Insists August 3 Primary Results Were Ignored, Says Dispute Is Before Court
Controversy has trailed the list of chairmanship and councillorship candidates released by the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) ahead of the forthcoming local government election, as the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM) candidates across the state’s 33 local government areas have rejected the published lists.
The candidates, who accused the electoral commission of disregarding the party’s authentic primary election results, maintained that the names released by OYSIEC did not reflect the candidates who emerged from the party’s primary elections conducted on August 3, 2026.
The party’s position was contained in a statement signed on behalf of all its chairmanship and councillorship candidates by Hon. Pastor Ojetunde Oluwole Sunday JP, the APM chairmanship candidate in Oriire Local Government Area.
APM stressed that the disagreement was not peculiar to Oriire Local Government but extended across all the 33 local government areas of Oyo State, alleging that the names published by OYSIEC were neither its original candidates nor registered members of the party.
The party cited the August 3, 2026 chairmanship primary election in Oriire as a specific instance, insisting that the candidates who emerged from the exercise remained its authentic consensus candidates.
According to the statement, the primary election was monitored by officials of OYSIEC, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), alongside the party’s Returning Officer, Areo Babatunde, who allegedly appended his signature to the original result sheet.
APM, however, expressed displeasure that the commission subsequently released a list containing different names for its chairmanship and councillorship positions across the 33 local government areas.
The party further disclosed that it had instituted legal proceedings before the Oyo State High Court, Ibadan, challenging what it described as the commission’s alleged double standard in handling the matter.
Acknowledging that the dispute was already before the court, the candidates said they would refrain from making further comments on the substantive issues to avoid prejudicing the judicial process.
They, however, urged OYSIEC to respect the rule of law and refrain from taking any action capable of undermining or rendering the pending court proceedings nugatory.
Reaffirming their position, the candidates insisted that the results of the August 3 primary elections constituted the authentic basis for determining the party’s candidates for the forthcoming local government election.
The statement further disclosed that the alleged original result sheet had been attached to the press release as documentary evidence in support of the party’s claims.
APM consequently appealed to its members, supporters, women, youths and other stakeholders across the state to remain calm, peaceful and law-abiding while awaiting the court’s determination of the dispute.
The candidates also reiterated their commitment to pursuing the matter through lawful means, expressing confidence that the judiciary would resolve the controversy surrounding the party’s candidate lists.