The Federal Government has introduced a USSD code, 347333#, to enable Nigerians to access consumer loans for food, solar energy and other essential needs.

The initiative is presented as a way of making financial support more accessible to ordinary Nigerians, especially those struggling with the rising cost of living.

However, with the political atmosphere and conversations around the next election gradually gaining attention, some Nigerians may question the timing and real intention behind such initiatives.

But let's look beyond the announcement: Is this genuinely about improving the lives of ordinary Nigerians, or is it another political move aimed at winning public support ahead of the next election?

Let's hear your honest opinions.

By Adegboyega Adeleye

The Director of Strategic Communication of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Campaign Council, Phrank Shaibu, has said President Bola Tinubu’s trip to Saudi Arabia for Umrah will not guarantee his re-election in 2027.

Shaibu criticised the President’s religious pilgrimage, saying a second term in office could not be secured through spiritual claims.

The spokesperson for ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, stated this during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday.

Shaibu said visiting the holy land should be a personal affair rather than a national event, accusing Tinubu’s supporters of politicising the pilgrimage.

He also questioned the President’s sincerity of faith, arguing that former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, would not remain in custody if Tinubu genuinely practised what he professed.

Shaibu further criticised Tinubu for speaking into a microphone in Saudi Arabia while Nigerians were struggling with economic hardship.

He dismissed the administration’s claims of economic improvement, saying many Nigerians continued to face difficult living conditions.

According to him, Nigerians would remember the President’s prayers in Mecca alongside the high cost of food, goods and services.

Asked whether Atiku would have accompanied Tinubu to Saudi Arabia if invited, Shaibu said the former vice-president had sponsored the President’s first trip to Mecca.

On Atiku’s chances in the 2027 presidential election across the northern states, the ADC campaign spokesman expressed confidence in the former vice-president’s prospects, saying he was “home and dry” in the region.

Tinubu departed Abuja for Makkah on October 29 to perform Umrah, seeking Allah’s guidance and blessings for Nigeria and its people.

Speaking to journalists after completing the religious rites, the President described the pilgrimage as a fulfilling spiritual experience and an opportunity to pray for the country.

Tinubu said he had asked God for wisdom and resilience to continue leading Nigerians, expressing confidence that his prayers had been answered.

“Well, I asked for wisdom and resilience to continue to serve the people. I know that has been granted,” he said.

The President recalled performing Umrah before the 2023 election, saying he had returned to thank Allah for granting his earlier prayer.

“Prior to the 2023 election, I did the same thing. I asked Allah to bless my Umrah then. He did, and I promised that I would come back to thank him, Almighty Allah,” Tinubu said.

“There is no other God but him. He is the giver and the taker.

“He owns the power. He said, ‘Use it well. If you don’t use it in accordance with my dictates, I can take it from you and give it to another person,’” he added.

Tinubu said he believed God had favoured him by granting him the opportunity to lead Nigeria.

“So, I have faith in that and believe extremely well that he has done me a favour to be the President of this great country,” he said.

File: President Tinubu (right) and Minister of Works, David Umahi

….as traditional rulers, religious leaders, APC stakeholders endorse Tinubu, Nwifuru, others

By Jeff Agbodo, Abakaliki

The Minister of Works Senator David Umahi has said that as a Lion of South East, he’s strongly behind President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for reelection in 2027 due to his indileable achievements in South East zone and across the country.

Umahi while speaking at the All Progressives Congress (APC) Town Hall meeting at Ecumenical Centre Abakaliki, Ebonyi State said that Tinubu is a blessing to South East zone and shoukd be supported for second term.

The town hall meeting was organized the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President Southeast on Community Engagement Barr. Chioma Nweze to mobilize support for the President Tinubu, governor and other APC candidates in forthcoming election.

The former Senator representing Ebonyi Central Sen. Julius Ali Ucha moved a motion adopting APC, President Tinubu for reelection, governor Francis Nwifuru and all APC candidates in 2027 general elections.

The motion was seconded by Senator who represented Ebonyi North Sen. Anthony Agbo while Senator Umahi put the motion in voice votes and was generally endorsed.

Those who spoke at the meeting, include, Traditional rulers Ezeogo Charles Nkpume, and Ezeogo Sunday Oketa, Bishop Onyeuwa Omar and CAN Chairman Stan Nwokolo, Pastor Eunice Oyeyemi of Divine Mandate Pastors and Former Deputy of Ebonyi State Prof. Chigozie Ogbu.

Addressing the party faithful, Umahi charged the traditional rulers and religious leaders to throw full support to President Tinubu and should not sit on the fence over regional sentiments.

The Minister urged the leaders of various clans, villages, communities and local government areas to talk to their brothers contesting against the zoning arrangement already in place in the state and should the reelection of Governor Francis Nwifuru.

“I want to tell our religious leaders and Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), do not stay on the fence. I know when I was struggling to be Governor, CAN took a descion and said justice must prevail. CAN don’t keep quiet, let us toe the path that must sustain our freedom.

“There is no way an Igbo man after staying for 60 years, will want to be President for four years. There is nobody that can accept that. The North has not accepted to be President for four years

“Somebody was telling me that Atiku”s son bought buses and donated to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and said this is personal donation.

“Igbo man needs wisdom, not sentiments. Igbo man should not allow people to be dishing hate speeches in the social media on their behalf. Today, our people in Commerce, we clear our goods with ease. Today our roads are being revived in the path of economic activities.

