Eighteen graded traditional rulers from Ekiti and Oke-Ero Local Government Areas of Kwara State have petitioned the National leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), calling for the immediate reversal of the party’s candidature of the incumbent lawmaker, Hon. Raheem Tunji Olawuyi, for the Ekiti/Oke-Ero/Isin/Irepodun Federal Constituency ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The monarchs argued that the declaration of Olawuyi as the party’s candidate violated the principles of equity, fairness and the outcome of the APC primary election, insisting that Hon. Ganiyu Gabriel Abolarin from Ekiti Local Government Area emerged as the rightful winner.
According to the petition, Abolarin secured 17,128 votes in the primary election, while Olawuyi reportedly polled 2,978 votes.
The petition, obtained by Daily Links in Ilorin on Friday, was jointly signed by the 18 monarchs, including the Olosi of Osi, Oba Salihu A. Adasofegbe; the Owalobbo of Obbo, Oba Samuel O. Adelodun; and the Elekan of Ekan, Oba David Adekunle Olaniyan.
The royal fathers described Olawuyi’s emergence as the APC candidate as “a rape of democracy” and a breach of a long-standing political understanding aimed at ensuring equitable distribution of elective offices within Kwara South.
The petition comes barely a day after APC stakeholders appealed to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to intervene and reverse what they described as an unjust candidate selection that disregarded the outcome of the party’s primary election.
Reacting to the controversy, the Kwara APC Chairman, Prince Sunday Fagbemi, advised aggrieved party members and stakeholders to pursue their grievances through the party’s established internal mechanisms, noting that the appropriate authorities still possess the power to review the nomination if necessary.
The monarchs recalled that both the Igbomina and Ekiti traditional councils had previously agreed that, in the interest of fairness, the APC’s Kwara South Senatorial ticket should be zoned to the Igbomina bloc, while the House of Representatives ticket should be ceded to the Ekiti bloc, since neither group had previously occupied the respective positions since the return to democratic rule in 1999.
“In the spirit of justice and brotherhood, the traditional councils of both Igbomina and Ekiti blocs reached a mutual understanding that the Kwara South Senatorial ticket should be zoned to the Igbomina bloc, while the House of Representatives ticket would be ceded to the Ekiti bloc,” the petition stated.
The monarchs said they were shocked that the APC allegedly retained the House of Representatives ticket in Irepodun Local Government Area through the nomination of the incumbent lawmaker from Omu-Aran.
According to them, such a decision would result in Irepodun producing both the APC senatorial and House of Representatives candidates, while the Ekiti bloc—comprising 20 of the constituency’s 42 electoral wards—would be completely excluded from representation.
“As fathers, we do not seek conflict; we seek justice,” the monarchs stated. “We therefore humbly appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Chairman of the APC and other relevant stakeholders to urgently revisit this lopsided nomination and restore the mandate freely given to Hon. Ganiyu Abolarin by party members during the primary election.”
Attached to the petition was a copy of the APC primary election results, which the petitioners said confirmed Abolarin’s victory with 17,128 votes against Olawuyi’s 2,978 votes.
The traditional rulers also argued that political representation in the federal constituency has remained concentrated within Irepodun and Isin Local Government Areas since 1999.
They listed former occupants of the seat as Hon. Bashir Bola Oni (1999–2003), Hon. Peter Gbenga Makanjuola (2003–2011), Hon. Akeem Olayinka Hakeem (2011–2015), the late Hon. Olufunke Adedoyin (2015–2018), and the incumbent, Hon. Raheem Tunji Olawuyi (2018 to date), noting that all hailed from either Irepodun or Isin LGAs.
According to the petitioners, Irepodun Local Government alone has produced the federal lawmaker for about 26 years, while Omu-Aran, with only three of the constituency’s 42 wards, has occupied the seat for nearly 24 years.
“It is unfortunate that no individual from either Ekiti or Oke-Ero Local Government Areas has ever represented the constituency in the House of Representatives, despite the two councils accounting for 20 of the 42 wards,” the petition added.