Uncertainty in APC, PDP, LP, others ahead of Anambra, Osun, Ekiti guber polls

•All eyes on Tinubu •LP banks on Peter Obi

A wave of uncertainty and crisis of confidence are rocking the leading political parties over the governorship race in Anambra, Osun and Ekiti states.

The situation has triggered permutations on likely alliances, as well as suspense over the body language of President Bola Tinubu in the buildup to the elections.

While stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in particular believe it is only the president who can swing the support for his party, their counterparts in the ruling All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra in November hope that his support for Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo would be an icing on the cake. 

Reports showed that in Anambra, the APC, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party are battling protracted conflicts after primaries to choose candidate for the election.

In Osun, the parties are enmeshed in issues arising from moves by major political actors to forge alliances ahead of next year’s election in the state, while a raging supremacy tussle in PDP in Ekiti State is threatening the frantic bid by leaders to synergise for 2026 governorship poll in the state.

Anambra

Although ahead of the November 8, 2025 Anambra election, all the 16 parties have conducted their primaries, there is hue and cry in some quarters that the process that produced some candidates, especially the APC candidate, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu, was flawed.

Nonetheless, he has taken the sole responsibility of campaigning across the 21 local government areas in the state.

The list of all the candidates for the election include: incumbent Governor Chukwuma Soludo (Anambra South) of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) who is seeking reelection; Young Progressives Party (YPP), Sir Paul Chukwuma, from Anambra North senatorial district; Prince Ukachukwu of the APC (Anambra South), Mr John Nwosu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) (Anambra South), Ozo Jeff Nweke of the Action Alliance (AA, Anambra Central) and Chief George Muoghalu of the Labour Party (Anambra South).

For the PDP, the fate of the party remains unsettled due to the recent gruesome attack on its candidate in Abuja, who is on admission in the hospital.

At the moment, both the APC and the APGA are studying the body language of President Tinubu on who he will lend his support, whether candidate of his party (APC) or Governor Soludo.

At the second term declaration by the governor during an official visit to the state, the president had described Soludo as a brilliant friend filled with experience and global connections.

The Nigerian Tribune gathered that the governor also enjoys the support of key business billionaires in the state.

Ahead of the election however, the Labour Party (LP) is banking on the popularity of its 2023 presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, to win the seat.

This is in spite of Obi’s latest romance with the ADC ahead of the 2027 general election.

Findings by the Nigerian Tribune indicated that the battle for the Light House, Awka, the state’s seat of power, may have been reduced to a two-horse race between Soludo of APGA and LP’s George Nwogalu.

“Anambra is not your typical APC (All Progressives Congress) kind of state; the PDP (People Democratic Party) people are not as organised as you may expect anymore.

“What is most likely going to happen is that it is going to be Soludo versus Labour; he knows this and it largely explains his latest strategy of trying to be in the good books of President Bola Tinubu, just to cut off any federal inference with the process,” one senior politician said.

Investigations showed that while APGA and all the opposition parties had been involved in mobilisation of the electorate, voters were reducing their choices to APGA and LP.

Officials claimed that the LP, though torn apart by leadership crises at the National level, the factions led by Julius Abure and Senator Nenadi Usman, somehow agreed separately to back the party’s candidate, Moghalu. 

The Usman camp confirmed to the Nigerian Tribune that the party would bank on the Obi factor, while downplaying the strength of Soludo.

The Senior Special Adviser (Media) to the LP chairman, Mr Ken Asogwa, claimed the party was neither worried about the APC nor the PDP.

However, one APGA source, speaking on Soludo’s strength, said a governor who had since assumed office expanded the infrastructure of the state and promoted “fiscal management of scarce resources”, would not be a pushover in November.

Efforts to get the comments of Abure, the chairman of another camp of the LP, failed as he did not pick his calls.

The National Publicity Secretary of the camp, Mr Obiora Ifoh, also did not take his calls after at least three attempts to reach him at the weekend.

Osun

A whiff of bitterness, threats and counter-threats rages in Osun among power brokers in one hand, and political parties in another, ahead of the governorship election in the state.

The tension and power struggle appear more intense in the main opposition APC, where no fewer than eight aspirants are keen on emerging as APC standard-bearer.

The contestants comprise:  APC national secretary and former Commissioner for Works, Senator Ajibola Basiru;  business guru, Chief Akin Ogunbiyi; former deputy governor of the state, Senator Iyiola Omisore; a former aspirant,  Kunle Rasheed Adegoke (SAN), Prince Dotun Babayemi; former Commissioner for Finance and current chairman of the Nigerian Inland Waterway Authority (NIWA),  Bola Oyebamiji; former Senior Special Assistant to the late President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly Matters, Senator Jide Omoworare, and a former deputy governor of the state, Benedict Alabi.

The question about which of the three senatorial zones in the state should produce APC candidate for the election caused disquiet within the party.

The issue triggered a public protest in Osogbo, by APC youths, women and men under the aegis of The Progressives Frontliners (TPF) and the Coalition of Osun APC Interest Groups (COAIG) that the ticket should zoned to the Osun West.

