Osun APC Guber Primary: The Fire this Time

The recent dust raised by the disqualification of seven aspirants from contesting for the governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress for the 2026 governorship election in Osun State is not likely to settle soon. Apart from the bad blood it has generated within the party and the sour taste it has unexpectedly left in the mouths of the supporters of the aspirants, there are also wider implications for the party as build-up to the election continues. Raheem Akingbolu reports.

The Furore the Morning After…

In what looked like a political tsunami, seven governorship aspirants, who were warming up to take part in the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries slated for Saturday, December 13, got their hope dashed last week. In a unanimous decision, the party’s seven-member screening committee, led by ObinnaUzor, disqualified seven of the nine contestants that already signified intention, from contesting for the position of Osun State governor under the party. One week after, the decision is still generating furore within and outside the party because of the history of political complexity Osun enjoys and perhaps the profile paraded by those disqualified.

Even a political rookie in Osun State knows that a few of those eased out are not political light-weights. Those disqualified are IyiolaOmisore, BabatundeHaketerOralusi, OyedotunBabayemi and Akin Ogunbiyi. Others are Benedict Alabi, Rasheed Adegoke and BabajideOmoworare.

However, two aspirants, MulikatAbiolaJimoh and Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, popularly known as AMBO, were cleared to contest the primary. Oyebamiji was GboyegaOyetola’s Commissioner for Finance when he was Osun state governor and immediate past Managing Director of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA).

Omoworare, a lawyer, was a former senator who once represented Osun East (Ife/Ijesa) Senatorial District in the national assembly.

Omisore was a former deputy governor of the state from 1999 to 2002. Apart from this, he was also the National Secretary of the party and one time Senator representing Osun East Senatorial District.

Like Omisore, Alabi was also a former Deputy Governor, who was in office from 2018 to 2022 under Governor Oyetola.

Another strong contender who was eased out is Adegoke, a constitutional lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who once slugged it out with former governor Oyetola during the build up to the 2017 primaries. Two others, Babayemi and Ogunbiyi are Nigeria’s leading technocrats and business executives who have made indelible marks in Osun political landscapes.

Esau’s Hand, Jacob’s Voice?

Over the weekend, one of the disqualified contestants, Omisore met the APC screening appeal panel and after the meeting, the former party scribe claimed the chairman of the panel reportedly told them he received a call instructing him to “disqualify those who were barred”. He added that his disqualification was the “jokest report” of the year.

“We’re in December, abi? That’s the jokest report of this year. It’s so unfortunate that people are taking partisanship beyond politics,” Omisore said. He explained that they had not been officially communicated as per the reason for their disqualification.

“We haven’t been written to. So, what are the bases of the disqualification? You said we didn’t have nominators, five per local government. But the law says, he who alleges must prove. They should have used another method to disqualify us.”

Omisore and the other disqualified aspirants have claimed that a former governor of the state and current Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, GboyegaOyetola, is behind the whole drama. They claimed that the chairman of the screening panel told them he was “under pressure” to bar them from contesting for the ticket. This was apart from the fact that about three reports from the screening exercise and the one taken to the national secretariat of the party was not the original one.

 “We are aware that the panel members have two, three reports. The one taken to the secretariat wasn’t the original report. As we speak today, none of us has seen their report or why we were disqualified,” Omisore said.

He added that they were not pushovers in the politics of the state and that their disqualification only meant the party was preparing for failure.

“You can see for yourself that when you disqualify people like us in any contest, where do we go from there? The party is pointing at failure.”

Omisore further claimed that the screening committee chairman confessed that it was Oyetola that told him to disqualify the other aspirants so as to pave way for easy emergence of Oyebamiji; who Omisore described as Oyetola’s ‘poster boy’.

“He told us that Minister GboyegaOyetola called him that they must disqualify all of us because he wants his lackey, his poster boy, Oyebamiji,” Omisore said.

Omisore Effect of 2018…

Ismail Omipidan, the former Chief Press Secretary to Oyetola argued in a recent post on his facebook that “the Aregbesola camp may argue that the APC did not need Omisore to win the 2018 governorship re-run election, the facts say otherwise. If what happened did not happen, the party leaders who championed the negotiations at the time would not have run to Omisore.”

He added that this was despite the fact that some of those who served as negotiators with Omisore had also been the ones that created the problem the party was trying to wriggle out of from then. He argued that they funded and supported MoshoodAdeoti in the ADP which led to the party staring defeat on the face and which led to INEC dubiously declaring the election as being inconclusive and fraudulently ordering a rerun in Ile-Ife, Omisore’s stronghold.

