A governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Abimbola Olawunmi, has threatened to leave the ruling party over unfair treatment and manipulation of the primaries of the party’s governorship primary election.
Her reaction followed the party’s recent decision to affirm Oyebanji as its consensus candidate earlier this week, after other aspirants, including Olawunmi and Kayode Ojo, were disqualified by the National Working Committee (NWC).
The committee claimed that the affected aspirants failed to meet certain party requirements, but the development sparked outrage among party members who described the process as unfair and pre-arranged to favour the governor.
Reports also indicated that some aspirants’ supporters were allegedly intimidated ahead of the primaries, further deepening suspicion of internal manipulation.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Wednesday, Olawunmi said the process of choosing the APC candidate was manipulated in favour of the governor even before other aspirants bought their forms.
“The National Working Committee, NWC, led by Professor Nentawe, has been trying to intimidate other aspirants by disqualifying them unjustly. We were asked to buy forms even when the National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Bashiru, was already going around the country telling people that the consensus candidate was Oyebanji,” she said.
She questioned the rationale behind selling forms when the party had already decided on a candidate saying it was deceitful for the APC leadership to collect money from aspirants knowing that the ticket had already been reserved for one person.
Olawunmi narrated that after purchasing the form and attending the screening on September 24 in Katampe, Abuja, she was informed that a petition had been filed against her, alleging that her nominators were not party members and that she failed to meet the party’s financial obligations.
She expressed shock that the result of the screening was never officially communicated to her. According to her, she only found out about her disqualification through social media.
“We just woke up one night and saw the result of the screening committee all over social media,” she said.
She added that she wrote several letters to the APC national chairman, the NWC, the president, and the First Lady to appeal her case, but none of them replied. She described the silence from the party as “a deliberate act to frustrate” her ambition.
“They violated my rights as a Nigerian citizen and as a member of the party. I’m already taking them to court to prove that they don’t have the right to disqualify me unjustly without a fair hearing,” she declared.
Despite her grievances, he noted that she remained a loyal member of the APC for now but might reconsider her position depending on the court’s decision. She said that if the judgment went against her and the party still refused to act fairly, she would have to “take a decision” on her membership.
“If the constituted authority is being unfair to members of the party, as a Nigerian citizen who knows her rights, I can go to any length to challenge them. I cannot be intimidated,” she said.
She further claimed that Ekiti residents were dissatisfied with the current administration and would reject the governor at the polls. According to her, the people had “already made up their minds not to support Oyebanji in the forthcoming election.”
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