An All Progressives Congress, APC chieftain, Babafemi Ojudu, has responded to recent criticism from party members over his comment on the alleged abandonment of construction work on the Akure–Ado-Ekiti road.

Ojudu, a former presidential media aide, had drawn the attention of the government to the state of the road, which he said leads to the city where he lives.

However, his post reportedly attracted backlash from some members of the ruling party, who viewed Ojudu’s comments as an attack on President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Reacting to the criticism in another Facebook post, Ojudu questioned why he was being attacked for drawing attention to an abandoned public project.

He argued that demanding accountability from the government is a citizen’s right and should not be interpreted as disloyalty to a political party.

“What manner of citizens are we becoming? Does belonging to a political party require surrendering one’s conscience, citizenship and right to demand accountability? Must party loyalty mean applauding everything and questioning nothing?” he asked.

Ojudu said drawing attention to abandoned public infrastructure that affects citizens and communities should be regarded as a patriotic responsibility.

“My membership of the APC does not deprive me of my rights and responsibilities as a Nigerian. I can commend the government when it performs well and question it when something appears to have gone wrong.

A member of the House of Representatives, Bamidele Salaam, has said the police in Osun State were the “most disappointing” institution in the events leading to the 2026 governorship election.

National Assembly

In an interview with AIT, Salaam criticised the state of Nigeria’s electoral institutions, saying their failure to earn public trust remains a major challenge to credible elections. He specifically faulted the police and other security agencies for their handling of events before the Osun poll.

“The problem we have with our electoral system is that we have institutions that are extremely weak. Institutions that have not been able to earn the trust and the confidence of the people. And these are institutions that are critical to delivering on free, fair, credible, and peaceful election. The Nigerian police, the INEC, and other security agencies, and the police in particular in Osun has been the most disappointing of the institutions.

He said the situation was particularly concerning because of the incidents recorded before the election, including killings and the destruction of campaign billboards. According to him, the police could have prevented some of the incidents if they had acted within their constitutional powers.

“I say this without any apology. The most disappointing institutions in the event preceding the election. All these killings, wanton destruction of billboards and what have you that you had, would not have, you know, continued if the police in Osun under the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Olokode, had acted decisively and in accordance with the powers donated to the police by the Nigerian Constitution, especially going by the vicious campaign that the APC ran against us in Osun. Very vicious, very deadly, very bitter, you know, contentions that they did to hijack power in Osun.”

On Governor Ademola Adeleke’s political position, Salaam said the governor remained committed to his earlier promise to support President Bola Tinubu, stressing that the decision should not be interpreted as a betrayal of his party.

“But the Governor is a man of his word. He doesn’t want to go back on the commitments he gave since he was even in the PDP, and he still continues to say, ‘Well, I will support the President because…’ You know, one, I want us to deepen the respect for the North-South, you know, power.”

Salaam added that Adeleke’s support for the President was also linked to ongoing projects and reforms in Osun State, which he said the governor wanted to complete.

“Number two, he has projects that he’s also executing in our state that we want to support him to be able to complete. He has reforms that he’s initiated that we want him to be able to complete and so on and so forth.”

He maintained that Adeleke had no plan to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying the governor would remain in Accord and work to strengthen the party ahead of future elections.

“So, it’s not a matter of betrayal. Accord has no presidential candidate, and the Governor is not planning to leave Accord. He’s not going to the APC. He’s staying in his party to build this party into a platform that can win elections in so many other parts of the country in the years ahead.”

Two days to Saturday’s Osun State governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced the reprinting of ballot papers and result sheets following a court order directing the inclusion of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, Dr Francis Olugbenga Ajala, in the race.

INEC, in a statement issued by the national commissioner and chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, said Ajala and his running mate, Faseke Babajimi Oladipo, had been added to the ballot.

The development means that 15 political parties will now contest the August 15 governorship election.

According to the commission, the decision followed a judgement delivered by the Federal High Court, Abuja, on July 22, 2026, in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/344/2026, involving the SDP, Ajala and INEC.

The court ordered the electoral commission to recognise, accept, upload, process and publish Ajala’s name and particulars as the SDP candidate for the election.

In compliance with the judgement, INEC said it was reproducing the ballot papers and result sheets to accommodate the SDP candidate.

The commission said the reproduced materials would arrive in Osun State today, Thursday, August 13, and would immediately be moved to various local government area offices across the state in line with its established procedure for deploying sensitive electoral materials.

The development has placed additional logistical pressure on INEC as preparations intensify for Saturday’s poll.

INEC, however, assured political parties, candidates and voters of its commitment to conducting a free, fair and credible election and urged all stakeholders to remain focused on the electoral process.