By James Ogunnaike, Abeokuta
The All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership in Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State has dissociated itself from former governorship aspirant, Mr Abayomi Hunye, saying his recent political activities and public statements do not represent the position of the party.
The party stated this on Saturday at a press conference held at the APC secretariat in Ipokia, following recent political activities by Hunye, who last weekend unveiled a running mate and insisted that he remained in the race for the 2027 Ogun State governorship election.
Speaking at the briefing, APC Chairman in Ipokia Local Government, Hon. Agbetokun Wasiu Onikoyo, said the party had dissociated itself from Hunye’s activities, statements and recent actions.
He said Hunye’s views did not represent the position of the APC or its members in the local government.
“We state categorically that Mr Hunye’s recent utterances and political activities do not represent the official position of the APC in Ipokia Local Government, nor do they reflect the collective views, aspirations and decisions of our party members,” Agbetokun said.
The chairman also reaffirmed the support of the APC in Ipokia for Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, as the party’s preferred candidate for the 2027 governorship election.
Agbetokun alleged that Hunye had, over the years, obtained nomination forms during election cycles and subsequently negotiated for political appointments rather than participating in open and competitive primary elections.
“Since 2011, the party leadership alleges that Mr Hunye has followed a pattern of obtaining nomination forms and subsequently entering into negotiations that have resulted in political appointments,” he said.
He recalled what he described as Hunye’s previous appointments, including Chairman of the Ogun State Motor Vehicle Administration and Compliance Agency, Commissioner and Special Adviser.
Agbetokun, however, said the party’s position was not intended to deny anyone the right to aspire to political office, but to ensure that such ambitions were pursued within the framework of the APC constitution, party structures and democratic processes.
The chairman also called on Hunye to clarify questions surrounding the different names allegedly associated with him, including claims that he was known as “Semako Korotoe” while in the Lagos State public service.
He said any lawful change of name should be backed by appropriate documentation and that the issue should be addressed through verifiable records rather than speculation.
On Hunye’s suspension, Agbetokun maintained that no individual, regardless of political status or ambition, was above the APC constitution.
“Party discipline is governed by established procedures and structures, beginning at the Ward level and progressing through the Local Government, State and National levels, where applicable,” he said.
He added that obtaining a nomination form did not confer immunity from disciplinary proceedings.
“It is therefore our position that obtaining a nomination form does not automatically extinguish or override any disciplinary process validly initiated within the party structure,” Agbetokun said.
Also speaking, the member representing Ipokia/Idiroko State Constituency in the Ogun State House of Assembly, Hon. Bisi Oyedele, explained the process through which Hunye’s suspension was initiated and ratified.
Oyedele said the APC constitution required disciplinary action leading to suspension to commence at the Ward level before being considered at the Local Government, State and, where applicable, National levels.
“The party’s constitution is clear on the procedure for suspension. It must begin at the Ward level before proceeding to the Local Government and subsequently to the State and National levels,” he said.
According to him, Hunye’s suspension began at the Ward level and was subsequently forwarded to the Local Government Executive Committee, which considered and ratified the decision before transmitting it to the State level.
He added that the Ogun State Executive Council, under the leadership of Yemi Sanusi, also ratified the suspension.
Oyedele said the National leadership later reviewed the matter, with the National Secretary confirming that the party had examined the suspension notice and ratified the action taken at the lower levels.
….Screening did not lift suspension, Oladele says
Meanwhile, a constitutional lawyer and former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Kayode Oladele, has argued that Hunye’s subsequent screening and clearance for the APC governorship nomination process did not amount to reinstatement or automatically nullify his earlier suspension.
Oladele, in a statement, said Hunye’s argument that his participation in the party’s governorship nomination process had extinguished the suspension was based on a misunderstanding of the distinction between screening and disciplinary procedures.
According to him, the two processes are separate and are governed by different provisions of the APC constitution and handled by different party organs.
“The central legal question is not whether Hunye was subsequently screened or cleared. The relevant question is: when, how and by whom was his suspension lifted?
“Was there an appeal against the suspension? Was there a resolution reversing it? Did a competent organ of the APC review the disciplinary action and set it aside? Was there a formal decision reinstating him? If Hunye maintains that his suspension has been lifted, he should produce the decision that lifted it,” Oladele said.
