2027: Oyo AA gov aspirant denies stepping down after primary dispute

The Oyo State Action Alliance governorship aspirant, Olaniyi Ajekiigbe. Photo credit: Ademola Adegbite.

The Action Alliance governorship aspirant in Oyo State, Olaniyi Ajekiigbe, popularly known as OLA, has rejected claims that he withdrew from the race or conceded the party’s governorship candidacy to Titilola Sodo.

Ajekiigbe, in a statement issued by his Head of Publicity Office, Oluseyi Akinwale, in Ibadan, the state capital, on Monday, said that while he welcomed genuine efforts at reconciliation and party unity, such appeals must not be used to create the impression that an ongoing legal dispute had been resolved in favour of any party.

The statement said, “The judgment must not be written before the judge delivers it. We are cautioning party members and stakeholders against treating the matter as settled while it remains before a competent court.”

At the heart of the dispute is a governorship primary held on May 26, 2026, at the AA Secretariat on Old-Ife Road, Ibadan, which Ajekiigbe’s camp said he won.

The camp maintained that the exercise was monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission and other electoral stakeholders, and that documentary evidence, including an electoral report, was available to support the claim.

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It said, “INEC’s publication of a candidate’s name did not, by itself, resolve a pending legal dispute concerning the party’s recognised national leadership or the process by which its candidate emerged.

“Ajekiigbe has not accepted the candidacy of Titilola Sodo, withdrawn from the contest or surrendered the mandate he believes he secured at the primary. His position remains that the dispute should be resolved in accordance with the law.”

The camp also addressed INEC, urging the commission to act impartially and give effect to any applicable court orders recognising Kenneth Udeze as the party’s National Chairman and James Veniembe as National Secretary, including uploading the party’s candidates on its platform.

It maintained that resolving the leadership dispute was essential to clarifying the party’s standing ahead of the election, calling on “AA members, supporters and the people of Oyo to remain calm and law-abiding while the judicial process runs its course.

“Peace and unity can endure only when the rights of all parties are respected and justice is allowed to take its course,” the statement concluded.