Oyo APC Primary Crisis: Adelabu Rejects Alli, Says No Candidate Yet

Former Minister of Power and All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Oyo State, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, has urged party members to remain calm amid growing uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the party’s governorship primary election, insisting that no candidate has been officially declared by the party’s national leadership in Abuja .

In a statement issued on Monday, Adelabu said the APC national headquarters has not authorised any individual, group, or committee in Oyo to announce the outcome of the governorship poll. He described reports circulating on social media and other unofficial channels regarding successful candidates as premature and potentially misleading, urging party faithful to disregard them pending an official pronouncement by the party leadership in Abuja .

“However, it is important to remind ourselves that the National Headquarters of our party has expressly directed that no individual, group or committee at the state level is authorised to announce the final outcome of the primaries,” Adelabu said . “Consequently, any purported list of candidates being circulated on social media or through unofficial channels should be treated with utmost caution until the National Leadership of the party makes its official pronouncement.”

Adelabu appealed to party members and supporters to remain patient and law-abiding. “At this crucial stage, no one should allow himself or herself to be misled by rumours, propaganda or premature victory claims designed to manipulate public perception, create confusion among party faithful and influence ongoing consultations within the party,” he said .

Adelabu’s statement comes after Oyo APC chairman, Moses Adeyemo, reportedly declared Senator Sharafadeen Alli as the party’s governorship candidate following a meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Lagos over the weekend . Several news outlets had also reported that Alli had emerged as the consensus candidate of the party, winning the May 21 direct primary election .

The former minister expressed serious concern over reports that some aggrieved party members had begun defecting to opposition parties in protest over the alleged consensus arrangements. “I am particularly concerned by reports that some of our members, feeling aggrieved by the rumours surrounding the purported consensus arrangements, have begun defecting to opposition parties in protest,” he said .

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“Let me state unequivocally that I condemn these defections in their entirety,” Adelabu declared. He said abandoning the APC over speculation and unofficial information would weaken the party and benefit its political opponents. “Every committed member of APC has invested time, resources, energy and sacrifices into the growth of this party. It would be unfortunate to abandon that investment based on speculations and unofficial information,” he added .

Adelabu recalled that the experiences of the 2019 and 2023 elections showed that internal divisions and avoidable defections could undermine the party’s electoral prospects in Oyo State . He urged the party not to repeat the same mistakes if it hopes to return to power in 2027 .

Despite the controversy surrounding the primary outcome, Adelabu expressed confidence in the ability of the APC national leadership to address all concerns arising from the process. “I have absolute confidence that the National Leadership of our party possesses the wisdom, experience and institutional capacity to address all concerns arising from the primary process,” he stated. “I am equally confident that appropriate interventions will be made where necessary to ensure justice, fairness and party cohesion” .

Adelabu urged party leaders, elders, youth groups, women groups, support organisations, and fellow aspirants to exercise restraint and avoid actions capable of deepening divisions within the party. He also cautioned against spreading unverified claims of endorsements, approvals, or predetermined consensus arrangements. “The strength of our party lies in transparency, credibility and respect for due process. No individual or group should engage in activities capable of misleading our members or creating false impressions regarding decisions that have not been officially communicated by the National Headquarters,” he said .

Adelabu, who resigned as Minister of Power on April 30, 2026, to contest the APC governorship primary, had previously faulted the conduct of the primary election, alleging irregularities and manipulation of results . On the day of the primary, after voting at Ward 9, Ibadan South-East Local Government Area, Adelabu described the process in his ward as peaceful and credible but alleged that reports from several wards across the state indicated cases of electoral misconduct, intimidation, and falsification of results .

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In a notable challenge to the reported figures, Adelabu also disputed claims that Senator Alli polled over 500,000 votes to emerge as the party’s candidate. He argued that the total number of registered APC members in Oyo State stands at 153,640 and not 500,000, making such figures mathematically impossible . This assertion aligns with an official source who confirmed that APC has 157,266 registered members in Oyo State, out of which 109,978 participated in the primary .

