From Ismail Omipidan, Abuja
The stage appears to be getting set for next year’s governorship election in Osun State. Although the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is yet to fix a date, ahead of the governorship primary, aspirants, especially within the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) are intensifying efforts at ensuring the realisation of their ambitions.
While most of them, especially those from the Osun-West Senatorial District appear to be waiting for the leader of the party and Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, to take a stand and show direction, by way of giving an inkling of where his preference lies, one of the aspirants believes outside forces are strong enough to give him the ticket without lifting a finger. Sadly, Daily Sun learnt, of all the aspirants, the boastful one among them appears to have the least chances of emerging the candidate of the APC, if the party is desirous of staging a come back.
But as the date of the anticipated primary election draws closer, with Oyetola and some notable leaders of the party, including former Osun State Governor, Chief Bisi Akande, still preferring to keep aspirants and other members of APC guessing about who they have in mind as the likely candidate to confront the incumbent Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, next year, Daily Sun investigations reveal that aspirants nursing governorship ambition appear to have decided to carry their aspirations to their senatorial districts, while hoping they will eventually get the nod of the party leaders, with agitations to cede the ticket to Osun-West, where the incumbent hails from, gaining more momentum. For instance, in the last one month, at the last count, nine different groups have either addressed the press or staged rallies to impress it on the party leaders that should Oyetola decides not to run, the party, in the interest of “justice and fairness” should throw the ticket to Osun-West.
The latest of such agitations came from Forum of ex-lawmakers from the state. The former Osun State House of Assembly members openly demanded that the leadership of the APC should zone the 2026 governorship ticket to the Osun-West Senatorial District in the interest of “equity.” This is even as they also urged the party structure across Osun to commence activities in all the polling units in a bid to dislodge the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from power in the state.
The Forum at the end of its meeting, issued a communique, which was duly signed by the Secretary of the forum, Hon. Ajibola Akinloye on behalf of the 14 other lawmakers from Osun-West Senatorial District. In the communique, they emphasised the need for the APC to give the district a sense of belonging since it has never had the opportunity to produce a governor under the progressive platform since 1999.
While acknowledging that the immediate past Governor of Osun State, Oyetola, has the right of seeking another term in office, having lost his re-election bid in 2022, should he however decide to turn down the ticket, the governorship ticket should be an exclusive right of the Osun-West Senatorial District.
They further said “our loyalty towards the party is absolute. That equity and fairness should come to play in 2026 governorship race in Osun State where every district has a sense of belonging.
“We earnestly ask for the governorship ticket to be zoned to West Senatorial District that has never gotten the ticket in the Progressive Party since 1999 unlike the two other senatorial districts.
“Our agitation/request above is subject to the decision of our leader, His Excellency, Adegboyega Oyetola, the Honourable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, who has the right of first refusal to the APC governorship ticket.
“We also encourage that party activities should commence immediately from polling units to the state level to send the ruling party in the state (PDP) out of power by 2026,” the former lawmakers declared.
Like in every state of the country, Osun State, is politically divided into three senatorial districts. They are: Osun-West, Osun-Central and Osun- East. The first civilian Governor, late Senator Isiaka Adeleke, who spent about two years in office, hailed from Ede, in Osun- West. Next was Chief Bisi Akande, from Ila Orangun in Osun -Central. He spent four years, but lost his re-election bid in 2003 to Brigadier-General Olagunsoye Oyinlola (rtd) from Odo-Otin Council, also in Osun -Central. Oyinlola spent seven years. After Oyinlola, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola from Osun-East, spent eight years, and after him, Oyetola, again from Osun-Central spent four years but lost his re-election bid in 2022.
Cumulatively, Osun-Central alone has had 15 years governing the state, out of which the progressives spent eight years. As it stands, Daily Sun further gathered that, within the progressives’ fold, only Osun-West is yet to produce the governor. Therefore, if the zoning sentiment and agitations in the state is anything to go by, Osun -West should ordinarily be the next senatorial district to produce the APC candidate.
Expectedly, those pushing for the ticket to go to Osun-West within the APC appears to be hinging their agitations, largely on an unwritten understanding between stakeholders from the zone and those who marketed Oyetola’s administrative credentials ahead of the 2018 governorship election. Majority of the stakeholders who spoke to Daily Sun confirmed that following their decision to make Oyetola, Aregbesola’s successor, in 2018, an understanding was reached to the effect that Osun-West Senatorial District would produce the next governor, after Oyetola’s tenure, which ordinarily should have ended in 2026.
“But since the election was lost in 2022, we believe that the only person that can get the ticket from Osun-Central and there won’t be bickering or protest votes from within during the election, is Oyetola. If the APC does otherwise, there would be protest votes, and the party will just blow away the golden opportunity. Remember, APC needs Osun. It is the last election before the 2027 presidential election,” one of the leaders of the party told Daily Sun.
Confirming the development, another stakeholder from the APC, who though is not from Osun-West, but was part of those that provided the platform for Oyetola to run in 2018, also said “ask around, mention my name, they will tell you that I was part of those who drafted our leader, Oyetola, into the race in 2018. Forget the story about imposition that some persons are spreading around. We were the ones who felt that Oyetola was needed at that point to stabilise Osun.
“So, we reached out to the Najeems of this world and we were able to convince them to see our view point and they agreed with us that after Oyetola, Osun-west should produce the governor. But some did not agree. I am talking of the Adeotis of this world. They pulled out and eventually from Osun-West, we lost over 40,000 votes to ADP. You know what, majority of those votes came from just one Local Government in Osun-West. This is why we are saying that if our leader, Oyetola is not running, the ticket should be ceded to Osun-West for strategic reasons. One of the reasons is that the sentiment about cry of marginalisation of Osun-West which the PDP rode on in 2022, would no longer be there and the APC would have been able to match them.”
Interestingly, long before stakeholders from Osun-West began to openly canvass for the ticket, a chieftain of the party, from Osun-Central, Hon. Sunday Akere, had late last year affirmed that the party’s governorship ticket would be zoned to Osun-West Senatorial District, once it was certain, the immediate past governor of the state, Oyetola is not keen about running.
Akere, who served Oyetola as Special Adviser on Political Affairs, maintained that the district will be the party’s focus, once the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy refuses to run, since he has the right of first refusal to run for another term as Governor.
Hear him “the ticket will be vacant if only, Minister of Marine and Blue Economy decides not to run for the position. You should also understand that the APC in Osun State today has credible personalities across the three senatorial districts that can pick its ticket and deliver victory come 2026 against Governor Ademola Adeleke, that is a certainty.
“But for fairness, the APC will focus more on the West senatorial district for its candidate. I am not going to mention anyone but you are all aware that every major politician in the district is academically, psychologically and morally qualified to wrestle power from Governor Adeleke in 2026.
“All the political bigwigs from the district are eminently qualified to pick the party’s ticket and deliver victory against the incumbent Governor, hence, the party would not have problem zoning its ticket there (Osun-West).
“I need to quickly let you know that the APC is a party with discipline and tradition not only here in Osun but the entire nation. So, we realise fully that former Governor Oyetola has the right of first refusal for the governorship ticket for 2026 and that decision is entirely his to take,” Akere added.