We, the undersigned aspirants and committed members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Oyo State, address the public today with deep disappointment and a profound sense of injustice regarding the use of audio and visual contents to placate and manipulate the conscience of the people and democracy in our party. What should have been a celebration of our party’s democratic values turned into an exercise marked by deceits, manipulations, trial balloon, maneuvering and other irregularities that undermine fairness and public trust.
From the outset, the process of the primaries failed to inspire confidence among party members.
Rather than display actions that encourage inclusivity and respect for the collective sensibilities.of every party member, some fast legs are acting the sleight-of-the-hand game. We do not know where in their sense of judgement they think they can be more of partymen than the rest of us. We do not know how our commitment to justice and concensus be brazenly tested without an attendant recompense.
We have faithfully and severally indicated several flaws in the way some people are going about this matter as they represent a confederacy that resides APC in their pockets. Now they result to pictorial intimation. We cannot be intimidated.
Reports from various voting centers confirmed that the guidelines of our party were not followed. This created an atmosphere of pressure and disenfranchisement for members who came to exercise their constitutional right.
We witnessed, firsthand, party members being pressured and sidelined by certain actors within the process. Many loyal party members who have served the APC for years were denied access or treated as inconsequential. Such conduct is alien to the culture of inclusion that our party preaches and must not be allowed to become the norm.
Voting procedures were ignored or altered in several locations. Accreditation was rushed, ballots were mishandled, and in some cases, the sequence of voting was changed without notice. These actions deprived delegates of a free and orderly process and cast doubt on the credibility of whatever figures were later announced.
The results declared bore no resemblance to the will of the people on the ground. Aspirants were denied the dignity of a fair contest, and the voices of thousands of members were silenced. These actions contradict the principles of internal democracy, justice, and equity that the APC has always claimed to uphold at the national level.
For these reasons, we cannot in good conscience accept or endorse the outcome announced. To do so would be to betray not only ourselves, but the thousands of party members who believe that every vote must count. Democracy loses meaning when the process is compromised, and we refuse to be part of endorsing injustice.
We therefore urgently call on our party leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to intervene before this anomaly escalates. If the party desires victory in Oyo State, this matter must be addressed with sincerity. Many aggrieved members are already expressing frustration and speaking of casting protest votes, which will only weaken the party in the general election. We need a candidate that can unify and stabilize the party. This will return the lost confidence.
However, we rely on President Tinubu’s eventual judgement as the end of our agitations believing that he will make the right concensus over this matter. Whoever he picks is not an imposition but evidence of conscientious concensus.
We want our supporters and the general public to know this clearly: we were not defeated, we were denied. The process did not reflect the choice of the people, and no photo opportunity on social media can confer legitimacy on an flawed exercise. We remain committed to a consensus choice that reflects the voice of the President and the collective will of our party members.
Because we believe in justice and the rule of law, we will be seeking redress through appropriate legal channels. We will ask the court to nullify this tainted process and order a fresh, credible, and transparent primary that truly reflects the voice of APC members in Oyo State. The future of our party is at stake when candidates are imposed across the board without due process.
We call on all who believe in fairness to remain calm, peaceful, and steadfast. The right thing must be done, and it must be done transparently for the good of our party and our state. Our resolve is strong, and our faith in justice, in the APC, and in the wisdom of our leaders remains unshaken.
Signed:
1. H.E. ENGR RAUF ADEREMI OLANIYAN
2. BARRISTER AKEEM AGBAJE
3. PRINCE MUSBAU ASATOLA ASANIKE
4. DR. OLOLADE USMAN BAKARE
5. ENGR. HAKEEM OYEDELE ALAO
