A fresh controversy has erupted within the Lagos chapter of the African Democratic Congress after governorship aspirant Princess Islamiyat Abiodun Oyefusi accused the party leadership of manipulating the outcome of its governorship primary in favour of fellow aspirant .
Oyefusi, through her legal representatives, Platinum & Taylor Hill LP, claimed she won the ADC direct governorship primary held on May 22, 2026, after polling the highest number of valid votes across the state.
Her lawyers, however, alleged that the party leadership later reassigned her votes to Rhodes-Vivour, whom they claimed finished third in the contest.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the legal team described the development as a calculated act of electoral manipulation rather than an administrative mistake.
According to the statement, “This was not a clerical mistake, computational error, or administrative oversight. It was a deliberate and coordinated act of electoral fraud.”
The lawyers further alleged that before the primary election, a petition was secretly filed against Oyefusi without her knowledge. They claimed she was neither served the petition nor invited before any screening panel to defend herself before a committee allegedly recommended her disqualification.
Despite the alleged attempt to sideline her, Oyefusi maintained that she participated fully in the exercise and emerged winner based on the votes cast by party members.
Her legal team also accused the ADC leadership of ignoring repeated calls for proper collation and verification of the election results, insisting that the party instead imposed Rhodes-Vivour as its candidate for the 2027 Lagos governorship election.
The dispute has now moved to court, with Oyefusi’s lawyers confirming that a suit has been filed at the Federal High Court seeking declaratory and injunctive reliefs over alleged constitutional, electoral and procedural violations during and after the primary process.
The lawyers urged the ADC National Working Committee to recognise Oyefusi as the authentic winner of the primary and called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to reject any nomination that did not emerge from what they described as a transparent and credible process.
They also challenged Rhodes-Vivour to publicly distance himself from the candidacy, insisting that documentary evidence and election records exist to support Oyefusi’s claim of victory.
