The battle for the 2027 governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State has intensified, with Abayomi Semako Hunye rejecting the party’s recognition of Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola as its candidate.
The dispute took a fresh turn on August 22, when Hunye, a former commissioner and immediate past Managing Director of the Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA), unveiled Abayomi Odunowo as his running mate.
Hunye’s announcement came despite the APC’s earlier endorsement of Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, as its consensus governorship candidate.
Governor Dapo Abiodun had announced Adeola’s emergence during an APC strategic caucus meeting on April 13 attended by former governors Olusegun Osoba, Ibikunle Amosun and Gbenga Daniel, as well as other governorship aspirants.
Hunye, who is of Yewa extraction like Adeola, was absent from the meeting.
Two weeks after the endorsement, however, Hunye obtained the APC governorship nomination form through a third party in Abuja and proceeded with his challenge.
At the party’s governorship primary in May, the chairman of the electoral committee, Wale Ohu, declared Adeola winner with 304,055 votes out of 305,287 accredited voters. Hunye was recorded as having scored zero votes.
Adeola subsequently thanked Osoba and Abiodun for their roles in his emergence and pledged to build on the achievements of the current administration.
The APC later announced Kudirat Adegunwa-Balogun as Adeola’s running mate.
Hunye Rejects Primary Result
Hunye’s campaign organisation rejected the result, alleging that it did not reflect the votes recorded by its agents across the state.
According to the campaign, its own collation showed Hunye receiving 453,765 votes, compared with the 304,055 announced for Adeola.
The group consequently challenged the primary in court, alleging irregularities and disenfranchisement of its supporters.
Despite the legal action, Hunye has continued to participate in political activities associated with the governorship race, arguing that doing so is necessary while his case remains before the court.
He has maintained that the emergence of the APC candidate cannot be considered finally settled until the judicial process is concluded.
APC Insists Adeola Is Its Candidate
The Ogun State APC, however, has rejected Hunye’s position.
State chairman Yemi Sanusi said Adeola remained the party’s duly recognised governorship candidate and that his name, alongside that of his running mate, had been submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The party urged members of the public to disregard claims suggesting that Hunye was the APC candidate.
Hunye responded that he had never declared himself the APC’s officially recognised candidate. Rather, he said he was defending his interest in court and believed the matter should be allowed to run its legal course.
He also accused party leaders of attempting to pressure him into abandoning his case.
APC Says Hunye Is Suspended
The dispute escalated further when APC National Secretary Ajibola Basiru described Hunye as an impostor and said he had been suspended from the party.
Basiru said the suspension took effect on April 7, 2026, following allegations of activities considered injurious to the party, anti-party conduct and actions capable of causing division among members.
According to him, the suspension originated from a petition by Hunye’s ward in Ipokia Local Government Area and was subsequently ratified by the relevant party structures.
Hunye disputed the claim, saying he had never received any formal notification of suspension.
He also questioned how the APC could have sold him a governorship nomination form, screened and cleared him as an aspirant if he had already been suspended.
Hunye said he was assigned an aspirant number during the screening exercise and participated in the governorship primary, making the zero votes recorded against his name one of the key issues in his court challenge.
He has also raised questions concerning Adeola’s political history and information contained in the senator’s electoral forms, which he said are among the issues before the court.
Despite the dispute, Hunye said he would accept the outcome if the court ruled against him, adding that he would support Adeola if the judgment went in his favour.
APC Petitions Police Against Hunye
The crisis took another turn when the APC petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, asking for the investigation, arrest and prosecution of Hunye.
In its August 24 petition, the party accused Hunye of impersonating its governorship candidate and allegedly presenting himself to the public as the APC candidate for the 2027 election.
The party argued that Adeola remained its authentic candidate following the governorship primary and urged the police to intervene to prevent what it described as a possible breakdown of law and order.
The APC requested that Hunye be questioned and, if found culpable, prosecuted for alleged impersonation, conduct likely to cause a breach of peace and violation of electoral laws.
Hunye, however, continues to insist that the governorship dispute remains before the courts.
The conflicting positions have turned the Ogun APC governorship contest into a major intra-party battle ahead of the 2027 election, with the party leadership backing Adeola while Hunye maintains that his legal challenge is still alive.
The final determination of who will fly the APC flag in the Ogun governorship election now remains closely tied to the outcome of the ongoing legal proceedings.
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