiji. Yet a riddle remains: if the house was uninhabitable, why did the discovery arrive after you acquired a room key? They were inside the kitchen, not tourists at the window.
Dr Leye Olagbaju and Asamo Gbenga, from the Accord camp, also rejected Adeleke’s candidacy and questioned his leadership capacity. Yet Nigerian politics turns former companions into overnight Herodotuses, each suddenly possessing the definitive history of the man they once embraced. Proximity gives information, not omniscience. A former ally may know where the furniture is kept and still misunderstand why guests keep arriving.
The Missing Political Arithmetic
The APC and ADC also appear to have overlooked a stubborn feature of Osun politics: power shift. All three leading contenders – Ademola Adeleke, Bola Oyebamiji and Najeem Salaam – came from Osun West. Osun Central and Osun East could ask: if the West retains power now, when does our turn become plausible? Adeleke’s second term potentially creates a clearer succession horizon. Some voters may have seen not merely a candidate, but a timetable. Electoral arithmetic is rarely as simple as campaign arithmetic suggests.
This is Nigerian politics 101, though campaign strategists treat it like an optional seminar. Identity politics does not always arrive with drums and banners. Sometimes it whispers in compounds, markets, party meetings, families, traditional circles and WhatsApp groups. It asks: whose turn, from where, and after whom? Zoning can function as an informal bargain over inclusion where groups fear exclusion. Disliking that logic does not make it disappear.
The Humbling of the Sure
That is where campaign confidence became comic weakness. Critics saw a referendum on Adeleke’s performance; many voters were also seeing a referendum on succession. The opposition could present promises, yet voters could calculate geography, identity and tomorrow simultaneously. Politics is not Euclid’s geometry; it is a marketplace of memory, expectation, fear, interest and hope. The television winner may lose at the polling booth. Aristotle understood persuasion requires knowing the audience; Nigerian politics adds that audiences may smile politely and vote differently.
And so, certainty met the old proverb: the person who says the road is clear may be the one who has not looked around the bend. Oyebamiji ran a serious race and should not become a punchline. Salaam also contested seriously. Their defeat is not evidence of incompetence; their coalitions simply did not assemble enough votes. Democracy becomes vulgar when every winner becomes a genius and loser a fool.
These political actors should resist explaining Osun back to Osun. Lukman and Kazeem may retain their convictions; Olagbaju and Gbenga theirs. Ajayi may keep believing in CEOs. Ahmad may keep his bookmark. Okpebholo may keep dancing around dancing. Morka can scrutinise. Basiru, Adereti, Omowaye, Lawal and Omisore can oppose. None must surrender principle; all should surrender the fiction that confidence equals knowledge.
For Adeleke, victory is not absolution. A second mandate is a heavier moral contract. He must make critics eat their words through roads that last, schools that function, hospitals that heal, agriculture that produces, jobs that endure, institutions that strengthen and public money that survives scrutiny. The finest reply to “entertainer” is development; the finest answer to “dismal” is performance.
Democracy is the institutionalisation of uncertainty: nobody owns the future, and nobody is entitled to permanent correctness. Socrates understood that wisdom begins with recognising the limits of knowledge. Shakespeare gave Prospero’s reminder that certainties are fragile. Parties that ask why predictions failed may become wiser; parties that blame voters will merely become louder.
The election has answered them all – not by proving Adeleke flawless, but by puncturing the conceit that declaration can substitute for persuasion. Osun voters weighed performance, personality, identity, geography, loyalty, fear, hope and succession, then chose. We may dispute their arithmetic, but cannot confiscate their answer. The ballot is the people’s footnote, sometimes rewriting the book.
Congratulations to His Excellency, Senator Ademola Nurudeen Jackson Adeleke, on his re-election. Let the music become measurable progress, not merely memorable choreography. Dance, Governor, but let every step move Osun forward; let every turn open a road, every rhythm create opportunity, every flourish produce measurable public good. Dance past the pothole, classroom deficit, hospital queue and unemployment line. Dance Osun into development, prosperity and institutional seriousness through 2030. If you do, your reply to the prophets will require no press release. The results will speak, and history will applaud.
By Abdulrauf Aliyu
In The Spotlight
I had initially planned that Long Range would address a troubling scenario in our nation’s beleaguered history, where religion appears to have stolen the leaders’ and the citizens’ brains while we all scheme to glorify ourselves and vainly attempt to scheme against the one we claim to serve. Have you ever wondered why evil continues its ascendancy in the land when churches and mosques grow uncontrollably in every nook and cranny?
