Osun: Opposition storm builds ahead of primaries as Adeleke wavers on platform

As the December 15 deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission for the submission of governorship candidates in the Osun election approaches, the political landscape has heated up, with major parties battling internal fractures and Governor Ademola Adeleke still undecided on the platform for his re-election bid, writes BOLA BAMIGBOLA

With the December 15, 2025, deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission for political parties to conclude primaries and submit their candidates for the Osun governorship election drawing near, tensions in the state have intensified.

Major political parties expected to field candidates in the election have been grappling with various crises less than a month to the deadline. The All Progressives Congress is divided among aspirants, while the Peoples Democratic Party continues to face internal turmoil, with incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke yet to decide on the platform for his re-election bid. Even the African Democratic Congress, which appears calm, is facing mounting pressure ahead of its primary.

Immediately after INEC released the timetable for the August 8, 2026, governorship election, party activities intensified. Aspirants began lobbying at the grassroots level as they declared their intention to contest for their respective party tickets.

In Osun PDP, the situation has been completely different. The crises ravaging the national leadership of the party have cast a huge shadow on preparations for the poll, making consideration of another political platform a possible decision for the governor.

Earlier in the year, despite constant public assurances by Adeleke that he would remain in the PDP and contest, his political moves suggested plans to join the APC.

Sensing danger for the PDP, and despite the party also preparing for the 2027 general election against incumbent President Bola Tinubu, Adeleke, with senators elected on the PDP platform in Osun and the state party structure, announced their support for the President in the 2027 election.

After considering the governor’s repeated overtures to the APC at the national level, which were seen as inimical to its plans, the opposition party structures in Osun openly opposed Adeleke’s defection. Following several unsuccessful attempts, Adeleke and the highest PDP leadership caucus in the state resigned to fate and thereafter announced that Adeleke would not dump the PDP. However, despite the resolve to remain in the party, the battle for its control, which has divided the party into factions aligned with Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde and Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, is clouding Adeleke’s chances of contesting on the PDP platform.

Since failing to join the APC, nearly a dozen other parties have been suggested as potential platforms for the governor’s re-election bid. One of the parties touted is the ADC, where former Governor Rauf Aregbesola currently serves as National Secretary.

Osun APC leadership, which taunted Adeleke over the alleged move, queried why a party led by Aregbesola would be an option for Adeleke. But in a swift reaction, Olawale Rasheed, the spokesperson to the Osun Governor, dismissed the insinuations.

Olawale, who rejected the idea of his principal joining the ADC, said in a statement, “Our attention has been drawn to a statement credited to the Osun State APC chairman that Governor Ademola Adeleke is negotiating with former Governor Rauf Aregbesola about joining the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The report is false, and the assertions by the opposition are mere fabrication and fake news. Governor Adeleke is not negotiating with former Governor Aregbesola about ADC, and the governor is not joining ADC. The members of the public are hereby implored to ignore the fake news.”

Notwithstanding Olawale’s rebuttal, reliable party sources said the ADC was actually considered by Adeleke and his team. “The idea could not, however, fly because the leaders of the party insisted that it would prefer to have a candidate from the pool of those supporting Aregbesola, all the while,” a party source with knowledge of the development told The PUNCH.

Adeleke’s team also reportedly considered the seeming cold war between the Osun ADC executives led by the state chairman, Charles Omidiji, who is believed to be loyal to former lawmaker representing Osun Central in the Senate, Senator Kola Ogunwale, and the Omoluabi Progressives, a political caucus led by Aregbesola.

With the idea of the ADC no longer considered, the All Progressives Grand Alliance was reportedly listed as another option for the governor. Several party sources also said Accord may be another likely platform for Adeleke to seek re-election.

Hinting that the search for a new platform may not have ended, the PDP National Vice Chairman, South-West, Mr Kamoru Ajisafe, while featuring on a radio programme aired by Rave FM, Osogbo, last week, said the search for a party on which Adeleke would seek re-election was ongoing.