The actual result of the primary, as confirmed by a senior party official in the office of the APC National Organising Secretary, reportedly placed Senator Sharafadeen Alli as the winner with 91,824 votes . According to this official result, Adelabu came second with 7,532 votes, while Senator Abdulfatai Buhari, representing Oyo North, came third with 6,963 votes . These figures stand in stark contrast to the earlier circulated figures on social media, which had credited Alli with 578,143 votes – a number that party officials described as “mathematically impossible” given the state’s registered APC membership .

The crisis has deepened as five governorship aspirants have called for the immediate resignation of the Oyo APC chairman, Dr. Moses Alake Adeyemo . In a communique issued at the end of their meeting on Monday, the five aspirants – Engr. Rauf Olaniyan, Prince Musbau Asatola Asanike, Dr. Ololade Usman Bakare, Barrister Akeem Agbaje, and Engr. Akeem Oyedele Alao – accused Adeyemo of undermining the integrity of the party .

The aspirants listed several grievances, including Adeyemo’s alleged directive to all local government party chairmen to ensure victory for a particular aspirant even before the primaries, which they described as “a gross abuse of office and a violation of neutrality.” They also condemned the chairman for declaring an aspirant as the party’s candidate before the National Working Committee released the official result, noting that “only the NWC has the constitutional mandate to announce results” .

The communique further expressed alarm that under Adeyemo’s watch, party members were leaving the APC in large numbers for other parties. “Loyal members feel sidelined, unprotected, and disrespected. This exodus weakens our party structure and threatens our electoral prospects in 2026 and beyond if urgent steps are not taken,” the aspirants warned .

Meanwhile, other stakeholders within the Oyo APC have defended Senator Alli’s emergence and dismissed claims that the chairman of the Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS), Zacch Adedeji, railroaded the choice of Alli at the party primaries . Key stakeholders under the umbrella of the Oyo State APC Stakeholders Forum, in a statement signed by Mr Femi Aremu, argued that “the fact that all Oyo APC stakeholders and influential persons aligned with Senator Sharafadeen Alli only exposed the frustration of those who believed political power could be sustained through personal ego and isolation from party structures” .

The stakeholders further noted: “Rather than concocting false accusations about misuse of public funds, attention should be focused on why a supposedly formidable political figure failed to inspire confidence within his own political family. The truth remains that Zacch Adedeji neither imposed himself on Oyo politics nor forced anyone to support a particular candidate. Stakeholders, leaders, and party faithful made their choices freely based on political realities, relationships, and perceived capacity to unite and move the party forward” .

The Oyo APC chairman had earlier described the primary as credible and disclosed that the primary election committee would forward results to the national secretariat for formal announcement, in line with the party’s guidelines . A Monitoring Committee had also been put in place to guarantee transparency and fairness throughout the exercise .

Adelabu, who contested the 2023 Oyo governorship election on the Accord Party platform before defecting to the APC , has urged members to place unity above individual ambitions. “Elections come and go, but the party remains our common platform for service, development and progressive governance,” he said. He added that concerns raised by party members would be addressed through appropriate structures .

“Together, we shall overcome our current challenges, emerge stronger and position our great party for victory in the elections ahead,” Adelabu concluded .

Other Oyo APC gubernatorial hopefuls include Senator Sharafadeen Alli (Oyo South), Senator Abdulfatai Buhari (Oyo North), Rauf Olaniyan (former deputy governor), Adewale Kareem, Musbau Asanike, Akeem Agbaje, Oyedele Alao, and Ololade Bakare .

Oyo APC Primary Crisis: Adelabu Rejects Alli, Says No Candidate Yet

Babachir’s Claims Against Atiku, ADC Could Threaten Political Stability — Bwala Warns

Presidential spokesman Daniel Bwala has said allegations made by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, against former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) could raise concerns over national security implications if they are eventually proven true.

