Ayodele Arise, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and aspirant for the Ekiti North Senatorial District ticket, has described the party’s recent primary election as a sham and called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene urgently in the resulting crisis.
In a statement issued at the weekend, Arise highlighted state governors as a major obstacle to the smooth and transparent conduct of the APC primaries. He noted that while the party claims to uphold internal democracy, powerful interests often circumvent the constitution and electoral guidelines.
The APC committee supervising the process declared sitting Senator Cyril Fasuyi as the winner of the Ekiti North ticket. However, Arise and other aspirants, including Dipo Bamisaye and Dare Owolabi, rejected the outcome, describing it as fraudulent and heavily manipulated.
Arise, who previously represented the district in the Senate between 2007 and 2011, said he contested the primary deliberately to expose irregularities. “When we talk about internal democracy, it is still a very big challenge,” he stated. He added that it would be unfortunate if leaders fail to correct such anomalies in the nation’s democratic practice.
He expressed confidence that APC national leadership has briefed President Tinubu on the issues and that corrective measures would be taken. “I believe, more than anybody else, that our President has been very proactive in terms of fixing some of these challenges,” Arise said.
He specifically pointed to the influence of governors as a persistent problem, noting that candidates not favoured by them face significant hurdles even when not directly competing against them.
The APC primaries held last month were widely reported to have been marred by controversies across several states.
Arise urged that genuine winners who emerged through credible processes should be given their mandates to strengthen the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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