Oyetola not plotting to rig Osun governorship election — APC replies PDP

By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo –

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has dismissed allegations by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, is plotting to rig the 2026 governorship election. The party described the claims as fabricated, baseless, and politically motivated.

In a statement on Tuesday signed by the APC State Chairman, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, the party denied that Oyetola made any threats to rig the election using the police and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as alleged by PDP Chairman, Sunday Bisi.

Lawal also rejected claims that Oyetola had confided in party stakeholders about working with the Attorney General of the Federation to create a loophole allowing reinstated APC local government officials to access accumulated local government funds.

“The so-called secret stakeholder meeting never happened. It exists only in the imagination of Governor Adeleke and the state PDP chairman,” Lawal said, accusing the PDP of being desperate and fearful as their party loses key members to the APC.

He challenged the PDP to provide evidence of their claims, noting that technological tools exist for verifying such meetings or conversations, yet no such proof has been presented.

Lawal further argued that if Oyetola did not interfere with the electoral process when he was governor, it made no sense to accuse him of plotting to rig an election from his ministerial position.

He urged the public to ignore what he described as a “web of lies” woven by the PDP to distract from their internal crises and declining support in the state.

Lawal warned that any attempt to replicate the alleged irregularities of the 2022 governorship election—such as extended voting hours in some local governments—would be lawfully resisted in the forthcoming poll.