Former Osun State Governor, Gboyega Oyetola, has debunked allegations that he influenced the screening process that led to the disqualification of several aspirants ahead of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary in the state.
Gossip News Now reports that Senator Iyiola Omisore had accused Oyetola of manipulating the exercise to favour one of the cleared aspirants, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji.
According to Omisore, “The chairman of the panel told us that Minister Gboyega Oyetola called him and said they must disqualify all of us because he wants his lackey, his poster boy, Oyebamiji. He told us he was under pressure. Unfortunately, we are in it together.”
The allegations emerged after Omisore and six others were disqualified by the APC Screening Committee on Friday over what was described as inconsistencies and gaps in their nomination documents ahead of the December 13 primary.
The other disqualified aspirants include:
- Former Deputy Governor Benedict Alabi
- Former presidential aide Babajide Omoworare
- Senior Advocate of Nigeria Kunle Adegoke
- Businessman Dotun Babayemi
- Insurance expert Akin Ogunbiyi
- Babatunde Oralusi
Responding to the accusations, Bolaji Akinola, Special Adviser on Media to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, dismissed the claims as “baseless, misleading and totally false.”
Akinola insisted that Oyetola had no role—direct or indirect—in the decisions of either the Screening Committee or the Screening Appeal Panel, noting that both committees acted as independent bodies empowered by the APC Constitution.
“Oyetola did not, and could not have interfered in the screening exercise or in the affairs of the screening bodies,” he said, adding that the former governor has always upheld fairness, transparency and due process in his political engagements.
He encouraged aggrieved aspirants to make use of the party’s internal dispute-resolution mechanisms and called for calm among party members.
Akinola reaffirmed Oyetola’s commitment to the unity of the APC in Osun State and to the broader development of the state.
