Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has inaugurated a 344-member council to coordinate President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign in the state, amid the absence of Minister of Marine and Blue Economy Adegboyega Oyetola and several prominent All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders.
The inauguration, held on Thursday, exposed divisions among some APC stakeholders over the formation of the campaign council, with the party’s state chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, earlier claiming that the chapter had not been consulted before the committee was announced.
Other prominent APC figures absent from the event included Senator Francis Fadahunsi, representing Osun East; the party’s governorship candidate in the 2026 election, Bola Oyebamiji; former Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Timothy Owoeye; and Remi Omowaiye, Executive Director of Project Implementation at the Federal Housing Authority.
Also absent was former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Adebayo Adeleke.
Despite the notable absences, the event attracted several influential political figures, including former Osun governor Bisi Akande, APC National Secretary Ajibola Basiru, former party National Secretary Iyiola Omisore, former deputy governors Titi Laoye-Ponle and Lekan Adewoyin, and Senator Babajide Omoworare.
Former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Secretary Wale Oladipo, Osun PDP chairman Sunday Bisi and Osun Accord Party chairman Victor Akande also attended the inauguration.
The gathering brought together politicians from different party structures to coordinate support for Tinubu’s anticipated re-election bid, although questions over consultation and participation among APC leaders remained unresolved.
Speaking at the inauguration, Basiru urged political stakeholders in Osun to set aside personal ambitions and party differences and work with Adeleke to deliver electoral support for Tinubu.
He argued that the President’s decision to appoint Adeleke as the state campaign coordinator should be respected by party leaders, regardless of their individual preferences.
“It is in President Tinubu’s wisdom that he chose Governor Ademola Adeleke as his campaign coordinator in Osun. For us in Osun State, irrespective of our feelings, ambitions and scheming, we must abide by the vision of President Bola Tinubu and support Governor Ademola Adeleke to be successful in this exercise,” Basiru said.
The APC national secretary disclosed that he had prioritised attending the inauguration before travelling to Kaduna State for another engagement.
He also called on political leaders across Osun to cooperate with the governor in pursuit of what he described as a strong electoral victory for Tinubu.
Basiru’s remarks came against the backdrop of concerns raised by the state APC leadership over the process through which the campaign council was constituted.
In his address, Adeleke said the campaign council would aim to mobilise more than the 1.5 million votes previously promised to Tinubu, signalling an ambitious effort to strengthen the President’s electoral support in the state.
The governor described the alliance involving the Accord Party, APC and PDP structures as an arrangement specifically designed to support Tinubu’s presidential re-election campaign.
He, however, stressed that the agreement would not extend to legislative elections, maintaining that the participating parties would retain the freedom to support their respective candidates for the Senate, House of Representatives and Osun State House of Assembly.
“Our coalition is solely about Mr President, a man who means so much to Osun State and Nigeria. Our alliance is about the presidential election on which we have all agreed to support the re-election of President Tinubu,” Adeleke said.
Former governor Akande also urged eligible voters across the South-West to support Tinubu’s second-term ambition, expressing optimism about the President’s prospects in the 2027 election.
Akande referred to a target of two million votes for Tinubu in Osun, which he said Adeleke had been asked to help deliver.
The different figures cited at the event suggest that campaign mobilisation will focus on expanding the President’s support base in the state.
The absence of Lawal and other APC leaders followed the state chapter’s earlier position that it had not been briefed before the announcement of the presidential campaign committee.
Speaking on behalf of the absent chairman, the party’s state vice-chairman, Adeoye Adelakun, suggested that some of the leaders who did not attend might not have received information about the inauguration.
He said those present would brief the absent leaders on the proceedings, while emphasising the need for cooperation across party lines to achieve the desired electoral outcome for Tinubu.
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The absence of the minister and other prominent APC figures has drawn attention to the challenge of coordinating a broad political alliance while addressing concerns within the President’s own party structure in Osun.
However, the reasons for the individual absences were not established at the event, and Adelakun’s remarks indicated that a lack of information might have contributed to the non-attendance of some party officials.
Beyond the campaign preparations, Adeleke disclosed that discussions were at an advanced stage to resolve the lingering local government crisis in Osun State.
He expressed hope that an agreement would be reached soon, although he did not provide details of the proposed settlement.
The local government dispute remains a separate political issue from the presidential campaign arrangement, which Adeleke said was limited to supporting Tinubu in the 2027 election.
The inauguration therefore marks an effort to bring political actors from different party backgrounds together ahead of the presidential contest, even as questions persist over the participation of some influential APC leaders.
Whether the 344-member council can translate its broad membership into a unified campaign structure will depend partly on how the concerns over consultation are addressed and how effectively the participating political groups coordinate their mobilisation efforts.
For now, Adeleke and the other attendees have publicly committed to supporting Tinubu’s re-election bid, while the absence of Oyetola and several Osun APC leaders leaves questions about the extent of consensus within the state’s ruling party structure.
