Politics
Trump and Musk blast embezzlement verdict as Le Pen plans appeal
US President Donald Trump and close ally Elon Musk weighed in on Marine Le Pen’s conviction after the far-right National Rally leader was found guilty of embezzlement and barred from running in the 2027 French presidential election.
Trump called the court’s decision a “very big deal” on Monday. “She was banned for five years and she was the leading candidate,” Trump said.
“That sounds like this country, that sounds very much like this country,” he added, in apparent reference to legal cases he faced before taking office for a second term.
“I know all about it, and a lot of people thought she wasn’t going to be convicted of anything,” he said.
The South African-born tech billionaire Elon Musk blasted the court verdict, which will see Le Pen and 24 codefendants also face a four-year prison sentence and a €100,000 fine for siphoning European Parliament funds to pay for party employees back home.
“When the radical left can’t win via democratic vote, they abuse the legal system to jail their opponents,” Musk said Monday. “This is their standard playbook throughout the world.”
Musk, who has increasingly backed far-right movements across Europe, said the court verdict would “backfire” in a separate post.
Le Pen to appeal
Speaking to French TV channel TF1 in her first reaction to the verdict, Le Pen called the ruling a “political decision” and said that millions of French people “are outraged”.
She called the verdict a violation of the rule of law, said she would appeal and asked that the court proceedings take place before the 2027 campaign.
She would remain ineligible to be a candidate until the appeal is decided.
“I didn’t think the magistrates would go so far against our democratic process”, she said in the TF1 interview.
“It’s a fatal day for our democracy.”

Marine Le Pen leaves the National Rally headquarters in Paris after a court convicted her of embezzlement and barred her from seeking public, 31 March, 2025 AP Photo
“There is no personal enrichment, so there is no corruption”, she said. “I’m going to pursue all possible avenues of appeal.”
She will have to resign as councillor for the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. She will continue to serve as an MP but will not be able to stand in legislative elections in the event of another dissolution of parliament in the near future.
A total of eight National Rally MEPs and their twelve assistants were also found guilty and barred from running for office. The party was also fined €2 million.
Le Pen and 24 other National Rally members were found guilty of embezzling money intended for European Parliament aides to pay staff who worked for the party over nearly 12 years.

A torn poster of French far-right party leader Marine Le Pen is seen in Henin-Beaumont in northern France, 11 December, 2015 AP Photo
Their full sentences were read out individually by the Paris court over several hours. Le Pen, who was sitting in the front row of the courtroom, visibly shook her head in disapproval as the verdict was read. She left without comment before sentencing ended.
The court estimated that the European Parliament’s total loss was €2.9 million, with Le Pen personally embezzling around €474,000.
“There was no personal enrichment … but there was the enrichment of a party,” Judge Bénédicte de Perthuis said, claiming it went against party financing rules.
“Let’s be clear: no one is on trial for doing politics, that’s not the issue. The issue was whether or not the contracts had been executed”, the judge added.
‘Je suis Marine‘
Leaders from the European Parliament’s right-wing Patriots for Europe bloc have rallied around Le Pen after the sentencing.
Patriots.eu, the group to which Le Pen’s RN belongs, published a post on X expressing “full support to Marine Le Pen” against what it described as an “alarming authoritarian drift within the European Union.”
Leaders of Patriot-affiliated parties have also expressed solidarity with the RN’s founder.
“Je suis Marine,” (I am Marine), wrote Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on X.
“I back Marine,” was the message in French of Italy’s League leader, Matteo Salvini, posted on a picture with the French politician.

