Dr Gbemileke Alagbe Eleniyan and Chief Niyi Aborisade of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Oyo State have reiterated their claim to the party’s 2027 governorship ticket, insisting that the May 22, 2026 primary election remains the valid basis of their candidacy.

The duo stated this during a live appearance on a television station.

Alagbe and Aborisade maintained that the May 22 exercise was the primary conducted under the appropriate party structure and that its outcome produced Alagbe as the winner.

The controversy over the ticket has continued to generate reactions, with the matter now before the courts. The Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan has adjourned further proceedings in the case until September 30, 2026.

Recounting the events surrounding the May 22 primary, Aborisade, who participated in the contest, said he personally called Alagbe after the election to congratulate him on his emergence.

He said his action was based on the result announced at the end of the exercise, which, according to him, established Alagbe as the winner.

Aborisade also said Taofeek Adegboyega Adegoke subsequently contacted him.

According to him, he told Adegoke that Alagbe had already won the primary and that he did not see any basis for conducting another governorship primary after the May 22 exercise.

Aborisade alleged that Adegoke subsequently informed him that he would organise another election the following day.

He said the development eventually produced another result, which became the basis of the dispute over the ADC governorship ticket in the state.

Aborisade’s account is consistent with his earlier public position that Alagbe won the May 22 primary, in which he said he emerged second.

Alagbe, on his part, said the central issue was the procedure through which the May 22 primary was organised.

He maintained that the party’s constitutional structure vested responsibility for organising the governorship primary in the appropriate national organising organ.

According to him, the National Organising Secretary discharged that responsibility by sending a representative to supervise the exercise.

He said the election was subsequently conducted across the state and the results collated.

Alagbe had previously stated that the primary was conducted across the state’s 351 wards, with officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) present during the process, while the final result was collated at the University of Ibadan.

He also said he obtained a Certified True Copy of the relevant primary election report.

Reports published after the May 22 exercise recorded Alagbe as the winner, with one report putting his votes at 15,107, while Aborisade scored 4,307 votes and Adegoke 987 votes.

Alagbe alleged that the situation changed after the May 22 primary, accusing the ADC National Secretary, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, of subsequently interfering with the process.

He alleged that Aregbesola backed a different arrangement that eventually resulted in Adegoke’s emergence and the displacement of his name.

Alagbe described the development as an attempt to overturn the mandate he said he received from ADC members during the May 22 primary.

He maintained that he neither withdrew from the contest nor authorised the substitution of his name.

The ADC candidate had previously made a similar allegation, telling journalists that his name was replaced after the primary despite his insistence that he had won the election.

The allegations form part of the wider dispute over the party’s governorship ticket and remain subject to the ongoing judicial proceedings.