IBADAN — The crisis rocking the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Oyo State has deepened as Dr Gbemileke Alagbe and Taofeeq Adegoke lay competing claims to the party’s governorship ticket ahead of the 2027 election.
While Adegoke has unveiled his campaign structure and announced an agenda focused on tackling poverty and insecurity, Alagbe has insisted that he remains the legitimate ADC governorship candidate.
Alagbe, speaking on Tuesday, said he emerged winner of the party’s May 22, 2026 governorship primary, which he said was monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies.
“The ADC governorship primary was conducted on May 22, 2026. The primary was monitored by INEC and all the relevant security agencies. We have reports to that effect, and the citizens of Oyo State can also verify what happened,” he said.
“I emerged as the winner of the primary from among the five aspirants who contested. I was declared the winner, and I have the certificate of return to prove it.”
He dismissed competing claims to the ticket, arguing that anyone challenging his emergence should seek legal redress rather than attempt to use the media or party structures to establish an alternative candidacy.
“If they were genuinely challenging my victory, they would have gone to court or taken steps to invalidate the result and the report of the primary,” he said.
Alagbe also rejected suggestions that the national leadership of the party could simply determine the governorship candidate, maintaining that candidacy must be based on a valid primary and relevant electoral documents.
“The national leadership does not determine who the candidate is. The law determines that,” he said.
He acknowledged that the leadership crisis could hurt the party’s electoral fortunes, including its presidential ambitions, if the various tendencies fail to reconcile.
“If you ask for my opinion, the divisions could affect the party in many states. It could even affect the presidential candidate if the party is not united,” he said.
However, Alagbe expressed confidence in his chances in Oyo State, citing the agitation for power rotation to Oke-Ogun and his position as the only governorship candidate from outside Ibadan among major contenders.
“There has been a clamour for power to rotate to Oke-Ogun, and I belong to the G22 movement advocating power rotation,” he said.
“Largely, I believe that will determine the governorship election in Oyo State, rather than what is happening within the party at the national level.”
On his proposed programme for the state, Alagbe outlined a 14-point agenda covering governance, local government autonomy, infrastructure, healthcare, education and security.
He pledged to strengthen local government autonomy and provide the councils with resources to perform their constitutional responsibilities.
On infrastructure, he promised that every local government would construct at least one kilometre of road monthly during the first three years of his administration.
“One of our major plans is that every local government will construct not less than one kilometre of road every month for the first three years of our administration,” he said.
Alagbe also promised to improve primary healthcare by providing free drugs and ensuring health facilities were properly staffed.
“Many primary healthcare centres have been neglected. Some have no drugs, doctors or nurses,” he said.
“We will change this by ensuring the availability of free drugs at the primary healthcare level and making sure that healthcare facilities function effectively.”
On security, he pledged to deploy technology to monitor vulnerable areas while working with security agencies to protect lives and property.
He also criticised what he described as arbitrary demolition of houses in connection with the Ibadan Circular Road project, while stressing that he supported the infrastructure project itself.
“I am not opposed to the construction of the Circular Road. I support the development of infrastructure, but I am opposed to the demolition of people’s houses without providing adequate alternatives,” he said.
He promised to establish a “Circular Road Estate” comprising two-bedroom and four-bedroom flats for property owners whose homes were demolished for the project.
On the ADC’s performance in the recent Osun governorship election, Alagbe attributed the outcome to the internal divisions within the party.
He warned that political groups operating outside the mainstream structure would continue to face difficulties in elections.
Alagbe also called for reconciliation among the various tendencies within the ADC, but insisted that any unity process must be based on facts and justice.
“We do not need to be defeated in an election before we start calling for unity. I have always maintained that we should unite and work together. But unity must be based on facts and justice,” he said.
“If somebody claims to have won a primary, let him produce the evidence. Show me the result of the primary and the certificate of return, and I am ready to sit down with him.”
He further alleged that some interests in Ibadan were opposed to the emergence of a governorship candidate from outside the city.
“The struggle is not simply about the party. It is also a zonal struggle by some individuals who want to turn themselves into political gatekeepers and prevent other zones from producing candidates,” he said.
“But that will not work. Our campaign structure will have 5,000 members because we know that the election will be a grassroots contest.”
He said the campaign would be structured to reach communities, local governments and wards across Oyo State.
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