Oyo ADC Guber Aspirant Ilaka Rejects Primary Results, Alleges Irregularities

A governorship aspirant of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Oyo State, Chief Adebisi Ilaka, has rejected the outcome of the party’s governorship primary election held on May 22, 2026, alleging widespread irregularities and manipulation of results across 13 local government areas.

Ilaka, who came second in the exercise, made the allegations on Sunday during a press conference in Ibadan, describing the primary as a “travesty” and a “complete assault on internal democracy” within the party.

The former Chief of Staff to Governor Seyi Makinde alleged that while result sheets for 20 out of the 33 local government areas in the state were properly distributed, 13 others were diverted and handed to “persons unknown,” which he said led to the emergence of “fabricated figures.”

According to him, the 20 result sheets were released to the party chairman-elect, Mr Afees Adelowo, who distributed them to local governments in Oke-Ogun, Ogbomoso, Oyo and Ibarapa Central.

He, however, alleged that the remaining result sheets never reached local government areas in Ibadan, Ibarapa East and Ibarapa North, where he claimed authentic voting and collation had already taken place at ward and local government levels.

“For the governorship primaries of our party in Oyo State held on May 22, result sheets for 20 local governments were released to the party chairman-elect, Mr Afees Adelowo, who distributed them accordingly,” Ilaka said.

“The remaining result sheets were given to persons unknown. These sheets never got to all the local governments in Ibadan, Ibarapa East and Ibarapa North. The results entered into those sheets are disputed because they never got to the local governments where the authentic results were domiciled. They were simply manufactured for the purpose of electoral fraud,” he added.

Ilaka alleged that party officers, agents and local government chairmen-elect in the affected councils were ready to testify that the announced results did not reflect the actual outcome of the exercise conducted at grassroots level.

“In each of the local governments where the results are disputed, party officers, agents and local government chairman-elects are ready to testify and produce the real results collated at ward and local government levels,” he said.

The ADC chieftain further claimed that he won 28 out of the 29 local government areas where authentic results were available, insisting he had a lead of about 14,000 votes before the disputed figures were introduced.

“I know for a fact that out of the 29 local governments that we can ascertain their results as authentic and true, I won 28 of them.

“The outstanding local governments where we have no verified records have a combined registered membership of less than 4,000, while I already have an unassailable lead of about 14,000 votes,” he added.

Ilaka said he had begun the process of challenging the outcome before the party’s appeal committee, insisting that the disputed result sheets must be reviewed.

“We are sending a petition to the appeals tribunal. We are not crying foul because we lost. If we lost fair and square, fine, but not in this manner,” he said.

He warned that failure by the party leadership to address grievances arising from the primary could deepen internal divisions within the ADC ahead of the 2027 governorship election.

“If the party is serious about winning elections, it must ensure that internal democracy is protected. You cannot disenfranchise those who built the party and expect unity,” he added.

Ilaka said he would decide on his next step if the appeal fails, noting that “all conduct, whether good or bad, has consequences.”