Ogun gov’ship ticket: ADC panel rejects El-Rufai ally’s declaration, declares Ogundipe winner

Drama unfolded within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Ogun State at the weekend as the party’s Governorship Primaries Electoral Committee declared Dr. Biodun Collins Ogundipe (BCO) the authentic winner of the primary, rejecting an earlier declaration that named Jimi Lawal, a close associate of former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, as the flag bearer. It would be recalled that two two conflicting sets of results emerged from the primary election conducted across the state. Earlier in the week, the Secretary of the Ogun State Primary Election Committee, Barrister Adebimpe Adelowo, had announced Lawal as the winner of the exercise held across the state’s 236 wards. According to Adelowo, Lawal polled 19,428 votes to defeat fellow aspirants Dr. Biodun Collins Ogundipe, who reportedly scored 5,775 votes, and Dr. Marie Abolaji Odusina, who secured 4,825 votes. Based on those figures, Lawal was declared the ADC governorship candidate for the 2027 general election. However, in a dramatic twist, the Chairman of the ADC Primaries Electoral Committee, Adeniyi Adams, dismissed that declaration at a press conference and insisted that Ogundipe was the actual winner of the election. Addressing journalists in Abeokuta, Adams stated that as chairman of the 11-member committee mandated by the national leadership to conduct and supervise the primary, he remained the only official authorized to announce the final results. According to him, the committee’s certified results showed that Ogundipe secured 9,370 votes to emerge victorious, while Lawal garnered 6,812 votes and Odusina polled 2,349 votes. Adams explained that the final outcome followed a thorough review of the voting process, which saw the cancellation of results in Sagamu and Ijebu East Local Government Areas due to alleged over-voting and the mutilation of result sheets. He added that rerun elections were subsequently conducted in Yewa South and Ado-Odo/Ota local government areas to ensure the structural integrity of the process. The committee chairman maintained that all decisions taken during the election—including cancellations, reruns, and collation procedures—were carried out with the full knowledge and approval of agents representing all three aspirants. “With the scores recorded from the direct primaries conducted in the 20 local government areas of Ogun State, Dr. Biodun Collins Ogundipe is the duly elected winner of the Ogun State Governorship Primary,” Adams declared. He stressed that it was procedurally improper for anyone to declare a winner outside the official channels established by the party. “As the Chairman of the Electoral Committee for the ADC Primary Elections, I am the only one authorized by the party to announce the final results of the election. Whatever anyone else has done is completely unauthorized,” Adams stated. He further disclosed that he had completed and submitted his official report on the primary to the party’s National Secretariat, adding that the clarification became necessary to prevent the public from being misled about the true outcome of the exercise.