Four members of the Osun State Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress have rejected a newly released state campaign council list, describing it as inconsistent with party guidelines and an earlier national arrangement that placed Governor Ademola Adeleke at the centre of President Bola Tinubu’s re-election effort in the state.
In a joint statement issued on Tuesday, Publicity Secretary Wole Adunola, Welfare Officer Adesola Ayangbile, Assistant Organising Secretary Rasheed Adeniji and Ex-Officio member Abiola Ololade said the list failed to reflect due process, inclusiveness and respect for established party structures. They highlighted the omission of several State Working Committee members who, under applicable guidelines, are expected to serve as statutory members of such a council.
The executives said the exclusion raised serious questions about consultation and the party’s internal leadership framework. They also pointed to what they described as an inconsistency with an earlier presidential directive that named Adeleke as Director-General or state coordinator of the Presidential Campaign Council in Osun. After that appointment, Adeleke inaugurated a 344-member cross-party team in Osogbo on 22 October to mobilise support for Tinubu.
Adeleke, who belongs to the Accord Party, framed the October council as a “rainbow coalition” of Accord, APC and Peoples Democratic Party structures focused solely on the presidential election. He said the partnership did not extend to National and State Assembly contests and raised the target beyond an earlier pledge of 1.5 million votes. Prominent figures including former governor Adebisi Akande, APC National Secretary Senator Ajibola Basiru and others attended the inauguration, though some key APC leaders were absent.
Days later the Osun APC, under Chairman Tajudeen Lawal, unveiled its own 168-member presidential and parliamentary campaign council. The party appointed its 2026 governorship candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, as Director-General and Lawal as Deputy Director-General. Officials said the structure was needed to strengthen efforts for Tinubu while also securing votes for the party’s legislative candidates, noting Adeleke’s position that the cross-party arrangement covered only the presidency.
The four executives rejected the APC list in its present form. They suggested that if it was intended as a Parliamentary Campaign Council rather than a parallel presidential body, its composition would be more understandable, but insisted the distinction must be clarified to avoid duplication and friction. They called for an immediate review involving consultations with relevant stakeholders, including National Secretary Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru and the state Director-General, to ensure proper alignment.
The statement reaffirmed the chapter’s commitment to Tinubu’s re-election and the APC’s broader interests, while warning that loyalty should not prevent constructive engagement when decisions risk creating divisions. The executives stressed that the State Executive Committee remains integral to the party’s organisational framework and cannot be sidelined.
Subsequent reports indicated the Osun APC had discontinued the parallel presidential structure, renamed the body the Osun State All Progressives Congress Parliamentary Campaign Council and expanded membership from 168 to 183 to accommodate all state executive members. Oyebamiji retained the Director-General role.
The episode underscores the delicate balance in Osun between a national campaign strategy that incorporates the sitting governor from another party and the state APC’s determination to protect its structures and candidates for the full 2027 general elections. How the two arrangements ultimately coordinate will shape mobilisation in a state where cross-party support has been openly courted for the presidency while legislative contests remain contested along party lines.