Osun 2026: APC courting defeat — Omisore, five others react to disqualification

Six of the seven aspirants disqualified by the Obinna Uzoh–led All Progressives Congress (APC) screening committee for the Osun State governorship primary have warned that the party risks defeat in next August’s off-season governorship election unless the national leadership overturns their disqualification.

The aspirants made the declaration on Saturday while speaking with journalists in Abuja at Armor Hotel, where they met individually with the screening appeal panel chaired by Senator Tolu Odeniyi.

Senator Iyiola Omisore spoke on behalf of the five others.

Those who addressed journalists were Senator Omisore; former deputy governor, Benedict Olugboyega Alabi; former Senior Special Assistant to the late President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly Matters, Senator Babajide Omoworare; Dr. Akinade Akanmu Ogunbiyi; Adegoke Rasheed Okiki Adekunle (SAN); and Babatunde Haketer Oralusi.

Only Omooba Dotun Babayemi declined to join the group interaction with journalists.

The committee based its disqualification of the seven aspirants on their alleged failure to meet the mandatory nomination requirement of being sponsored by five fully registered and financially up-to-date members from each Local Government Area, contrary to Articles 9.3(i) and 31.2(ii) of the APC Constitution, as well as Paragraph 6(c) of the APC Guidelines for the 2025 Governorship Primary.

It declared only two aspirants eligible for the race: Mulikat Abiola Jimoh and Munirudeen Bola Oyebanji, the immediate past Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA).

Senator Omisore, speaking on behalf of the others, dismissed the disqualification as a charade. He alleged that a serving minister pressured the Obinna Uzoh panel to disqualify them ahead of the December 13 primary and vowed that the report would not stand.

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He said: “That panel report is the joke of the year. It is unfortunate that some people have taken partisanship beyond politics. We know the panel members have two or three reports. The one taken to the secretariat was not the original report. As we speak, none of us has seen the report or the reasons for our disqualification. From our pedigree, you can tell that ‘disqualification’ is not the right word to use for us because we are germane to this process. We are veterans. When people like us are disqualified in any contest, where does the party go from there? The party is pointing at failure. The chairman of the panel even told us he received a call instructing him to disqualify all of us.”

On his submission before the appeal committee, the former National Secretary of the party said he challenged the grounds for the disqualification of all seven aspirants.

“I am the only one who has met them so far, but we share the same reservations. We will all meet the appeal panel individually. I asked them: what are the allegations? We haven’t been informed or given any written communication. They claim we did not have nominators, five per local government, but the law says he who alleges must prove. They should have found another reason if they wanted to disqualify us,” he said.

Asked about their next line of action, Omisore warned that the party would be shooting itself in the foot if it upheld their disqualification. He expressed optimism that the APC National Working Committee (NWC) would reverse the panel’s verdict.

“You can’t shave my head in my absence. Why assume the NWC won’t cancel the report? I expect good things. The NWC has the list of party members, and we have over 13,000 financially contributing members. All of us aspirants are guilty of the same thing, same system, same process. That’s the issue, and it calls for caution,” he said.

Speaking separately with journalists, Omooba Dotun Babayemi said he was not interested in any “gang-up” but would formally appeal his disqualification, urging the Professor Nentawe Yilwatda–led national leadership of the party to set aside the screening panel’s decision.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE