The All Progressives Congress (APC) has generated over N20 billion from the sale of expression of interest and nomination forms to aspirants seeking its ticket for various offices in the 2027 general election. The ruling party pegged presidential forms at N100 million, governorship at N50 million, Senate at N20 million, House of Representatives at N10 million, and State Houses of Assembly at N5 million. Two presidential aspirants, about 90 governorship contenders in 28 states, several National Assembly aspirants, and 990 State Houses of Assembly aspirants purchased forms. Screening of aspirants commenced on May 8.

Key Points:

Aspirants spending millions on forms may feel entitled to recoup their investment through the office.
The high cost of forms could exclude talented but less wealthy Nigerians from political participation.
Female aspirants, youths, and physically challenged contenders received a 50% concession on nomination fees.
The ruling party’s revenue from form sales provides significant funding for primary election logistics.
The timing of the N20 billion windfall, months before the election, gives the APC a financial advantage over opposition parties.

Sources: Leadership

Lagos State will begin charging motorists for parking on designated streets before the end of 2026, the Lagos State Parking Authority has announced.

The General Manager of LASPA, Adebisi Adelabu, disclosed this while briefing the Chairman of Ikeja Local Government Area, Akeem Dauda, and his management team during a stakeholder engagement visit.

This was contained in a statement by the Head, Public Affairs, LASPA, Dunkwu Divine, on Wednesday.

Adelabu said the On-Street Parking Scheme will commence as a pilot in selected Local Government Areas including Ikeja and is designed to bring order to parking on Lagos streets, ease traffic congestion and create jobs for residents within the designated areas.

“The On-Street Parking Scheme will improve parking management, enhance traffic flow and generate employment opportunities, particularly for residents within the selected areas,” she stated.

The LASPA boss also clarified the authority’s mandate, noting that responsibility for parking management was originally domiciled with local government areas across the state before the Conference of the 57 Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas formally ceded it to LASPA.

She added that LGAs and LCDAs stand to benefit from the initiative based on their level of cooperation, urging local authorities to actively support its implementation. Mrs. Adelabu also reaffirmed LASPA’s openness to inputs and suggestions from stakeholders to ensure a smooth rollout.

Responding, the Ikeja LGA Chairman welcomed the development, pledging the council’s support, while calling for wider public sensitization to prepare residents ahead of the scheme’s commencement.

With Lagos grappling with chronic traffic gridlock and disorderly roadside parking, authorities say the scheme represents a significant step toward more structured and sustainable urban mobility management in Africa’s largest city.

Chaotic roadside parking has long been identified as a major contributor to the gridlock that plagues Lagos, particularly in high-traffic commercial districts such as Ikeja, Lagos Island, Surulere and Apapa.

Vehicles parked indiscriminately on roadsides routinely narrow carriageways, obstruct traffic flow and frustrate commuters, with economic consequences running into billions of naira in lost productivity annually.

The son of a former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, Bello El-Rufai, has defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to African Democratic Congress, ADC.

Bello El-Rufai is a member of the House of Representatives.

El-Rufai’s defection was announced by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, during plenary on Thursday.

Tajudeen said that El-Rufai was joining ADC alongside two Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, lawmakers from Kaduna State – Umar Ajilo and Suleiman Richifa.

The Speaker also announced the defection of Kamilu Ado, a lawmaker from Kano State, from ADC to Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC.

He equally announced the defection of Joshua Obika, representing AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency of the Federal Capital Territory, from the APC to NDC.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that all the affected members cited internal crises and uncertainty within their former parties as reasons for their defections.

NAN