From Taiye Joseph, Ilorin
Some stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State, have appealed to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, to intervene in the controversy surrounding the party’s candidate for the Ekiti/Irepodun/Isin/Oke-Ero Federal Constituency ahead of the 2027 general elections, as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) insists it will only accept candidates whose names tally with results from primaries monitored by the commission.
The stakeholders alleged that the candidate announced by the APC did not emerge victorious in the party’s House of Representatives primary held on May 16, 2026, and urged the governor to facilitate a review of the outcome in the interest of justice, fairness and internal democracy.
Their appeal comes amid a fresh warning from INEC that it will reject the nomination of any candidate submitted by political parties if such names differ from the authentic results uploaded by the commission after monitoring party primaries.
In an open letter addressed to Governor AbdulRazaq, the APC leaders argued that the emergence of the party’s candidate contradicted the results of the primary election and further entrenched what they described as decades of political imbalance within the federal constituency.
Related News
The petition was jointly signed by APC Chairman in Ekiti Local Government, Elder Ajibola Ayoola; APC Chairman in Oke-Ero Local Government, Hon. James Kayode Bamidele; Chairman of Ekiti Local Government Council, Hon. Awelewa Olawale; APC leader in Oke-Ero, Barrister Kayode Towoju; and APC chieftain, Sir O.J. Adeseko.
According to the petitioners, the official result of the primary election showed that Abolarin Ganiyu secured 17,128 votes, while the incumbent member representing the constituency, Hon. Raheem Tunji Olawuyi, popularly known as Ajuloopin, polled 2,978 votes.
The stakeholders expressed surprise that Olawuyi was subsequently announced as the APC candidate despite what they claimed was his sixth-place finish in the primary.
“It is therefore ironical that the person who scored the lowest votes and came sixth during the primary is now the acclaimed winner,” the petition stated.
The group further argued that since the return of democracy in 1999, the House of Representatives seat for the constituency has consistently been occupied by politicians from the Igbomina axis of Irepodun and Isin Local Government Areas.
According to them, former lawmakers including Bashir Bola Oni, Peter Gbenga Makanjuola, Akeem Olayinka Hakeem, the late Olufunke Adedoyin and the incumbent, Raheem Olawuyi, all hailed from either Irepodun or Isin Local Government Areas.
“It is sad that no individual from either Ekiti or Oke-Ero Local Government Areas has ever represented the federal constituency despite the fact that the two councils account for 20 of the 42 wards,” the petitioners said.
They therefore urged Governor AbdulRazaq to engage the national leadership of the APC to recognise Abolarin Ganiyu as the authentic winner of the primary election.
The stakeholders also warned that allowing the present decision to stand would result in Irepodun Local Government producing both the APC House of Representatives candidate and the council chairman, a situation they said would further weaken equitable political representation within the constituency.
Meanwhile, INEC has maintained that only candidates who emerged from primaries monitored by the commission and whose names correspond with its uploaded records will be accepted during the nomination process.
Speaking on the development, INEC National Commissioner, Mohammed Kudu Haruna disclosed that the commission had already uploaded the results of all monitored party primaries into its electronic nomination portal.
According to him, political parties cannot successfully substitute candidates whose names differ from the results captured by INEC officials.
“So at our own end, there are two stages. There is the upload stage, our own staff who went to monitor, working of course with ICT, will upload the results of the primaries they went to monitor,” Haruna said.
He explained that after political parties obtain Form EC9 and commence the submission of candidates’ particulars, the commission’s portal automatically compares the submitted names with the uploaded primary results.
“Now, we call it submission. When they come to submit, if it is different from what we uploaded, because in uploading we work hand in glove with them, if it is different it won’t even go,” he stated.
Haruna added that the electronic safeguard was introduced following disputes over candidate substitutions that characterised previous election cycles and eventually ended in prolonged litigation.
“To safeguard ourselves against those, once we upload what we have uploaded, working hand in hand with parties, if in making their submission they now put a different name, it will automatically be blocked,” he said.
He further stressed that only names corresponding with the results uploaded by the commission would eventually be accepted.
“It will only come in if it tallies with what we have at our own end, which we had uploaded in agreement with them,” Haruna added.
The commission’s position has heightened attention on ongoing controversies arising from the APC’s review of its National Assembly primary elections across several states, including Kwara, where some stakeholders continue to challenge the outcome of the party’s candidate selection ahead of the 2027 general elections.