He said, “The problem we have in Osun is quite different from what we have in Taraba. Elections in Taraba and some other states are in 2027; our own in Osun is in 2026.

“The primary for any political party trying to present a candidate for the 2026 governorship election is December 15. That is the position of INEC. What do we do? How are we going to manage that?

“After December 15, INEC, by the constitution, will not recognise the emergence of a candidate from any political primary again. If you are a consultant, what would you advise? Will you advise that I stay at a party where I would not be able to exercise my right to return to the office? Just advise me what you want Adeleke to do now.

“It is known to the whole world that there is no way that the PDP would be able to nominate a candidate for the 2026 governorship election. If you block your road or gate for me to enter, and the occupant of another platform magnanimously allows me to pass freely, would I be crying that you locked your gate? What do you expect somebody like Adeleke to do? I am talking frankly on the radio. That is the fight we have with Wike and Anyanwu.”

A former governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, also said the decision on which political platform Adeleke will adopt for his 2026 re-election will be taken immediately after the governor returns from his foreign trip.

While responding to speculation about parties rumoured as Adeleke’s likely destination, Oyinlola hinted that Accord is a fair option. He, however, said defecting with Adeleke to another party would depend on which party he is joining, as he said he may not move with the governor if the option does not align with his political beliefs.

Speaking on the programme, Oro Oselu, aired by Osogbo-based Rave FM on Monday, Oyinlola said he would not have moved to the All Progressives Congress had Adeleke joined the party as previously planned. “When the governor comes back from his trip this week, we will sit down and decide where we are going, and we will let the Osun people know our choice,” he said.

Adeleke’s delay strategy

Weighing in on the uncertainty surrounding the platform on which Adeleke will seek re-election, the Osun PDP Director of Media, Oladele Bamiji, said the political platform would be made known in due course.

“We are in the PDP currently, and Governor Adeleke may seek re-election on the platform of the party. He has been screened by the party, and other processes have been observed. It may be elsewhere.

“The plan of those afraid of our governor is not to allow him to get on the ballot because they know they cannot stop him in a free and fair poll. But I want to assure them that Adeleke will seek re-election and will be re-elected.

Not saying anything on the matter for now is a strategy. We want to keep our adversaries guessing,” Bamiji said.

Oyetola’s men, Omisore in race for APC ticket

In Osun APC, the frenzied atmosphere pervading the party, largely due to the interest shown by as many as 13 aspirants vying for its ticket, appears to be growing tense.

With the feelers coming from the party, two major blocs now exist. The core structure of the party, working alongside almost all appointees and elected officials in office during the tenure of former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, is said to be queueing behind the immediate past Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority, Mr Bola Oyebamiji.

Prominent among Oyetola’s men leading the charge for Oyebamiji, who currently holds the record as the longest-serving Osun Commissioner for Finance, are the Executive Director (Project Implementation) of the Federal Housing Authority, Mr Remi Omowaiye, former state lawmaker, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, and former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy, Mr Bayo Adeleke.

However, some government officials who served with Oyetola, including former Osun State Universal Basic Education Board Chairman, Ajibola Famurewa and former Special Adviser on Public Health, Dr Siji Olamiju, are backing former Deputy Governor, Senator Iyiola Omisore, for the APC ticket.

In the build-up to the December 13 primary, where the APC candidate will emerge, there have been allegations and counter-allegations between the two major blocs.

For instance, former Special Adviser to the Osun Governor on Education, Mr Jamiu Olawumi, in a post shared on his Facebook page, alleged kidnapping of the APC State Chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, in Abuja by unidentified persons to forcefully obtain documents containing the delegate list for the primary.

Before the dust settled on the allegation, a petition surfaced on social media, demanding a probe of Omisore’s tenure as the National Secretary of the APC.

The petition, addressed to the Osun APC Elder Caucus, was signed by five individuals on behalf of a group called AMBO Campaign Organisation.

