A crisis has erupted among youth leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun West Senatorial District over an alleged forgery of signatures in a communiqu? advocating the zoning of the party?s 2026 governorship ticket to the district.

No fewer than 40 youth leaders from five of the ten local government areas, Ola-Oluwa, Isokan, Ede North, Ede South, and Ayedire, have accused some party members of forging their signatures in a document purportedly signed in support of the zoning demand.

Speaking with journalists, one of the aggrieved leaders, Alimi Bakare, said the communiqu? did not reflect the true position of many youth leaders in the district.

?We never signed any document supporting the zoning of the governorship ticket to Osun West. Not all youth leaders attended the said meeting, and many of the signatures attached to the communiqu? were forged,? he said.

Bakare further alleged that ?In Ede North, it was a single person who signed on behalf of all 10 youth leaders,? appealing to the party hierarchy to prioritise competence over zoning.

Another youth leader from Ola-Oluwa, Amos Amindiya, alongside Raji Rafiu from Isokan and Idris Aderibigbe, claimed that some leaders were coerced into endorsing the call for zoning the governorship ticket to Osun West, instead of backing the most qualified aspirant.

However, Osun West APC leader, Imran Mojeed, dismissed the forgery allegation, insisting that all youth leaders present at the meeting voluntarily signed the communiqu?.

?We all agreed before signing the communiqu? to seek the zoning of the governorship ticket to Osun West. There is video evidence to back this up,? Mojeed said.

He accused some dissenting youth leaders of attempting to cause confusion for selfish reasons.

?Those opposing our position are just two LCDA youth leaders, not representatives of the main councils. They tried to bribe some of our members to change their stance, but our people rejected the offer,? he alleged.

Mojeed explained that the communiqu? merely reinforced the earlier appeal made by the Osun West Senatorial Chairman of the APC, Gbenga Omolaoye, who had urged the party leadership to consider zoning the governorship ticket to the district.

?We did not agitate for any particular candidate from Osun West,? he added. ?We only appealed to the president and party leadership to recognise that we have capable hands in our district.? (The Guardian)

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