The All Progressives Congress (APC) has won all 18 chairmanship positions in the Cross River LG elections held on Saturday.

Ekong Boco, chairman of the Cross River State Electoral Commission (CRSEC) and the election’s returning officer, announced the results on Sunday at the commission’s headquarters in Calabar.

The APC won in Abi, Odukpani, Bakassi, Akpabuyo, Ogoja, Akamkpa, Bekwarra, Etung, Biase, Boki, Calabar Municipality, Obubra, Yakurr, Yala, Obanliku, Obudu, Ikom, and Calabar south LGAs.

The chairman of CRSEC issued certificates of return to the elected chairpersons.

Bassey Otu, the governor of Cross River, commended the winners, describing the elections as peaceful.

The governor expressed optimism that the new LG leaders would align with the state’s “people-first” agenda.

“We have a well-defined vision for the state, and we believe the new leadership at the local government level would understand that they must align with the state government’s agenda and exhibit unwavering dedication to realising good governance,” he said.

Nine opposition parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), participated in the elections but did not field candidates across all 196 local council wards in the state’s 18 LGAs.

Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, says Betta Edu has now left the federal cabinet for good.

Edu was minister of humanitarian affairs.

Onanuga spoke on Sunday during an interview with Channels Television.

On January 8, Tinubu suspended Edu after a memo surfaced wherein she asked Oluwatoyin Madein, accountant-general of the federation, to transfer N585 million to a private account.

The president also asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the financial transactions of the humanitarian ministry.

After she was suspended, the former minister was grilled at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja.

Subsequently, the president suspended all programmes administered by the National Social Investment Programmes Agency (NSIPA) for six weeks, as part of the probe into alleged malfeasance in the management of the agency and its activities.

In April, the EFCC said it recovered N30 billion following investigation into the ministry’s activities, adding that 50 bank accounts were under probe.

There were appeals from certain quarters for the president to reconsider and recall Edu.

Although Edu vanished from public glare, she sent a condolence message to victims of the Jos building collapse in July using the ministry’s letterhead.

Last Wednesday, the president named Nentawe Yilwatda as Edu’s replacement during a cabinet reshuffle.

‘SHE’S GONE’

Onanuga was asked if Edu remains a minister since she was only suspended by the president.

The presidential aide said Edu is no longer a minister and that her portfolio has been handed to someone else.

“Betta Edu is gone. She was suspended in January, and this is October. She is gone. Her position has been taken over by somebody else… that is the man from Plateau state (Yilwatda),” he said.

“As far as this government is concerned, there is no longer a place for her in that cabinet.”

Asked about the outcome of the investigation on Edu, Onanuga said the EFCC is yet to make the details public.

“The EFCC has not shared whatever they have, but if you go by what the president has done, it shows that maybe the EFCC has submitted something that actually justifies that suspension,” he added.

“If we follow what the president has done, it means EFCC has revealed something that has formed the basis of the president’s action.”

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti has asked Ayodele Fayose, former governor of the state, to tender his resignation from the party.

Speaking on Sunday in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, Dare Adeleke, PDP caretaker chairman in the state, accused Fayose of anti-party activities.

“It is important to address the salient issues affecting our party like anti-party activities of the former governor of Ekiti state, Mr Ayodele Fayose, and his cohort,” Adeleke said.

“His public declarations and serial endorsement of the opposition are in a direct affront to the values and unity of our party.

“I strongly condemn these actions and encourage him to take the bold and honest step of officially decamping.”

Fayose had publicly endorsed Abiodun Oyebanji, governor of Ekiti and member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), for a second term.

The next governorship election in the state is expected to take place in 2026.

“I am very proud of you. You have done well. We will continue to be with you. You have gone far in terms of development. Let me wait for that person who will say you have not done well. I am not a member of your political party, and I will never be, but Ekiti comes first,” Fayose had said at the time.

Last week, the PDP in Ekiti asked the party’s national working committee (NEC) to suspend Fayose.

“The position canvassed by the caretaker committee before the disciplinary and reconciliation committees is that Fayose must be expelled from the party,” the Ekiti PDP said.