Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, has urged President Bola Tinubu to initiate a thorough investigation into the unresolved killings of former Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige; journalist, Dele Giwa; and June 12 heroine, Mrs Kudirat Abiola.

Soyinka made the call during an interaction with journalists at the Freedom Park, Lagos, themed, “June 12: Romancing the Embers,” insisting that there were existing clues that could help unravel the circumstances surrounding the high-profile murders.

The Nobel Laureate spoke about 48 hours after Tinubu conferred national honours on 68 heroes of June 12.

He said past investigations into the killings of some notable Nigerians were deliberately stalled by individuals who sabotaged the process.

“The clues are there. Pursue the clues, dust up the files, re-investigate, call back witnesses, find out those who deliberately polluted the line of clues that would have led to certain answers,” Soyinka said.

According to him, earlier promises by previous governments, including that of former President Muhammadu Buhari, to revisit such cases, ended in betrayal.

“Time and time again, we have been betrayed. When Muhammadu Buhari came, he said he would order an investigation into all the unusual deaths both within the military and civilians. And we reminded him, ‘Where are the files? Let us see the results.’

“It is a challenge to the present government to fulfil the pledges made by your predecessor. Pick up those files, and dust them. It is part and parcel of the responsibilities of government. Let us know what happened. Till tomorrow, we don’t know who killed Dele Giwa, or who killed Bola Ige, but there are clues. Those clues exist. During that Bola Ige period, many things went unpublicised.”

Soyinka also recalled that efforts made under former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration to secure foreign assistance, particularly from the United States, were frustrated.

“We began our pursuit of truth, and I recall a group of us went to the American Embassy. We learnt that America offered help – their detectives, their methods.

“So, we visited the embassy to ensure our Federal Government accepted the help. We needed help, wherever it came from. The Attorney-General of the Federation was murdered in his bedroom on his way to take up a United Nations post. Heaven and earth should be turned upside down until you get to the bottom of that case.

“We went there and said, ‘Don’t listen to this government if they talk about territorial integrity or claim people can’t interfere. Don’t accept it. Offer whatever help you have.’ From that embassy, I picked up the phone and called then-President Olusegun Obasanjo to say, ‘We are here at the embassy. We learnt that help is being offered and we want to ensure it is accepted, for whatever it’s worth.’

“I remember he called up then Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun. There was the usual back-and-forth, and we also pursued other clues.”

Reiterating his challenge to Tinubu, Soyinka said, “Bring up those files, dust them up, pursue those clues, re-investigate, call back witnesses. Many of us have lots of clues. Find out those who deliberately polluted the line of clues that would have led us to certain answers.”

On President Tinubu’s recognition of June 12 heroes, Soyinka maintained that the list would always remain incomplete.

He argued that acknowledging and supporting June 12 activists should not be left to the government alone, but was a responsibility for all Nigerians.

“There will always be casualties on June 12, the Civil War. It is the responsibility of the community, of society, to compensate in some way — not necessarily materially. It could be recognition, or assistance here and there.

“You have to accept that responsibility. On the one hand, participants should not expect anything — they should know that there will be casualties. In many cases, there will be no reward of any sort.

“There is no reason, however, why those who participated cannot initiate programmes for those casualties within their reach. Maybe have little gatherings from time to time for those involved — even indirectly — in which they reminisce. This way, we would discover more and more people who are entitled to some kind of restitution or assistance from the rest of the community. For many, healing takes a while. For others, total healing never happens.”

Soyinka, however, noted that some who claimed to be part of the June 12 struggle only did so to advance their political ambitions. He described such individuals as “the real enemies of democracy.”

“June 12 means several things to different people. June 12 did not begin on June 12 and did not terminate on June 12.

“Many people, even when they want to settle political scores today — maybe because of thwarted ambition — try to trivialise June 12 instead of just leaving it alone.

“You didn’t participate, nobody forced you to participate, nobody reduced your humanity. So, you didn’t take part — you’re not concerned. If you see anybody making false claims, you have a responsibility to say, ‘I know about this; it didn’t go this way. And this is the proof.’

“Those who trivialise June 12, simply because of thwarted political ambition, are the real enemies of democracy. June 12 must be sustained through reminders, occasions, gatherings, and civic activities — one strong enough to serve as formal recognition of individuals.”