“Osun West has remained loyal to the APC for years, backing candidates from other districts in past elections. Yet, since the return of democracy in 1999, no candidate from Osun West has represented our party in the gubernatorial election,” the state Coordinator TPF, Ajijola Ayodele, said.

The demand of the groups was faulted by another organization, the Osun Progressives Independent Forum (OPIF), on the ground that the agitation for zoning is altruistic.  

Another source of friction in the party is the speculation that kingmakers in the APC already have a preferred candidate among the contenders, some of who accused certain party stalwarts of dropping names to authenticate the rumour.

The declaration by Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola,  that he has no plan to return to the Osun State Government House Osogbo, partially doused the gathering storm.

“We have qualified, competent, and people of outstanding track records as aspirants contesting for the governorship election, and this is a unique selling proposition to feast on, and we will continue to complement the Federal Government’s efforts on all fronts,” Oyetola quoted to have told a APC Elders Caucus at a meeting held in Osogbo.

Besides, the dust over the attempts by some influential forces within and outside APC to facilitate the defection of the incumbent governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke from the PDP to the APC in his second term bid has not yet settled.  

Some of aspirants seeking the ticket of the APC openly kicked against the purported move and threatened to work against the interest of the party at the election if the plan was pulled through.

Similarly, the decision of a former governor of the state and immediate past Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to form a coalition to stop the reelection of President Tinubu in 2027 has stirred controversy in the Osun APC.

It heightened the love lost between Oyetola and his predecessor, Aregbesola, as they failed to reconcile after the crisis led to the failed bid by the then-governor to secure another term in office.

Aregbesola deployed members of his Omoluabi caucus in APC to forge an alliance that complemented the efforts of PDP stalwarts in unseating the APC by the PDP at the 2022 poll to benefit of the incumbent governor.

However, the confusion over possible alliances by the APC, PDP and the ADC subsists in spite of reports that some influential leaders of PDP initiated efforts on the possibility of the PDP and ADC working together for the election.

Meanwhile, Governor Adeleke has received an overwhelming endorsement as the sole candidate for the ticket of PDP in his reelection bid.

Sources told the Nigerian Tribune that the stakeholders held consultations following pressure that the governor should move to the APC.

The sources said one of such consultations involved elders statesmen and leaders of thought in Osun PDP, who held a meeting where key leaders of the party cautioned against such move because of the likely backlash.

Against the opposition of some APC stalwarts on the move, PDP chairman in the state, Mr Sunday Bisi, had declared that his party would be distracted by the opposition.

“We won’t join issues with the opposition. We have no plan to rig the 2026 election.

“We are sure Osun people will vote for PDP and stand by their votes next year. Our records of good performance speak for us,” he said.

However, most leaders of the APC and the PDP in the state are counting on the likely disposition of President Tinubu to either of the two parties in the battle for the Government House.

Ekiti

In Ekiti State, the race for the 2026 governorship election is gathering momentum hitting with parties, gladiators and other stakeholders gearing up for the election scheduled for June 20, 2026.

The incumbent of the APC, Biodun Oyebanji is seeking a re-election after his initial victory during the 2022 election to succeed former governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi.

In the last few activities, leaders of the APC especially those loyal to the governor within the party have been making moves to ensure the victory at the poll, starting from the primaries of the party slated for October 27, 2025.

While no individual has publicly declared intention to run against the governor, there are feelers that some persons in the next few weeks would come up openly to make their intentions known to the party members and indeed the people of the state.

Governor Oyebanji has received tremendous goodwill and support from over 300 groups and associations, including top leaders in the state.

Also, there are misgivings and several interpretations into the conspicuous absence of former governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi during the recent statewide endorsement rally for Governor Oyebanji and President Tinubu in the state.

While Fayemi has in the past announced his endorsement for the governor’s second term, some members of the party loyal to the governor are not comfortable with the posture of Fayemi ahead of the poll.

This development made the publicity secretary of the party, Segun Dipe to dismiss any insinuations that former governor, Fayemi and the governor are at loggerheads.

He said, “Our party, APC, is intact and formidable, our leaders are united in their resolve to see the incumbent Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji emerge for the second term, come 2026.”

From former deputy governors, to former speakers, former House of Representatives members, former commissioners, former Secretary to the State Government, among others have joined the party.

Already, there are ongoing moves by some gladiators to contest for the election under the ADC, notably a former SSG and Nigeria’s Ambassador to Canada, Chief Dare Bejide who has declared his intention to run for the next year’s poll.

Speaking with Nigerian Tribune, a former commissioner for Works, Segun Akinwumi, said that the ADC is receiving leaders and people of the state on daily basis, adding that the party would dislodge the ruling APC in the poll.

Akinwumi, who declared that ADC parades credible individuals who are capable of changing the political and governance narratives in the state, noted that all necessary structures would soon be put in place, leading to the primaries and the year’s election.

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