Bwala made the remarks on Tuesday in a post on X (formerly Twitter), reacting to Lawal’s resignation from the ADC and his claims that the party’s recently concluded primaries were manipulated in favour of Atiku Abubakar.

Lawal had alleged that the ADC presidential primary process was “massively rigged,” insisting that the exercise was skewed to favour Atiku’s emergence as the party’s candidate and expressing frustration over internal party developments that informed his exit from the coalition.

Reacting, Bwala questioned the credibility and framing of the allegations, suggesting they carried serious implications for political stability if validated.

“WOW, Is it ChatGPT or Grok that Babachir Lawal used in writing the ratio decidendi of his resignation from ADC? What he said about the candidate of ADC (if validated or verified) is scary and will undermine the national security of Nigeria,” Bwala wrote.

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The presidential aide argued that such claims, if substantiated, could undermine confidence in democratic processes and heighten political tension at a sensitive time in Nigeria’s electoral cycle.

Bwala also criticised the National Democratic Coalition (NDC), which Lawal is reportedly aligning with after leaving the ADC, alleging that its ideological direction and presidential preference were inconsistent with democratic values and principles of governance.

He further stated that some of the political positions previously expressed by Babachir Lawal on national television interviews contradicted his current political stance, describing the development as inconsistent.

“You need to hear in Babachir’s own words on Arise Primetime and Channels TV interviews… to understand what in law we call ‘confessional statement’,” he added.

Bwala also dismissed claims of unity within opposition coalition movements ahead of the 2027 general elections, arguing that recent defections, counter-claims and internal disputes suggested growing fragmentation rather than cohesion.

According to him, the unfolding political disagreements among opposition figures further reinforce what he described as the strengthening position of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ahead of the next presidential election.

“With this, the choice for 2027 has never been more clearer. President Tinubu in all honesty is a million miles ahead of them,” he stated.

Babachir Lawal, a former ally of the All Progressives Congress (APC), announced his resignation from the ADC on Monday, accusing the party of conducting “flawed and manipulated” primaries and alleging that the process was structured to favour Atiku Abubakar.

He also declared plans to work with political allies to resist Atiku’s presidential ambition in 2027, further deepening tensions within opposition realignment efforts ahead of the next general elections.

As of the time of filing this report, neither Atiku Abubakar nor the ADC leadership had issued a detailed response to the latest allegations.

Babachir’s Claims Against Atiku, ADC Could Threaten Political Stability — Bwala Warns

‘No Evidence’: Atiku Camp Fires Back at Babachir Lawal Over ADC Rigging Claims

Abuja, Nigeria – The camp of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has launched a fierce counter-attack against former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, dismissing his allegations that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primary was rigged as “unsubstantiated” and accusing him of political inconsistency. The response came after Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga gleefully declared that Lawal had inflicted more damage on Atiku than any criticism from the presidency could have achieved.

Lawal, in a Facebook post on Monday, June 1, 2026, announced his exit from the ADC over the outcome of the party’s presidential primary won by Atiku. His resignation came barely a week after the ADC primary held on May 25, 2026, which produced Atiku as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections. In his explosive resignation statement, Lawal claimed that ADC’s presidential primary was manipulated in favour of Atiku, describing the exercise as a “disgraceful charade” where results were “written or rewritten” to favour the former vice president and his inner circle.

Reacting to Lawal’s scathing attack, Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga took to X (formerly Twitter) to mock Atiku. “We have not fired any bullet against veteran presidential runner and northern hegemonic Abubakar Atiku yet. But a close ally just destroyed Atiku in many unflattering words. It’s a warning that the man should retire to Dubai quickly,” Onanuga wrote. The Presidency’s reaction underscores the political advantage the ruling party sees in the widening cracks within the opposition as Atiku attempts to build a coalition to challenge President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

