Adebayo Adelabu, one of the aspirants for the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket in Oyo State, has alleged irregularities in the party’s governorship primary election held on Thursday.

Adelabu, who expressed dissatisfaction over the conduct of the exercise, stated that the primary was characterized by misconduct ranging from disenfranchisement of his supporters in some wards and the commencement of election process earlier than scheduled.

Speaking after the conclusion of the primary election at IMG School, Ward 9, Ibadan South-East Local Government Area, the immediate past Minister of Power alleged that the process was neither free, fair nor credible.

He said: “Before our people started getting to their various wards, they have already conducted the election and they wrote the figures they want as results.

“In some wards, our people were prevented from voting. They were intimidated. They were chased away violently. And in some wards, voting did not take place at all.

“All this kind of misconduct is not good at this stage of our democracy in Nigeria, and something has to be done about it.”

Adelabu, therefore, vowed to come up with serious petitions against all the irregularities not just in Ibadan, but across all the five geopolitical zones in Oyo State.

“Also, conduct of many party executives is uncalled for, a lot of people bought forms and they were cleared. And they decided to conduct affirmation of a particular candidate in some wards.

“There was nothing like consensus arrangement. It was just a figment of their weird imagination. The instruction we got from Abuja was that we should all carry out free, fair, and transparent direct primary election where every aspirant will be given a level playing ground and the election will be conducted peacefully.

“Where did they get the idea of consensus candidates? And this is what happened in a lot of the wards. And it didn’t go down well with us. “We don’t want that. We are going to assess the gravity of this gross misconduct and the potential impact on the overall result of this election.

“I will put a petition forward to the appropriate authorities so that it can be deeply investigated and there must be consequences to this. The people who perpetrated this misconduct must be identified and punished. And the aspirants involved also need to be suspended because this is not good for us.

“Democracy is the government of the people by the people and for the people where nobody should be disenfranchised. Once you are a party member, you should have that freedom, that authority to pick an aspirant of your choice as the flag bearer of the party.

“This is Ibadan, this is Oyo State and this the centre of politics in the southwest. And we should be able to lay good examples and the process should produce a candidate that won transparently, freely and fairly,” he said.

Meanwhile, at Ward 9, Ibadan South-East Local Government, Adelabu, polled 430 to defeat his closest rival, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, who had 3 votes.

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has announced his withdrawal from the All Progressives Congress governorship primary election in the state.

Fubara made this known in a statement personally signed on Wednesday, saying he would support whoever emerges as the party’s candidate, The Nations reported.

The governor said his decision followed extensive consultations with his family, friends, and political associates.

“After deep reflection and extensive consultations with my family, friends, and associates, I have taken the difficult but necessary decision to withdraw from the APC governorship primaries. I do so with a full heart and with a firm commitment to support whoever emerges as the candidate of our great party,” Fubara said.

Fubara said although the decision was difficult, he remained committed to supporting whoever would emerge as the APC governorship candidate.

According to him, leadership demands sacrifice and personal ambition must sometimes give way to the collective interest of the people.

Meanwhile, the embattled governor expressed appreciation to his supporters for their loyalty, prayers and sacrifices throughout the political process, acknowledging that many would feel disappointed by his withdrawal.

He said his silence in recent weeks was “deliberate and strategic,” adding that it was guided by the higher interest of the state.

Tone Cole, APC chieftain and 2027 governorship aspirant in Rivers State, also announced his withdrawal from the race, saying his decision was, among other reasons, in the interest of the party’s unity.

Arsenal ended their 22-year wait to be crowned Premier League champions on Tuesday after Manchester City were held 1-1 by Bournemouth.

City had to win to take the title fight to the final day, but the Cherries extended their unbeaten streak to 17 league games, a run which has secured European football for the first time in the club’s history.

After finishing second for the past three seasons, Mikel Arteta’s Gunners have finally made it over the line to end a six-year trophy drought.

Arsenal edged to the brink of the title with an unconvincing 1-0 win over already relegated Burnley on Monday, which took them five points clear of City.

The Gunners, who have set the pace for most of the season, have bounced back impressively since losing to City last month, winning four straight league matches without conceding a goal.

On Monday, just 48 hours after completing a domestic cup double with victory over Chelsea in the FA Cup final, City were rocked by widespread reports that manager Pep Guardiola will depart after a decade in charge at the end of the season.

Victory at Wembley on Saturday secured a 20th trophy of Guardiola’s glorious reign.

But he cannot add to his six Premier League titles when Aston Villa visit the Etihad on Sunday for what is expected to be his final match in charge.

Guardiola had warned that fatigue could cost City against a highly motivated Bournemouth, who still have Champions League qualification in their sights for next season.

As it stands, Bournemouth will be in the Europa League after ensuring they will finish no lower than seventh.

Sixth could be good enough for a place in the Champions League if Aston Villa finish fifth and win Wednesday’s Europa League final.

City fans forlornly chanted “One more year, Guardiola” in the early stages at the Vitality Stadium in a bid to convince their decorated coach to see out the final season of his contract.

But if the travelling fans hoped City’s players would be inspired to give Guardiola a glorious goodbye, they were left sorely disappointed.

Antoine Semenyo had the ball in the net on his return to Bournemouth but was flagged offside in City’s best moment of a flat first half.

The home side suddenly sprang to life to open the scoring in the 39th minute.

Eli Junior Kroupi curled a brilliant strike into the top corner to set a new record of 13 goals in a debut Premier League season for a teenager.

Nico O’Reilly wasted City’s best chance of a lifeline when he was denied by Djordje Petrovic just seconds into the second half.

Guardiola watched on pensively as his side’s title challenge fizzled out with a whimper.

After winning what was billed a title decider against Arsenal last month, City put the destiny of the title back in their rivals’ hands by drawing 3-3 at Everton.

Guardiola looks set to depart having failed to win the league for two consecutive seasons for the first time in his coaching career.

Rayan and David Brooks hit the post as Bournemouth should have secured victory in Andoni Iraola’s final home game in charge.

Erling Haaland’s equaliser deep into stoppage time came too little, too late to save City’s title challenge.

But it was a big goal for Liverpool, who now have a three-point cushion over Bournemouth and a goal difference advantage of six heading into the final day battle to secure a top-five finish and Champions League football.

AFP