2027 Election: APC Campaign Council Member Showunmi Confirms SaharaReporters’ Report On Wife’s Redeployment To Head INEC Electoral Operations | Sahara Reporters

The question followed INEC’s redeployment of Oluyemi, who previously served as the commission’s Administrative Secretary in Lagos State, to head Electoral Operations at its headquarters ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Segun Showunmi, a member of the Media and Strategic Communications Directorate of President Bola Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council ahead of the 2027 general elections, has confirmed SaharaReporters’ report on the redeployment of his wife, Oluyemi Adeyemi-Showunmi, to head the Electoral Operations Department of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Showunmi defended his wife’s redeployment during an appearance on Channels Television, where he reacted angrily after an anchor questioned whether her new position was a reward for his involvement in the APC presidential campaign council.

The question followed INEC’s redeployment of Oluyemi, who previously served as the commission’s Administrative Secretary in Lagos State, to head Electoral Operations at its headquarters ahead of the 2027 general elections.

I take exception to that nonsense. Don’t you dare say that about me. Reward who? Reward who? That’s a civil servant. She’s a level 17 officer and has worked in INEC all of her life. She was Lagos State admin secretary – didn’t Peter Obi win there in 2023? – Segun Showunmi angrily reacted to a journalist who asked him if his wife, Oluyemi Titilayo Adeyemi-Showunmi, was rewarded due to his inclusion in the APC campaign council, after INEC redeployed her from Lagos Admin Secretary to head Electoral Operations ahead of 2027 presidential election.
— Nigerian Affairs Journal (@NigAffairs) October 19, 2026

The redeployment has attracted attention because of her husband’s political involvement and the strategic importance of the Electoral Operations Department as the country prepares for another general election.

SaharaReporters had reported that Isah Magaji Gummi, a director from northern Nigeria who previously headed Electoral Operations, had been moved to the Voter Registry Department, while Oluyemi Adeyemi-Showunmi, an official from the South-West, was redeployed to take charge of Electoral Operations.

Responding to the suggestion that his wife’s new posting could be connected to his political affiliation, Showunmi insisted that she was a career civil servant whose posting was an internal administrative decision by INEC.

“That’s a civil servant you are talking about there. She’s a level 17 officer,” he said.

He explained that his wife had served with INEC throughout her professional life, beginning after her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) assignment in Maiduguri.

“She did her youth service in Maiduguri and INEC and has worked with INEC for all of her life,” Showunmi said.

He added that her latest posting was made within the commission and had nothing to do with him or his political activities.

“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,” he said.

Showunmi disclosed that his wife served as the Administrative Secretary of INEC in Lagos State until the latest redeployment.

“She is, she was, up to the last election, the Admin Secretary, the Admin Secretary of Lagos,” he said.

Defending her record in Lagos, Showunmi referred to the previous election and the performance of Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, in the state.

“And they did an election there and Peter Obi have got the numbers, did they stop him from getting the numbers?” he said.

Showunmi accused those questioning his wife’s posting of making the country unnecessarily difficult for public officials and their families.

“You guys are making this whole country just too difficult for people to live in,” he said.

He maintained that the redeployment was no different from routine postings involving civil servants and other public officials.

“Yes, she has been posted like they would post anybody, like they would post soldiers, like they would post civil servants,” he said.

The APC campaign council member also vouched for his wife’s integrity, insisting that her professional conduct should not be questioned because of his political affiliations.

“And I guarantee you, you have never seen anybody that has more integrity than her,” he said.

To support his claim, Showunmi recounted an incident from 2019, when he was a candidate in a House of Representatives election and his wife reportedly refused to give him information about the postponement of an election because doing so could confer an unfair advantage on him.

“Let me give you two examples that will shock you. I was running an election, I was trying to, I was on the ballot in 2019 for Reps,” he said.

He explained that he had already deployed money for the election when it was postponed shortly afterwards.

“And I wanted to deploy money and I deployed the money. And a few minutes later, the election was postponed,” he said.

According to Showunmi, his wife subsequently questioned him about the situation and asked whether he had known about the postponement.

