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

Chief Adebayo Adelabu

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 .