Former Minister of Power and governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Oyo State, Adebayo Adelabu, has insisted that the party’s governorship candidate in the state is yet to emerge.

In a statement on Monday, Adelabu urged party members to remain calm and await the official pronouncement of the party’s national leadership on the outcome of the recently concluded primaries.

He equally warned against widely circulated consensus arrangements on candidates of the APC for governorship and other elective positions from the state for the 2027 general election.

DAILY POST reports that Adelabu, who resigned as Minister of Power on April 30, 2026, contested the APC governorship primaries in Oyo State alongside eight others, with Senator Sarafadeen Alli reported in several quarters as having won the primaries and being the consensus candidate of the party.

Meanwhile, Oyo APC chairman, Moses Adeyemo, had, after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Lagos, at the weekend, also declared Alli as the party’s candidate for the governorship election.

But Adelabu said no individual or group at the state level had been authorised to announce the final outcome of the primaries,” insisting that only the party’s national headquarters could make such a declaration.

“Oyo APC guber candidate yet to emerge. At this crucial stage, no one should allow himself or herself to be misled by rumours, propaganda or premature victory claims designed to manipulate public perception, create confusion among party faithful and influence ongoing consultations within the party.

“Such actions are neither helpful to the party nor consistent with the principles of fairness, discipline and internal democracy that should guide our conduct as loyal APC members.

“Any purported list of candidates being circulated on social media or through unofficial channels should be treated with utmost caution until the national leadership of the party makes its official pronouncement,” Adelabu said.

Scholar, activist, and former presidential candidate, Prof. Pat Utomi, has said that Peter Obi moving from the African Democratic Congress, ADC, to the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC, was a good Idea.

According to him, the former Labour Party presidential candidate would have been trapped.

Utomi said with what was seen happened in the ADC with some of their presidential aspirants such as Chibuike Amaechi and Mohammed Hayatu-deen complaining after the primaries and rejecting the outcome, it was a pretty smart move on the part of the former Anambra State governor.

DAILY POST reports that Peter Obi is now officially the presidential candidate of the NDC.

He was formally handed the party’s flag at the weekend and he went ahead to announce former Kano governor and the leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement, Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso as his running mate.

Speaking on Arise News, Utomi said, “Even though we had polling that suggested he [Obi] would defeat the other candidates within ADC, but if the main players would allow a proper process. 

“Let’s be very frank, both the way the process has been managed generally across the board makes all the primary processes a complete farce…

“More or less, imposing people, so they go through these processes, as you know, make believe in a democratic process.”

Amaechi was one of the notable Nigerians who joined the coalition party, the ADC and declared his interest to run for the presidency in 2027.

However, Amaechi lost the primary election of the party to former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who is now the party’s flag-bearer for the general election.

After the primary elections, Amaechi rejected the results, alleging widespread electoral malpractice and irregularities.

He vowed to challenge the result but has been silent ever since Atiku paid him a visit at his home in Abuja.

The presidency has described the followers of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, presidential candidate, Peter Obi, as the tigers of social media.

Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, said this on Monday during an interview on News Central Television.

Bwala said that  social media has changed citizen engagement with public figures, allowing direct criticism of leaders online.

“If you want to know for the records, the tigers of social media are Peter Obi’s followers. Everybody knows. Some of them live abroad, where the data is free. Some in Nigeria, they have access to some of those things, most of them are in the tech. They have done a lot of manipulation.

“That is not to say there are other political parties where there are no people like that. I will be the last to say, but if you are talking of tigers, then it’s the Obidients,” he said.

When asked if he pays people to use the internet and defend the government, Bwala said, “I don’t pay anybody for anything.

“If I was a paying type, all this agenda that was cooked against me during the Medi Hassan interview, I would have sold my family land to be defending agenda.”