Ekiti 2026: Group Warns Against Re-Enacting Agbalajobi/Sarumi Political Crisis Within APC

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By Daniel Faith

The grassroots mobilisation group, Oyebanji Street Vanguard (OSV), has cautioned some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State against making inflammatory statements capable of triggering a political crisis similar to the Agbalajobi/Sarumi deadlock that rocked Lagos politics in 1991.

In a statement issued on Wednesday in Ado-Ekiti, the group condemned recent remarks allegedly targeted at the National Secretary of the APC, Senator Ajibola Basiru, describing them as indirect attacks on the leadership of the party and the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.

“The President deserves respect. Our party deserves respect. Every true APC member must embrace party supremacy and discipline. Any attack on the National Secretary is an attack on the national leadership and the leader of our great party, President Bola Tinubu,” the group warned.

The OSV stressed that attempts to recreate the Agbalajobi/Sarumi scenario in Ekiti would be “dead on arrival,” adding that the people of the state would resist any clandestine move to destabilise governance and truncate continuity.

Reminder of 1991 Political Deadlock

The group recalled how, in 1991, the political rivalry between Professor Femi Agbalajobi and Chief Dapo Sarumi for the governorship ticket of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) ended in disaster after both men refused to step down for one another.

Their disqualification by the party leadership paved the way for Yomi Edu to emerge as the candidate. In protest, their supporters sabotaged the party, leading to the victory of Sir Michael Otedola of the rival National Republican Convention (NRC) as governor of Lagos State.

The OSV said Ekiti must not repeat such a costly mistake.

“Working clandestinely to re-invent the Agbalajobi/Sarumi crisis in Ekiti is an exercise in futility. We will continue to sensitise the people on the need to protect the unity of our party and sustain the continuity of good governance in our state,” the statement added.