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*It Is Time For Ogun West: A Call For Justice, Equity, True Brotherhood

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*It Is Time For Ogun West: A Call For Justice, Equity, True Brotherhood*

*BY ABU-SATAR HAMED*

*Power, in its truest form, is not served à la carte – selectively offered to a privileged few at the expense of others. It is a sacred trust, a shared responsibility built on justice, equity, and brotherhood.*

In this spirit, it is time – indeed, long overdue – for the people of Yewa-Awori, the proud sons and daughters of Ogun West, to be given their rightful opportunity to govern Ogun State – a state they have helped nurture from inception and continue to strengthen daily through hard work, loyalty, and sacrifice.

For nearly five decades since the creation of Ogun State in 1976, the political leadership of the state has rotated between Ogun Central and Ogun East. These two senatorial districts have produced all the governors, alternating in a political relay that has consistently sidelined the third and equally important district – Ogun West.

This persistent imbalance is not merely a historical oversight; it is an injustice that undermines the very spirit of fairness, unity, and shared destiny upon which our democracy is founded.

How can a region so industrious, peaceful, and deeply invested in the state’s development remain perpetually excluded from its leadership?

The people of Ogun West have never been passive spectators. They have been steadfast contributors to the economic, social, and political growth of the state. The region hosts major industries, serves as a vital border hub, and significantly boosts Ogun’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) – even before the state’s formal creation.

If contribution is the measure of belonging, then inclusion must be the reward. The moral compass of our collective conscience must now point firmly toward fairness.

Let it be known: no part of Ogun State is inferior to another. Our shared heritage, mutual respect, and common pursuit of progress must not be eroded by political exclusion or the dominance of a few over the many.

As our wise elders would say, “Ajọjẹ kó dùn bí ẹni kò bá ní lówó” – there is no joy in sharing when one party is systematically denied its rightful share.

This is not a cry of entitlement. It is a call for balance. It is a plea for recognition. It is a demand for justice. Ogun West has waited patiently – serving, supporting, and sacrificing – even as its rightful turn to lead has been repeatedly deferred.

To continue this cycle of exclusion is to risk resentment and weaken the bonds of unity that have held Ogun State together since its creation. The future of our state must be one where every region, every people, and every community feel represented and valued.

Equity in governance is not a privilege; it is a democratic imperative.

As the next gubernatorial election approaches, let conscience, fairness, and history guide those who hold the reins of power. Let them act not out of political convenience, but from a deep sense of justice and moral responsibility.

Ogun West deserves its turn.
Ogun West deserves its voice.
Ogun West deserves the opportunity to lead.

Let us do what is right – not just for politics, but for posterity.

*_*Abu-Satar Idowu Hamed, a concerned_ _citizen and advocate for equity and_ _inclusive governance in Ogun State, is the_ _Otun Baaroyin of_ Ilaro-Yewa and* *_Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of_ _StarTrend Int’l Magazine and Online Platform. Founder/National_ Coordinator* , *_League of Yewa-Awori Media Practitioners_* _*(LOYAMP)*_
*_08038525526_* *[email protected]_*

Sahara weekly online is published by First Sahara weekly international. contact [email protected]

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Ex-NNPP Southwest PRO, Kilamuwaye Badmus, Defects to PDP for National Growth

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Ex-NNPP Southwest PRO, Kilamuwaye Badmus, Defects to PDP for National Growth

 

Barely two weeks after resigning from the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), the party’s former Southwest Zonal National Public Relations Officer, Hon. Comrade Kilamuwaye Badmus Oladayo, popularly known as BAKO, has formally joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) — describing his defection as a “progressive alignment aimed at contributing meaningfully to Nigeria’s democratic growth.”

The announcement was made today, Monday, November 10, 2025, has Badmus officially declared his membership for PDP in the presence of key party leaders and supporters.

Speaking with journalists, Kilamuwaye Badmus said his decision was borne out of “deep reflection on the current political realities in Nigeria” and his desire to “work with a broader coalition of like-minded patriots” to advance good governance.

“Politics for me has always been about interest, service to humanity, and not sentiments. After much consultation with my supporters and mentors, I have decided to join the Peoples Democratic Party — a platform that offers genuine opportunities for youth participation, inclusiveness, and national unity,” Badmus said.

