Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Pandemonium erupted in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Monday, May 18, 2026, when sporadic gunfire and armed political thugs invaded the venue of the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial primary election for the Ondo Central Senatorial District. The violence, which occurred at Ward 5, Ebenezer African Church Primary School on Amudipe Street, forced delegates, journalists, residents and even schoolchildren to flee for their lives. The ward is the designated polling unit of the incumbent senator, Adeniyi Adegbonmire, who is seeking re‑election. According to multiple eyewitness accounts compiled by various news outlets, the exercise had initially proceeded peacefully, with party members queuing behind their preferred aspirants. However, chaos erupted when a group of armed youths stormed the venue, firing shots into the air and wielding machetes. The assailants also shot directly at Senator Adegbonmire’s vehicle, leaving visible bullet marks, before security operatives whisked him away from the scene.
Reacting to the disruption, Adegbonmire described the primary as “a complete charade” and accused political opponents of deliberately sabotaging the process. Speaking to journalists shortly after his escape, the senator provided a detailed account of the counting process before the attack. According to him, party officials had asked members to line up according to their preferred candidates. His line was the longest, and his supporters were counted first, numbering over 360. Officials then moved to count the line of another aspirant, Taiwo Fasoranti. “When it was glaring to them that I got about three hundred and something ahead of others, thugs came and invaded the place. Shot in the air, shot at my car. I can show you the bullet mark,” he told The Guardian. He further alleged that similar incidents were reported across the senatorial district, with his supporters being openly intimidated and prevented from accessing voting centres. “They are saying that if you are not going to vote for Fasoranti, go back to your house. They have hired thugs to intimidate people,” Adegbonmire added. While he said some attackers invoked Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa’s name, he stated that he did not believe the governor was directly involved, though he had sent him a message about the incident.
The violence created a terrifying scene for parents and schoolchildren. The primary was being held within the premises of Ebenezer African Church Primary School and St. Peters African Church Primary School. As gunshots rang out, teachers and parents rushed to evacuate pupils, while journalists and party faithful were seen scaling fences and scrambling for cover. The shooting abruptly halted the voting and counting process, throwing the primary into disarray.
Another aspirant, Olumuyiwa Adu, a retired military officer and legal practitioner, also condemned the exercise, describing it as a sham. He alleged that armed youths openly threatened delegates and declared that only the governor’s preferred candidate would be allowed to vote. “We witnessed armed men threatening delegates and warning that no one should vote for any candidate apart from the governor’s choice. There was no primary election in the real sense of it. What happened was a coordinated effort to deny genuine party members their right to vote,” he told ThisDay. Adu disclosed that although he had the capacity to mobilise resistance, he restrained his supporters to prevent bloodshed. “No political ambition is worth bloodshed. Leadership requires restraint, and we will not allow Ondo to descend into chaos over a primary election,” he said. Adu warned that the recurring violence in APC primaries in the state could deepen internal divisions and hurt the party’s chances in future elections if not urgently addressed by the national leadership.
However, Taiwo Fasoranti, the candidate believed to be Governor Aiyedatiwa’s consensus choice, dismissed the allegations. Speaking after the exercise, he described the primary as free, fair and transparent, expressing confidence that he would emerge victorious when the final results are officially announced.
The violence in Akure on Monday was not an isolated incident but the culmination of weeks of mounting tension within the Ondo APC. In the days leading up to the primaries, aggrieved aspirants had repeatedly raised alarms about an alleged plot to unleash violence and intimidate opponents. On May 14, a group of National Assembly aspirants accused Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of deploying thugs to “weaponise the process” and warned that the planned violence could surpass the unrest witnessed during the party’s February state congress. The Ondo State Police Commissioner, Adebowale Lawal, had also issued a stern warning against political violence and voter intimidation ahead of the primaries. Despite these warnings, Monday’s events confirmed the worst fears of many stakeholders, exposing the deep divisions within the state chapter of the ruling party.
The failure of the primary to hold peacefully in Ward 5, the incumbent senator’s own ward, has raised serious questions about the integrity of the entire exercise. A visibly shaken Adegbonmire called on the national leadership of the APC to urgently intervene, describing the situation as a deliberate attempt to manipulate the outcome. “The same thing happened last week, where voters were intimidated in the House of Reps primaries. Now we are witnessing this again in the Senate. So clearly, it’s a pattern and something has to be done about it,” he told Leadership. As of the time of this report, the party’s National Primary Election Committee had not released the official results for the senatorial contest. The void left by the committee’s silence has allowed all three aspirants to claim varying degrees of victory, setting the stage for a potential legal battle. For the people of Ondo Central Senatorial District, the primaries were a day when democracy was silenced by the sound of gunfire. The question now is whether the party leadership has the will to restore order or whether the violence in Akure is merely a preview of the chaos to come.
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