A Prominent Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State and House of Representatives aspirant for the Ilorin East/Ilorin South Federal Constituency, Ambassador Dr. Ibrahim Tajudeen Shola (Olesin), has petitioned the Executive Governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, CON, over the conduct of the party’s recent primary election.
In a letter dated July 13th, 2026 obtained by 9japarrot media, which was routed through the State APC Chairman, Prince Sunday Fagbemi, and the Chairman of the State APC Reconciliation Committee, Retired Colonel AbdulWahab Ademola Lawal, the aspirant detailed his grievances regarding what he described as the arbitrary imposition of an aspirant and the complete disregard for internal party democracy.
Ambassador Shola, a major financial donor and grassroots mobilizer within the constituency, expressed deep disappointment that despite his years of unwavering loyalty, financial investments, and personal sacrifices for the growth of the ruling party, his attempts to seek audience and leadership guidance from the Governor were completely ignored throughout his pre-primary consultations.
The academic and business mogul recounted how the direct primary election, which was fully set to commence with thousands of party members already queued up at various voting centers, was abruptly halted.
“At that critical moment, some respected elders from the Ilorin East Local Government invited me to a meeting. During the meeting, I was informed that Your Excellency’s interest was in a certain aspirant. It would have been reasonable and ideal if the model for candidate determination was a consensus, as it would have been agreed to and willingly endorsed by all the aspirants in line with the new Electoral Act. But that was never the case. The primary intention of Your Excellency was to arbitrarily impose this particular aspirant, which is a violation of every law that guides election matters,” He stated.
The petitioner further argued that introducing a sudden consensus debate after a direct primary had formally commenced was both improper and unconstitutional, emphasizing that it denied thousands of loyal party members their fundamental right to freely choose their representative.
He clarified that his grievance is not against the APC as an institution, but rather against the exclusionary leadership style deployed during the primary process, which has left dedicated aspirants feeling unappreciated and undervalued.
“As a loyal member of the APC, I expected that every aspirant would either be given equal opportunity to engage with the party leadership or be allowed to test his popularity through a transparent and credible process. Regrettably, that was not my experience. I abandoned my business and devoted months to this aspiration because I genuinely believed that every aspirant would enjoy a level playing field. Sadly, that expectation was not realized,” He added.
Despite the painful ordeal, Olesin disclosed that he deliberately chose to refrain from making inflammatory public statements to protect the image of the APC.
While wishing the Col. Lawal-led Reconciliation Committee wisdom, courage, and fairness in handling its sensitive assignment, the aspirant expressed hope that his petition would serve as a catalyst for restoring genuine internal democracy, justice, and inclusiveness within the Kwara State APC before the 2027 general elections.