“And then, of course, she said, how are you people getting over? I said, I’m fine,” he recounted.

“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?”

He explained that his wife believed informing him ahead of others could put him in a more favourable position than other candidates.

“Because if you don’t deploy when your colleagues are deploying, the next day it will be, ah,” he said, recounting the exchange.

Showunmi said the incident reinforced his confidence in his wife’s commitment to professional ethics and electoral integrity.

He also referred to his wife’s family background, saying she was the daughter of a presbyter and the younger sister of a senior judge, while insisting that integrity was central to her upbringing.

“You are the daughter of a presbyter, the junior sister of a senior judge,” he said.

“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.”

Showunmi again rejected the suggestion that his political connections had influenced the redeployment, insisting that INEC was entitled to post its staff according to its administrative decisions.

“If they post soldiers, that’s their business. If they deploy, that’s their business,” he said.

He further stressed that his wife was a senior officer within the commission, arguing that her level and professional standing should be taken into account when assessing her posting.

“But the point is that, within that echelon, that’s a level 17 of that,” he said.

Expressing his displeasure at the suggestion that his wife’s appointment was a political reward, Showunmi challenged the basis for linking her career progression to his membership of the APC campaign council.

“Don’t you dare say that about me or say, reward who? Reward who?” he said.

He also questioned whether the President would necessarily have to be personally involved in every appointment or administrative decision involving individuals connected to political figures.

“Does the president have to know how to appoint his son?” he asked.

Showunmi then cited Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser to President Tinubu, in an argument about family and political connections, referring to Ribadu’s relationship by marriage to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.

“Is Nuhu Ribadu not an in-law to Atiku? The fact that the in-law of the son is married to Atiku’s daughter, does that mean he will not do his job?

“What’s wrong with you people? Don’t destroy our country,” Showunmi said.

SaharaReporters previously reported that INEC was facing questions over reported changes at the head of two departments central to election administration, ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Sources disclosed to SaharaReporters that Isah Magaji Gummi, a director from northern Nigeria, had been moved from Electoral Operations to the Voter Registry Department, and that Oluyemi, an official from the South-West, had been redeployed to head Electoral Operations.

Another official from the South-West, the region President Bola Tinubu hails from, leads the commission’s ICT department.

Information obtained by SaharaReporters from an insider within the Commission indicated that Isah Magaji Gummi, who served as Director of Electoral Operations, had reportedly been redeployed to the Voter Registry Department.

In his place, Mrs Oluyemi Adeyemi-Showunmi, formerly the Administrative Secretary of INEC’s Lagos office, was deployed to the Commission’s headquarters to oversee Electoral Operations.

According to the INEC Manual for Election Officials, 2023 Edition, its Electoral Operations Department is the central unit responsible for planning, organizing, and supervising the conduct of elections across Nigeria.

Its mandate covers every stage of the electoral process, from the distribution of sensitive and non‑sensitive materials such as ballot papers and voter registers, to the management of polling units and the training of election officials.

The department ensures that polling stations are properly set up, accessible to all voters, and compliant with electoral procedures, while also providing guidance for the inclusion of persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.

Electoral Operations oversees the recruitment and training of ad hoc staff, including corps members and civil servants, ensuring they are adequately prepared to uphold electoral laws and procedures.

It also supervises collation and returning officers at ward, local government, state, and national levels, guaranteeing that votes are accurately tabulated, results transparently declared, and election data securely transmitted. In addition, the department enforces INEC’s code of conduct, monitors election‑day activities, and works closely with political parties, observers, and security agencies to safeguard the credibility of the process.

At the national level, the Director of Electoral Operations coordinates activities across the country, while Resident Electoral Commissioners manage operations within each state. Electoral Officers oversee logistics at the local government level, and presiding officers at polling units directly conduct voting and interact with voters.

Meanwhile, SaharaReporters learnt that the changes had raised questions among those concerned about the management of the electoral process, particularly over the rationale for moving Gummi from his previous position and assigning Adeyemi-Showunmi responsibility for the department.