In the smoky aftermath of the August 15 defeat, the agony among Osun APC leaders was both about lost votes and lost dignity. Leaders who flaunted the federal might are now confronted with shame in their own communities and have been unable to show their faces since the defeat was announced. Their lament was bitter and layered with regret: despite deploying federal might, money, and personal resources, they were out-organized. At the center of the storm stood Gboyega Oyetola, accused of unilateral control and poor execution, with many openly wishing he had stepped aside and arguing that a tougher candidate like Iyiola Omisore might have spared them the humiliation. What stung most was not just the loss, but the sense that their efforts — and their money — had been wasted, leaving behind deep-seated grief, recriminations, and the painful admission that the so-called federal might is not invincible with party leadership driven by selfishness and absolute greed . .
That frustration has now been put in writing. In an open letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Osun APC Stakeholders Forum led by Prof. Akin Adeyanju and Hon. Sola Ajayi blamed the defeat squarely on Oyetola in his capacity as immediate past governor and current Minister of Marine and Blue Economy. The core accusation is exclusion. The forum alleges that Oyetola appointed cronies, allies and kinsmen to federal positions and single-handedly nominated all elective candidates, ignoring elders who advised broader consultation. They argue this shut out critical stakeholders across the three senatorial districts and disengaged the party base.
To back the claim, the letter lists 26 federal appointees it says were cornered by “Oyetola’s hometown and camp.” The list includes Oyetola himself, Bola Oyebamiji as MD NIWA and governorship candidate, Benjamin Adereti as deputy candidate, and key figures in NIMASA, NPA, FHA, SWDC, FCC, NPC, RMAFC, CSC, NASC and several governing councils. It also names Hon. Ayo Omidiran, Hon. Nike Omoworare, Hon. Taiwo Oluga, Hon. Bosun Oyintiloye, Hon. Rotimi Makinde, Engr. Remi Omowaiye, and the structure of 31 LGA and 332 Ward Renewed Hope Ambassadors. The point made is not just about names but about perception: when patronage is seen to be concentrated, the wider membership withdraws and grassroots mobilization collapses.
The same charge is made on candidate selection. According to the forum, Oyetola nominated 1 governorship, 1 deputy, 3 senatorial, 9 House of Representatives and 26 House of Assembly candidates without input from party elders. That, they say, left local structures with no ownership and no motivation to deliver, and it explains why a party with federal backing could still be beaten on the ground.
Interwoven with this is a growing regret over Senator Iyiola Omisore. with his history as Deputy Governor and Senator and his enduring grassroots structure — the belief is that he might have been the tougher option. Despite complaints of ill-treatment by the party, Omisore appears to have retained influence over followers who voted differently from his public position. Senator Iyiola Omisore carried potentials that many within Osun APC now believe could have shielded the party from the shame of the August 15 defeat. As a former Deputy Governor and Senator with decades of grassroots structure across Ife, Osun Central and beyond, he understood the art of ward-level mobilization in a way that federal endorsement alone could not replicate. Party stakeholders argue that his reputation as a tough, strategic political operator, not just a name on a ballot, would have given APC the local tenacity it lacked at polling units where it was consistently outnumbered by agents. More importantly, his inclusion could have healed the factional rifts that the open letter to the President now cites as fatal, broadening the party’s tent instead of concentrating power in one camp. In hindsight, many APC leaders concede that sidelining Omisore was not just a personnel choice, but the single miscalculation that turned a winnable contest into public humiliation.
From these grievances, the Stakeholders Forum is demanding four things from the President: an independent review of Osun APC’s leadership and candidate-selection process; a reconciliation meeting under the NWC with Oyetola, elders and aggrieved members; fairness in future federal appointments so they reflect all districts and groups; and a fact-finding committee to review the primaries before the next cycle.
For long-term recovery, they propose an NWC-convened state congress to rebuild the executive, a reconciliation summit of all factions, a transparent framework for candidate selection, and deliberate spread of appointments and tickets beyond one camp.
The broader lesson leaders are grappling with is that federal might did not translate to local victory. Despite national figures storming Osogbo, APC lost with 444,815 votes to Adeleke’s 511,067, carrying only 11 LGAs to Accord’s 19. The admission now is that the loss was self-inflicted — the product of centralizing power, alienating stakeholders, and underestimating the need to show real change in people’s daily lives.
The letter does not cast Oyetola as a hero. It casts him as the reason the structure collapsed. And it casts Omisore as the alliance the party should not have sidelined. Until APC in Osun addresses both, the agony of August 15 will remain more than an election result. It will be a warning.
