Former Osun State governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, has dismissed allegations that he played a role in the disqualification of several governorship aspirants ahead of the All Progressives Congress, APC, primary election in the state.
The controversy followed the decision of the APC Screening Committee, which on Friday barred Senator Iyiola Omisore and six others from participating in the December 13 primary over alleged inconsistencies and gaps in their nomination documents.
Those disqualified include former deputy governor Benedict Alabi; former presidential aide Babajide Omoworare; Senior Advocate of Nigeria Kunle Adegoke; businessman Dotun Babayemi; insurance expert Akin Ogunbiyi; and Babatunde Oralusi.
Omisore, a former APC National Secretary, rejected the panel’s report, which he described as “the joke of the year.”
Speaking after appearing before the Screening Appeal Panel in Abuja on Saturday, he accused Oyetola of influencing the process in favour of Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, one of the two aspirants cleared to contest.
According to Omisore, the screening chairman allegedly claimed he was pressured by Oyetola to disqualify the affected aspirants.
However, in a statement on Sunday, Dr. Bolaji Akinola, Special Adviser on Media to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, described the allegations as “baseless, misleading and totally false.”
Akinola said Oyetola had no involvement—direct or indirect—in the decisions of either the Screening Committee or the Screening Appeal Panel, both of which he noted are “independent organs of the party fully empowered by the APC Constitution.”
“Oyetola did not, and could not have interfered in the screening exercise or in the affairs of the screening bodies,” he said, adding that the former governor has always prioritised fairness, transparency and due process.
He urged aggrieved aspirants to follow the party’s internal dispute-resolution mechanisms and maintained that Oyetola remains committed to the unity of the APC in Osun State and the overall welfare of residents.
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