He added that his move was not driven by personal ambition, but by a “strategic and patriotic conviction” that Nigeria’s democracy requires “a stronger and more people-oriented political foundation.”

“I am proud of my time with the NNPP. It was a period of learning and service. But for Nigeria to move forward, we must all align with platforms that have the structure, experience, and reach to deliver tangible progress to our people,” he stated.

Badmus, who had earlier tendered his resignation to the NNPP’s ward, state, and national leadership on October 29, 2025, expressed gratitude to his former political associates, describing the NNPP as “a movement that shaped his political voice and advocacy for youth inclusion.”

During his tenure as NNPP Southwest PRO, Comrade BAKO became one of the party’s most visible figures in the region — leading grassroots mobilization campaigns, coordinating media engagements, and building youth structures that enhanced the party’s image during the 2023 general elections.

Political observers describe his defection as a “significant gain” for the PDP in Ogun State and the wider Southwest region, given his influence among young political communicators and mobilizers.

Reacting to his defection, a PDP chieftain in Ogun State who attended the event welcomed Badmus to the party, saying his decision reflects a “wave of reawakening among progressive politicians” seeking national stability.

“Hon. Badmus’ entry into the PDP shows that the party remains a credible destination for Nigerians who are truly passionate about reform and progress. We welcome him home,” the PDP leader said.

Sources close to the former NNPP spokesman hinted that he is likely to play an active role in the PDP’s youth engagement and publicity units, leveraging his media experience and public relations expertise.

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Beyond Soludo’s Victory, How Primate Ayodele’s Prophecies Defined Anambra Election

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Beyond Soludo’s Victory, How Primate Ayodele’s Prophecies Defined Anambra Election

 

The Anambra governorship election has been concluded with the incumbent governor, Charles Soludo, retaining his seat by a landslide compared to the votes of others.

Soludo recorded about 422,000 votes, while the second position went to APC’s Nicholas Ukachukwu with about 99,000 votes, indicating a very wide margin and a comfortable win for the APGA candidate in the election.

Beyond the election victory, the outcome of the Anambra governorship election is a result of foretold prophecies by Primate Elijah Ayodele, the leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church.

For more than one year, Primate Ayodele has been talking about the Anambra governorship election, before the death of Ifeanyi Ubah, who would have been a formidable candidate in the election.

Right from the days of Ifeanyi Ubah, Primate Ayodele had made it known that the only visible opposition against Soludo’s victory would be the APC politician. He described him as God’s choice for Anambra state.

“Ifeanyi Ubah will make Anambra progress than Soludo; with Soludo, Anambra will not be safe. The person who God has ordained politically, economically, security-wise, technically, industrially, is Ifeanyi Ubah. So nobody should come forward in APC, let everybody support him,”.

This is why a few months ago, Primate Ayodele stated that the candidate of the APC doesn’t know what to do to win the election because the one God ordained to tackle Soludo is Ifeanyi Ubah and no one else.

“Nicholas Ukachukwu cannot win; you have missed your chances. Don’t waste your money, but if you go ahead, it will send you into Political oblivion. The spirit of Ifeanyi Ubah is not with you; if Ifeanyi Ubah were alive he would have won this election. He did not take the steps Ifeanyi Ubah would have taken, and so it is a walkover.”

Also, he further warned the candidate of the APC not to waste his money because he will be unable to win the election. He stated that his strategy wasn’t resonating with people and that the election would set him back politically.

“If Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu does not make an adjustment in this election, this election can make him broke and set him back politically.I am seeing that he is taking it in the wrong direction. The spirit of Ifeanyi Ubah is not with him.Let him build 10 billion churches for the Catholic church, let him go to 10billion Catholic churches, he will not get it, he is not resonating with the people, and that election day is going to be very tough.”

Unfortunately for the APC candidate, he didn’t listen to the prophet and the result of the election has definitely humbled the Ukachukwu.

It would also be recalled that Primate Ayodele, during a live session at his church months ago said Soludo will win the election by a landslide. He warned other political parties against contesting because they won’t make any serious impact. He urged them not to waste their money because none of them will be able to compete against Charles Soludo.

