Segun Showunmi, a member of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, has defended the redeployment of his wife, Oluyemi Titilayo Adeyemi-Showunmi, to head the Electoral Operations Department of the Independent National Electoral Commission, insisting that the decision was an internal administrative posting unrelated to his political support for President Bola Tinubu.
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Adeyemi-Showunmi, who previously served as INEC’s Administrative Secretary in Lagos State, was redeployed to the Commission’s headquarters to head Electoral Operations ahead of the 2027 general election. In the same reshuffle, Isah Magaji Gummi, who previously headed the department, was moved to the Voter Registry Department.
The development has attracted scrutiny because of Showunmi’s political involvement. He previously served as a spokesperson for Atiku Abubakar’s 2019 presidential campaign and is now reported to be involved in the media and strategic communications structure supporting Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign.
Responding during an appearance on Channels Television, Showunmi rejected suggestions that his wife’s new assignment was a political reward connected with his role in the President’s campaign.
“I take exception to that nonsense that you just said. That’s a civil servant you are talking about there. She is a Level 17 officer,” he said, before adding: “Don’t you dare say that about me … Reward who? Reward who?”
Showunmi said his wife had spent virtually her entire professional career with INEC, having joined the Commission after her National Youth Service Corps programme in Maiduguri.
“She did her youth service in Maiduguri and INEC and has worked with INEC for all of her life,” he said. Pasted text
He maintained that the redeployment was an internal decision of the electoral body and suggested that President Tinubu might not even be aware of it.
“Up till this posting, which comes within their own organisation and has nothing to do with anybody, I’m not even sure the President knows,” Showunmi said.
In further defence of his wife’s record, Showunmi pointed to her tenure as Administrative Secretary of INEC in Lagos State and referenced Peter Obi’s performance in the state during the 2023 presidential election.
“She is, she was, up to the last election, the Admin Secretary, the Admin Secretary of Lagos,” he said.
“And they did an election there and Peter Obi have got the numbers, did they stop him from getting the numbers?”
His argument was that his wife’s previous role in Lagos had not prevented an opposition candidate from recording the votes credited to him, which he presented as evidence against suggestions that she would necessarily use her current position to favour Tinubu.
Showunmi also complained about what he considered unfair scrutiny of career public officials because of the political activities of their spouses.
“You guys are making this whole country just too difficult for people to live in,” he said.
“Yes, she has been posted like they would post anybody, like they would post soldiers, like they would post civil servants.”
He went further to vouch for his wife’s integrity, saying: “And I guarantee you, you have never seen anybody that has more integrity than her.”
To support that position, Showunmi recalled an incident from the 2019 general election when he was himself contesting for a seat in the House of Representatives.
According to him, he had already deployed campaign funds ahead of the election before voting was postponed. He said he later discovered that his wife had known about the postponement but deliberately refused to inform him because doing so would have given him an advantage over other candidates.
“Did you know they had postponed the election? She said, yes. Why didn’t you tell me? She said it would give you an unfair advantage,” Showunmi recalled. Pasted text
He presented the episode as evidence that his wife had maintained professional boundaries even when confidential information could have benefited him politically.
Showunmi also invoked her family background while defending her character, describing her as “the daughter of a Presbyter, the junior sister of a senior judge.”
“We are not from that type of place where we mess about. Integrity is what we put on the table and that’s what you are getting there,” he said.
He insisted that INEC had the authority to deploy its personnel as it considered appropriate.
“If they post soldiers, that’s their business. If they deploy, that’s their business,” he said, again stressing that his wife was a senior Level 17 officer within the Commission.
Showunmi also argued more broadly that family or political relationships should not automatically be treated as evidence that a public official would compromise professional responsibilities.
He cited National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu’s family connections as an analogy before concluding: “What’s wrong with you people? Don’t destroy our country.”
The controversy had earlier drawn questions from human rights lawyer Chidi Odinkalu, who reacted to the reported posting by asking: “Oh, so @SegunShowunmi’s wife is now in charge of electoral operations in @inecnigeria? It is becoming clearer…!”
Atiku Abubakar’s camp also called on INEC to disclose the criteria behind the redeployments and demonstrate that they were based on merit, due process and safeguards against political interference. The statement, however, also cautioned against automatically assuming that officials were compromised merely because of their backgrounds or associations.
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