Showunmi denies joining APC despite role in Tinubu's 2027 campaign council
- Segun Showunmi says he has not defected to the APC, though he sits on Tinubu's 2027 campaign media team.
- He told TVC News his focus is the presidential election, with Ogun decisions coming later.
- Showunmi says he admires Senator Adeola but also has a close tie to PDP's Ladi Adebutu.
Ogun State politician Segun Showunmi says he has not joined the All Progressives Congress (APC), even though he now serves on the media and strategic communication team of President Bola Tinubu's 2027 campaign council.
Showunmi, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), made the clarification on TVC News' Beyond The Headlines on Monday.
"No, no, no. I have not joined the APC. Don't get that twisted," he said when asked about his relationship with the ruling party.
His name appeared on the revised membership list of the APC Presidential Campaign Council released on October 13, 2026, which is why many Nigerians assumed he had defected.
Why it matters in Ogun
Showunmi said backing the President does not amount to leaving his party. His priority, he said, is the 2027 presidential election, and decisions about Ogun State politics will wait until after that contest.
"The presidential election will come first, and then the governorship election. Right now, my concern is the presidential election," he said.
He was open about the competing loyalties he will have to weigh at home. He said he admires Senator Olamilekan Adeola, known as Yayi, and also has a close relationship with the PDP's governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu.
"Power must be negotiated at the state level," Showunmi said, adding that stakeholders would look at the power-sharing arrangement in Ogun once the presidential race is settled.
For ordinary voters in Ogun, the back-and-forth matters because it signals how the state's big political camps may line up ahead of the governorship race. It also shows that support for a presidential candidate and party membership are not always the same thing in Nigerian politics.
This is not the first time Showunmi has addressed the question. In a June 2025 interview, he said he would leave the PDP and join Tinubu's party if he chose to support the President's re-election. He now insists that supporting Tinubu does not make him an APC member.
The sources did not say whether the APC or the PDP has responded to his comments.
What happens next
Showunmi says he will stay focused on the presidential election and only decide on Ogun alignments afterwards. Nigerians should expect more talk about power-sharing in the state as the 2027 races draw closer.
