Former governor of Nigeria’s Lagos state Akinwunmi Ambode denies claims linking him to new 2027 election coalition
IN SHORT: Akinwunmi Ambode, the former governor of Lagos state in Nigeria, has dismissed rumours that he’s joining the African Democratic Congress coalition in order to become governor again.
“AKINWUNMI AMBODE, former Lagos State Governor set to declare his Governorship Ambition on AFRICA DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS (ADC) platform in Lagos State,” reads a post circulating on social media in August 2025.
Akinwunmi Ambode is a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He served as the governor of Lagos state from 2015 to 2019.
Ambode fell out of favour with Bola Tinubu, who is regarded as the most influential politician in Lagos, ahead of the APC primary elections in 2018. He ultimately lost the Lagos governor’s office to Babajide Sanwo-Olu. But Ambode and Tinubu reunited in 2023, the same year Tinubu became president of the country.
Ahead of the 2027 general elections, prominent opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Nasir El-Rufai and Rotimi Amaechi, have adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as their political platform. They plan to use the ADC coalition to unseat Tinubu in the upcoming polls.
The same claim appears here, here and here. (Note: See more instances at the end of this report.)
But is Ambode about to dump the APC for the ADC to fulfil his governorship ambitions? We checked.
‘Fake news’
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Africa Check found no credible news reports on Ambode joining the ADC. If he were defecting to the ADC so soon after reuniting with Tinubu, it would’ve made headlines.
Instead, we found a statement from him denying the claim and reaffirming his support for the APC and Tinubu. He posted a screenshot of the circulating post on his official X account with the words “fake news” stamped on it.
“As we look toward the 2027 general elections, I remain steadfast in my commitment to supporting President Tinubu’s re-election. I am confident that, with another four years, Nigerians will have more reasons to celebrate our collective progress. My dedication to his vision and aspirations for our nation remains unwavering,” he wrote on X.
A further keyword search led to similar posts from 2022. These posts claimed that Ambode was to declare his “governorship ambition on the Labour Party platform in Lagos State”.
The claim that Ambode is looking to dump the APC for another party has been circulating since 2022 and is still false in 2025.
The same claim was found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
