The Peoples Democratic Party, Ogun State chapter, on Tuesday denied declaring its support for the All Progressives Congress in the forthcoming August 16 House of Representatives bye-election for the Remo Federal Constituency. The federal constituency, consisting of the three local governments of Remo North, Ikenne Remo, and Sagamu, became vacant on January 15, 2025, following the death of the lawmaker representing the constituency, Mrs. Adewunmi Onanuga, the Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Representatives. The opposition party stated that it is outright falsehood and a deliberate attempt to mislead the people of the state with the report circulating on social media, where APC members have been claiming that the PDP has thrown its support behind the ruling party for the forthcoming bye-election. The PDP explained that though it has declared its support for the 2027 re-election bid of President Bola Tinubu, who was elected on the platform of the APC, that does not mean it has declared its support for the ruling party and abandoned its teeming members and their ambition in the cold. The opposition party stated that its declaration for the 2027 second term ambition of Tinubu is premised on the exigency of supporting the power shift to the Southwest after it had been held by the northern part of the country for eight years — from 2015 to 2023. The party urged the residents of the state not to take its endorsement of Tinubu for a second term in 2027 to mean approving the lacklustre performance of the APC government in the state. The Publicity Secretary of the opposition party, Kayode Adebayo, disclosed this in a statement sent to journalists on Tuesday. Adebayo explained that: “The attention of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ogun State, has been drawn to another concoction of falsehood being shared on some social media platforms. “The unfounded story has it that the Ogun PDP has openly endorsed the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and effectively conceded defeat ahead of the August 16 bye-election. What a blatant lie. “However, in order to set the records straight and insulate innocent members of the public from the APC’s litany of misinformation and deliberate twists of facts, we make bold to remind them again that the electoral victory recorded by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2023 was the imperative of power shift to the South. “Also, it is fundamentally germane to clarify that our endorsement of President Tinubu would not affect our party’s candidates for the 2027 National Assembly elections and other state elections. “We were shocked that our comments about the poor contribution of Governor Dapo Abiodun to the landslide victory recorded by the President in Ogun State couldn’t catch the attention of the APC leadership to show remorse over. “We mentioned that the INEC records have it that Gov. Dapo Abiodun lost his polling unit 002 (Ita Osanyin, where APC polled 112 votes against 119 votes scored by the PDP) in the 2023 election, as well as his ward, Iperu III (where APC got a total of 731 votes against 794 votes scored by the PDP).” The party added that rather than having the supporters of the governor bury their heads in shame, they were busy twisting the story of what transpired during its campaign flag-off for the House of Representatives bye-election for Remo Federal Constituency held in Sagamu on Monday. The opposition party, led by its National Vice Chairman for the Southwest, Kamorudeen Ajisafe, the Ogun State Chairman, Abayomi Tella, and the party’s 2023 governorship candidate, Oladipupo Adebutu, announced the party’s support for Tinubu in 2027. Adebayo disclosed further that the noise of wanting to use the instrumentality of the Office of the President to sway victory in favour of the APC in the coming bye-election is a total mirage that the ruling party should erase from their minds, adding that the coming bye-election is not in any way connected to the re-election bid of President Tinubu come 2027.

