Osun 2026:APC Leaders Vow To Reclaim State

New revelations have emerged surrounding the speculated defection of Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Credible sources indicate that loyalists of the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr. Gboyega Oyetola, played a decisive role in thwarting the plan.

According to insiders, a stakeholders’ meeting of APC leaders in Osun, allegedly convened by Oyetola at the Ilerioluwa House, Ogo Oluwa, on Friday, primarily focused on strategies for securing victory in the 2026 and 2027 elections. However, discussions also touched on Adeleke’s rumoured defection, the withheld local government allocations, and internal political calculations.

A prominent party leader at the meeting reportedly claimed responsibility for blocking Adeleke’s entry into the APC, boasting of securing President Bola Tinubu’s backing and asserting that the party could win Osun without the Adelekes. He also allegedly disclosed arrangements for collaboration with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to tilt the 2026 polls in the APC’s favour.

The leader was said to have opposed court rulings that favoured the PDP on the local government leadership crisis and allegedly vowed that the Federal Government would not release local government allocations to Osun unless they were directed to the sacked APC council chairmen.

Sources at the meeting further revealed that the APC was mobilizing resources to ensure total victory in the upcoming elections. Reflecting on the party’s 2022 defeat, the leader blamed it on former President Muhammadu Buhari’s refusal to direct security and electoral bodies to support the APC.

Contrary to earlier speculations, the source confirmed that Adeleke was deliberately shut out of the APC, with assurances to Tinubu that the party could reclaim Osun without accommodating him. The political strategy, reportedly already in motion, includes using the prolonged LG allocation crisis to stir grassroots discontent against Adeleke.

Despite most legal interpretations favouring the PDP-led state government in the Appeal Court ruling, the Federal Government has continued to withhold local government funds. The influential APC leader allegedly disclosed that efforts were underway to exploit legal technicalities to divert the funds to the sacked APC chairmen.