These organisations are mostly meant to conceal our shady interactions, criminal corruption and moral somersaults. This will have to wait today, though, till another auspicious time.
A recent visit by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers to President Bola Tinubu on Thursday has put paid to this plan (at least temporarily) to avoid being carried away by the much religious matters while the nation embarks on another fruitless venture to please some self-serving, transactional unionists whose actions have done more than enough damage to the progress of the country.
I have waited for three solid days for Tinubu to stoutly refute a statement ascribed to him to revive the nation’s dead refineries during the visit of NUPENG leaders to the Villa led by its Executive President, Salimon Oladiti. It might not be out of place to suggest that the President might have been humbled by the ‘executiveness’ of the union president’s office. I hope I didn’t hear you complain of Nigerians craze for titles.
I may be wrong, but I have a feeling that our dear President must have started hearing some strange voices that sane Nigerians might not be able to understand concerning the promised revival of the dead refineries. If I may ask you, which refinery is Tinubu planning to revive among the obsolete plants in Port Harcourt, Warri or Kaduna? Thank goodness, he hasn’t specified yet.
At the risk of telling the President what he already knows, it may be necessary to remind Tinubu that former President Olusegun Obasanjo sold 51 per cent stake of the refineries in Port Harcourt to an Aliko Dangote-led consortium for $56m before he exited office as President in 2007. NUPENG’s sister labour union, the Petroleum and Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, desperately opposed the sale of the refineries.
OBJ characteristically dismissed the association’s threats by selling the refinery to the Dangote-led Bluestar consortium, but PENGASSAN still pressured the late President Umaru Yar’Adua to reverse the sale of the refinery, correctly described as scraps by Obasanjo, immediately after Yar’Adua mounted the saddle in 2007. Not only that.
The nation opted to pay $25m for cancelling the sale, apart from paying back the initial agreed sum, a development some Yoruba will describe as an ‘Akotileta’ economic model.
Aside from the fact that the refineries hadn’t produced fuel since the regime of the Minna dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (1985 – 1993), Obasanjo, on the recommendation of some experts, said the refineries had become obsolete while the contractors that produced the equipment of the refineries no longer existed. He might have been correct to have described the refineries as scraps.
That the four refineries did not produce a litre of petrol in about three decades did not stop the drama. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation continued to pay idle workers, including hundreds of members of the amorphous NUPENG and PENGASSAN excos, huge wages and maintain comatose facilities for years for zero productivity.
As if the scandalous payment of salaries to idle and non-existent workers was not enough, the former Group Managing Director of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, negotiated and secured a $3.3bilion loan-for- crude deal with AFREXIM Bank under a dubious claim of repairing long-forgotten refineries and boosting crude production in August 2023, right under Tinubu’s watch.
All the consortium of lies to bring back the Port Harcourt refineries to justify the brazen theft of the humongous $3.3bn loan fell flat in 2025 when the facility ignored all human pressure to make it work while more lies continued to fly. So, where is the loan? Where is the money? And where is the working refinery?
While the racketeers are licking their cursed soup somewhere, Nigerians are slaving to pay for this barefaced robbery that took place under our dear President, who is equally planning to bring back dead refineries to life. I never knew before now that, apart from being a deft politician, Tinubu is equally a very powerful prophet, especially at giving life back to dead facilities; this could partly have motivated his promise to resurrect dead refineries.
Can someone do me a favour by reminding the President of the February 4, 2026, testimony of the current NNPCL’s GMD, Bayo Ojulari, concerning the dead refineries Tinubu had promised to bring to life? Ojulari emphatically stated that the corporation was operating the refineries at “monumental losses”, producing comparatively low-value products and that NNPCL presently lacked the capacity to operate them profitably.
I once learnt that Tinubu’s fuel stations in the United States helped to fund the activities of the operatives of Radio Kudirat (including former Ekiti State governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi) and National Democratic Coalition’s chieftains in the Diaspora. I, however, doubt if Tinubu’s current knowledge of the workings of the refineries can match or beat Ojulari’s. In Fela Akikulapo’s word, who is the teacher teaching Tinubu nonsense about the refineries?
Before our dear President ‘carry out his threat’ to embark on the revival of the moribund refineries, which I must admit is ill-advised with due respect, it may be necessary to remind him of a few critical issues to take care of. One of these is to beg him to carry out a comprehensive audit of the funding of previous Turn Around Maintenance of the refineries since 1999 to date.
