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A 247ureports Special Report

While millions of Nigerians battle a cost-of-living crisis marked by high inflation, a weak naira, and shrinking purchasing power, a review of recent appointments, nominations, and electoral outcomes shows a consistent pattern: the sons, daughters, and relatives of the country’s political elite continue to secure prominent positions in government — from federal development commissions to the National Assembly to grassroots council offices.

247ureports examines the documented cases, separates confirmed facts from disputed allegations, and lays out the broader picture of political succession in Nigeria.

1. North-West Development Commission: Ganduje’s Daughter, Wamakko’s Son Named Directors

In February 2025, the National Assembly forwarded a list of 11 nominees for director positions in the newly established North-West Development Commission (NWDC) to President Bola Tinubu for approval. The list, contained in a letter jointly signed by Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas and Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, included Asiya Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, daughter of APC National Chairman and former Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, nominated as Director of Community and Rural Development.

Also on the list was the son of Senator Aliyu Wamakko, former Governor of Sokoto State, nominated to lead the commission’s Planning, Research, Statistics and Management Information System department.

The nominations drew immediate backlash from within the ruling party itself. APC youth activist Sadiq Ali Sango publicly rejected the appointment, arguing that the party was becoming a platform for a handful of families rather than a democratic institution, and calling on President Tinubu to reject the nomination in favour of other qualified APC members from Kano State. Sango further noted that Ganduje’s son already held a directorship in a separate federal agency at the time.

2. South-South Development Commission: Senate Confirms “Usoro Akpabio” — But Denies She Is the Senate President’s Daughter

In May 2025, President Tinubu nominated Usoro Offiong Akpabio as Managing Director/CEO of the newly created South-South Development Commission (SSDC), headquartered in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. The shared surname with Senate President Godswill Akpabio, himself a former Governor of Akwa Ibom, sparked immediate speculation online — and was initially reported as fact by some outlets, including an early wire report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), which described her as the Senate President’s daughter.

In June 2025, the Senate confirmed Usoro Akpabio as MD, alongside Chibudom Nwuche (a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives) as Board Chairman and 16 other board members.

However, the Senate has since pushed back on the paternity claim. Senator Yemi Adaramodu, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, told journalists there was no familial relationship between the two Akpabios, describing the shared surname and state of origin as coincidental — comparable, he said, to sharing a common Yoruba surname with someone from a different family entirely. NAN subsequently issued an editor’s note correcting its earlier report.

3. Wike’s Sons and the Abuja Land Allocation Allegations

In June 2025, Peoples Gazette published an investigation alleging that FCT Minister Nyesom Wike had, since taking office in August 2023, allocated approximately 2,082 hectares of prime Abuja land — in districts including Maitama, Asokoro, Gaduwa, Guzape and Bwari — to a company, JOAQ Farms and Estates Ltd, which the paper linked to Wike’s son Joaquin. The land was estimated to be worth in the region of $3.6 billion. The report alleged the minister personally signed off on certificates of occupancy and bypassed standard civil service processes, including ground rent and survey fee requirements.

A follow-up report in July 2025 alleged a combined 3,822 hectares had gone to both of Wike’s sons, Jordan and Joaquin, worth a combined estimate of roughly $6.45 billion, and claimed President Tinubu had directed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to investigate.

Wike’s office, through his media aide Lere Olayinka, has repeatedly and categorically denied the allegations, describing them as politically sponsored falsehoods and blackmail, and insisting that no plot of land has been allocated to any of the minister’s children. Olayinka has argued that a company bearing a name similar to one of Wike’s sons does not establish ownership, and separately noted that family members are legally entitled to own land in the FCT provided due process is followed.

4. Umahi’s Son Wins Council Chairmanship at 28

Osborn Nweze Umahi, the 28-year-old son of Minister of Works David Umahi (a former Governor of Ebonyi State), won the APC chairmanship of Ohaozara Local Government Area in Ebonyi’s local government election held on August 22, 2026. He was one of 13 chairmen declared by the Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission (EBSIEC) that day, all reportedly on the platform of the ruling APC, which dominates the state.

Following his victory, the younger Umahi pledged to forgo his statutory salary and allowances throughout his tenure, saying he wanted to prioritise development spending over personal enrichment. His win has nonetheless triggered debate on social media over political succession, with one widely shared comment summarising the sentiment: Ebonyi residents feel they serve both the father and, now, the son.

5. Children of Former Governors in the House of Representatives

The presence of political offspring in the National Assembly is not new, and not confined to one administration or one party.

In 2023, at least five children of former governors were named chairs of House of Representatives standing committees: Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu (daughter of former Delta State Governor James Ibori), Mohammed Bello El-Rufai (son of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai), Olamijuwonlo Alao-Akala (son of the late former Oyo State Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala), Olumide Osoba (son of former Ogun State Governor Olusegun Osoba), and Adegboyega Adefarati (son of a former Ondo State Governor).

A Daily Trust review from mid-2025 counted no fewer than ten offspring of former governors who had either won or contested seats in the current House, also naming Joshua Gana (son of former minister Jerry Gana) and Blessing Onyeche Onuh (daughter of former Senate President David Mark) among those who won seats, alongside relatives of Governors Ifeanyi Okowa and Umar Ganduje who were appointed rather than elected.

Ahead of the 2027 elections, further political heirs have emerged as candidates or nominees, including Iyabo Obasanjo (daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo), Yusuf Buhari (son of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari), Adamu Abubakar (son of former Head of State Abdulsalami Abubakar), and Marilyn Okowa-Daramola, who secured an APC House of Representatives ticket in Delta State even as her father, Ifeanyi Okowa, secured the party’s Senate ticket in the same state.

The Bigger Picture

Analysts and commentators, including in a 2023 Guardian Nigeria feature, have described a growing entrenchment of political dynasties across party lines — APC and PDP alike — as former governors move into the Senate and federal cabinet while their children fill state and federal legislatures, commissions, and board positions. The pattern spans several of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones and is not the practice of a single political family or party.

At the same time, not every allegation raised in public discourse holds up equally: the Akpabio paternity claim has been officially denied and corrected at source, and the Wike land allocation allegations remain contested pending any independent verification, even as they are backed by a credible investigative outlet and — according to that outlet — a federal probe. Accuracy matters in holding power to account; conflating disputed claims with confirmed ones gives critics an easy way to dismiss the pattern altogether.

What is not in dispute is that the Ganduje/Wamakko NWDC nominations, the SSDC board confirmation itself (regardless of the paternity question), Umahi’s son’s council win, and the broader presence of governors’ children in the House of Representatives are all matters of public record.

247ureports will continue to monitor these developments, including the outcome of any federal probe into the FCT land allocation allegations and further confirmations of board and commission appointments ahead of 2027.