…Aggrieved Ondo Aspirants Warn Against False Comparison
By Opeyemi Adelakun
Some aspirants who claimed to have emerged as winners of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Assembly primaries in Benue and Ondo states have instituted legal actions against the party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), seeking redress over the alleged substitution of their names ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The aggrieved aspirants are asking the court to determine the legality of the alleged replacement of candidates who, according to them, validly emerged from the party’s primaries.
The dispute followed the submission of the APC’s final list of National Assembly candidates to INEC after the party concluded its internal appeal process, during which 26 aspirants, including former governors and serving members of the National Assembly, were replaced across seven senatorial districts and 19 House of Representatives constituencies in Kogi, Abia, Benue, Taraba, Ondo, Niger, Kwara, Kaduna and Ebonyi states.
In Benue State, a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the APC and INEC to maintain the status quo pending the determination of a suit filed by aggrieved aspirants.
Justice I. E. Ekwo issued the order while hearing Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1429/2026. The plaintiffs are challenging what they described as the alteration of the list of candidates that emerged from the APC primaries monitored by INEC.
They urged the court to restrain the APC from making further substitutions and to direct the party to forward to INEC the names of candidates they maintained validly emerged from the primaries.
Although the court declined to grant their ex parte application, it directed all parties to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the substantive suit.
In Ondo State, some aggrieved aspirants have also approached the court to challenge what they described as the unlawful substitution of candidates after the conduct of the party’s primary elections.
The aspirants include Gbenga Elegbeleye (Ondo North Senatorial District), Dr Taiwo Fasoranti (Ondo Central Senatorial District), Leke Akingboye (Ilaje/Ese-Odo Federal Constituency), Rasaq Obe (Idanre/Ifedore Federal Constituency), Kayode Ijalana (Owo/Ose Federal Constituency), Oyerinmade Matthew (Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo/Odigbo Federal Constituency) and Olumuyiwa Daramola (Okitipupa/Irele Federal Constituency).
Some of the aggrieved Ondo aspirants, who spoke with StarnewsNG on Saturday, described their experience as “daylight robbery” and cautioned against what they termed attempts to compare their case with the legal dispute involving Senator Jimoh Ibrahim and Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
According to them, the two cases are fundamentally different.
“Our case is different from that of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa vs Senator Jimoh Ibrahim. We were chosen by the leadership of the party in Ondo State as consensus candidates, but all the rival aspirants rejected our nomination, which led the national leaders of the party to conduct primaries. In those primaries, we emerged victorious and were declared winners of the election monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“Instead of going to court to challenge our victories, should they have proof of fraud and electoral malfeasance against the process that produced us as winners, the serving lawmakers and others who gallantly lost at the free and fair primaries went to Abuja to ambush us and used backdoor tactics to replace our names. This was nothing short of daylight robbery. This situation is not comparable to the case of Jimoh Ibrahim vs Governor Aiyedatiwa.
“In the case of Governor Aiyedatiwa vs Jimoh, the Ondo South Senator lost the election fairly but was dissatisfied with the process that produced the Governor as the winner of the primaries. He went to court to challenge that process, never attempting to ambush the electoral mandate of the Governor or to replace him on the ballot. Instead, he sought redress through the court, which is the proper course of action as allowed by both the APC and the Nigerian Constitution. Those who are comparing the two cases are doing so mischievously, using false narratives to misinform the unsuspecting public.”
The APC, however, appealed to aggrieved aspirants to embrace the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanism rather than resort to prolonged litigation.
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka, said the APC had activated its internal conflict resolution process and was making progress in addressing the concerns of dissatisfied aspirants.
“The party’s internal conflict resolution mechanism is being deployed and we are making tremendous progress,” Morka said.
Leave a Reply