“Today, we can boldly say we have been integrated. The last time there were choosing service chiefs, it was Naval Chief. This time, it is Chief of Air Staff , Minister of Works, otter Ministers, SSAs, what else? When I say South East have been fully integrated and included, I mean it.

“My mouth will not shut up because I am telling our people for a reference for tomorrow. We are supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to finish his remaining four years so that the South East would have strategically supported another region. So that when it is our turn, we will not get this thing by hate speeches, they will not give to us by sentiments It is strategic leaders of South East say this, you will now insult them.

“You insult anybody that is not supporting Peter Obi. Anybody that is not supporting Peter Obi, is a saboteur, you insult the person. Who is Peter Obi better than, who is he better than? Is he better than Sam Egwu? Is he better than Elias Mbam,? Is he better than the lion of South East myself? Is he better than Anyim Pius? Whom is he better than?

“So, I don’t want us to be deceiving ourselves. Traditional fathers, do not stay on the fence, religious leaders, do not stay on the fence. Our people in the North do not, our people in the South West, they do not. We should support President Tinubu for his love for South East and infrastructural development in the zone” he stated.

Chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos State said on Thursday that the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Peter Obi, is not a threat in the state, as the mistake of 2023, when Obi won the presidential election in the state, has been corrected.

The APC stalwarts stated this while fielding questions from journalists at the launch of the political movement established by the daughter of President Bola Tinubu and Iyaloja General of Nigeria, Dr. Mujidat Folasade Tinubu-Ojo, in Abuja.

The movement, named the Iyaloja General Movement (IGM), is to mobilise votes for President Tinubu’s re-election in the January 16, 2027 presidential election.

The Lagos State Director-General of the movement, Barrister Adejumbo Omofumilewa, said the inauguration served as a mini-rally in support of Tinubu ahead of the 2027 elections.

Omofumilewa expressed confidence that the APC would perform better in Lagos State in the next presidential election, saying the party had addressed the factors that led to its loss in the state during the 2023 presidential poll.

He attributed the outcome of the previous election to the party’s failure to adequately assess the political situation in Lagos, describing the experience as a betrayal.

“What happened in 2023 that made our candidate lose the presidential election in Lagos State has already been taken care of, because now, everybody is following him,” he said.

Omofumilewa also dismissed the prospect of opposition parties posing a serious challenge to the APC in Lagos, insisting that the ruling party had a strong presence across the state.

“Obi is not a threat, neither is any party a threat in Lagos State. We are in charge,” he said, adding that the party was politically and organisationally positioned to secure victory in 2027.

On his part, the Director-General of IGM, Dr. Nasiru Ladan, said the movement had already attracted over 2,500 support groups, with more organisations expressing interest.

Ladan said the groups had been integrated into the movement’s structure and that the organisation was building a database of supporters across states and local government areas.

“We have just started; it has been launched today, and we have machinery in motion in all the states, local governments, up to the ward level,” he said.

He explained that the movement’s grassroots strategy was designed to translate its organisational structure into votes for the APC in 2027.

According to him, the movement plans to deploy 10 facilitators to each polling unit, with each facilitator expected to mobilise 100 voters.

He said the initiative was expected to help the movement achieve its target of 10 million votes, although he did not provide a breakdown of how the target would be measured or independently verified.

The Lagos State Chairman of the APC, Cornelius Oyefolu Ojelabi, said the party was not leaving anything to chance in the forthcoming elections, as it attached great importance to them.

“And you see that most of the political activities taking place now are centred on the All Progressives Congress. You will see them moving from one state to another,” he said.

He further said: “You will see the All Progressives Congress moving from one local government to another. You will see series of support groups, in all ramifications, coming on board to show their solidarity and support for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress. For the mere fact that we are the ruling party, we are not taking that for granted.

“We are reaching out to the electorate. We are telling the electorate what this particular administration has been able to achieve and to consolidate on the achievements recorded in the last four years. So, we are not taking anything for granted.

“And today, we are here to give our support to the Iyaloja General, who deemed it fit to bring the Iyaloja Generals in the whole country together to send the same message and let them take ownership of the forthcoming general election.

“That is what we are known for, and that is what we have been doing.

“And what happened during the 2023 election has strengthened us, because we know Lagos State has been the only state in the whole country that has been governed by one political party since 1999. So, what happened during the first election, to me, was a wake-up call.

The Akwa Ibom State Coordinator of the IGM, Prince Mendy Achibong, said: “The movement in Akwa Ibom State is great. I want to say this: Iyaloja has come to stay in Akwa Ibom State, and we promise that in the 2027 election, Akwa Ibom State will give more than 80 per cent of its votes to our president, and it will be far, far more than the last election.

The Federal Government has announced a target to engage 100,000 salaried community health workers by 2027.

Vice President Kashim Shettima made this known on Thursday in Abuja while launching the Community Health Programme Continental Acceleration Plan 2026–2030.

The initiative is aimed at strengthening primary healthcare delivery and improving the welfare of community health workers.

The proposed improvements include:

- Reliable salary payments.

- Legal recognition and professional certification.

- Better working conditions and supervision.

- Career development opportunities.

Shettima also disclosed that the government's health sector initiative includes plans to revitalise over 17,000 primary healthcare centres and train 120,000 frontline health workers.

However, the 100,000 figure remains a government target, not an announcement of an ongoing recruitment exercise.

