IBADAN — The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) failed to conduct its primary election ahead of the forthcoming bye-election in the Ibadan North Federal Constituency of Oyo State.
This revelation was made public on Wednesday in Ibadan by the electoral commission, following the death of the constituency’s representative, Hon. Olayide Akinremi. The APC was expected to hold a primary election to select a candidate for the bye-election scheduled for August.
However, INEC said it was unable to monitor the primary exercise, despite multiple efforts.
In a letter dated July 21, 2025, addressed to the Director of Election and Party Monitoring at INEC headquarters in Abuja, the Acting Administrative Secretary in Oyo State, Rosemary Alaba Adeniyi, submitted a formal report detailing the situation.
The report, signed by Kehinde Omisile, Acting Head of the Election and Party Monitoring Department in the state, stated that INEC officials could not observe the exercise because the party did not provide access or verifiable information about the conduct of the primary.
“All efforts to monitor the APC Primary Election as specified in another letter signed by the State Secretary and submitted on Sunday, 20 July, 2025, proved abortive,” the letter stated.
The situation raises uncertainty over APC’s preparedness for the bye-election and could have implications for its participation in the contest. INEC has not yet announced whether the party will be disqualified from fielding a candidate in the upcoming poll.