The national leadership of the Labour Party has dissociated itself from a planned protest scheduled for Wednesday, August 6, 2025, at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Abuja. A statement issued on Tuesday by Mr Ken Asogwa, the Senior Special Adviser on Media to the Interim National Chairman of the party, Senator Nenadi Usman, said the party has no connection with the proposed protest. The statement read in part, “The attention of the leadership of the Labour Party has been drawn to an invitation circulating in certain quarters regarding a purported protest scheduled to hold tomorrow, Wednesday, August 6, 2025, at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission. “This protest is allegedly being organised by some unknown individuals purportedly operating under the banner of the Labour Party. “We wish to categorically state that the said protest is not sanctioned by the Labour Party. “The organisers are unknown to the party’s leadership, and the action lacks the approval and backing of the party. “The public is hereby put on notice that anyone participating in or promoting this protest is doing so without the consent of the Labour Party and should be regarded as an impostor.” The party referenced INEC’s recent rejection of a list of candidates for upcoming national bye-elections and local council elections submitted by former chairman Julius Abure, and his group, describing the decision as a welcome development. “The Labour Party received that decision with relief, knowing that INEC, as a responsible electoral umpire, would eventually proceed to accept and publish the authentic list submitted by the current, lawful leadership of the party,” the statement said. It further urged INEC to stand firm and continue to ignore what it described as the “desperate antics” of individuals whose tenure expired on June 8, 2023, and whose exit was confirmed by the Supreme Court in its judgment of April 4, 2025. “While we await INEC’s timely action in publishing the valid list of candidates submitted by the legitimate party leadership, we also call on the commission to give full effect to the said Supreme Court ruling by updating its official portal and other platforms to reflect the correct leadership of the Labour Party in line with the court’s judgment,” the party added. The party called on security agencies to take note of the situation and warned that those organising the protest should not be treated as representatives of the Labour Party. “These persons planning to stage a protest at INEC headquarters on August 6, 2025, are not representatives of the Labour Party. “They are political impersonators and mischief-makers, and should be treated as such. “We call for their immediate arrest and prosecution in accordance with the law,” the statement concluded.

Sitting quietly atop one of Nigeria’s richest oil and gas belts, the Anioma region in Delta North is emerging as a powerful voice in the debate over state creation. The push for Anioma State is gaining renewed urgency, writes JUWE OLUWAFEMI Beneath the rolling farmlands and quiet towns of Delta North lies an economic revelation that could reshape the debate over state creation in Nigeria. Long overlooked and politically sidelined, Anioma land, an area rich in culture and resources, is sitting atop what could become Nigeria’s fifth-largest oil and gas reserve.  From the serene groves of Utagba to the bustling power lines of Okpai, a silent revolution is bubbling beneath Anioma land in Delta North. While some still question the economic viability of carving out an Anioma State, recent research suggests that the region isn’t just viable. It is a potential game-changer.  According to Frank Iroroh, while reporting on a comprehensive study by Osita Mordi, a Germany-based oil economist of Anioma extraction, the area currently sits atop what could become the fifth largest oil and gas reserve in Nigeria. With over 200,000 bpd already being pumped from the earth and massive untapped gas fields, Anioma’s wealth is real, present, and largely uncredited.  “Anioma is no longer begging to be made a state,” said Fidelis Dike, 84-year-old from Akwu Quarters in Ubukukwu. “It is an economic injustice for such a resource-rich region to remain politically marginalised.” Beneath the surface Anioma’s oil fields, primarily spread across Ndokwa East, Ndokwa West, Ukwuani, Ika South, and Oshimili North, are divided into developed and undeveloped categories. In the developed category, we find Okpai, Kwale, Beneku, Ashaka, Umusadege, and Ebendo, among other fields, already producing tens of thousands of barrels of crude each day.  The Umusadege field, operated by a consortium including Midwestern Oil and Canadian firm Mart Resources, is the most prolific, churning out over 12,000bpd, with extensive reserves in gas and condensates.  Meanwhile, the Okpai gas field not only fuels national LNG exports via Bonny Island but also powers a gas turbine plant capable of electrifying the entire South-South region of Nigeria. The Kwale field contributes four per cent of Nigeria’s total gas production, over 50 billion standard cubic feet annually  “People think of oil and gas in the Niger Delta as a Port Harcourt and Warri story. But the real silent contributor is Anioma,” Tony Eluemunor, a journalist, said.  