A governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress in Ogun State, Hon. Abayomi Hunye, has challenged the party’s claim that he was suspended and described the public announcement of the suspension as part of efforts to undermine his legal challenge to the outcome of the party’s governorship primary.

Hunye said this on Tuesday during an interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, where he maintained that he remains an aspirant because the dispute over the APC governorship ticket is still before the court.

Hunye dismissed the claim that he had been suspended, saying he was never formally notified of any disciplinary action and that the party failed to follow due process before announcing the suspension.

“If they say they have suspended me. I have not received any letter. No letter was sent to me and before you suspend anybody, there must be a panel. You must let me know what I've done. Then there will be a committee that will be sent out to look at that.”

He said he believed the suspension information might not have represented a properly ratified decision of the party’s National Working Committee.

“I'm not sure that that information is right. I want to believe that it wasn't a decision of the National Working Committee,” he said.

Hunye said his decision to publicly clarify his position followed reports that he had withdrawn from the governorship contest after an alleged settlement had been reached.

He insisted, however, that the matter remained before the court and that no candidate could be regarded as finally determined until judgment was delivered.

“Ogun state candidature of governorship election is still hanging at the court. The court is going to determine who becomes the candidate and the case is still on. That’s exactly what I said on Saturday and there is a way to verify the information that I got. I was told that I have stepped down and that they have settled me and things like that, that is why I came up to tell everybody that the case is still in court and until that judgment is delivered, no candidate is decided. Whatever the APC likes let them do. They are trying to intimidate me so that I can drop the case and I will not.”

His comments came a day after the APC National Working Committee publicly described him as an impostor and disowned his claim to the party’s 2027 governorship ticket.

The party said Hunye had no authority to present himself as its governorship candidate, but he rejected the description, insisting that he had never claimed to be the party’s candidate.

“I want to correct that story. I never said I was. I remain an aspirant,” Hunye clarified.

He maintained that his actions were lawful and argued that the APC’s description of him as an impostor only emerged after he publicly challenged the party’s position.

“They are now referring me to one April 7 that I'm not aware of,” he said.

Hunye said he remained confident in the judiciary and would accept whatever judgment was eventually delivered.

“I want to assure you that I believe in judiciary. They are going to do the best in whatever judgement that will be delivered and it will take a good faith,” he said.

Primary Dispute

Hunye argued that due process should precede any suspension, insisting that an affected member should be informed of the alleged offence and given an opportunity to respond.

He said he only learnt publicly that he had purportedly been suspended in April, despite subsequently dealing with the party at its national secretariat.

“Even I was suspended in April. I came to the National Party Secretariat. I got a form there on 28th of April,” he said.

According to him, the party sold him the governorship nomination form, collected the required payment and subsequently allowed him to participate in the screening process.

“They collected money and gave me form. On the 15th again, I went for screening,” he said.

Hunye said he was screened and cleared alongside other aspirants, arguing that the party’s actions at the time contradicted the later claim that he was already suspended.

He further disclosed that he was assigned number 62 during the process, while Senator Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, was assigned number 53.

“You screened me. And at the end of the day, you cleared me that I'm successful. And then even in the midst of all the successful candidates, I was cleared. My number was 62 and Yayi’s number was 53 and there were some there that were disqualified,” Hunye said.

He maintained that there was no withdrawal from the contest in his name and that he participated in the governorship primary.

“So there was no withdrawal in my own name. I participated in the election and they admitted that I participated,” he said.

Hunye said the announcement made after the primary indicated that two aspirants had participated but alleged that the result attributed to him was zero.

According to him, the unexplained zero recorded against his name was one of the central issues behind his legal challenge to the primary.

Hunye also alleged that his campaign billboards were removed in Abeokuta shortly after the controversy over his status became public, questioning why such action would be taken while the matter remained in court.

“Even yesterday they started to remove all my billboards in Abeokuta when I’m still in the race, Why?” he said.

Explaining the basis of his court action, Hunye said his concern was the result which recorded zero votes for him despite his insistence that he was physically present and participated in the primary.

He rejected any suggestion that his absence could have justified the result, saying he was neither in a police station nor in a hospital on the day of the primary.

“I was not in the police station. I was not in the hospital. How will I pay 50 million naira for something, and I will be absent there. And how would they now record zero against my name,” he said.

Hunye further argued that the circumstances surrounding the announced result raised questions about whether a valid primary had actually taken place.

“So I don't know where they got that from. I don't know. That means there was no primaries in Ogun state,” he said.

Hunye said he had formally complained to the party after the primary but claimed that his complaints were not acted upon.

He said he therefore decided to pursue the legal route rather than wait indefinitely for the party’s internal processes.

“I wrote immediately. I wrote to the party chairman. I wrote to the committee. They refuse to do anything,” he said.

“The law also gives us an opportunity to hear our view and that’s exactly what I'm doing,” he said.

