Chieftain of All Progressives Congress Party, and 2027 Oyo State gubernatorial aspirant, Barr. Akeem Adedeji Agbaje, has queried the legitimacy of the Samonda endorsement gathering wherein a gubernatorial Aspirant’s hand was raised by the duo of leadership usurpers, in persons of Sen Adeseun and Alh. Fatai Ibikunle, describing the laughable exercise as fraudulent and manipulative.
Speaking on Fresh FM’s Political Circuit, Agbaje tore into the scheme, calling it “comical,” “shenanigans,” and a desperate playbook that will never succeed.
The secret gathering in question, widely condemned, saw a select group within the All Progressives Congress Party in Oyo State, purportedly adopting Sen. Sarafadeen Alli as the party’s gubernatorial candidate, a move that was hatched outside the state, primed to be stage-managed without the knowledge or consent of majority of leaders and party members, but a few party stakeholders lured to the venue, can never pass due process integrity test .
”The state chairman wasn’t there. The secretary wasn’t there. The state recognised Exco totally ignored. And some of the leaders were deceived into coming, they didn’t know what they were walking into. You could see it in their body language.”
Barr Akeem Agbaje was categorical: there is no valid consensus without the agreement of all aspirants and stakeholders, as required under Nigerian electoral law. “The party national chairman stated clearly on national TV, consensus requires that all aspirants must consent. That has not happened. What took place at Samonda was not a process. It was a joke.”
Barr Akeem Agbaje stressed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is an astute politician, principled leader, and due process adherent; one who, when he takes a position, communicates it directly and openly to all aspirants and those concerned. It was that same principled resolve that made him to insist on a party primary, which he contested and won squarely on his own merit in the last presidential election.
“President Tinubu fought against these exact kinds of shenanigans, and will never be a party to them. Anyone hiding behind his name to manipulate this process is not only lying, they are insulting the very man they claim to represent.”
The legal Luminary also challenged the moral standing of those behind the plot, describing them as political nomads with a long trail of party-hopping. They’ve moved through four or five parties, as such these toxic tendencies remain their trade mark.
The governorship hopeful used the platform to underscore his own commitment to the party’s rank and file, noting that in the past five years, he has funded welfare packages to APC leaders and party faithfuls across all the 351 wards of Oyo State from his personal resources, not from government funds, during every festive period.
”No one does that and gets told their opinion is inconsequential. We are steadfast. We are resolute. And this playbook, it will never work.”
The events at Samonda serve as a grave warning to the APC leadership: shortcuts and backdoor impositions have consequences. The party’s painful losses in the 2019 and 2023 gubernatorial elections are not suffered by the power brokers engineering these schemes, they were borne by the ordinary APC faithful who campaigned, voted, and went home defeated.
Another manipulated process risks history repeating itself, and it is those same loyalists who will pay the price once again. Due process is not a formality, it is the only path to a candidate with genuine grassroots legitimacy and a fighting chance at the polls.
