October 26, (THEWILL) – The post-election conflict between Governor Ademola Adeleke and the opposition All Progressives Congress has assumed another dimension that may significantly impact the performance of President Bola Tinubu’s presidential bid in Osun State. Before the governor officially joined the presidential campaign team as state coordinator, the penultimate week, there was so much grumbling heard within the ranks of the APC in the state.
The reaction to the governor’s appointment was mixed. Many APC stakeholders feared that Governor Adeleke, who was stopped from joining the party ahead of the August 15, 2026 governorship poll and literally fought his way through the many legal and political barricades on his way to his re-election, may leverage the new position to relegate Osun APC chieftains. State Chairman Sooko Tajudeen Lawal and other party leaders had criticised the national leadership for failing to properly consult or inform the state chapter before the announcement and subsequent committee inauguration of the governor as campaign coordinator in the state. Lawal noted the short notice. Other party leaders expressed concern that sidelining established state structures and figures loyal to Minister Adegboyega Oyetola could create division within the Osun APC. Some members expressed worry that Adeleke might use the platform to undermine the hard work of APC members in the state.
It is therefore not a surprise that a fresh crisis has hit President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign in Osun State, following a protest by the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over its alleged exclusion from the process leading to the inauguration of a presidential campaign committee coordinated by Governor Ademola Adeleke.
The disagreement erupted just hours before the scheduled inauguration, with the APC saying its leadership was kept completely in the dark over the composition of the committee and arrangements for the event. Governor Adeleke’s camp, through their spokesperson Olawale Rasheed and the Imole Campaign Council, released a 344-member Osun State campaign committee list in Osogbo, which included figures like former Governor Adebisi Akande and Minister Adegboyega Oyetola
In a statement, the Osun APC Chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, expressed strong reservations over the process, arguing that a presidential re-election campaign involving the ruling party and other political interests required extensive consultation, proper planning and adherence to official protocol.
According to Lawal, the state leadership became aware of the committee after Adeleke’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, circulated a list on social media, less than 24 hours before its inauguration.
He said the short notice effectively shut out key APC leaders and stakeholders who ordinarily should have been consulted and given sufficient time to participate in an exercise directly connected with the re-election of a President elected on the party’s platform.
“We are talking about the re-election of the President of the nation under the largest democratic party in sub-Saharan Africa and not the election of a council chairman or a councillor. Such an exercise requires the highest level of official protocol to ensure its success”, Lawal said.
The APC chairman maintained that the party could not be treated as an afterthought in the organisation of Tinubu’s campaign in Osun, particularly when its established structures across the state would be required to mobilise voters for the President.
The party also questioned why its leadership was not consulted before the committee was unveiled, alleging that the hurried announcement appeared designed to create friction between the APC and Adeleke, who is serving as coordinator of the President’s campaign in the state.
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However, the APC carefully separated its objection to the process from Adeleke’s appointment, making clear that it was neither rejecting the governor’s coordinating role nor opposing political concessions and cross-party cooperation considered necessary for Tinubu’s victory.
“We are reiterating the fact that we are not opposed to making concessions for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. We also agree that the appointment of Governor Adeleke as the state coordinator would boost our candidate’s chances through joint efforts”, Lawal said.
The party said its concern was that such cooperation must not come at the expense of consultation with the APC structure or create uncertainty over the respective roles of longstanding party leaders and new political allies being brought into the President’s campaign.
It called for greater transparency and seriousness in managing the campaign, warning that a political project involving the re-election of the President must not be handled with levity.
Sources confided in THEWILL that the Governor Adeleke refused to be dictated to and would only accommodate APC members that are his own choice in the committee. The source maintained that with the appointment as state coordinator for the campaign for the President’s re-election, his journey into the APC was already in the bag, with defection just a formality. For one, the faction of the Accord Party was already in a political corner with the legal recognition of the other faction through the recent court judgment directing the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to include Mr Gbenga Olawepo as the faction’s presidential candidate. The Commission has obeyed the court order, leaving Governor Adeleke without a legal platform.
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