By Shina Abubakar
How the 2026 off-cycle governorship election in Osun State will pan out is gradually unfolding as political parties pick their standard bearers.
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Currently, the situation in the state indicates that three major contenders may emerge for the election, and the leading parties, unlike in the last election, seem to be different this time except for the All Progressives Congress, APC, which will pick its candidate tomorrow.
Candidates who have emerged include Governor Ademola Adele (Accord), Adebayo Adedamola (PDP), and Najeem Salaam (ADC).
One of the major issues shaping the poll is the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which denied Governor Ademola Adeleke a viable platform to advance his re-election bid.
The crisis has shotaa the PDP from a ruling party down to an opposition party in the state.
Governor Adeleke had in the midst of the PDP crisis attempted to defect to the APC but was rejected by the party members in the state on the ground that he went through the wrong channel and in the process tried to sideline their leader, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy.
After the move went south, the governor attempted to stay within the PDP, hoping that the internal crisis would be resolved, or at best curry the favour of both camps to scale through party nomination.
But the situation went from bad to worse, following the decision of the Governor Seyi Makinde-backed camp to hold a convention in Ibadan against the decision of the Nyesom Wike group.
Adeleke later backed out but the move seemed too late to appease the FCT Minister and his supporters.
The convention shattered the chances of Adeleke in the PDP, and he went back to the drawing board searching for a party without internal strife before finally settling for the Accord, where he emerged as sole flagbearer and was handed a ticket.
Meanwhile, prior to his movement to the Accord, the Makinde-backed PDP had held its primary election producing Adebayo Adedamola popularly called Fryo as its candidate.
On his part, Governor Adeleke emerged as the Accord candidate after the primary election in Osogbo where he got 145 out of the 150 delegate votes. Though the party screening committee cleared him as the sole candidate for the exercise, the delegates were allowed to exercise their franchise.
Omisore blames Oyetola for misfortune
In the APC, the major problem has to do with the number of aspirants jostling for the party’s ticket. Though13 aspirants signified intention to vie for the ticket, only eight eventually got the form. These include; Mr Bola Oyebamiji, AMBO, Senator Iyiola Omisore, Omooba Dotun Babayemi, Senator Babajide Omoworare, Henriata Oralusi, Gboyega Alabi, Mulikat Abiola and Kunle Adegoke, KRAD.
After the aspirants faced the party’s screening committee, six of them were found wanting over improper nomination, hence, were disqualified, thereby raising questions about the integrity of the process.
The Appeal committee has failed to come out with its reports days after meeting with the aggrieved aspirants with the primary set to hold on Saturday.
President Bola Tinubu has met with the aspirants, where those disqualified objected to their disqualification, even though they have agreed to accept a consensus candidate.
Although Senator Iyiola Omisore did not attend the meeting, he, however, expressed disappointment with the role played by the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, for sidelining due process and allegedly imposing an aspirant on the state without proper consultation.
He stated his readiness to abide by the directive of the President on the condition that their disqualification is reversed and a new method devised to pick the consensus candidate. He also urged the party to change its approach to election in the state to have a chance of winning the poll.
Barring any last minute change, the aspirant that his expected to emerge from the APC primary on Saturday is Mr Bola Oyebamiji, Oyetola’s preferred aspirant.
Adeoti quits ADC after Salaam’s adoption
Meanwhile the fourth major party in the race is the African Democratic Congress, ADC, which has former Governor Rauf Aregbesola as its leader. The party is banking on the popularity of the former governor whose ascension to the National Secretary of the party gave it acceptability in Osun.
However, the ADC is not without its own share of crises. The party lost one of its popular grassroots politicians, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, after the party adopted Mr Najeem Salaam, a former Speaker of the State Assembly, as its candidate.
Adeoti, who was Secretary of the State Government during Aregbesola’s administration, in a letter to the Chairman Omoluabi Progressives, the plank via which the group joined the ADC, cited family reasons for quitting.
Barring last minute changes, the three persons expected to wrestle for the governorship seat are Governor Ademola Adeleke, Mr Bola Oyebamiji, and Najeem Salaam. The PDP is expected to play a spoiler role for Accord while the ADC is expected to share APC’s votes
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