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Legal representatives of Lagos governorship aspirant, Princess Islamiyat Abiodun Oyefusi, have accused the African Democratic Congress (ADC) of unlawfully subverting the outcome of the party’s Lagos State gubernatorial primary election.
Princess Abiodun formally entered the race for the 2027 Lagos State governorship election under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) after picking up her nomination form at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja on May 12, 2026. Formerly the Deputy Governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, she recently aligned with the ADC to pursue her 2027 ambition. The party had earlier, on December 7, 2025, formally recognised her as its gubernatorial aspirant ahead of the upcoming election cycle.
In a press statement issued by Platinum & Taylor Hill LP, counsel to Princess Abiodun claimed that the Governorship aspirant emerged winner of the ADC direct primary election conducted on May 22, 2026, after securing the majority of valid votes cast by party members.
The law firm alleged that another aspirant, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, who reportedly finished third in the election, was subsequently declared as the party’s gubernatorial candidate. According to the statement signed by Olalekan F. Ojo, the party reportedly removed all votes credited to her and transferred them to Gbadebo.
“This was not a clerical mistake, computational error, or administrative oversight. It was a deliberate and coordinated act of electoral fraud,” the statement reads.
The legal representatives further accused the party of denying Princess Abiodun a fair hearing prior to the primaries. They stated that a petition was reportedly filed against her before the election, but she was never served the petition, informed of the allegations, or given the opportunity to defend herself before a screening committee reportedly recommended her exclusion.
The law firm stated that despite the alleged irregularities, Princess Abiodun participated in the election and won convincingly.
“Following the primary election, our firm further demanded the proper collation and recognition of the authentic results as lawfully cast by party members. Again, the ADC refused to respond. Instead, the party proceeded to impose Mr Rhodes-Vivour on the people of Lagos State and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) without any lawful basis whatsoever.”
Platinum & Taylor Hill LP said it is commencing legal proceedings before the Federal High Court seeking declaratory and injunctive reliefs over what it described as constitutional, electoral, and procedural violations.
The firm called on the National Working Committee of the ADC to reverse the decision and formally recognise Oyefusi as the lawful winner of the Lagos State governorship primary election. It also urged INEC to reject any nomination that did not emerge from “a lawfully conducted, transparently collated, and validly concluded primary election.”
“A political party that cannot protect the votes of its own members cannot credibly ask Lagosians to entrust it with the governance of Lagos State,” the statement added. “Princess Oyefusi won this primary election.”
The ADC is yet to publicly respond to the claims at the time of filing this report.
