Doris Ogala isn’t letting anyone, not even one of her most vocal online supporters, rewrite the story of how she ended up running for governor of Abia State.
The Nollywood actress has fired back after social media critic VeryDarkMan questioned her political ambitions and accused AAC presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore of putting her forward as a weak alternative to sitting Governor Alex Otti.
The criticism stemmed from comments VDM made in a widely shared video in which he didn’t hold back his frustration with Sowore’s choice of candidate.
He argued that Sowore had repeatedly claimed to have a political structure and had criticized Otti’s performance as governor. Yet, the person he was putting forward to challenge him was Doris Ogala.
VDM went further, dismissing the pairing outright and pointing to Otti’s standing among Nigeria’s governors as proof that Sowore’s choice of opponent didn’t add up.
For context, Ogala’s entry into politics wasn’t exactly quiet. The actress, who hails from Bende Local Government Area in Abia State, won the AAC’s governorship primary in May, emerging as the party’s flag-bearer for the 2027 election after a contest that drew some controversy within the party.
Her rise to that position followed years in the public eye, much of it tied to entertainment industry drama rather than politics, which is part of why her sudden political ascent raised eyebrows among observers like VDM.
Responding to the backlash, Ogala firmly rejected the idea that she was a pawn in someone else’s game. She insisted the decision to run was hers alone, made independently and without any prodding from Sowore or anyone else in the party.
According to her statement, Sowore was not even aware she had picked up the AAC’s nomination form until a particular vetting session, and she had neither spoken to nor seen him since declaring her interest, until the day she saw him in court.
That last detail is notable, since Ogala has recently been a visible presence outside the Federal High Court in Abuja during Sowore’s ongoing legal troubles, including his remand at Kuje Correctional Center. This saga has kept both her name and his in the headlines simultaneously.
Beyond defending her independence, Ogala made a point of not turning the moment into a fight. She acknowledged VDM’s past support for her, choosing her words carefully rather than escalating the disagreement.
She said she deeply respects his strength but chooses to distance herself from the misunderstanding, adding that she does not take his past support for granted but is choosing peace over chaos.
It’s a tone that stands out given how heated public disputes involving VDM tend to get, and it suggests Ogala is more interested in protecting her relationship with him than scoring points in an online argument.
Her closing appeal was arguably the most pointed part of her response. Rather than picking a side between VDM and Sowore, both of whom she clearly values, she urged them to set aside their differences and join forces to challenge what she described as a political system that has been hijacked by oppressors, framing their disagreement as a distraction from a bigger fight she believes they should both be focused on.
Whether her appeal lands the way she hopes remains to be seen. VDM has built a reputation for speaking his mind regardless of who it offends, and Sowore’s political style has never exactly been built around compromise either.
Still, Ogala’s response does something useful for her candidacy: it reframes her bid as a personal conviction rather than a project engineered by men with their own agendas, an important distinction for any first-time politician trying to be taken seriously ahead of a tough contest against an incumbent as well-regarded as Otti currently is.
For now, the disagreement between VDM and Sowore remains unresolved, but Ogala has made her position clear. She’s not interested in being caught in the crossfire, and she’s not backing down from a race she insists was always her own to run.
