“…since the APC came into power, the Ministerial position has been given to the East Senatorial District in 2015 (Professor Adewole) and 2019 (Rauf Aregbesola). The East had also produced a Governor for eight years of Aregbesola. Governor Oyetola is from the Central Senatorial District which also monopolised the Chairmaship of the State APC for 10 years of Prince Adegboyega Famodun.”
- Photo: President Tinubu*
By Toye Faloye
The deepening internal crises in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at both the national and the state levels may be responsible for the inability of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to name his Ministerial nominees for about 11 States of the Federation, including Osun.
Recall that the President sent 28 names to the Senate, which were read out in the plenary session of the Senate last Thursday. This fell short of the constitutional requirement of one nominee per state, prompting the Chief of Staff to the President, ex-Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, to hint of a second batch of nominees “in the coming days”.
One of the states that was excluded from the first batch of nominees is Osun State, and the inability of the President to name a candidate is not unconnected with the politics of the resignation of the National Chairman and Secretary of the party and the ongoing subterranean moves to get them replaced with men loyal to the President.
Although unconfirmed sources had tipped the duo of ex Governor Adegboyega Oyetola and ex Senate Spokesperson Ajibola Basiru, the possibilities have become a source of concern for party strategists since both of them are from the same Senatorial District of the state. In fact, both have just completed their respective tenures as Governor and Senator having lost their re-election bids to PDP candidates in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
The argument rages on whether the party should continue to parade such recent losers of elections when there are other capable hands from the State for such important federal positions.
The pairing of both Oyetola and Basiru for the ministerial slots is not particularly well received by the leaders of the party in Osun West Senatorial District who met several times in the last one week to register their displeasure at continuing marginalisation of the zone in the politics of Osun State. It is on record that the 2018 gubernatorial primaries of the APC in Osun State was fought on the alter of “West Lokan”, the fallout of which led to withdrawal of notable gladiators of the party such as Alhaji Moshood Adeoti (former State Chairman of APC and SSG) and ex Speaker Najeem Salaam.
That crisis also fuelled a bigger crisis involving ex Minister Rauf Aregbesola and ex Governor Oyetola that facilitated a total take over of the State by the PDP in the subsequent elections of 2022 and 2023.
The question that rages now is whether President Tinubu will further allow a polarisation of the APC in Osun State, given the fact that taking over Osun State is strategic to his hold on power and the race for a second term in 2027, by the continued marginalisation of the West Senatorial District in the politics of the State.
The leaders of Osun West who met last week have justified their entitlements to either of the Ministerial slot or the National Secretary on several grounds.
According to them, since the APC came into power, the Ministerial position has been given to the East Senatorial District in 2015 (Professor Adewole) and 2019 (Rauf Aregbesola). The East had also produced a Governor for eight years of Aregbesola. Governor Oyetola is from the Central Senatorial District which also monopolised the Chairmaship of the State APC for 10 years of Prince Adegboyega Famodun.
Chief Bisi Akande, national leader is also from the same zone. On the other hand, the West Senatorial District has been completely sidelined since APC came into power.
The cry of the leaders of the West is that the current permutations of using Oyetola and Basiru, both from the Central Senatorial District, which had been amply favoured in the recent past by the APC, cannot work and is bound to further harm the party’s fortunes in Osun State ahead of the 2026 and 2027 elections in the State.
They therefore insist that one of the slots be given to the West Senatorial District in the interest of fairness and equity for a united APC that can stand the PDP in the State.
Although the meetings did not name any particular candidates, among the prominent names that are on the lips of the leaders and party members from the Senatorial District is ex Speaker Najeem Salaam although his relationship with Rauf Aregbesola and his alleged role in aiding the loss of APC to PDP may be an albatross.
Also being considered is Professor Mojeed Alabi, a former Speaker of the State and former Member of the 8th House of Representatives (2015-2019). What goes for Prof Alabi has been his consistency in the progressive fold from SDP, AD, AC, ACN to APC. He was said to have been suggested by Chief Bisi Akande for the position of National Secretary in March-April 2022 but the post eventually went to Omisore.
The fallout of the meetings of the leaders if the West Senatorial District has propelled other interests to canvass that the National Secretary position goes to either of Prof Mojeed Alabi or Mr Ayo Afolabi, both allies of Chief Bisi Akande who are trusted by the founding National Chairman of the APC and were actually proposed for the position in 2022 before Omisore clinched it with the support of the sitting Governors of the party who believed he could help Oyetola win a second term with the votes of Ile Ife, his traditional political base .
But the Omisore caucus is not going down without a fight as it is prompting one Hon Ajibade Falade, a former Local Government Chairmen and ex House of Representatives member who decamped with Omisore from the SDP to the APC in 2018.
However, the West Senatorial District is not the only one opposed to picking both the Minister and the National Secretary from the same Senatorial District as is being peddled. The East Senatorial District is peddling the name of Senator Babajide Omoworare as a replacement for Omisore.
The argument is that Omoworare, a Tinubu loyalists who was three times the Majority Leader of the Lagos State House of Assembly before shifting his political base to Osun State to serve as a Senator, is from the same zone and is also a Christian like Omisore.