The internal democracy of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has suffered a severe blow following a joint defiance by five prominent House of Representatives aspirants in the ATISBO, Saki East, and Saki West Federal Constituencies.
In a fiercely worded open letter addressed to the Oyo State APC Chairman on Saturday, May 16, 2026, the aspirants formally rejected the ongoing direct primary election, accusing the state executive committee of using “institutionalised deception” and the name of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to tip the scales in favor of an incumbent lawmaker.
The petition was signed by Dr. (Barr.) Yisa Yusuf Oyedemi Muslim, Alhaji Jimoh Adeniyi Akanni, Mr. Kodir Tunde Ajibade, Dr. Lukman Adise Salami, and Dr. Ismail Adewoyin.
According to the aggrieved aspirants, the crisis traces back to a meeting held at the state party secretariat on Thursday, May 14, 2026, where all 14 Federal Constituency aspirants from across the state were in attendance.
The aspirants alleged that the state party executive “serenaded them with lies,” claiming that President Tinubu had explicitly indicated his interest in working exclusively with selected serving members of the current National Assembly.
Rejecting the claim out of hand, the aspirants stated in their letter: “A claim we know can never be true in an inclusive and participatory democracy that our great party is practising. For a state party exco to start a direct primary exercise in this type of manner does not indicate a party executive desirous of providing a level playing ground.”
Beyond the alleged fake presidential endorsement, the aspirants accused the party leadership of engineered disenfranchisement. They revealed that the state secretariat failed to provide updated party membership registration details or slips, which are mandatory for intra-party voting. Instead, the aspirants were told old membership cards would be utilized.
The aspirants noted that their independent investigations revealed that these old membership cards had been selectively distributed only to party members loyal to a specific “fourth-time assembly seeker,” effectively cutting off the voting base of the other five contestants.
The petition also raised a severe security alarm, detailing an attack that occurred on Friday at the party’s weekly meeting held at L.A. School, Isale Taba, Saki.
The aspirants stated that a group of political thugs armed with axes, cutlasses, cudgels, and cattle sticks stormed the venue, threatening to violently whip anyone who dared to express a dissenting view against the serving representative. They described the incident as a coordinated “dress rehearsal” for primary day violence, stating, “We cannot see a burning fire and run into it.”
From a statutory perspective, the five politicians argued that the current primary process in Oyo State is a flagrant violation of Section 87 (1), (2), (3) and Section 88 (3) of the Electoral Act, 2026, which govern internal party selections through consensus or direct primaries. They described the state chapter’s failure to comply with these guidelines as “ludicrous, preposterous, and presumptuous.”
The aspirants have demanded that the Oyo State Secretariat cancel the ongoing exercise, which they termed a “game of charade,” and fix a new date to allow for a transparent contest.
They warned that if their grievances are not addressed in a manner where justice is manifestly seen to be done, they will be forced to take their case to the party’s National Appeal Committee and seek immediate redress in a court of competent jurisdiction.
The letter has been officially copied to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, APC National Chairman Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, the APC National Organising and Publicity Secretaries, and the Oyo State APC leader, Senator Teslim Kolawole Folarin.