Soyinka also commended Tinubu for what he described as a “clever” linking of this year’s national honours to the June 12 legacy.

“I must say the honours were cleverly tied to June 12. So, we have for the first time, perhaps, in this country, what I would call a thematic honours list. For me, I find nothing wrong with that.

“Perhaps, to some extent, it could even become a tradition — a thematic honours list — so that each time we call the list, we can identify under what kind of political or scientific context it was compiled.”

On the recently released memoir by former military ruler, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd.), Soyinka challenged him to name those who backed the decision to annul the June 12, 1993 presidential election.

He described Babangida’s account as incomplete, insisting the former Head of State owed Nigerians the full truth.

“There were traditional rulers, people both in the military and civil society who influenced IBB not to announce MKO Abiola as the winner of the election. He should make their identities public in another publication.”

Soyinka, who earlier this year released his own memoir, A Journey in Service, where he recounted his version of the June 12 saga, said he personally reached out to Babangida on the issue.

“I called him and told him that his memoir isn’t finished. Isn’t it about time we named names?

“Babangida’s book should be read side by side with Omo Omoruyi’s. Omoruyi was there. That way, everybody can judge how credible one version is over the other.

“In addition to Omoruyi’s book, I know that one moment which I want us all to see as absolutely factual is that Babangida was a general without an army. That is a tragic comment to make.

“We know certain moves he made. We know those who visited him at the time and added their weight to the annulment — both military and civilian. We know the royal fathers who told him they would not accept the implementation of the result.

The Presidency has described the recent criticisms by former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, as nothing more than the desperation of a politician driven by a thirst for power rather than concern for Nigerians.

Speaking with Sunday PUNCH, the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, described Amaechi’s comments as lacking genuine concern for the country.

 Amaechi, a former governor of Rivers State, had in a recent interview with BBC, stated that Tinubu must be challenged and ultimately removed if Nigeria is to emerge from its worsening economic crisis.

Painting a bleak picture of life under the Tinubu’s administration, Amaechi said, “People are dying. People are starving. I am also feeling the effects of hunger.”

He also hinted at forming a new opposition coalition to “rescue the country.”

However, Bwala dismissed the remarks as insincere and hypocritical, accusing the former minister of exploiting the nation’s challenges for personal political gain.

Bwala said, “Amaechi’s obsession with Tinubu suggests that this is not about policies, it is personal. If you’re truly interrogating policies and issues, your mind must be open.

 If Tinubu solves the problems, he should stay. If not, voters will decide. We’re just two years in.”

The lawyer stated that Amaechi’s credibility was questionable given his past ambitions and actions.

“He contested the APC presidential ticket while still serving as minister and lost to Tinubu. Since then, he has distanced himself from party activities. If he truly cared about Nigeria’s future, he would have supported the party’s candidate once the primaries were over. That he didn’t shows it is not about the people—it’s about his own political future,” he stated.

The presidential aide also questioned Amaechi’s claim of experiencing hunger.

“He has been a Speaker, a two-term governor, and a powerful minister. If just two years after leaving office he says he is hungry, then he either mismanaged resources or he is trying to manipulate Nigerians. That alone disqualifies him from being trusted to manage the country’s affairs,” he added.

Bwala added that public figures with genuine concern for the masses would show it through their actions, not just rhetoric.

“When he celebrated his birthday, did he visit IDP camps or the poor he claims to fight for? No. He gathered political allies plotting to unseat a sitting president. That tells you everything.

“If you are genuinely concerned about Nigeria, don’t politicise the pain of the people. Offer solutions, not power grabs.”

He warned Nigerians to be wary of politicians who use the people’s suffering as a political tool.

Millions of Rivers people, especially the loyalists of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, on Thursday, June 12, had their hope dashed as they had marked out the date to be a moment of wild jubilation and partying. 

The expectation everywhere was that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would use the opportunity of that date to reinstate all the democratic institutions in the state that he had suspended on March 18.

The suspension of Fubara, his deputy, Prof Ngozi Odu, and the state House of Assembly was sequel to the political tension in the state which saw the forces loyal to the governor and lawmakers aligned to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike at daggers drawn but the President was able to diffuse by that decision of the declaration of a state of emergency in the state.