Questions Over Yayi’s Records

Hunye also disclosed that the court case includes questions relating to the eligibility and information provided by Senator Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, in previous election processes, including issues surrounding his connection to Ogun State.

He said the questions being raised in court relate to information contained in Adeola’s electoral forms and his political history, particularly his years of public service in Lagos State.

“There are so many issues. In all that he filled, he was serving in Lagos state as an assembly member. He served for eight years as an assembly member in Lagos state. House of assembly in Lagos state. Eight years as a house of rep also in Lagos state. Four years in the house of senate in the same Lagos state,” Hunye said.

He said Adeola had spent about 23 years in public office and that his records across different elections formed part of the questions being raised before the court.

“So he has been in government for the past 23 years. And those are the things we are asking, we are asking a lot of questions about all that he filled at different stages of those elections. And I don't want to discuss about it here,” he said.

When asked whether the issues amounted to perjury, Hunye answered in the affirmative, while stressing that he did not want to go into the details of the case on air.

“Yes, that is a perjury,” he said.

Hunye further disclosed that the issue was not the first legal challenge relating to Adeola, recalling that some individuals had previously taken him to court in Ilaro over similar matters.

He, however, said the previous case did not succeed because those who instituted it were found not to have the required legal standing, or locus, to pursue the matter.

“But they lost the case because they were not locus. And that is what they are fighting. They want to remove me as a locus,” Hunye said.

He alleged that the APC’s decision to announce his suspension was connected to an attempt to challenge his legal standing in the ongoing case.

“And that is why they are bringing the issue of I have been suspended. So once that is proven that I have been suspended, then I will not be locus,” he said.

When asked whether that meant he could be removed from the case on a technical ground, Hunye responded:

“Exactly, that is what they are looking for. They are looking for a technical ground to put me away. And that cannot be possible. From day one, I am prepared for that.”

Consensus Controversy

Hunye also rejected the suggestion that the primary was merely conducted to give an appearance of competition while the party had already settled on a consensus candidate.

He demanded evidence of a meeting at which all the aspirants agreed to a consensus arrangement.

“It’s a choice if consensus arrangement is clearly stated. If there must be consensus at all, every member must agree to it,” he said.

“Let them bring out where we had a meeting together. All other aspirants had a meeting with them. That they wanted to have a consensus,” he said.

Hunye cited the 2018 Ogun APC governorship contest, recalling that he, Dapo Abiodun and other aspirants opposed the consensus arrangement associated with the administration of former Governor Ibikunle Amosun.

He argued that if the aspirants at the time had accepted the consensus arrangement, the eventual political outcome in Ogun State would have been different.

“Dapo Biodun was against the consensus in 2018. I was part of it. I, myself, Dapo Abiodun, Senator Kaka, Jimi Lawal and Bimbo Ashiru,” he said.

“We stood on our ground and agreed that will we not agree to the consensus of Ibikunle Amosun. So Dapo Abiodun is a product of the same thing. If we have agreed, Adekunle Abdulkabir Akinlade (Triple A) would have been the governor,” Hunye said.

He further questioned what he described as an apparent change of position on consensus politics within the party.

“The same process that brought you to power. Now you're saying that process is bad. What kind of person does that? Who does that?” he asked.

Running Mate and Court Strategy

Hunye also confirmed that he had unveiled a running mate despite maintaining that he remained an aspirant, explaining that his decision was connected to his desire to demonstrate participation in the electoral process while his case was before the court.

He referred to Section 285 of the Constitution as amended, arguing that a person must participate in all stages of an election before a tribunal can declare that person the winner.

“Section 285 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended an election tribunal shall not under any circumstances declare any person a winner of an election in which such person has not fully participated in all the stages of election,” he said.

According to him, the campaign stage had already begun, making participation important to his legal strategy.

“We have passed the stage of primaries now. They are in the stage of campaign. I just have to participate,” he stated.

Political Future

Hunye, however, insisted that the party’s leadership could not simply push him out of the APC after his years of involvement in its political struggles.

“There is no way the APC, the so-called leaders, as I'm saying this…they can't take us away from this party,” he said.

Hunye recalled his involvement in the political struggle that preceded the emergence of the APC in Ogun State, saying he had fought for the party and would not accept being treated as an outsider.

“We fought for the party. PDP then in those days. They took us to Eleweran. Myself, Ibikunle Amosun and Dipo Dina,” he said.

He also insisted that he would accept a court judgment against him, saying he would support the APC candidate if the judiciary ultimately ruled that he was not entitled to the ticket.

When asked whether he would support the APC candidate if the court ruled against him, Hunye responded:

“Why not? Why not?”

He stated that if the court ruled in his favour, his approach would be to reconcile with those on the opposing side and move beyond the dispute.

“But I'm going to embrace everybody. I'm going to embrace everybody,” he said.

For now, Hunye’s position remains that he is an APC governorship aspirant, not the party’s officially recognised candidate, and that the final determination of the disputed ticket rests with the court.