IBADAN, NIGERIA — Senator Sharafadeen Alli, the lawmaker representing Oyo South Senatorial District, has clinched the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship ticket in Oyo State following a landslide victory at the party's primary election.
Senator Alli secured a staggering 578,143 votes to secure the ticket, comfortably defeating his closest rival, the former Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, who polled 19,193 votes. A third contender in the race finished a distant trailing position.
Chief Adelabu had notably resigned his ministerial appointment from the federal cabinet to focus entirely on his bid to govern Oyo State under the APC banner.
Adelabu Rejects Results, Cites Gross Infractions
The outcome of the primary has, however, been hit by controversy. Speaking to journalists on Thursday shortly after casting his ballot at his local ward, the former minister openly condemned the handling of the process, alleging that the figures were heavily manipulated.
"I must sound this note of warning that it is not this way in a lot of other wards," Adelabu stated. "Reports reaching me state that there are a lot of gross misconducts in the other wards, ranging from various forms of infractions."
The former minister further alleged that the democratic process was bypassed entirely in several areas across the state to favor a pre-determined outcome.
"In some wards, they conducted the election hours before the appointed time and wrote the figures they liked," Adelabu added.
Rising Internal Tension
Despite Adelabu's formal objections and warnings over the integrity of the exercise, the party leadership went ahead to affirm Senator Alli's victory based on the final returns from the ward delegates.
The heavy margin between the two main contenders is expected to spark a fresh round of internal reconciliation efforts within the Oyo State APC chapter, as political stakeholders warn that a divided house could hurt the party's chances in the general election.