Several bookmakers had predicted that, given his democratic posturing, Tinubu was expected to recall the suspended governor either on May 29, a date that marked two years of the current elected officials, or June 12, which has come to be known as the National Democracy Day, NDD.

But the question many are asking is what could have stopped the President from reinstating the governor on June 12 and repositioning Rivers on the path of democracy?

Leaked plan

Given the pressure mounted on the President by eminent Nigerians and knowing the damage the imposition of the state of emergency could have on his reputation, Tinubu was alleged to have put the machinery in place to reinstate the suspended governor without minding whose ox is gored.

The two high stake meetings held in London and Tinubu’s Lagos residence were said to be pointers to the looming recall of the suspended officials.

But sources revealed that the governor’s loyalists, who got wind of the plan, began to jubilate ahead of June 12 even when it was still weeks away.

This jubilation, it was learnt, did not go down well with the camp of Wike, who then pulled all the strings to ensure that the suspension was not lifted until the fulfillment of a certain agreement.

A source disclosed that even Fubara did not keep the plan under wraps as he divulged in one of his public outings that he and all the suspended officials would be returned back to government very soon.

The source noted that the announcement of the governor’s return was to be made by Tinubu on June 12. “The process of the handing over of power would have taken one or two weeks”, a prominent activist said.
However, Fubara appears now to be walking a tight rope to his reinstatement.

The governor seems to have been surrounded by landmines every step of the way by those forces that want him out of power by all means necessary.

Only last week, the factional Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State, Chief Tony Okocha, declared that even if Fubara joins the party, he would still not escape the hammer of impeachment.

Recall that one of the alleged cards on the table of reconciliation when the governor met with the President in London was that he should toe the footsteps of the governors of Delta and Akwa Ibom states by dumping the PDP for the APC.

But while that “offer” was still under consideration, Okocha decried that Fubara was yet to consult him and those who are aggrieved by his action or inaction as governor for true reconciliation.

“If Fubara decides to join the APC, it has nothing to do with the state of emergency in Rivers State. His sins cannot be forgiven because he came to our party. It is not true”, the party Chairman said.
“He has not spoken to me. He will enter the party through the door, not the window. Not only him.”

Speaking on the presidential directive that the suspended governor should go back home and ensure the return of peace in the state, Okocha said Fubara had failed to carry out the order.

“I can confirm that there is no reconciliation effort currently underway in Rivers”, he said.

“The suspended Governor Fubara has not made any move to reconcile with the lawmakers. Only genuine reconciliation can save him from impeachment, as the Supreme Court judgment stands”.

‘Genuine peace’

Also, in his last media chat, Wike had said that Fubara was not keen about a genuine peace to resolve the crisis in the state.

The FCT Minister said the day after the suspended governor came to his Abuja residence with two prominent Yoruba political leaders to talk truce, he had not seen the governor again.

“He has the yam. He has the knife. If you want genuine peace, we will know. If you don’t want genuine peace, it is still your choice”, he said.

But a day after Wike spoke, Fubara was seen in social media posing in photos with Tinubu during his visit to Bourdillon during the Salah holiday celebrations.’’

Ibas and LG elections

After successfully defending his N1.4 trillion budget before the National Assembly, the Sole Administrator of Rivers, Vice Admiral Ibok-Etteh Ibas, has been touted to have received expressed instructions to do everything within his powers to conduct local government elections in Rivers before his exit in September.

This, according to sources, is to ensure that the political structure of the state, irrespective of political party, will be returned into the grips of the FCT Minister as a veritable tool to work out the modalities for the 2027 general elections.

Wike had earlier in Abuja declared that he would lead the campaign train of Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027.

The Minister has been at loggerheads with the leadership of his party, the PDP, since 2023.

And despite the claim that Fubara has agreed to work for the President in 2027, it is yet to be seen on what platform or which political structure he would deploy to get the job done.

And with the local government elections expected to go the way of Wike, what role will the governor then play to fulfill his own part of the bargain?

Only last Thursday, Tinubu transmitted to the Senate, for confirmation, members of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC, members of the Local Government Civil Service Commission, and Rivers State Civil Service Commission among others.

