Busari-Akinnadeju: DLA Screening Process Was An Intentional Sabotage Of My Aspiration

Busari-Akinnadeju: DLA Screening Process Was An Intentional Sabotage Of My Aspiration

Former presidential aspirant Abisayo Busari-Akinnadeju alleges deliberate efforts to block her candidacy and accuses party leaders of unfair conduct.

Former Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA) presidential aspirant, Abisayo Busari-Akinnadeju, has accused the party leadership of deliberately working to prevent her from participating in its presidential primary, describing the screening process as an “intentional sabotage” of her ambition.

Speaking in an interview on ARISE News on Saturday, Busari-Akinnadeju detailed the events that led to her withdrawal from the 2027 presidential race, alleging that party officials manipulated internal processes to exclude her from the contest.

According to her, concerns emerged during the party’s screening process after she had already secured the nominations required to proceed to the primary election.

“Towards the 21st of May, to be precise, the screening process, it became obvious that the party leadership had made an intentional process to ensure that I was screened out of the primary,” she said.

Busari-Akinnadeju said she had travelled to the United Kingdom for a graduation ceremony after obtaining approval from party officials, only to be informed that her screening would take place during her absence.

“The day I got to the United Kingdom, I got a call from the chairman of the screening committee that the national chairman had instructed her to withdraw that approval for me to travel and that the screening must take place on the day that I was not in the country,” she said.

She added: “I wrote immediately back to say, this is an intentional sabotage of my aspiration. You, the chairman, that is the party chairman, was aware and gave his approval for me to leave. The party, the secret committee gave the approval for me to travel to insist that the screening would go on in my absence after allowing me to leave the country was not fair.”

The former aspirant said party officials later agreed to conduct her screening after objections were raised by state party chairmen. However, she claimed fresh obstacles emerged when she arrived for the exercise.

“On arriving at the screening venue, I was informed that I would have to face another disciplinary committee before they would confirm my running for the race. And at the same time, the national party chairman declared that he would also be running for the office of the president,” she said.

Busari-Akinnadeju said she requested a direct primary election to allow party members to decide who would represent the party in the presidential election.

“At that point, I said, there’s no problem. Let us go to direct primaries and then allow the party members and the delegates to choose who will represent them,” she stated.

She alleged that plans for a consensus candidate subsequently replaced preparations for a direct primary, prompting her to question the party’s commitment to its own rules.

“All the state party chairman who were already getting up and getting ready to come to Abuja for the process were informed to stay at their various states because there will be a consensus candidate which will be announced,” she said.

Busari-Akinnadeju said the developments convinced her that she could not obtain a fair hearing within the party.

“At that point, I realized that a party that has chosen to walk away from its own process, that has constituted a screening committee made up of the same national working committee, disciplinary committee made up of the same screening committee, then there can’t be justice on that table,” she said.

Explaining her decision to leave the party rather than continue the internal dispute, she added: “I refused to let Nigerians who had followed me for a number of years, knowing what I stand for, be deceived into believing that this party is the new boy on the block that will deliver the mandate of the people.”

Busari-Akinnadeju also defended her decision to seek a refund of the ₦12 million nomination fee paid by female aspirants, saying the issue was about accountability rather than money.

“It is not so much about the money paid. It is the principle,” she said.