“Soludo, go for a second term; nobody else can compete with you. You will win with a landslide. He will win. All these Labour, PDP, if anybody comes out, you waste your money. Nobody can compete with Soludo, let them go and sleep. “He is the best candidate to rule Anambra State who will do better than others.”

https://guardian.ng/politics/2025-soludo-will-win-re-election-by-landslide-says-primate-ayodele/

Just few moments before the election, Primate Ayodele summarised what eventually happened at the election polls. He stated how every candidate would stand after the election, and it happened exactly as he had mentioned.

These were his words:

“Anambra: If Ifeanyi Ubah were alive, he would have been the one to unseat Soludo, but the current APC candidate doesn’t know what to do to win.

“The Labour Party candidate doesn’t know how to go about it, and the PDP candidate will not make any impact. I would advise all of them to come together and give it to Soludo.”

Primate Ayodele releases prophecies on Anambra, Ekiti, Osun governorship elections

As he said, Soludo won by a landslide, APC came second with a huge difference, YPP came third, while Labour Party emerged fourth with less than 10,000 votes.

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Abiodun Faleke and the Human Face of Politics

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*Abiodun Faleke and the Human Face of Politics

By Timothy Hemba Hwande

If politics were to be built up into flesh and bone, one that is fashioned into an individual who could speak, legislate, joke around, and empathise— it would be difficult not to imagine Rt. Hon. (Dr.) James Abiodun Faleke as the first thought of such personification. Different from the usual politics of personal enrichment, Faleke’s narrative reads instead as: managerial expertise brought to bear on the messy business of public life, a temperament that privileges service over spectacle, and a tangible imprint on both his immediate constituency and the broader national tableau.

Faleke’s career did not begin in the give-and-take of partisan politicking; it was forged in the precise world of logistics, procurement and management. His professional apprenticeship—from material management to senior commercial roles—translated into a technocratic poise that later marked his public service.

Faleke is a man who has served his people in multiple capacities: from the foundational level of local government in Lagos (where he was pioneer Executive Secretary and later chairman of Ojodu LCDA), to a sustained presence in the House of Representatives representing Ikeja Federal Constituency since 2011. Those biographical certainties matter because they frame Faleke’s politics as cumulative, in the sense of being a career of small, compounding interventions rather than headline-hungry theatrics.

As regards constituency projects in relation to the margins of governance, Faleke’s record, however, suggests his performances are more than just transactional favours to the people he swore to serve; for him they are instruments of empowerment and social calibration. The “Mega Empowerment” Constituency Outreaches of 2025 saw 240 young men and women from across Ikeja, Ojodu, and Onigbongbo local council areas each receive a ₦100,000 cash grant to support their small businesses and entrepreneurial ventures.

In addition to the cash support, over 400 constituents benefited from a wide range of empowerment tools including tricycles, dispatch motorcycles, freezers, generators, popcorn machines, clippers, grinding machines, and juice extractors. Also, 170 participants were selected to undergo business training sessions designed to equip them with the knowledge and skills necessary to sustain their ventures.

Upon completion, each trainee will also receive cash grants to launch or expand their businesses. This is undoubtedly a relentless poverty-alleviation and empowerment scheme reaching the grassroots. For Faleke, this isn’t just empowerment—it’s about economic freedom and dignity.

Beyond ephemeral gestures, Faleke has sponsored and championed legislative measures that carry direct benefits to citizens’ welfare. His sponsorship of amendments to the NYSC Act (advocating life-insurance protection for corps members) and motions to tackle security vulnerabilities via the closure of illegal border routes are examples of how constituency sensibilities (safety for families, dignity for young Nigerians) translate into national legislation. These are not merely symbolic acts; they are legislative inflections aimed at securing lives and livelihoods.
Faleke’s influence is not confined to photo-ops, which many of his colleagues are known for.

Within the legislative architecture he has occupied consequential roles, including chairmanships and committee memberships on finance, anti-corruption and public procurement, where technical competence matters. That Faleke has been entrusted with responsibilities like scrutinising budgets, policing procurement, and framing accountability frameworks therefore reflects both peer recognition and a rare confluence of subject-matter familiarity with public policy.

