The Accord Party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 election, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has dismissed suggestions that Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke’s endorsement of President Bola Tinubu would influence the state’s voters in the presidential election.

Olawepo-Hashim spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, following the announcement of Adeleke, the Accord Party’s only elected governor, as a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council.

He rejected the suggestion that Adeleke’s position as the party’s only elected governor made him its national leader.

“He (Adeleke) can’t be the leader, he is a governor that was a beneficiary of office. When you have a party, you have the executive, the executive leaders of the party are the leaders of the party,” Olawepo-Hashim said.

Adeleke won re-election for a second term as Osun State governor in August and has reiterated his support for Tinubu’s re-election. However, Olawepo-Hashim argued that the governor could not dictate how the people of the state would vote in the presidential election.

“The fact that he won his election as governor, Governor Adeleke cannot compel the people of Osun State to vote for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Osun people let me repeat are incredibly honourable people, what we call Omoluabi in Yoruba parlance, they are ideological, they have great history, they are not conquered people, they do what they believe.

“So, I still believe that regardless of what Governor Adeleke is doing, Osun people are still going to vote for Accord Party at the presidential election. I can bet on that by the grace of God.”

The Accord Party candidate described the 2027 election as unusual, claiming that many Nigerians had already decided against voting for the APC and Tinubu.

He accused the Tinubu-led government of mismanaging the economy, undermining national unity and worsening insecurity. He also accused the administration of showing little compassion for ordinary Nigerians, whom he said were living in abject poverty.

Olawepo-Hashim maintained that the election would be determined by the performance of the Tinubu administration rather than the individual candidates.

He also expressed confidence in his chances, claiming that Tinubu would not secure 20 per cent of the votes if the election were held today.

A chieftain and founding father of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Osita Okechukwu, has admitted that the microeconomic indicators of President Bola Tinubu’s reforms are poor and have failed Nigerians.

Okechukwu made this statement during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time on Tuesday.

He, however, said the economic reforms had performed well at the macroeconomic level.

According to him, the high cost of living, declining purchasing power and significant unemployment persist despite Nigeria’s large youth population.

He added that the devaluation of the naira had hindered the importation of machinery by small and medium-sized enterprises, while rising energy costs had further stifled industrial growth.

“The economic reforms have done well at the macroeconomic level, but microeconomic indicators are very poor.

“When we talk about the purchasing power of the citizenry, the high cost of living and joblessness, the president’s economic reform programme has not helped.

“It didn’t help because the assumption in the neoliberal doctrine is that it will propel the private sector. However, there are indicators inhibiting that growth. Small-scale and medium-scale industries are performing poorly.

“When you float the naira, it becomes difficult for them to import machinery, and rising energy costs make it even more difficult. These are tangential to the reform programme,” Okechukwu said.

Afrobeats star Davido has submitted multiple entries for consideration at the 2027 Grammy Awards.

Recall that the development comes as the Recording Academy has scheduled the first-round voting for the 2027 Grammys to hold from October 12 to 22, 2026.

Grammy Guru made the revelation in a post on X that went viral on Tuesday.

Davido submitted Oriade, his latest release, in four categories: Best Album Cover, Best Global Music Album, Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical) and Album of the Year.

He also submitted his hit song B4 B4, featuring Fola and Mayorkun, in the categories of Best African Music Performance, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

The singer submitted Nakupenda, his 2025 collaboration with TxC, for consideration in the Best African Music Performance and Song of the Year categories. He also submitted Le Show, featuring French Montana and Ayra Starr, for Best African Music Performance.

His song I Know Who I Be was submitted in the Best Music Video category.

The 69th edition of the Grammy Awards is scheduled to take place on February 7, 2027.

Davido’s multiple submissions for the 2027 Grammys reflect his continued efforts to secure recognition from the Recording Academy after several previous attempts.