The Conduct of the primaries in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State on 16 May 2026 for elective positions in 2027 may have come and gone but aspirants eyeing State House of Assembly, Federal House of Representatives, Senate and Governorship remain bitter with the manner the exercise was carried out.
Aspirants for the House of Representatives in the party were the first to cry foul because of the alleged open, unconventional method employed in conducting the primaries for Ifelodun/Offa/Oyun Federal Constituency and had since rejected the outcome.
The five aspirants are Ademola Adebayo Samad from Ora Ward, Ora; Akeem Ishola Balogun from Oja Ward II, Igbaja; Dauda Olayinka Patrick from Oro Ago Ward, Bello Ademola Joseph from Omupo Ward and Ademola Theophilus Apere from Share Ward.
They jointly alleged widespread irregularities and absence of due and credible electoral process. Consequently, they urged the public to disregard any result peddled on social media handles, describing such as determined machination to undermine the President Bola Tinubu’s sworn poise to deepen democracy in Nigeria, as well as the party’s integrity and essence.
The APC chieftains said they had already approached the party’s Appeal Committee, the National Working Committee (NWC) and President Tinubu for redress.
They said in a statement: “If this election will stand, then it must be done democratically.
“The rules and regulations are there in the party constitution. We have gone to the Appeal Committee and now we are appealing to the APC’s NWC and the President to look into the matter and attend to our complaints.”
According to them, only the party’s national office can announce valid result, noting that fake results and scores were being circulated on social media by individuals attempting to legitimise non-existent process.
“Going by what is circulating on social media, some unscrupulous elements are spreading fake news by giving results and scores to some aspirants. That is laughable in our great party,” they said.
At a joint press conference in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, the five contestants accused some compromised party officials of conducting what they described as a “flawed, condemnable and unacceptable exercise that failed to reflect democratic standards across the federal constituency.”
One of them, Ademola Adebayo Samad said no proper election was conducted in many wards within the Ifelodun/Offa/Oyun constituency. He insisted that the process was characterised by “confusion, protests and manipulation. The reason why we are here to appeal to our great party, the APC, and the NWC over the conduct of the House of Representatives primary election that took place on May 16.”
He added: “It doesn’t matter who could have won; our major concern is the democratic process. Know that across the Ifelodun/Offa/Oyun Federal Constituency, no election took place. There were irregularities across board and protests in several places.”
He appealed to the APC National Working Committee (NWC), the Kwara State leadership of the party and Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to intervene by investigating those responsible for the controversy surrounding the primary.
He promised that the aspirants were prepared to accept any lawful option adopted by the party, including rerun or consensus arrangement, provided it complied with laid down procedures and party guidelines.
His words: “If the party wants to redo the election, we are ready. If they want to go by consensus, there are laid down principles and guidelines to follow.”
Akeem Ishola Balogun, another candidate, faulted “an alleged consensus arrangement adopted by the party.” He hinted that they were not opposed to the party but were demanding fairness, inclusiveness and adherence to democratic principles.
Balogun said: “The issue is not about whether the seat is meant for one person or not. If the process had followed the rules and regulations laid down by the party, nobody would have complained.”
He argued that genuine consensus arrangements should involve consultations with all aspirants and stakeholders, rather than excluding interested contestants from the process.
“I have been with our president for many years and this has never been his style of leadership. If there is going to be a consensus, everybody must be invited and carried along. But in this case, we were made to feel like we were nobody,” Balogun added.
Also, Dauda Olumuyiwa Patrick (Oro-Ago ward) declared that no election was held in any of the 41 wards making the Federal Constituency, pointing out that his supporters had trooped out to exercise their rights only to be denied access to electoral materials that never came.
According to him, his coordinator in Offa was beaten and hounded for raising his voice against what he called an obvious irregularity.
Bello Ademola Joseph who is from Omupo Ward said all hopes to redress their experience rests on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the party and the governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq. “Only they can correct the brazen and shameful disregard for democracy in the conduct of the primary election,” he said.
Ayodele Theophilus Apere from Shaare Ward said: “We are not pleased with the primary election. We were directed to choose either direct or consensus. But alas in Kwara, we observed that neither of the two options given by the party was adhered to by the officials. They neither applied any but crook means by denying due electoral processes.”
Although there had been uneasy calm in the State since the primary election for both the State Assembly, the Senate and Governorship which was concluded at the weekend, the controversy might heighten political tension within the APC in Kwara State as preparations towards 2027 general elections gradually begin.