Politics
Osun guber: 72hours to polls, APC in confusion mode as 76 leaders seek inclusion as defection mount
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has battled internal fractures for years, but by August 2026, those cracks had widened into deep fault lines.
What should have been a straightforward campaign season became a crisis of loyalty, defections and mounting grievances, forcing the Presidency itself to intervene.
Five days before the governorship election, 76 APC leaders from Osun State were summoned to Abuja for a late-night meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The meeting followed a call from the National Security Adviser (NSA), who had alerted the Presidency to the growing discontent within the Osun APC. The warning was political, not about violence. The NSA reportedly told the Presidency that the grievances among party leaders had reached a level capable of undermining the APC’s campaign machinery in the state.
The delegation that arrived at Aso Rock included Olubunmi Ete, former Speaker of the House of Representatives; Mojeed Alabi, Adejare Bello and Wale Afolabi, all former Speakers of the Osun State House of Assembly; as well as senior party chieftains such as Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun, Poju Odusola and Bode Olanipekun. Others included Babajide Omoworare, a former presidential aide, and APC National Secretary Ajibola Basiru, who coordinated the meeting.
These were not fringe figures. They were leaders who had carried the party’s banner for years, commanded constituencies and influenced legislation. Their grievance was straightforward: exclusion.
For three years, federal appointments and patronage from Osun were said to have flowed largely through former governor and current Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, and his IleriOluwa faction. Other party leaders felt sidelined, humiliated before their supporters and stripped of political relevance.
At the Villa, the 76 leaders demanded recognition. They sought a share of federal appointments, contracts and political influence.
They wanted assurances that the APC was not simply Oyetola’s personal political empire.
Some also expressed doubts about Bola Oyebamiji, the APC governorship candidate and former commissioner under Oyetola, questioning whether he would operate differently if elected.
President Tinubu’s assurance that there would be room for everyone at the federal level if state positions were exhausted offered some reassurance, but it did not fully address the grievances. Instead, the meeting appeared to postpone rather than resolve the deeper crisis.
Beyond the 76 leaders seeking inclusion were others whose grievances had gone much further—those who felt completely discarded by the party.
In December 2025, the APC screening committee disqualified seven of the nine governorship aspirants ahead of the party’s primary. The official reason was their failure to provide proof of sponsorship from registered party members across the required local government areas. However, to many party members, the development appeared to be a deliberate purge intended to clear the way for Oyetola’s preferred candidate.
Among those disqualified were Senator Iyiola Omisore, former deputy governor and immediate past APC National Secretary; Babajide Omoworare; Benedict Alabi; Akin Ogunbiyi; Dotun Babayemi; Babatunde Oralusi; and Adegoke Rasheed.
Bola Oyebamiji, regarded as an Oyetola loyalist, eventually emerged as the party’s candidate.
Omisore, in particular, felt betrayed.
A Gombe Federal High Court has ordered the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to conduct a fresh primary election for its governorship ticket in Gombe State.
Justice Amina Aliyu Mohammed gave the order while ruling on a suit filed by Usman Aliyu Garry to challenge the emergence of Prof. Isa Ali Pantami as the PDP governorship candidate in the state.
Garry had challenged Pantami’s emergence after the party announced him as its sole candidate on June 26, 2026, arguing that the required primary election was not conducted.
Pantami, who was a gubernatorial aspirant in the All Progressives Congress, APC, had defected to the PDP after the APC settled for Jamilu Gwamna as its consensus candidate in Gombe.
Pantami subsequently secured the PDP ticket through voice affirmation during the party’s governorship primary held in May.
But in its judgment delivered on Thursday, the court ordered the PDP to conduct a fresh primary election in Gombe State, in accordance with the party’s guidelines and relevant electoral laws.
Rabiu Kwankwaso, presidential running mate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has blamed President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies, particularly the removal of fuel subsidy, for what he described as Nigeria’s current economic crisis.
Kwankwaso said the decision to remove the petrol subsidy immediately after Tinubu assumed office in 2023 was implemented without adequate measures to cushion its impact on Nigerians.
Speaking on Arise Television on Wednesday, the former New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) presidential candidate said the government should have considered the potential consequences of the policy before implementing it.
“Bola Tinubu decided to remove the subsidy and the consequences we thought would happen certainly happened,” Kwankwaso said.
According to him, the subsidy was removed abruptly without sufficient consideration of the wider economic implications.
“He removed it immediately without looking at all the possible issues. That is how we found ourselves in this total mess economically,” he said.
Tinubu announced the removal of the petrol subsidy during his inauguration at Eagle Square in Abuja on May 29, 2023, ending the subsidy regime that had kept petrol prices artificially lower but had also imposed a significant cost on government finances.
The policy was followed by a sharp increase in petrol prices, with subsequent increases contributing to higher transportation and living costs across the country.
Kwankwaso maintained that Nigerians should be able to access petrol at a more affordable price, arguing that the government should take steps to reduce the burden of fuel costs on citizens.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has nullified Abubakar Babazango’s nomination as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate for the Yola North, Yola South and Girei Federal Constituency of Adamawa State in the 2027 general elections.
The court also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise Abubakar Bashir as the winner of the ADC primary election conducted for the constituency on May 21, 2026, and as the party’s candidate for the House of Representatives seat.
Justice Chigozie S. Onah delivered the judgment on September 17, 2026, in a suit filed by Bashir against the ADC, INEC and Babazango.
The dispute arose after Bashir emerged as the winner of the party’s primary but Babazango was subsequently submitted as the ADC candidate for the 2027 election.
According to the results cited in the court proceedings, Bashir won the primary with 33,931 votes, defeating six other aspirants.
Zayyad Tumba came second with 16,266 votes, while Yusuf Garba polled 14,611 votes. Abubakar Mohammed scored 10,035 votes, Abubakar Gabdo received 8,022 votes, and Abdulaziz Abubakar secured 4,501 votes.
Babazango polled 4,359 votes, placing seventh among the seven aspirants.
Bashir subsequently challenged the substitution of his name with that of Babazango, asking the court to recognise him as the rightful winner of the primary and ADC candidate for the constituency.
In its judgment, the court held that the process through which Babazango’s name was accepted and published as the winner was inconsistent with the ADC’s Constitution and guidelines.
Justice Onah specifically referred to Section 12 of the ADC Guidelines for the Conduct of Primary Elections, which provides for the substitution of a declared winner only in circumstances involving the winner’s death or withdrawal.
The court found that neither condition applied to Bashir.
Consequently, the court set aside Babazango’s declaration and nomination and restrained him from presenting himself as the ADC candidate for the constituency in the 2027 general elections.
The court further directed INEC to recognise Bashir as the winner of the May 21 primary and as the ADC candidate for the Yola North/Yola South/Girei Federal Constituency.
The court also ordered the ADC to recognise Bashir as its duly elected candidate and held that the party was required to comply with the Electoral Act 2026 and its own nomination guidelines.
Babazango had sought to retain his seat in the House of Representatives after defecting from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the ADC.
Bashir had also asked the court for N25 million in litigation costs. The court declined the claim for solicitors’ fees but awarded N1 million in costs against the ADC and another N1 million against Babazango.
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