Osun APC Needs A Unifier To Defeat Governor Ademola Adeleke (2)
In the first instalment of this piece, I promised that in the second instalment, I will review individuals who have shown interest or whose supporters are said to be drumming support in flying APC ticket in the forthcoming Osun Governorship election in 2026 to fish out the unifier.
When I made this promise, little did I envisage that Osun APC would have a crowded racetrack as soon as possible.
The two movements that would likely shape the politics of APC gubernatorial ticket is West L’okan and Osogbo L’okan. I also recognize an attempt by few individuals to play up Ile-Ife L’okan agenda but I am not sure the desire would gather the required momentum. However, the emerging candidate from Ile Ife would be included in this piece.
So who is the unifier among the lot of them that are currently enjoying significant mention among the party’s stalwarts and even the ruling party? I will consider only 4 of them for now:
- Bola Oyebamiji
- Senator Ajibola Basiru (SRJ)
- Senator Babajide Omoworare
- Kunle Rasheed Adegoke (KRAD)
Now, let’s see which of these guys can bring the much-needed amity into the race. Like I argued in the first installment of this piece, what APC needs most is unity. The party cannot afford to lose any group or a strong stalwart again.
- Bola Oyebamiji is a gentleman technocrat like his boss the former governor of Osun, Gboyega Oyetola. However, I cannot see his candidate uniting the party. This Oye ọmọ Oyè is likely to inherit his boss’s friends and enemies because his only relationship or association with the party is the Ìlérí Oluwa’s polical family. The party needs a broader and a more robust machine to defeat the Adeleke dynasty at the next gubernatorial election election.
- That Senator Ajibola Basiru (SRJ) is a divisive personality is not in doubt. I am of the opinion that his skills should be better utilized as the Secretary of the party at the national level than becoming the party’s ticket bearer at the next election in Osun State. SRJ cannot unify Osun APC. His candidature will only divide the party more. I think the elders of the party should appeal to him to keep his job as the head of the Secretariat of the ruling party in Abuja for now.
- Senator Babajide Omoworare is not a forceful politician. I cannot see him envisioning a movement that can unite APC to fight the Adelekes. His best bet for now is an appointed position. If I were him, I won’t waste my resources on this project.
- From the opinion poll randomly conducted recently, ‘Kunle Rasheed Adegoke (KRAD) is in the good books of virtually all the APC stalwarts and chieftains in Osun State. His reconciliation with former Governor Oyetola after the controversies that trailed the party’s primaries in 2018 signposts him as a great man of peace. I cannot see former Governor Rauf Aregbesola mounting a strong opposition against K. Rad as his rejection of K Rad’s aspiration in 2018 was not rewarded by acerbic criticism by K. Rad who accepted the decision of the party as final and not a cause of grievance against Ogbeni or anyone else. I believe Ogbeni owes him a lot. If APC is desirous of defeating the Adelekes dynasty in 2026, K. RAD is your man. If I were one of the elders of the party, I would arrange a meeting with all the gladiators and beg them to drop their ambition and work for K. RAD’s emergence as the flag bearer of the party.
The truth is that he (K. RAD) brings much more than unity into the fray. He represents a fresh dynamics in Osun Politics whose leadership would respect the leaders and implement the vision of the party for a prosperous Osun State.
I rest my case for now.
Kolade Ismail, a politician, writes from Ode-Omu in Ayedaade Local Government Area of Osun State
