The Concerned stakeholders and aspirants in the Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have raised alarm that the party risks going into the 2027 governorship election without a candidate if aggrieved aspirants challenge an imposed consensus candidate in court.
The group warned against forcing aspirants to adopt a consensus arrangement for the 2027 election.
The warning is coming against the backdrop of a meeting in Abuja on May 8, 2026 called by the leadership of the party with some governorship aspirants from the state in attendance.
A statement by the Chairman of the Oyo APC Concerned Stakeholders, Dr. Bamidele Atiba, urged the state APC chairman, Chief Moses Alake Adeyemo, to avoid actions that could deepen divisions and jeopardise the party’s chances in the forthcoming poll.
Atiba said the Electoral Act and party guidelines provide for direct primaries where consensus fails.
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He noted that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has also backed the use of direct primaries in such situations.
Describing the recent meeting called by the state chairman in Abuja as “a show of shame,” Atiba said the group still respects Adeyemo but would not accept any move to undermine direct primaries, adding that not event up to 1% of all the 2027 aspirants were invited for the meeting.
He maintained that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was not aware of the “sponsored meeting”, saying the wish of the masses must prevail above personal interest of anyone.
He added that stakeholders would attend the meeting scheduled for tomorrow but would reject any attempt to push consensus.
“We will attend tomorrow’s meeting called by the chairman, but he should never talk about adoption of consensus. We will vehemently reject any attempt to truncate direct primaries in picking the party’s governorship candidate,” Atiba said.
He however said that forcing all 2027 aspirants into a consensus arrangement would be rejected at the meeting, stressing that the group stood for direct primaries and internal democracy within the party.
