Tension flared at the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Secretariat in Abuja on Friday as party members from Ekiti State staged a protest against the disqualification of businessman and politician Kayode Ojo from the upcoming governorship primary election.
Gossip News Now reports that the protest came weeks after the party’s Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Duro Meseko, confirmed Ojo’s exclusion while addressing journalists in Abuja.
Meseko had revealed on Thursday, October 9, 2025, that the APC screening committee cleared only Governor Biodun Oyebanji and Omolayo Oluremi to contest the party’s ticket for the July 20, 2026, Ekiti governorship election.
Chanting solidarity songs, the protesters — mostly women — stormed the APC headquarters carrying placards rejecting Ojo’s disqualification and denouncing what they described as an attempt to impose a consensus candidate on the people of Ekiti.
Some of the placards read:
- “We Say No to Kayode Ojo’s Disqualification”
- “We Don’t Want Consensus”
- “Ekiti Women Reject BAO”
- “APC Must Let Ekiti People Choose Their Candidate”
The protesters also chanted slogans such as “Ekiti says No to Governor Biodun Oyebanji” and “Yes to Kayode Ojo!”
Kayode Ojo, a prominent businessman and seasoned politician, has had a long-running rivalry with the APC leadership in the state. He previously contested the 2018 APC governorship primary but lost.
Meanwhile, the APC has officially adopted Governor Oyebanji as its consensus candidate for the 2026 election, a move that has deepened tensions within the party’s state chapter.
In a statement released on October 14, 2025, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, announced that the mode of the primary had been changed from a direct election to a consensus arrangement.
Morka explained that the adjustment followed the voluntary withdrawal of one of the cleared aspirants, Mrs. Atinuke Omolayo, who reportedly stepped down and endorsed Governor Oyebanji as the consensus choice.
Despite the APC’s position, supporters of Kayode Ojo have vowed to continue their protest until the party reverses what they describe as an “unjust and politically motivated disqualification.”
