There are politicians who seek office, and there are leaders who are sought by office. Dr. Akinlade Akanmu Ogunbiyi belongs to the second category. His landslide victory in the All Progressives Congress primary for Osun West Senatorial District, where he polled 30,568 votes against 1,115 for Gafar Akintayo Amere and 14 for Peter Ogundeji, was not an accident of delegate arithmetic. It was a verdict. It was the verdict of a district that looked at its options, weighed antecedents against ambition, and chose the man whose life has already been a rehearsal for service.
Intellectually, Ogunbiyi is in a class of his own. This is not the empty boast of a campaign poster. He is a thorough-bred professional whose education reads like a map of the world’s best classrooms. A Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics, Second Class Upper, from the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University. An Executive MBA from Lagos Business School and IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Barcelona. Executive education at Harvard Business School, Saïd Business School at Oxford, and Yale School of Management. Fellowships of the Chartered Insurance Institute, London, the West African Insurance Institute, and the Institute of Directors. PhD, EMBA, B.Sc, ACII, FCII, FWAII, FloD. These are not titles collected for decoration. They are the tools of a man who has spent a lifetime learning how economies work, how organisations are built, and how leaders decide. When he says, “If you look at my antecedents, my profile, and my experience, you will know that having me as senator will be a plus for my people,” he is not campaigning. He is stating a fact that his CV proves.
Politically, Ogunbiyi has shown a sagacity that few of his contemporaries possess. He has contested, he has lost, he has learnt, and he has remained. He contested the PDP governorship primary in 2018 and lost narrowly to Ademola Adeleke. He contested in 2022 under Accord and finished third. Many men would have become bitter, or mercenary, or disappeared. Ogunbiyi remained a progressive all his life, as he himself puts it, and made the strategic move to the APC, aligning early and completely with the consensus that produced Bola Oyebamiji as governorship candidate. When he declared in Iwo, headquarters of the senatorial district, he did not come as a stranger imposing himself. He came to inform leaders who had already aligned with him. “I am the only one. They are all unified behind me for the senatorial seat,” he said, and the primary result proved him right. That is political sagacity: knowing when to fight, when to build consensus, when to support another, and when to step forward. He declared, “I am useful to Oyebamiji, and I am doing everything possible to ensure his emergence.” In a political culture where ambition often destroys unity, Ogunbiyi has shown that loyalty can be a strategy and consensus can be a strength.
Socially, Ogunbiyi is fit for the people he seeks to represent because he never left them. He rose from us and still belongs to us, as his supporters say, and it is true in the most literal sense. Born on September 12, 1962 in Ile-Ogbo, Ayedire Local Government Area, he is an Ile-Ogbo son who has carried his hometown with him to every boardroom in the world, and carried the world back to Ile-Ogbo. He is a member of the Osun Development Association. He has impacted beyond the state and at the national level, yet he still sits with stakeholders in Iwo to inform them before he goes out officially. “I came to inform them before I go out officially,” he said at his declaration. That single sentence reveals a man who understands that leadership is not announcement, it is consultation. He does not talk down to his people. He talks with them. That is why the result was not just a victory for Ile-Ogbo and Ayedire, but a moment of pride for the entire Osun West. One of their own is now flying the flag for the whole district.
Professionally, Ogunbiyi is suave in the best sense of the word: calm, competent, credible, and connected. Trained at NICON, pioneer deputy director at Finance and Insurance Experts Limited, and now Chairman of Mutual Benefits Assurance PLC, he has built a conglomerate over 31 years that has employed over 5,000 people. That is not a promise of job creation. It is a record of job creation. While others promise empowerment in manifestos, Ogunbiyi has already empowered 5,000 families through salaries, training, and opportunity. He has interactions across the globe with leaders, as he told stakeholders, and he brings that exposure home. In the Senate, Osun West will not need a learner. It will have a man who has negotiated, managed, built, and delivered at the highest levels of Nigerian and international business.
That is why Ogunbiyi is a quintessential leader. Intellectually sound enough to understand policy, not just politics. Politically sagacious enough to build consensus, not just contest. Socially fit enough to remain rooted in Ile-Ogbo, Iwo, and Osun West while thinking globally. Professionally suave enough to turn experience into employment, and business success into public service. He said it himself in Iwo: “It is my interest to serve my people, and I have garnered experience.” And again: “I believe I will serve the West Senatorial District effectively if I emerge as senator.”
Osun West has heard many promises. On May 18, 2026, it chose a man whose promise is his past. With 30,568 votes, it did not just elect a candidate. It endorsed a leader.
