Ololade Usman Bakare, Senator Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli, Chief Adebayo Adelabu and eight other All Progressives Congress, APC gubernatorial aspirants have been cleared by the Screening Committee of the party.
The eleven gubernatorial aspirants will lock on horns on Thursday, May 21, to battle for the gubernatorial ticket of the APC ahead of 2027 general elections.
The national leadership of the party affirmed that none of the gubernatorial aspirant was disqualified to participate in the primaries.
The clarification followed widespread speculation that one of the aspirants was disqualified from the contest.
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Speaking with journalists at the APC Secretariat in Oke-Ado, Ibadan, on Thursday, the Chairman of the APC House of Assembly/Governorship Primaries Election Committee in Oyo State, Taofeek Olawale Abdulsalam, dismissed the rumours, stating that all aspirants who purchased and submitted the party’s nomination and expression of interest forms had been cleared to contest.
Abdulsalam, a former Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, assured party members of a peaceful and rancour-free primary election.
“We have been here since yesterday, and we are satisfied with what we have seen so far. Tomorrow will be a better day for APC members in Oyo State,” he said.
He added that the committee would only collate and forward the results of the primary election to the party’s national headquarters for official announcement.
“We have no power to announce the results. At the end of the primaries, our responsibility is to forward the results to the national headquarters of the party for announcement,” Abdulsalam stated.
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He also noted that the Monitoring Committee would ensure transparency and fairness during the exercise.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the APC Primaries Election Monitoring Committee in the state, Ayo Afolabi, assured party members of adequate monitoring and a credible electoral process during the primaries.
