A group within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has blamed Minister of Marine and Blue Economy and immediate past governor, Gboyega Oyetola, for the party’s defeat in the August 15 governorship election.
The group, calling itself the Osun APC Stakeholders Forum, made the allegation in an open letter to President Bola Tinubu dated August 18, three days after Governor Ademola Adeleke’s re-election was declared.
The letter, titled “Why We Lost the Osun State August 15, 2026 Gubernatorial Election,” described the forum as a pressure group within the APC committed to the party’s interests.
While commending Tinubu for his leadership and support before and after the election, the group said the party lost despite the President’s backing, placing responsibility principally on Oyetola.
“We respectfully submit that the principal reason for our defeat was the conduct of the immediate past governor of the state and Honourable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola,” the group stated.
Forum Lists Federal Appointees It Alleges Favoured Oyetola’s Camp
The forum alleged that Oyetola appointed “cronies, allies and kinsmen” to federal political positions and single-handedly selected candidates for elective office in the state, despite advice from party elders to accommodate other stakeholders.
It presented a list of appointees it said were drawn largely from Oyetola’s hometown and political camp, including APC governorship candidate and Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority, Bola Oyebamiji, his running mate Benjamin Adereti, and Dayo Babaranti of the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation, alongside 18 other named appointees.
The letter also listed 31 local government and 332 ward Renewed Hope Ambassadors it characterised as appointments concentrated within the same political tendency, a reference to the grassroots mobilisation structure the APC uses to coordinate support at the community level.
Beyond federal appointments, the forum accused Oyetola of personally determining the party’s candidates for the governorship, deputy governorship, three senatorial seats, nine House of Representatives seats and 26 House of Assembly seats.
“We believe this pattern of exclusion left the party’s base disengaged and cost us the support of critical stakeholders and communities across the state’s three senatorial districts, contributing directly to our defeat on August 15,” the letter stated.
Group Wants Tinubu To Order Independent Review, Reconciliation
The stakeholders asked Tinubu to order an immediate independent review of the Osun APC leadership structure and its candidate-selection process, and called for a reconciliation meeting involving Oyetola, party elders and aggrieved stakeholders under the supervision of the APC National Working Committee, the party's highest administrative organ between conventions.
They also requested the restoration of fairness in the distribution of federal appointments and the constitution of a fact-finding committee to examine the conduct of the party’s primaries.
Under what it termed “A Way Forward,” the forum proposed a state congress supervised by the National Working Committee to reconstitute a representative state executive, alongside a transparent framework for future candidate selection based on wider consultation rather than the preference of a single leader.
The group expressed confidence that Tinubu’s intervention could reunite the Osun APC and rebuild confidence among party members ahead of future elections.
The open letter was signed by Professor Akin Adeyanju as Coordinator and Sola Ajayi as Secretary. The allegations remain those of the Osun APC Stakeholders Forum, and there has been no response yet from Oyetola or the Osun APC leadership.
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