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By Chinelo Obogo
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said it would defer to the Elders’ Council in Osun State in determining the direction of the forthcoming governorship primary scheduled for Saturday, December 13.
This assurance was given by the party’s National Organising Secretary, Sulaiman Argungu, when a gubernatorial aspirant, Munirudeen Oyebamiji submitted his nomination and expression of interest forms for the 2026 governorship election at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja. Oyebamiji, who was accompanied by party leaders and stakeholders, submitted his form at exactly 5pm on Monday.
Argungu, represented by the Deputy National Organising Secretary, Chidi Duru, said the party was determined to get it right in the 2026 election by respecting the guidance of the Osun Elders’ Council during the primary. According to him, Osun State remains strategically important to President Bola Tinubu and must be reclaimed ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“Osun is important because it is in the South West and it is also part of the state we want in our fold before the 2027 general election. Also, the President has a special interest in the state; therefore, we must get it right this time. We have elders in the Osun APC, and definitely, if we concede to the elders, we won’t lose the state; we will get it right as well,” Argungu stated. He also urged Oyebamiji and his supporters to continue to conduct themselves peacefully as the primary approaches.
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Speaking earlier, the National Secretary of the APC, Senator Surajudeen Bashir, said the party must secure a decisive victory in the 2026 Osun governorship election. Ajibola, who recently stepped down as an aspirant ahead of the primary, noted that Osun remains one of the key states the party was determined to win convincingly.
After submitting his forms, Oyebamiji declared himself the aspirant to beat in the December 13 primary, stressing that his professional and public service records set him apart. According to him, his track records in the banking sector, where he spent 28 years, his stewardship as Managing Director of Osun State Investment Company Limited (OSICOL), his tenure as a two-time Commissioner for Finance in Osun State and his recent accomplishment as Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), speak volumes.
“I dare to tell you with modesty that I am an aspirant to beat having resigned my appointment. I worked in the private enterprise, especially in the banking sector, for 28 years, and this is the sector where I was formed, which is a target-oriented sector. It is a sector that you just must be profitable, you must work it and you must know your onions. I worked there and I have my records; I resigned from that opportunity to join the public sector. When I joined the public sector in 2012, I was made the managing director of a state investment company and the records are there for any of us here to verify. We did very well and I’m proud of myself.
“After that, I was the managing director when I was appointed the Commissioner for Finance during former Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s administration, and we excelled. I am a Commissioner for Finance without a blemish and just like you said, I was appointed the managing director of NIWA. My two years in NIWA were fantastic. It was a record that had never been matched since the creation of that authority. That gives me the courage that anywhere I take a step to go, with Almighty God, I always succeed, and in this one, we will. We have prayed to God and we are still working hard and we are going to deliver the goodies to your party,” he said.