What happens next will be important to watch, particularly for healthcare workers and Nigerians seeking employment opportunities.

INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that it has no preferred candidate or political party for the 2027 general elections, pledging to uphold the rule of law and the will of Nigerian voters.

INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, stated this on Friday when he received a pre-election fact-finding mission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), led by former Sierra Leone Vice-President, Victor Bockarie Foh, in Abuja.

Amupitan said the commission was conducting a readiness assessment tour across the country’s geopolitical zones as part of preparations for the 2027 general elections.

“INEC under my watch has no candidate and no political party,” he said.

“Our sole allegiance is to the rule of law, the sovereign will of the Nigerian electorate, and the democratic progress of our nation.”

He said Nigeria’s voter register had surpassed 103 million, adding that the commission had completed nine of the 14 major statutory milestones outlined in its revised election timetable.

According to him, INEC had also concluded three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise and completed the nationwide physical display of the preliminary voter register.

On the technology to be deployed for the elections, Amupitan said the commission would use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for fingerprint and facial biometric accreditation, alongside electronic result management systems.

He added that INEC had introduced the eEC8A electronic verification platform to complement its result management process and verification through the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

The chairman further said the commission was working with relevant security agencies under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to ensure adequate security during the polls.

Speaking on behalf of the ECOWAS mission, Foh said the visit was part of the regional body’s efforts to assess electoral preparedness in member states approaching general elections.

He said the mission, which included Serigne Mamadou Ka, head of the ECOWAS Electoral Assistance Division, would evaluate the preparedness of electoral stakeholders and identify areas where the regional body could offer support.

Foh explained that the exercise was being conducted in line with Article 31 of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and Article 53 of the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework.

By Jemilat Nasiru

Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers, has signed the state’s 2026 N1.854 trillion appropriation bill into law.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by Onwuka Nzeshi, his chief press secretary (CPS), Fubara described the signing of the appropriation bill as “a breath of fresh air” and the beginning of a new chapter of unity and progress in the state.

Fubara signed the bill at a ceremony held at the government house in Port Harcourt, the Rivers capital, where he expressed gratitude to God, stakeholders and members of the state house of assembly for the passage of the budget.

“First of all, we want to thank the Almighty God for making this day a reality. I strongly believe that it is a breath of fresh air and a healthy relationship moving forward,” he said.

The appropriation bill, tagged “Budget of resilience for growth and development”, was earlier passed on Thursday by the Rivers state house of assembly.

The signing follows months of political tension between the governor and the state assembly.

On July 10, Fubara presented the appropriation bill to the Martin Amaewhule-led assembly, following which it was considered and passed before being transmitted it to the governor for assent.

Fubara commended the lawmakers for their diligence and speed in handling the budget, particularly at what he described as a critical time in the state’s history.

He also acknowledged Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), for facilitating the process that led to the passage and signing of the bill.

The governor reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to the “Rivers first” mantra, saying the implementation of the 2026 budget would focus on the welfare of the people.

“I thank members of the state house of assembly for a wonderful job at this very critical time of our life,” he said.

“I want to assure you that our intention will still remain the progress and development of our dear state.

“Let me also thank our leader, the Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief (Barr.) Nyesom Wike, for facilitating this meeting and this process that we are all signing into.”

The event was attended by members of the state executive council, principal officers of the state house of assembly and other government officials.

Source: TheCable

In Naija politics, the most dangerous crack is never the one on the wall of the other party's building.

It is the one opening quietly in your own foundation while you are busy pointing at your neighbour.

The APC spent the first half of 2026 celebrating structural dominance. Thirty-one governors. Senate. House of Representatives. Presidential primary with 10.9 million votes. The national chairman who called the Osun contest a Keke Napep facing a Trailer. The party that was so confident of its machinery that it was literally mapping out which states it would recover before the 2027 general election.

Then came Ogun State.

And the party that has spent this election cycle mocking opposition factions, parallel conventions, rival NWCs, and court battles over legitimate leadership is now petitioning the Inspector-General of Police to arrest one of its own members for claiming to be its own candidate.

In a state it is supposed to own.

Five months before the presidential election.

How Ogun's APC Ticket Became a Legal Battlefield

Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, is a political heavyweight. He represents Ogun West in the Senate. He is a close Tinubu ally. His emergence as the APC governorship consensus candidate was announced on April 13 by Governor Dapo Abiodun at a strategic caucus meeting attended by former governors Olusegun Osoba, Ibikunle Amosun, and Gbenga Daniel, along with other governorship aspirants.

The word consensus does a lot of work in that sentence. Because one aspirant was notably absent from the meeting where he was being consensused out of the race.

Abayomi Semako Hunye is a former commissioner and immediate past Managing Director of the Ogun State Waste Management Authority. He is of Yewa extraction, the same geopolitical subgroup as Adeola, making the intra-Yewa dimension of the conflict an additional political sensitivity that nobody in the state's APC is publicly comfortable discussing.

Two weeks after Adeola was announced as consensus candidate, Hunye obtained the APC governorship nomination form through a third party in Abuja. He was screened, cleared, and assigned an aspirant number. He participated in the governorship primary.

The result announced by the electoral committee chairman Wale Ohu: Adeola 304,055 votes. Hunye zero votes.

Zero.

Not five. Not five hundred. Not fifty thousand fewer than Adeola in a state where he claims enormous local support.

