Osun APC Faults Short Notice Over Tinubu Campaign Committee Inauguration

The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said it was not formally informed about the inauguration of the state’s Presidential Campaign Committee for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid ahead of the 2027 election.

The party disclosed this on Thursday in a statement signed by its chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, following the announcement of the committee’s inauguration and the appointment of Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke as its coordinator.

The APC said it fully supports Tinubu’s re-election and sees the campaign as a collective responsibility requiring cooperation among party leaders, members and supporters across the state.

“In as much as we consider the re-election of the national leader of our party, President Tinubu, as a collective task which we have been working vigorously and assiduously to achieve through various means, it is our view and conviction that such an exercise should be properly scheduled,” the statement said.

Lawal said that because the exercise concerns the re-election of Nigeria’s president under the APC, which he described as the largest democratic party in sub-Saharan Africa, it should follow proper official procedures.

According to the chairman, the party only became aware of the committee’s membership through a list shared on social media by Adeleke’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, on Wednesday afternoon.

“We are reiterating the fact that we did not have the knowledge of any inauguration beyond the social media listing of some names yesterday afternoon by the spokesman of Governor Adeleke,” the statement said.

The party raised concerns that the notice given, less than 12 hours before the scheduled event, was too short and could prevent some party leaders and members from attending. It also questioned why the committee’s membership was published less than 24 hours before the inauguration without prior consultation with the party’s state leadership.

The statement suggested the arrangement could create avoidable tension between the Osun APC and Adeleke, who was appointed to coordinate Tinubu’s re-election campaign in the state.

“In our view, the current arrangement of the said state Presidential Campaign Committee was designed to stoke and promote an avoidable misunderstanding between our party and the appointed state coordinator of the campaign in the state,” Lawal said.

Despite these reservations, the party stressed it is not opposed to the campaign arrangement itself, only the process used to put it together.

“We are reiterating the fact that we are not opposed to conceding anything for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the forthcoming presidential election but our concern is that things should be done in a proper way to achieve desired results,” the statement said.

The Osun APC acknowledged that Adeleke’s appointment as state campaign coordinator could strengthen Tinubu’s electoral prospects through cooperation among the parties involved, while calling for proper consultation going forward.

Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, former governor Bisi Akande, and former governor Adegboyega Oyetola were among the prominent political leaders expected at the inauguration of the Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council, held in Osogbo. The council reportedly comprises political leaders, elected officeholders, former lawmakers, party executives and other stakeholders drawn from the APC, Accord and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).