Anambra, Osun polls: Uncertainty  in APC as Soludo, Adeleke court Tinubu

Members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun and Anambra states have been put under pressure  by President Bola Tinubu’s  growing romance  with their state governors, findings by Business Hallmark  have revealed.

The concerned  members noted that Tinubu’s  overt  show of support for Governors Ademola Adeleke (Osun) and Chukwuma Soludo (Anambra) could endanger  the chances  and fortune of the party’s candidates in the respective governorship elections.

In Osun, some APC leaders,  especially those in the camp of  the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, were  said to be piqued with Adeleke’s recent visit to Tinubu at his Lagos residence.

Recall that on  June 3, Adeleke, together with his billionaire businessman brother, Dr Deji Adeleke, and his nephew, Afrobeat star, David Adeleke, aka   Davido, met Tinubu in Lagos.

Earlier, on May 20, the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, after delivering the maiden annual lecture at the Osun State University, Osogbo, also  allegedly paid a courtesy call on Adeleke at the Government House.

The visitation to Tinubu ignited  reports of the surreptitious move by Adeleke to join the APC amid the defection of PDP governors to the party.

Both Adeleke and APC supporters also took to social media to discuss  the likelihood  of the governor joining the ruling party.

Business Hallmark  maintained  that some of Adeleke’s supporters, who were in the habit of criticising Tinubu and the APC, quickly moved  to justify the purported move by the governor to join the party after he visited Tinubu.

But in acerbic reactions  to the development, some of Oyetola’s backers decried  the visit.

They voiced  fear of a reenactment  of what occured  in Oyo State, where Tinubu sided with an opposition governor, Seyi Makinde, against the governorship candidate of the party in the 2023 election, Teslim Folarin.

In a press conference addressed by the APC leaders, led by the former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Timothy Owoeye, the APC members declared that Adeleke was not welcome in the APC and that the party’s ticket was not for sale.

The APC leaders claimed that Adeleke was afraid of defeat, hence his “desperate move” to dump the PDP and join the ruling party.

“I want to tell you that if not for the fear of the unknown that is disturbing the Adeleke family and the PDP, they wouldn’t have been showing the intention of coming to the APC,” Owoeye said.

The Osun APC spokesperson, Kola Olabisi, maintained that  Adeleke was afraid he may lose reelection in the next governorship election if he contested on the platform of the PDP.

Olabisi, who noted that Osun APC was not perturbed about the governor’s meeting with Tinubu, added that all the factors that worked in favour of the incumbent in the 2022 governorship poll were no longer available.

He said Adeleke was making moves to join the APC at all costs to rob the party of its victory.

Olabisi  stated , “We spoke against Adeleke because it is on record that he told the whole world that he has nothing to do with the APC. Why is he hobnobbing with the national leader of the APC if he has nothing to do with the party?

“Why did he visit the pioneer National Chairman of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande, whom he met some months ago? There cannot be smoke without fire. We are sure of our facts, but there is information we can’t disclose yet.”

“He is making moves to join the APC, but the coast is not clear. He has been meeting a brick wall. If he is sure of his party’s popularity, why is he after ours?”

However, the state PDP spokesperson, Oladele Bamiji, said APC members in the state were naive and arrogant for claiming sole ownership of the President.

He added that Osun APC expected Tinubu and Adeleke to fight, forgetting that both, as leaders of the entire federation and a prominent unit of the country respectively, would have reasons to meet and discuss governance and political issues.

The PDP spokesperson further said the APC was unwilling to work but hoped to dislodge Adeleke through the support of the President.

“For us in Osun PDP, I don’t see any big deal in the governor meeting the President. Apart from the ongoing festival, I don’t understand why a governor visiting the President should be an issue, regardless of their political differences.

“Perhaps, some people have promised Osun APC members that Adeleke will never see the President. Maybe some feel Adeleke’s meeting with the President has ruined their chances. Maybe because they are lazy and have already ruined their own chances ahead of time. They may be afraid of their own shadow.

“Perhaps because they know that under normal circumstances, they cannot win any election in Osun State in a free and fair contest. All they want is for the President to use whatever power he has to rig the 2026 governorship election in their favour.”

In Anambra state, the recent visit by Tinubu to commission some projects in the state is a pointer that governor Charles Soludo is warming up to join APC. He also declared support for Tinubu’s reelection in 2027.