Zero votes. In a state where he was cleared as a legitimate aspirant with an assigned number. Where he participated in the process. Where his agents were present at polling units across the state.

Hunye's campaign rejected the result before the announcement had even finished reverberating. His own collation showed 453,765 votes for him against 304,055 for Adeola.

Not a narrow dispute. Not a margin complaint. A complete inversion of the announced result, with Hunye claiming he won by nearly 150,000 votes in a primary that gave him zero.

The controversy over the conduct of the governorship primary of Ogun State chapter of the APC may be far from being over.

That is one of the more restrained descriptions of a situation where a man is claiming he won a primary by 150,000 votes and the party says he scored zero.

The Suspended Man Who Was Never Told He Was Suspended

Then came the APC national secretariat's response.

APC National Secretary Ajibola Basiru announced that Hunye had been suspended from the party, effective April 7, 2026, following allegations of activities considered injurious to the party, anti-party conduct, and actions capable of causing division.

Hunye's response demolished the announcement with a single question that nobody in the APC has satisfactorily answered.

He said: if he was suspended on April 7, how did the APC sell him a governorship nomination form after April 7? How did the APC screen and clear him as an aspirant after April 7? How did the APC assign him an aspirant number and allow him to participate in a governorship primary after April 7?

Hunye has continued to challenge the emergence of Senator Olamilekan Solomon Adeola as the party's candidate, with the dispute moving to court over alleged irregularities and disenfranchisement.

A suspended man who was sold a nomination form by the party that suspended him. Screened by the party that suspended him. Cleared by the party that suspended him. Given an aspirant number by the party that suspended him. And then recorded as having zero votes by the party that suspended him after all of that.

The APC's position produces a logical impossibility. Either the suspension happened before the form sale and the party knowingly sold a form to a suspended member, or the suspension was backdated to the period before the form sale to justify excluding him after the primary produced results they did not want him to see.

Both options are uncomfortable for a party that is supposed to be demonstrating institutional credibility ahead of January 2027.

The Police Petition That Escalated Everything

On August 24, the APC's Director of Administration Ayoola Peter Olajolo petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, and the DSS Director-General separately, demanding the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of Hunye.

The petition stated: "I write to bring to your urgent attention a grave threat to public peace and electoral integrity involving one Mr. Abayomi Hunye. The Subject has notoriously and unlawfully taken to the public domain, including print and social media, parading himself as the Governorship Candidate of our party for the forthcoming January 2027 election."

The APC accused Hunye of impersonation, conduct likely to cause a breach of peace, and violation of the Electoral Act.

Hunye responded with characteristic precision. He said he has never declared himself the officially recognised APC candidate. He said his position is that the matter is before the court and the court has not yet determined who the candidate is. He said: "Ogun State candidature of governorship election is still hanging at the court. The court is going to determine who becomes the candidate and the case is still on."

There is a legal distinction between saying "I am the APC candidate" and "the court has not yet decided who the APC candidate is." Hunye is making the second claim. The APC is treating it as the first.

Hunye issued a warning that the political crisis surrounding the party's 2027 governorship ticket could escalate far beyond the experience of the recently concluded Osun State governorship election.

He then did something that the APC should take seriously. He said he would work against Adeola if the dispute is not resolved to his satisfaction through the courts.

Work against. In the state that the APC is supposed to be defending as the President's critical South-West base.

The Abiodun PGF Connection and What It Means

Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State is the same governor who was recently accused, alongside Peter Mbah of Enugu, of attempting a palace coup inside the Progressive Governors Forum against Hope Uzodimma's chairmanship.

The Arewa Youth Forum issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Abiodun and Mbah, accusing them of sabotaging Tinubu's re-election.

Now the same Abiodun who announced Adeola as the consensus candidate is presiding over a state APC that is petitioning the IGP to arrest one of its own members and claiming a man who participated in its primary scored zero votes.

The pattern tells a story about how the APC manages its internal consensus arrangements. It is the same pattern visible in Gombe, where Pantami threatened to fight the consensus to his last breath. In Rivers, where the entire primary structure was legally invalidated. In the PGF, where the campaign fund controversy produced two rival governor factions at a meeting in the same night.

The APC's structural narrative, that thirty-one governors equals unbreakable cohesion, is being tested in Ogun the same week the opposition is holding its single-candidate summit in Abuja.

What Osun Proved That Ogun Must Reckon With

The APC's national chairman said Osun was a Keke Napep facing a Trailer. The Keke Napep won.

It won because APC's internal fractures, the Wike-Fubara war, the Oyetola ministerial factor, the Oyinlola miscalculation, were visible enough for Adeleke to navigate.

Ogun is not Osun. The political geography is different. Adeola is a senator with genuine Ogun political weight. Abiodun is finishing his term with a functioning administrative structure behind him.

But a man who claims to have won a primary by 150,000 votes and was recorded at zero, who is now unveiling a running mate, who is before a Federal High Court, who is promising to work against the official candidate, and who is from the same Yewa subregion as the official candidate, is not a small crack.

He is a man who knows exactly which stones to pull from which parts of the Yewa structure to make things difficult in that zone.

And in Ogun State's presidential election context, where Tinubu needs the South-West to deliver maximum votes on January 16, a fractured Ogun APC is a genuine problem.

Not an existential one. But a real one.

Is This the Beginning of the End for the APC Empire?

No. Not yet.

