August 03, (THEWILL) — The drum has sounded next door.
On June 20, 2026, Ekiti spoke. And Ekiti did not whisper. Ekiti chose APC. Ekiti chose continuity. Ekiti chose Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji with a landslide that could not be argued with.
Now the sound of that drum is rolling toward Osun. On August 8, 2026, Osun will answer.
And the question before Osun is not complicated. Will the state remain outside the gate, shouting? Or will it take the cue from Ekiti and walk into the centre, where power is used to build rather than to quarrel?
What happened in Ekiti is not magic. It is a blueprint. For four years, Ekiti people watched and took notes. They saw salary arrive on the 25th of every month like clockwork, not like a favour. They saw pensioners collect their dues with dignity, without sleeping in queues or shedding tears. They saw roads cut across 16 LGAs, linking farm to market and village to school. They saw a new phrase enter the business dictionary: “Ekiti can be trusted.”
After winning so big, BAO did not pick up a whip. He spread a table. “Ekiti takes all,” he said. No witch-hunt. No four-year revenge. Just service. The kind of service that is boring to announce but powerful to live in.
That is why on June 20, Ekiti renewed the mandate. Not because of party colours. Because of proof.
But there is something deeper in the Ekiti story that Osun must not miss.
Ekiti chose to align with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. And because Ekiti aligned with Abuja, Abuja aligned with Ekiti. Projects came faster. Funding came with less friction. Partnerships became easier. Hope stopped being a poster on the road and became cement in classrooms, drugs in clinics, and jobs in the hands of young people.
Look around the South-West. Lagos is building. Ogun is industrialising. Ondo is planning. Ekiti has just renewed its mandate. The region is moving as one. A house that stands together, builds together.
Ekiti’s message to Osun is clear and simple: “Stop fighting the centre. Join the centre.”
Today, APC is in opposition in Osun. And the people are paying for it.
Osun workers live in suspense. Will salary come early? Will it come at all? Osun youths hear big English on radio but see no jobs on the street. Osun mothers are tired of promises that expire before the harvest. Osun farmers are tired of roads that only exist during campaigns.
This is not because Osun people are lazy. Far from it. It is because no state can grow well while it is in a daily fight with the federal government that is supposed to be its partner. Opposition as a permanent address is expensive. It costs us projects. It costs us partnerships. It costs us years that we will never get back.
You cannot plant corn and expect to harvest yam. You cannot expect Renewed Hope dividends while you reject Renewed Hope.
So what must Osun people do on August 8? They must upend themselves. To upend is to overturn. To turn things around.
First, they must upend the narrative. Stop selling anger. Start selling evidence. Take Ekiti to every market, mosque, and motor park. “Look at Ekiti. Four years. This is what alignment gives you. This is what we will do in Osun.”
Second, they must upend the politics. Copy the Ekiti model. Humility first. Service second. Results always. End governance by audio. Begin governance by delivery. Let the people see APC as the party that brings light to their shop at 8 pm, not just noise to their radio.
Third, they must upend the strategy. Osun APC as the bridge between Osun and Abuja. Show voters what they are missing right now: federal roads, health programs, youth jobs, MSME support under Renewed Hope. Make this election a clear choice between isolation and alignment.
Fourth, they must upend the organisation. From today, let the APC folks go ward to ward. Not with thugs, but with truth. Recruit teachers, artisans, women, and technocrats. This must not be a party election. It must be a rescue mission for Osun.
Our fathers said: “Ti oju ba ri ire, ẹsẹ̀ yíò tẹ̀lé.” When the eyes see good, the feet will follow. Osun’s eyes have seen Ekiti on June 20. They have seen what four years of disciplined, aligned APC government can produce.
On August 8, 2026, Osun will choose. Will they choose four more years of fighting Abuja? Or should they choose to join the centre, join Renewed Hope, and join the South-West progress train?
This is not about party. It is about your child’s classroom. It is about your mother’s pension. It is about the road that takes your cocoa to market.
The party of Awo is calling. The party of progressives is calling. The party that just won Ekiti is calling. It is the house where power is treated as service, and service as worship.
Osun must upend itself from opposition politics. Osun must take the cue from Ekiti 2026. Osun must vote APC on August 8.
Because Ekiti has shown the light, now it is the turn of Osun to walk in it.
The author, Segun Dipe is the Publicity Secretary, APC, Ekiti State.
