Politics
Trump sets stage for 2024
He may have lost the White House and his social media megaphone but Donald Trump is reminding Americans of his ability to dominate the political conversation as he courts controversy on the comeback trail.
Surrounded by “Trump Won” flags at a rally Saturday in Texas, the loser of the 2020 election teased another run for president and dangled impunity for those who waged last year’s attack on the Capitol in a failed bid to halt the transfer of power to Joe Biden.
Trump claimed that those charged in the assault — characterized by the FBI as an act of domestic terror — were being “treated so unfairly” and vowed that “if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons.”
Perhaps attempting to reach beyond the few obscure TV channels carrying the rally live, Trump upped the ante by accusing a trio of Black prosecutors pursuing him over a panoply of alleged crimes as “racist.”
The 75-year-old property magnate urged his followers to launch “the biggest protests we have ever had” if the prosecutors “do anything wrong or illegal.”
The rally made headlines for its lawless, authoritarian tone but Trump set off bigger alarm bells the following day, repeating his false assertion that his vice president Mike Pence could have rejected Biden’s victories in a handful of crucial battleground states.
“Unfortunately, he didn’t exercise that power, he could have overturned the Election!” Trump railed, in perhaps the most explicit and self-incriminating statement yet of his intent.
Stubbornly pushing false allegations of widespread voter fraud that got him banned from Twitter and Facebook, Trump has argued all along that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 election.
But the former reality TV star’s Sunday statement rather gave the game away — making clear that his only aim was to wrestle victory back from Biden, not to resolve disputes over electoral votes.
‘Un-American’
In this file photo taken on December 7, 2020 -ex-US President Donald Trump looks on during a ceremony presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to wrestler Dan Gable in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. AFP
It confirmed suspicions of bad faith raised when Trump was caught on tape trying to order a Georgia elections administrator to change its tally enough for him to win the state by a single vote.
“This is an admission, and a massively un-American statement,” outspoken Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger said of Trump’s latest outburst.
Kinzinger’s House colleague Liz Cheney, a party grandee turned pariah over her opposition to Trump, said the rally showed that Trump “clearly would do this all again if he were given the chance.”
Despite the mounting controversies, Trump remains by far the favorite for the Republican nomination in 2024 and is the party’s most successful fundraiser, with $122 million on hand.
As the Republican National Committee holds its winter meeting in the coming days in Salt Lake City, there are signs however that his iron grip is loosening.
A recent NBC poll found that 56 percent of Republicans now define themselves more as supporters of the party than of Trump.
Since he left office, several investigations — both criminal and civil, federal and state-level — have been launched into Trump’s suspected tax evasion, financial fraud, election interference, and other allegations, all of which the ex-president denies.
On Capitol Hill, the cross-party House committee investigating his role in the insurrection recently began receiving more than 700 documents from the National Archives from Trump’s time in the Oval Office.
‘Insane, Unconscionable, Unprecedented’
Trump sued to keep the trove secret, but the Biden administration chose not to support his privilege claims, and the courts sided with the committee.
In a bizarre signal of Trump’s disregard for convention, the Archives said some documents handed over from the White House had to be taped back together because they had been “torn up by former President Trump.”
Politico reported in 2018 that the White House employed staff whose jobs were partly to repair paper communications that Trump would routinely destroy, which is against the law.
Meanwhile, the Republican Party’s small core of lawmakers willing to call out Trump — including Kinzinger and Cheney, who are both on the Capitol assault committee — appears to be growing.
Saturday’s rally was a bridge too far even for Trump loyalist Lindsey Graham, who told CBS that talk of pardoning insurrectionists was “inappropriate” and would make a repeat of the storming of the Capitol “more likely.”
Tim Miller, the communications director for Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign, praised Kinzinger and Cheney for “saying what all of us see to be true… that this is absolutely insane, unconscionable, unprecedented.”
“The former president of the United States admitted in a statement that he wanted to overturn a free and fair democratic election to keep himself in power,” Miller told MSNBC on Monday, “that he tried to do it, that there was a plot to do it and that his only disappointment was that it didn’t work.”
A former Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Chief Moses Alake Adeyemo, has been sworn in as the Chairman of the Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), urging members of the party to rally support for President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Adeyemo formally assumed office on Friday following the inauguration of the newly elected State Executive Committee members who will manage the affairs of the party in the state for the next four years.
The inauguration ceremony, held at the party’s State Secretariat in Oke-Ado, Ibadan, marked the climax of the party’s 2026 congresses in the state.
The South-West Zonal Legal Adviser of the APC, Kolawole Majaro, administered the oath of office on Adeyemo and 35 other members of the State Executive Committee.
The executives had emerged through a consensus arrangement during the March 3, 2026 state congress held at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Ibadan, under the supervision of a committee led by Amos Gombi from the APC National Secretariat in Abuja.
In his acceptance speech, Adeyemo described his emergence as a renewed call to service, pledging to strengthen the party and sustain unity among members.