The APC has thirty-one governors and a structural advantage that one state's primary dispute cannot unravel overnight. Hunye's case is before a Federal High Court that may or may not move quickly enough to affect the January election. Adeola's name has been submitted to INEC. The machinery of the party is formally behind him.

But here is what the Ogun crisis joins.

The PFIPC ghost agency. The PGF N800 billion campaign fund dispute. The Gbajabiamila BCDA standoff where a government appointment sat three weeks without implementation. The Pantami Gombe consensus rejection. The Oshiomhole-Akpabio Senate war. The APC deregistering its own Osun operation when the national chairman called it a Trailer and the Trailer lost.

None of these individually collapses the APC. Combined, they describe a ruling party that is experiencing the classical symptoms of a dominant party that has absorbed too many individual ambitions without enough structural discipline to manage them all simultaneously.

The APC of 2013 that removed Jonathan was a lean, disciplined, purpose-built coalition. The APC of 2026 is a hotel where every political ambition in Nigeria checked in and nobody agreed on check-out time.

That is not the same party. And in Naija politics, it does not always produce the same result.

What do you think? Can Adeola win the Ogun governorship in January while Hunye is still before a Federal High Court claiming he won the primary by 150,000 votes and threatening to work against him? And does the pattern of APC internal crises across Ogun, Gombe, Rivers, the PGF, and the Senate tell you that the ruling party's structural advantages are more fragile than the thirty-one governors number suggests? Drop your thoughts in the comments. Today is September 2, 2026. This is Naija politics and the ruling party's most comfortable state is showing cracks in the wall that nobody on the APC's communications team wants to discuss.

By Ayodele Oluwafemi

When, in April 2026, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar hired Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., a Washington-based lobbying firm, to protect and strengthen his “reputational standing” in the United States, more attention was paid to the deal’s worth than to the contract’s signee.

A Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filing with the US Department of Justice showed that the contract amounted to $1,200,000 annually, eliciting varied reactions from Nigerians, and criticism, mainly from loyalists of Atiku’s 2027 opponent, President Bola Tinubu, candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The contract agreement, seen by TheCable, was signed for Atiku by Fabiyi Oladimeji, a Nigerian politician and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), while Karl Von Batten signed on behalf of Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C.

NINE NAMES, SEVERAL VARIANTS

Now, here is where it gets interesting.

On Von Batten’s LinkedIn profile, his full name is listed as “Karl-Marx Edward Ikemefuna William George Okeke-Von Batten” — a mixbag of British, German/Austrian, and Nigerian names.

Karl Marx was a German philosopher and revolutionary socialist who is widely regarded as the father of communism. “Von” is a common prefix for surnames linked to nobility in Germany and Austria, while Ikemefuna Okeke suggests south-east Nigerian roots.

Von Batten also appears to use the names interchangeably.

In the FARA filing for Atiku in 2026, he used Karl Von Batten. However, in the filing for a 2022 contract with the Sool, Sanaag, and Cayn regions of northern Somalia/Somaliland, he used Karl-Marx Okeke-Von Batten.

It is not immediately clear how Batten came to acquire the collection of names. TheCable has reached out to him for clarity on his origin and roots.

TRUMP ACOLYTE AND AMY VETERAN

On his LinkedIn page, Von Batten, a staunch supporter of US President Donald Trump and member of the Republican Party, listed the University of Oxford, Columbia University, Harvard University, and New York Institute of Technology as his alma maters.

Although Von Batten did not state his course of study or the year he attended the institutions, his professional profile, seen by TheCable in an archived 2018 Council of the District of Columbia bill, provided more details.

The profile, published on LegiScan, showed that Von Batten obtained a Doctor of Health Administration from A.T Still University of Health Sciences, bagged a Master of Science at Oxford University, and a Master of Arts/MBA at Columbia University.

The 2018 profile, however, did not include Harvard University, which is listed on his LinkedIn page. Rather, it showed that he obtained a post-MBA certificate in financial management from Cornell University — an institution that is not listed in his professional profile found on LegiScan.

TheCable has written to all the institutions in both his professional profile and LinkedIn page to ascertain his attendance and other relevant details.

According to his professional profile, Von Batten said he was a member of the National Guard Bureau of the US Army between January 2004 and March 2006.

Von Batten said he worked in the US Department of Health and Human Services for the next two years, after which he moved to the Office of the US Global AIDS Coordinator and Health Diplomacy for another five years.

He said he subsequently served in the United States Department of Defence before moving to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (Veterans Health Administration) in 2016.

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Von Batten posted a photo of himself in a US Army uniform in 2025

HE ‘JOINED THE US ARMY AFTER 9/11’

In an X post published in November 2025, Von Batten said in 2001, he was “an immigrant and young investment banker” working on the 39th floor of the World Trade Centre in the US when the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack happened.

Von Batten, who is married to Elizabeth Blazevich (Okeke-Von Batten), said the incident motivated him to enlist in the US military.

“In 2001, Wall Street was my home. I was an immigrant, a young investment banker, and my office was on the 39th floor of the World Trade Centre, Tower 1. September 11, 2001, changed my life,” Batten wrote.

“Before I knew it, like thousands across the country, I rushed to the recruiting station and volunteered for military service. We had one mission: seek, find, and destroy the enemies of the United States.

“I was inspired by four things: watching innocent Americans die, watching the towers collapse, my desire for revenge, and the words of President George W. Bush as he stood on a pile of rubble holding a bullhorn.”

