The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has discontinued its parallel presidential campaign structure and renamed its campaign council the Osun State All Progressives Congress Parliamentary Campaign Council.
The party also expanded the legislative campaign council’s membership to accommodate all members of the state executive committee following protests over the initial composition of the campaign team.
The new 183-man council unveiled in Osogbo on Tuesday accommodated all state executives.
Earlier, the Osun APC unveiled a 168-man parallel presidential/parliamentary campaign council that will work for the re-election of President Tinubu and canvass votes for other candidates contesting on the platform of the party in the 2027 general elections.
A statement signed by the Osun APC Chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, obtained in Osogbo on Monday, said the campaign council was put in place to further strengthen the party’s chances in the poll.
The campaign council has the party’s candidate in the August 8 governorship poll, Bola Oyebamiji, as its Director-General, while the state APC chairman, Lawal, will serve as the Deputy Director-General.
The development comes amid a political disagreement in Osun State after the APC Presidential Campaign Council appointed Adeleke, a member of the Accord, as the state coordinator of Tinubu’s campaign during the inauguration of the council in Abuja, on October 14.
Shortly after his unveiling, Adeleke announced a separate 344-member campaign council comprising members of different political parties.
In a counter-move, the Osun APC chapter on Monday unveiled its own campaign structure to mobilise support for Tinubu, appointing Oyebamiji as its Director-General.
But the list was greeted with a protest as four members of the state party executive rejected its composition and demanded an immediate review.
They made their grievances known in a statement signed by them and obtained in Osogbo on Tuesday.
The affected executives are the State Publicity Secretary, Wole Adunola; Welfare Officer, Adesola Ayangbile; Assistant Organising Secretary, Rasheed Adeniji; and the Osun APC Ex-Officio, Abiola Ololade.
They expressed concern over the alleged omission of several members of the State Working Committee who, according to applicable guidelines, were expected to be statutory members of the council.
They also said its composition was inconsistent with the earlier presidential directive reportedly naming Governor Ademola Adeleke as the Director-General of the Presidential Campaign Council in the state.
Adunola and others faulted the omission of several members of the State Working Committee, who they said were expected to be statutory members of the council, insisting that their exclusion raised concerns about consultation and respect for the party’s leadership structure.
It also said the composition of the list appeared inconsistent with the earlier presidential directive naming Adeleke as the coordinator of the Tinubu campaign in Osun State.
The aggrieved executives called for an immediate review of the published list, with appropriate consultations involving relevant stakeholders, including the National Secretary of the APC, Ajibola Basiru and Adeleke.
However, in the renamed and expanded Osun APC parliamentary campaign council, Oyebamiji retained the post of Director-General.
Oyebamiji’s running mate in the election, Benjamin Adereti, and Kehinde Olamolu are to serve as Assistant Director-General 1 and 2, respectively.
The three APC senatorial candidates and the nine House of Representatives candidates were also listed as members of the council.
Other notable inclusions in the expanded list, apart from all state executives of the party, are former governor Adebisi Akande; the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola; and Basiru.
In the statement that accompanied the new list, Lawal said, “Following the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council by the national leader of our party and its presidential candidate, His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, on October 14, 2026, in Abuja, and the subsequent inauguration of the Osun State PCC by the Executive Governor of Osun State, His Excellency, Governor Ademola Nurudeen Jackson Adeleke, on October 22, 2026, we consider it extremely important to therefore bolster the efforts of the PCC to deliver massive votes for the re-election of our President, His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, in the forthcoming general elections.
In a new twist, the Osun APC Welfare Officer, Ayangbile, has denied rejecting the composition of the party’s campaign council for the 2027 general elections in the state.
Less than an hour after the statement, which included her name, was obtained, Ayangbile issued another statement disowning the earlier release.
She said she was not informed before her name was included in the statement and pledged commitment to the party.
