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As He Prepares For 2nd Term
The Osun State governorship elections will hold next year. And all the leading political parties are preparing for their primary elections.
The incumbent governor, Senator Demola Adeleke is going for a 2nd term. The APC has about 10 candidates that will be jostling for the ticket. The ADC is also warming up, with Ogbeni Raufu Aregbesola working underground to show other contestants a big surprise. His plan we hear is to give the PDP and the APC a shocker. Some of the aspirants in Osun APC have already come out.
There are 2 major contestants from Ife. One is Senator Omoworare and only last Tuesday, Senator Iyiola Omisore also declared.
The PDP is also preparing. Gov. Adeleke has already indicated his willingness to work with Pres. Tinubu in 2027.
He made some moves in August to decamp to the APC but the leadership of the party at the state level didn’t align with his plans to join, despite the tacit nod he got from Pres. Tinubu, when he and his elder brother visited the President in Lagos.
When all the moves to leave the PDP for the APC failed, Gov. Adeleke and his party chieftains held a Stakeholders meeting where it was agreed that he should stay back in PDP but still work for the President. The way it has been structured, Adeleke will galvanise support for Pres. Tinubu at the presidential elections, whilst the presidency will also rally support for him at the gubernatorial level. That seems to be the general deal the presidency has with many PDP government.
But the APC leadership in Osun is opposed to his proposal. They have assured the President that they will win Osun State for APC and that Adeleke is coming from a position of weakness.
They believe that right now Osun APC holds the aces.
Their calculation is that Gov. Adeleke is faced with a lot of odds. They argue that his ranks in Osun PDP has been drastically depleted. They believe that the seizure of the LG funds will weaken his ability to fund the campaigns.
They further argue that out of the 3 senatorial districts in Osun, the APC effectively controls 2 and the last senatorial district will be shared between APC and PDP.
So, they will prefer that Adeleke be left alone to face the elections on the platform of the PDP.
Until recently, the 3 Senator of Osun State were all in PDP. Olubiyi Fadeyi is the Senator representing Osun Central. He is popularly called Ajagunla.
Francis Fadahunsi represents Osun East. He is a retired Customs Officer turned Senator. He is serving his 2nd term. The 3rd is Senator Lere Oyewumi who represents Osun West. He was the former Chairman of Irewole LG.
All the 3 Senators were PDP members, reflecting the party’s stronghold in Osun State post 2023 elections.
But 2 of them have defected from the PDP to APC.
The 2 are Francis Fadahunsi & Olubiyi Oluwole Fadeyi.
The PDP immediately filed suits at the Federal High Court in Abuja against them seeking to have their seats declared vacant due to defection.
The party cites Section 68(i)(g) of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, arguing that defection without party division/merger renders seats vacant. PDP seeks refund of salaries/allowances received post-defection.
Apart from the defection of the 2 PDP Senators, PDP’s internal crisis is also a problem. Gov. Adeleke faces challenges amid PDP’s national leadership disputes and local factionalism.
Rumours of Adeleke’s Defection has also not helped.
Months back, despite denials from Adeleke and the PDP, speculation about switching to APC (or previously ADC) stirred political anxiety and criticism.
There are those who believe that the failed defection talks hurt Adeleke’s credibility.
Of course, the issue of Osun State’s financial woes and local government disputes have added to the governor’s pressures.
But Adeleke has not said a word about all these . He has continued to stress commitment to his 5-point agenda for Osun.
Remember, Osun State is scheduled to hold its gubernatorial election on August 8, 2026. The Independent National Electoral Commission has released a timetable that sets the date for the parties’ governorship primaries between November 24 and December 15, 2025.
The majority of key political stakeholders in the state have left his camp, unlike in the last election when they all supported him. Some of these high profile individuals are now aligning with the APC. The allegation is that he has failed to fulfill his promises to give them appointments after they devoted their efforts to support him over the past 3 years. There were supporters who expected something in return once he became governor, but he allegedly let them down.
Additionally, what about the Omoluabi Progressives group that supported him? There are rumors that he hasn’t quiet rewarded any of the group members after his victory. These individuals are very angry and have vowed to work against him come 2026. This is likely why he sought a meeting with the president, hoping to gain his backing so that the APC in Osun can support him while he, in turn, supports the president in the state.