In his LinkedIn About section, Batten said he served “under General Roosevelt Barfield in support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff per Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom”.

Von Batten with members of the National Council for Democracy in Rwanda

LOBBYING FOR AFRICAN COUNTRIES

Von Batten, through his lobbying firm, has executed contracts for a number of African countries.

An Africa Report article of February 2022 said the United Somalia Alliance had hired Von Batten to “lobby against US recognition of Somaliland independence”.

In April 2022, the lobbyist and the clan leaders of the Sool, Sanaag, and Cayn regions of Somalia signed a lobbying contract with Von Batten-Montague-York to “educate the Biden Administration and Congress about the subjugation and disenchantment of the SCC people by the Somaliland regime”.

In March 2023, Von Batten and the federal ministry of fisheries and blue economy of Somalia signed a lobbying contract to “lobby, advocate, and push matters and interests beneficial to the Federal Republic of Somalia”.

Three years later, in February 2026, the Republic of Burundi engaged his firm in a $60,000 lobbying contract to “provide comprehensive government affairs, strategic advisory, and public relations services in the United States in furtherance of Burundi’s sovereign interests”.

DRC LINKS AND RWANDA ROW

Von Batten was recently engaged by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government to lobby the international community for sanctions against Rwanda, a neighbouring country accused of complicity in the insecurity in Eastern DRC.

In February 2025, Taarifa, a Rwandan newspaper, reported that the country’s embassy in the United States had denied reports suggesting that President Paul Kagame’s invitation to the US National Prayer Breakfast had been revoked.

According to Taarifa, the claims emanated from Batten, who was reported to have said Kagame was “uninvited” because of Rwanda’s alleged role in the DR Congo crisis.

The Rwandan embassy described the claims as “a flat-out lie” and “just petty nonsense”.

Source: TheCable

In Naija politics, the most dangerous joke a man can tell is the one that lands on himself.

On Friday August 28, 2026, Atiku Abubakar sat before a BBC microphone and delivered what he clearly believed was a knockout punch.

He said: "I have a president who is 90 years old now, and who is sick. I am healthy and strong. So why would I not make my services available to my fellow countrymen?"

He also said he had evidence that Tinubu is 90 years old and would produce it in court.

90 years old.

Let the full weight of that claim sit for one moment before we proceed.

Atiku Abubakar, a man who will be approaching his own 80th birthday before Nigerians vote in January 2027, looked into a BBC camera and argued that he should be president because his opponent is too old.

The man contesting for the presidency for the seventh time. The man who first ran in 1993. The man whose political career has outlasted the age of several entire generations of Nigerian voters. That man said his 74-year-old opponent is disqualified by age.

In Naija politics, this is the political equivalent of arriving at a glass-throwing competition from a house made entirely of windows.

What the Math Actually Says

Tinubu's publicly documented date of birth is March 29, 1952. The State House published Tinubu's own birthday message on March 29, 2026, in which he explicitly referred to his 74th birthday. INEC documents submitted for the 2027 election list Tinubu's date of birth as March 29, 1952 and his age as 74.

Even in the alternative birth year arguments, the highest credible claim from critics places Tinubu's birth at 1949 or 1950, which would make him 76 or 77 in 2026.

Not 90. Not even the 1954 or 1955 dates that occasionally circulate would make him 90; they would make him only 72 or 71 in 2026.

Atiku did not produce his evidence during the BBC interview. He said he would present it in court.

P.M. News conducted an immediate fact-check and found: Claim: President Bola Tinubu is 90 years old. Evidence Supporting Claim: Atiku says he possesses evidence but has not publicly produced it in the interview. Official/Public Record: Tinubu's publicly stated date of birth is March 29, 1952.

The evidence exists, says Atiku.

In court, says Atiku.

On a BBC interview with no documents, says Atiku.

In Naija politics, the most powerful evidence is always the evidence that appears just after the election it was supposed to influence.

Then Bayo Otitoju Did the Math Nobody Wanted Done

Former presidential aide and media personality Bayo Otitoju entered the conversation with the precision of a man who brought a ruler to a poetry contest.

He noted that MKO Abiola, whose mandate Tinubu fought to restore, would have been 89 years old this year had he lived.

Atiku made the claim during an interview with the BBC while defending his decision to seek the presidency again despite his age. But Otitoju pointed out the implication that nobody in the Atiku camp had apparently paused to consider.

If Tinubu is 90 years old in 2026, and Tinubu was a prominent political figure fighting for the restoration of Abiola's mandate in the early 1990s, then Tinubu would have been in his late fifties or early sixties while campaigning for democracy alongside younger activists.

Otitoju added the observation that would have made anyone in the Atiku camp wince: if Tinubu is indeed 90, then by that timeline, he would be older than his own father's documented age at equivalent periods.

The mathematics of a 90-year-old Tinubu does not just contradict INEC records. It contradicts the historical timeline of every political event Tinubu is documented to have participated in as a young activist, a Lagos gubernatorial candidate, and a two-term governor.

A 90-year-old Tinubu in 2026 was 57 in 1993.

A 57-year-old man who was Lagos governor from 1999 would have entered the governorship at 33.

None of these numbers are being reconciled in Atiku's version of Nigerian political history.

The Birthday Tweet That Will Live Forever

And now comes the detail that makes this entire episode the most extraordinary self-inflicted political wound of the 2027 election cycle.