He appreciated party leaders within and outside the state for ensuring a smooth and successful congress process.
Adeyemo also commended members of the Local Organising Committee, particularly Fatai Ibikunle and Afeez Bolaji Repete, for their contributions to the success of the exercise.
He said, “This new State Executive Committee under my leadership is being put in place to add value and strengthen our great party in view of the challenges ahead.
“We have used the opportunity of the congresses to showcase our collective commitment to unity and harmony as progressives and democrats.”
The new chairman expressed optimism that the atmosphere of peace within the party would be sustained ahead of future party primaries and the 2027 elections.
According to him, the party’s target is to secure 90 per cent of the votes in Oyo State for President Tinubu while also reclaiming the state’s Government House in 2027.
Adeyemo praised the President’s leadership, saying the administration was delivering on its promises.
“President Tinubu is, no doubt, performing beyond our expectations and the best way to appreciate his good work is to retain him in Aso Rock until 2031,” he said.
“Against all odds, the President is pursuing his Renewed Hope Agenda with vigour and passion, while the positive results are being felt across sectors of the economy and national life.”
Other members of the newly inaugurated executive include Taofeek Lamidi as Deputy Chairman, Fatai Adesina as State Secretary, Adekemi Opatunde as Woman Leader, Olawale Sadare as Publicity Secretary, Olalekan Oladejo as Youth Leader, and Remi Adepoju as Organising Secretary.
Also inaugurated were Ajiboye Akinsanya as Treasurer, Sunday Aborisade as Legal Adviser, Tinuade Adigun as Auditor, Lukman Owonikoko as Assistant State Secretary, Fatimah Hassan as Deputy Woman Leader, and Jimoh Osundara as the Leader of Persons Living With Disabilities, among others.
The Senator representing Bayelsa West, Seriake Dickson, on Thursday announced his resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), declaring that he had joined the newly registered Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
Dickson, a former governor of Bayelsa State, made the announcement during a media briefing in Abuja, attributing his decision to what he described as irreconcilable differences within the PDP.
The lawmaker said the emergence of the NDC would strengthen Nigeria’s democratic system by providing a credible opposition platform.
According to him, the party recently received its certificate of registration from the Independent National Electoral Commission.
He said, “Last week INEC issued a certificate of registration and we now have the newest party in Nigeria known as the Nigeria Democratic Congress and our symbol is victory, the victory sign.
“So, my dear Nigerians, you now have a credible alternative opposition party known as the Nigeria Democratic Congress.”
Dickson noted that although the party’s registration took longer than expected, its eventual approval was a welcome development for the country’s democratic landscape.
“Yes, it is coming at this time. We would have wished it started some years or months back. We don’t control INEC and their processes; they delayed. We don’t also control the judiciary, but thank God it has finally arrived,” he said.
The senator also stressed that Nigeria’s democracy must not slide into a one-party system, insisting that political diversity remained vital for national stability.
“This nation cannot be a one-party state. Nigeria cannot be a one-party state. Nigeria is not designed to be a one-party state.
“We are a very diverse nation culturally, religiously and politically and that is the beauty of our country.
“So anyone or any party promoting one-party rule in Nigeria is mistaken. We build political parties and get involved in movements to access power for the good of the people, not for our personal benefit,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission recently announced the registration of two new political parties.
The parties are the Democratic Leadership Alliance and the Nigeria Democratic Congress, bringing the total number of registered political parties in Nigeria to 21.
The announcement was made by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, during the commission’s first quarterly consultative meeting with political party stakeholders for 2026.
According to him, the Democratic Leadership Alliance completed the required verification process, while the Nigeria Democratic Congress was registered in compliance with a Federal High Court order.
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) and member representing Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency, Hon. Aderemi Oseni, has congratulated the newly elected State Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State.
The party, at its state congress held on Tuesday at Liberty Stadium, Ibadan, elected a former Deputy Governor of the state, Moses Alake Adeyemo, as its new chairman alongside other state executive members.
Oseni, in a statement on Wednesday by his media aide, Idowu Ayodele, described Adeyemo’s emergence as well-deserved, noting that his experience and longstanding commitment to the party would further strengthen its structure in the state.
He said the peaceful conduct of the congress demonstrated the party’s commitment to internal democracy and progressive leadership.
The statement said, “I congratulate our newly elected State Chairman and leader, His Excellency, Moses Alake Adeyemo, and other members of the State Executive Committee on their emergence. This victory reflects the confidence reposed in them by party members across the state.”
Oseni further expressed confidence that the new leadership would reposition the party for greater cohesion and electoral success.
According to him, “This is a critical moment for our party in Oyo State. It calls for unity, reconciliation, and renewed commitment to the ideals that bind us together as progressives.”
The federal lawmaker assured the new executives of his support and cooperation in advancing the programmes of the party and strengthening its grassroots structures.
He urged party members to rally behind the new leadership to ensure stability and secure future victories for the APC in the state.
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