Internal friction within the Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) erupted into the open on Tuesday afternoon, November 3, 2026, when executive members of the state committee publicly rejected a newly released campaign list.
The aggrieved party chieftains stated that the parallel presidential campaign list violated established party guidelines, lacked due process, and undermined the official leadership structure ahead of the upcoming election cycles.
The controversy began earlier on Tuesday morning when the Osun APC State Chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, unveiled a 168-member Presidential/Parliamentary Campaign Council during a media announcement in Osogbo.
Under Lawal’s proposed framework, Bola Oyebamiji, the party’s candidate in the August governorship election, was designated as the Director-General, while Lawal himself was slated to serve as Deputy Director-General alongside key party figures.
However, four members of the Osun APC State Executive Committee issued a joint press statement in Osogbo on Tuesday afternoon, sharply disputing the legitimacy of the list.
The dissenting executive members pointed out that the new composition directly contradicted an earlier presidential directive from the party’s national leadership. That national directive had appointed Governor Ademola Adeleke as the Director-General of the Presidential Campaign Council in Osun State.
Following that presidential directive, Governor Adeleke had already inaugurated a 344-member state campaign council in Osogbo on October 22, 2026, in the presence of APC National Secretary, Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru.
The aggrieved executives argued that launching a separate council without prior consultation or harmonization bypassed recognised party channels, created unnecessary friction, and risked fracturing the party’s rank and file. They called on the national leadership, particularly Senator Basiru, to intervene immediately, review the composition, and preserve institutional unity.
Following the pushback from state executive members on Tuesday afternoon, the state party leadership attempted to de-escalate tensions. Chairman Tajudeen Lawal issued a follow-up statement clarifying that the newly created body was intended to operate as a specialised Parliamentary Campaign Committee to support legislative candidates rather than serve as a parallel presidential council.
Despite this clarification, party stakeholders continue to demand a formal harmonisation meeting to unify campaign efforts across the state under a single, agreed-upon framework.
