The Ogun State chapter of the Labour Party has accused the All Progressives Congress of using its ongoing electronic membership registration to allegedly manipulate figures ahead of the 2027 general elections.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the state chairman of the Labour Party, Chief Oluwabukola Soyoye, claimed that the APC’s e-registration exercise was designed to digitally inflate its membership strength and project a false image of popularity in the state.

Soyoye alleged that the ruling party had resorted to electronic registration because it could no longer mobilise people openly, insisting that the administration of Governor Dapo Abiodun had suffered widespread rejection due to what he described as underperformance.

According to him, the APC’s e-registration, presented as a routine membership drive, was in reality “a political referendum that exposes the deep rejection of Governor Dapo Abiodun and his black-market style of governance by the people of Ogun State.

“The people of Ogun are now wiser. They have deliberately refused to participate in any open, physical APC registration because they know the ruling party has failed them,” Soyoye said.

“That is why the APC has resorted to this so-called electronic registration — a system that allows figures to be fabricated behind closed doors without the presence of real members.”

The LP further alleged that the electronic platform could be used to manipulate membership data, inflate figures and create a misleading narrative of political dominance ahead of 2027

“What we are witnessing is not a genuine political exercise but a fraudulent digital operation designed to manufacture legitimacy for a government that has lost the confidence of the people,” Soyoye added.

By Kola Odepeju

“Calumny Is Only The Noise Of Madmen” –Diogenes

As Osun state gubernatorial election draws nearer, we’re now at the dawn of the campaigns for the coming election and so as characteristic of Nigeria’s democracy, wrong accusations, blackmails, character assassinations and all manner of negative campaigns aimed at demarketing the most popular candidate with the highest chances of coasting home to victory in a major election of this nature, must surface. And so in our own dear Osun state here this ugly trend has started surfacing. The mudslinging that has started from Governor Ademola Adeleke’s Accord Party’s camp against the APC gubernatorial candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji AMBO is ‘normal’ and expected because with the massive support for AMBO across the nook and cranny of the state, it’s crystal clear that he’s the candidate to beat.

As mentioned above, a candidate to beat in any major election is bound to face vilifications by his opponents who see him as a threat and a stumbling block against the success of their own ambitions. Therefore given the nature of our politics in this part of the world, the negative campaigns that have started against AMBO are no surprise. We witnessed the same thing against the incumbent president, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu during the 2023 electioneering campaigns for the office of the country’s president. But against all odds, Asiwaju Tinubu emerged victorious. So as Asiwaju Tinubu emerged victorious in 2023, l have that strong conviction that our own Asiwaju Bola Oyebamiji will also become victorious in the coming August gubernatorial election in the state irrespective of whatever negative campaigns that may come up against him. This is because the AMBO governorship project is divinely ordained.

Amongst other attacks that are still likely to come up against him as we face the election and as the election faces us, we have heard from those who are afraid of losing power that AMBO is the architect of half salaries in Osun (as if he was the governor in that era). We have also heard from them that he’s not youth-friendly. The spokesperson to governor Adeleke, Malam Olawale Rasheed also amplified these two negative points in his latest article aimed at demarketing AMBO. Like I mentioned, the negative campaigns have just started. We are still going to hear more. I wonder why people cannot engage in issues-based campaigns instead of vilifying candidates.

Ambo has told Osun youths the program he has for them. He has promised to take care of them. And as a God-fearing and honest leader who keeps to his words, l believe he will not renege on his promise for the youths and also his promises for Osun people generally. So let those who revel in vilifying a credible candidate like AMBO tell Osun youths the programs they have for them rather than calumniating a visionary and capable leader who has what it takes to deliver the goods. Of course AMBO – being a focused leader – needs not to bother himself about the negative campaigns being circulated against him by his political detractors because William Shakespeare had for long told us that “*Be thou as chaste as ice, and as pure as snow, thou shall not escape calumny*”. And George Washington also mentioned it that “*Silence is the best answer to false accusations*”.

Finally, the Yorubas in their words do say that “maligning the honey doesn’t reduce its sweetness”. No matter the level of negative campaigns against the APC gubernatorial candidate towards the election, it won’t reduce the love the Osun people have for him while it won’t deter them from casting their votes for him in the upcoming gubernatorial election in the state. He will surely come out victorious by the special Grace of God Almighty 🙏. For, Vox populi vox dei. AMBO should continue on the path of issues-based campaigns and close his eyes against malignant talks by those who are already on their way out of power.

● Odepeju, newspaper columnist and political activist, writes from Iragbiji, Osun state.