Adebayo Adedeji, the media coordinator for the campaign group of Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, distanced the governorship aspirant from the document, saying the organisation did not author any petition against Omisore.

He stated, “The AMBO Media Fronts have dissociated the AMBO Movement and its principal, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, from a publication currently circulating and purportedly seeking the disqualification of Senator Christopher Iyiola Omisore, a governorship aspirant in our party, for the 2026 gubernatorial election.

“First, there is nothing like an ‘AMBO Campaign Organisation’ as stated in the publication. It is properly referred to as the AMBO Movement. Only after the party selects its flag bearer, in line with INEC guidelines, will a campaign organisation be constituted.

“The publication is the handiwork of fifth columnists aimed at causing division and bad blood within the Osun APC and weakening our collective resolve to end the administration currently mismanaging the state.”

APC avoiding post-primary crises

In a bid to de-escalate tension in the party and reduce the possibility of post-primary crises, the APC Elder Caucus has been working toward a consensus arrangement.

The caucus, in a recent communiqué signed by its Chairman, Mr Sola Akinwumi, urged the governorship aspirants to refrain from obtaining expression of interest forms yet.

Sources close to the group said reducing the number of aspirants contesting the primary would enhance party cohesion, reduce tension, and allow it to approach the main poll with a united front.

But before the directive, Omisore had already obtained the form, becoming the first aspirant to do so.

Not discouraged by the development, the caucus said in its communiqué, “The body received the report of its ad hoc committee on the 2026 Osun governorship election today, the 14th of November 2025, and resolved as follows:

“The body put a screening committee in place and charged the committee to expeditiously screen all governorship aspirants for the 2026 election within a timeframe.

“All the aspirants were urged to exercise patience in obtaining the prescribed forms by the party until the screening committee submits its report. All party stakeholders are enjoined to remain steadfast.”

APC cautions aspirants

To douse rising tension, the APC leadership in the state implored its members to be wary of the motives of “fifth columnists who are bent on causing disharmony, disaffection, disunity, and crises among governorship aspirants” by “sponsoring, promoting, and publishing falsehoods about them with non-existent entities as signatories to the fabrications.”

Lawal, the Osun APC Chairman, in the statement issued after the petition against Omisore became public, said aspirants and their supporters should refrain from exposing party leaders to campaigns of calumny.

ADC personality clash

In the ADC, the situation may look calm to outsiders, but the party is also experiencing pressure in the build-up to its primary.

The first indication of disagreement surfaced recently. The Omoluabi Progressives announced that the ADC would look to the West Senatorial District to pick its candidate for the Osun poll. But a leader of the party in the state, Senator Ogunwale, dismissed that position, insisting the ADC candidate could come from any part of the state.

Former Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, and Senator Adelere Oriolowo, both from Iwo, are believed to be eyeing the ADC governorship ticket.

It was also said that former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Dr Najeem Salaam, is being considered for the ticket. It is not clear if Ogunwale will support any of Aregbesola’s associates or present his own preferred aspirant ahead of the ADC primary.

Reacting to questions on perceived tension in the party, the ADC Director of Media and Publicity and Publicity Secretary of the Omoluabi Progressives, Oluwaseun Abosede, said the party remains a closely knit group enjoying cordial relationships among its personalities.

He said, “As it stands in Osun ADC today, there is no issue of disagreement between anyone. The seeming issues between Senator Kola Ogunwale and some people in the ADC have long been resolved. The beauty of democracy is in welcoming robust, diverging submissions, which are healthy for the party’s growth. Nothing has been said or done that is threatening.

“Besides, when the National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, came to town to kick-start the ADC federal constituency tour in Ila-Orangun on Tuesday, November 18, you all saw what happened. Senator Kola Ogunwale was there, the Osun ADC chairman was there, Alhaji Issa Adesiji Azeez was there, as well as all other leaders of our tendency.

“We have no issue at all; the process of picking our governorship candidate is going smoothly according to our calendar.”