Political Profile: Chief Fatai Ibu-Owo is a veteran politician and activist with over two decades of political experience. He joined the National Conscience Party (NCP) in 2002 and rose through various leadership positions, including Ward Chairman, Local Government Financial Secretary, Local Government Chairman, State Deputy Chairman, State Acting Chairman (3 years), and ultimately State Chairman of NCP Lagos. He also served as South West Secretary General of the party and two-term Secretary of the Inter-Party Advisory Council of Lagos State Branch.
Chief Ibu-Owo has contested five elections: councillorship (2 times), Local Government Chairman in Oshodi Isolo (2 times), and Lagos State House of Assembly (2019). He served as Campaign Director for governorship candidate Comrade Ayodele Akele and presidential candidate Chief Martin Onovo.
He holds a degree in History and International Relations from Lagos State University (LASU) and is a businessman in the printing industry. His awards include Most Outstanding Politician (Kosofe Post), Community Development (Oshodi Noble Heritage), and Most Outstanding CDA Chairman. He was honored with the chieftaincy title of “Balogun of Jajoland.”
ON OPPOSITION POLITICS
Interviewer: As a key figure in the ADC-NCP alliance, what is your strategy to challenge the ruling APC in 2027, considering the current economic and security challenges in Nigeria?
Chief Ibu-Owo: We have multi-dimensional strategies to challenge the ruling APC in 2027. Firstly, NCP Lagos has collapsed its structure in all our 20 Local Governments in Lagos State to ADC. Secondly, we are working on the South West NCP to come onboard so that the region can be dominated. Thirdly, we are embarking on street recruitment at every Local Government. Since politics is a game of numbers, we are working endlessly to have reasonable numbers that will defeat the APC.
The current economic and security challenges in Nigeria alone will make APC lose the coming election. It’s only a fool that will vote for insecurity, collapse of economy, darkness, unemployment, multiple taxation, infrastructural deficiency, inadequate water supply, hyper-inflation, and so on. Nigerians are already tired of APC government.
Interviewer: How do you plan to address the issue of opposition fragmentation, which has been a major hurdle in Nigerian politics?
Chief Ibu-Owo: This has been a major challenge in Nigerian politics. If you remember in 2023, the division of parties such as People’s Democratic Party headed by Alhaji Atiku and Labour Party headed by Peter Obi paved the way for President Tinubu to emerge as the winner of the 2023 general election. Had it been Atiku picked Obi to be his running mate, this story would have changed.
In ADC, we are bringing people from different political parties to work together with one vision so that we can reach our destination. This is where party coalition comes in. As you can see, we have a coalition of NCP, PDP, Labour Party, AD, CPC—even large members of APC are part of the arrangement. This tells you that we are reaching out to other political parties and groups of people to embrace our great party ADC. In 2026, more political parties will join us, especially in Lagos State.
Interviewer: As a socialist, how do you envision the ADC’s role in promoting social justice and economic equality in Nigeria?
Chief Ibu-Owo: The vision of the Action Democratic Congress to that of the National Conscience Party is like brothers of the same parents. ADC shares part of the NCP manifestos—though not all, but about 60%. This means that ADC is one of the parties who believes in our ideology.
For instance, and I quote: “global Nigeria, where the standard of living and human development indices rate amongst the top 25 in the world.” It believes in the affordability of healthcare, education, re-engineering of transport system, provision of affordable food through the creation of food baskets in the east corridors, solar electricity as an alternative power to the existing electricity, and ultimately the security of life and property. ADC government will enhance security by aggressively installing technology-driven, smart city devices across the metropolis. With the aforementioned visions, I believe ADC will promote social justice and economic equality in Nigeria.
ON DECAMPMENT AND PARTY AFFILIATION
Interviewer: What motivated your decision to join the ADC instead of other opposition parties, and how do you think it will strengthen the party’s chances in 2027?
Chief Ibu-Owo: Our vision from where we are coming from—NCP—is to abolish poverty in Nigeria. I see APC as a party pregnant with poverty. The party does not have any clue on how to eradicate poverty in Lagos and Nigeria in general. That is why APC government is compounding and establishing poverty on Nigerian people.
Another factor that precipitated our movement to ADC is the attitude of Mr. President. He was trying to create a one-party state. With the use of Wike, PDP is collapsing; he made Labour Party also collapse. There’s no other opposition party in Nigeria except ADC. We saw the potential in the party and its leadership, especially Lagos State leaders.
