APC, INEC In Dilemma Over Dapo Abiodun’s Candidacy

The leadership of the All Progressives Congress, and the Independent National Electoral Commission are currently caught in a deep legal and political dilemma over the candidacy of Ogun State governor, Prince Adedapo Oluseun Abiodun. The governor, who is also a senatorial hopeful, is now facing a serious legal challenge that threatens not only his political future but also the credibility of the two institutions that appears to be shielding him.

A civil society organisation has asked the Federal High Court in Lagos to determine once and for all whether Governor Abiodun should be constitutionally disqualified from holding any elective office in Nigeria. The grounds for this prayer are multiple allegations of lying under oath, submitting contradictory educational records, claiming attendance at schools that investigations suggest do not exist, and concealing a criminal indictment and imprisonment in the United States dating back to 1986.

This report is based on a thorough analysis of court documents, including an originating summons, affidavits, exhibits, and a legal caveat served on both the APC and INEC. Receipt stamps on those documents confirm that both the party and the electoral commission are fully aware of the pending suit, yet, neither has issued a clear response. The question now is whether they will continue to look away or finally face the legal reality.

For years, Governor Abiodun has presented himself as a polished technocrat and a successful businessman turned politician. But beneath that public image, according to court filings, lies a web of inconsistent sworn statements, missing educational records, and a criminal past that he has allegedly tried to erase.

The dilemma for the APC and INEC is straightforward but painful. If they continue to support or recognise Governor Abiodun as a candidate, they risk being seen as complicit in covering up what the applicants describe as serial false declarations on oath. If they withdraw their support or disqualify him, they would have to admit that they previously cleared a man who may have been ineligible all along. Either way, the political cost is high.

The suit, filed by three applicants, Human Global Resource Initiative, Human Rights Monitoring Agenda (HURMA), and Buna Olaitan Isiak, does not ask for money. It asks for declarations and permanent injunctions. In simple terms, the applicants want the court to declare that Governor Abiodun is disqualified from ever contesting any election in Nigeria again.

The allegations are layered and damning. In 2014, the Governor swore he attended two universities. By 2018, both had vanished from his declaration, replaced by a secondary school certificate. One of the primary schools he claimed to have attended does not exist. And on November 6, 1986, a man bearing his exact name and date of birth was arrested in Miami-Dade, Florida, fingerprinted, matched to a second criminal identity, and jailed for credit card fraud. The applicants allege he later tried to have those records sealed.

Beyond the courtroom, the applicants have taken the extraordinary step of serving a formal Legal Caveat on INEC, the APC, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and other registered political parties across Nigeria. The caveat is unambiguous in its warning: while this matter remains pending before the Federal High Court, no political party should collect nomination forms from Governor Abiodun, clear him as a candidate, or in any way present him for any elective office. The matter is now subjudice, and any party that proceeds regardless does so with full knowledge of the pending suit and the legal consequences that may follow.

Receipt stamps confirm that the message has landed. INEC’s Litigation and Prosecution Department acknowledged receipt on March 23, 2026. The APC’s Department of Legal Services stamped the same day. The PDP and other parties have equally been put on notice. In the language of the law, ignorance is no longer available as a defence. Every institution that fields, funds, or endorses Governor Abiodun’s candidacy from this point forward does so with its eyes open, and with the court watching. The court has been asked to decide. The nation is watching.

Faleye is a public affairs analyst, he writes from Abeokuta.