In a swift and detailed response issued on behalf of Atiku Abubakar by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the camp of the former vice president rejected claims that the ADC presidential primary was manipulated, insisting that the exercise reflected the will of party members across the country. “Having chosen to malign a democratic process, insult thousands of ADC members nationwide, and make grave allegations without presenting a shred of evidence, it has become necessary to set the record straight,” the statement said. Shaibu argued that Lawal had failed to provide any proof to support his allegations of electoral manipulation. “The truth is straightforward. The ADC presidential primaries were conducted across thousands of wards and produced a clear and decisive outcome. What Mr Lawal has offered Nigerians is not evidence. He has produced no documents, no verifiable facts, no credible witnesses, and no proof whatsoever to support his sensational allegations.” The Atiku camp maintained that the primary results, which saw Atiku poll 1,846,370 votes against Rotimi Amaechi’s 504,117 votes and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen’s 177,120 votes, reflected the genuine choice of ADC members nationwide.

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The Atiku camp also accused the former SGF of political inconsistency, pointing to what it described as his acceptance of outcomes from the same primary process in other contests. “Mr Lawal has also failed to explain how the very same primary process he now dismisses as fraudulent somehow produced a result he appears perfectly willing to accept in Adamawa State, where his cousin, Omar Suleiman, emerged as the ADC governorship candidate. Nigerians are entitled to ask whether the process was only credible when it favoured his family and only rigged when it produced a presidential candidate he did not support.” This accusation of double standards struck at the heart of Lawal’s credibility as a critic of electoral malpractice. The Atiku camp argued that Lawal’s sudden concern for electoral integrity appeared selective, conveniently emerging only when the outcome did not favour his preferences while remaining silent when the same process benefited his family member.

The statement further took aim at Lawal’s public image as a critic of corruption and electoral malpractice, reviving controversies that trailed his tenure as Secretary to the Government of the Federation during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari. Lawal was removed from office in 2017 following allegations linked to contracts awarded through the Presidential Initiative on the North-East, a controversy that became widely known as the “grass-cutting scandal.” The Senate had called for his suspension and prosecution after an ad-hoc committee led by Shehu Sani indicted Lawal for receiving contracts to clear “invasive plant species” in Yobe State through a company, Rholavision Nigeria Limited, in which he had an interest. While President Buhari initially defended Lawal, he was eventually suspended in April 2017 pending investigation. Lawal has consistently denied any wrongdoing. “It is perhaps the greatest irony of this entire episode that Mr. Babachir Lawal now seeks to reinvent himself as Nigeria’s newest apostle of integrity, transparency, and democratic virtue,” the statement added, questioning his moral authority to lecture others on electoral integrity.

Atiku’s camp further argued that Lawal’s criticisms were driven more by dissatisfaction with the outcome of the primary than by genuine concerns about electoral integrity. “What appears to have truly unsettled Mr Lawal is not the conduct of the primaries but the outcome. Democracy guarantees participation, not victory. One cannot celebrate democracy when it produces a preferred result and suddenly condemn it as rigged when it does not.” The statement emphasized that political participation carries no guarantee of victory, and that Lawal’s resignation appeared to stem from personal disappointment rather than principled objection to the process. The statement also faulted what it described as Lawal’s resort to ethnic and religious sentiments in his criticisms of the primary. “Having failed to persuade ADC members to embrace his preferred candidate, he now seeks refuge in the divisive politics of identity,” Shaibu said, arguing that such rhetoric does little to address the country’s pressing challenges. “It creates no jobs, lowers no food prices, secures no communities, and offers no pathway out of the national crisis.”

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Defending Atiku’s political credentials, Shaibu maintained that the 2027 election would be decided by Nigerians based on issues of governance, economic recovery, and national security rather than internal party disputes. “The Nigerian people know Atiku Abubakar. They know his record in public service. They know his achievements in business. They know his commitment to national unity and economic reform,” he stressed. The statement concluded by urging Lawal to provide evidence for his allegations or withdraw them and apologize to the ADC leadership and members he had insulted.

