By Adeyinka Adeniran
An aspirant for the House of Representatives seat in the Afijio/Oyo East/Oyo West/Atiba Federal Constituency on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Wakil Oyedemi, has alleged irregularities and imposition in the party’s primary process, declaring that no valid primary election was conducted in the constituency.
Oyedemi, alongside four other aspirants are contesting for the party ticket against the incumbent lawmaker, Akeem Adeyemi who is also seeking a fourth term in the green chamber.
He accused some leaders of the party of attempting to impose a preferred candidate on members instead of allowing a democratic process.
Speaking with journalists on Sunday, the aspirant described the exercise as a charade, insisting that neither a valid consensus arrangement nor a direct primary election took place in the constituency, as directed by the national leadership of the party.
He said, “There are only two ways by which a candidate can emerge, either by consensus or direct primary.
“If there is going to be consensus, all aspirants must sit down, agree on one person and sign documents to that effect. That never happened here.”
According to him, the APC leadership at the state and constituency levels had allegedly predetermined who would emerge as candidate before the scheduled primary.
“What we had was a situation whereby there was a predetermined aspirant that some leaders of the party had decided to impose on everybody else,” he alleged.
The lawyer and politician further claimed that party officials instructed ward leaders not to conduct any proper primary election but merely announce the name of a preferred aspirant.
“The local government chairman told ward chairmen that they were not going to conduct any primary and that they should just gather somewhere and shout the name of the candidate they had chosen for them,” he claimed.
Oyedemi maintained that no voting materials were distributed across the constituency and that no proper accreditation or voting process took place.
“There were no materials anywhere in the federal constituency. Nobody conducted any proper primary election,” he said.
The aspirant also alleged that he and other aspirants rejected the arrangement during a meeting with party leaders held ahead of the primary exercise.
According to him, several aspirants openly opposed the alleged imposition of the incumbent lawmaker for another term.
“Everybody was angry, every other aspirant was opposed to the imposition,” he stated.
Oyedemi said he was considering legal action over the matter, arguing that the alleged violations went beyond internal party affairs and amounted to breaches of constitutional and electoral provisions.
“I have made up my mind that I am not going to let it slide this time. Impunity has to come to an end, people must know that you cannot continue to impose candidates and get away with it”, he added.
The APC aspirant recalled that he had previously stepped aside for the interest of the party during earlier electoral contests but insisted that the current situation demanded resistance.
“I folded my hands in 2019 and again in 2023, but this time I believe enough is enough,” he declared.
He warned that any candidate allegedly imposed through an invalid process could eventually be disqualified by the courts, citing previous judicial decisions involving disputed party primaries in parts of the country.
As of the time of filing this report, the APC leadership in Oyo State had yet to officially respond to the allegations raised by the aspirant.