So, with just three more months to the end of the initial six months of the emergency rule in Rivers, Fubara may be tactically delayed from returning to power until the local government elections are conducted.

By this time, he will only return to occupy a political time-bomb that will in no way be favorable to his political career.

Why Wike won’t let go

Wike’s insistence to hold onto the soul of the state political structure is borne out of the fact that his plan of getting the 2027 presidential ticket of the PDP appears to have been scuttled.

This is more so because his once political ally now turned arch-enemy, Seyi Makinde, the governor of Oyo State, is also said to be keen about the same ticket.

A credible source in the party hinted that Wike’s scheme was to ensure that once the ticket gets into his kitty, “he would step down for Tinubu to complete his second term in the spirit that the presidency still remains in the South for eight years”.

Again, with former governor Rotimi Amaechi likely to indicate interest to lead the opposition parties’ coalition against Tinubu in 2027, it is likely that the political battle in Rivers will be vitriolic in every sense.

Obviously, with the declaration of a state of emergency, the people of the state may possibly want to vent their anger in 2027 by voting against the President.

Hence, the entrance of Amaechi into the fray may constitute a herculean task for Tinubu and Wike to win the state.

On Tuesday, an elated Tinubu, during the commissioning of the renovated International Conference Center, ICC, Abuja, asked Wike to join him in the APC because he was an asset that no party would love to lose.

Fubara hopeless?

Everyone appears to be fed up with the situation in Rivers.

The elders have become tongue-tied. Protesters have rested their placards just as rights activists have run out of ideas.

Except the President chooses to take everyone by surprise, the situation in Rivers has snowballed to a state of hopelessness.

But the likes of a former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Bode George, have not rested on their oars in appealing to Tinubu to end the emergency rule in Rivers. 

“I also appeal to him, in the spirit of my maternal grand uncle who founded the first political party in Nigeria in 1922, Herbert Macaulay, to please reinstate Fubara. Tinubu should listen to, and honour this appeal in memory of all those who died in the journey to our democracy,” George pleaded last week.

Prayer sessions ordered

Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, yesterday, clarified that the internal circular of the Human Resource Management Department on prayer sessions was to address recent untimely and successive death of management staff of the Ministry.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Assistant Director, Information Department, Ezeaja Ikemefuna, for Director Information, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, dated June 14, 2025, which explained that the staff also deemed it not out of place to pray for the country.

The statement read in part, “The Ministry’s attention is drawn to the internal circular of the Human Resource Management Department being circulated by online media, in this regard the ministry wishes to inform the public that the prayer session is an initiative of the Human Resource Department to address the wellbeing of the staff just as the already existing monthly aerobic exercise and establishment of the gymnasium in the ministry are for physical fitness as the regular medical check-up of staff are for their health.

“The prayer was to address the apprehensiveness of staff over the recent untimely and successive death of management staff of the Ministry. The staff also deemed it not out of place to pray for the country, hence the theme of the prayer sessions ‘Divine Intervention for Protection and National Development’.

“It must be emphasized that this is NOT an official policy by the Ministry to address agriculture and food security issues in the country. But in response to the yearnings of staff who are apprehensive following the death of some of their colleagues in recent times.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that Israel’s air strikes on Iran had the “clear support” of US President Donald Trump.

“Our enemy is your enemy… We’re dealing with something that will threaten all of us sooner or later. Our victory will be your victory,” Netanyahu said in a video statement addressed to Trump on the US leader’s birthday.

“This is what Israel is doing with the support, the clear support of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and the American people and many others in the world.”

Britain is deploying fighter jets and other “assets” to the Middle East amid an escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday.

“We are moving assets to the region, including jets, and that is for contingency support,” Starmer told reporters travelling with him on his plane to Canada for G7 talks.

The UK leader said he had spoken with both US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since Israel launched attacks on Iranian military and nuclear sites early Friday.

According to officials, dozens of people have been killed, including top army and Revolutionary Guards commanders as well as civilians.

Iran has responded with barrages of drones and missiles fired at Israel overnight Friday into Saturday.

Starmer said the situation was “fast moving” and “intense”.

“We’re having ongoing discussions with our allies all of the time, both myself and (foreign minister) David Lammy… who also spoke to the Iranians,” he said.

