Alli extends lead in APC governorship primary race as Senator Sharafadeen Alli tops APC Oyo primaries across 351 wards amid ongoing collation

Senator Sharafadeen Alli on Thursday emerged as the leading aspirant in the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship direct primaries conducted across 351 wards in Oyo State, as early collation reports indicated a widening gap between him and other contenders.

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Alli APC governorship primary lead became apparent as voting and collation processes progressed across several local government areas, with party officials and observers reporting that the senator representing Oyo South Senatorial District maintained a consistent advantage in ward-level returns.

Reports monitored from different parts of the state showed that Alli remained ahead as counting continued into the evening, with party faithful describing the exercise as largely peaceful and well attended across the state’s wards.

Political stakeholders attributed the strong showing to Senator Alli’s extensive grassroots structure, sustained mobilisation efforts and broad acceptance within the party hierarchy, which they said had significantly shaped voting patterns during the direct primaries.

The senator had earlier been widely mentioned as the party’s preferred consensus candidate ahead of the decision to proceed with a full-scale primary election involving all aspirants.

The earlier arrangement also reportedly included similar alignments in other states, where figures such as Lagos State’s Obafemi Hamzat and Ogun State’s Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, were said to enjoy strong internal backing within party structures.

Sources within the APC in Oyo State disclosed that early ward-level results continued to place Alli in a commanding position, fuelling optimism among his supporters that he could clinch the party’s governorship ticket ahead of the 2027 general election.

Some party members who spoke in Ibadan described the process as transparent and competitive, noting that Alli’s popularity among grassroots loyalists was reflected in the distribution of votes across multiple wards.

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As collation continued across the state, political observers suggested that the momentum gathered by Alli in the early stages of the primaries could prove decisive in determining the eventual APC governorship candidate in Oyo State.