•Sharafadeen Alli widens scope of peace moves •Kwara stakeholders await Abuja’s final verdict on guber candidate •Alia’s loyalists battle for tickets in Benue •Opposition weakens against Niger governor

There are indications that President Bola Tinubu may schedule further meetings with some stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC)  in respect of the crisis rocking the Oyo State chapter of the party over the emergence of the governorship candidate.

The primaries had produced the Senator representing Oyo South, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, but other contestants have kicked against the outcome.

Last week, President Tinubu met with the Renewed Hope Ambassador in the state, Senator Teslim Folarin, who was asked to rally the support of the stakeholders in Oyo to guarantee a united front.

ALSO READ: Oyo APC stakeholders await Tinubu’s intervention over guber crisis

Feelers from Abuja, however, indicate that the president may schedule another meeting with an enlarged team of stakeholders ahead of the flag-off of campaigns.

A source said that as the consideration is ongoing, the governorship candidate, Senator Alli, has also intensified peace moves within the party, as a backup to the efforts of the peace committee already inaugurated by the state chapter of the APC.

“We are hopeful of a final resolution in a short while, a source close to the party said, adding that some of the aggrieved aspirants are already embracing peace.

Kwara stakeholders await Abuja’s final verdict on guber candidate

In Kwara State, stakeholders and party leaders have continued to insist that the issue of the governorship candidate remained unresolved in the state. Sources said that the stakeholders are, however, awaiting the final verdict on the list of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates for the 2027 general elections in Kwara State from the national leadership of the ruling party.

Speaking on the development, the state APC chairman, Prince Sunday Fagbemi, said that he could not confirm the authenticity of any of the candidates for the general elections, adding that the national leadership conducted primaries that produced the candidates.

Fagbemi also said that it is the national leadership that would announce the candidates. This is just as groups in the ruling party in the state continued to post names of their favourite as candidates on social media, claiming that their favourite is the winner of the primary.

It was also gathered that the name of Senator Saliu Mustapha, representing Kwara Central District propped up as the winner of the APC governorship primary, against Speaker, Kwara House of Assembly, Salihu Yakubu Danladi, who was announced as the winner by the Musliu Obanikoro-led team that conducted the primary.

Meanwhile, party leaders and stakeholders continue to wait for the national leadership of the party to announce the list before the time allowed by INEC to submit names of candidates.

In Benue, Alia, loyalists battle for APC tickets

There are strong indications that the internal crisis rocking the ruling All Progressive Congress in Benue State is not yet over.

This is coming as some candidates whose nominations have been upturned by the national working committee of the APC have challenged the decision in court.

Our correspondent reliably gathered that one of the House of Assembly aspirants, Sesugh Kaaba, had instituted a case before the Federal High Court in Abuja restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the APC from recognizing those whose names were not successful in the last primary elections of the party supervised by INEC but uploaded on the portal.

He is further seeking an order directing and compelling the APC to forward only the aforementioned candidates to INEC for the Governorship, Senatorial, House of Representatives and House of Assembly elections in Benue State.

In suit number marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1429/2026, Kaaba is seeking an order directing INEC to recognise Rev Fr. Hyacinth Alia(governorship candidate), Sen Gabriel Suswam, Benjamin Aber and Francis Ottah Agbo(Senatorial candidates) and other successful candidates during the primary election.

The case, which is before Justice Inyang Ekwo.has been adjourned to August 27, 2026, for definite hearing.

Our correspondent learnt that the pending case might have delayed the party from uploading the name of the Benue APC  governorship candidate on the INEC portal.

When contacted, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Kula Tersoo, told our correspondent that his principal had received his nomination forms, filled and submitted.

Our correspondent on Sunday sighted a purported congratulatory message of the party Elders Advisory Council, Benue State Chapter, under the leadership of its Chairman, Senator Barnabas Gemade.

Gemade, in the letter, congratulated the governor and his deputy, Hyacinth Iormem Alia and Sam Ode, respectively, on the successful validation of their party nomination by INEC.

The council appealed to the people of the State to continue supporting Governor Alia and his administration as it strives to deepen the dividends of democracy across the state.

When contacted, the party state publicity secretary of the Agada-led exco and loyal to SGF, Daniel Ihomun, described the purported submission of the governor’s name to INEC by the APC as laughable.

Ihomun asked how tenable it was for the  National Working Committee of the party to submit Governor Alia’s name to INEC, and for INEC to upload it to its portal, when the governor had been joined in a suit instituted at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Ihomun, who quoted Article 21.5, Paragraph V of the APC Constitution 2022 as Amended, said that all the people who had filed a case against the national working committee of the party without exhausting the conflict resolution mechanism of the party risk expulsion from the APC.