In fact, some groups and individuals with bloc votes in Osun, such as Hon. Wole Oke, who previously worked against the APC in the last election, have now returned to the APC. Hon. Oke is a member of the House of Representatives in Abuja and is one of the key politicians in Osun, representing the Obokun/Oriade constituency, where he has a large following. During the last election, the APC suffered significant losses in that area because the former PDP member, now back with the APC, worked against the party.
Hon. Oke has warned anyone who will listen that the PDP government is likely to fail in the upcoming gubernatorial election. He stated, “Mr. President should go to bed. Osun State is already in his kitty come 2026. By 2027, we are confident of delivering one million votes for PBAT.” He mentioned that their experience with “two wives” has taught them which political party is better, symbolically describing his return to the APC as a correction of past political misjudgments.
He further asserted, “The PDP narrowly won the 2022 election by just 28,000 votes. In 2026, we will atone for our mistake with over 45,000 votes in favor of the APC.” Hon. Oke lamented the current state of governance in Osun, expressing that “we are worse off looking back with hindsight.”
This sentiment is not just his own but reflects a general feeling among top members of the Osun APC, who believe the incumbent can only remain in office for a few more months. Sources indicate that a faction within the APC, loyal to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy and former governor of Osun State, Mr. Gboyega Oyetola, played a significant role in blocking the governor’s move to the ruling party.
According to APC insiders, a caucus meeting was allegedly held at the minister’s residence in the Ogo-Oluwa area of Osogbo a few weeks ago. During this meeting, discussions were made about how to prevent Adeleke from joining the ruling party and strategize on how to return the APC to the Governor’s Office at the Bola Ige House, Abere, Osogbo, in November next year.
A source from a recent meeting revealed that the main agenda was to develop strategies for the APC to secure a decisive victory in the upcoming governorship election in the state next year, as well as in other major elections across the country in 2027.
Sources from the meeting indicated that Oyetola urged the governorship aspirants to work together to ensure victory for the party before, during, and after the election. An anonymous APC member disclosed how he frustrated Governor Adeleke’s attempt to defect to the APC following the governor’s meeting with the President. This top APC leader also reportedly said that he mobilized efforts to ensure that the court ruling on local government leadership in the state would not be interpreted in favor of the PDP. He assured that allocations to the local government councils would continue to be withheld.
The meeting also recalled that the refusal of former President Muhammadu Buhari to allow federal forces to be used during the 2022 governorship election led to the APC’s defeat. One of the party’s leaders assured that the situation would be different in 2026, as the current APC leadership is prepared to ensure victory.
Among the strategies being implemented is addressing the crisis over withheld local government allocations, which some legal experts describe as an act of executive recklessness. Several legal opinions have affirmed the Appeal Court ruling in favor of the Osun State government. However, the APC-led Federal Government disagrees and continues to withhold allocations to the state’s local governments, a situation criticized by the state government, the PDP, and various lawyers and activists.
Another factor working against the governor is the seized local government funds, amounting to several billion naira. It is believed that at least part of these funds would be used for election campaigning. Reports indicate that the governor is struggling to pay salaries and fund essential projects in the state. Additionally, some Osun indigenes are dissatisfied with his administration. They believe he has only made improvements in his town of Ede, and parts of Osogbo. A few months ago, residents from Ife and other major towns accused the governor of neglecting them, stating that he hasn’t initiated any projects in their areas in over three years, despite being elected by them. In response, Senator Omisore has been reaching out to these neglected areas, seeking their support in the upcoming election.
Top APC leaders and other political figures have assured the president not to worry. They believe that, in terms of real politics, the governor is inexperienced. Some are offended that the governor has sought presidential approval instead of engaging them. Individuals like Senator Iyiola Omisore feel slighted and believe the governor lacks the capability to offer any significant surprises in the upcoming election.
Another major concern for the incumbent governor is the power of the federal government, which may favor any APC candidate in the state. It is well-known that even during his previous campaign, he only narrowly defeated the opposition. Currently, the governor has not identified a viable strategy to undermine his major opposition in the state, making it seem that all odds are against him.
–ISAAC ABIMBADE
08155107955
