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Says governorship aspirant conducted parallel primary in private residence
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From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
Media Adviser to Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, otherwise known as Yayi, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State for the 2027 election, Kayode Odunaro, has criticised a governorship aspirant of the party, Abayomi Hunye, over his challenge to the outcome of the primaries that produced Adeola as the consensus governorship flag bearer of the party, describing him as a “serial political negotiator”.
Odunaro, who stated this while featuring on Channels Television’s Lunchtime Politics programme, disclosed that the former Managing Director of the Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA) conducted a parallel governorship primary in his private residence.
Hunye had challenged the outcome of the APC governorship primaries, which recorded zero votes for him, thereby declaring Senator Adeola as the consensus candidate.
Hunye, who claimed he participated in the primaries and garnered votes in his Tube Ward in Ipokia Local Government Area of the state, questioned why the APC sold him a N50 million nomination form and cleared him for screening if a consensus had already been reached for Senator Adeola.
He also alleged that he was excluded from a meeting of former governors and threatened by some party leaders not to contest, insisting that Yayi must be the sole candidate.
Hunye, however, vowed to continue fighting the “injustice”, even after the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC declared that Senator Adeola remained the governorship candidate of the party.
But speaking on Channels Television, Odunaro countered Hunye’s position, insisting that Hunye failed to participate in the party’s direct primary at the designated venue in Ipokia, but instead gathered his supporters at his residence and presented the gathering as an election.
According to Odunaro, Hunye scored zero in the official primary because neither he nor his agents participated at the designated venues across the state.
“What he did was to gather people in his house and pretend to have an election without any party officials and INEC officials in his ward, and he is parading that video as evidence that he didn’t score zero. I reiterate that he scored zero and lost gallantly,” he said.
Odunaro further accused Hunye of using political contests to negotiate for appointments, alleging that he had adopted the same approach under previous administrations.
“Abayomi Hunye is a serial political negotiator. He did it with Senator Ibikunle Amosun, he did the same thing during the time of Governor Dapo Abiodun, now again with Senator Adeola.
“All he is looking for is just to negotiate for an appointment. This is a man who went to place an advert just to seek an audience with Mr. President. He is just out to negotiate an appointment for himself,” Odunaro stressed.
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He, however, challenged Hunye to identify any APC ward executive who was present at the purported primary conducted at his residence.
“Can he tell us any party executive in his Tube Ward that was present at his primary?” Odunaro queried.
Meanwhile, Senator Adeola’s aide has dismissed narratives of disagreement over Adeola’s emergence, saying the senator was selected as the consensus candidate after consultations involving APC stakeholders, including past and present governors and other aspirants.
He said that reports of alleged dissatisfaction by former Ogun State governors, Senators Gbenga Daniel and Ibikunle Amosun, over Adeola’s emergence as the APC consensus candidate were merely “narratives the opposition are playing up”.
He insisted that there was no evidence in the public domain that Daniel had openly expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of the party’s consensus arrangement.
According to him, available video footage showed Daniel supporting the consensus arrangement that produced Adeola, while Amosun had also been associated with support for the process.
The Media Adviser further disclosed that Adeola had reached out to both former governors, saying efforts had been made to address any concerns they might have had about the process.
He argued that Daniel’s membership of the Presidential Campaign Council was a further indication of his continued commitment to the APC and the party’s political direction.
“Senator Adeola has reached out to Senators Daniel and Amosun. Senator Daniel you are talking about is a member of the Presidential Campaign Council, which proves that he is fully with the party.
“To my knowledge, I’m not aware in any public domain that Senator Daniel is expressing dissatisfaction openly. The dissatisfaction by Daniel and Amosun are narratives the opposition are playing up,” he said.
Odunaro also rejected attempts to link Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello to the current APC controversy, noting that she had left the party to pursue a senatorial ambition on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He said Obasanjo-Bello was present at the APC consensus meeting but subsequently moved to the PDP to contest for the Ogun Central Senatorial ticket.
“Sincerely, Iyabo Obasanjo was at the consensus primary and there were issues according to her, which I don’t want to go into. But later she went to PDP to contest for the Senatorial ticket.
“There is no crossing point with Iyabo anymore because she’s no longer a member of our party. She should rather face her senatorial ambition in Ogun Central,” Odunaro submitted.
