One of the governorship aspirants under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, Barr Akeem Adedeji Agbaje, has fired back at the organisers of the controversial Samonda Unity Forum leadership summit, condemning what he described as an alleged fraudulent and manipulative attempt to foist a preferred candidate on the All Progressives Congress in Oyo State.
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 Unity Forum summit, which has drawn widespread condemnation, saw a selected group purportedly adopt Sen. Sarafadeen Alli as the party’s gubernatorial candidate — a move Agbaje said was stage-managed without the knowledge or consent of key party officials present at the venue.
“The state chairman was not there. The secretary was not there. 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,” Agbaje said.
The legal practitioner was categorical: there is no valid consensus without the agreement of all aspirants and stakeholders, as required under the Electoral Act.
“Our great party’s 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,” he stated.
Agbaje stressed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a principled leader who, when he has a position, communicates it directly and openly to all aspirants and those concerned. “It was that same principled resolve that drove him to insist on a party primary, which he contested and won squarely on his own merit. President Tinubu fought against these exact kinds of shenanigans, and would 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,” he said.
The governorship hopeful also questioned the moral standing of those behind the scheme, describing them as political nomads with a history of party-hopping. “They’ve moved through four or five parties. These tendencies are not new to them,” he noted.
Agbaje used the platform to underscore his own commitment to the party’s rank and file, noting that for five years he has funded welfare packages to APC faithful across all 351 wards in Oyo State from his personal resources, not 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,” he declared.
He warned that the events at Samonda should 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 were 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.”
