Author: Drum Africa Correspondent

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has screened and cleared Mrs Anastasia Odochi Uchenna, a popular Aba-based radio broadcaster, to contest the election to represent Aba Central State Constituency in the Abia State House of Assembly.  Also cleared by the PDP were Mr Enyinnaya Appolos, a former Chief Press Secretary to the immediate past governor of the state and now ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain; Dr Okezie Ikpeazu; and 16 other aspirants to contest the party’s primary election for the Abia State House of Assembly. DrumAfricanews gathered that the PDP primaries are scheduled to be held on Friday, May 22,…

A good number of Abia State youths, selected from the 17 Local Government Areas of the state to participate in a joint federal and state government agricultural programme and empowerment in Osun State, are begging Governor Alex Otti to come to their aid. The youths who said that they participated in a three-week agro-based certified programme called “National Youths In Agricultural Training Programme For Unemployed Youths From The South East Geopolitical Zone” lamented that the assurance given to them initially that they will be supported by the state to start something for production and commercialisation is now looking like a…

Imo State All Progressives Congress (APC) delivered a shocking tension across the nation as a political tsunami swept across the state on Saturday night after several high-profile politicians and political hopefuls failed to secure tickets in the APC House of Representatives primaries ahead of the 2027 general elections. Our correspondent reports that among the biggest casualties were Chief Pascal Okechukwu, popularly known as Cubana Chief Priest, whose move to stop Canice Moore Nwachukwu failed. Others include two serving federal lawmakers, Chike Okafor and Miriam Onuoha, DrumAfricanews gathered that Chief Priest lost because, because of zoning formula which is followed religiously…

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon. Benjamin Kalu, on Saturday, was returned as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Bende Federal Constituency in the 2027 general elections unopposed. According to Udora Orizu, SA Press Affairs to the Deputy Speaker, he was returned through a pronouncement by the APC registered members in the 13 electoral wards of the Bende Federal Constituency.  DrumAfricanews reports that the 13 wards include Alayi, Bende, Ezeukwu, Igbere, Item, Itumbuzo, Nkpa, Ntalakwu, Ozuitem, Ugwueke, Umu-imenyi, Umuhu-Ezechi, and Uzuakoli. Orizu said that the exercise was held across the 13 electoral wards…

Chief John Okiyi-Kalu is one of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) aspirants in the 2027 governorship election in Abia State. He is a well-recognised political leader in Abia who has served as a commissioner for trade and investment as well as a former commissioner for information. He is a PDP stalwart. In this interview he reveals how he plans to govern Abia State if eventually elected as the next governor of the state, using four major points he listed while speaking at a public function. Chief, recently in a public function, you pinpointed four elements of creating prosperity if elected…

By James Udemba Anyone who was unfortunate to read an article published in Sun newspaper of May 13th, 2026 entitled “The Shadow of 1953 – Why Uzodimma’s Senate Ambition reopens an old wound of South East betrayal”, will have nothing but disdain and pity for those who always resort to the politics of tribalism and religion when intellect and integrity fail them. According to the author whom I will not dignify by mentioning his name, Igbos have always marginalised the South South beginning from 1953 when Prof Eyo Ita was replaced as the premier of the then Eastern Region. He…

By Nze James Chinonyerem In politics, loyalty is tested not by the speeches we make during election season, but by the sacrifices we make when the cameras are off. It is tested by consistency, by service, and by the willingness to build the party even when personal ambition is not on the table. By these measures, Prince Alex Mbata stands out as a faithful son of the All Progressives Congress in Imo State and a committed advocate for a better Owerri Prince Alex Mbata’s relationship with the APC is not transactional. It is rooted in conviction. Long before the party…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lagos Zonal Directorate 1, on Friday arraigned popular social media influencer and self-acclaimed relationship therapist, Okoro Blessing Nkiruka, before the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, over an alleged N36 million fraud. Blessing CEO, whose real name is Okoro Blessing Nkiruka, was arraigned before Justice D.I. Dipeolu on a two-count charge bordering on alleged obtaining by false pretence and stealing. According to the EFCC, the defendant allegedly obtained the sum of N36 million from one Mrs. Ifeyinwa Nonye Okoye under the guise of securing a six-bedroom detached duplex located at No. 1B Tunbosun…

High Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe, pioneer spokesman of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), has declared that Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara currently enjoys massive grassroots support across the state, making him a formidable political force ahead of the 2027 elections. Sara-Igbe made the remarks during an interview while speaking on the political situation in Rivers State and the ongoing crisis involving Governor Fubara and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. According to the elder statesman, the governor’s popularity among ordinary residents has continued to grow despite the prolonged political tension in the state. He argued that Fubara’s…

Abia State Police Command acting on actionable intelligence, operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU), combed the Ogwashi Forest in Old Umuahia, Abia State, suspected to be a hideout for kidnappers and arrested one Mr Ibrahim Audu, a suspected kidnapper. During the operation, the operatives were engaged by the kidnappers in a confrontation, also rescued a victim, one 46 years old man, Mr Onyebuchi Nwaoha, and recovered a cash of .Eight Hundred and Thirty Thousand Naira Only (₦830,000.00). DrumAfricanews gathered from the kidnappers, unable to withstand the superior firepower of the officers, fled the scene. DSP Maureen Chinaka, Police…