By Ayodele Oni
Protest and anger have trailed the alleged alteration of lists of candidates for the national Assembly election in Ondo State due for next year.
Report revealed that true to its position, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) carried out sweeping changes to its list of National Assembly candidates for Ondo State, replacing eight aspirants who initially emerged from the party’s primary elections.
The decision, it was gathered, followed the consideration of petitions submitted against the conduct of the primaries by the party’s Primary Election Appeal Committees.
The revised list was contained in a letter dated June 29, 2026, and addressed to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The document, signed by APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, and National Secretary, Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru, conveyed the party’s final list of senatorial and House of Representatives candidates.
According to the APC, the updated list reflects the resolutions reached by the National Working Committee after reviewing the appeal committees’ reports in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines.
The review led to major changes in Ondo State, with two of the three senatorial candidates replaced, alongside six candidates for the House of Representatives.
Candidates Who Retained Their Tickets
The following four aspirants remained on the APC’s final list:
Isaacs Kekemeke – Ondo South Senatorial District.
Ifeoluwa Ehindero – Akoko North East/Akoko North West Federal Constituency.
Adegboyega Adefarati – Akoko South East/Akoko South West Federal Constituency.
Omowunmi Olatunji – Akure North/Akure South Federal Constituency (the only female candidate on the list).
With eight substitutions, Ondo State recorded one of the highest numbers of changes arising from the APC’s post-primary appeal process, effectively overturning the outcomes of several constituency primaries.
Meanwhile, a former Special Assistant to the Ondo State Governor and House of Representatives Aspirant in Akoko area, Engr Austin Pelemo, has faulted the political treatment given to Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa over the National Assembly tickets of the ruling APC.
Pelemo, while reacting to the last minutes changes stated that “those playing this immature brand of politics at the national level should remember the Yoruba proverb: “Ilé ni àpótí ń jókòó sí dé ìdí”—every structure stands on its foundation.
“In Ondo State of today, it will be difficult for any senatorial or House of Representatives candidate to win without the support and influence of the governor, who, within the next week, will have close to 3,000 political appointees spread across every part of the state.
“That grassroots network is a formidable electoral asset that cannot be ignored.”
Pelemo rejected the situation, saying “Politics 406: Undermining the grassroots influence of a sitting state governor is tantamount to courting electoral failure.
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