Gov’s aide flays Osun ex-Speaker for labelling Adeleke ‘caretaker governor’
The opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State might be in for fresh trouble over the zoning arrangement being proposed by some leaders of the party in the state ahead of the 2026 governorship election.
Some groups in the party have been canvassing for the zoning of the gubernatorial ticket to Osun West Senatorial District, which they said, had been deprived of the governorship seat.
The zoning agitation reached its crescendo recently when a socio-political group, Falex Foundation, unveiled a former Commissioner for Finance and current Managing Director, National Inland Waterways Authority, Bola Oyebamiji, popularly called AMBO, for the 2026 governorship election.
Some of the advocates of the zoning included top chieftains of the party, such as the immediate past Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Timothy Owoeye, and former Managing Director, Osun State Investment Company, Tunde Faleye.
They appealed to party leaders to zone the gubernatorial ticket to Osun West Senatorial District where Oyebamiji hails from.
However, The Guardian gathered that since Oyebamiji’s unveiling, consideration for zoning the ticket to Osun West has been gaining ground among prominent forces in the Osun APC.
In fact, most of the loyalists and close allies of the party leader, Gboyega Oyetola, the incumbent Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, have been rooting for Oyebamiji to fly the party’s flag at the forthcoming poll.
Sources within the party told The Guardian that the minister was not pleased with the National Secretary of the APC, Ajibola Basiru’s governorship ambition.
Basiru, in a Facebook post, yesterday, said zoning is not part of the APC’s constitution, adding that every eligible party member should have the right to contest.
He said that insisting on zoning would undermine the democratic process and could alienate voters from zones excluded by such arrangements.
But reacting to Basiru’s comments in a radio interview, yesterday, Owoeye admitted that zoning might not be constitutional, but it should be allowed on moral ground.
He said Basiru had made the statement, not as the National Secretary of the APC, but in his personal capacity, noting that he wouldn’t decide for the party.
IN another development, Olawale Rasheed, the spokesperson to Governor Ademola Adeleke, has lashed out at a former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Timothy Owoeye, for reportedly tagging Governor Adeleke as a “caretaker governor.”
According to him, the comment is both condemnable and reprehensible.
In a statement, Rasheed questioned the logic and rationale for Owoeye’s statement, calling on him to retract the statement and offer a public apology.