What also prompted our movement to ADC is that the APC government delisted our party without justification. Joining APC would be like embracing our enemy. The APC government deregistered about 96 political parties illegally. We sued INEC, Attorney General of the Federation, and the government to court, but up till now our matter has not been attended to in the court. This is the party that doesn’t support justice—always against the poor masses.
The joining of the coalition parties or groups will definitely strengthen ADC’s chances of winning the 2027 general election. We all have our structures. Since we have agreed to bring these structures together, the sky will be our starting point.
Interviewer: Many politicians have defected to the APC. What makes you confident that the ADC can resist this trend and maintain its integrity?
Chief Ibu-Owo: The whole politicians in Nigeria are less than 5% of the population of Nigeria, meaning that it’s not the politicians that will determine the 2027 general election but the people—and Nigerians have rejected APC government in Nigeria. I remember the 2023 election: despite having an APC governor in Lagos, President Tinubu lost Lagos to Peter Obi. ADC will surprise you in 2027.
Interviewer: Can you elaborate on your experience working with the late Gani Fawehinmi and how his legacy influences your current political stance?
Chief Ibu-Owo: God used Gani Fawehinmi to make me become a politician and activist. Gani happened to be my role model, and he established a party called NC—National Conscience—which was just a movement. Later on, NC became a full political party in 2002. I joined this party just because of the love and passion I had for Gani.
I joined NCP as a floor member and rose to the highest position in Lagos State. I served under NCP as Ward Chairman, Oshodi Isolo Local Government Financial Secretary of the party, Local Government Chairman, State Deputy Chairman, State Acting Chairman, and State Chairman. I also became the South West Secretary of the party. I have contested five times in the party: councillorship election 2 times, chairmanship election 2 times, and Lagos State House of Assembly in 2019.
ON ELECTIONS AND DEMOCRACY
Interviewer: Given the concerns about electoral malpractice and insecurity, do you believe Nigeria can still have free and fair elections in the future?
Chief Ibu-Owo: Yes. It’s possible for Nigeria to have free, credible, and fair elections. If the president is not allowed to appoint INEC chairman for the conduct of elections, and the Attorney General of the Federation should not be appointed by the president—if the press is given freedom too—I believe there would be free and fair elections.
Interviewer: How do you plan to address the issue of voter suppression and ensure that all Nigerians have equal access to the ballot?
Chief Ibu-Owo: We have been educating our members to be vigilant before, during, and after elections. We are going to make use of technology to monitor the hoodlums that will be discouraging our people from voting. It’s not going to be business as usual. The electoral manipulators will be dealt with severely.
Interviewer: What role do you see for citizen engagement and civil society in promoting democratic accountability in Nigeria?
Chief Ibu-Owo: All hands must be on deck. The citizens have the political right to engage in the politics of his or her country. If there is effective engagement in politics by the citizens and the civil society groups, the question of rigging and other electoral malpractices will not even surface. Engagement of the majority of the citizens in politics paves the way for promotion of democratic accountability in Nigeria.
ON CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS
Interviewer: Do you think Nigeria needs constitutional amendments or a sovereign national conference to address its developmental challenges, and what specific reforms would you prioritize?
Chief Ibu-Owo: Nigeria is using the military constitution. In fact, the government is supposed to declare a state of emergency on the Nigerian constitution. The Nigerian constitution, as a matter of urgency, needs to be amended. How can a president be appointing INEC chairman, Attorney General of the Federation, and some key posts in the country?
The Nigerian lawmakers refused to work on the amendments of the constitution just because they are using it to their advantages. Responsible lawmakers are supposed to have sponsored a bill that will support constitutional amendment. I am in support of total reform because nothing is working in this country. All the sovereign national conferences held should be looked into. I will prioritize security, education, employment, electricity, food reform, and so on.
Interviewer: What specific economic policies would you propose to address Nigeria’s current economic challenges?
Chief Ibu-Owo: The economic policy of our party is going to center on people. Our people deserve the best. To address Nigeria’s economic challenges, our policies focus on diversification—away from oil into agriculture, tech, and manufacturing—strengthening fiscal discipline with better revenue, spending, and transparency, enhancing monetary stability by controlling inflation, improving infrastructure such as power and logistics, boosting the business environment, developing human capital, and expanding social safety nets. This requires consistent structural reforms and investor confidence.
Both registered and deregistered parties have joined us; even some independent groups have been joining us too. We have set up a formidable committee that will be working tirelessly to bring them to the fold of ADC.