Right-wing party leaders at a Patriots for Europe summit in Madrid, 8 February, 2025 AP Photo
The League’s delegation in the European Parliament considered the ruling as “political and disproportionate,” and “the greatest judicial scandal of the Fifth [French] Republic.”
“Today it is not Marine Le Pen or the Rassemblement National being hit, but democracy,” read a note from the Italian party.
“I am shocked by the incredible tough verdict against Marine Le Pen,” wrote the Dutch nationalist leader Geert Wilders, founder and president of PVV, adding that he is confident she “will win the appeal and become President of France.”
Statements of solidarity and accusations towards the French judiciary also arrived from Belgium and Greece.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament resumed its business in Strasbourg on Monday afternoon, with some members also reacting to the sentencing.
“Justice has done its job, we need to accept it, and I call on everyone to bear responsibility,” Valérie Hayer, chair of the centrist Renew Europe group, told Euronews.
“All Republican forces must stand up against anti-judicial rhetoric, which is a slippery slope”, socialist MEP Chloé Ridel said.
Politics
PDP to screen Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday as its sole Presidential aspirant For 2027 race
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Tanimu Turaki, SAN, has scheduled to screen former president Goodluck Jonathan tomorrow, Tuesday, aMay 19, as the lone presidential candidate of party.
According to a statement from the PDP faction backed by the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, Former Vice-President Namadi Sambo, former governor of Plateau State, Jona Jang and a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tom Ikimi have been listed among a committee of 14 members to screen Jonathan described as a lone candidate by the party.
Other members of the committee were Chief Olabode George, Babangida Aliyu, Maryam ciroma, Zainab Maina, Josephine Anenin, Dr. Abdul Bulama, Dr. Esther Uduehi, Edo State PDP chairman, Tony Aziegbemi, Dr. Sunday Solarium and Chief Anicho Okoro, who would serve as administrative secretary of the committee.
Last week, the national Publicity Secretary of the faction, Ini Ememobong, disclosed that former president Jonathan has successfully registered as a member of the party in the fresh digital registration exercise directed by INEC.
The PDP faction also announced that it was set to screen 748 house of representatives aspirants, 198 senatorial aspirants, and 112 governorship aspirants.
The screening committee would screen 2122 states houses of assembly aspirants. The exercise will commence tomorrow, Tuesday in different states.
According to the statement, the screening exercise would take place nationwide on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at 10:00 a.m.
The statement said the Interim National Working Committee (iNWC) has also released the names of members to serve on the Screening Committees and Screening Appeal Panels.
It added that the publication of the screening details “is in accordance with the party’s guidelines and timetable for the conduct of the 2027 general elections.”
Politics
Oshiomhole wins Edo APC senatorial primaries unopposed
A former governor and incumbent Senator, Adams Oshiomhole, along with his counterpart Senator Joe Ikpea, sailed through the All Progressives Congress senatorial primary in Edo unopposed, and securing their tickets without a single vote cast against them.
Also Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama emerged the winner in the APC primary for the Edo South senatorial district.
Ogbeide-Ihama won in the seven local government areas of Edo South in the results announced by the Chairman of APC National Assembly Primary Election, Muhammed Ajana at the Urokpota Hall, Benin.
He polled 27,154 votes while his opponents, Senator Neda Imasuen, got 13,580, and Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu got 6785.
The elections were hitch-free in Edo North and Edo Central, where there was no contest against the incumbents, Senators Oshiomhole of Edo North and Ikpea of Edo Central, respectively.
Ajana at the Urokpota Hall said the collation arose from votes cast in the seven local government areas made up of 77 wards where elections were conducted by members of the committee.
He said, “There are seven local governments that make up the Edo South Senatorial District. We have heard from the Returning officers from the seven local government areas. From the collation, the cumulative result we have for Edo South Senatorial District is this; Ogbeide-Ihama with 27,154 votes, Imasuen with 13,580 votes and Ize-Iyamu with 6, 785.
“This is the total reflection of what has transpired from the ward level to the local government and the Edo South senatorial district collation centre. With this we await further directives from the National Secretariat, we have done our best by collating the results which is our mandate, to collate the results and send them to the National Secretariat.”
However, it was gathered that Ize-Iyamu emerged as the APC candidate for Edo South Senatorial race. He claimed to have clinched the party’s ticket after defeating Ogbeide-Ihama and Imasuen.
It was claimed that the Chief Returning Officer, Abubakar Muhammad Kabiru, officially declared Ize-Iyamu the winner after securing the highest number of votes cast.
On his part, the senator representing the district condemned the exercise describing it as a sham allegedly designed to favour a preferred aspirant.
Imasuen spoke while reacting to events at his polling unit in Umagbae North Ward 5, Urhokuosa where he said he was denied the opportunity to vote following what he described as a chaotic and manipulated process.
The lawmaker accused leaders of the party of openly adopting a preferred candidate ahead of the exercise and intimidating members into supporting that aspirant.
He said, “There is nothing satisfactory about this sham of election they did today and it is very unfortunate because as a loyal party member, I expected something better than this.”
He said the warning signs emerged days before the primary when some ward chairmen allegedly informed him that they had been directed not to receive him during consultations.
Imasuen claimed that some ward leaders openly told him the party had already adopted a preferred aspirant, identified as Hon. Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, making further consultations unnecessary.
Politics
Ajuloopin Suffers Setback as Home Ward Rejects Third Term Return Bid in Kwara APC Primary
The re-election bid of the member representing Ekiti/Isin/Irepodun/Oke-Ero Federal Constituency, Hon. Raheem Tunji Olawuyi, popularly known as Ajuloopin, suffered a major setback on Friday after party members in his home ward, Omu-Aran Ward 1, boycotted the All Progressives Congress APC House of Representatives primary.
According to party stakeholders and observers present at the exercise, no valid election took place in the ward after members refused to participate in protest against what they described as the lawmaker’s poor performance after three consecutive terms in the House of Representatives.
Sources in the ward said efforts by some political figures and loyalists to persuade members to back Ajuloopin’s ambition failed, with party faithful insisting they would not endorse what they termed an attempt to impose his candidacy again.
The boycott led to a breakdown of the electoral process in Omu-Aran Ward 1, with many members staying away from the polls entirely. Stakeholders have called on the APC Electoral Committee to disregard any result purportedly presented from the ward, arguing that no credible primary was conducted there.
Political observers in the constituency described the development as a significant blow to Ajuloopin, noting that the rejection came from his own ward and among constituents most familiar with his record.
Preliminary reports from other parts of Irepodun, Isin and Oke-Ero local government areas, where voting proceeded, also indicated weak support for the incumbent. Many party members were said to have voted for alternative aspirants.
APC stakeholders have urged the party leadership to review reports from affected wards and accept only authentic and verifiable results to preserve the credibility of the primaries. They stressed that internal democracy was critical to the party’s prospects in the constituency and warned against imposing unpopular candidates ahead of the 2027 elections.
With tension rising across the federal constituency, party faithful said the leadership must listen to grassroots members and allow delegates and supporters to determine the outcome of the primaries.
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