A governorship aspirant of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Oyo State, Chief Adebisi Ilaka, has rejected the outcome of the party's governorship primary held on May 22, alleging widespread irregularities and manipulation of results in parts of the state.
Ilaka, who emerged second in the contest, described the exercise as a travesty and an assault on internal democracy, insisting that the declared results did not reflect the outcome of the election conducted at the grassroots level.
Addressing journalists in Ibadan, the former Chief of Staff to Governor Seyi Makinde alleged that result sheets meant for some local government areas were diverted and handed over to unknown persons, leading to what he termed the manufacture of fictitious figures.
According to him, result sheets for 20 of the 33 local government areas were properly distributed through the party chairman-elect, Mr. Afees Adelowo, while the remaining 13 sheets allegedly failed to reach designated areas, particularly in Ibadan, Ibarapa East and Ibarapa North.
He claimed that authentic exercises were conducted in the affected councils by party members, ward executives and local government officials, but the figures eventually announced were different from those collated at the polling points.
“For the governorship primary election held on May 22, result sheets for 20 local governments were duly released and distributed accordingly,” Ilaka said.
“The remaining sheets were handed over to persons unknown. These result sheets never got to all the local governments in Ibadan, Ibarapa East and Ibarapa North where genuine exercises were conducted.
“The figures entered into those sheets were simply manufactured for the purpose of electoral fraud,” he alleged.
Ilaka maintained that party agents and officials in the disputed local government areas were prepared to testify and present what he described as the authentic results from the wards and council collation centres.
He further claimed that he won 28 out of the 29 local government areas where, according to him, verifiable results were available, adding that he had established an unassailable lead before the disputed figures emerged.
“I know for a fact that out of the 29 local governments whose results we can verify as authentic, I won 28,” he stated.
“The outstanding local governments where we do not have verified records have less than 4,000 registered members combined, while I already maintained a lead of about 14,000 votes.”
The aspirant disclosed that he had commenced the process of challenging the outcome before the party's appeal committee, insisting that the disputed results must be reviewed in the interest of justice and party unity.
“We are forwarding our petition to the appeals committee. We are not crying foul because we lost. If we lost fairly, we would accept it, but not under these circumstances,” he said.
He warned that failure to address the grievances arising from the primary could worsen divisions within the ADC ahead of the 2027 governorship election in Oyo State.
“If the party truly desires victory in future elections, it must protect internal democracy. You cannot sideline those who built the party and still expect unity,” he added.
Ilaka, however, declined to state whether he would remain in the party if the appeal did not favour him, saying only that every action has consequences.
