The Oodua Progressive Youths League, a South-West support group of the All Progressives Congress, has challenged a former aspirant for the Ifedore/Idanre Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives, Mr Rasaq Obe, to produce video evidence to support his claim that he won the party’s recently concluded primary election.
The group also criticised Obe over comments he reportedly made during a programme on Arise Television, where he claimed victory in the APC primary and warned that President Bola Tinubu could lose Ondo State in the 2027 general election if the party failed to reverse the substitution of National Assembly candidates.
In a statement signed by its General Secretary, Wale Abdulwaheed, on Saturday, the group said Obe’s remarks were disturbing, particularly his alleged threat that the President could lose the state over the party’s decision.
The statement read, “As a group actively mobilising support for President Tinubu across the South-West, we are disturbed by Mr Obe’s statement in which he threatened that the President would lose Ondo State if the party fails to reverse the substitution of names for the National Assembly candidates.”
The group maintained that although every aggrieved party member had the right to seek redress, Obe was not in a position to fault the decision of the APC National Working Committee because he had allegedly withdrawn from the race before the primary election.
According to the statement, Obe’s media team had announced his withdrawal on the eve of the primary in support of Hon. Tajudeen Adefisoye, popularly known as Small Alhaji, who had emerged as Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa’s consensus candidate for the constituency.
It added that after the party’s screening committee disqualified Adefisoye, Obe allegedly received a telephone call from the governor in the early hours of the primary election, directing him to return to the race.
The group, however, alleged that Obe’s supporters and agents were absent during the exercise.
It said, “We therefore challenge Mr Obe and his supporters to produce any video showing his supporters or agents carrying his banners or posters anywhere in Idanre Local Government on the day of the primary election.
“We also challenge them to produce any video showing Mr Obe himself or any of his accredited agents at the collation centre in Igbara-Oke, the headquarters of Ifedore Local Government, where the election results were collated.”
The group further alleged that Obe failed to secure the support of party members in his hometown, claiming that many members instead queued behind supporters of Prince Dero Fadola, who had earlier stepped down for Hon. Festus Akingbaso, popularly known as FessyWest.
It added that despite allegations that figures were manipulated in Obe’s favour during the primary, he had continued to appear on national television claiming victory and mounting pressure on the APC National Working Committee to accept the disputed results.
The group, however assured that President Tinubu will not only win Ondo State and other states in the South West, but it will also win them with wide margins.