Weeks after collapsing his Peoples Democratic Party structure and decamping into the All Progressives Congress, Hon. Ayo Da-Silva has received a resounding vote of confidence from an unexpected but deeply symbolic quarter, the Igbo community in Amuwo Odofin Federal Constituency, who have gone ahead to purchase the APC federal constituency nomination form on his behalf, signaling that his political homecoming carries far more weight than a mere party switch.
The gesture, which has sent ripples across Lagos political circles, is being read by observers as a decisive statement of trust from a community that has long been central to the political arithmetic of Amuwo Odofin, a constituency with one of the highest concentrations of Igbo residents anywhere in Lagos State, spanning the bustling corridors of FESTAC Town, Satellite Town, and Kirikiri.
Hon. Chukwunenye Manager Obiesie (Akusinachi), a prominent representative of the Igbo community in the constituency, who spoke on behalf of the group, left no room for ambiguity about their motivations. “Ayo Da-Silva is not a stranger to us. He is a man we have walked with, a man who has stood with the Igbo people in this constituency through every season,” he said. “When our people deliberated, the resolution was unanimous, this is a man we can trust with our votes, with our future, and with our voice in Abuja. That is why we did not wait to be asked. We purchased the form ourselves as a declaration of where we stand.”
The community’s confidence in Da-Silva is rooted not just in sentiment but in history. In 2011, Da-Silva won the Amuwo Odofin federal constituency seat under the PDP platform, a victory that spoke volumes about his grassroots reach and his appeal across ethnic lines. Although that election was subsequently cancelled on grounds of irregularities, the political footprint he left behind never faded. More tellingly, since that period, the APC has been unable to clinch the Amuwo Odofin federal seat, a fact that underscores just how significant his defection, and the Igbo community’s embrace of it, could prove to be ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Da-Silva is no ordinary figure to the Igbo in Amuwo Odofin. He is a man decorated with their highest honour the chieftancy title of Nwane di Namba Ndigbo, a deeply reverential Igbo title that roughly translates to “The Number One Son of the Igbo People” or “He Who Stands First Among the Igbo.” It is a designation reserved for individuals who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to the welfare, dignity, and advancement of the Igbo community, and in Da-Silva’s case, it is a title his supporters say he has earned many times over.
His defection to the APC earlier in the month was itself a moment of political theatre. Flanked by key PDP apex leaders, Da-Silva declared his return to the ruling party a “homecoming,” pledging to collapse his entire political structure, built over years of grassroots organising across all 14 wards in the constituency, into the APC machinery, with a clear mandate; to make the party unbeatable in Amuwo Odofin. Lagos GAC member, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro and Lagos State APC Secretary Hon. Adeola Jokomba were present at the event and described the defection as a turning point, projecting total APC dominance in the local government from 2027 onward.
But it is the Igbo community’s unsolicited act of purchasing the nomination form that has given Da-Silva’s political trajectory a new and compelling dimension. In a constituency where the Igbo population is not merely a voting bloc but a cultural and commercial backbone, from the markets of FESTAC to the waterfront communities of Kirikiri, their endorsement is the kind of capital that no campaign war chest can buy.
Political watchers in Lagos say what is unfolding in Amuwo Odofin is bigger than one man’s party affiliation. It is, they argue, the story of a politician who has managed to transcend ethnic suspicion and partisan loyalty to occupy a rare space in Lagos politics, a space where community trust and political ambition align.
For Ayo Da-Silva, the Igbo have spoken. And in Amuwo Odofin, when the Igbo speak, the ballot box listens.
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Seunmanuel Faleye is a brand and communications strategist. He is a covert writer and an overt creative head. He publishes Apple’s Bite International Magazine.
