Oyo Accord Crisis Deepens as Excos Accuse Oriyomi of Plot to Hijack Party, Say Certificate of Return Fake

The looming leadership crisis within the Oyo state chapter of Accord Party has taken a new turn following allegations by members of the state executive that one of the party’s governorship aspirants, Oriyomi Hamzat, attempted to hijack the party structure and influence the selection process ahead of the elections.

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Speaking on Dominion Television, the Oyo State Secretary of the Accord Party, Hon. Olayinka Dairo, accused Oriyomi of interfering in the affairs of the state executives despite being an aspirant himself.

According to him, the controversy began after the national chairman of the party allegedly issued a letter disqualifying Hon. Busari from contesting the party primaries.

Dairo questioned the basis of the disqualification, insisting that Hon. Busari was the only aspirant who attended a reconciliation meeting organized by the state leadership for the three contenders involved in the dispute.

“Out of the three aspirants invited for reconciliation, only Hon. Busari attended. In a normal situation, those who failed to show up should be the ones facing disqualification, not the person who honoured the meeting,” he said.

He further dismissed claims by an opposing faction within the party, describing their activities as a “jamboree” and insisting that the authentic state executives conducted the legitimate screening and primary process in the presence of officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

According to him, INEC officials monitored the process and witnessed the collation of results from various local governments before the final outcome was announced.

Dairo also alleged that some members of the rival faction attempted to disrupt the party’s screening exercise.

“We communicated the date for the screening exercise, but they came to disrupt the process and destroyed several items. We have evidence and pictures of what happened,” he claimed.

He added that several House of Assembly aspirants who initially aligned with the rival group had allegedly reached out to the recognized state executives to ensure their names were included in the party’s official list.

The party secretary also accused Oriyomi of attempting to influence candidate selection in certain constituencies.

“He came to us insisting that a particular candidate should be used in one constituency because the person was powerful and influential. We told him clearly that as an aspirant, he could not dictate to the party executives who should emerge as candidates,” he stated.

Dairo further alleged that the certificate of return being paraded by Oriyomi and his faction was not authentic, insisting that the process recognized by the state executives and monitored by INEC remained the legitimate one.

Despite the ongoing internal crisis, the Accord Party chieftain expressed optimism that the dispute would eventually be resolved, stressing that the interest of the party remained paramount ahead of the elections.