The APC had maintained that Hunye was suspended following disciplinary proceedings which originated from Tube Ward in Ipokia Local Government Area and were subsequently ratified by the appropriate party structures.
Hunye, however, has disputed the position, arguing that after the purported suspension, the APC allowed him to obtain its governorship nomination form, screened and cleared him, and permitted him to participate in the governorship nomination process.
Oladele dismissed the argument, saying those subsequent actions could not, without an identifiable decision by a competent party organ, automatically be interpreted as reinstatement.
He argued that a screening committee established to determine aspirants’ eligibility for a nomination exercise could not automatically assume the powers of a disciplinary appeal body.
“A screening committee does not become a disciplinary appeal committee merely because a suspended member appears before it. If the argument is that the Screening Committee lifted the suspension, then it must first be established that the committee had the constitutional authority to review and reverse the disciplinary decision and that it actually exercised that authority.
“Screening cannot retrospectively be converted into an appeal against suspension,” he said.
Oladele also rejected the suggestion that clearance by a screening committee necessarily amounted to exoneration from an existing disciplinary sanction.
“Electoral clearance and disciplinary exoneration are two different things. Clearance to participate in a primary does not necessarily mean that every disciplinary decision previously taken against the person has been reversed,” he said.
On the argument that the APC may have waived the suspension by selling Hunye a nomination form, collecting the prescribed fees and allowing him to participate in the primary, Oladele said such administrative conduct should not automatically be elevated into a constitutional decision.
He maintained that for such conduct to amount to a reversal of the suspension, it must be established that the action represented a deliberate decision by an organ constitutionally empowered to review or terminate the disciplinary sanction.
“An administrative inconsistency does not necessarily amount to reinstatement. The crucial question remains whether a competent organ of the party consciously exercised its constitutional power to lift the suspension,” he said.
Oladele further argued that Hunye’s participation in the governorship primary did not confer on him the status of the APC governorship candidate.
He said screening, clearance and participation in a primary were merely stages in the nomination process and could not, by themselves, confer the party’s ticket on an aspirant.
He added that the APC national leadership had reaffirmed Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, as its governorship candidate in Ogun State after his emergence from the party’s governorship primary.
According to him, Hunye’s participation in the primary, where he was defeated, could not confer on him the right to represent the APC in the 2027 general election.
The former lawmaker also distinguished Hunye’s argument over the effect of his screening from any separate challenge he might have against the original suspension.
He said if Hunye believed that his suspension was imposed without adequate notice, fair hearing or compliance with the APC constitution, he remained entitled to challenge the disciplinary process through the appropriate internal or judicial mechanisms.
He stressed, however, that such a challenge was legally distinct from claiming that subsequent screening automatically extinguished the suspension.
“If Hunye believes the original suspension was defective, that is an issue he may challenge on its own merits. But it does not follow that because he was subsequently screened, the suspension automatically disappeared.
“The two questions must not be confused,” Oladele said.
He maintained that the burden was on Hunye to establish that the suspension had actually been terminated by an organ competent to do so.
According to him, the purchase of a nomination form, payment of fees, appearance before a screening committee, clearance or participation in a primary could not substitute for an identifiable decision reinstating a suspended member.
“If a competent organ of the APC reviewed Hunye’s suspension and set it aside, the decision should speak for itself. If an appeal succeeded, there should be an identifiable outcome. If he was reinstated, there should be a decision reinstating him.
“Until such a decision is produced or the suspension is otherwise successfully set aside through the appropriate legal process, the party is entitled to maintain that the suspension remains subsisting.
“The position is simple: screening is not reinstatement, clearance is not disciplinary exoneration, and participation in a primary is not an appellate decision setting aside a suspension. If Hunye says his suspension has been lifted, let him produce the decision that lifted it.”
Ipokia endorses Yayi
Meanwhile, Chairman of Ipokia Local Government, Hon. Johnson Akohomeh Avoseh, said the people and political structures in the area had endorsed Senator Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, for the 2027 Ogun governorship election.
Avoseh said Ipokia would not isolate itself from what he described as the progress and development of the state.
“As far as Ipokia Local Government is concerned, we don’t want to be in isolation of the progress of Ogun State.
“We want to be inclusive and we want to be part of good history in Ogun State. And our position as a local government is that we are all supporting Senator Olamilekan Adeola, YAYI, as the next Governor of Ogun State,” he said.
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