April 12, (THEWILL) — With less than four months to the governorship election in Osun State, the All Progressives Congress, APC, is scurrying to mend fences among the warring chieftains of the party in the state. Being the home state of President Bola Tinubu and the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, a former governor, the party is worried that the lingering leadership crisis may pose a huge political embarrassment for its renewed show of electoral strength ahead of the 2027 election.
National Chairman of the party, Professor Yilwatda Nentawe referred to the danger of prolonging the crisis in the Osun APC as a bad advertisement for the renewed strength of the party across the country and the upcoming August 8, 2026, governorship poll in the state.
Professor Yilwatda, who commended the APC chapter for what he described as its visible readiness, growing organisational capacity and renewed seriousness ahead of future political engagements, quickly warned that electoral success would require more than enthusiasm, ceremonial mobilization or symbolic activity. He made this known in Abuja last week, while speaking on key issues affecting the social, political and economic management of the country.
Professor Yilwatda further emphasised that the political significance of Osun extends beyond its immediate electoral boundaries.
He described the state as a strategic psychological battleground for the APC’s continued strength in the South-West geopolitical zone and a crucial rehearsal ground for 2027.
He noted that the outcome of political organisation in Osun will carry symbolic, strategic and momentum-building consequences not only for the state but also for the wider political direction of the APC in the region and nationally.
According to him, confusion in authority lines, duplication of functions, ego-driven interferences and competing centres of influence have historically weakened political operations and must not be allowed to undermine the APC’s efforts in Osun.
“Every successful political operation requires one clear command structure. There must be no ambiguity in authority, no overlap in responsibilities, and no room for avoidable internal disruption. Every member of the campaign team must know their assignment, their target, and their expected outcome,” he said.
Professor Yilwatda also called for the establishment of a robust conflict resolution mechanism within the Osun campaign structure to proactively address grievances, misunderstandings and post-appointment tensions before they degenerate into factional bitterness or sabotage.
He warned that unmanaged resentment within campaign structures often does more damage than opposition attacks, stressing that political wounds ignored today can become electoral liabilities tomorrow.
The APC National Chairman therefore directed that the Osun campaign must not be reduced to a ceremonial political exercise, but should instead be designed as a data-driven, ward-based and message-coordinated operation.
He said the campaign must be rooted in local realities, informed by voter behaviour, tailored to community concerns, and executed with measurable precision across all wards and constituencies.
According to him, the era of generic slogans and uncoordinated mobilisation is over. What is required now is a modern political operation that understands the mood of the electorate, tracks persuasion patterns, coordinates messaging from the centre to the grassroots, and ensures that every local structure is active and accountable.
“Osun is not just another state election. It is a test of strength, a battle of perception, a measure of organisational discipline and an important rehearsal ground for 2027. We must approach it with the seriousness it deserves,” he said.
The National Chairman charged party leaders, stakeholders, mobilisers, youth groups, women’s wings, elected officials and grassroots coordinators in Osun to close ranks and work with a single purpose.
He urged all party faithful to place collective victory above personal ambition, emphasizing that the APC’s success will depend not only on strategy and structure, but also on unity, sacrifice, discipline and loyalty to the bigger cause.
The party’s challenge in Osun is the inability of the party chieftains to reconcile Oyetola and a former National Secretary of the party, Senator Iyiola Omisore, who have been feuding over the manner the governorship and deputy governorship candidates were selected for the upcoming August 8, 2026 governorship polls.
Leaders of the party, including a former Governor of the state and pioneer National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande, former Secretary to the Osun State Government and Chairman of the Elders Caucus of the party in the state, Engr Sola Akinwumi, were said to have made efforts to reconcile both stalwarts of the party, but to no avail.
Also, it was learnt that some leaders of the party in Ile-Ife, where Senator Omisore hails from, had made fruitless efforts to reconcile the two bigwigs.
Omisore, an ex- deputy governor of the state, who thought he had wrapped up the number job in the state but was schemed out by forces believed to be loyal to Oyetola, who influenced the victory of former Commissioner for Finance, Mr Bola Oyebamiji, contested the controversial circumstances at play. He fought back by a threat to institute a legal action against Oyebamiji and the APC, but had to stop any litigation due to the persuasion by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Chief Akande, his former boss.
As if that move against his interest was not enough, Omisiore suffered further humiliation when the deputy governorship candidate Benjamin Adereti, who hails from Ile-Ife, was nominated without consulting the APC leaders in that zone. Omisore hails from Ile-Ife, too.
Political leaders in the state are said to be on edge over how a relationship between both Oyetola and Omisore had broken down after having related closely before, especially during the 2018 governorship re-run election, where Omisore reportedly worked for Oyetola, the then governorship candidate of the APC, which made him defeat his major rival of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Ademola Adeleke, now incumbent governor, who is running for a second term on the platform of Accord Party to which he defected due to the prolonged crisis in the PDP.
Omisore reportedly played a significant role in the victory of Oyetola in the re-run election, having worked for him (Oyetola) in Ife South Local Government Area, which was one of the areas where the re-run election was held in 2018.
However, indications emerged that both Omisore and Oyetola are far apart now, regarding political interest and efforts by the leaders of the party to settle the rift between them have failed.
Since then, the leadership of the party in the state have been trying without success to reconcile Omisore and Oyetola, the groups loyal to both of them. Subsequently, the party failed to carry Omisore and his group along in the affairs of the party, despite being a former National Secretary of the party.
Recently, some leaders of the party under the aegis of the APC Elders Caucus, otherwise known as Igbimo Agba, reportedly visited Omisore at his country home in Ile-Ife, but the visit did not yield any good result as the relationship between the duo of Oyetola and Omisore remains sour.
Also, some leaders of the APC in Ife zone, under the leadership of Sooko Adeleke Adewoyin, recently held a meeting with Omisore, where they called on the leadership of the party in the state to work for the party’s unity. All to no avail.
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