Tensions have reached boiling point within Oyo State’s All Progressives Congress as party members accuse Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu of orchestrating a scheme to impose former Accord Party member Wale Murphy as the party’s candidate for the Ibadan North Federal Constituency bye-election.
The controversy centers on Sunday’s scheduled primary election, with multiple sources alleging that Adelabu has collaborated with the APC Delegate Congress Committee to subvert democratic processes. Party insiders claim the Minister is pushing for Murphy’s candidacy despite his recent defection from the opposition Accord Party, a move that has angered longstanding APC members.
This comes after the APC National Secretariat controversially overturned the state chapter’s consensus decision to use direct primaries, instead imposing an indirect primary system. “This is a blatant abuse of internal party processes,” a senior party figure told our correspondent anonymously. “There are credible reports of significant sums exchanged between Chief Adelabu and members of the Delegate Committee.”
Multiple eyewitnesses report that both the Delegate Congress Committee led by Dr. Galadima and the Delegate Congress Appeal Committee have been operating from Josephine Hotel in Ikolaba, Ibadan – allegedly at Adelabu’s direction. Party members insist these meetings were used to pre-select delegates favorable to Murphy’s candidacy.
The crisis escalated Saturday when the Congress Committee abruptly canceled the scheduled delegate congress during a closed-door meeting with state executives and aspirants at the APC Oke-Ado Secretariat. Shockingly, officials announced they would instead use a mysterious pre-approved delegate list for Sunday’s primary – directly contradicting the APC National Secretariat’s published timetable.
“This is a calculated effort to impose Wale Murphy against the will of the party base in Ibadan North,” our anonymous source continued. Many aspirants have denounced the process as “rigged from the start,” warning it could fracture the party and damage its bye-election prospects.
Concerned stakeholders are now appealing to President Bola Tinubu for urgent intervention. “We need a level playing field where delegates are chosen according to established guidelines, not a pre-arranged coronation orchestrated from a hotel room,” the party chieftain emphasized.
With hours remaining before the contentious primary, the Oyo APC finds itself at a crossroads – torn between democratic ideals and alleged imposition from powerful interests. The outcome may well determine the party’s unity and electoral fortunes in the crucial upcoming bye-election.