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.