The ADC presidential primary, held on May 25, 2026, at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, saw Atiku poll 1,846,370 votes to defeat former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who secured 504,117 votes, and businessman Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, who received 177,120 votes. The Chairman of the Presidential Primary Election Committee, Chief Ikechi Emenike, said 2,527,977 registered party members participated in the exercise, while the Chief Returning Officer, Senator Tunde Ogbeha, declared Atiku as the winner. However, the primary had drawn criticism from some aspirants. Before the announcement of the results, Hayatu-Deen had publicly distanced himself from the process, citing concerns about alleged vote manipulation and the integrity of the exercise. Amaechi also raised concerns about irregularities in the process. Despite these initial protests, Atiku has since moved to consolidate the party. He visited both Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen in separate meetings following the primary. During his meeting with Hayatu-Deen at the latter’s Lagos residence on Sunday, Atiku announced that both leaders had agreed to put the tensions arising from the primary election behind them and work together to position the ADC as a credible alternative to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Hayatu-Deen later ruled out challenging the outcome of the primary, citing party unity.

In his acceptance speech after the primary, Atiku described the exercise as transparent and credible. According to him, party members were allowed to freely express opinions and contest elective positions through a transparent democratic process. He said the primary was not about winners and losers but a collective effort to rescue Nigeria from misrule. “There are no winners and losers. Our people look up to us for leadership, and we are ready to lead,” he said. He also appealed to aggrieved members and fellow contestants, including Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen, to unite ahead of the 2027 general election. “I therefore appeal to all those who feel aggrieved to come back to our party and close ranks with the rest of us. In particular, I invite Chief Rotimi Amaechi and Alhaji Muhammad Hayatu-Deen to join me in this fight to save our democracy and our country,” Atiku stated.

Lawal, in his lengthy Facebook post, had claimed that the ADC primary was “massively rigged” at all levels in favour of Atiku. “I am exiting the ADC because its just concluded primaries were at all levels massively rigged in favour of Kachalla Abubakar Atiku. I sense a conspiracy of silence of which I want no part of,” Lawal wrote. “Most members of the party are behaving as if this is the normal thing to do. Results were just written or rewritten to favour him and his coven. Even where they allowed some semblance of an election to hold, the winners were simply replaced with members of his syndicate. In the real sense, it was a disgraceful charade.” Lawal further described Atiku as an “irredentist Fulani and religious hegemonist” and argued that President Bola Tinubu would perform better than Atiku if faced with a choice between the two. “For me, working for Kachalla Atiku means giving Tinubu an automatic ticket to a second term, which gives me nightmares. I believe Tinubu might, comparatively speaking, end up a better Nigerian president than Kachalla Atiku could ever be (as bad as Tinubu currently is and possibly could ever be).” He also vowed to work with like-minded associates to stop Atiku’s presidential ambition, declaring that he would retire to his village farm to watch Atiku “mercilessly out-rigged and beaten to pulp by Tinubu’s ruthless and superior rigging machine.”

Key takeaways from this political showdown include the following: Babachir Lawal resigned from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) on June 1, 2026, alleging the party’s presidential primary was “massively rigged” in favour of Atiku Abubakar; the Presidency, through spokesman Bayo Onanuga, reacted gleefully, stating that Lawal had “destroyed Atiku” more than any government criticism could have; Atiku’s camp, through spokesman Phrank Shaibu, dismissed Lawal’s allegations as baseless and accused him of political inconsistency and failing to provide evidence; the Atiku camp revived the “grass-cutting scandal” that led to Lawal’s removal as SGF in 2017, questioning his moral authority; Lawal was accused of double standards, as his cousin won the ADC governorship primary in Adamawa State without complaint from him; Atiku won the ADC primary with 1,846,370 votes, defeating Amaechi (504,117) and Hayatu-Deen (177,120); and Atiku has since held reconciliation meetings with both Amaechi and Hayatu-Deen to unite the party ahead of 2027.

‘No Evidence’: Atiku Camp Fires Back at Babachir Lawal Over ADC Rigging Claims