But despite this reality, not all of Anioma’s resources are attributed correctly. In Onyah, an Ndokwa East community, oil fields are controversially credited to Bayelsa due to boundary adjustments dating back to 1976. Similarly, the Obiofu field, straddling Anioma and Rivers State, contributes 17,000 bpd and eight per cent of Nigeria’s total gas production, but none of that is reflected in Anioma’s political standing or infrastructure allocation.  “We live near oil pipelines, but our children walk miles for drinking water,” Dike Chris, a retired Immigration officer from Idoni, said. “Our wealth is flowing elsewhere while our towns remain forgotten.”  Beyond the currently producing wells are dozens of untapped fields. These include the Adofi River in Ossissa, Isheagwu and Nsukwa in Aniocha South, Oko in Oshimili South, and Matsogo in Afor Ndokwa. Collectively, these fields are projected to yield over 50,000 bpd once developed.  There’s also the OPL 206 block, once awarded to late Chief MKO Abiola’s Summit Oil, stretching across five Anioma Local Government Areas. It remains largely dormant, another indication of missed opportunities said Nduka Ifeanyi and energy consultant who noted further that “These fields are ticking economic time bombs. If activated, they could lift Anioma’s GDP beyond 20 Nigerian states. Anioma’s role in gas future Perhaps even more striking than the oil story is the gas narrative. Fields like Egbaoma, Obiofu, and Ashaka contain hundreds of billions of standard cubic feet of gas. This gas powers Nigeria’s domestic and export energy systems, yet Anioma hosts no petrochemical industry, no refineries, and no research institutes.  “We give gas; we get nothing. We fuel LNG exports but can’t even power our hospitals during surgeries,” a frustrated Chief Muonye, an ex-Nigerian diplomat from Ugwuashi-Ukwu, said.  But Anioma’s riches are not buried alone. The region is one of Nigeria’s largest producers of garri, banana, pawpaw, and oranges. Anioma fruits dominate markets in Abuja and Onitsha, but poor processing infrastructure means thousands of tonnes of fruit rot each harvest season.  Observers say agro-industrial investment could complement oil revenues and create thousands of jobs. “What we need are fruit processing plants, cassava-to-ethanol factories, and cold storage chains.  We are wasting fortunes in post-harvest losses,” Chris Ani from Issele-Uku, an Abuja based businessman, stated.  Advocates also argue that Anioma State would become a centre for youth and sports development. With rich talent pools in athletics, martial arts, and football, the area has historically fed Delta’s medal haul at national festivals. “If Anioma becomes a state, we will give the likes of Lagos and Rivers a run for their medals,” Tony Elue, a sports enthusiast and real estate developer from Aboh boasted Nwoko steps forward Senator Ned Nwoko has become the face of the Anioma State advocacy. His renewed push rests not on sentiments but on the cold facts of production, resource control, and federal fairness.  “We are not second-class citizens in Delta State,” Nwoko said. “Anioma contributes more oil than Delta Central and Isoko combined. We deserve administrative independence to manage our resources for our people.”  With over five per cent of Nigeria’s daily crude oil and nearly a fifth of its gas, Anioma’s call for statehood is now more than a constitutional debate. It is a test of national fairness. The data is clear, the production is ongoing, and the urgency mounting.  While giving a background to the Ekumeku uprising and how Britain punished Anioma with division and disunity, Pa Dike narrated further that long before Nigeria’s geopolitical chessboard became a battleground for ethnic loyalty and state creation, the Anioma people of present-day Delta State had already paid a steep price for daring to resist colonial rule, adding that, “Today, their fractured identity across multiple local government areas isn’t just a product of administrative design. It is the scar of a war waged in silence: the Ekumeku resistance.  “Though currently grouped into nine Local Government Areas, the Anioma voice remains splintered; a reflection of the political surgery carried out by the British following a protracted anti-colonial campaign that spanned three decades. That campaign, known as the Ekumeku War, remains one of the longest but most under-reported resistances to British imperialism in Nigeria.  But were the Anioma people simply victims of imperial arrogance, or did their defiance write them into the black book of colonial planners? In the 1980s, during the stormy deliberations that led to the balkanisation of the old Bendel State into Delta and Edo states, a lone voice rose to speak for a united Anioma, Sylvester Moemeka. The advertising guru, who rose to become the first African managing director of LINTAS in 1974, did not mince words.  “During a meeting held in Lagos at the residence of late Rear-Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, who chaired the panel on the state division, Aikhomu announced that the split would align with the colonial-era boundaries of the old Delta and Benin Provinces a formula that would have torn the Anioma people apart, sending some to Delta and others to Edo.  “Moemeka’s plea was simple but powerful – ‘we are one people. Wherever we find ourselves, we must not be divided.’ “He was mocked and told that the Anioma people lacked a common language and that Ndokwa communities had always belonged to Delta Province. Moemeka didn’t flinch. Instead, he calmly asserted Anioma’s identity as Western Igbo, Igbo-speaking people with varying dialects but shared ancestry. His appeal changed the course of history,” the octogenarian explained.  The PUNCH gathered that against the odds, Anioma remained in one piece within Delta State. British influence The road to that fragmentation began not in the post-independence era but during the colonial conquest of Nigeria. The Anioma people had been marked for punishment as early as 1830, when the Lander Brothers; British explorers were captured and detained by an Anioma community suspicious of foreign intrusion.  That act of defiance would define Anioma’s fate for generations. When the British finally began their violent consolidation of territories, the Anioma region was one of the hardest hit. In 1880, the Royal Niger Company launched a brutal assault on Atani, killing civilians in what many now describe as outright genocide. By 1897, Onicha-Ado (now Onitsha) was bombarded. A year later, Ibusa was ambushed, but rather than retreat, Ibusa fighters launched the first salvo of what would become the Ekumeku War.  The Ekumeku resistance from 1883 to 1914 was not a single war but a series of coordinated uprisings by Anioma communities against British occupation.  While speaking on this issue, Senator Ned Nwoko told The PUNCH, “My great grandfather paid the ultimate price as one of the leaders of the Ekwumeku War. He was the Obi of Idumuje Ugboko. He was exiled in Calabar alongside his Ogwashi-Ukwu counterpart. The whites also exiled Oba Ovonramwen of Benin and King Jaja of opobo, all because they resisted the slave masters.  “There were local traitors, of course. We still have them to date. They are resisting Anioma State creation but their moves will fail because the clarion call for the creation of Anioma State has gone beyond one man’s quest but that of a vast majority of the peoples,” the Senator posited.  Corroborating Nwoko, Pa Dike Fidelis concluded, “In the end, Anioma wouldn’t just survive. It will endure its cry for unity, which still echoes.”  Anioma is simply asking to be recognised for what it is — a powerhouse hiding in plain sight, according to the people. “We cannot continue to go cap-in-hand to beg those appropriating our wealth,” a retired oil executive from Aboh said. “Anioma is ready. The nation must listen.”

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno, has kicked off the membership revalidation/registration exercise of the All Progressives Congress in the state, as he validated his membership at Ibiakpan Obotim Ward II, Nsit Ubium Local Government Area. The Governor who secured the registration number 001 in the party register, called on the party faithful and intending members to register at their different wards. “This exercise became necessary in order to validate and revalidate the authentic members of our Party. “All members and intending members of the Party are directed to get registered at their respective Wards to prove their true membership and loyalty to the Party,” he stressed. According to the Governor, the Party’s membership validation/registration exercise will go on for a period of one month before it will be temporarily closed. “At the end of the validation exercise, the new membership register will be recognized to serve as the authentic working document of the Party. “So, all Party faithful and supporters that progressively moved with me to the APC are expected to be fully involved in this registration and validation exercise in their respective Wards for us to formally know their stance and alignment with the party,” he said. Fielding questions from Government House Correspondents shortly after the registration, the Governor expressed satisfaction with the smooth conduct of the exercise and charged members of the Party to be patient and orderly during the registration process. “I feel good that I have validated my membership in the Party in my Ward. It is what every party member is expected to do to update at this time. “I feel good to join the Party. It is a deliberate calculation and a strategic move to link us to the centre in the interest of our State. “It is a decision to fully support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to continue with his laudable economic transformation of Nigeria, and also support our illustrious son, the Senate President, Chief Godswill Akpabio, to continue with his sterling leadership at the Senate. The Governor therefore, enjoined the people to continue to work in unity, peace, and love for a united Akwa Ibom, reiterating that a united people will always remain a progressive people. “As no one is able to break a bunch of broom, which is our Party’s symbol, let us continue to be united in oneness of purpose, common growth and greatness as a unique people of one ancestry. “Let no one divide us and set us up against ourselves. Make sure you are registered and the Party membership ticket issued to you. The Party’s membership registration exercise at Ibiakpan Obotim Ward II witnessed a large turnout of members and would-be members of the APC who were enthusiastic and excited to participate in the exercise.