By Tunde Olamilekan
The race to pick up the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress in Osun State ahead of the 2026 election is heating up with at least 10 chieftains of the party already declaring their interest to participate in the exercise.
Some of the aspirants eyeing the ticket to contest against incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke are, the National Secretary of the APC, Senator Ajibola Basiru; the Managing Director of National Inland Waterways Authority, Bola Oyebamiji; a former deputy governor of Osun, Otunba Iyiola Omisore; seasoned tech and security expert, Prince Dotun Babayemi and Insurance Guru, Akin Ogunbiyi. Others are the immediate past deputy governor of Osun, Benedict Alabi; former lawmaker, Senator Mudashiru Hussain, Osogbo-born Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kunle Adegoke, and former lawmaker, Senator Babajide Omoworare.
Meanwhile, political experts and party chieftains believe four of the aspirants are the major contenders for the APC gubernatorial ticket.
The major contenders, according to some chieftains of the APC who spoke with osun.life, are Basiru, Oyebamiji, Omisore, and Babayemi.
Ajibola Basiru
Senator Ajibola Basiru, popularly called ‘SRJ’, is the incumbent National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress. The Osogbo-born politician is a former Senator who represented Osun Central Senatorial District in the red chamber. Before his sojourn to the Senate, Basiru served as the Commissioner of Regional Integration and Special Duties and later as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Osun State during the tenure of former governor Rauf Aregbesola.
Senator Basiru is a grassroot politician with some political observers believing he has the political structure locally as well as nationally to clinch the ticket.
Bola Oyebamiji
The Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority, Bola Oyebamiji, is one of the major contenders for the APC gubernatorial ticket.
The former Commissioner for Finance under the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and the immediate past governor of the state, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola is one of the aspirants who declared his intention to contest early.
The Ikire-born politician is riding on the wave of the West Agenda with some party chieftains and members advocating for the ticket to be zoned to the West Senatorial District.
Oyebamiji is also said to enjoy the support of the former governor, Oyetola, who is now the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, as most of his political activities are carried out at the Ilerioluwa campaign office of the Minister.
However, Oyebamiji whose ambition seem to be gathering steam has harvested majority of the APC faithfuls loyal to the immediate past governor, Gboyega Oyetola into his AMBO movement.
However, Oyebamiji still have a lot of work to do in earning the loyalty of his inherited followers.
Iyiola Omisore
The oldest aspirant with arguably the most political experience amongst those eyeing the APC governorship ticket, Senator Iyiola Omisore, is a major player in Osun Politics.
The Ile-Ife-born politician is a former deputy governor during the administration of Chief Bisi Akande.
He also served as a member of the Nigerian Senate for Osun East from 2003 to 2011.
Senator Omisore was the immediate National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress and he has nurtured the ambition of being the governor of the state for a long time.
He contested against Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in 2014 under the Peoples Democratic Party but lost.
He also contested the 2018 gubernatorial election under the Social Democratic Party (SDP) but lost out to former governor Adegboyega Oyetola.
Dotun Babayemi
Prince Dotun Babayemi is a former gubernatorial aspirant under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He contested the ticket with incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke in 2022 in a parallel primary. Babayemi left the PDP and decamped to the APC in 2024 and has since been partaking in the activities of the party.
The Gbongan-born politician, after declaring his intention to contest the ticket of the All Progressives Congress for the Osun State 2026 governorship poll, has toured all LG chapters of the party to initimate them of his ambition.
He recently began a tour of the 332 wards to see things firshand and connect with the people he seeks to represent.
Babayemi’s popularity first soared when he contested the 2019 Osun West Senatorial election under the platform of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) and scored 42,915 votes.
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