In March 2020, on the occasion of President Tinubu's birthday, Atiku Abubakar posted on his verified X account to wish the sitting president a happy birthday.

He specifically referenced Tinubu's 68th birthday.

Not his 74th, which is what the official records say. Not his 90th, which is what Atiku now claims. His 68th.

Atiku Abubakar, in writing, on the public internet, with his verified account, wished Bola Tinubu a happy 68th birthday in March 2020.

Five months later, the same Atiku sat before a BBC camera and told the world Tinubu is 90 years old and has evidence to prove it.

When the interviewer corrected him, saying Tinubu was not yet 80, Atiku responded, "Do I look to you like someone who has reached 80 years of age?"

Correct. He does not look 80.

But in March 2026, he also did not look like a man who believed his 68-year-old opponent would become 90 by August.

What happened between March and August that added 22 years to Tinubu's life in Atiku's reckoning?

The BBC interviewer did not ask that follow-up question.

Twitter did not need to be asked. The thread appeared within hours.

Reno Omokri and the 1996 Photograph

Reno Omokri joined the pile-on with a photograph.

Omokri wrote: "This is a photo of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Dele Momodu taken in London in 1996. If Asiwaju is indeed 90 years old, as recently alleged, then Dele Momodu must be in his eighties. Look at the photo yourself. I have not altered it in any way. Dele Momodu is alive to testify to the authenticity of this photograph and the date and place where it was taken."

The implication is straightforward. If Tinubu were 90 years old in 2026, he would have been 60 years old in 1996, and Omokri challenged Nigerians to judge whether the person in the photograph appeared to be 60.

The PM. News fact-check correctly noted that photographic appearance is not reliable evidence of actual age. People age differently. The photograph does not prove anything definitively.

But the photograph does something the fact-check cannot undo.

It lands the question visually and memorially on every person who sees it. And in Naija politics, the image that lodges in the voter's mind is frequently more powerful than the argument that displaces it logically.

Atiku offered a claim. No evidence. A court promise. A birthday tweet from five months ago. And now a photograph from London in 1996.

His 90-year-old claim arrived at the worst possible archaeological site.

The Interview That Explains Why He Said It

Here is where the satire must acknowledge the genuine political pressure that produced this statement.

Atiku was responding to questions about whether his age could affect his ability to govern Nigeria if elected. The former vice president was asked about his decision to contest the presidency again in 2027, despite having previously sought the office on several occasions. Atiku, who would be approaching 80 by the time Nigerians vote in 2027, rejected concerns about his age.

The interviewer pressed him on his own age. And Atiku, feeling cornered, pivoted. If you think I am old, look at the man already in office.

That pivot is psychologically understandable. It is politically disastrous.

Because what Atiku needed to do in that BBC interview was make a compelling case for why a man approaching 80, on his seventh presidential attempt, offering to restore a subsidy he once called a fraud, after his ADC primary opponent called his primary concocted, after his VP made the Sultan comment, after his party scored fewer votes in Osun than the cancelled ballots, after Bindow left his home state, after Babachir called him a warlord, deserves the Nigerian presidency.

That case can be made. It requires talking about northern suffering. About the N8 trillion off-budget spending. About the GenCo debt that sat for years until Obi embarrassed the government into action. About the soldiers dying in unmaintained equipment. About the 25 million additional Nigerians in poverty.

Instead, Atiku said his opponent is 90.

And published a birthday tweet in March wishing him a happy 68th.

Is This The Last Kick?

In Naija politics, desperation does not always look like weakness. Sometimes it looks like a man on a BBC microphone claiming his 74-year-old opponent is 90 while approaching his own 80th birthday.

The honest answer to the question this post is asking is uncomfortable.

Atiku's decision to raise the age question in a BBC interview was not a strategic masterstroke. It was a deflection. A pivot away from a question about his own age into an unverified allegation about his opponent's age that he supported with a birthday tweet of his own that said 68.

It produced a news cycle. It got attention. Atiku is still in the conversation.

But the conversation is about age arithmetic and Twitter archaeology. Not about the 25 million Nigerians in poverty. Not about the N8 trillion off-budget spending. Not about the N30 trillion in subsidy savings that cannot be fully accounted for.

The opposition's most potent campaign material is the Tinubu administration's own documented record. Every time Atiku reaches for an age claim instead of a governance failure, he hands the government a news cycle it did not have to earn.

Atiku has seven attempts at the presidency behind him. He is not running out of experience.

He appears to be running out of strategy.

And in Naija politics, a candidate who argues that his opponent is 90 while his own aide's birthday wish from five months ago says 68, who promises to restore a subsidy his own 2023 manifesto said to remove, who disowns his spokesman over the same policy his spokesman was explaining, who scores fewer Osun votes than cancelled ballots and calls it a collaboration, is not a candidate who is running out of time.

He is a candidate who has already left most of it behind.

The evidence will be presented in court.

Right after the election.

This is Naija politics. Where the most audacious claim always arrives without the accompanying documentation. And where the birthday tweet is always still there in the archive.

What do you think? Is Atiku's 90-year claim a calculated attempt to raise age as a legitimate electoral concern or the clearest sign yet that the ADC campaign has run out of credible policy attacks to deploy against the incumbent? Drop your thoughts in the comments. Today is August 31, 2026. This is Naija politics and the most entertaining self-own of this campaign cycle just happened on BBC Hausa.

