A governorship aspirant on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Oyo State, Chief Luqman Oyebisi Ilaka, has raised concerns over alleged manipulation of results in the party’s gubernatorial primary election held on May 22, 2026.
Ilaka, in a statement issued and made available to newsmen on Sunday, alleged that some of the result sheets used in declaring the outcome of the exercise were not authentic and were never subjected to verification by the affected local government structures of the party.
According to him, result sheets from 20 out of the 33 local government areas in the state were officially released to the party’s Chairman-elect, Mr. Afees Adelowo, after the conduct of the primary election.
He explained that the Chairman-elect subsequently distributed the result sheets to local governments in Oke Ogun, Ogbomoso, Oyo, and Ibarapa Central, where the results were properly collated and authenticated.
However, Ilaka alleged that the remaining 13 result sheets were handed over to unknown individuals and never reached the appropriate party structures in Ibadan, Ibarapa East, and Ibarapa North local government areas.
“As a result, the entries contained in the 13 disputed result sheets are being challenged because they were never delivered to the relevant local governments for verification or authentication. Instead, they appear to have been manufactured for the purpose of electoral fraud,” he stated.
The former chief of staff maintained that party officers, agents, and Local Government Chairmen-elect in the affected councils were ready to testify and produce what he described as the authentic results collated at both ward and local government levels.
Describing the situation as a “travesty,” Ilaka insisted that the alleged irregularities should not be allowed to stand.
He further claimed that based on verified results available to him, he won 28 out of the 29 local governments where authentic results existed, with a margin of about 14,000 votes.
Ilaka also argued that the total number of registered party members in the four local governments where alternate results were unavailable was less than 4,000, making it impossible to overturn his lead.
The ADC chieftain warned that the controversy surrounding the primary election could worsen internal divisions within the party at a time when members should focus on unity and preparations for the general election.
“Our party already faces significant challenges, and our collective focus should be on building unity and preparing to win the general election, not undermining the democratic process through manipulated results,” he said.