The ink is barely dry on the 2026 Osun governorship results and already the blame game has begun. Engr. Remi Omowaiye, former Commissioner for Works under Gboyega Oyetola, has stepped forward as his principal’s chief defender. In a lengthy statement circulating online, Omowaiye insists Oyetola is not the “greatest loser” of the poll, but rather the “hero” and “undisputed leader” of Osun APC. He paints a picture of fiscal discipline, federal influence, and personal sacrifice, while pointing accusing fingers at external conspiracies and internal traitors. It is a passionate defense. It is also a telling confession of why the party is where it is today.
Omowaiye wants us to remember Oyetola’s record in office: four years without borrowing, ₦97 billion in inherited debt paid back, and billions left in government coffers. As Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, he argues, Oyetola has done even more for Osun, securing over 200 federal jobs, facilitating top-tier appointments, influencing nearly ₦1 trillion in road projects from Osogbo–Iwo–Ibadan to Ibadan-Ife–Ilesa and Gbongan–Akoda–Osogbo, and bringing a Federal University and College to the state. To him, the 444,000 votes APC pulled in 2026, and the strong showing in Oyebamiji’s LGA and Oyetola’s own zone, prove the party remains loved under Oyetola’s watch. He adds that Oyetola made noble sacrifices, stepping aside when asked not to contest, staying off the campaign frontlines, and funding the party from his personal pocket for four years.
But Omowaiye cannot explain defeat without enemies. He blames an “Abuja gang-up” allegedly exposed by Wike and Governor Sule, claims Atiku’s faction and the Osun ADC worked secretly for Adeleke, and cites 20,000 voided votes and voters forced to swear oaths. Then he turns inward, accusing APC stalwarts in Osogbo and Ife of sabotage over “selfish 2030 calculations,” and singling out an “Ife born elder” who admitted working against APC despite pleas from governors. The name left unsaid but clearly implied is Senator Iyiola Omisore. He also rushes to defend Munirudeen Oyebamiji, reminding critics that he was Aregbesola’s preferred successor and the only man who could deliver such votes under hostile conditions. The piece ends with a warning to President Tinubu about “fair-weather politicians” and a final verdict: Oyetola did not lose.
According to some political observers , the attempt by Sen. Ajibola Omoworare and his camp to credit Oyetola with major federal road projects in Osun is a blatant distortion of history that insults the intelligence of the people. According to Political Observers, the Gbongan Junction – Akoda – Osogbo – Kwara Boundary Road was facilitated and designed by Sen. Iyiola Omisore since 2010 while he represented Osun East, and was later awarded by the Aregbesola administration but funded by the Federal Government. Similarly, the Dualisation of Ibadan – Ife – Ilesa Road was awarded to KOPEK Construction in 2012, and the Gbongan – Iwo – Oyo Boundary Road went to KOPEK in 2010, both following advocacy that predated Oyetola’s tenure. At that time, Omoworare’s key voice Omowaiye was likely still in LAUTECH or serving as an aide in the Oyo State House of Assembly, yet today they speak with entitlement and even disrespect elders like Senator Omisore. Political Observers noted that this culture of arrogance, falsehood and lack of home training is the same virus that delivered back-to-back losses to APC in Ilesa West from 2018 to 2022 and again in 2026, as voters rejected lies about who built what. The exaggerations peddled in Oyetola’s name by these minions and sycophants are largely responsible for APC’s repeated electoral defeats in Osun, because you cannot steal the glory of projects people use daily and expect their votes.
Political Observers further stated that this reckless revisionism shows a refusal to learn from the past, particularly the damage done by AKERE’s reckless statements just before the last election, which also chased voters away with entitlement and propaganda. Instead of humility and facts, Omoworare and his opportunists have chosen noise, and the result has been political collapse. According to Political Observers, Osun people remember who lobbied for these roads in 2010 and they will continue to punish arrogance and historical fraud at the ballot. If APC hopes to recover in the state, it must urgently call Omoworare and his co-travelers to order and bury this culture of lies. “A word is enough for the wise”: you do not win by rewriting history, you win by respecting the people and telling the truth, Political Observers concluded.
The problem is that this defense ignores the storm blowing from inside Oyetola’s own house. The loudest voices indicting him today are not PDP spokesmen. They are men who served him: former DG Ajibola Famurewa, and ex-commissioners like Bamisayemi, Jamiu Olawumi, Aleem Bakare, Taiwo Akeju and Yemi Lawal, all of whom have since walked away. Their allegation is uniform and brutal. They accuse Oyetola of greed, not for money, but for political oxygen, hoarding federal appointments until about 26 out of 29 slots went to “cousins, town people, and the Oba of his town.” They name NIWA, NIMASA, NPA, FCC, SWDC, FHA and others as now answering to “one address” in Iragbiji. They say this starved the party base and turned APC into a pariah.
They also describe despotism: 84 members expelled, 26 suspended, including Adeoti, Salami and Baderinwa, all for raising questions. They speak of a “three-man show” run by Oyetola, Oyebamiji and Omowaiye himself, where advice was rejected and dissent tagged as pro-Aregbesola. They allege 2am calls canceling primaries after aspirants spent millions, tickets reassigned without contests, and a ministerial appointment process done without consultation. Some even cite personal distance, no condolence visits, severance paid only to a select few. This is not the language of political opponents. This is the language of men who built the house and watched it burn.
Omowaiye’s attempt to blame Omisore and “Ife elders” therefore rings hollow. You cannot claim betrayal after you first cleared the field. Critics allege Oyetola signaled a 2027 bid, then dropped it to anoint Oyebamiji, sidelining heavyweights like Benedict Alabi, Babajide Omoworare and Omisore himself by declaring his ward executives non-members. They say federal appointments were warehoused for elections, with “Renewed Hope Ambassadors” planted in all 332 wards, locking out Ife, Ijesa, Ede and Osogbo. That is not coalition building. That is control. And control, as Osun voters showed twice, does not win elections.
In the end, Omowaiye has done what loyalists often do in defeat, he has elevated personality over process. Praising debt repayment cannot cover the charge of exclusion. Citing roads cannot answer why a party that controls the ports and maritime agencies could not hold its state. Warning of violence cannot excuse a political strategy that shrank APC into what even defectors call “deep but narrow.”
Oyetola may indeed retain presidential trust. But trust in Abuja is not votes in Ilesa, Ede, or Osogbo. Omowaiye was Commissioner for Works, he knows that a structure built without pillars collapses. By defending one man at the expense of the party, he has only confirmed the central allegation against his principal: that Oyetola took more than he gave, ruled more than he listened, and kept more than he shared. And in Osun politics, that is how you go from governor to spoiler.
