The national leadership of the All Progressives Congress has confirmed that all governorship aspirants contesting the party’s ticket in Oyo State have been cleared to participate in tomorrow’s gubernatorial primary election.
The clarification came amid speculation that a former Minister of Power and one of the leading aspirants, Adebayo Adelabu, had been disqualified from the race.
It was gathered that aspirants cleared for the contest include Sharafadeen Alli, who represents Oyo South Senatorial District; AbdulFatai Buhari of Oyo North Senatorial District; former Deputy Governor Aderemi Olaniyan; Akeem Agbaje; and Adelabu, all of whom obtained the party’s nomination forms to contest for the governorship ticket.
Speaking with journalists at the APC Secretariat in Oke-Ado on Thursday, Chairman of the APC House of Assembly/Governorship Primaries Election Committee in the state, Taofeek Olawale Abdulsalam, dismissed reports of disqualification, insisting that every aspirant who purchased and submitted nomination and expression of interest forms had been cleared for the exercise.
Abdulsalam assured party members that the primary election would be peaceful and rancour-free.
“We have been here since yesterday, and we are satisfied with what we have seen so far. Tomorrow will be a better day for APC members in Oyo State,” he said.
He explained that the committee’s responsibility was limited to collating and forwarding the results of the primary election to the party’s national headquarters for official announcement.
“We have no power to announce the results. At the end of the primaries, our responsibility is to forward the results to the national headquarters of the party for announcement,” Abdulsalam stated.
He further disclosed that the Monitoring Committee would oversee the process to ensure transparency and fairness during the primaries.
Also speaking, Chairman of the APC Primaries Election Monitoring Committee in the state, Ayo Afolabi, assured party members of adequate monitoring and a credible electoral process throughout the exercise.
