The battle for the soul of the APC in Osun has moved from the ballot to the pages of public debate following the 2026 Gubernatorial election. While the result has been declared, supporters of the Honourable Minister for Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, are working to cement a narrative of resilience, inclusivity and federal delivery.
That narrative was articulated forcefully by Hon. Eludayo Eluyemi. He described the election as an exceptionally well-fought battle in which APC’s candidate, Oyebamiji, secured over 440,000 votes on his first attempt despite less than two years of preparation and what he called a high-level conspiracy. Eluyemi credited Oyetola with exceptional leadership rooted in inclusivity, contrary to claims of nepotism. He cited his own appointment as Federal Commissioner, saying he was recommended solely on merit and loyalty despite never being a member of the IleriOluwa group and having met Oyetola only twice in 20 years of politics. He listed other Ile-Ife beneficiaries including Hon. Nike Omoworare, Professor Taiwo Olaiya, Hon. Segun Fanibe, Alhaji Tajudeen “Sooko” Lawal and Hon. Rotimi Makinde as proof of broad representation. On infrastructure, Eluyemi praised Oyetola for facilitating the ongoing reconstruction of the Ilesa-Ife-Ibadan road, a project first awarded in 2010 but revived after 15 years of stagnation through what he described as relentless advocacy. He also noted other federal road interventions across Osun unlocked through Oyetola’s office. On human capital, he recounted how Oyetola told him to give employment opportunities to deserving party members in his constituency rather than hoard them for relatives, calling him a completely detribalized and fair-minded leader. Remi Omowaiye reinforced the same line, crediting Oyetola with bringing a new federal university and federal college to his hometown and facilitating an unprecedented number of top-tier federal appointments for members of the Osun APC caucus.
Senator Iyiola Omisore has now fired back with a direct counter-narrative that seeks to strip that praise of its foundation and recast Oyetola as a lame duck leader whose record does not match the rhetoric.
On infrastructure, Omisore rejects the claim of advocacy and replaces it with a test of executive action. He argues that if Oyetola was serious during years of poor federal funding, he should have done what Governor Seyi Makinde did on the Ibadan-Ikire stretch and what Aregbesola did on the Gbongan-Akoda-Osogbo-Ilado detour: front-fund the project with state money and claim a refund from the Federal Government. Instead, quoting Senator Adenigba Fadahunsi, Omisore alleges that Oyetola was “busy stealing Osun money to Lagos” during his tenure. He also corrects the historical record that Omowaiye got wrong. According to Omisore, he facilitated and designed the Gbongan Junction–Akoda–Osogbo–Kwara boundary road from 2010, which was awarded by Aregbesola and funded by the Federal Government. The Ibadan–Ife–Ilesa dualization was awarded to Kopek Construction in 2012, and the Gbongan–Iwo–Oyo boundary project went to Kopek in 2010. “The record must be fitted straightly,” Omisore writes, dismissing Omowaiye as “just one of the errand boys of Jagun Aso” who was told a false story. In this reading, what is being celebrated as Oyetola’s delivery is credit-taking for projects conceived and awarded more than a decade earlier.
On appointments and party management, Omisore does not dispute that appointments were made. He concedes that Oyetola brought a federal university and federal college to his hometown and facilitated an unprecedented number of federal jobs for members of his caucus in the Osun APC. But he turns that into indictment. That concentration, he argues, is one of the problems that led to APC’s loss in the recent election. He specifically calls out the disparaging remarks against an Ife elder with a 35-year ambition to be governor and asks whether anyone expected such a man to campaign against his own people. He describes the tone as arrogant and lacking home training, and blames it for APC’s repeated loss of Ilesa West wards from 2018 to 2022 and again in 2026. Where Eluyemi sees inclusivity because appointments reached beyond IleriOluwa, Omisore sees exclusion because they did not reach beyond one caucus. Leadership, in his view, is measured not by who got a job but by whether the party got bigger.
On performance and the verdict of 2026, Omisore dismisses the idea that conspiracy alone defeated APC. He attributes Governor Adeleke’s victory to performance and to long-standing relationships with kings, leaders, elders and communities across Osun. He asserts that what the Adeleke-led government has done in under four years in Iwo, Ile-Ife, Ila Orangun, Ede and Ilesa is visible and unmatched by any previous administration. The achievements, he says, do not require a microscope to see. The contrast is deliberate: federal access without corresponding state delivery, claims of revived roads without a refund model, and appointments for a caucus without wins at the ward level.
That is the basis for the “lame duck” characterization. In Omisore’s account, Oyetola held federal power and ministerial office, yet could not expand the APC base, could not demonstrate state-funded delivery during fiscal constraints, and could not prevent electoral decline in key areas. The title of leader remained, but the capacity to move votes and to hold the coalition together had weakened.
The lesson for the APC ahead of 2027 is therefore not about slogans of loyalty. It is about evidence. Eluyemi and Omowaiye offer testimony and gratitude. Omisore offers timelines, funding comparisons and election results. If the party intends to reclaim Osun, it must answer the demystification: did Oyetola’s government transform how the state finances infrastructure, or did it ride on federal projects it did not initiate? Did its appointment strategy broaden the party, or narrow it? Praise may sustain morale, but only records win elections.