When a representative who understands supply chains and procurement leads oversight of public spending, the risk of waste diminishes and the prospect of more efficient, people-centred expenditure rises. Constituents in Ikeja who see roads repaired, markets supported and youths trained can therefore trace some of those gains to the steadier, often unseen, governance work Faleke performs in committee rooms. Truly, he is replicating the Renewed Hope agenda of President Tinubu well at the constituency level.

What makes Faleke especially compelling, and what has earned him plaudits even from unexpected quarters, is a demonstrated willingness to place principle above opportunism. Accounts of his political journey reveal moments where standing for institutional integrity cost political capital. The 2015 Kogi governorship episode—in which Faleke was Abubakar Audu’s running mate on a ticket that won the majority of votes before Audu’s untimely death and the subsequent legal wrangling—remains illustrative of a politician who is prepared to contest questionable internal party reassignments through judicial means rather than private compromise. That episode was more than a personal dispute; it was a public lesson about the sanctity of the popular mandate.

It is no surprise that the press and civic organisations alike have, in recent years, painted Faleke as a model of “selfless political doctrine”—not because he is immune to ambition, but because his ambition is often tethered to service.
Observers note a politician who cultivates friendships across aisles, who refuses to let parochialism overpower national interest, and who seeks to translate proximity to executive power into tangible benefits for ordinary citizens.

For the record, awards, honours and the soft currency of recognition have also accompanied Faleke’s career. They are not ends in themselves, but they matter in two ways: first, because they reward long-term investment in public service; second, because they amplify the moral narrative that a politician can be both effective and ethically consistent. Communities in Kogi (his state of origin) and Lagos (his political bedrock) have acknowledged his interventions—from infrastructural pledges to educational initiatives—which have cumulatively projected an image of representation that is distributed rather than hoarded for selfish exploits.

However, the exemplary life of Rt. Hon. Faleke has proven that the impact of a single conscientious legislator does not end at local boundaries; it radiates outward.
To be candid, Faleke is not the sort of politician to promise miraculous solutions. He does not traffic in utopian hyperbole; his is a methodical, iterative politics. Such pragmatic disposition is a virtue in a country that needs steady institutional repair rather than rhetorical bravado.

Evaluating his performance dispassionately yields a simple conclusion: Faleke has been effective within the scope of his mandate. He has delivered constituency projects that ease everyday burdens, sponsored laws that protect citizens, and occupied oversight roles that matter for national fiscal health. That combination of local relevance enjoined with national responsibility is the metric by which representative success ought to be judged.

After all, it is believed that politics is not only about statutes and budgets; it is equally an economy of hope. The emotional currency that Faleke pays converts into a form of legitimacy that technical accomplishments alone cannot buy. How does one downplay the effort of a man who is readily available to his constituents in town halls; a man who pushes so hard for the benefits of those even outside his constituency; a man who shows up in markets to connect with his constituency at the grassroots, listening to their needs, consistently drafting and executing plans to make his people’s lives better?

The loyalty from the tongues that shout Faleke’s name in his constituency isn’t one that was bought, but earned on merit, because constituents who feel seen and supported are likelier to trust institutions; when trust rises, social cooperation follows. In this sense, Faleke’s human face of politics is not mere optics; it is an authentic mechanism rebuilt from decades of misgovernance.

Rt. Hon. James Abiodun Faleke should not be mythologised. He is neither infallible nor omnipotent. But he does offer a valuable template: the professionalised politician who grounds legislative activism in managerial competence, who balances constituent intimacy with national duty, and who places principle above ephemeral convenience. In a nation starved for dependable public servants, his presence—the human face of politics—is a restorative sight.

If Nigerian politics is to evolve beyond bigotry, partisanship, and cyclical disappointment, it will require more practitioners like Faleke: men and women for whom patriotism is not a headline but a daily practice, for whom constituency projects are not charity but capacity-building, and for whom committees are laboratories of accountability rather than chambers of complacency. That is the promise, and the provocation, Abiodun Faleke holds up to a nation in search of steadier custodians of the public trust.

Hwande is writing from Ilorin, Kwara State.

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