Dare Babalola
Fresh controversy has emerged within the Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) following the rejection of the party’s senatorial primary result by the lawmaker representing Osun Central Senatorial District, Senator Olubiyi Fadeyi.
Fadeyi, who contested for the APC ticket ahead of the 2027 general election, faulted the conduct of the exercise and insisted that the process did not reflect a genuine democratic primary.
The senator made his position known in a statement released on Tuesday in Osogbo, where he alleged that the outcome announced by the party lacked credibility.
The APC primary election committee for National Assembly polls in Osun had earlier declared legal practitioner Adekunle Adegoke winner of the contest.
Chairman of the committee, Bayo Ayo, announced that Adegoke secured 26,655 votes to clinch the ticket, while Fadeyi polled 13,138 votes. Other aspirants in the race included Yomi Ogunwale, who recorded 2,925 votes, Akintunde Adegboye with 342 votes, and Olu Fakeye, who scored 67 votes.
However, rejecting the figures announced by the committee, Fadeyi maintained that no authentic primary election was held across the district’s wards on the scheduled date.
According to him, the process was manipulated to favour a predetermined outcome, alleging that the final figures credited to candidates were compiled outside any recognised collation system.
The senator claimed that instead of results being collated transparently from the wards, figures were allegedly produced privately at a hotel facility in Osogbo.
Fadeyi further stated that discussions among party stakeholders before the primary had pointed towards a consensus arrangement for the Osun Central ticket, adding that the understanding was eventually abandoned.
While urging his supporters and party loyalists to remain peaceful, the lawmaker said steps were already being taken through internal party mechanisms to challenge the outcome.
He assured members of the district that he would pursue what he described as the recovery of his mandate through lawful and constitutional means.
The senator also appealed to leaders of the APC in Osun State to intervene in the dispute in order to protect unity within the party.
Fadeyi joined the APC in 2025 alongside four other federal lawmakers who were originally elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party. The defectors had attributed their exit from the PDP to unresolved internal crises within the opposition party.