By Jerrywright Ukwu

(From left to right) Kingsley Chinda, Sim Fubara, Nyesom Wike, Sam Jaja and Magnus Abe

Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), received Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers, at his residence in Port Harcourt on Sunday.

The meeting is the first between the two politicians since Fubara announced that he would not seek a second term as governor of the state.

Wike was joined by Kingsley Chinda, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Rivers, and Magnus Abe, chairman of the Rainbow Coalition reconciliation committee.

Sam Jaja, former deputy national chairman of the APC, accompanied Fubara to the meeting.

The meeting comes amid efforts to consolidate the reconciliation between Wike and Fubara following their prolonged political feud.

Wike recently announced that Fubara had agreed to return to the political family that supported his emergence as governor of Rivers.

The relationship between the two men deteriorated shortly after Fubara assumed office in 2023, resulting in a political crisis that polarised the state.

The dispute saw lawmakers loyal to Wike initiate impeachment proceedings against Fubara and eventually led to President Bola Tinubu declaring a six-month state of emergency in Rivers.

The two camps eventually reached a truce, with Fubara joining the APC and aligning with the Rainbow Coalition backed by Wike.

Following Wike’s declaration that the feud had ended, a reconciliation committee headed by Abe was constituted to engage Fubara and his supporters.

Fubara has since declared his support for the Rainbow Coalition and endorsed Chinda as his preferred successor in the 2027 governorship election.

He also backed Tinubu for re-election and urged his supporters to support the president and candidates of the coalition.

Fubara had initially been screened alongside Chinda for the APC governorship primary but later withdrew from the race, saying his decision was made in the interest of peace and unity in Rivers.

Chinda, who was the sole aspirant after Fubara’s withdrawal, subsequently emerged as the APC governorship candidate.

Source: TheCable

By Jerrywright Ukwu

Bola Oyebamiji, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the Osun governorship election, has accepted the outcome of the poll and called on party members to close ranks ahead of the 2027 elections.

Ademola Adeleke, the Accord candidate, was declared winner of the August 15 governorship election.

In a statement on Saturday, Oyebamiji thanked the APC members for standing by his campaign, praising their “sacrifices, resilience, prayers and unwavering belief” in him.

He also expressed appreciation to President Bola Tinubu, Bisi Akande, former governor of Osun, and Adegboyega Oyetola, minister of marine and blue economy, for their guidance and support.

Oyebamiji said while he accepts the election result, the violence recorded during the poll must not be overlooked.

“While we accept the outcome of the election and congratulate the winner, we cannot forget the painful incidents of violence and the lives that were lost,” he said.

“I mourn every victim of political violence and stand in solidarity with their families.

“I call on the relevant security agencies to thoroughly investigate these incidents and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice. No political contest should cost any Nigerian their life.”

The APC candidate said that although the election is over, his commitment to Osun remains unwavering.

He added that where there are legitimate concerns, his camp would continue to seek “justice and fairness through lawful and constitutional means”.

“As we now turn our attention to the 2027 general election, I call on every APC member and supporter to close ranks, strengthen our structures and rededicate ourselves to the task ahead,” he said.

“Our immediate responsibility is to mobilise for the re-election of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, and the success of all our candidates in Osun state.”

Adeleke had earlier extended an olive branch to Oyebamiji and other candidates after his re-election, urging them to put aside their differences and support his administration.

The governor also called on Oyebamiji to congratulate him, describing the election as a contest with “no victor, no vanquished”.

Source: TheCable

By Sentry

A Silent but bruising war is raging in the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) between two unlikely adversaries, namely the party’s presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi and his long-dated supporter, Aisha Yesufu.

Without an iota of doubt, Yesufu had been one of the most vocal supporters of Obi since the build-up to the 2023 elections during which Obi became the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP). She went everywhere with Obi during the electioneering, shouting herself hoarse and devoting every ounce of her energy to the campaigns in the hope that Obi would win the presidential election.

As it turned out, Obi lost the election with a wide margin, coming a distant third behind President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and former vice president Atiku Abubakar.

Still, Yesufu did not relax her support for Obi. As the 2027 elections gathered momentum, she once again threw her weight behind the presidential aspirant, following him first to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) upon his defection from the Labour Party and then to the NDC.

Matters, however, became complicated when they arrived at NDC and Obi automatically picked the party’s presidential ticket while Aisha’s hope of an easy ride to picking the senatorial ticket of the party for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was dashed by the powers that be.

“No, no, no, no, don’t even go there,” one of the party leaders was said to have told her immediately she made her ambition known.

In place of Yesufu, another woman whose face was largely unknown in political circles was handed the ticket; a development that sent Yesufu into high dudgeon, causing her to accuse the party’s leadership of marginalising her. “I am not even asking for a level playing field; I only needed a field,” she said.

The grapevine has it that things have not been the same between her and Obi since the unsavoury experience and she has been waging a silent war against the NDC presidential candidate. Already, she has declined the party’s request that she should be on Obi’s campaign train for the 2027 election.

Yesufu is said to be unable to understand how Obi’s running mate, Dr. Rabiu Kwakwaso could push his loyalists in the party to obtain desired tickets not just in the north but also in the Southeast such that the party was beginning to look like an arm of the Kwakwansiyya Movement while Obi could neither stand nor push for his own loyalists in the sharing of party tickets.

Source: The Nation