A governorship aspirant of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Oyo State, Gbemileke Alagbe, has alleged a plot by some leaders of the party to replace his name with that of another aspirant despite his emergence as the winner of the party’s governorship primary.
Alagbe made the allegation on Friday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he challenged the circumstances surrounding the emergence of another candidate on the party’s ticket.
He claimed that he secured more than 15,000 votes in the primary, describing the exercise as transparent and peaceful.
Alagbe noted that the primary was conducted in the presence of observers as well as personnel of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
“The process was so transparent, to the extent that there was no single case of violence reported across the ground up into one ward of the state,” he said.
Alagbe alleged that his name was subsequently replaced through what he described as a collusion involving some party leaders, saying the development was contrary to the provisions of Sections 84 and 29 of the Electoral Act, 2022.
He also questioned the neutrality of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), alleging that there had been attempts to alter the name submitted as the party’s candidate.
“We believe that INEC, as an umpire, is supposed to be neutral, supposed to stand above vote, not to be involved in some compromise that we have seen,” he said.
The ADC aspirant specifically accused the party’s National Secretary of backing another aspirant, Olooye Adegboyega Taofeek Adegoke, alleging that he was being imposed on the party in Oyo State
Alagbe argued that every member of the party had the right to contest, maintaining that “the time of imposition has long gone” and that the electorate should determine who emerges as the candidate.
He further questioned why an aspirant who, according to him, came fourth in the primary should be presented as the party’s candidate.
“We don’t understand the logic why somebody who came fourth in the primaries will be imposed on the party.”
Alagbe also alleged that there had been several attempts to remove his name from the party’s submission to INEC, claiming that he expected the electoral body to rely on the primary it monitored.
“If Section 84 mandates you to monitor your primaries, and you did monitor your primaries, and you did issue a certified copy of the report of your primaries, we don’t believe that INEC should be able to go ahead and reproduce by publishing the name of somebody who never emerged as a candidate,” he remarked.
He called for an investigation into what he described as collusion between some officials of INEC and national leaders of the ADC.
“I think those two heads within INEC and ADC should be fished out by the security agencies,” Alagbe stated, insisting that the democratic process must be protected.
He also disputed the legitimacy of the primary result announced by another official, saying the result did not reflect the actual outcome of the election.
According to him, the result announced gave Adegoke 16,051 votes, while he was said to have scored 11,415 votes.
Alagbe rejected the figures, alleging that the result was prepared without properly engaging stakeholders before the primary.
“That is the result that they wrote in their rooms,” he alleged.
He further argued that the committee that conducted the primary was not properly constituted, insisting that the National Organising Secretary of the party was responsible for conducting the exercise under the party’s constitution.
Alagbe maintained that he participated in what he considered the legitimate primary and emerged victorious, stressing that his challenge was aimed at ensuring that due process was followed within the party.
He added that he would continue to pursue the matter through the appropriate channels while expressing confidence in his ability to win the 2027 governorship election if recognised as the ADC candidate.