For some of you who may not know, most of the TAMS contracts in the years past had always been awarded a year before general elections (in the mode of this promised resurrection). Don’t ask me the reasons; I don’t have an idea, but the outcomes had always been the same – dead on arrival, journey to nowhere.
There was a time the Kaduna refinery went up in flames a week after its TAM was completed. A key witness equally died in a strange accident during the probe of the strange fire. Another fire occurred in the facility on November 4, 2002. The fire damaged its Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit — the section essential for producing higher-value products such as petrol. Other incidents before this in other plants were not less predictably curious. Na so we dey run am o!
Like the litany of probes instituted by the National Assembly into many deserving and flippant issues, none of the panels which had sat on the probes of the refinery fire had ever completed their job – no report. Tinubu, therefore, needs to exhume these reports (if ever they exist) from their eternal graves before embarking on another ritual of attempting to start a project that will never be fruitful. It’s not a curse.
Servicing a $3.3bn AFREXIM Bank crude-for-loan deal (as negotiated by Kyari) in a highly controversial manner remains questionable, scandalous and outlandish. The President must tell the nation the status of this fraud-laden deal before ever initiating another move to waste huge sums of our dollars on reviving the nation’s refineries that the NNPCL has equally passed off as operating at “monumental losses”.
I can assure our good-hearted Jagaban, in case he might have been overwhelmed by the pressure of his office (it’s a hot seat, really), that all Nigerians are equal stakeholders in the Nigerian project. A few can’t be swimming in the ocean of our collective sweat while the rest slave daily to shoulder the burden of a debt they never enjoyed the benefits.
If the President fails to act on this complicated $3.3bn loan, I may be forced to leak to him what some concerned personalities have imputed to him concerning this transaction, which would have been impossible without anyone empowering Kyari to ‘take the laws into his own hands’. To learn that the Economic and Financial Crime Commission is not looking into this legacy theft is mind-boggling, very strange.
The President can’t sleep on this deal and mouth the moral right to embark on another wasteful venture to revive dead refineries. This is surely not the way to build a nation that everyone will be proud of no matter the current economic scenario.
Meanwhile, recently, I read about former Vice President Atiku Abubakar carpeting Tinubu for blaming past governments’ actions and inactions for the failure of the refineries. Permit me to briefly transform my presentation into our local mode: Our leaders no get shame at all!
Should an Atiku ever feel he has the moral authority to advise anyone on integrity and moving the nation forward? How can leaders, who took delight in selling state assets to themselves, think that the citizens have forgotten their roles in stripping the nation of its commonwealth? It took Obasanjo as President to practically ‘retrieve’ the old African Petroleum from his VP, using his proxies as fronts. Who has forgotten about other controversial deals perfected as personal entities while serving as a government official?
I make bold to say that Tinubu is not a saint either, just as others who are now parading themselves as presidential candidates in our current political experiment (this word sha after 65 years!) but for some goons to assume the moral vanguards of the nation, which they never possess, is not just inappropriate; it is sour and distasteful.
Those who destroyed the Peoples Democratic Party on the altar of unbridled, self-serving ambition are the same set of people lamenting the death of viable opposition in our political system and expressing the fear of a one-party state. Most times I laugh aloud when I hear our online political warriors trying to sell and defend their ‘heroes’ among Nigerian politicians. The reality in our own clime, at least, is that there is only one political contracting party with many franchising outlets. The practitioners belong to the same political family, no difference, simply substituting themselves at regular and irregular intervals.
It is heartwarming to learn about the housecleaning that Ojulari is reported to be carrying out at the nation’s apex oil corporation, asking some principalities in the firm to volunteer to leave ahead of their original exit time. He needs to go further. Those refinery workers, especially the rapacious unionists, who have been earning wages for doing nothing for about three decades, should all be eased out immediately.
The workers should then be paid from the money realised from the current Chinese investors instead of Tinubu dancing to the manipulations of the unionists by shelling out huge sums on some vague revival of dead entities that won’t birth any fruitful result. If any investors should be supported to succeed, the current loafers feasting on the comatose state of the nation’s refineries should be allowed to take a well-deserved rest at their homes.
The President should be told in clear terms that Nigeria does not need the revival of dead refineries at any moment, no matter the pressure from any quarter. The thought itself should not even come up, let alone the project.
By Ademola Oni