Kenneth Okonkwo, the spokesperson for the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Atiku Abubakar, has refuted claims of opposing the selection of Rotimi Amaechi as the party’s vice presidential candidate.

He further clarified that no individual from the South-East was qualified to be chosen as Atiku’s vice presidential candidate as they were not registered members of the ADC prior to the primary election.

Okonkwo had rejected the Atiku-Amaechi ADC presidential ticket after the party made the announcement.

Okonkwo criticized the ADC’s decision to select the former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, from the South-South as Atiku Abubakar’s running mate, asserting that the position should have been allocated to someone from the South-East.

Okonkwo also vowed not to campaign for Atiku if his running mate is not from the South-East.

However, speaking on Channels TV on Thursday, Okonkwo was asked if he still holds that view. He responded, “I do not know where you got that from.”

Asked if he supports Rotimi Amaechi as the vice presidential candidate of the ADC, he added, “First and foremost, he is the choice of the party and everybody that is a loyal party member.

“I said I expected that the Vice President should come from South-East. It was a geopolitical expression, not the person of anybody, and of course I understood the limitations within the Electoral Act 2026 Remember, for anybody to be eligible to contest, you must have been a member 21 days before the primary, so the people from the South-East that I would have preferred, strictly speaking, were not even registered members, so we are restricted.

“Rotimi Amaechi, Hayatu-deen, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, these were the people that were showing interest to contest the presidential election, and then when Peter Obi left, South-East was thrown into confusion, and you have to pick a vice president that has elicited interest that he wants to embark on the onerous duty of campaigning around the nation.

“Amaechi got up to 500 and something voters in the primary, you cannot alienate them. What I was agitating is that even if you have constraints, you ought to get the people of South-East and sit down with them and say, look, these are my constraints. Then they will know what they will present to their people.

“Atiku was not in Nigeria when the party made the announcement, he traveled, so when he came in, he did the needful. If you recall, and that is the beauty of this great democrat. When he came in, everything was halted. When he came in, he went into dialogue, called all the parties.”

A Kaduna-based legal practitioner, Al-zubayr Abubakar, has alleged that President Bola Tinubu has cornered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the security agencies and the judiciary.

Abubakar made the claim in an interview with JKD TV, a Kaduna-based television.

According to him, no leader, even during the era of military dictatorship and repression has ever governed the way Tinubu is currently governing, alleging that court judges, who are supposed to stand for justice, have all been brought under his influence.

The lawyer further lamented that all of Nigeria’s security agencies work for Tinubu rather than for the country.

He added that the President has crippled INEC and has it firmly under his control, stressing that it is the reason opposition parties are constantly being plunged into one problem after another.

The lawyers said, “Today, all of Nigeria’s security agencies work for Tinubu rather than for Nigeria. If I were to insult Tinubu here right now, you would immediately see the DSS and the police. They wouldn’t even stop to question you,they would simply say you had insulted the nation. Is Tinubu the nation?

“To make matters worse, the judges, who are supposed to stand for justice, have all been brought under his influence. So if you have a legal case, would you truly have the confidence to take it to court? How can the police treat opposition parties fairly?

“How can INEC be expected to act impartially? Look at what happened to the PDP. The Supreme Court delivered a judgment against the Wike faction, yet INEC continues to recognize and work with that faction. Under such circumstances, how can Nigerians have confidence that INEC will conduct a free and fair election?”

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Abia State chapter has dismissed every suggestion linking it with alliance with other political parties in the State.

The Chairman of the PDP in Abia State, Abraham Amah stated this on Thursday at the PDP State Secretariat, Umuahia, while reacting to questions about a possible alliance involving the party.

Amah, who described the PDP as strong, united and formidable for the 2027 battle in Abia, said anybody issuing statement in proposal or support of an alliance is not speaking for the party.

He maintained that having successfully uploaded the names of its candidates for various elective posts, his party is prepared to go into the 2027 election battle without seeking the support of any other party or donating its platform to any other political party to use.

“As far as we are concerned, as at today, we do not have any agreement with any other political party.

“Am privileged to know what is happening at the party, not only in the State but at the national level. So we do not have any such agreement with anybody,” Amah said.

The Abia PDP Chairman also declared that there is no faction in the State as according the him, all the names of the candidates of the PDP he leads, had already been successfully uploaded on the INEC official portal.

He further said that Abia PDP has taken up the task of reconciling aggrieved primary election aspirants.

Earlier in his speech during a press conference, the PDP governorship candidate in Abia State, Kelechi Anosike said he would pay N90,000 minimum wage to Abia civil servants if elected the governor.

Anosike, who faulted the Abia State government for its system of salary payment, alleged that the State government is not paying N70,000 salary across board.