NIGERIA: Protesters Storm APC Headquarters Over Kayode Ojo’s Exclusion From Ekiti Governorship Primary

Onoja Johnson Baba, Nigeria

A protest broke out at the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja on Friday, as aggrieved members from Ekiti State stormed the party’s headquarters to condemn the disqualification of Kayode Ojo from the forthcoming governorship primary.

The demonstrators, made up largely of women, accused the APC National Working Committee (NWC) of bias and alleged that the exclusion of Ojo was part of a ploy to impose the incumbent governor, Biodun Oyebanji, as the party’s consensus candidate ahead of the October 27 primary.

Chanting solidarity songs and carrying placards with inscriptions such as “We Say No to Kayode Ojo’s Disqualification,” “No to Consensus,” “Ekiti Women Reject BAO,” and “APC Must Let Ekiti People Choose Their Candidate,” the protesters demanded that the party reverse Ojo’s disqualification and allow a level playing field.

One of the protest leaders, Mrs Funke Ajayi, said the disqualification “is an insult to the democratic process,” insisting that party members in Ekiti deserve the right to freely choose their governorship candidate.

“The APC must not destroy its credibility in Ekiti. We will resist any attempt to force a candidate on us,” she said.

The protest followed the NWC’s decision, announced weeks earlier, disqualifying Ojo from contesting in the primary. The move, party sources said, effectively cleared the way for Governor Oyebanji to emerge as a consensus candidate for a second term.

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed the Ekiti State governorship election for July 20, 2026.

As of press time, the APC leadership had yet to issue an official statement in response to the protest, though security operatives were deployed to maintain order at the party’s secretariat.