Oyetola, Oyebamiji, Other APC Chieftains Absent as Adeleke Inaugurates Tinubu Campaign Council in Osun

Several prominent leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State were absent on Thursday as Governor Ademola Adeleke inaugurated a 344-member campaign council to lead President Bola Tinubu’s re-election campaign ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

 

Those absent included the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola; Senator representing Osun East, Francis Fadahunsi; and the APC governorship candidate in the 2026 election, Bola Oyebamiji.

 

Others who did not attend were the Osun APC Chairman, Tajudeen Lawal; former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Timothy Owoeye; lawmaker representing Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency, Oluwole Oke; Executive Director of Project Implementation at the Federal Housing Authority, Remi Omowaiye; and former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Adebayo Adeleke.

 

However, former Osun State Governor, Chief Adebisi Akande, led several APC chieftains to the inauguration, including former National Secretary of the party, Iyiola Omisore; APC National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru; former deputy governors Titi Laoye-Ponle and Lekan Adewoyin; Babajide Omoworare; and Chief Shuaib Oyedokun.

 

Also present were APC Osun Central Senatorial Leader, Adeoye Adelakun; former members of the House of Representatives, Ajibola Famurewa and Bukola Oyewo; former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Wale Afolabi; and former National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) Registrar, Professor Olu Aina.

 

Former PDP National Secretary, Professor Wale Oladipo; Osun PDP Chairman, Sunday Bisi; and Osun Accord Chairman, Victor Akande, also attended the event.

 

Addressing the gathering, Akande said securing Tinubu’s re-election should be the priority of eligible voters across the South-West.

 

“Today, we have one of our sons in Yorubaland as President of Nigeria, and he is entitled to two terms in office. We are all praying that he gets his second term. I learnt that in Osun State, Governor Adeleke has been asked to lead the people of the state to achieve two million votes on January 16, 2027,” he said.

 

Akande, who recalled that January 16 was his birthday, expressed hope that Tinubu would secure victory on the day.

 

“I remember that it is my birthday, and I hope you will all rejoice with me at the end of that day that the Yoruba son who is President of Nigeria will continue. May God give us success,” he added.

 

Basiru also urged APC members and other political stakeholders in the state to put aside their differences and support Adeleke in delivering victory for Tinubu, following the President’s appointment of the governor as the state campaign coordinator.

 

Basiru said he had an engagement in Kaduna State but prioritised attending the inauguration before travelling.

 

“It is in President Tinubu’s wisdom that he chose Governor Adeleke as his campaign coordinator in Osun. For us in Osun State, irrespective of our feelings, ambitions and scheming, we must abide by the vision of President Bola Tinubu and support Governor Ademola Adeleke to be successful in this exercise,” he said.

 

He appealed to political stakeholders across party lines to work with Adeleke, insisting that personal ambitions should not take precedence over Tinubu’s re-election.

 

“There is no ambition or ego that is greater than ensuring President Bola Tinubu is re-elected. It is very imperative for us to support the President to succeed for a second term. Today, the resources now available to sub-nationals, like Osun, have made it possible for us to meet our current expenditure,” Basiru said.

 

Shortly before inaugurating the council, Adeleke said its primary objective was to mobilise more than the 1.5 million votes earlier promised to Tinubu.

 

The governor described the alliance involving the Accord Party, APC and PDP structures in the state as a strong coalition capable of securing an overwhelming victory for the President in 2027.

 

He urged members of the council to mobilise voters and work together in support of Tinubu.

 

“From the pain of the past, we must unite for the prosperity of the future. From unity in diversity, we must forge a new brotherhood behind our leader, Asiwaju Tinubu,” Adeleke said.

 

He clarified that the alliance was limited to the presidential election and would not extend to legislative contests.

 

“Our alliance is about the presidential election, in which we have all agreed to support the re-election of President Tinubu.

 

“As coalition partners on the presidential election, we must remind ourselves that the partnership does not extend to the legislative elections.

 

“While we will join hands to deliver Mr President on his party platform, coalition partners are free to work for their party candidates during the senatorial, House of Representatives and House of Assembly elections. What ties us together is the presidential, not the legislative, elections,” he said.

 

Adeleke also disclosed that discussions were ongoing between the federal and state governments to resolve the local government crisis in Osun, expressing optimism that an agreement would be reached soon.

 

Speaking on behalf of the Osun APC chairman, Adelakun suggested that some of the party leaders who were absent might not have been adequately informed about the event.

 

“Those of us that are here, it is because we are available. We will give them feedback on what transpired here, and I am sure they are not haters of President Tinubu. I am representing the chairman of the APC in Osun because I am the vice chairman,” he said.

 

Adelakun defended the collaboration, arguing that the APC needed to work with other political groups to improve Tinubu’s electoral prospects in the state.

 

“As APC alone, we have not won an election in the last three election cycles, and if we must give President Tinubu the required number of votes in Osun, we have to collaborate. This is why we are collaborating, and the President himself has acknowledged the collaboration,” he added.

 

APC Had Earlier Protested Lack of Consultation

 

The inauguration came hours after the Osun APC said it had not been formally briefed about the presidential campaign council before its announcement.

 

In a statement issued on Thursday, the party chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, said the leadership was taken by surprise by the announcement, which was made public through a statement by Adeleke’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, on Wednesday.

 

The 344-member list included prominent APC figures such as Akande, Oyetola, Basiru, Oyebamiji and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Foluke Etteh. Other names included Omisore, Omoworare, Professor Sola Adeyeye, Yinka Ajayi, Laoye-Ponle, Akintunde Adegboye and Mumini Olabanji.

 

The inclusion of opposition figures also raised questions about how the campaign would be managed, with sources in Adeleke’s camp and the Osun APC indicating that no formal meeting had been held to determine the structure of the campaign since Adeleke’s appointment as coordinator.

 

An APC source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to comment, said the party’s leadership had not met with the governor’s camp on the arrangement.

 

“The two camps have not met. We just saw the list like everyone in the state. There is uncertainty around it, but I can’t officially say what the APC reaction will be,” the source said.

 

Lawal acknowledged the importance of Tinubu’s re-election but argued that the inauguration should have been properly scheduled and preceded by consultations with the party’s state leadership.

 

He said the APC had agreed to Adeleke’s appointment as campaign coordinator, expressing confidence that cooperation among political groups could improve Tinubu’s chances in Osun.

 

However, he criticised the short notice and the absence of prior consultation.

 

“Inasmuch as we consider the re-election of the national leader of our party, President Tinubu, as a collective task which we have been working vigorously and assiduously to achieve through various means, it is our view and conviction that such an exercise should be properly scheduled,” Lawal said.

 

He added that the announcement of the committee less than 24 hours before the inauguration, without a prior meeting with the party’s state leadership, was inappropriate.

 

“We believe that listing the names of members of the state presidential campaign committee less than 24 hours before the event proper, without any prior meeting with the leadership of the party in the state, was a ploy to set the state chapter of the party against the President,” he said.

 

Lawal further alleged that the arrangement could create unnecessary tension between the APC and Adeleke, but said the party would make efforts to avoid a misunderstanding with the governor, who had been appointed to coordinate Tinubu’s re-election campaign in the state.