“Our constant message is de-escalate, and therefore everything we’re doing, all discussions we’re having are to do with de-escalation.”

The UK leader said his talk on Friday with Netanyahu had been “good and constructive” and had “included discussions about the safety and security of Israel”.

Foreign Secretary Lammy said earlier Saturday that he was “alarmed” by further strikes overnight.

“We must urgently de-escalate & prevent any further harm to civilians,” Lammy said in a post on social media, adding that he had spoken to his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi “to urge calm”.

AFP/VANGUARD NG

Tunde Bakare, the serving overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, has dismissed suggestions that his recent meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was motivated by personal interests.

Bakare, who contested the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary in 2023, visited the president last week at the State House. His visit sparked speculations about possible political alignment or appointments.

But during a sermon at his church, Bakare addressed the rumours, insisting his engagement with the president was solely driven by national interest.

“Some people still think he has gone there to settle himself. In what way have I settled myself before? What they gave me, I returned. What am I looking for?” he said,

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Bakare said his discussion with Tinubu focused on national development and how to move the country forward.

“It’s not about just reservations. It’s about how the country will go well. My personal vision is to see a nation that works in my lifetime,” he said.

He added that he had made suggestions to the president but left the decision on whether to act on them entirely up to him.

A total of 239 teachers who were absent from their places of duty in Jigawa State have been denied salaries.

Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board, Prof. Haruna Musa, disclosed that the affected teachers had been receiving salaries and other allowances for three years, despite abandoning their teaching duties.

He revealed this on Saturday after the conclusion of a five-day training for 250 Arabic teachers organised by the board in Dutse, the state capital.

Musa said, “The actions are expected to improve teachers’ attendance and overall quality of education in the state.

“The board is committed to ensuring that teachers perform their duties diligently. More teachers would be recruited to address the shortage of teachers across the state.”

The SUBEB chairman said the training, which brought together selected teachers from the 27 local government areas in the state, aimed to equip them with skills in computer literacy and lesson planning.

He advised the teachers to maintain decent dress codes and good command of language while teaching, saying this would set good examples for the pupils

Nigerians with Portuguese golden visas may soon keep their global earnings from taxes as the Government of Portugal considers a 10-year zero-rate exemption for foreign income under its “non-habitual resident’s special tax regime,” otherwise known as the regime fiscal do Residente Não Habitual.

 The draft policy paper released on June 9 by the finance ministry would also cap Portuguese-source income taxes at a flat 20 per cent for qualifying Nigerian investors.

In addition, the government is floating a Tax Incentive for Scientific Research and Innovation—Incentivo fiscal à investigação científica e inovação—which aims to attract and retain highly qualified professionals in the fields of scientific research, investment and business development, offering similar tax incentives to those previously provided by the NHR.

Although the Portuguese parliament has yet to vote on the matter, at least 114 Nigerians who have obtained the golden visas since 2012 stand to benefit.

PUNCH Exclusive: Between Governance And Democracy - Prof Kila’s Take On Tinubu’s Midterm In Office0:00 / 0:00

So This Happened (EP310) Reviews Oshiomhole, Air Peace and The Missed Flight Saga0:00 / 0:00

Official nationality tables obtained by Sunday PUNCH from Portugal’s Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum revealed that 44 Nigerians, alongside their 77 dependents, received the visas from 2019 to April 2025.

AIMA’s monthly ARI Statistics show that filings from Nigeria have doubled each year since 2022 as naira devaluations made euro-denominated safe havens more attractive.

Globally, China leads the table with more than 5,366 golden visa approvals, followed by Brazil’s 1,229, the United States at just over 713 and Turkey (592) and South Africa (550).

Over 4,455 applicants have applied for the Portugal Golden Visa, with 2,901 applying as family and 1,554 applying as individuals.

Although Nigerians currently rank fifth among African participants behind South Africa, Angola, Egypt and Morocco, Lisbon-based analysts predict they will overtake Angola and Egypt once the tax holiday becomes law.

Portugal created the golden visa in the heat of the eurozone debt crisis in 2012. Written into Article 90-A of the Aliens Act, the programmes were meant to lure capital into the country.