It could also be recalled that former President MohammaduBuhari, while speaking to party leaders in 2019 ahead of that year’s general elections said the party won the 2018 election in Osun State via “remote control”. Perhaps, if a whole President could say that publicly, he surely knew what he was talking about. As admitted by Omipidan, the person that made the ‘remote control’ victory possible was Omisore.

And Compensation Followed…

Going by the mercantile nature of Nigerian politics, Omisore could not have readily stuck out his troubled but effective political neck out if he did not extract some commitments from those who approached him for help. Omipidan claimed that the only position negotiated and agreed with Omisore and which was not implemented was the ministerial position. He said every other commitment was fulfilled.

“Apart from the ministerial position, every other item that was negotiated was implemented to the letter by Oyetola. He gave out commissionership and SA slots and he consistently deferred to Omisore on several sensitive matters, often to the displeasure of some of his closest aides. It even got to a point where Aregbesola began referring to Omisore as Oyetola’s new leader,” Omipidan wrote.

He added that if Oyetola cannot be credited for anything else, he should at least be acknowledged for saving Omisore from political oblivion. He added that the former governor was also responsible for the emergence of Omisore as the National Secretary of the ruling party.

“If not for Oyetola’s efforts and insistence, there was no way Omisore would have emerged as the APC National Secretary at the time he did. And that single event revived and preserved Omisore’s political career. Till today, some APC elders in the South-West have not forgiven Oyetola for the role he played in Omisore’s emergence.”

It must, however, be noted that former Governor KayodeFayemi of Ekiti State and late RotimiAkeredolu of Ondo State also played important roles in the emergence of Omisore as the National Secretary of the party. But Omipidan insisted that if Omisore did not get the needed home support then, it would have been difficult.

“I know some people may argue that Omisore could still have secured the position without Oyetola’s backing, given the support he enjoyed from the late Akeredolu, Dr. KayodeFayemi and some of Buhari’s men. But the prestige and political weight of home support accorded him would certainly not be there without Oyetola. I was at the convention ground. I saw and knew all that transpired. I was always with Oyetola, in the days leading to that convention, going back and forth to Asiwaju, our now President and Baba Akande’s residences. In fact, there are days that we (would) go there more than thrice in one day and remain sometimes till 2 am.”

Osun APC: One Team, One Dream…

Considering the influence of those that have been edged out of the Saturday primary, political watchers have recommended a far-reaching reconciliation to enable the party go to next year election as one big family.

Some analysts have, however, cautioned the six aspirants not to spill the beans because the tide didn’t favour them. 

A politician and convener, Occupy Iwoland for AMBO, Sulayman O. Nafiu, admitted that the aspirants who did not scale through the screening exercise would have a sour taste after their hopes of taking part in the primaries failed to materialize but urged them to respect and regard the supremacy of the party on such matter. 

“What is scary and should not be taken lightly is the solidarity now created by the strange bedfellows who are now united with an arrowhead and spokesperson on their behalf to ridicule the decision of the party. From the days of our respected late leader and father of Progressives in the South-West, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, our in-house culture of party supremacy has remained our strength. To this end, we should rally our support, allow reconciliation, and work for the party’s victory.” Nafiu stated.

Misplaced Sense of Invincibility…

Giving the profile of those disqualified and their influences, those who understand the dynamic of Osun politics have expressed their worries that the decision might become an albatross for the party if not well managed.

For instance, while Omisore may have his political baggages, he remains a political force in the state. Also, in Ife and its environ, Omoworare enjoys a resounding popularity. For Adegoke, Babayemi and Ogunbiyi, who had contested before and have structures across the state, it may be difficult to push them aside without some understanding.

As things stand, the fact that APC is at the centrenot withstanding, the party must approach the current issue in Osun with caution and humility to appease those disqualified.

The Wider Implications…

Many watchers of Osun’s political developments still believe the person to beat in the election proper is the incumbent, Senator AdemolaAdeleke. While that might look so on paper, Adeleke has his own headache to deal with it. He has resigned from the PDP on which platform he rose to power in 2022. As of now, no one is sure on which platform he plans to contest. Some are saying the Accord Party and others claim he is negotiating with the African Democratic Congress.

Whichever party they join, all Omisore and his co-travellers need to create problems for the APC is to align with former Governor Aregbesola, currently the National Secretary of the ADC and Adeleke.

If this will happen, is a wild conjecture but as it stands, the dust from the camps of those disqualified are still blowing, and no one knows its final direction.