Former Minister of Power and Oyo State governorship aspirant, Adebayo Adelabu, has alleged widespread irregularities and manipulation during the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election in the state.
Adelabu made the allegation on Thursday shortly after casting his vote at his polling unit, where he expressed concerns over reports of misconduct and infractions from several wards across the state.
The former minister, who recently resigned from President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet to pursue his governorship ambition, claimed that some party officials manipulated the exercise in favour of preferred candidates.
“I must sound this note of warning that it is not this way in a lot of other wards,” Adelabu said.
“Reports reaching me state that there are a lot of gross misconducts in the other wards, ranging from various forms of infractions.”
He further alleged that voting in some areas was conducted before the officially scheduled time, while results were allegedly altered.
“In some wards, they conducted the election hours before the appointed time and wrote the figures they liked,” he alleged.
Despite the complaints, Senator Sharafadeen Alli eventually emerged winner of the APC governorship primary after polling 578,143 votes to secure the party’s ticket ahead of the 2027 governorship election in Oyo State.
Adelabu came third in the contest with 19,193 votes, while Senator Abdulfatai Buhari scored 37,265 votes.
The outcome of the primary triggered celebrations among supporters of Senator Alli across parts of the state as APC intensifies preparations for the 2027 governorship election.