According to Article 90-A, investors can earn residence by placing €500,000 in a regulated private-equity or venture fund, committing to 10 new jobs, or endowing cultural projects and buying property. 

However, Portugal’s previous socialist government scrapped the real estate route in 2023 to fight speculation in the housing market, where prices have surged to record highs.

Cardholders may spend only seven days a year on Portuguese soil and, after five years, may apply for permanent residence or citizenship once they pass a basic language test.

The programme has attracted more than €7bn into the economy, but has been criticised for the over-the-roof house prices, hence the scrapping of the property option.

Under the new proposal before parliament, a Nigerian investor who now pays up to 48 per cent on Portuguese profits and the same rate on overseas earnings remitted to Portugal would see the former drop to 20 per cent and the latter to zero for 10 years.

The tax saving alone covers the €500,000 ($572,000) investment in fewer than five fiscal years for clients earning high foreign income.

The regime fiscal do Residente Não Habitual comes two months after Spain and the Netherlands scrapped their golden visa programme due to its effect on the housing market.

An unexpected EU court ruling has also directed Malta to abolish its citizenship programme, while Ireland and Greece have either ended or tightened the rules around their golden visa or equivalent programmes.

Portugal’s Minister of the Presidency, Antonio Leitao Amaro, has said the government will not scrap its golden visa programme but make it more attractive to investors and global talent.

“There’s no plan to end it. It’s not on the table,” he said in an interview last week.

Amaro added that AIMA is working to clear a backlog of about 45,000 golden visa applications awaiting review by December 2025.

“We expect that by the end of the year, this process will be largely taken care of,” he affirmed

Some members of the National Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party have said the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno, and his Delta State counterpart, Sheriff Oborevwori, will pay for their defection in the 2027 elections.

The NEC members, including a former National Secretary of the PDP, Ibrahim Tauri, and a former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Diran Odeyemi, expressed confidence that the people of Akwa Ibom and Delta states would hold Eno and Oborevwori accountable during the elections.

Speaking exclusively to Sunday PUNCH, the PDP leaders criticised Oborevwori and Eno’s recent defection to the APC, accusing them of switching parties for personal gain.

Oborevwori joined the APC on April 24, while Eno defected to the ruling party on June 6.

So This Happened (EP310) Reviews 25 Years of Democracy, The Protests and Progress?0:00 / 0:00

So This Happened (EP310) Reviews Oshiomhole, Air Peace and The Missed Flight Saga0:00 / 0:00

Responding to Eno’s defection, Tauri alleged that the APC-led Federal Government was employing every possible tactic to pressure PDP governors and leaders into joining their party.

He stated, “The governor is in his first tenure and wants to go for a second, so he defected. The APC-led Federal Government is using all tactics to woo or force elected officers into the APC. There are threats, inducements, intimidation, false political promises, and many other tactics.

“Most of the defectors who are in their first tenures are given assurances of automatic tickets and automatic rigging of results during the 2027 elections.. 

The governor of Akwa Ibom cannot be an exception.

“So, for me, I see him as one who is ready to sacrifice anything, including the platform that gave him the opportunity. But one thing is certain: Akwa Ibom and Delta are not like any other state in Nigeria when it comes to the PDP. I assure you that time and the good people of the states will teach the defectors a very bitter political lesson in 2027.”

Similarly, Odeyemi condemned Eno’s defection, describing it as shameful and stating that it further exposes the lack of principles among Nigerian politicians.

The former Deputy Publicity Secretary of the PDP noted that the refusal of some appointees and others to follow the governor in defecting was a clear sign that the governors would face serious political consequences in 2027.

He stated, “I think the defection has revealed to Nigerians the kind of person he is. Even in his own state, he doesn’t appear to be in control. With the number of members of the House of Assembly refusing to follow him, and the commissioners who have tendered their resignations because of his defection, it shows that the PDP remains solid in Akwa Ibom, and even in Delta State. So, bitter lessons await them in 2027.

“I want to believe that his greatest issue is the fear of the almighty federal might regarding his re-election. And it shows the kind of man he is. So it was more or less a personal decision — and perhaps he is just following the trend that others are going with.”

Odeyemi stated that many politicians, including Eno, defect because they lack genuine popularity among their constituents.